Gratitude, Word of the year 2013

I choose GRATITUDE for my 2013 Word of The Year

The piece began with a picture of my hands

 My hands are open, as if accepting

 I printed the image, then traced it onto freezer paper to get the image started on muslin

 I added value one shade at a time

 Then I added rays of light

The back is almost as interesting as the front

 Hand stitched beads

 Detail

 Each night my husband and I write what we are thankful for each day

then add it to a monthly Gratitude Jar, this is January's

 This is February's, at the end of the month they are dumped into a really big jar

 We've both enjoy writing our gratitudes each night

Next year we will read one, and write a new one

Final piece

I truly enjoyed the meditative process of thread painting this piece

but, I would do two things differently next time.

1. Paint the muslin first, this would cut done on white spaces, and save thread

2. The piece became very wonky as I stitched. I sought the advice of an expert, Susan Brubaker Knapp, here is what she said: “When I thread sketch, I only do it through the top layer of fabric and interfacing (Pellon 910 or Heavy Weight Shaping Aid), sometimes two layers of interfacing. It looks like you have done it with batting and backing fabric, which do not give you enough of a solid foundation for all that thread. Also, make sure you use very light weight thread (50 or 60 weight).”