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Tableau, late April update

Well…after some serious procrastination last week when the boys were home for spring break, I finally resumed work on Tableau, and made a nice leap forward. I gave Joseph a cloak (which helps him stand out against the stable), got the interfacing / foundation for the shepherds cut, ditto for the animals. Here’s a shot from yesterday evening:

I also “foiled” for the first time, to make the halos for the angel (just head and halo at the moment), Mary, Joseph and the baby, and used an extra small halo as a stand-in for the comet / bright star (along with some gold sheer).

I’m testing overlays for the mountains to tone down the white. Will also play with a wash of paint, but of all things think I like the camo mesh from (shudder….) Wal-Mart on the right!

By the way…that’s a cat in the front, bottom /center….I figure if Mary picked up the baby from the warm manger, it’s probably like my house with a cat wanting to move right into the warm spot (there will be a manger in a few days….).

I’ll update with the “colored in” animals (goat, sheep, mule, cow, cat) anon…hopefully before I head to California next week to see Ma.

And a tease: see the lower right corner of the photo? …that’s a box with the other thing I did last week…totebags! I’m going to do a pattern for Janome America (my part of being on the Artists’ loaner program) so developed this tote bag, complete with cell phone pocket and water bottle holster.

2 Responses to “Tableau, late April update”

  1. Allison Says:

    Very nice…! (Saw your post about this on the QA list). Somehow those graphic mountains work so well, too. How did you know they would? Beautiful….

  2. Sarah Ann Smith Says:

    Thanks for writing, Allison! I tried to e-mail you, but you did the “no reply” option on blogger, so I couldn’t!

    Actually, the mountains are made from the winter uniform skirt and were one of the first ideas that came to mind. Roberta Horton (or is it Mary Mashuta? Or both of them?), and also Ruth McDowell, use plaids and stripes a lot. I tend not to, so it was a fun exercise. I have added a wash to tone down the white, and some hideous tulle (black spiderwebs) and even more ghastly camouflage mesh (shudder) in strips to make it look more mountainy, but still keep the plaid visible.