Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

There's not a lot to say in this post, except after slogging through the last 2 panels, this one was a lot more enjoyable to stitch. I was beginning to think this project was a mistake, but I like it a lot more now.

The Sacrifice of Noah

The next panel is finally finished. For me, this one was harder than the Deluge (the panel before). Partly because there were 90 symbols in the small center story panel. Partly because of the subject. I realize that animal sacrifice was an ancient religious rite, but as I worked on it and realized how gory the scene is, it was less then fun to stitch. No, if you wonder, I don't watch gory movies either. I like happy things, or at least ones with less blood. It's behind me now though.I took a picture of the entire project so far while I had it all unrolled.

I've been asked by several stitchers what I'm doing with all the extra fabric. When I started, it was at the top and the first few scenes weren't a problem. The bottom of the fabric, I had folded and it just lay across my lap. The sides, well, I just deal with them, it's not really in my way. As I'm using Q-snaps, and turn it over from the top to anchor thread on the back, it did become a problem wading through the extra fabric after a while. I thought about clipping the extra with hair clips so the stitching wasn't damaged, but that would add extra weight to the entire thing. What I hadn't thought about was the fact that as I stitch and add thread, the whole thing is slowly getting heavier. It's going to get a lot heavier by the end. So, what I'm doing now is folding the top of the fabric and using very long running stitches along the width to secure it . I've done the same on the bottom. It's manageable for now at least and not any heavier.

A sigh of Relief

The Deluge came to be stitched at an appropriate time. I was feeling a bit deluged with trying to get life back to normal as I recovered from surgery. This is the most complicated panel of the entire project and I was nervous to begin with that it would turn out. Now, I feel a lot more confident about this and will continue on. Hopefully, the next panel won't take as long to stitch, either.

2 down, 43 to go!

Whew! I'm glad to be back stitching again. As I was recovering from surgery, the desire to stitch was totally gone and I was worried it might not come back. It did, however and I'm back on this project again.

Here is where I was on the Drunkenness of Noah before I took my break.

Every other scene of the central panels has this border on it, with the scene in the center. If you look at the lower right corner, you can see that most of the figure is missing. I looked at pictures of the actual art and it appears there was some repair work done and the art was lost. I haven't been able to find the specifics. If anyone knows, I'd be interested to read about it.



















Here is the center, or the actual scene finished. It's a bit of an annoyance to me, as I can't find any pictures anywhere of these scenes that have any detail to them and I like to refer to pictures as I work. I'll attempt to fix that for any stitcher who happens on this blog in the future so you can actually see the detail.

It's interesting to see these pictures in such an intimate way. For instance, what's the significance of the man on the left, with the shovel?

Well, now I'm on to work on The Deluge. From what I've read from others, this is the most detailed of all the scenes. I've already had to reprint the chart to enlarge it because of all the fractional stitches. Wish me luck!

Why no update in over a month

I just wanted to offer an explanation for the lack of updates and to let people know that the project is still on track. I've been sick and then it turns out needed to have my gallbladder removed. Some people get this done as an outpatient procedure and are better in no time. I'm not that lucky, so my recovery will be a bit longer. Stitching this is still too much for me, but I'm getting stronger and less sore every day. Please be patient and I'll be back to updates as soon as I'm able.

The Drunkeness of Noah

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking in this post.


I started with the outline for the next scene. The first of the center panels. Beige. Lots and lots of beige. In fact, 11 rows wide. I can't imagine doing the entire outline first, but now it's done.


My reward for all that boring beige is this pallet for the actual scene. There are some real pretty blues and greens I've never stitched before. It's going to be fun.


Here's the first corner figure finished. There's a lot to each scene in the way of background and border. The scene itself is only about 1/2 of the entire panel. One of these figures (called ignudi) are in each of the 4 corners.

The Prophet Zacherias

Here is the first of the 45 panels completed. The prophet Zacherias is at the top, center of this chart and to center the whole project correctly that is where I started. I've given you a picture of him upright.

Here is what he'll look like in relation to the rest of the project. After 2 1/2 weeks of stitching I'm feeling a bit more confident of this project. I admit, the scope of it was intimidating (and I love big projects). There are a large number of fractional stitches to smooth out the curves. I've done fractionals in Theresa Wentzler's designs before, but she always uses outline stitching to define the area. Here there are no outline stitches, so I've been challenged a bit to make my fractionals better. They are still a bit of a work in progress, but I'm going to get a lot of practice!




I've moved on now to the border around the central scenes. There are 9 of them in total. They begin with the creation of the world, and all come from the book of Genesis. You'll have to bear with me, as I'm stitching them in reverse of their chronological order. (Top to bottom of a chart is much easier for me.) These central panels will be completed before I move to the outer panels. The border around each scene is being done first. I have the left side completed for the "Drunkenness of Noah" already. I'm not taking any chances that the two sides don't line up, so I've run a thread from specific points to the other side so I'm sure things line up.
This last picture isn't the best, lighting-wise. I have my camera set to work real well under my craft light, but I'm going to have to take pictures in a different place I fear because of the size. I'll keep working on this too.