Finally. I finally took a day for myself to finish this piece after 4 years, and I really could not be happier with it. An image of just the finished stitching can still be found here in my gallery, but even then this was what I always wanted to do with it.
The main difference between to two of course being that here, the background has been painted on with watercolor paints (to keep the fabric flexible) in varying layers and shades of yellow. It really has a depth effect in the end with the stitching over top that I hadn't even foreseen when I decided to do this.
Really, there just are not enough words to describe how much I love the result of this piece.
I really like the idea of painting the background! I've been trying to think of ways to color the fabric and dyeing seems too messy. This might be the key!
Thanks And essentially this is just like dying the fabric, but you shouldn't wash it after you're done as the colors will run. I certainly recommend the technique if you have any experience with water color.