Fabulous Finishes!!

It is so exciting these days to be looking at the private chat room for the Cabinet of Curiosities and all the other courses I teach as students are starting to post their finished caskets or almost finished pieces at a much more rapid rate.  Seeing the shear variety and the amazing workmanship is just so exciting and it is making this adventure so worthwhile.

So I asked if I could share a few of them with the general public!  The first is an original design inspired by 17th century florals by Elizabeth Ballard.  She has finished the inside of her casket and three panels and decided that they would be safest on the casket - allowing her to see them all the time (and likely give her the inspiration to get the next set done.  She also shared with me a tidbit about the process saying that her first try at the leaves were too small so she redid them a bit later much larger and really preferred them that way (agreed!).  I loved the symmetry of the design and her sides continue the same theme.  Can't wait to see the rest!

Elizabeth Ballard's original casket design showing the back installed

The next finish is our very first Harmony with Nature Stitch Along student!  Jane McIvor lives in New Zealand and what a terrific job she has done!  She was nipping at my heels the entire time I was stitching, finishing panels it seemed as fast as I was publishing them.  It is always such a relief as a teacher to see not only a successful finish but such a well done piece - you never know what mistakes you may have made and those first brave souls verify everything for you!

Jane also made  few color tweaks to the design if you look closely at the top you will see that Harmony's dress is in purples and blues and not reds and yellows.  I really like her combination and I think I might use it on a future project!  Of course after we all finish drooling about her casket, one much ask about the amazing hardanger below it!

Jane McIvor's Harmony with Nature Casket

Notice how Jane changed the colors on Harmony - down to her shoes and the cape has a different stitch.  I just love it when students take my design and make it theirs

A spectacular unicorn on Jane's casket!

And then for something completely different, we have the final finish of a casket we have all been waiting to see for quite some time with anticipation!  Rachael Kinnison had previously delighted us all with videos of the inside of her flat casket with its amazing commissioned music box and faux floor for it as well as her embroidered interior. We just had to know what was going to go on the outside with such an amazing interior!

Rachael emailed me in a slight panic two weeks ago as she had the panels mounted but when she trialed her planned trim on it and compared it to a small cut of the gold trim I made, she decided to go for the bling and had to wait for the slow postal service to deliver enough of it from here to there.  How excruciating!  But the bling is well worth it.  Once it was all on and she filmed it in candle light, the box and the beads just sparkle like diamonds.  I had been planning on making a beaded box where the beads are flat against the surface but not anymore!  I will tell you all to go to her blog where she has posted videos (you can hear the music box) and see much more of the embroidery and the background story.

Rachael Kinnison's beaded casket "Precious"

Just a bit of the inside of Racheal's Casket "Precious"

The side of Rachael's casket, the swans have individual feathers out of beads!

Obviously I am just proud as punch of everyone!!