Ocean Waves: The Finale

Don’t you hate it when you don’t know the ending? Somebody leads you along, telling you a story, and then just stops, and you’re left saying, “And then what?”?

Sorry. I kinda did that. In the early months of this year, I wrote up a number of posts describing my progress on Judy Souliotis’s Ocean Waves. And, like a tease, I stopped writing when I was almost done with the project.

There are two bits of good news. I did eventually finish the project. And I remembered that I left everyone with a cliffhanger.

So, without further ado, here it is:

Once again, this is Ocean Waves by Judy Souliotis. It is a former teaching piece which I purchased from Judy’s website a few years ago. It is stitched on congress cloth with Japan metals, Kreinik metallics, and a bit of couching silk. The ocean spray consists of just a small handful of tiny seed pearls.

The glare in the photo above makes it a little hard to see the details of the center medallion. Is this better?

I think this was one of only two pieces that I finished so far this year. By the time it was done, I certainly felt more confident in using couching as a filling stitch!

Whitecaps on the Waves

Thanks for the compliments on the start of the center medallion on Ocean Waves. I definitely felt more comfortable by the last section of gold than I did when starting out!

And I’m really glad that designer Judy Souliotis recommended starting with the lower portion of the waves, because the whitecaps were doubly challenging.

For these, the first several rows of couching only went around the upper portion of the whitecaps. The tips of the waves needed to be filled in completely when another row of couched threads wouldn’t be able to fit. (Click on the picture to enlarge, and it should make sense!)

After the first several rows, the couched thread started spiraling in to the center.

A similar process was used on the left side of the waves. (This picture was unfortunately taken with the flash on, so there’s a bit more glare.)

One more post, and the finished Ocean Waves will be revealed. Stay tuned!

Japanese Couching: Starting the Center Waves

The center motif on Ocean Waves is stitched using a couching technique traditionally found in Japanese Embroidery. This is the first time I’ve ever tried it, though. The technique involves couching two strands of metallic (typically Japanese gold or silver) with a silk thread called couching silk (of course).

Here’s the first section stitched in this manner. (You can click on the photo for a closer look.) The couching was started at the far left end of the area. I couched along the bottom edge of the area, made a sharp turn at the far right, and couched along the top edge of the area. The area is filled in by spiraling in to the center. The couching stitches on each row are staggered from the couching stitches on the previous row.

The trickiest part of this technique, I found, was turning the sharp corners. I have a couple of books which explain this well, and Jane Zimmerman has posted a very complete description online, also. Unfortunately, I didn’t capture step-by-step photos of the process.

In Jane Zimmerman’s article, she mentions that the couching stitches have to be exactly the correct length, so the couched thread can’t slide around and isn’t pinched. This is a disadvantage of trying this technique on congress cloth. I was generally able to pierce the cloth threads at least once with each stitch, but it’s next to impossible to get those stitches a precise length with this ground fabric. Maybe someday I’ll try it on the silk fabric typically used for “real” Japanese embroidery and the results will be a bit more precise.

Anyway, moving on. This first section of the waves was in a red-gold Japanese metallic. This was followed by an area of Japanese gold metallic, then a section in Kreinik #4 braid, and then two more sections in the Japanese red-gold and gold.

Up next – the silver froth of the waves. But that’s another post!

Background patterns on Ocean Waves

If you guessed that I actually finished Judy Souliotis’s Ocean Waves a few weeks ago, you’d be right. Several of the stitchers local to me have seen it already.

Since I’ve already moved on to other projects in “real time,” I’m unfortunately not going to describe this project enough to do it justice, but I’ll stretch it out for a couple posts. It was a big challenge, and I have to try to give all of you at least a flavor of what was involved!

Before I dig into the next area of the project though, let me take a step back and respond to some of the comments from the last post about the couched border.

• Thanks to all for the lovely compliments!
• Sandi informed us that the technique I used to turn the corner is called underside couching. Thanks, Sandi! I’m going to update that post with the correct terminology.
• Thanks also to Sandi and Sara Leigh for pointing out that 2010’s ANG Stitch of the Month project used this technique. If you want to try it out, visit ANG’s website!
• Elmsley Rose asked about a good source for couched borders. I’m sorry to say I don’t know of one. If any of you do have a book or website to recommend, please leave a comment.
• Sandi also asked what threads were used on the border. The laid threads are two strands of size 5 Japanese metallic in silver, gold, and red gold. Kreinik distributes the silver and gold Japanese metallic in multiple sizes. The black couching thread is a #4 Kreinik braid. And yes, Sandi, the entire project is in metallics, aside from the silk couching thread used to couch the center waves.

Anyway, on to the next section of the project. Inside the border are a variety of non-reversible blackwork patterns. It turns out I took a photo of the completion of the first pattern…

…but then I didn’t take another until all of the rest of the patterns were in place and the couched dividing bands between the patterns were put in!

All of the blackwork patterns are in various sizes and colors of Kreinik braid, and the dividing bands are each several rows of Japanese metallic, couched with the black Kreinik braid again.

On to the center – but that’s another post!

Turning Corners on Couched Borders

My progress on Ocean Waves is continuing. The border continues with a few more rows of couching.

When stitching a couched border such as this, you may face a dilemma because the couched thread ends in a hole at the corner and then has to come up in the same hole for the next side of the border. I'm not sure how other stitchers handle this problem but I use a very simple technique to turn these corners. I don't precisely recall where I learned this trick. I think it was through a correspondence course or other class.

The best way to describe how I tackle these corners is to say I actually couch the corners in place. Instead of keeping the couching stitches on top of the fabric, I pull the couching stitches and the couched thread to the back of the canvas. As always, some of these things are easier shown using pictures.

Bring the couching thread up in the canvas hole where you want your couched thread to turn for the next side of the border.  Stitch over your couched thread, and sink your couching thread into the same hole.

 

Before pulling this stitch tight, leave a little slack on the couched thread on the front of the canvas, as seen here. On the back of the canvas, give a sharp tug on the couching thread. If you pull hard enough, a bit of your couched thread will actually pop through the canvas in that spot.

You may have to play with it a bit on the front of the canvas to make sure your couched thread lies smoothly, but this method can create a sharp corner without wasting a lot of the couched thread on the back of the canvas.

I'd be interested to hear if any of you have tried this technique and what you thought of it!

Oh – and here’s the finished border.

Ocean Waves: Beginning with the Border

Before I go too far in describing the stitching on Ocean Waves, I’d like to thank Judy Souliotis, for graciously granting me permission to share my progress of her lovely design here.

In starting to stitch Ocean Waves, I was looking forward to learning the advanced techniques in the center wave motif. I was surprised when, with the very first stitches, I was learning something already. I discovered how elegant a simple couched border could be.

Isn’t it gorgeous in its simplicity? This is just two strands of Japanese red-gold metallic thread couched with black Kreinik #4 braid, using a plain ol’ cross stitch. The next time I have a piece that just needs a little something, I’ll have to remember this.

Of course, this isn’t the entire border. There are several additional rows of Japanese metallic, also couched in various stitches using black Kreinik. After a few more rows are added outside the first, the simple beginning becomes a bit more complex, but no less elegant.

Have you ever used couched threads as a border on a project? What threads did you use? How did it turn out?

New Year, New Project

On January 1st, to kick off the start of the new year, I decided to start a new project. I really wanted to start the Garden Gate Sampler by Gay Ann Rogers, since I recently collected all of the threads, but I neglected to realize that I didn’t have the congress cloth needed!

So I decided to go stash diving, and pulled out a different kit I’ve been wanting to start for a while. I purchased Ocean Waves from Judy Souliotis when it was available on her website a few years ago (though unfortunately it’s no longer available). Isn’t this design gorgeous?

Yes, it’s all done in Kreinik metallics, Japanese metallic threads, and some silk for couching. The biggest challenge will be the center motif, which is all couched as many motifs are in Japanese embroidery. I’ve read about this technique, but haven’t really done much. We’ll see how it turns out.

But that’s saved for last. The stitching on this piece actually begins with the borders. That’s another post…

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P.S. Thanks for all of the welcome back messages. And thanks to Susan and Edy for remembering that a certain little person in this household turned TWO on Saturday. We can’t believe how much she’s grown. After a second hip surgery this past year, followed by another cast, she finally started walking just before Christmas, and she is soooo proud of herself. :-) So are we.