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Mary Corbet

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I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Wool Embroidery Project: Perspective is Everything!

 

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The Pomegranate Corners wool embroidery project is coming along – errr. Well, it’s back to where it was a while ago, with the top bunch of leaves in…

Wool Embroidery Project: Pomegranate Corners

You might think it’s not coming along at all, it’s going so slowly. And I might be tempted to think that it’s actually going backwards, it’s going so slowly.

But see, it’s all a matter of perspective. Any forward movement is forward movement, says I. Occasionally, slowing down or even stepping backwards is necessary, but as long as eventually we go forward again, then all is well.

And along those lines, I’ve convinced myself that I’m making fantastic progress on this project!

Wool Embroidery Project: Pomegranate Corners

Incidentally, this is the angle I saw the leaves as I stitched them. They look better from this angle.

See! Perspective is everything!

 
 

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(17) Comments

  1. Ok, Ok. I’m beating all the grammarians to the punch!

    For those of you who get the post via feed or email newsletter, I just have to say —- I corrected the grammatical error in the second to the last sentence right after I hit publish! But the feed had already picked it up!

    Originally, the sentence read “angle at which I’ve been seeing…” Honestly, I wouldn’t say “I’ve saw” …. honestly!!!!

    🙂

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  2. Fret not Mary. The feeds also adapt to the new input, so your type didn’t show when I just read it in Google Reader.=)

    Yup, *ANY* progress, however slow, IS progress. I have to keep reminding myself of that too with my current WIPs. Actually, I’d rather read just now so…..

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    1. Hi, All! Thanks for your comments!

      Ahhhh – Reading – Elizabeth, it’s been a while since I’ve read just for pleasure. I’ve been compiling a “vacation” reading list for the next break… can’t wait! Glad your feedreader didn’t pick it up!

      Jayashree – thanks very much. It’s coming along… only 103 more leaves to go!

      Mary – what are you doing for the “filled” area on the pomegranates, where the red wool is in mine? You mentioned that you are outlining, but have you filled the area? If you filled it with red silk and outlined it, I’d probably do some tiny chipwork in the gaps. I was going to use seed stitch and fill those areas, but I tried it out and didn’t like it, so I’m not quite sure yet! Looking forward to the photo!

      Heather – Yes, the turtle and the hare. I’m rather hare-y these days!

      MC

  3. Hi Mary! What are you planning on doing with the spaces in the pomegranate? I’m a bit stuck on that right now. I plan on outlining the pom and circles with goldwork, but I can’t figure out what do about filling those gaps. I’m going to be finished with ALL the leaves on that corner today then will send you a pic.

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  4. Mary, “Slow but sure get’s there before” right? The turtle and the hare. It’s beautiful, don’t get discouraged, you’ll hit your groove with it and it will take off. When it’s finished you will be glad you didn’t “rush it”. It’s beautiful BTW.

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  5. For the filled areas, I have done them in satin stitch, with the circles as padded satin stitch. I did a row of stem stitch in the open areas in the pom, just to see what it would look like. I don’t have any purl for chips right now, so I was thinking about doing some ornate filling, possibly alternating silk with a thin gold. Once I finish the leaves today, I may play with it a bit and see what looks good.

    Don’t worry about going slow – I plowed through what I’ve done and wish I would have slowed down and thought it out a bit more. I’m fretting about imperfections too, especially after seeing how good your pom came out 🙂 I have a list of mistakes I won’t be making on the next project! And I’m going to limit it to just one corner I think, at least for this one. Its funny – I sort of wish I’d have gone with wool instead of silk.

    Mary

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    1. Ahhh – The irony is, I wish I had gone with silk and gold! I’m going to adjust the design so that it isn’t just a “corner” pattern, and work it in silk and gold, I think. I’m pretty sure at this point, given other things I have lined up that I have to do, I will finish one corner for now and move on to a few other items on the menu. If I set the goal at one corner, then I think I will enjoy the one corner a whole lot more. And who knows? Maybe when I finish it, I’ll like it so much that I’ll move on to the others anyway. I like the idea of alternating with silk and a thin gold. Just a suggestion – start in the middle of the gap, not on the edge, and work outwards. Hey, I might do the same thing, only in wool – a strip effect in there, in dark and lighter red. What do you think? I’ll try it out, too! Good luck on the leaves today! ~MC

  6. I have also decided to just do one corner – it was really overwhelming me due to some technical issues with my transfer technique. I need to think through how to do that – I had already done most of the inner borders so I’ll need to add to it and think about how to frame it. I love your idea – it was either going to be alternating gold and silk, or doing some tiny scrollwork in the areas with passing thread. I had also thought of trying whipped stem stitch in that area, though I’ve never tried it with silk and gold. I have a ton of passing thread, so it might be worth experimenting. I really need to stop being a perfectionist and just send you a picture – I keep trying to fix and cover mistakes 😛 I can see how it should look in my head and I’m trying to get it to a place I’m proud of showing it.

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  7. Your work is so inspiring and I love all the information and photos you provide. I’m a subscriber so I don’t miss a thing but although I read every post, I don’t often take time to comment. Thank you for all your wonderful posts! I don’t want to miss a thing.

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  8. Taking out stitches isn’t going backwards and it isn’t wasteful. It’s an *investment* of time and effort and love in the piece, and that will yield higher dividends in the end.

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  9. Mary C … What you have done so far looks beautiful no matter how long it took.
    It is fun to follow your stitching adventures!

    At first glance when one looks at the whole design it may not look like a large project, but it really is when all the planning is added.

    I believe if the first corner is finished you have answered a lot of questions and may give you the inspiration to keep on going and all the other corners would be that much easier.

    Even though nowadays I work on smaller projects mostly, I try not to care about how fast it’s getting done just enjoying the process and be in the moment.
    If I find that my inspiration is gone or major “indecision” sets in I just set it aside temporarily or maybe even for good and move on.

    I was taught to “finish what I have started” and I am pretty stubborn to do just that most of the time, but life is too short and there are too many stitches we would like to do.

    At the same time it would be lovely to see a finished piece and see how it turned out 🙂

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  10. The difference in angle really makes a lot of difference! I guess that’s something else to remember to check – how does it look from where it will be seen?

    I hate it when I’ve started writing something and my brain just takes off on a different way of wording the sentence.

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