Needlequest Progress Post - Mon 13 Jan 2014

So, how are you getting along with your Needlequest piece(s)?   I've been really enjoying it so far and have managed to complete my first little flower and make a start on the preparations needed for the second one.

Let me walk you through each day's work.  Come and see....

I'm quite pleased with it, although there are one or two things to bear in mind for next time.  For one, the petal outlines are a bit more jagged than I would like in places, so I need to concentrate more on getting those straight.  Second, this flower is really too pale.  It would have been better to have used the very pale peach colour as the lightest shade, rather than white.  The bud looks overly coloured in comparison.  Also, the fabric was too thin to totally avoid puckering.  It isn't too bad, but it is there - and not really wanted!!

On the whole though, I'm satisfied with it (and there's nothing wrong with striving for perfection, before anyone tells me off for being 'too hard on myself'!!!LOL!!)

Here's the second piece.  First up is the photo from the book:

These next two shots are me trying out the threads against five different shades of brown silk (some of them would have worked well with the peach rose too), and then the threads laid out on the chosen piece.

Above here is the silk cut and backed with iron-on interfacing.  I often use this as I find it's easier to keep the whole thing in line than using a backing fabric.  I've never managed to get the two layers completely flush, but that's never a problem with interfacing - unless, of course, you get a crease in one of the fabrics!!  I used a thick piece of baking paper on the ironing board to stop the extra part of the interfacing from sticking to the ironing board cover fabric.  The silk itself will be very slightly too small for the hoop, so an excess of backing was needed.  I didn't want to use any more silk than necessary as it's not cheap and the strip that would have been left wouldn't have been much use for anything else.

Below is the outline traced onto the fabric.  It's not so easy to see in some lights, and in others it's perfectly clear!  Might be a bit of a challenge to work, but we'll see.=)

So, that's how I'm getting on.  How about you?  What have you got to share for this week?  Anything?  Please leave a link to anything you'd like to show us in the comments section and please also remember to link back here on your post if you can.  Of course, you don't have to be a Needlequester to comment - all are welcome!!=)

If you'd like to join in the Needlequest, full details are on the challenge page.  Feel free to sign up anytime!

PS.  A note for Deborah from South Africa re. the needle painted dog on the technique intro page.  That piece came from the Royal School of Needlework's book and wasn't a Helen M Stevens' design at all.  In fact, had she worked it, I doubt she would have used more than two or three different shades as she uses that glorious floss silk which reflects the light so well you can get away with few shades, or even just one!  She's great at directional stitching though, you're right, but this one was pure RSN and the original was worked by Tracy Franklin, one of the School's graduates and now a professional embroiderer and teacher.=)  She also keeps a blog.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014