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| Nancy's Turkey with Background Finished |
Nancy has sent photos and a progress report on her large turkey from Mary Lake Thompson/Melissa Shirley. She says, "I am nearly done with the breast area, having finished the head, back and upright tail earlier. I have struggled with getting the overstitching done on the yellow parts of the breast. The look of the painted canvas can not be duplicated with thread. (This canvas has made me appreciate stitch-painted canvases more!) Where I am now is doing some top-stitching over the yellow and evaluating that. You will note that for the bulk of the lower breast I have simply stitched it in Continental/basketweave.
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| Ray Stitches on Top of Careful Shading |
I am also working on the lower long feathers, trying several options. I'm currently trying padded vertical satin, though I think of feathers as flat, so I'm not sure that's where I'll end up. I was hoping to do some light stitching there to show the undercolors painted on the canvas, but that didn't seem to work for me.
After a day or two, Nancy wrote again:
"I'm close to finishing the lower tail feathers after last night's stitching and I like it.
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| Beady Eye |
I used #5 perle cotton for the padding and some variegated Silk and Colors (Chocolate Caramel) for the satin stitches on top. Though I'm not sure about using Silk and Colors much - have you had any issues with it? I've tended to use Gloriana and never had any problem with it. I found the Silk and Colors a challenge to lay nicely. I dampened it which helped, but I never had to dampen a silk thread before.
Adding to the fun, I had two male turkeys challenging each other for supremacy this morning in the yard. They went at it pushing and shoving for 30 minutes at least. It was fun to watch."
Nancy, I don't have trouble with Silk N Colors but various brands of silk give different people problems. I have two things to suggest--if you use a laying tool, try another one made from something else. I find that I like metal and bone laying tools best for silk but you might like the wooden ones better depending on the finish and weight of the tool. Also, dampen the silk. Silk likes high humidity and behaves better when there is more moisture in the air. Get a paper towel wet, ring it out and let it dry some, then run your plies of silk through the paper towel. I've ever used fairly wet silk on a piece (although you run the risk of the color running these days since eco-friendly dyes are not always truly colorfast). Hope this helps!
6 comments:
Nancy,
This is beautiful work; I especially commend the evenness of the basketweave. When I enlarged the detail shots, I could see the subtle glitter of the metalics, especially on the breast. Keep up the good work! And thanks, Jane, for the tips on silk. I've been using a ThreadworX overdyed silk that is just giving me fits. I'll try dampening it. Cheers and thanks again to you both. RobinG in Indiana.
Fantastic work, a delight to see, well done. Love the background
Thank you, Robin, for your kind comments. I am humbled hearing such words from someone whose work I admire everytime you post. I hope one day to make it to Amy's shop and meet you, Peggy, Amy and all the other talents there!
Nancy
Thank you, Palma. The background choice is due to Jane. It would never have occurred to me, but I love it and it worked fast!
Nancy
Oops!! Looks like I read too fast. My apologies to you, Robin in Indiana. And thank you for the nice words.
Nancy, absolutely no apologies needed. Like you, I devour everything "the other Robin" writes, and I, too, would dearly love to meet everyone at Amy's. In the meantime, we'll just keep stitching. All the best, RobinG in Indiana
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