mirabilia 2006 cherub

Very, very pretty.

I also noticed that when you stitched Miss Mary Mack, you stitched that whole button border. You have my admiration for doing that. I took the easy way out.

She came out great!

Cheryl

Cheryl Isaak ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

Yes, really nice Sue.

Hi Sue, I lurk here from time to time. I love the pictures of your work and had to tell you that I especially like the way you have finished two of the items with cord. I have not seen that before and love the idea.

Thanks for sharing, Betty Ann Azbill Consultant #477071 Independent Consultant for The Pampered Chef® 229-395-5562

Thank you all! I always do finish my ornaments with twisted cord, and have lately started doing some slightly larger pieces the same way to avoid the expense of framing. Thank goodness for the mini-twister!

And I use cords in other ways, too...right now I'm wearing a lovely silver pendant that DD gave me as a gift. Rather than buying a chain, I bought three or four skeins of rayon floss to make a cord, and voila! (A friend later put a silver clasp on the back.) I get compliments all the time on it, and I think, "Yeah, $3 and 5 minutes...." Also did a cord like that for wearing my Clover thread-cutter pendant.

Sue

Your cherub is lovely. She must have been fun to do.

Another good use for cord is to finish the edge of a bellpull. I have also attached a tassel to the point at the bottom that I made from the same floss. It looks very nice done that way.

Lucille

That is very nce work indeed. I like the twisted cord as well. Would you care to share how that is done? Is the fabric stretched on a piece of foam core first? Then the cord pinned/glued to the edges?

Is the hanging loop a part of the framing cord or an addtional piece? Lots and lots of questions :^}

I can see myself doing that. After I had completed a small silk flower kit, I took one each of the four colors of floss and stitched a oval around the flower to take the place of a mat. Looked great in the tiny square (cheap) frame I found, but I think this would have been better.

Barbara T

This month in Elephant Butte NM, USA

Thanks for asking. Here's how I do my ornaments:

1.) Stitch design for front and choose appropriate fabric for back.

2.) Cut TWO pieces of acid-free matboard to the finished size.

3.) Cut TWO pieces of batting just slightly larger (1/4"-3/8" all around) than mat board.

4.) Cut front and back fabric about 1"-1.5" (on all sides) larger than mat board.

5.) Optional: line the linen front (and the backing) with gold or silver tissue lame. (The sparkles can be seen slightly through the backing fabric and give a nice "glow" to the finished ornament). If you choose to do this, zigzag with sewing machine around the linen and lame, joining them in one piece.

6.) Lace the front over one piece of matboard, placing batting between mat and fabric (being careful to center design!). Lace the backing over another piece of matboard, again with batting between matboard and fabric. (that's for rectangular ornaments. For circular/oval ones, gather around edge with long basting stitches, pull up around matboard and batting, then lace gathered piece on the back.)

7.) Put the two pieces of matboard back-to-back and stitch together all the way around. (I stitch tiny stitches all the way around in one direction, then come back in the other direction to "cross" the first stitch. Leave a 1" or so "gap" where you'll put the hanger part of the cord. (center top for single hanger, on the side - one or both - for hanger that attaches there.)

8.) Make a cord with 3-6 skeins of DMC, depending on heaviness desired. I usually find that using two adjacent shades of colors - for example,

814 and 815 - give "depth" to the color of the cord.

9.)Push the end of the cord down into the hole you left (in the case of Mirabilia cherub, center top). (You may need to use your embroidery scissors to push it into the hole). Start stitching cord around edge (whipstitch), hiding stitches in the "twist" of the cord.

10.) When you get all the way around, you can either "loop" the cord and insert the end into the "gap" left, then sew it all together, or you can make a fancy knot at the center, and bury the loose end inside the gap. Depends on what effect you want it to have.

Hope that's clear. If not, ask and I'll try to clarify!

Sue

I stitched a couple Marbek angels on fabric with metallic gold woven in. By stitching with 2 strands instead of 3, a bit of the metallic gold sparkles through the stitching, giving the angels a nice otherworldly glow. You may want to try that option, too.

I know Nordic Needle had been selling some of the sparkly fabrics, if you need a source.

I've stitched with that fabric, too. But I use lining partly because I don't want to see batting behind the fabric, and sometimes when you look closely you can see what's behind the fabric. It just gives it a more "finished" look.

And the lame is very subtle - think 25% max. of the "sparkle factor" of the linen with metallic woven in.

Sue

OK - call me stupid, but I've totally lost the "where is RCTNP" location ability. Can you tell me, please, again???

I like that - Angel of Bling. Cute. And you just don't seem so bling-eee.

ellice

It's a yahoo group. here's the home page:

that does the trick!sue

Thanks, that's what I thought .

ellice

Thank you Sue

Yes you are as clear as text without pictures can be! I am going to save this in my own reference collection. There is more than I had thought. I hadn't a clue that you had dealt with covering the back as well.

When I finished Superstition Mountains I took the hint to put a same colored cloth underneath before stretching it on backing. It did really make it look nicer, so the lame' idea will be a winner as well.

Hmmm wonder if a US Army seal woul look good with olive drab and brown twisted cord. Have to show DH and have a consultation.

Barbara T