Project: "Desire"
(#13 of the Cabochon Series)
Rainbow Gallery 1993
Designer: Susan Portra
Type of needlework: Bargello
Photos: 9
Comments: This is one of those projects that I fell in love at first sight. I love bargello and this bargello ornament just seemed like it would be so much fun to stitch and it was.
The finished size is 5" by 7", so not a long stitch.
I had found this chart on eBay and there was nothing included, no threads and no cabochons with rimsets and no bugle beads either.
One of the thread was discontinued, but I was lucky enough to get it from a fellow stitcher. One problem remained though. I could not find the necessary cabochons for it and they were important to the design. Some of my friends even went to a lot of troubles to try to find some for me.
During that time I started thinking about what I could do to replace those hard to find cabochons and then it hit me like a ton of bricks, why not stitch some Jessica stitches instead using some gold metallic threads and fill the inside with some red metallic ones.
I tried it and was real pleased with the results. Then I had to make a decision about the bugle beads. Did I still wanted to use some as they are not hard to find or did I want to do something else instead. With the previous changes I had made, I opted to add a row of metallic thread instead.
Since I was in a changing mood, I then decided to finish it differently and you will see two photos showing the finished project. All I did for the finishing was to enlarge the original design and cut a piece of cardboard, cover it with a nice piece of velour that would serve as background and attach the finished stitched piece on top. I put some brown paper on back of the larger piece covered in red velour and glued a fabric hook that could support the weight which was rather light and I was pretty much done.
I have also included a photo of how Susan Portra did the original one. Normally I would have done it exactly the same as I loved the original design but due to the lack of cabochons I ended up with something different but equally interesting.
2 examples of cabochons a bit similar to those needed for this project but not quite what was needed
How I decided to do my finishing for "Desire"
This is now hanging on one of my walls
This is a photo (below) that came with the instructions showing the original design, how it was stitched and finished as an ornament.
