Fans of hers will immediately recognise Helen M Stevens' wonderful 'Ornamental Pool' design from the book 'Embroidered Gardens'. I worked this for my in-laws for their 20th wedding anniversary, but never got a really good photo of the finished item. We took the original pictures in over-bright sunlight and the end result wasn't as distinct as it could have been. So, I took the chance whilst over at their place earlier this month of getting it down off the wall and getting some better photos for my own enjoyment.
As you can see, it had never been properly stretched as MIL did it herself rather than having a pro do it (which was both a shame for the finished result and good in that it was easier for Sir to remove the glass for photography!!), so there are some 'waves' showing in the fabric, esp. the top half. However, try to ignore that and see if you don't love this masterful design as much as I did.=)
Here are some detail photos of various parts:
To be honest, the light was still a little too bright, but, for the first time that I can remember, I reduced the brightness on Photoshop Elements and then increased the contrast slightly and sharpened some shots a little. Have you ever had to do this?
I'm quite pleased with the results and will have to remember to try that again when something looks rather bleached out.
By the way, have you updated your RSS reader links to Sew in Love? I noticed on the last day of Google Reader's 'life' that I had 591 subscribers on there. Imagine how desperately gutted I was to see only 124 when I checked on Feedly today...=( So, don't forget to update your feeds so you can keep up to date with what's happening in my textiles world. I'm hoping to make it well worth your while over the months to come, and feel free to make reader requests too as I'd like to know what you like to read and see.
Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013
