Whats on my Table
My Nightmare Album
Yes that is what its been, but I’m determined to get this finished if it’s the last thing I do lol
I started out with a nice size piece of felt that I made especially for this project. It’s to be an Album cover to give to my Daughter In-laws mum on the birth of our very first Grandchild, a little girl called Charlie. She’s so divine but I better not start talking about her or I wont actually get to my project !!!
So I had this idea in my head of creating a nice design ( not flowery or girly) but just something different that I could add lots of stitching and beads to and then adding in either her name (Charlie) or stitching something like “my first grandchild” on the front. It seems that everything I did to it just wasn’t right and this is the first pic to show where I was trying to go at the very start.
Well I didn’t like it at all, in fact I hated it. I shouldn’t have put the orange seed beads on and the whole design was way off, no amount of work was going to make me like it and I just couldn’t move on. So I painstakingly unpicked every single bead and most of the stitches and started in a new direction.
Unfortunately I didn’t like the way this was going either, so again I took out all the stitches, they were all French knots! Have you tried unpicking them without ruining your felt? I had to be very careful and you don’t think I was getting pretty frustrated by this stage! Well, yes and no, I just wanted to kept going. I changed the mauve coloured thread to green, and removed the mess down the bottom, which was supposed to be kinda of like a starbust that didn’t quite get there.
I am actually starting to like it more now so to date, this is what it’s like. I’ve decided I’m not going to touch it or even look at it for at least a week so I can come back and tackle it with some fresh eyes.
I’m glad I changed the mauve thread to green, I think it suits much better. I like the little seed beads over the fly stitch, (thank goodness for TAST ) lol , I’m going to take out the word Charlie and make that bigger so its stands out more ( it’s a bit hard to see her name at first glance ) but I didn’t want any one thing to overpower anything else. I hope that all makes sense and if anyone has any ideas, I’ll be happy for the input. This is the largest detailed piece I’ve started working on and when you have one idea in your head but cant quite get it down on paper ( so to speak) It makes for a very frustrating time.
Having said all that, I’m really loving the fact that if you don’t like something, take it off and start again and hopefully this Nightmare Album will turn into something to treasure, its certainly has my heart poured into it and all for a Very Good Cause, Charlie xo
17 thoughts on “Whats on my Table”
I know you said that you don’t anything to overpower anything else but everything needs a focal point. With an album and a name being put on it, that should probably be your focal point. I can’t see the name at all in the photos so I do think that emphasizing her name more would be good. I have also found that if you keep adding stitches and layers of stitches on top of others, that eventually, it comes to fruition. You can’t give up (I like that you’ve kept going) in the middle. Just keep going 🙂
I can’t see the name on the photos either. The colours in the felt are gorgeous and I prefer the green satin stitch rather than the mauve. I like the stem stich lines and curli-cues, also the bead work. You obviously have great patience and determination – unpicking is most unfulfilling – especially all those french knots – I’m sure you’ll get there in the end and it will all be worth it 🙂
Just a quick question – and I know you have a sense of humour – how many more grandchildren do you think you may have? ;0)
Oh Thankyou Ruth, of course now that you said that re- focal point, it makes more sense and looking at it now i can see what you mean 🙂
Thankyou Judith, i have unpicked her name and will make it larger, as ruth said it will now be the focal point on the whole piece.
Oh minimum of 8 lol I have 4 kids so i’ve told them that i expect at least 2 babies each out of them lol I just patted on the head and told Yes Mum No Problems haha
I was going to say the same thing about her name. I could just make it out in the larger picture. Unpicking can be a thankless job but I like the changes. I like the spirals they are my favourite life symbol.
Thanks Ann Unpicking was giving me a lot more options and i’m liking the way its going now, hopefully i’ll get this finished before she’s 21 haha
I love the colours of this felt, Kaz. It’s a shame you don’t have a few identical pieces to play around with until you’re happy with the design 🙂
I liked the starburst. Do you have any clear thin acetate that you could put over the top to mark out design ideas, use those dry wipe pens to try a few things?
Thanks zed So far no matter what i’ve tried i cant find anything to lay in a design that i can see, i did even try needle felting to get an indentation of design but nothing worked, so i’m just doing everything freehand. Someone needs to create a pen that will mark felt properly so we can just draw the design on and have it either wash off or come off like a fine dust but more robust and longer lasting lol.
Don’t know if it would work on felt, but have you tried a quilters pencil? It just brushes off when you’re ready to get rid of it.
Just the 8 g’children – you’ll be a past master at albums by the :0)
Judith yes have those and tried it but didnt work enough to see what i was doing, thankyou anyway:) If i can ever get this one finished then by the time the 8th one comes along , yes i should be an expert lol Lets just hope i finish this one before the next grandchild is born haha
Sorry, Kaz, I didn’t explain what I meant properly. I mean a piece of clear plastic that you could just lay over the top of the felt and draw a design onto with a marker, then wipe that off, and draw a new one, it doesn’t mark the felt, just helps see designs.
Oh gotcha zed, thats a good idea Thanks, I’ll give that ok 🙂
Karen,, I think what you are doing is beautiful. Even with all the “picking” I am sure it is going to be well worth the effort. I love the colors and all the stitching you have done. I usually try outlining what I want where with large basting stitches that can be pulled out easily later – that is when I don’t just wing it.
Aww thankyou Pam, I’ve only put the basting stitches around the outline so i know its the front cover and i dont go over the line ( so to speak). I havent tried basting in where i actually want to stitch so i might try that to, i usually wing everything, but i do want this to be my kinda perfect lol
Good idea about using plastic to help style and place, I’m going to use that one. Thanks
Love the color, the swirls and the knots stitches, what’s more is the name I can read. Gorgeous gift.
Thankyou Terri 🙂