I've written before that I really like Carina Envoldsen-Harrison's book Mandalas to Embroider and from time to time I hope to take a wee bit of time to stitch up more of her designs. These are perfect projects for Sunday night stitching in front of the latest TV drama (I am currently suffering from the lack of a good period drama, though).
I chose Paisley Constellation (design no 6 in the book) as my next effort, mainly because I adore paisley patterns in pretty colours. For as long as I can remember I have loved paisley design - can you imagine how beside myself I was when Bonnie and Camille included a paisley print in their Scrumptious collection?! Anyway, it was no contest when I wanted to stitch up one of Carina's designs just for me (though there are plenty of others I'm keen to try too).
This is stitched on an off-cut of linen which I am informed is the very same linen which the Obamas ordered for curtains in the White House during their tenure. Very swish! Actually it is very beautiful, fine white linen and a dream to stitch on. It just looks a little lumpy and bumpy in my pic because I haven't stretched it properly and have just folded the excess in behind roughly for the photo.
I sometimes find getting colour balances right a bit tricky if I am not working to the same palette as the original design, and I don't always achieve it. I'm sure I have much to learn in that regard, but for now it remains just trial and error. In this instance, I wonder if there should have been a little more of the deeper blue (almost navy) to balance things out a bit, but in general it will do nicely. I hope to finish this one off in a slightly smaller hoop and maybe fabric wrap the hoop, too. I'll come back and show you when I order up the right size hoop.
For me paisley and embroidery is definitely a winning combination!
This is gorgeous! You should trust your colour judgement more. It's always spot on imo!
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