Phase 2: Plum Blossoms Segment Completed

I had a burst of enthusiasm this past weekend and managed to stitch all the plum blossoms and buds in that segment. I absolutely love stitching plum blossoms, so this was very fun for me. And this time, I used a few different threads and textures for them, which I will show you. I won't go into great detail about the process, though, as that's covered by this post from my phase 1 piece.

I started with the uppermost blossom that touched the main fan rib because I knew I needed to get the ones touching that segment done first (since that's the segment I'll be learning to do in my next JE class on Saturday). I padded each petal with 4-->1 dark purple twisted silk, but for the top layer, I used one strand of flat dark purple silk and two strands of the dark purple metallic thread, half-hitched onto the needle:

I wanted a lot of sparkle in this blossom (hence two strands of the metal thread), but I also wanted the better coverage that flat silk offers, which is why I combined them this way. Here's the completed flower:

I rather love it. It's very dark and very sparkly, and I think my one-point open space between each petal is pretty good overall. Next, I stitched the lower blossom that also touched the main fan rib. I again used 4-->1 twisted silk in the lavender shade to pad it because I wanted the petals to be very full and three-dimensional:

I did the same padding on the bud just above it. And then I stitched both the blossom and the bud with two strands of flat silk in the same lavender:

I love the glossy sheen of these and how they catch the light. They make a nice contrast to the darker, sparkly metal one.

I then decided to do the top plum blossom the way I did all the plum blossoms on my Mile High piece — using 4-->1 twisted silk. First, I did the self-padding:

Then I did the top layer with the same thread:

I love the texture of the twisted silk, especially in contrast to the flat silk and metal thread on the blossom below. They look so pretty next to each other.

Then it was time to finish the remaining buds. I tried the bottom one in twisted silk first:

I liked the contrasting color, but I didn't like the twisted silk for such a small bud. It looked a bit untidy. So I took out the top stitches (I left it padded in 4-->1 twisted silk) and redid it with one strand of flat silk and two strands of dark purple metallic thread, half-hitched onto the needle (like the first blossom I did):

I preferred this, and the sparkle of the metal thread was nice next to the shiny lavender silk.

Next, I moved back up to a bud in the middle that had two tiny petals on it and padded these with 4-->1 dark purple twisted silk:

But I decided to do the top layer entirely in the metal thread so that this little bud would be extra sparkly:

I think it turned out pretty well, and because it's all in the metallic thread, you can see how the color changes from purple to almost blue at some points (it's a variegated metal thread).

The last bud was the one at the top, which had one little petal coming off of it. I again used 4-->1 twisted silk for the padding because I wanted it to be more three-dimensional, but I used 2F of the dark purple silk to stitch the bud and its petal:

Here are all the buds and blossoms up to this point:

I love the variety of colors and textures and was pretty happy with the stitching overall. Here's how it looks with the other segments:

I am in raptures over the colors of these plum blossoms. And I think the segment fits in beautifully with the rest of the fan. I thought I was finished with this segment and stopped there on Sunday.

Aaaand then I remembered the stamens and knots. I always forget those till the very end. So today after work, I added them. I used dark purple metallic thread for the stamens on the lavender blossoms, with knots in dark purple silk. And I used #1 silver metallic thread for the stamens on the dark purple blossom, with knots blended of silver silk and #1 silver metallic thread (for more info on creating stamens and knots, see this post):

Now this segment is really complete. I love the contrast of the silver stamens and knots on the dark purple blossom, but I do not enjoy making Japanese knots with metallic thread in them. They kink and make weird shapes, so my knots on that blossom aren't as good as my knots on the lavender blossoms, where I used only silk thread. But still, I think they all look very pretty.

I just have to finish the bamboo leaves, and I will be all ready for my class on Saturday. I have two of the bamboo leaves done already, so I hope to have that segment completed and written up as another blog post before my next class. I took Friday off of work, so it should be manageable. 😊