The Gemstone Project: Planning

A while ago I found these great mini-gems at Lycette. I bought one for each person in my family based on our birthstones. You’ll find blue & orange sapphires (September), tourmaline (October), blue topaz (December). I didn’t get ruby (July) so I’m stitching a second blue sapphire in red for ruby. You can see pictures of all of them in this article.

Although each gem is small it’s a big project. All the gems will be stitched in Tent and will have white or cream metallic as the backgrounds. I knew that because of the different shapes I would have to stitch backgrounds. That meant I had to find the ornament frames. I found a frame for each from my stash and used the glass from each to trace the shape for finishing.

My project bag has all the ornaments and all the frames. One is already on stretcher bars.

The next step is to pick threads. Because the stitching will be Tent, ideally I’d like threads with some sparkle. That may b difficult because each gem needs four shades of the same color. Although metallic blend threads are popular, I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to use the same thread for all gems.

Let’s take a look at a few possibilities:

Etoile: This DMC thread comes in limited colors. There are enough shades in this thread to make it a possibility for the orange sapphire.

Entice: This Rainbow Gallery thread is a combination of rayon and metallic. It has a great collection of blues, making it a great choice for the blue topaz and sapphire.

Neon Rays +: This Rainbow Gallery thread is a combination of rayon ribbon and metallic. It has a lovely selection of pinks, making it a good choice for the tourmaline.

Silk Lame has the best selection of colors and is the only metallic blend thread that could work for all five gems.

Doing this would mean buying lots of threads, a significant investment. Another possibility is to use non-metallic threads. I might be able to find some threads in my stash and fill it out with new purchases. The last choice would be to buy floss.

As I try to do with all projects, I shopped my stash first. Happily, I found threads that will work for almost everything using mostly Etoile, along with Silk Lame, some Neon Rays +, and Baroque Silk. I am not happy with the lightest shade of blue I pulled but I’ll continue the search.

I can stitch and complete 3 of the five now!