Dying Flames

I stitched this piece shortly after completing "Earth, Fire and Water". It was done specifically to enter the Handcrafts Competition at the Royal Highland Show in 2007. The class schedule, as I recall, was for "a piece of completed but unframed canvas work" on the theme of Fire .

The fan was based on the design I used in "Earth, Fire and Water", with the addition of the fan stick. I wanted a wide range of reds and purples to represent the darkness within a dying coal fire so I chose three Needle Necessities overdyes for the flames and a dark blue for the background of the fan. To make the fan stand out I stitched the background  with a lighter blue-grey overdye. The flames are worked in vertical straight stitches, staggered to reflect the flickering of flames. The background is bargello in three tiers, all worked in the same overdyed floss. I liked the colour changes and the way it pushed the fan forward.

Dying Flames was stitched on a blue 18 count canvas and measures 11.75" x 8.5". It took 113 hours to stitch.
And it took First Place, which was a pleasant surprise.

Flame Fan; Earth, Fire & Water

Flame Fan began as a rough doodle shortly after we visited an exhibition of Royal fans at The Queens Gallery, Edinburgh, in March 2006. The original sketch was of a single fan, with curving flames. I liked it, but knew it needed more thought.

Thought does not always go in the direction we expect. What I thought I was thinking about were the elements of the design, shape, colour, texture, size and so on. What I actually found myself thinking about were the basic elements of fire, water and earth.

I don't recall why, but something I had seen or read made a connection in my memory and  I found myself thinking that 'out of the darkness came chaos, out of chaos came order'. I don't know if that's a quote or if I made it up, but that got the design moving.

The centre of the design is a triangle of black felt (darkness). The threads that cross the felt disappear into the three triangles where they become random (chaotic). The random nature fades towards the colours chosen for the 'flames' and the flames appear in an ordered manner out of the chaos as Earth, Fire and Water, the three ancient 'elements'. All three fans follow the same design apart from the colours.

I used Needle Necessities Floss Overdyed in six different shades for the flames and the triangles, and couched the outline of the fans in metallic threads from the family stash. The flames within the fans are stitched in a bargello pattern. The insides of the fans are filled with a running stitch using a fine machine embroidery gold metallic, but the rest of the canvas has been left unstitched.

Flame Fan is stitched on 18 count canvas and the framed piece is 20" square. It took me 102 hours to design and stitch. I exhibited this piece at the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar, 2007 in Baltimore. No prizes, but a positive and helpful critique from the judges.