Happy Birthday Doctor

 

Doctor Who celebrates 60 years of time travel today, but then if you didn't already know that you must be existing in some alternative dimension.

It's a show that has inspired so many people to go on and do so many things, indeed, so many people involved in the anniversary shows grew up loving the show which eventually went on to be their career.

For me it made me start stitching, and here's the latest additions to the tapestry, still working on the classic era. Say a very loud hello to King Yrcanos and Dorf from Mindwarp section of The Trial of a Time Lord.

Ssssss. Crombrom savalula! 

Next up will be the Mentor Kiv, in his second body

September is the time to enter the matrix

Now I am working across two of the panels at once. These are the final two panels to go on the right hand side of the tapestry. The top panel you saw the start of recently. There I added the Unbound Doctor, Benny, Iris Wildtyme and Panda along the top.

I have now returned to working up from the bottom and last night I added the last stitch to the Keeper of the Matrix from the Trial of the Time Lord.

The Sixth Doctor's own panel already featured Madam Inquisitor and the Valeyard, and various characters who also appeared in the trial season have already been added, as can be seen on the page dedicated to The Trial of a Time Lord

I'm often asked if I work from any pattern, all I do is a working guide sketch on the canvas then fill in from a photo beside me. Here's the comparison of the sketch to the finished Keepr.

Next up will be King Yrcanos and The Lukoser/Dorff

Doctor Who Tapestry Update - The missing months

So I've been a bit quiet on here of late, but I have been busy stitching away on the top right panel of the tapestry. Rather than post some of the work in progress I've completed the top row of figures, as these form a special collection.

So here goes...

This top area has been dedicated to some special characters, mainly originating in print, before being brought to life by Big Finish. 

When Benny found herself in the Unbound Universe with David Warner's version of the Doctor I couldn't get enough of their adventures, and I felt it was only right to honour David's Doctor with a place on the tapestry. 

Benny was a character I loved in print, so much so that I originally added Benny to the tapestry even before Big Finish had started recording audio adventures, and that Benny was based on the cover art work. I've always wanted to add Lisa Bowerman's Benny to the tapestry and I felt that the best partnership was to include her alongside David's Doctor and I based them on one of the boxset covers, hence the blue tint to the hair,  there remains a little remedial work to do for Benny.

I had only seen Iris Wildtyme briefly in print before she was brought to life by Katy Manning, and then she developed a life of her own. Who wouldn't want to climb aboard her double-decker bus and dash off on an adventure, and maybe just give the Doctor a few headaches along the way.

And Iris couldn't go anywhere without her trusty companion Panda.

Doctor Who Tapestry Update - Teaser

I've not been asleep, I've just held back from posting updates for the last couple of months. I hope to make a special post soon of what I've been working on over the last few months.

But here are a few teaser photos to be getting on with...

Any ideas?

Doctor Who Tapestry Update - March 2023 (Late)

My March update is quite late, I simply ran out of March before I was finished. I had aimed to have the panel fully integrated into the main body by the end of March, but it proved to be trickier than I had expected. I had pinned then tacked the panel in place, but it became necessary to untack it and re-tack it several times as the canvas pulled apart under the tension on the hoop.

In the end I had to try and work for a period without the hoop and put my own tension onto the square inch I was working on at the time, to avoid straining the rest. However, the join has been completed and all that is left now is for some filling in to be done.

Trying to match the colours from the original edge in order to bring the pattern across the join onto the new panel was very difficult. When that edge had been done before with the companions that had been intended to be the outer edge, so I had no notes of what wool brand, colour or shade had been used. Some I was able to find a good match for but he candy pink blob was a headache. 

I’m going to try and get Nimrod finished asap, as the weather is turning and very soon it will become too warm to be sitting with the whole tapestry across my legs as I work on it, so attention will then turn to the two remaining panels that will be used to complete this side of the tapestry now.

I’m going to jump ahead and work on the top panel for awhile as I have made a change in the planed design for this side, and I will be allocating a part of the top panel to a special version of the Doctor.

Doctor Who Tapestry Update - February 2023

Just a quick update today, still joining on the panel to the main canvas 

And adding Nimrod into the space next to the other Ghost Light characters 

Close up on the join area…

Doctor Who Tapestry Update - January 2023

The joining of the panel onto the main body of the tapestry has begun. This is not going to be easy, there are sections along the edges that have little aida left to join with. What has made it even harder is that the vertical join is not a straight one but has a step in it where the previous sections were not evenly matched.

The first stage is to pin in place the new panel. You can see towards the top left of the photo where the edge steps out of line. This area might be easier to join when I get there as it will have a lot of extra aida to work with. That will be the last part to get stitched in to place.

What you can see to the top right of existing panel that is already in place, is that there is a large gap that should really have been filled before I started work on this other panel. Because of the location the only choice of stories I had to pick from to fill it were Ghostlight and Curse of Fenric.

Before I can do anything about that I need to secure the right-hand edge of the aida and bind it. The general binding I've used on the panel being attached is a black rib of wool, although it's not black edging right to the bottom. 

This binding is the first part where the top canvas is stitched on to the main body forming the final tapestry.

I've gone with Nimrod from Ghostlight, but it might just be a tight squeeze to get the top of his head in. The top of his head will form part of the join across the two pieces. I'm busy trying to complete him as well as securing the panels together.

To help hold the whole thing together I've done some rough tacking stitches using cotton to hold the ends together. I will be stitching through both layers where possible to join them together. Any visible cotton can be clipped out after.

The background here will be done in blocks so that the wool  threads cover as much of the material as possible above and below the join. This is to ensure a strong join exists between the panels.

 

It's been a bit tricky to hold the ends taunt and flat whilst tacking them together, stretched out across the bed as I need a large space to work on. But, you have to be very careful not to stitch the blankets to it at the same time. It really needs about three pairs of hands.

And so it begins

My end of January update will show how much progress has been made in attaching the latest panel on to the main body of the Doctor Who tapestry.

This is the panel now that the final gaps have been filled in and last small details added. I started this panel back in September 2021 and it is now January 2023. By this rate it will be a good few more years before I get the whole project complete. A rough calculation says two more panels to complete the right-hand side and at least three on the left-hand side to include everything I want to feature.

I've already cut and prepared the material for the next panel. This is so I can stitch when away from home or sitting in an armchair. 

Attaching the finished panel to the main body will involve laying the canvas across the bed as it is the only area where the weight of the main canvas can be supported while I work.

Wish me luck...

Birthday weekend special offer

 Birthday weekend special offer on Kindle edition downloads

OFFER EXTENTED UNTIL THURSDAY 12th