Maniturgium Update

Happy Monday, and finally, a project update! I’m writing this on Monday, May 18th, and if all goes as planned, when you read it on Monday, May 25th, I will be mostly recovered from last week’s tendon-release surgery on my right thumb and stitching again. That’s my hope while I’m writing this.

I leave tomorrow (May 19th) for the procedure down in Oklahoma City, and I am determined to queue up enough blog posts to get me through ten days of recovery without having to type for extended periods of time.

In the spirit of the best laid schemes of mice and men, I have not finished this maniturgium project as of Monday, May 18th at 9:00 AM. I sorely wanted to, but “sorely” is the operative word. I’ve been working on it in every spare moment at home, but my hand just can’t keep up the pace.

I’ll show you how far I got on the project before surgery, and I’ll show you my stitching set-up at home. It’s worked pretty well so far. At the end of this article, there’s a chronological list of all the previous articles on this project, too, in case you want to learn more about it.

When last we visited this project, I still had the U and the M to stitch on the lettering.

Without a lot of time to work in the studio, I transported the whole project home, along with frames, hoops, tools, threads and possible threads, a table top stand to hold my frame or hoop while stitching, a light, a stand magnifier… all the stuff that I didn’t really want to take home, because I don’t have a lot of room for a dedicated stitching area at home, but I couldn’t finish the project without all of the above.

After I finished U and M, I had to go back to Duc…

…because I didn’t have the “glints” or “drips” in the blue shading on these letters. I wrote about this approach here, when I tested the concept and liked it.

I had to return to “Duc” and work those stitches in.

The difficulty with going back on something like this is that you risk losing uniformity in the stitching or technique, and I know I definitely did. These “glints” or drips are larger or smaller on some letters compared to others. In the whole scheme of the piece, is it noticeable? I don’t think so – not enough to be troubled by it.

Once I finished “Duc” (the drops and outlining with the silver, which I wrote about here), I worked the cross in the center of the lettering.

I regret the design choice I made on this cross. It caused me problems. I didn’t get the transfer just right on it, so I had to do some touch ups with pencil right before stitching. And then I realized I really didn’t have a choice – I had to cover a complete framed outline around the cross itself, to cover up the mistake I made on the transfer.

I wish I had just designed a very simple cross with no frame or outline around it.

C’est la vie!

Also, I chose a medium blue for the cross and decided to stitch it solid. The cross, then, is long and short stitch in one shade (a medium) of the blue silks I used. I wish I had chosen the darkest or the second-to-darkest shade. But… c’est la vie! There’s no changing it now!

To frame the cross (and cover up the transfer error), I worked a couched silver outline along the outermost design line using two silver wires, and then I filled in the rest of the frame area with one strand of the lightest blue silk in stem stitch.

I wanted the “frame” to be not-so-noticeable, because it would fatten the cross too much. I think I achieved that, but I do regret that whole design decision of the “frame” around the cross. I would have preferred a darker solid blue cross with a simple outline of silver right around its edge.

Here’s the finished lettering and cross.

Did the “deep water” plan come across? I think so. Could I have done some things differently? Yes. Do I dislike it? No. I like it pretty well – which is better than not liking it at all! LOL!

I do love the colors of blue…

But then… there’s my fish. My not-so-biblical biblical fish.

Originally, I had visions of making this fishy fellow into a mosaic-looking fish, like an old Roman mosaic.

But as time wore on and the deadline loomed and the hand got worse, I just couldn’t take the time to plan that out and get my head around how to turn this small of an fish into a mosaic made with embroidery.

So I pulled threads (specifically, Soie de Paris for the fish, because I want him to be a bit shiny) and started stitching, and so far, this is what I’ve ended up with.

“Rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim…” kept coming to mind as I embroidered the fish. I may have to play up those little dotted bits, by adding in some of the darker coral – just a touch – to enhance them and make them more visible.

The fish took a gazillion years longer than I wanted him to. Stitching with Soie de Paris can be frustrating, and even more so when you’re working with multiple threads in the needle at once.

If you’re not familiar with Soie de Paris, I talk about it in several articles on the website, but perhaps these articles on working with filament silk would be the most informative:

Working with Soie de Paris

Silk Hand Embroidery Thread 101: Twisted Filament Silk

Here he is again, with some of the lettering in the background.

It’s a good thing he’s such a stylized fish, because there is no explanation otherwise for the way he’s stitched. It makes no sense in the fish world!

Still, I kinda like him!

I can’t wait to finish his eye and the rest of his head. I think I will add a glint to that eye.

Here, you can see him a bit better in context with the lettering. He is quite a distance from the lettering – the cloth itself is a strip about 40″ long and 3″ wide when finished. The cross is in the center of the strip, with the words spaced equally on each side of it. And then down at the ends of the strip, there’s a fish on each side.

In retrospect, I wish I had put a little more design into the ends of the strip. I would have liked to adorn the fish area with waves or something. Or maybe I should have made the fish a bit more symbolic and had them hugging a cross or a cross & anchor.

Alas… time, time, time, time, time!

This is my stitching set-up at home for this project. I have a small “standing desk” (I can raise it and stand, or lower it and sit) in front of the west-facing window in my very small (8.5′ x 10′) guest closet room. When I sit on that stool, my back is literally against the twin bed, which is, in turn, against the opposite wall. So it’s a cozy little space, but it has good light and at least it’s a space!

I have a fish and a half to finish, and the maniturgium will be done. Then, it’s just a matter of damp stretching, then sewing up (like a long tube), and delivering.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Previous Articles on this Project

If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning, here are all the articles about it, listed in chronological order:

Books, Fish, & News – first mention of the project and discussion of design ideas

Doodling & Designing

Battling the Indecision of Decision Making – settling on colors, etc.

“Duc” is Done & Deep

Drippy Water on Embroidered Lettering

Adding a Touch of Silver

UM – it’s All That’s Left (on the lettering)