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Monday, June 16, 2014

Toy Chest Paint Box embroidery

Although I had a knitting project on the go, I found it very hard to not continue with the two remaining Toy Chest tools. The paintbox needle threader holder beckoned and I went with the call. Unlike the hobbyhorse, which required few stitches and only my normal glasses, the precision and accuracy of the geometric paintbox design meant digging out my magnifying clip-ons. However, once I was set up with light and magnification, the incentive to keep going at every opportunity was very high.

I didn't work this one in a hoop - it was easier on my  hands to keep it in the light without the hoop. Here is the first outline of the paintbox. I love getting the outline in place and a sense of the overall design.


The hardest bit was stitching the design on the first panel - the lid of the paintbox. Single thread cross-stitch on 32 count linen is not what I can do with my mind wandering!





I went with the lettering suggested for the lid - a decision I regret, but I am not unpicking. Both the "A" and the "N" are very hard to read in this lettering, but I figure the context makes it clear.


When it came to the next panel, I embroidered very plain initials, working it out as I went along. Unfortunately, I concentrated so hard on achieving the lettering I forgot to leave the space on the right-hand side to insert the needle-threader - the whole point of the paintbox! I inserted it on the left side, which, as it is only a storage device, should be fine.


The third panel was very straightforward as most of the cross-stitch was over two threads rather than one.


Next post is construction.



7 comments:

margaret said...

can see why you needed the magnifyer, I used to do a lot on 278count but struggle with that now and have bought 25ct.

Youi box is beautifully done,just like all of this project you are working on

Jillian said...

Thanks Margaret. I don't think I'll be taking on many more 32 count projects once this one is finished!

Monica said...

I like this project a lot. A paint box always seems full of promise to me!

I am quite keen to get back to some of my even weave projects too. But maybe after all this, you will be happy to move on to something else?

Jillian said...

Thanks Monica. I agree about the idea of a paint box - I quite enjoyed the anticipation of adding this piece. I have been doing some knitting alongside these pieces - a contrast to the focus on tiny.

Katherine said...

Gorgeous! Have never done such fine work like this before. Not a huge fan of CS on tiny linen but love seeing what others do on it. So that leave one piece in the set left after construction. You should be very proud of it and I think you should send in a pic to Inspirations once it is all done too.

Katherine said...

Gorgeous! Have never done such fine work like this before. Not a huge fan of CS on tiny linen but love seeing what others do on it. So that leave one piece in the set left after construction. You should be very proud of it and I think you should send in a pic to Inspirations once it is all done too.

Jillian said...

Thanks Katherine. I'm amazed you have kept track of where I'm up to. Yes, jack-in-the-box is final piece. Hope to post some knitting before that one!