Well here is another cross-stitch I recently completed. It’s Lilly of the Woods, by Mirabilia Designs (whose designs I am indeed a bit obsessed with).
First, here are a couple ‘glamour’ shots, and then after those I’ll show the sequence of how I stitched this.
Here’s some of the stitching-in-progress (amongst my cluttered work area(s)):
Also, sometimes the stark contrast of different colors trapped in the hoop just looks kind of nifty:
And some close-ups of more-finished sweetness, with and with-out beads (sometimes I really like the simplicity of thread only):
Now for the ‘time-lapse’ shots.
For the stitching I like to complete one color as well as I can before moving on to the next. And, where possible, I like to cycle my next-color choices between color-groups and/or different elements of the image so it all starts to appear together. And of course, functionally, it has to be cross-stitching (coloring) first, then back-stitching (lines), then beads (bedazzling).
At what point does she become visible to you? At what point beautiful? (And please excuse my imperfect photography skills.)
First two colors cover almost every element of the image
+ yellow on the dress ; + pale-pink skin
+ blue on draped cloth ; + gold on upper wings
+ tan on her pillow ; + brown in her hair and lower wings
+ darker blue on the draped cloth
+ dark brown for branches
+ dark yellow on her dress
+ peach tone for her skin
+ shimmery sea green on upper and lower wings
+ more blue on the draped cloth
+ pale pink on the blossoms
+ darker tan on the pillow
+ dark brown in her hair
+ sparkly lavender on her lower wings
+ more dark blue on the draped cloth
+ brown filled in on the tree branch
+ dark yellow/gold on her gown
+ peach shadows on her skin
+ pale-gold shimmer onto the base of her lower wings
+ dark blue on the draped cloth
+ pink on the blossoms
+ medium yellow-gold on her gown
+ the skin shadows and lip
+ dark garnet eyes on the lower wings
+ light blue/green on the draped cloth
+ white on the blossoms and pillow
+ medium yellow on the gown
+ sparkly red eyes on the lower wings
+ very dark blue on the draped cloth
+ dark pink on the blossoms, last of the cross-stitching
+ the first back-stitching, for her lip
+ back-stitching to outline face and arms
+ back-stitching for eyebrows and eyelashes
+ back-stitching to fill in the lower wings+
+ a bit more dark-brown back-stitching to finish the branches
+ garnet back-stitching for the upper wings, last of the back-stiching
+ the first beads, sparkly pink scattered around the blossoms and looped in her hair+
+ larger, blue beads dangling from the draped cloth
+ gold beads on her pillow
+ tiny, bright-green beads amongst the blossom branches
+ pinkish/platinum beads to finish those in her hair and draped below her with the cloth
+ large yellow-drop beads on her pillow (and dangling from her skirt)
+ lines of champagne beads sparkling along her wings
+ large, green beads fringing the bottom of her skirt
+ gold-green beads like leaves mixed along the branches and among the blossoms (and crowning her head)
+ the final beads, large, green leaf-dangles set amongst the blossoms and branches
And now here’s one last ‘glamour’ photo, from midway along when the design was looking both pretty and eerie – the signs of something with potential:
