The trunk and branches of the tree are finished. Took long enough. Now, to get the immense span of foliage done. To do this in the frame, I have to do it upside down. This wouldn’t necessarily be a problem for anyone else, but while I’m not dyslexic, I am prone to transposing, letters, numbers, spaces, and directions. I just know I’ll be humming along, all pleased, then it will hit me, “fuck, it’s backwards!”, and I’ll have to like it, because it’s not like I’ll be willing to rip it out and redo it. Current Hours: 1,169. Skeins Used: 183. (That’s 1,464 meters of thread, or 1,592 yards.) Click for full size.
© C. Ford, all rights reserved.
The trunk is powerful. it looks as though it is bending itself upright even though the world is upside down.
Thank you!
I love the rich colors and the texture. I brought bags of excess dyed fiber from the alpaca fiber mill my husband ran before we moved to the Caribbean. It was intended to be used in needle felting but it’s way too hot down here for alpaca. Do you use a variety of fibers for texture variations? From the photo it all seems to be the same type of yarn and a sport weight as well. Are you using canvas or muslin?
Bill
Master, I’m finished, can I redo it now?
If it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one who does this. And with sewing it’s usually when you’ve taken great care with your work. I remember putting in the second sleeve of my wedding dress, by hand, for three hours, just to notice that I’d put it in inside out after tying the last knot…
Yeah, I consider it an achievement if I can get through a sewing project without at least one major fuck-up that necessitates lots of unpicking… I swear I’m going to end up wearing out my seam ripper. And I never seem manage to sew whatever it was as well the second time around…
Congrats on getting the trunk done -- a milestone! It is looking fantastic. I do that upside down, inside out and backwards thing too. Since Giliell also does it, must be a sign of great intelligence. :-D If it were me…. I’d make a map on paper and pin it on there upside down as well, **maybe** that would stop me from doing it backwards, but then on the other hand it might not… :-)
Odgraphix @ 3:
The primary thread is DMC cotton embroidery floss, with a bit of silk here and there. The thread wasn’t split, all 6 strands were used on the tree. I’ll probably add more silk later, just a touch, as moss on the tree. I wasn’t sure what I was going to use for the foliage, until Kestrel gifted me with a great quantity of DMC Perle 3, a large gauge, heavy weight cotton, twisted and non-divisible. The thread difference between the trunk and foliage is quite noticeable, I’ll get a close-up for the next work post.
This will be a throw quilt, so it’s on muslin, with a cotton batik surround, and it will have a batik back.
Kestrel:
Yeah, I thought about doing a colour map, but I don’t think it would be helpful. I didn’t do any mapping for this at all, and to be honest, most of the time I wasn’t paying any attention to it. It’s just knots, so my mind is usually a million miles away, deep in thought about other stuff, while the fingers work. I’ve been quite surprised how some sections have turned out. It’s one of those pieces where it takes place literally under your fingers as you go.
I might have to try mapping though -- or make a very large sign pinned to the top of the frame: It’s Upside Down!