Corners for the old shul tallit

Today I edged the old shul tallit with bronze metallic middy ribbon. The ribbon gives a tidy edge. I like working with it because it has a fair amount of body and doesn't slide around a whole lot. I had gotten a huge cone of 3/4 inch wide ribbon several years ago at Tinsel Trading. I use it a a ton, not only because I have so much of it, but also I like how the bronze is a lot less flashy looking than a regular bright gold.

The corner pieces were to have Samuel's answer when he was called by God., Hineini, "Here I am." In Hebrew, that word is made up of four letters. I played with several ways to lay out the word, in a tight circle, in a diamond. I finally hit on the idea of repeating the word in each of the four corners of each pina/corner piece.

I drafted a three inch square and calligraphed the words. Then I tweaked the edges of the letters with a fine tipped pen. Finally, I cut out the letters using an X-acto knife.

I'm using a maroon velveteen for the pinot. I brushed in pigment over the stencil using a stiff round tipped brush and an oil paint stick. I like the crisp edge my lettering gets when I use a stencil.