Fun with Finials

This is the new toy I mentioned in my last post.  I hope that you weren't expecting another toy for the Toy Chest Etui because that's not what this is!

My friend Marty ( who inspired the napkin ring pin cushions ) has done it again.  At our EGA meeting this week she showed us a pin cushion that she had made using a wooden finial from a craft supply store.  She made it from instructions in a book by Blackbird Designs and hers was painted black, then sanded to make it look old and the pin cushion part was a floral design stitched on linen.  It was wonderful and it set my brain to spinning so I stopped by A.C. Moore on the way home and bought up all of the finials they had.  My first attempt is pictured below.

But first a little background...

Years ago, before I started my needlework design business, back when I had more free time, I used to make decorated eggs using the Ukrainian wax-resist method.  It involves drawing the design on the egg with beeswax and then dipping it into dye, drawing more and dipping in a different color, and so on until the design is complete.  This is the same method used to make Batik fabric.  The photo below shows some of my eggs.  Most of them are duck eggs but there are also some from geese, peahens and swans.

When I saw the oval section of the wooden finial, it reminded me of these eggs so I thought it would be fun to decorate the finial to look something like the eggs.  I used acrylic stencil paints and then antiqued the finial to tone down the colors and make it look old.  Finally I sprayed it with satin finish polyurethane.  I stitched the linen for the pin cushion in a pattern and an overdyed thread to match the painting on the finial.  The stitching is done on "Platinum" Belfast linen and is worked in an eyelet variation stitch using Gloriana's Summer 'n Smoke silk floss.  Finally, I glued a matching trim around the linen to cover the edge of the finial.
( Anyone who has been in one of my classes knows that I hate to use glue in finishing needlework, but sometimes there's just no way around it. )

As I look out of my windows at the ridge just to the west, the trees are in all of their autumn glory so I'm thinking that my next finial will use fall colors.  The one pictured here is a gift for a friend.

Many thanks to Marty and to Blackbird Designs for the great ideas and the inspiration!