colouring-in | debbidipity

I finished stitching the entrance section and added some detail to the sentry boxes, and then stitched the draw bridge in a variegated thread to mimic the planking effect. The chain was done in Quaker stitch with French knots at the top.

The door had some detail added. I did the little sign at the bottom in satin stitch, and added my initials logo. I do try to remember to sign my work.

I did the petals of the flowers in organza to make them a little more 3D……

……. with french knots in the centres. The stitching is all finished, but how to frame and mount it? I wasn’t happy with the fraying edges, but didn’t want to cut it out and lose the remaining black outline. I did want to use a matching white Ikea frame, like I used for my “Blue work castle.” A couple of weeks later I woke up with the idea of painting a background, not quite sure how it would work , but only one way to find out.

I marked the size of the frame on a fairly heavy watercolour paper, and traced the castle outline in pencil.

I really only intended to put in a sky, but added some tree shapes in indigo on either side.

When it was all completely dry, I carefully cut out on the pencil lines.

Then took the stitching off the frame…..

….. and laid the paper over the top.

I cut it to size, and laced the fabric over mount board before putting it in the frame.

I put the odd touch of glue on the paper between the turrets. It needs a few tiny tweaks before it’s ready to hang with its companion piece. There’s a huge contrast between the two pieces, the precision and detail of the traditional stitching and the naviety of the felted / colouring-in piece. They both bring back happy memories of visiting Neuschwanstein with our lovely German friends many years ago.

This is the piece of Ikea fabric (with holes where the members of the group have taken the bit that most appealed to them). It was a great idea of Alex’s to start the term with some simple stitching, to get us back into the swing of things. As I wrote last week, it was difficult to choose, as so many of the motifs are very appealing. I’m seeing more as I look at the photo!

But I’m very happy with my castle choice. I scanned last week’s work, so that I could cut it to make pattern pieces for the towers and castellated entrance in felt.

I decided to use different shades of blue……

……..for each pair of turrets and towers. This proved a bit tricky as I don’t have much blue in my stash. Some were only just big enough, but to make progess I wanted it immediately. I cut out the window areas as I wanted to use organza for them, and use reverse appliqué to attach them all down.

On my search for felt, I found this very sparkly sheer fabric that worked much better than the organza that I had in mind. It frays badly, so care is needed not to handle it too much.

I tacked a slightly bigger piece to the printed piece, then put the felt on top.

I used black perlé for the leaded window effect. I was thinking about blanket stitch to attach the felt, but it didn’t seem quite right. Alex suggested stab stitches. Perfect, and doing them in different sizes gives the appearance of brickwork.