Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

This is gorgeous Serinde

I love the way the subtle variagation in the threads almost makes it shimmer and the blingy middle really sets it off.

Can't wait to see the colours you choose for the dog.

Wow, Serinde, this is amazing! You have to be so precise to stitch this.

Garnet wrote:This is gorgeous Serinde

I love the way the subtle variagation in the threads almost makes it shimmer and the blingy middle really sets it off.

Can't wait to see the colours you choose for the dog.

And thank you for pointing out the mistake in the original design in the “overs and unders” (you all can scurry back to the outline and find it!). As I said, I did spot it once I began the stem stitch, but if I hadn’t, I would so have appreciated you bringing it to my attention. Now the problem is to discretely use a gell eraser to get rid of the errant marks.

Here is the roundel for the Galloway Hoard project, finished and ready to go off on its travels. It worked out pretty much the way I thought it would, and while my stem stitch could have been more consistent, I'm quite pleased with it. The ladies at my EG branch kept looking at it and saying that they "hadn't ever seen anything quite like that"... "so much work..." But I'll tell you now that some of the other finishes were wonderful -- like in trapunto style, or gold work, and that's what I call a lot of work, so I guess it's all relative.

Wow!!! Beyond beautiful!!! I love it!!

karen4bells wrote: Wow!!! Beyond beautiful!!! I love it!!

Absolutely, positively, completely agree!!!

Carole

That has come out so beautifully! I would never ever have considered silvery grey for the outlines (lack of imagination, I suppose ) but it works really well! Not surprised the other ladies were impressed. (Any chance of pics of their finishes, by the way? I'd love to see their trapunto and goldwork interpretations of the theme.)

I love it! It looks fantastic!!

I adore the colours in this Serinde! Such beautiful work

Absolutely stunning Serinde. Definitely a Masterpiece.

Very medieval both in colour and design!!

I love it! The silver grey stem stitch works really well against the darker colours and I think it sets off the central 'golds' perfectly!!

Well done indeed!!

BTW did the blood spot come out or are you claiming it to be Medieval DNA!!

Thank you all for your kind words. I was totally outside my comfort zone with surface embroidery and No Holes!! But I'm very pleased with the result.

@WW: in fact, the offending DNA is hidden by the hem, after I cleaned it as best I could. Whew!

Wish I could say the same for the Dog! I've had to start again, really, as my idea to use Hungardian braid stitch was not only too heavy for the sinuous tail, but I couldn't stitch it in a way that I was happy with. All those acute angles. So! I'm thinking of a more straightforward approach: to outline the tail in stem stitch and then stitch a series of French knots (or perhaps beads...? ) down the centre of each channel. Celtic design often includes dots, after all, and come to think of it, I have some beads that really look metallic...

Yes to the dots, I know of lots of illuminated capitals in manuscripts that are surrounded by dots, either as an outline or a full background. So that would be a very suitable solution!

For those asking what the rest of my EG branch have so far stitched (this is about half of the expected returns). And one very talented person has made a 3-D representation of the lidded jar in which the hoard was stashed (but don't have a photo of that).

Mabel Figworthy wrote:Yes to the dots, I know of lots of illuminated capitals in manuscripts that are surrounded by dots, either as an outline or a full background. So that would be a very suitable solution!

And I could make it an almost onyx and marble thing (black & white to you and me)... which would allow me to use some of the Etoile black thread I got for Christmas... but I still want the dog to have a colourful eye... perhaps green rather than blue?...

Green and red eyes are both used, as far as I remember, so whichever you think would work best with the ebony-and-ivory (another term for black & white ) scheme.
Lovely to see the other projects as well - I don't think I'm biased, but beautiful as they all are yours definitely stands out!

Wow!! Such amazing designs and stitching on all of them!!

Gorgeous

Fabulous

The silver grey is just right for the outlines Serinde, it reminds me of aged metal which in real life the metal surrounding the enamelled sections would be.

Whilst the other projects are all beautiful in their own right, I do think yours draws the eye and is probably the most accurate representation of an enamelled piece I've seen since the Saxon Hoard in England.

Congratulations Serinde, I do hope you are proud of your contribution, you should be and I can't wait to see the Zoomorphic dog

Mabel Figworthy wrote:I don't think I'm biased, but beautiful as they all are yours definitely stands out!

I agree with Mabel. They are all very beautiful. I think I love your color choice in particular because of the depth and warmth of the colors.

Carole