New Temari

I finished this temari last night:



This temari has been the cause of my temari block. I was not following a pattern, or a picture in a book. I had an idea, and I worked it out... and I don't think it is particularly successful. To begin with, the marking did not turn out the way I had hoped. I wanted less marking on this one, but I didn't know how to get it. Plus the marking is not symetrical. The spaces are bigger around the centers of the 12 pentagons than towards the outside of the pentagons. That is why the temari sat for a couple of weeks after I was done with the marking, before I started stitching on it.

The colors are pastel/rainbow colors. A couple of the pinks are a little too strong, and so throw off the color balance... but again, I was not sure what was going to happen with this ball. Hind-sight is 20/20, but I am not too much of a prophet.

This picture concentrates on the colors that do balance, and it looks quite nice. DH has characterized it as a "lacy" temari, and I think that describes it well. Even though this was an experiment, I learned a lot from it, so from that respect, I think it was useful.

Hopefully now that it is done, my temari block will also be done, and I can get going on some of the other temari patterns that are patiently waiting for me to get to them.

GITS and stitching

I got a lovely package in the mail last week! I had signed up for the most recent GITS (Great International Temari Swap) and my assigned partner was Joan. I got all excited when I found out, because she is a fantastic temari artist; my excitement was completely justified because look what was in the package! Isn't it beautiful?



It is a combination 8, with a combination of kiku and HHG stitching making beautiful big flowers all over. I love the color combination. and it shows Joan's creativity, combining traditional forms to make something original and fantastic. Thank you so much Joan!

I moved my scroll bars back to the "north to stitch some of the corner motifs between the "onion" scenes, and was just gob-smacked by how beautiful this is turning out:


I decided that the leaning lighthouse is due to my material being mounted imperfectly on the stretcher bars. You can see the same distortion on the corner I am stitching. The big parts in the next section of stitching are delft tiles: 8 tiles in all in 4 different patterns. After that comes a botanical sketch of a tulip, including the bulb, repeated in all four corners.

I love botanical sketches, and have stitched several in the past (pre blog, so I don't have the pictures to show you). I can tell you when they were stitched, though... 19 years ago, when I was going through chemo. Every once in a while, when I realize what a blessing I have received, of additional, healthy life, I just get overwhelmed. DDs were both in grade school when I went through my treatment, but I have received the blessing of seeing them grown, and getting to know my grandkids. God is good!