Lots going on

First, here is the progress on the Lacquered Leaves. I almost finished the first one, not quite. I made a mistake counting and had to frog a full row! But, back on track now and it looks great! The shine is so much better in person, but you get the idea.

I picked up Lady Carolyn's fan from the framer! The old gold frame and mat are set off by a narrow strip of blue mat next to the piece. It really makes it pop! Nice job Bob and Maggie!


Last but not least is the latest Stitch n Zip. Alice Peterson designed these gorgeous Hibiscus which I stitched in Vineyard Silks for a birthday present for Miss Linda! I could not post it until after I gave it to her!

May I present....

Lady Carolyn's fan is done! I finished the background on the far left paddle and then got busy adding all the beads in the Pavilion stitches. The final touch was to poke a hole in the canvas and then bind around it with an eight spoke eyelet before adding the tassel. The tassel is made first by doing the twisted cord and then wrapping the fiber around a board. You cut it in half and the wrap it over the end of the cord and I put a small band of metal to hold it tight.

And then after taking the picture, the battery died in the camera! LOL, so instead of a picture I will tell you that I have three of Amy Bunger's DVD's in my possession--Barely There, The Ins & Outs of Needleweaving, and A Closet Full of Stitches! That and a bottle of perfume that I like was a very nice package from DH!

All the flowers and leaves

I finished all the flowers in the right paddle! I did the four petal daisies and then filled in all of those and the forget me nots with the yellow French knots. I then added silk ribbon leaves all around. I started doing the last background and then decided I also wanted to show you how the beads are gong to look on the blades! There are a few on the left one. They are stitched in the squares that the Pavilion pattern makes.

In this heat

We all need a fan, so I went back to work on Lady Carolyn's fan! I finished the last blade's Pavilions stitches and got to work on the Forget me nots. I am using the Mediterranean in Waterlilies again. I still need to fill in the centers, the little white flowers and the leaves before I start adding the beads to this project. But....the end is in sight!

More Pavillions

I did all the Pavilions stitches around the perimeter of the final blade to create the oval for the last batch of flowers.  A lot of these had to be compensated to fit, but it is worth the look.  You can see that there are few more of these to fill in, but not many.

Another blade

I finished the background on the second blade from the right, so that completes that blade.  I used the pearl cotton and did the same Waffle stitch in the area as the other two center ones.  I then resumed using six strands of cotton floss to create the Pavilion stitches on the last blade on the right. 

One more paddle

Tonight I finished all the Forget Me Nots in the left most paddle. These are worked in four strands of Waterlilies Mediterrean. The yellow French Knots are worked with two strands of Splendor and then the leaves are done is YLI ribbon stitches and lazy daisy. I then turned it on the side to work the rows for the pulled pattern in the background. I then moved over and started the background in the fourth paddle from the left but only got a little of it done. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and there is someone waiting for this pattern! Hurry, Pat, Hurry!

Forget me Nots

I finished the Diamond Pavillion stitches on the second paddle from the right and then moved over to the first paddle on the left. Using Mediterranean Waterlilies I started on the Forget Me Nots. I think they are cute. Using four strands of the overdyed thread whips these up pretty quick. Next time, I will fill in the rest of the flowers in that area .

Center paddle

I finished the center paddle! First I finished the six strand Pavilion Stitches done in the Anchor Floss. Then I switched to the Perle Cotton and did the waffle stitch in the background behind the violets and added a couple more leaves. I then did the French Knot lavender in Periwinkle and topped those with more French Knots in the Hyacinth.

Still paddling

I worked on the center paddle of the fan filling in the top and down the right side with six strands of the Anchor 926 floss in the Diamond Pavillion stitch. Separating and plying the thread takes a bit of time and laying each stitch does too, but it is definitely worth the shine and the look of textured paper.

Segment Two

The second segment from the right is complete. I worked the Waffle Stitch with a single strand of DMC Perle Cotton and pulled the stitches to create the lacy effect. I then started the Diamond Pavillion stitch with the six strands of floss at the top of segment three.
Thanks for all the great comments on this piece and I will pass them on to my friend when she returns from her travels.
And, Otto is very pleased you all think he is wonderful.....even if DH still calls it a goat!

Fan update

I hope you had a nice holiday weekend! Tonight I worked on Lady Carolyn's fan and completed the Pavillion stitches i the second segment. I also started at the top opening of that same blade and began working a Waffle pulled stitch to create the lacy background. The pattern called for a Honeycomb stitch and I worked some of it but felt the design was too large for the small area so I switched to the Waffle that the designer called for in a couple of the other blades. I will see if I like this one better as I work along.

Back to the rotation

An added comment from the Roses and Tassel piece. The beads on the tassel were stitched on and the crystal water drops are not the hot fix as I could not find that size at my store. They are ........gasp.....glued on with Ailene's Quick Dry! LOL

And then tonight I worked on the second section some more on the Diamond Pavilion stitch. Just a few more to go and the handle section will be complete. I am working with six strands of floss and laying each stitch. This is going fairly quick and I love doing this stitch anyway!

Blade Two

First I finished the lavender on the roses by adding more French knots on top of the Sapphire using Hyacinth overdyed to create some variations in the lavender. I then started working the Pavillion stitch at the top of the blade working down with fives strands of DMC floss in 926. Since I did a lot of French knots last night and Pavillions on Monet's Garden, these almost stitched themselves!

Lady Carolyn's Fan

I worked on Lady Carolyn's Fan tonight. I put in the French knots on a stick and regular ones in the center of the roses. I then worked on the French knots that comprise the lavender accents on the side. I did finish both centers but not all the lavenders. Do we notice a trend here? I promise not to work on French knots tomorrow! Sorry there isn't a picture, but there will be tomorrow night!

Roses for Lady Carolyn

I worked on the Wild roses in the next two segments of the fan. First white Splendor is put in with Long and Short stitches. Then Ambrosia Waterlilies for the centers. I also started the leaves with more of the Spruce Waterlilies in the left segment. All of these are done using two strands of each fiber. Coming right along and quickly makes me wonder why I haven't finished this before now? LOL

Up to speed

Lady Carolyn's Fan tonight: As you can see, I spent time tonight working on the violets in the center segment of the fan. The flower petals are worked with two strands of Waterlilies Hyacinth using long stitches to create the petals and then adding three single strand stitches in the center of each middle petal for highlights. The stems are backstitched and then whipped stitched using either Waterlilies Spruce or Medici Wool in Moss Green. The leaves are just straight stitches.



Lady Carolyn's Fan before (don't ask, it was a really loooonnnnng time ago): Each of the five segments of the fan were outlined in Double Chain Stitch and then wrapped giving the appearance of a raised cord using #8 Kreinik. Then each of the oval areas for the flowers was stitched in the same way leaving space for each bouquet of flowers that are being added. The half moon shapes were then stitched the same way. The Pavillion stitch fills the "foot print "and gives the appearance of the pierced paper using 6 strands of floss. Beads will added later. The little "foot print" and the half moon shapes are filled in with Alisha Lace to give the appearance of pierced paper and is worked with Anchor pearl #12 and DMC metallic thread. The background surrounding the fan is worked in Cresto DOro for the first step of the Back Stitch Diagonal weave, and the second step of the fill was worked in white #8 pearl cotton.

Final addition

This is Lady Carolyn's fan and was designed and taught by a friend of mine. I stitched the piece along with helping her with the class she was teaching at the time. It is a gorgeous fan and I do have quite a bit done, but never finished it. So, it was it's turn. I am working on finishing the ovals and as you can see they will contain flowers. I will go back and give you all the stitches and threads next Monday, but tonight I just felt like doing the stitching. I have the two outside ovals to finish but this goes quickly.