Peace Angel | ||||||||||||||
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A gal from a local stitching group had done an entire miniature quilt in redwork (except that she did it all in a pretty blue instead of red). It was magnificent. Then I got inspired by Celeste (an stitcher I know online) who has a real affinity for surface embroidery. She does gorgeous work! Seeing how lovely surface embroidery can be, I was encouraged to give it a try again. Besides, this is my "Year of the Ornament," and this kit fit the criteria. So I dug out the Redwork Angel kit and gave it a try. I actually was introduced to this art form by my mom who taught me surface embroidery when I was a child. I didn't pick up counted thread work until I was older. So I was surprised to find that reaching back into my surface embroidery past was very relaxing and fulfilling. Besides that, as an adult my stitches are much more even than they were when I was a child. I thoroughly enjoyed making this sweet angel. The more I stitched, the more personality she gained. After I finished her as a basic padded ornament, I decided to try something new. I was recently introduced to the idea of finishing the edge of an ornament with beads rather than with twisted cord. Because these sparkley red Rocailles beads are uneven in size, I strung some them onto some fine wire (rather than sewing them in place individually). I tucked one end of the wire into the top of the ornament, then couched the beads to cover the side seam. After the beads were added, I tucked the other end of the wire into the top of the ornament. It's a little hard to tell from this photo, but the beads add a very glimmery halo to the angel. As an aside, when you make a basic padded ornament in an unusual shape like this, it's important to clip the curves a lot so they lie smoothly as you lace the embroidery to the cardboard. It was pretty tricky getting all the wrinkles out of the curves. The beaded edge helped to hide the imperfections.
Leisure Arts, Inc.
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