Christmas Angel Finished
So here we are. All the gold canvaswork completed, the Angel outlined in different weights of thread, given tightly curled hair in French Knots, and now ready for however I work out how to mount her and turn her into something pleasing, and useful to decorate the house next Christmas.
I haven’t given the Angel a face, and I don’t think I will. It’s distressingly easy for “sweet” or “joyful” to become “disturbingly weird” with faces, especially when there is so little space, and relatively few stitches to manoevre with. If I experience an inspiration, I’ll reconsider, at least until I’ve mounted her. At the moment I’m looking for a sufficiently tall and wide cardboard tube that I can cut in half. Alternatively, I need to be very clever indeed about my card engineering…
It really only took as long as it did – it was begun in 2015 – largely because there was a lot of background, and it was remarkably tricky to find a rhythm to the pattern. Once I did so, it became much easier, and fairly romped away. Before that time, it spent a considerable period hidden away because – not having found the rhythm – it just made me grumpy to look at it!
Congratulations! It must feel so nice to have completed the angel, well ahead of Christmas. I am sure you will find a good solution to how to mount the embroidery.
I also think you should leave out the face – why not let the onlooker imagine it?
I’d definitely go without a face. The tiniest change in placing or size of features can ruin the whole thing – I remember how I sweated about adding the Baby Leaf-Tailed Dragon’s eye! It looks lovely and the background is beautifully subtle. So glad you finally found that rhythm!
She’s lovely Rachel. I understand what you mean about how the face can go from sweet to strange with just a thread or two difference in placement; no face is certainly a safe option. I like the pattern of the background but it does look like one you’d need your rhythm for to have it go smoothly and feel comfortable in the stitching. I expect you will feel some good satisfaction when she finds her spot in the Christmas decorating scheme.
Beautiful design and amazing work on the background. Intrigued to see the complete finish.
Congratulations! I’m so glad you found your rhythm–she’s lovely!
The Angel does look good – the hair is right and it is fine without features. I am sure it will become a much loved annual visitor to your home.
Good luck with the tube-hunting. Will this be an excuse to eat Pringles or Cornish Fairings? (My Cornish Fairings tube has held my set of Studio pencils safely for over 30 years. The plastic lid has recently expired, but the cardboard tube and its metal base is still as good as ever.)
Congratulations. It is a great feeling when you get one of these Long Projects out of the way.