Because I'm curious about how images show up, I give you an entry. Most of it is copy-pasta from my other journal.
This is my current BAP (although it really isn't
too big). I had the incredible brainfart of stitching each of the 16 main Final Fantasy logos (1 - 14, including X-2 and XIII-2). I found the highest quality image of each logo online and charted them with
KG-Chart, a program that is quite wonderful despite being free. Hunting up the materials has proven difficult as the most local of my LNS are over an hour away. The colors are done 1-over-1 on white 22-count (hardanger) fabric while the black lettering is 2-over-1. My floor standing frame doesn't adjust on the height so I had to baste some scrap fabric on the top and bottom edges. The finished piece will be approximately 11" x 14" and is around 14,000 stitches.
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| "il rar" of course. |
This was after approximately eight hours of stitching. I discvored it is so incredibly hard to see stitching the black 2-over-1, but my eyesight has never been that great. Can you guess which one I started first? ;)
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| Approximately 14 hours. |
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If you know your logos, you probably squealed and said, "OMG IT'S FF------!" No?
My dear boyfriend, financier of my housewifely ways, loves Final Fantasy VIII. As he provides the money, it's only fair that he gets to pick what he wants stitched first, right? :) I think this is one of the more beautiful logos, although I don't know what Yoshitaka Amano was thinking when he did Squall's face like that, haha. I might be a bit biased though; Squall is my favorite FF character.
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| No longer "il rar"~ :) |
At this point, I discovered a perfectionist side to myself. After counting 8o billion times, I still made the completed letters one row too tall. So, I picked them out and thanked my grandmother for giving me her amazing embroidery scissors (they're a stork variety, but old, German-made ones). I stared at the picture for a while and wondered why I didn't do the flares of the letters in 3/4 stitches. The L at the time wasn't completed, so I stitched it with 3/4 stitches at the flares and liked the effect. I picked out all the little flares even though they're not at all noticeable from a distance.
I also fought with myself to not pick out the yellow of Rinoa's paint swaths, particularly below the black line. If you look at the
original image, they're more like confetti, tapering off into oblivion. In the pattern, they're one blob with lighter stitches in to "deal" with that. I really need to learn to listen to my intuition because as I was stitching the far left swoop, I thought it looked pretty awesome uncompleted... and plugged on with stitching. I didn't mind picking it out, but I did worry about the little holes in the fabric (my needle is just a teensy bit too fat for 22-count, but it was the skinniest I had without going to a sewing needle and stabbing myself to death).
And then there was a lull in progress. Spring showed up, and it is impossible for me to spend spring indoors. It started getting much too hot to be outside, so that leaves me with ample stitching time.
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| July 10th. |
I was having a horrible time with the gradient which is one thing that KG-Chart does not handle well (another being blended threads). After wrestling with the orange - red transition, I finally decided to ignore the pattern for the most part. I use it for the general idea, but I take the gradient and blending into my own hands.
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| Hi, Squall~! |
A little less than a month later, on August 3rd, I'm at this point. I've started doing just half (tent) stitches in order to see the transition points. Looking back, I wish I had confetti'd the stitching along the color changes.
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| August 23 |
Earlier this week, I started filling in the half-stitches. I confetti'd the top layer of the stitch so the gradient has a more diffused sort of look. Hopefully, anyway. :)
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| August 26. |
I'm starting to get to "exciting" parts. All of the intricate detail of this piece is in the top half, and it was a challenge figuring out how to represent Rinoa's hand and arm sock. Her hand in particular has caused me much grief. At first, I grabbed a scrap of 11-count Aida to practice on (which was huge, btw, after stitching on 22-count). I felt I was just wasting floss, so I switched over to graph paper and wrestled with different designs until I found something acceptable. When I stitched it, it wasn't quite as acceptable so I had to tweak it again. In the original image, Rinoa's fingers are like daggers positioned to rip out Squall's heart through the back of his jacket. I took artistic liberties and made her blunt-tipped. She'll have to work hard for Squall's heart now
I am also debating what to do about Squall's jacket poof. Leaving it exposed cloth has appeal (lazy) but a clipped velvet stitch would really look nice (and be fun to play with). I'm concerned that it would make it harder to frame under glass, though.
That's all for catching up on this piece. I really look forward to the completion because it will look amazing on the wall. Plus I can have all the fun of kitting up the next project! :)
My cat is trying to shove himself under a pillow and blanket. It really isn't that cold, Peanut.
