It’s not as though I hadn’t done this technique before–putting felt over the string padding before attaching the gold purls. I discovered that the felt provided a firmer shape and sharper outline for stitching the gold when I made a wedding album for my son and his wife in 2003.
This was a practice cloth. I’ll show you the whole project another time.
Then, in 2005, when I made Matt’s graduation gift, I rediscovered the same technical aid.
Here you can see the yellow thread padding before I had covered it with gold felt. It worked much better that way.
But for some reason, I thought I could get away with just yarn padding this time, as shown in my goldwork books. Even when Barbara Curiel kindly suggested that I try felt padding, I still resisted the idea. Finally, yesterday, I gave in and started all over.
I transferred the letter S directly to the fabric patch, attached yarn (that I had dyed gold, by the way) to the letter shape, cut out an S from gold felt, and stitched it painstakingly over the yarn padding, resulting in a much sharper image.
Now I’m waiting for the gold supplies to arrive to test this approach.
See what I mean about how slowly I work? It is discouraging to be able to produce so little. I remind myself of the authors who wrote only one book, a very good one, in their writing lives. And then there is Joyce Carol Oates with her scores of books and story collections, not to mention reviews, and teaching! Well, that’s not me. I’m not expecting to produce a masterpiece, but I do want to do the best work of which I am capable.
That’s a lovely, plumptious S now!
Meticulous work is also the stuff of masterpieces. As they say, quality and quantity are two different things.
It looks like you’ve set the groundwork for your next try and everything looks great. The earlier pieces you showed are just gorgeous.
Oh yes, your patience paid off!! Very sharp “S”. I certainly am the one to understand wanting to take shorcuts!!
Your work is a legacy and you really have produced a lot, even tho I understand the frustration.
It doesn’t help that you’ve chosen techniques that are time consuming and require meticulous attention to detail! Nobody could churn out this kind of work quickly (and have it be of any quality).