Tuesday 31 January 2012

Floral Melody - finished

Like most people, I associate the New Year with fresh starts and new beginnings but for the first few weeks of 2012 I am focusing on finishing.

First up, the big one! I had hoped to finish Floral Melody by Christmas 2011. I didn’t quite manage that deadline and FM had to go on hold over the festive period. It seemed to take forever for things to settle down and for me to get back into my usual routine but I eventually got there and Floral Melody eventually got finished!

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

It took 300 meters of thread, 138 hours of stitching time and goodness knows how many beads (and I have no intention of counting them). In addition to the beading techniques, one important thing that I leant at Phase 3 is that if there are two identical sides to a project, work on both sides simultaneously. If you complete one side then go back to work the other, you will certainly forget what you did first time around. Also, I needed to ensure that I had enough beads to do the same thing on both sides. I could have divided the beads up before I started, but I didn’t, so I needed to keep track of usage. Most importantly, I found that when I had completed the first side on Poppy Pouch, it felt like I had finished completely. I had to dig deep to find the resources to start afresh on the second side.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

This time, I made sure that I worked on both sides throughout, ensuring that I never got too far ahead on one side. When the finish post was in sight, this time it really was the finish.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Over the past few weeks, I have focused most of my stitching time into this project and now that it is finished, I can reveal why. Phase V class is only taught in Atlanta by Matsukawa-san and I could only enrol for that class once Floral Melody was completely finished. In anticipation of finishing on time, I had booked my flight and reserved my hotel room but my heart was in my mouth until my place on the class was secure.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Last weekend I completed Floral Melody, sent of my booking form and have been accepted on the Phase V class. And tonight I have heard from my good friend and travel companion, Sue, that she has completed her Phase IV. For those unfortunate enough to have access to Skype, I apologise for the slightly disturbing image of me doing a happy dance earlier this evening.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

16 comments:

Margaret said...

Absolutely beautiful! I would do a happy dance too.

Cynthia Gilbreth said...

Congratulations on completing such an ambitious and beautiful piece!

Deepa said...

Magnificent!!Best wishes for the next phase of Japanese Embroidery class.

Connie said...

So Beautiful

bubbygigi said...

Absolutely magnificent! Congratulations. I can't wait to hear about your class and your next assignment.
Happy stitching,
Gita

Angela said...

it's so wonderful. I'm always in awe of your bead work, I don't know how you have the patience.

Arachne - Parasewia said...

It's absolutely wonderful! I'm wonder, what it will be? Maybe a front of the bag?

I love magnificent bead work. It reminds me embroidery from "Common thread" ("Brodeuses"), a film by Eleonore Faucher.

Moonsilk Stitches said...

Oh, that is gorgeous! You'll have a great time in Atlanta--the JEC is wonderful.

Rachel said...

A well-deserved happy dance, I think. I'd be frolicking for days!

Sue said...

beautiful, nice to see you measure your thread, countered your hours but how many beads did you use :-) from your good friend Sue XXX

Jane said...

Beautiful, congratulations

Anonymous said...

Absolutely beautiful, well done - Jackie

Cath said...

Congratulations on finishing Floral Melody. It looks amazing. I look forward to your the posts Japanese Bead Embroidery projects with fantastic photos. I have just finished Calm Flow and seeing your work has given me an insight on the path ahead. Thank you for sharing. Have fun in Atlanta!

MeganH said...

Mega-congratulations - both on the piece and your place in the new class!

Susan Elliott said...

Congratulations!!! Whoop whoop whoop!!!

It's wonderful and well worth all your time. Bravo!

Lorraine said...

Stunning!