Well, it's been another long gap. I blame the glorious weather, we don't get so much that we can afford to stay in doors when the sun does eventually shine.
To Durham yesterday. It was good to see Pippa's Baldishol tapestry (Saves9) in the flesh. It looks even better than the photographs, much more vivid and textured. Nice to see you Pippa!
I made good progress with the feathers on the head and Tracy came up with a solution for all the spots on the head. So it's just a last big push this week and next to get this piece ready for assessment.
The neck/throat is a tricky bit. There are feathers going in all sorts of directions and so close attention to a good photograph is absolutely essential. I looked at the beak again and calmed it down a bit with some grey and I think that it looks better. The last push is to do a very spotty head and the final join to the neck. Right now there are a few tentative stitches in on the left of the neck, but lets see what happens. Overall I think that he is handsome, but then - I am biased.
The local fish feel threatened now! I have to admit that I don't like that beak and just may take it out. But it's the old thing, you don't know until you try. it also may look different when the beak is a bit more attached to the body. I really hadn't realised how disproportionately HUGE a kingfisher's beak is.
There is just a tiny patch of wing to finish and then onto the head.
It is a really bad idea to leave a piece of work for several weeks without touching it! It has taken a long time to get my eyes re-tuned in to the colours I am using.
Tracy helped me to get the curve on the wing yesterday and I am really pleased with how it looks. Blending the colours and the stitch direction from the wing to the body will require a fair bit of stitching and unstitching I think.
Anyway, I head back to Durham tomorrow, so I had better get some more stitching done.
We are off to Scotland for a few weeks, so this is a record of how the kingfisher looks before we leave. Actually I'm a bit phased by the prospect of blending the wing to the back, so I have stalled a bit. I will gather courage whilst away and move on up the body a bit before my next trip to Durham.
I hope that you like the photograph. It's definitely better I think.
Well they do! In some areas every feather has a spot of turquoise/blue and, right now, that's what I am working on. I really like this bit, the feathers have definition and spots are fun. Still, I'm running out of time and will need some more time with Tracy to get this finished.
Well, I was full of despair, but Tracy managed to transform my ruffled feathers! How does she do it with half a dozen well placed stitches? So I am back on track and now starting all the small feathers with vivid spots in the middle. I have a busy few weeks before going off to Scotland for four weeks, so what doesn't get done in the next week or so will have to wait. I hate breaking off in the middle of things but there really is no choice - a slate frame is a frightening bit of kit to move about.
It was one of those days. Every stitch went in and out several times - and still it was wrong! Now the dilemma is whether to take out the last 3 feathers and try yet again, or to hope for Tracy's "magic stitches". I'm off away for the weekend so I will see what it looks like when I get back.
Another day with Tracy working on those feathers! Trying to make them look separate and layered is difficult - double split stitch and careful colouring make a difference I think. Anyway I have loads more to do before I go back to Durham. I may be a bit feathered out within two weeks.
