WIP: Cinders (by Marion Scoular)

Today's featured WIP is Cinders, designed by Marion Scoular.

Technique/Materials: Blackwork and surface stitching on 22ct hardanger fabric with DMC floss, DMC floche, and overdyed floss from the now-defunct Needle Necessities (for the cat).

Background: I started Cinders in April 2008 during a class with Marion with the Corning EGA chapter. The class kit included the floche, the overdyed thread, and the fabric with the line-drawn design. The instructions included basic information on blackwork and ways to shade using blackwork stitches, along with 13 pages of blackwork and darning filling stitches.

Some stitchers decided to examine the photo of Marion's original piece, find the stitches she used in each area, and replicate the original. Marion encouraged those with some blackwork experience to try selecting their own stitches and colors for each area. I've gone this route, and I'm pleased with the result so far.

Why it's not done: I got stuck on the bucket (Oh, excuse me. Coal scuttle. Sorry, Marion!).

I had a really difficult time choosing a stitch for the inside of the bucket. When I picked this piece up again recently, I was going to use Rhodes stitches to represent lumps of coal. I tried that this week. It didn't look right. I tried an overall darning pattern. That was too heavy, and didn't have shading to indicate where the coal was. I've tried a couple of different filling stitches, and I think I've found one that lets me shade the "coal" appropriately. What do you think?

What's left to do:  Filling in the rest of the bucket and the inside curve of the handle, outlining a few areas, adding more color to her hair (though it won't be entirely filled in), and stitching a few bricks in the background wall.