Sunday, July 10, 2011

May I Present The Queen!



Yesterday was all about The Queen. I had been waiting for a day like yesterday to come along so that I could devote myself to finishing Her Majesty. Placing the ribbons on the sleeves was the major piece of the puzzle to be finished. The Gloriana ribbon in Autumn Gold was a beautiful choice by Amy. The shading from light to deep gold is perfect. The ribbon actually has a much deeper shade which I chose not to use. It was as simple as just cutting out the shading that I didn't want.

After finishing the sleeves, the next step was to add the "pearls and amethysts" to her hair comb. She also is wearing a beautiful "emerald" drop earring. Her ruffled collar prevented adding the earring for her other ear. I kept looking back at the color copy I made of the canvas before I started stitching just to check the collar placement. It really is painted as high as it appears with my ruffled ribbon. I'm happy that I added the ruffled ribbon and didn't just stitch the collar. The ribbon adds such dimension and is so "over the top" which is in perfect keeping with the rest of the canvas. The last embellishment I added was the set of false eyelashes - the icing on the cake!


I thoroughly enjoyed working on this canvas! It is a wonderful design by Melissa Shirley and Amy Bunger worked her magic with a fabulous stitch guide. Two very talented ladies for sure! The next step in this journey is to come up with the perfect framing suitable for a Queen. There's nothing subtle about this lady and I think she lives up to her inclusion in Melissa's "Wild Women" series.

I took a little break from the blog last week while I was in Jacksonville for the July 4th holiday weekend.  On my way in to Jacksonville on Friday, I stopped at Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island and visited with Michele at The Bristly Thistle. I was hoping to see the progress she had made on Kelly Clark's Noah's Ark and I was delighted to see that she has almost finished it. She has done a beautiful job with all the stitch and thread choices. It is quite a big project and I didn't realize how many separate canvas pieces make up the ark.  She hasn't photographed it recently for her blog but keep checking back because she may have some exciting news to share about this project.

I took the opportunity while there for a little stash enhancement. A few weeks ago I had ordered from Amy's one of Kelly Clark's Heritage Ornaments - the August Peridot. Michele had several in this series as well so I purchased the April and July ornaments.


This is a lovely series with stitch guides written by Gina Liuzzi of A Stitch in Time. I am working on the August ornament and it works up very quickly. I had better get started on the other two as finishing deadlines for Christmas projects are looming.

While I was in Jacksonville, I had some help with stitching the August ornament. Elvis, Andrew and Anna's youngest cat, was extremely interested in my stitching. That lime green Kreinik braid was just too much of a temptation!


I'll leave you with my recent progress on Laura J. Perin's Peony Collage. I love this project and enjoy the changes in color that come with using the Watercolors thread. I'm looking forward to Laura's cyber class that starts in a couple of weeks.


Hope you all have a great week!

10 comments:

  1. Her Royal Highness looks great! Sounds like you have had a fun time with her. Now I can't wait to see her framed up and in all her glory.

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  2. OMG! she is amazing! you did an absolutely wonderful job with her. You should be so proud of yourself. Hope you will share a picture after she is framed. Thank you

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  3. Melinda, she's GORGEOUS. Everything about her is wonderful. (I'm trying to curtsy but I've got a kink in my back this morning... LOL.)

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  4. Hi Melinda,

    The Queen is magnificent. You did a beautiful job stitching her. The collar is spectacular. This is truly a work of art. You should be very proud.
    Linda

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  5. Hi Melinda

    What a wonderful week you have had. The Royal Highness is truly quite "Royal" She is just stunning and can't wait to see her framed. Have enjoyed watching her come to life. As always, Melissa and Amy created a masterpiece once again

    Sue V

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  6. The Queen is regal Melinda, I love the ruffled collar, you did a great job with the whole piece. A fantastic addition tonthe Wild Womenl
    Sheena

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  7. How appropriate with Prince William and his beautiful bride, Catherine, visiting that you finished the Queen. She's spectacular! I so would like to know what Elvis is thinking.....

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  8. Thank you all for your kind comments! I had such fun with this project and will have to pick out another Wild Woman to keep the Queen company. Wouldn't a Wild Woman wall in my house be fun? I will be sure to share a photo after she returns from the framer.

    Beth wonders what Elvis is thinking in the photo. Elvis is thinking how am I going to catch that shiny green thing that keeps appearing and disappearing. He was very curious about the thread and was in my lap in a second every time he heard me take my canvas out of the bag.

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  9. You did a terrific job with this canvas! I just LOVE all the embellishments, I can see that you and Amy had lots of fun with this piece. I know you will enjoy your Queen for years to come!

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  10. I love her! And your fabulous stitching. I think a Wild Woman wall is a fantastic idea. It's my dream to one day have a room in my house devoted solely to my needlepoint. I think 4-6 wild women hung over the couch in this dream room would be so wonderful. Don't you?

    Stephanie

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