Finishing The Thistle

Thistle Finished

Thistle Finished

Well, I decided in the end to unpick the silk pearl purl. I was extremely disappointed about that, because the whole idea of this project was to provide an underlayer for the pearl purl.

On the other hand, I do think it turned out rather well. The gold and viscose gimp makes a beautifully tangled, almost “fluffy” head – there’s something like 10 metres in that head, an entire skein of thread, uncut, and twisted back on itself in little one-inch fronds.

Even if I did feel as though I was using my pins more like a windlass!

The three shades of green wool break up the otherwise rather monolithic leaves and I’m very pleased with my fishbone stitch variation. I took care to make sure the two strands I was using lay side-by-side rather than twisting up, but in truth that wasn’t much of a problem.

Thistle Signed

Thistle Signed

The stem I worked in raised stem stitch band, incorporating rather more of the dark thread, and trying  to make sure that I didn’t catch any odd bits of the felt – harder than it looks!

Finally, having decided that my planned embellishments (the silk pearl purl) were blemishes rather than embellishments, I took them out (cautiously) and signed with my usual Morse Code initials…

I didn’t have any plan for this piece, but I’m so pleased (in spite of my disappointment!) that I’m quite seriously considering framing it up.

22 Comments

  1. karen says:

    you should definitely frame it, it’s gorgeous. I love all the tangles and twists in the flower head.

  2. Janice says:

    I agree. Frame it. It looks gorgeous. I love the cloth you’ve used too.

  3. jenclair says:

    It is a beautiful piece! I love the damask background, too.

  4. Penny says:

    What a beautiful piece of art. Definitely frame it! You have created wonderful texture with this piece. Its quite incredible.

  5. coral-seas says:

    Very effective! Great use of the gimp on the flower head. Definitely worth framing 🙂

  6. Lady Fi says:

    It looks great

  7. Anita says:

    Beautiful piece! Hope you decide to frame it..

  8. Cynthia says:

    The thistle came out beautifully! I like the Morse code initials, very clever.

  9. It’s a stunner! Love the background fabric too. I always think of the Jacobite Rebellion when I see this piece…

  10. Sue Jones says:

    Yes, that’s a fine thistle head now. Morse code initials – what a good idea!

  11. Glenis says:

    Definitely frame it. Well done!

  12. It looks stunning – a must for being framed! When I used to do counted cross-stitch, I would put my initials and the year in a corner …… if only I could meet someone with the initials BC, we could have an exhibition of work from BC and AD!!

  13. Penny Berens says:

    Niw, there’s a thistle! Love your treatment of it. There is something about a thistle isn’t there.

  14. Carolyn says:

    Yes I agree, it deserves to be framed. Great job.

  15. wendy says:

    Well done on a lovely finish. I like the brush part of the thistle the best.

  16. Deepa says:

    I came, I saw…and I was conquered !!! 🙂 The texture of the thistle is stunning. It looked like lots of bullions to me . And then I read through all the three posts on Thistle and realized that they are not. Lovely!!

  17. Karen says:

    What a fabulous thistle head! I love how full it looks and the damask fabric is perfect for it. Lovely!

  18. Margaret says:

    It’s beautiful, definitely worth framing 🙂

  19. Claire says:

    Being half Scottish myself I think you should frame this its a beautiful piece of stitch work.

  20. What a wonderful representation of a thistle, it definitely deserves to be on show!

  21. Sandy R. says:

    You did a wonderful job on the thistle!! It would really look great framed. I don’t know why but I have a soft spot for thistle’s like this one..

  22. Christine B. says:

    This is lovely…. I love the stitching and I just love thistles too… they are so pretty! You should definitely frame it! 🙂 x