I have done some more work on my African blanket. The whole blanket will eventually have a lion, two zebras, two giraffes, two elephants, two cheetahs, dozens of leaping gazelles, and 8-10 Samburu people - plus some grasslands (for context, like). As with so many of my embroidery projects, it will be years in the making. Last year I went to Sydney twice for classes with Jenny McWhinney and I made a start on the giraffes and the elephants. In March this year, I again went to Sydney for a class, this time on the zebras. Seen below is my two full days of stitching.
Jenny always tries to make sure you have completed the hardest part of the stitching before you leave. It's usually always the details of the faces.
Unlike the elephants and giraffes, which were stitched in wool, the zebras are done in perle cotton. It is shiny and a bit reflective and Jenny reported to the class that whenever she pulls out her blanket for a showing, people are always drawn to the zebras.
As with other classes, Jenny very kindly offers her own blanket for photographing. I might have mentioned that I was interested in learning to do thread painting as a technique, signed up for a class in Sydney and was initially only going to the giraffes as a cushion. But then I logged onto Jenny's website and found the whole blanket, complete with LION - hear me roar - stitched in the middle and then re-thought my commitment, dug deep and decided I wanted a whole blanket and that lion!
Aren't those leaping gazelles just so wonderful? Thanks Jenny for another great class. Now, time to put my head down and finish off those three animals before October's class.
Previous posts
Thread painting elephants - Samburu blanket - animal number 2 (September 15, 2011)
There's an elephant on my sofa (August 30, 2011)
Samburu blanket thread painting: Giraffes (June 18, 2011)
Giraffes, Africa, Blankets - embroidery - thread painting (March 23, 2011)