Why are my finishing disasters not this funny?

If you've hung around here a while, you know I am not wild about finishing. I've done about everything wrong, from gluing my long hair to ornaments all the way to hemming my new pants to the skirt I was currently wearing. Why does Coni make her finishing disasters sound so much better than mine?

http://spinsterstitcher.blogspot.com/2008/09/there-goes-my-career-working-for-ralph.html

Her dog is cuter than me as well.
sigh

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Anything Seem Familiar?

This image comes from Madonna's Free Range Stitcher blog. She's just finished her version of Anne Jerlow's Five Geishas, an outlined (with painted areas only on the geishas' black hair and hair ornaments) canvas that sadly is no longer available since Ms. Jerlow's death. Notice anything familiar about it?

If not, you might want to look at the header photo if you are visiting with me via Blogspot or look at the background design if you are over at Yahoo 360.

Yes, I stitched this design myself along with a sixth geisha in a separate canvas for ANG's Auction in Baltimore in 2007. Mine are framed together and live with Barbara who placed the winning bid. (Thanks, Barbara!)

This canvas has also been stitched by Susan Portra who sells a stitch guide for them. You can read about Madonna's stitching at her blog here.

http://frontrangestitches.blogspot.com/2008/09/5-geisha-standing-in-tray_25.html

Susan Porta's version of the same five geishas can be seen on her website.

http://www.bringyourcanvastolife.com/catalog/item/2232567/1662442.htm
Madonna told me her canvas came from a knitting/needlepoint shop in Phoenix, not one she ordinarily visits since it doesn't carry the latest and greatest items. Just remember that stores which are a bit behind the times in trends may have hidden treasures you don't want to miss. Madonna has had the canvas about a year and stitched it over the last six months. Read her blog to hear more about her stitching adventure with Anne Jerlow's Five Geishas.

It is fascinating to me to see how three folks did the same canvas in similar and also very different ways. Let me number the geishas from left to right so you know which ones I'm talking about. All three of us dressed No. 5 in purple and we also put No. 3 the middle geisha in a shade of red. My No. 3 was pink, Madonna's was rusty red, and Susan's was bright red. Madonna and I also dressed No. 1 and No. 2 in greens and blues respectively. Madonna used wools for her hair while I used Soy Fiber. We both added quite a few beads in No. 3's elaborate hair do. I can't tell what Susan did with her hair dressing as the photo isn't detailed enough. I did notice that both Madonna and Susan turned the fan shape on the top of No.4's head into hair instead of the fan-shaped ornament I put there. Two of us used two different stitches in shades of off-white for the floor and walls while I used one stitch in two shades to show where the floor and walls were. It's interesting that all three of us felt the need to "ground" our geishas with an environment instead of letting them float on a pretty background stitch.



Hope you enjoy picking out the details you particularly like on each stitcher's version. Here's one last photo, my sixth geisha who is a singleton on her own canvas but obviously taken from one of the geishas in the main design as she was painted exactly as No. 5 is. I just dressed her differently to give myself six geishas.

I'm just sorry this canvas is no longer available for more stitchers to enjoy.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow