Woodpecker needlepoint

[Framer Dave]

This one is a needlepoint based on a William Morris tapestry. Morris wrote a poem based on an old Italian legend of a king who was turned into a woodpecker by a sorceress, and later created a tapestry based on the legend. The needlepoint was designed by Beth Russell, who also designed Peacock (also a William Morris tapestry) which you can see in The Good, Bad and The Ugly a few posts down in the topic started by Picturemaker.

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Started by squaring it. Since commercial blocking boards don't seem to be available any more, I made my own with a laminated board, waterfast marker and copper roofing nails made for slate tiles. For me it was the least enjoyable part of it. That's the back of the needlepoint you see in the above photo.

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Then laced it onto a sturdy board, using perl cotton thread. Just strong enough, and its smooth surface allowed it to pass through the canvas very easily without snagging or fraying. If I had been a bit more patient I would have stitched extra canvas on all four sides to give me more to work with.

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The frame needed a bit more depth to accomodate the mounting board, the fabric, and the spacers needed to provide a generous airspace between the glazing and needlepoint. I built an extender out of standard stock, gluing and screwing it to the back of the frame. Since the fabric would be in contact with the rabbet, I sealed it with Lineco frame sealing tape.

[Framer Dave]

To help prevent fading and other damage, and to allow the best view of the texture and color I used Museum Glass. FrameSpace spacers provided the airspace needed. I fit the needlepoint in without glass initially so that I could get good photos. What I found interesting was that it actually looked better once I put the glass in. The colors were deeper and richer than they were without the glass.

The frame is from Larson Juhl's Belmont range, and the slip, also from larson Juhl, is from their Vienna II range.

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The inscription, taken from the poem and original tapestry, was done with a laser engraver. I considered using black acrylic paint or silver Rub-N-Buff to color it, but I decided to let the exposed wood age naturally.

[prospero]

Pure Class Dave.

[David]

That is beautiful, love the moulding. How does the laser engraving work?

[Roboframer]

Classy!

I see from the other thread that you stitched it as well as framed it - respekt! I once tried my hand, not needlepoint but X stitch, just so's I could relate to what I was getting to frame. It was quite a complex thing - a wildlife montage on 18 count aida. I did the top left of a leopard's ear over about a month, on and off, and thought 'screw THIS!"

[Framer Dave]

Thanks for the compliments, everyone.

David, the laser engraving was done with, well, a laser engraver. Imagine a Gunnar mountcutter or an X-Y plotter, but with a laser head instead of a cutting or printing head. Pretty much the same thing as a printer: lay out the text or artwork, position it and let it do its thing. It takes a little adjusting depending on how deep you want the engraving to be or if you want to cut through material, and whether you're doing it on glass, mountboard, metal or wood.

The typeface is called Kelmscott, a spot-on match for what Morris used in his books and tapestries. I found it online, dowloaded it and then Bob's your uncle.

[markw]

Fantastic. great attention to detail. Love the engraving. Do you have a laser engraver - if you do - do you offer this as a service - If you don't, who did it for you?

[Framer Dave]

As much as I would love a laser engraver to play with, I don't have one. A framer local to me has one and offers it as a service to other framers.

[Framing Frenzie]

This is fantastic. Just had a request for a poem engraved on a frame. I remembered seeing this. You know anyone who could do this for me in the Yorkshire area? Or happy to take it on, the framing job is simple and with flexi points to put their own item in. Any flat brown moulding and an offwhite mount, acrylic glazing Posted to Berkshire. Anyone fancy tackling it?

[framemaker]

A sign writer on the industrial estate I am on is getting a laser engraver this week, they showed me some samples of what it can do, amazing fine work. They wondered if I knew of a supplier of 3 to 5mm veneered ply.

So maybe try a sign writer

[Framing Frenzie]

Oooh right, there is one near me too. Will give them a ring. Thanks.

[Framing Frenzie]

No, they don't do it.

[Not your average framer]

Hi Dave,

We see a lot of really classy work exhibited in this section of the forum and every now and then, there is one which stands out as something in a class of it's own. Personally I think this job is one of those which stands out.

I can only speak for myself, but this job has inspired me to want to try and get some engraving done on frame mouldings myself. Jobs like this, give you some serious Kodus as a framer.

I'm really impressed, it's beautiful!

[prospero]

You'll be doing etched glass mats next Mark.

Script apart, that's a really classy moulding. I like to see veneer with lumps and bumps and nibbly edges. A lot of the pre-finished stuff looks like formica. I've actually done mock-maple frames by painting obeche and it looks (from a distance) a lot better than the real (new) stuff.

[Not your average framer]

You'll be doing etched glass mats next Mark

I've never had even the sightest desire to do glass mounts. I'm very thankful I don't have to do them.

[prospero]

This is fantastic. Just had a request for a poem engraved on a frame. I remembered seeing this. You know anyone who could do this for me in the Yorkshire area? Or happy to take it on, the framing job is simple and with flexi points to put their own item in. Any flat brown moulding and an offwhite mount, acrylic glazing Posted to Berkshire. Anyone fancy tackling it?

Dunno about engraving it, but one way that might look good is to print (or get hold of someone with calligraphic skills) onto a nice heavy paper and stick the paper to the frame. You need a frame that is flat or slightly domed with raised edges to protect the edges of the paper. I did one years ago as a try-out and it's still good as the day it was made. I stuck the paper with PVA and varnished it with decorators varnishing wax. You need to cut the lengths sightly oversize - stick the paper - let dry - trim the lengths to size.