Early Morning Mist
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Stitcher: |
Nanette Costa |
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Designer: |
Nanette Costa |
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Location: |
It is hanging in my home. |
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Description: |
This piece was created using techniques taught in Charlotte
Miller's class, "Grounded a Different Perspective," at the National Academy
of Needlearts Assembly in Kansas City in March 2002. I used metallic paints on a piece of Wonder Under® (a fusible web). When the paint dried, the webbing was ironed to a piece of Congress cloth. Using this technique, a design cannot be planned because you cannot control how the painted area will look when dry, as the paint wicks at will. You cannot recreate the same design or wicking on additional pieces of webbing. The final design was dictated by the way the metallic paint had dried as it "traveled" on the webbing. When I looked at what I had after it was ironed on to the Congress cloth, I saw trees. After ironing the webbing to the Congress cloth, I applied a sheer white material over the transferred design, fusing it to Congress cloth and allowing it to adhere where the Wonder Under® had not been painted. Simulating the sun's rays, I wove a single strand of gold thread over and under the sheer material to give a shimmer to the piece as if the sun was breaking through the mist. I added the tree leaves and patches of green to the ground using a hand-dyed thread that I had dyed for another project. The fence was stitched using a commercial floss overdye. |
| Of all the possible designs from the various techniques taught in the class, this piece just called to me to be stitched. Once in a great while I like to stitch what I call a "just for me" piece. Because of its size (3.25" x 4") I knew that I could complete the piece in class or, if not finished in class, with about an hour of stitching when I returned home. This is a one-of-a-kind piece and will not be duplicated as a teaching piece. | |
| I had a bit of help with parts of this piece. I could not put enough pressure on the iron to make the webbing adhere, so John Waddell ironed it on for me. Charlotte Miller suggested using the gold over the material. I took it one step further because it was too easy to lay it on top of the material, and weaving it between the material and Congress cloth was a challenge. Couldn't think of a name, but Lou Kilgore looked at it and, without missing a beat, came up with "Early Morning Mist." Jacqui Clarkson brought it to her framer and had the "job" of picking just the right brown suede mat and gold frame. I wouldn't give them pieces of my ribbons, or lend them the piece, but promised that I'd give them credit for their help. Thank you all because if you had not lent a hand, the piece would not have been in the exhibit. |
