Embroidered Collage

I embroidered and beaded the kite shape until it was fully covered with embellishment.  The next two pictures are just progress pictures, going backward in time.

I created the patterning of the stitches as I went.  I based my improvisations on the concept of thirds, which is throughout the piece, and on repetition and variation of the threads and stitches.  In the first progress picture you can see the chevron stitch which takes up most of the available area.  I used spanish feather stitch on the bottom and a knotted buttonhole variation on the top.

In the second progress picture you can see where I added a couple a bit of herringbone in multiple places, a line of cable chain along the top, and began to fill in the diamonds with a knotted upright cross.  I also echoes the diagonal arms of the chevron stitches with a metallic, both so they would stand out a touch more and so the gold incorporated into the one thread wouldn't stand alone.

For the beading I worked primarily from a bead mix that I already had in my stash.  There's a little more color and finish variation than is easily determined from the scan.  I put the larger beads in appropriate places and worked around them with seed and bugle beads to enhance the design. 

I began stitching with the intent to create something highly textured and detailed, so it would have more than one reason to draw the eye once attaced to the canvas, and I feel I succeeded.  I've already begun witht he embroidery directly on the canvas, so that will likely be my next installment.