I have mixed feelings about finishing the Royal Persian Blossom project. The overwhelming emotion is pride and a close second is amazement; pride that I finished it in a reasonable amount of time and astonishment that I stitched something that was rather difficult.
The first post about this piece went on to the site on August 10, 2011. I must have started stitching not long after that date so the whole piece took just under 7 months. Of course, I didn’t work solely on the Royal Persian Blossom piece for all that time. I did stitch a little every week and some weeks quite a lot.
Looking back at the all the different parts of the piece, I think my favorite parts were the long and short shading. There was a lot of long and short shading in this piece but each area required a slightly different approach. By the time the entire thing was finished, I felt confident that I could work just about any space in long and short shading.
The first challenge in the Royal Persian Blossom was the bottom of the spray stem and the leaf, both below. The curves and the direction of the stitches made it tricky. Working in that tight curved area was tough and I remember that I had to do it twice.
By the time I came to the last small bits of long and short shading on the anthers, I knew how to proceed for the best results. I stitched the lightest gold parts first, then came up through the lightest gold part with the medium gold and finally up through the medium with the darkest gold.
The Heathway wool has been a complete dream to work with. I love the colors – especially the Old Gold – it just glows in the sunlight. I like the finer texture of the Heathway wool and I’m pleased to say my estimate on how much I would use came in just about right. I have some left, but that’s a good thing,right?
Quite a few embroiderers have mentioned here and on other sites that they would work this piece in different color combinations. I’d love to see the design stitched in other colors.
Now I must decide what to do with it: a pillow or framed? Right now it’s still on the slate frame, standing in my workspace, covered during the day to protect it from any dust. I remove the cover in the evening when I get home so I can just look at it as I work. Sometimes it catches me by surprise and I think to myself “I did that? Really?”
To everyone who gave me tips and encouragement along the way, thank you! It was a collaborative effort!
Wow! Congratulations Kathy!
Anita.
Stunning, it’s so detailed. You should feel proud of yourself.
Well done, Kathy! Enjoy your well deserved feelings of accomplishment.=)
Hi Kathy,
Congratulations, thank you for taking on this journey with you. I am sure that you will be the first to complete the SAL on Needle’n'Thread – many of us are still getting organised to start (my excuse) and can only hope to do half as well as you.
Chris
Kathy,
You should be really proud of yourself, it came out beautifully. I noticed in the last post that the bottom of the spray stem and leaf, which you point out that you had to work twice, looks very three dimensional. The shading is just perfect! I also admire you for switching yarns. I’m much too chicken to do that, but then I don’t have nearly the experience in crewel that you do. I plan of setting mine up in the next few weeks, and I hope you won’t be so sick of it that you’ll visit my site and take a peek at my progress.
Hi Kathy,
The RPB really did come out beautifully. I think your experience with this piece shows how the process of stitching different motifs using various techniques is probably the best “teacher” of all.
You described so well in your posts how you had to understand the way to stitch each motif (stitch angle, etc.), sometimes by tearing out and redoing, but the results show you integrated what you learned. Congratulations!
Many, many congratulations on such a wonderful piece!!
Kathy,
It’s lovely. Very well done. You _should_ be proud.
Heather M.
WOW, congratulations on this very fast finishing.
Kathy , your stitching is lovely. This is a piece of work that you can be very proud of.
It’s wonderful! I have really enjoyed seeing your progress and the finished item is stunning. I think the colors you chose were perfect.
Congratulations, Kathy, it is really beautiful. I can relate to that “wow, did I really stitchthat” feeling, but yes you really did stitch this, we all watched you and enjoyed watching your progress. Thank you for taking us on this journey with you and again congratulations on completing this amazingly beautiful project.
after all that work, which was a pleasure to follow, you must frame it.
And sign it. 
Thanks for letting us follow along.
Regards
Phillipa in NZ
This is breathtaking! Oh mine, how lovely!
I see this piece of embroidered art framed and display
where everyone can admire it.
You have done a beautiful job. You have a right to be proud!
Well done Kathy. A beautiful piece of embroidery – no wonder you’re pleased with yourself. My favourite part is the gold rope-like coil – very effective.
Oh, my goodness! This is positively stunning! Congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment!
Great work, Kathy – well done. You’ve certainly learnt a great deal over the life of the piece, and that feeling of astonished pride is your reward!
I have been following your work. I wanted to do this when I first saw it but couldn’t. It was so rewarding watching you stitch it. You did an absolutely excellent job. Thanks for sharing with us.
Kathy, this is truly beautiful and a fantastic accomplishment. Congratulations. I absolutely love Talliaferro designs and you have done this one so well. If you decide you don’t really have space for it, I have and I would love to have it ….lol. Seriously though, I think I would probalby frame it; as a cushion/pillow it could get a fair bit of wear and tear.
Stunning work…your stitching is amazing:-)