Friday, January 6, 2012

Les Rubans Anciennes

Click now for JiffNotes

What with all the holiday hubbub, I never got around to posting about the second class I took in November (after Chocolat). I didn't have to even travel for this one, as it was at a local shop. Now, this is a shop I don't go to very much (well, since being a one-car family, I don't go to any shops very much), for a few reasons:
  1. It's mainly a needlepoint shop.
  2. Canvases can run over $400!
  3. It's frequented by extremely chichi women, of which I am not one.
  4. CANVASES CAN RUN OVER $400!!!1!!one!!!
Ahem.

Anyway, I usually only set foot in this store when I'm shielded by the bright and shining combined buying power of Jean and Teresa...no one notices my purchases are pitiful because they're too blinded by the glare of their melting credit cards. (I jest...but seriously.) On one of those occasions, they were tantalized by a sign proclaiming that Tony Minieri would be teaching. Now even *I*, with my limited needlepoint knowledge, have heard of Tony Minieri, and I even have some of his ornament kits in my stash. They put themselves on the list on the spot, and I succumbed to the peer pressure and I didn't even ask how much the class was. Because, see above about chichi. One doesn't ask such questions, donchaknow.

After I left and stopped hyperventilating at my extreme carelessness, I started to get really excited. I did my prework, but all the time I was thinking, "What the HECK are we going to DO for FOUR DAYS??"

BWAHAHAHAHA!! (That's the sound of "day two Heather" listening to "prework Heather" asking that question.)

I mean, I've been in some pretty complex needlework classes, and none of them have been more than like, A DAY. THIS, however, was an entirely different ball of wax. Ew. Ball of yarn. That's better. The pace was very fast, especially for a night owl like me who was being forced to parse a lot of verbal instructions at 9am! There was even HOMEWORK! I would say that if you have trouble processing verbal instructions, you're probably going to have a tough time in one of Tony's classes. His written instructions are great, and you'll be able to get everything later, but you'll be a little adrift during class. It was kinda like being in a fiber boot camp run by Harvey Feinstein. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

ANY-hoo! What you really want are PICTURES! Well, here they are...somehow my camnesia during class extended to not getting a good picture of the model, which was GORGEOUS. BEYOND GORGEOUS. But I wasn't sure it was Allowed, so I didn't. We did get a super-nice full-size color copy of the model for reference later. Priceless.

Here's what I had at the end of the four days:
 
By the way, these are NOT the original ("antique") colors if you happen to find an image online. These are "jewel tones". Shhhh...don't tell Tony, but I'm going to change a couple shades. I actually think I would have liked the antique colors better, but there was ORANGE, so I couldn't do it. Many thanks to Jean for the Oli clips...I literally would have died without them, since I had about 8 needles threaded at any one time!!

Here are some closeups: (old camera, but it did pretty well =)
 
The tie-down stitch for all that gold was put in first, but left open and hanging until all the gold was in, then it was stitched down. Brilliant!

 
This crazy modified crescent stitch is the bomb!

 
Oh, day one, how naive I was then....

 
Can you see how dimensional this piece is going to be?

 
More crescents and such!

 
This tie-down was actually relaxing to do...probably why I finished it. The scrolls...notsomuch. But gorgeous!

 
Another tie-down...hmmm...also relaxing! My laying is getting better, but when I would walk up and look at the model, I would realize that it still looks like the surface of the moon in comparison!!

JiffNotes
Just scroll back up and look at the pretty pictures; there are way too many words at the beginning of this post. I stitched that stuff!

21 comments:

Gabi said...

WOW. First while reading I was asking myself ...what is she talking about????? Still not knowing that answer, I got hit by the pictures and my mouth fell open in total amazement. Still no clue...but boy does that look good. Tis gorgeous. It blinks. It reduces my brain activity to a simply "ohhhhhhh"
While trying to close my mouth again, I'm also wondering what are chichi women???

Renee Anne said...

I don't partake in this particular fiber genre but I can tell what kind of work it is and it is quite lovely.

Now, if you finish the whole thing, then it'll be totally awesome. As it stands, it's awesome already but it'll be more awesome when it's fully finished :)

Calophi said...

Lots of embroidery surfacing today! I wish I could do it. I really do. I don't think I have the patience to do anything quite so detailed and complicated. Your work looks fabulous!

Also, I like orange. =D

Minnie said...

I can't imagine what the antique colors would look like in this project but I do like the jewel tones. Your stitching is beautiful even if you struggled with the verbal instructions. I also like your comment about chichi woman I don't care for them either. I do hope this will be something you finish I would love to see it completed.

Dani - tkdchick said...

Heather that is just MAGNIFICENT!!!!

Chris said...

Looks like it was an amazing class.
Your stitching is lovely.

Annette said...

Holy moly.

I must find this. MUST. FIND.

It's simply gorgeous!!

cucki said...

Wow it is looking so beautiful and very sweet,,
Something very different,,
Have a lovely weekend..
Hugs cucki xx

Jackie's Stitches said...

I don't think GORGEOUS is a big enough word for this project. You're really a master with the needle Heather. I don't know what the finished project looks like (I'll be looking for it though in a few minutes) but your pictures really capture the delights of your beautiful stitching.

Sue said...

You did an amazing job.

Mindi said...

Wow! That piece looks amazing! I've done a small amount of canvas work, but nothing at all like you got with your class. I love specialty stitches.

Melanie said...

Wowza! This project is just crazy cool!

Sara said...

I've never really done any canvas work but that looks like the start of something gorgeous!

Blu said...

Wow that looks pretty! I'm dying to see what the finished product looks like.

Susan @ Real Girl Designs said...

What is it about needlepoint shops and chichi women?

Yiur piece looks interesting. Not sure what it's going to look like when it's done. I guess I need to google for a picture.

Love the Jiff Note :)

krayolakris said...

Heather, this is a seriously challenging piece. You're doing great!!

Stacy said...

Heather

Your work is beautiful. My mom and I are headed to Callaway to take Toni's class for this project! You have added to the excitement!
Stacy

Caitlin @ Naughts Cross Stitches said...

Wow! that work is stunning!

Karoline said...

It's just stunning!

Joysze said...

Holy moly, Heather!! This looks AMAZING!!!!!

Anonymous said...

i read the first couple of paragraphs of this post and almost spewed diet pepsi all over the keyboard! i think we must all know a shop like the one described and the inhabitants therein. i drove FOUR hours to such a place to purchase the threads for stars of the millennium and was embarrassed by my lack of chichi shoes and my measly purchase of more than $100 worth of fibers. the ladies, with their gold lame appliqued blouses, were all working on one of the gianormous santa stockings. the clerk could barely contain her disdain long enough to help me find threads in the fiber jungle.

any way, you are a wonderful writer - and brave to tackle this piece. i finally gave up on stars and threw the whole canvas in the trash - but kept the fibers.

Old Geek-outs