Saturday, July 4, 2020

Celebrate the Fourth with Bridget of Always in Stitches

Bridget Viehwig of Always in Stitches has the cutest quilt designs for Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10222404767731756&set=pcb.3098893096854494&type=3&theater&ifg=1

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10222404768211768&set=pcb.3098893096854494&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Contact Bridget via her Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/bridget.roseviehweg

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 3, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Introducing Pharaoh Ramses II






I have chosen my next painted canvas, an Egyptian Dynasty ornament from Leigh Designs.  It is four inches in diameter (if you ignore the metal hanger for the ornament) and is on 18 count sandstone canvas.  This is called Ramses and it is one of a series of eight designs.  You can see all of the set here.
https://needlepointus.com/products.asp?cat=Leigh+Designs&pg=8






I suspect it was inspired by the photo of Pharaoh Ramses II in the British Museum.
https://sites.google.com/site/100objectsbritishmuseum/home/statue-of-ramesses-ii

This is going to be a challenge as the statue should look like solid granite and it cannot be overshadowed by the fancy feather fan on the left side.

Of course the pinkish clay color of the statute provided impossible to match in thread. The closest I've come is DMC cotton floss in 356. I wanted a metallic sheen to the statue—that's not only realistic as granite has some sparkle naturally from the crystals in it, but it will help to focus the eye on the statue, not the feather fan—but that's impossible. I studied the Kreinik online color card for a long time. They have a lot of pinks and a lot of siennas. It's possible that the new color 5006 Ore will work.
https://www.123stitch.com/item/Kreinik-Ore-5006-8-Braid/B85006

I thought about ordering Ore but I suspect it is more salmon than brick-clay in color, so I stuck with the DMC cotton floss. I have a plan that might work. Or it might not.  Fortunately I can always rip out.  I already have, in fact.  My first thought was to use the DMC 356 to attach clear beads. I tried that last night using both size 11 round clear beads and size 15 round clear beads with an iridescent finish. The smaller beads have too much sparkle that hides the color of the paint and the thread used to attach them. The size 11 round beads do let the color show better but it's not right. The beads detract from the statue. You see the round shape of the beads more than the detail of the statue, so Plan A is out!

On to Plan B. Here's what I got done last night. The circlet on top of his head is the circlet of uraei, according to the museum website above. That roughly means the sacred serpent. Egyptian art often used stylized cobra to signify sacred snakes. The statue is wearing a circle of them, sort of like a diadem. I used brick stitch over two (3 plies) there and I used my DMC 356 in basketweave on his neck (3 plies).  Plan B says to use the brick stitch in black DMC cotton floss (also 3 plies) for the shadow on the right of the face and the head cloth in shadow.  I'm not sure that will work. The head cloth might need to be in tent stitch, which is what I plan to use for the face, neck and shoulders using my DMC 356 with touches of black for the features.



Guess we'll have to see how this plays out.  I have an idea about how to add metallic sparkle and a gloss of hardness to the statue but that needs to wait until I have the whole thing stitched.  I'll come back with a progress report once I have something to report.

By the way, I have listed all the postings about this design on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog so you can easily follow along as I blog stitch this.
https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2020/08/pharoahs-fan-finished.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 21, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.