Thursday, August 27

Throwba... Oh wait, I have a "finish!"

I've been neglecting this blog again, but then again, I've been neglecting a lot.  I blame it on the nice weather.  There are so many things that can get done outside right now.

But I finally(!) finished the next installment of the RR I'm working on.   I've said before that I'm one of the stalled spots, but it looks like I will un-jam, soon!

I already have charted out my next bit for the next RR (I was actually halfway done with it when I realized how much I hated the colors - oops!).

In the meantime, I finished Lynne's RR - she included books with blackwork and Assissi designs to choose from if we were "stuck", and I found something PERFECT, but the shop owner/designer was "on vacation" (on Etsy), and as long as I procrastinated, they still haven't come back, so I went back to the googling-board and found and adorable Blackwork Wine Bottle piece by Cotton Season on Etsy.

The cobalt blue is ThreadGatherer's SNC Texas BlueBonnet... because Texas, and it's the color of the local meadery's bottles (I tend to mead it up much more in the winter, when I warm up their Spiced Apple and chase away the chills from me bones).

The green is Bejeweled from Crescent Colours, and has a lot of variation to it.  It reminds me of the prettier green bottles that some of the red wines (my usual go to) come in.

The red is Vikki Clayton Dragon's Blood, so that it actually looks like the red wine that lives in that green bottle.

And the aqua is DMC (3766? Gah, it's written somewhere) because I didn't have an overdye/silk/whatever that was the right color to represent Vinho Verde, which is the bulk of the white wines I drink.

Because the pattern was a little tall, I chopped off the stem of the glass and everything at that level.  I actually was super happy with that idea, because I use stemless wineglasses at home, so it continues to be more "me."  I added another row just to keep the relative dimensions right.    I shortened the necks of the bottles (except the Vinho's) to also help keep the proportions straight.


Blackwork Design by CottonSeason Finished 08-26-2015
I have a hard time with blackwork, for some reason, and I spent a lot of time frogging.  Once I could figure out a good pattern (like working the green in vertical rows, or working the circles in rows in the blue bottle), I did a lot better, but it did take me a bit to get rolling.  I'm very happy with the outcome, though :)

And of course, when I went looking for this pattern in Etsy, I run across an adorable Blackwork pattern of wine glasses I think I need.  Hah!

And just for fun, I'm throwing some pictures in of what I'm really working on right now - the Murphy bed I want to put in my lady cave.   Essentially, I will be building the bed & the cabinet as separate pieces, taking them back apart (well, some of it anyway) and staining it, putting the components back together, and then assembling the two pieces together in place.   So far I'm *almost* done with the bed.  I have to put the panels on the bottom of the bedframe (the panels will face you when the bed is closed) and then start staining that.   While those are staining/drying/whatevering, I'll assemble the cabinet (The part that the bedframe folds into) so I can stain that.   With the limited space of a one car garage, I'm trying to do this in serial so that I'm not bumping into myself constantly.

This is my set up before I really get started.
I cheated and had the lumber place cut my wood for me ;)
My requisite "I work better when lubricated with alcohol"
Though, really, I was too hot and busy to actually drink anything.
The frame all done.  It just needs the plywood/veneer face panels put on.

And Mona being ladylike... just because.


13 comments:

  1. Great finish! I'm the same way with blackwork. I need to get the pattern in my head to stop making errors. Thanks for the links too and good luck with your bed!

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    1. Thanks, and thanks! Hopefully the bed will be done soon and I can get back to stitching more :)

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  2. Great finish. Blackwork is one of those things that I am never truly happy with, but I keep trying. Looking forward to seeing the Murphy bed finished.

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    1. There's always something I feel like I've done wrong with the blackwork, I don't know why. I like it, but I'm never quite sure it's done right (well, until it's reversible I suppose it isn't! haha).

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  3. Those bottles look lovely! I haven't some around to try black work yet, but everytime I see something prettly like this I really want to!

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    1. Thank you! My first piece was a teeny tiny biscornu, which is probably the safest thing I could have done ;)

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  4. Nice pattern selection on the bottles. I like the red pattern especially.

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  5. Those bottles are really fun!!!

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    1. I know, right? I hope the RR owner likes the, too :)

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  6. Great work on the bed and stitching! I love building my own furniture but until I get power tools I can't lol. But I'm planning on doing something like this for my own lady cave when I move

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    1. Luckily there are several of us in the area with various tools between us. There's a circle of essentially 5 households sharing tools between them (the one with the big saws loaned out right now is enjoying the extra garage space ;) ). This tool-commune thing is working out fantastically, now if I need something it's "do I buy it or does someone have it?" and then if I do buy something it's letting everyone know what I have so that no one else buys a duplicate.

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  7. Your blackwork is beautiful...why you doubt yourself I just don't know...so stop that! Your lady cave is coming right along and STILL inspires me to get crackin' on the last part of the NCC reorganization!

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