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| Cha's Tail Feathers Completed |
Cha's tail feathers are done! [loud cheering]
The important thing to notice here is how the different feathers slant differently to match the orientation of the tail feathers as they were painted. I had to figure out just how to position the slants but once I had that, all I had to do is cut a long length of ribbon and get to work. I did have to fill in the tip of the pink feather where my first stitching didn't completely cover but otherwise, this was pretty smooth sailing.
Notice that I left the middle of the long pink and red tail feathers unstitched where there is a dark purple vein. I decided that looked better than couching a thread or doing a line of stem stitch down the middle. The feathers turned out to be much more realistic in silk ribbon than I thought they would. River Silks ribbon does a fantastic job of creating realistic feathers!
UPDATE: I almost forgot to say that I decided my original plan of tent stitching the dark purple tail feather with JL Walsh silk/wool didn't work as well as I had hoped. The fact that one feather was not in silk ribbon seemed distracting so I just added ribbon stitches on top of the tent stitches and now the purple tail feather is like its neighbors. When you stitch something it is hard to know if your plans will work out as expected so you have to be flexible and ready to abandon ideas that don't work. Fortunately, one can often just stitch right over a plan that didn't work out!
I have a few little touches to add before Cha is actually finished, but I need to wait for good natural light to decide whether the things I plan are a good idea or not. I also need to check for missed stitches, which I do by holding my pieces up to the sun to look for empty spots.
In other news, yesterday I accidentally posted the wrong link to Summer Truswell's auction. Sorry! Here is where you can go to look at the items she is selling and read about where the money will go. It's a good way to pick up some lovely finished needlework either for your collection or to give as a present in the upcoming holiday season.
http://summerlouise.blogspot.com/2010/08/truswell-needlework-garage-sale-2010.html
I'm going to work on the skulls iPhone case for a bit until the weather clears. I hope to finish that this week so I can get back to Stars!
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
