Just a Peek...

For all of you who've asked about the next ribbon pattern, I wanted to give you a peek at my latest RIBBONS OF HOPE, that I just started stitching on this week. Here is the thread palette I've pulled for the design (I may or may not add or subtract colors from this palette. I'll decide as I get more stitching done.)


Then here is how much I've got stitched right now:


You'll notice that I've worked most of the ribbon borders first (in ecru and 739) because those are the areas I'm most certain of, in terms of stitches and colors. If I'm uncertain about which colors or stitches to do next, I just leave those areas blank, trusting that they will become clear to me as I progress...

In my first design, RIBBONS OF HARMONY, all the ribbons had zig zag edges. In this design, all the ribbons will have soft scalloped edges. (A subtle secondary theme - after the primary theme of color - that pulls the assorted ribbons together.)

At this point, faced with all those white borders, I'm ready to start adding the color. I take it slow at first. As the designer, I spend a lot of time just STARING at the piece and visualizing what each ribbon should look like: where to put the darkest colors; how to spread and balance each color thruout the whole design; how much/little metallic should be used in the piece. I think of it as a puzzle, really, and my favorite design challenge is carefully adding each little piece to the puzzle - stitch by stitch, color by color - until the puzzle is complete and the design is totally balanced and unified in color, texture and composition.