Main Street
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Stitcher: |
Karon K. Killian |
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Designer: |
Whiskey Creek |
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Location: |
It attended the West Coast seminar of Embroiderer’s Guild of America. From there, it will travel as part of a Whiskey Creek trunk show throughout the United States for the next year (2002). |
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Description: |
Several
factors influenced the design of this piece. First, a magazine photograph
reminded me of many of the old homes in the eastern United States where I
was born. Each town in our area seemed to have a Main Street, lined with
some lovely old homes and flower gardens that seemed to be perfect and
inviting. In designing my own “Main Street,” I endeavored to recreate
this feeling. I wanted people to look at it and feel that they could walk
up the steps while inhaling the wonderful scents from the gardens, and sit
a while in the shade of the front porch. By trying to achieve a feeling of
depth in the design, I wanted to compel the person to lift the lid of the
box to see if something wonderful waited inside.
Although my business is designing these boxes, this piece was a little different from others I’ve created. The boxes that I have designed for the past five years were created specifically for the public, and I was hoping that people would like the designs well enough to purchase my product. This year I decided that “Main Street” would be just for me. Therefore, I incorporated a lot of detail to please myself, not really caring if I sold even one. Working on perforated paper is very limiting since you don’t have the advantage of half stitches or the give of fabric. Working on the boxes is even more limiting because they are quite small (a maximum of 45 by 45 stitches for the box top). Also there was the challenge of creating a piece that didn’t scream “14-count.” In addition, because I was designing for myself, I didn’t limit myself to a few colors of floss. I decided if I used a million different colors, so be it. I also used as many French knots as I wanted. I enjoy the effect, although I know most people don’t really like doing them. When I was finished with the piece, I was very satisfied. What I didn’t expect was the overwhelming response to the box. “Main Street” has been my best seller this year. |
