Back to The Flower Cuff with Orna Willis. Our second and final class was yesterday on Saturday. When last I posted about this, it was all stitched and beads within the design had been stitched. I neglected to mention that this is now the second teacher who recommends matching the beading thread to the canvas rather than the bead. Luckily, I had a tan in my stash. What do you do?
As Orna instructed, I trimmed the canvas excess, folded the edges leaving 2 canvas threads, mitered the corners (which I didn’t do for the recent EGA piece I finished). Then, I whip stitched the edges using a long enough thread to just need 2 lengths. Orna gave a tip for turning the corner which I have diagrammed.
And, since I will hang it, I attached a loop using Kreinik #16 Braid. I don’t like making cord from threads even though I have the tool. It looks ok to me!
Next was the edge of Delica beads which worked up easily and looks fantastic! I love how they form little triangles. Orna showed us another step to make it more fringle-like.
Orna also demonstrated how to make an edge of bullions using Neon Rays (her favorite thread). I gave it a try and it turned out nicely.
That left attaching the backing which I started during class. I love ultrasuede. It was getting pulled askew as I was stitching. I told Orna what was happening and once she suggested pinning it in place, I got whipping right along (whip stitch again; pun intended). The hardest part was cutting the last long side straight. And, here is the back done.
During the 3-hour class while we stitched, Orna pulled different colorways from her studio. Beautiful combinations. Thanks Orna for a great class and wonderful piece.
It’s been fun stitching the Flower Cuff by Orna Willis. Her color selections are fascinating to me. They aren’t ones that I would select on my own but I love how they work together.
This weekend, the design area grew by an inch on both ends repeating a previous motif of petals and a Jessica. I used darker portions of the green overdyed DMC floss for the background and stayed with the lighter portions for the gobelin rows.
My French Knots inside the Jessica are very small and tightly packed together. I felt the blue ones were my best. They called for 3 strands while the center flower used 6 strands. I like the contrast that provided. As with anything, the French Knots improved with practice.
The construction of the piece is next. I’m not going to make it into a bracelet though. I don’t wear them or a watch. So, I will make a flat ornament for hanging. Wait till you see where more Delica beads go!
I didn’t work on this since last Saturday’s class with Orna Willis and EGA’s Mid-Atlantic Region members. Between this Saturday’s Stitch-in with members of my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter, baseball, and football this weekend, I got a lot done.
I followed fellow classmate, Donna’s, idea to place the dark blue overdyed thread in opposite corners. I selected the yellow for the center basketweave stitch since there was enough pink there already. And, I selected the lighter portions of the green overdyed for the 2 rows of Gobelin over 2, the darker portions for the outer row of Gobelin over 2, and the medium portions for the basketweave in between.
Because it called for 3 strands of DMC floss for the reverse basketweave area (yellow and pink overdyed thread), I was able to use 3 strands in the bottom area working left to right. Using the other 3 strands, I worked the top area working from opposite corners. As I needed another thread, I continued with the next color of the skein to maintain the rhythm of color flow of the overdyed thread and used 3 strands in each area to mirror the effect.
This is 2″ wide and 5″ long. There is 1″ more to add on each end and French Knots to add and some beads.
I would have attended the Embroiderer’s Guild of America (EGA) Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) meeting in person in Wilmington, DE this month. But, it was canceled due to coronavirus, what didn’t!
But, Orna Willis agreed to hold the class through Zoom in 2 parts. The Flower Cuff measures 2″ wide and however long each person needs to make a comfortable fitting bracelet. I don’t wear bracelets or a watch. Can’t stand them or necklaces. So, why am I doing this? I really wanted to experience an EGA MAR event and Orna’s pieces are such fun colors and she’s teaching how to finish this ourselves. Instead of finishing as a bracelet, I will finish as a flat ornament for a small wall hanging.
Look at the lovely threads! It’s interesting that the threads are numbered 1 through 7 and instructions are written up by number of thread. It looks like 3 Neon Ray’s (ribbon) and 4 DMC overdyed threads. Wait until you see what I do with the beads.
I am in Wells, ME for the week and luckily the office of our timeshare had a small ironing board and iron. I needed to iron the Neon Ray’s. And, I didn’t think to bring my curling iron. Here’s my set up! Great light coming in the window (no need for either the battery or plugged in lights that I brought). I got a head start on class in order to figure out how long the threads should be before cutting. Signing in now.
We practiced French Knots. Mine got better as I moved left.
We went over all the diagrams but I couldn’t stitch and listen and or watch. Orna demonstrated several stitches using a pre-recorded video. So, here’s what I got done in class. But, I will easily be ready for the second class in a month from now.
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