At long last.  Framed and hung up in the bedroom.

Obviously I now have to paint the bedroom walls…

I’m quite happy with the way this turned out.  The frame is simple enameled steel, in deep navy.  I ended up going to Walden Framer in Lexington, MA.  Mr. Ed Pioli, the owner and artisan in chief, did an excellent job at a reasonable price.  I will be bringing my other as-yet unframed pieces there, too.

To answer more questions on the piece’s composition, mostly from other people outside the framing shop when I was there.  No, neither of us is a follower of astrology, and it’s not a panel depicting anyone’s sign.  It’s just two koi, in a traditional arrangement.  And no – there isn’t a boy-koi, and a girl-koi (or any other manifestation of yin/yang) intended.  It’s just two koi swimming in a circle.  And no, that’s not real gold thread.  It’s high quality imitation gold sold for Japanese embroidery.   And no, I didn’t sew it on a machine, I did it by hand.  Really and truly. (People are curious about the strangest things.)

What am I working on now?  Well, the Great Tablecloth/Napkins project is  done, but I still itch to stitch.  So I’m just doodling.  Filling up a small piece of linen, waiting for the Inspiration Fairy to chuck a brick through my mental window.

I’ve written about this design before.  I think this time I’ll circle the center panel with other, narrower bands.  Again, no set plan, I’ll just pick them as I go along, with no composition agenda in particular in mind.  Eventually I’ll figure out what to stitch next.

UPDATE

It’s taken me a week or so to get this post up and out.  In the mean time my doodle has grown, but still has no plan.

The lower design is a curious one.  Although it’s a clear repeat with the rather bulbous naked cherub alternating with the cockatrice, there is little symmetrical inside the repeat.  Close attention has to be paid to this one because even the internal framing mechanism (the bar and beads below the feet of each) has a different counts in each of its two instances, and the usual urn or leafy unit between the creatures also exists in two incarnations.  It’s a curious one, for sure, but fun, and is keeping me on my toes.

Both of these designs will be in T2CM, which is moving again towards release.  No date yet, but watch this space.