Starry starry night

A few of the steps on the way to the conclusion of the starry gift cushion inspired by some mid fifth century A.D. mosaics in Ravenna.



More......

The cross is probably about 5, or so, inches tall...



Remember that, working on 18-point canvas, it takes me a whole evening's work to produce about 1" x 5" of worked canvas (less, if there is a complicated pattern to count out)...



The "furry" bits are the flashes of color; the ends get cut off, as I fill up around them...




And now, for the finished project (I do my own sewing up, too):





(for more info on the font of inspiration, go to my: http://arsacupicturaestellae.blogspot.com/2010/07/from-whence-cometh-my-profile-picture.html#0)

How long does it take you?

How long does it take you to do the actual needlepointing?...More......I did a one-inch long sample on my 18-hole canvas with one single Paternayan yarn (that is, one single yarn pulled away from the three-ply in which it comes, and in length one eighth of the small 8 oz. yarn packs). It turned out less than one inch in height.

I then took note of how many threads I could needlepoint in an evening of simple background filling (hence, no need to slow down to count stitches). In a typical evening of watching a bit of TV news and a film, that is, perhaps 3 1/2 hours, or so, I can needlepoint from three to four of those single yarns, and so the area I can cover in one whole evening of needlepointing turns out to be about the imprint size of a finger.

That's not much.

All this to say...please be patient!

I'm about 3-4 needlepoint sessions shy of finishing that surprise gift needlepoint project I mentioned a number of sessions ago, and then I will be able to share it with you. (And I've already got some other long projects in the works to be shared with you.)

Hurry up, and wait

It's so hard to be patient while designing and stitching before getting to the finished needlepoint. The sense of anticipation builds, the closer I get to the end of stitching. It's bittersweet because I know that, when I do finally finish the stitching, together with the contented satisfaction comes a sense of sad loss, and so I find that I tend to slow down my stitching to savor the last few moments. The companionship of the piece through many (many) happy evenings is almost over, and the search for a new project has to begin.

With maybe 7, or 8, sessions (of a few hours, each) of handwork left, my current project is nearing completion. The happy anticipation of sharing it with the recipient and you is tempered by these tender feelings.