Friday, July 19, 2024

Mona Lisa

The other day, I realized the girl and bunny piece I've been working on will be the first nothing-but-stitches I've done.  My mother, on the other hand, did a lot of them, including
SOLID STITCHING.  No fabric showing.  It's very likely that this piece has been mentioned here before, and may be again, but I often look up at it and shake my head.  That's how she was: the more complicated and detailed, the better.  The first piece she ever did was of a cottage surrounded by a large garden on 22-count fabric.  Who chooses 22 on purpose?  For the first time you try something ?  And I can promise you that the backs of all her pieces were as neat as a pin.

Me, I got the courage to try to de-grid my fox.  (In our old and oft-used 13x9x2 pan.)  Here is the beginning:
My trepidation made me think of what knitters must feel when steeking for the first time.

An hour in:
It's working!  But is all the "melting" color going to leave stains?

Forty-five minutes more, and
it's clean and clear!  Amazing.  I have gone back today and rinsed out this colors on the edge.  This is bound for framing, and needs to be blank all the way around.  I have hope for the same result with the aforementioned girl and bunny.


2 comments:

Kim in Oregon said...

Hooray! It looks terrific!

Araignee said...

The first project I ever attempted was an entire fill project of that unicorn in the garden tapestry thing that's so famous. There were 50 pages of chart. I got about an inch in and said the heck with it. Your mother's Mona Lisa is spectacular. Sometimes I watch people do those entire fill projects on Tik Tok and I don't know how they do it. Their brains must work differently than mine.
Your fox is just adorable and I'm so happy to hear that the grid washes out. I hope mines does too when the time comes.