Framing - part 1 (of 4!) - Luna Moth

I'm splitting up my framing post into 4, because it is a little pic heavy and I wanted to give appropriate weight to each one, because I adore them all :)

Recently I visited some friends, and they had a local framer they really like... So I packed up 5 pieces to take with with me, intending to frame 2, hoping to frame more, depending on the cost.

I ended up framing all 5!   Three of them were easy, obvious choices for me, but in the giant tub of "other pieces" I had to choose... And this is one of the ones I chose -
Luna Moth by Sandra Paradise from the March 2004 issue of Stitcher's World.

I loved the model in the photo, and had a fantastic (small) piece of sky blue evenweave and decided to go with that.  I fussed and complained, because the beads were giving me fits, but I finally finished it in September 1, 2008.    And it's absolutely gorgeous.  The piece is heavy as anything I've ever stitched, but it has a fantastic and beautiful sparkle that cannot be beat.

It was an utter bear to frame.  I wanted matting, and the colors in the Luna Moth presented a unique challenge to the framer.   I kind of hated the greenish linen mat he picked out, but in the end he was right.  Just as I was right to really want the purple mats underneath.  He definitely did a great job, and I love it.

The whole piece - the lighting is a bit off, but I couldn't get the gold of the frame and the green of the mat to play nicely with my camera phone or editing, and I'm too lazy to bust out the Lightroom for this today ;)

Hopefully you can see all of the beading.  And confetti!

Some detail of the mat/framing

More detail shots... that's "regular" glass, not glare free... I'm kind of choosy on when I bother with that.

So all in all, I adore this piece and I'm ever so glad I chose it for framing.   I don't know anyone else who has stitched this, so the fact that it's a pretty unique piece is awesome, too (though, really, people, you should, it's GORG!).

The pattern is still available (for cheaps!) at Herrschners as a download (clickity click).