Both temari 47 and 48 were wrapped with serger threads that I recently bought.
The pale green used for 48 is similar but not the same as another color I already have, but a better match to one of my hand dyed perle cotton thread, so I was happy to add it to my collection of serger threads.
temari #47
Temari 47 is a C8 division using 5 perle cotton threads that I hand dyed. It is approximately 3 7/8″ in diameter.
For this temari, I was playing with spindles, the shape that is thick in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is a type of embroidery stitch that does not work on a flat surface as it is the curvature of the ball that allows the threads between stitches to lay next to each other rather than stacking up along the line that they are stitched on. I have a feeling that spindles will be something that I continue to explore the possibilities of for a while.
The both spindles forming an X were stitched alternately so that the intersection would form concentric squares unlike the spindle Xs in 40, 42 and 35 for which one spindle weaves through the other spindle. So in this one, the threads weave separately whereas in the 40, 42, and 35, the threads on each side of a spindle weave together. You might want to go look at the pictures of the others to see what I mean.
temari #47
The white thread that outlines the purple bands and the spindles is an important design element that gives the shapes more definition, otherwise the lavender (it really is lavender but near the green and with my camera it reads more like pink) and the green spindles tend not to show up well against the background color since they are close in value. It also brightens up the design which would tend to dull down without the white outlining.
temari #48
Temari #48 is also a C8 division that is approximately 4 3/4″ in diameter. The ball is wrapped with a wonderful teal colored serger thread that was very difficult to work with. It is a bit slippery so it would slide off the ball or the ball would shoot out of my hands and there would go a lot of work that had to be redone. But it was worth it for the color is wonderful.
This temari was made with #5 perle cotton threads that I had dyed plus a creamy white silk/bamboo yarn and a teal crochet thread. The yarn was is too thick, so I split the four ply in half to use stitching on temari. The crochet thread is a three ply that is also thicker than I wanted, but the right color. So, I removed one ply to get the right size to use for both marking threads and for outlining the stitched shapes.
Like the spindle Xs in 47, the four point purple and pale teal shapes were stitched alternately so that the shapes would merger rather than be one shape on top of another.
temari #48
The four point shapes are the same as used in temari 38, but here I have used two together to form an eight pointed star like in temari 36. The difference between the eight pointed star on this temari and temari 36 is that the star on temari 36 is spread out over a hemisphere with the points of the two stars interlocking at the equator. Same star design but very different look.
One of the things I enjoy most about the design process, taking an element such as a shape, technique, color, etc. and exploring its potential by finding different way of using it by changing how it is used. Everything in design can be considered a variable and the question becomes “how can it be varied?”
eccentricquilter 