Peacock Passed -- Sort Of

It occurs to me that I never posted about the results of my Step #4 piece and whether it passed! Bad me... I'm still getting used to making this Blog a regular part of my life, and keeping it current. I will try to do better! It might be better incentive if I have some followers, but I'm working on that part, too.

I received a package in the mail in mid-November, and the results were a "Provisional Pass" on my peacock. I was actually pretty disappointed, as I felt my soft-shading technique is quite good, and that I had demonstrated that well. The judges indicated that they felt the upper half was "exquisite" (that made me feel pretty good!) but that they didn't like the stitch direction of the tail feathers.

To remind you what they looked like, here is the close-up photo with lines super-imposed to show what they wanted. The light blue lines accentuate the stitch direction I had. the yellow lines show what they wanted, what
they thought would be more "pleasing":

Note there are no lines on the left-most feather. they liked that one. Now, to me, this is a matter or personal taste and design, and not so much of technique, but it's

a very subtle thing. And the bottom line is if I wanted to pass, I needed to change it! In the grand scheme of things, too, this was an easy change, so I got out my sharp scissors and my tweezers and started ripping.

The results of the re-work are below. I must admit I do like it a bit better. What do you think??

Now, it must sit and wait until the next judging window at the beginning of April! I feel confident that I will have a complete "Pass" at that time.

Meanwhile, with the Provisional Pass, the judges do send along the instructions for the next step so I can get started. I can -- if I finish the next step in time -- submit it along with the re-submission of Step #4. If Step#4 passes, they will then judge Step #5. If for some reason Step #4 does not pass, then they send the whole thing back.

I have been spending a lot of time in the last 6 weeks or so studying for this next step, and coming up with a design. I'll write all about that -- and how I transfer my designs to linen -- in my next post.

Some up-coming subject I have planned are:

Washing and blocking your piece

Coming up with my original design

Transferring my design to linen

Discovering new wool (from a die-hard Appleton lover!)

Looking back at Master Craftsman Steps #1 through #3

Anything you want to see??