Tuffet Progress

As previously mentioned, I am on hiatus from quilting until the end of September when I move into a permanent apartment.  In the meantime I am working on an incredibly detailed (18 ct) needlepoint tuffet.  It was custom-made and is going to be completely awesome when I (very eventually) finish it.

The eight canvases that need to be completed

Working on this needlepoint has been surprisingly satisfying.  Because each object/fish/piece of coral is so small, I am constantly moving onto something new and not getting bored.  The colors are incredibly bright and fun, and I have the opportunity to incorporate lots of metallics.

The largest difficulties have been my crippling fear of trying to stitch such incredibly detailed painted creatures, and the extreme difficulty of determining the very subtle shading differences in the piece.  Below are a series of before/after pics on the parts of the needlepoint that I have completed so far.

The current canvas I am working on, in full

The first fish I stitched, before and after.  The oranges and yellows are metallic.

The lower left corner (before)

starfish stitched

sand stitched as well

A very intimidating fish.  Look at the detail!

base coat of stitches

The final (ish) version.  I am still unhappy with the choppiness of the black along his back and how angry his eye turned out to be.

So that is current status of my needlepoint.  More updates as more fish are completed!