Filed under: Brandywine Chapter, Embroidery Guild of America, Lotus Blossom by Brenda Kocher, Or Nué Hearts by Brenda Kocher
My Or Nué Hearts and Lotus Blossom by Brenda Kocher are all framed and ready for Tuesday at our EGA Brandywine Chapter Quarterly meeting.
I had enough thread and canvas space to make three pieces. The extra framed Heart is going to Olga, the woman who works the gate at the retirement community where we meet. Very nice lady.
The frames are from Michael’s. There are a few canvas threads left unstitched around the edge of the stitching so that it fits snuggly. It’s stitched on a black canvas and black really helps set off the gold.
It sparkles more in person.
Filed under: 2026, Magical Color with Jennifer Riefenberg, National Academy of Needlearts (NAN)
While preparing for painting mainly in the upstairs bedrooms and hallway, I tried to let go of stuff that has been displayed or tucked away in drawers. We donated 2 boxes of stuff. It’s a start. But, I came across one item that is going to be repurposed. It’s a cover for my daily planners that I used in the 80s and 90s. Yeah, I have a hard time letting go! And yes, I like pandas and my panda cookie jar currently filled with Keurig coffee pods fulfills my tribute to that adorable animal. Elephants and orangutans are right up there and are also represented in our home. Bill brought an owl into the fold when we married and later 3 dogs (statues). But, I digress.
This cover is perfect for Magical Color by Jennifer Riefenberg. It’s the perfect size, is stiff, will hold a notebook, and will stand up to be displayed if desired. I stitched the gobelin border as Jennifer intended. Then, I stitched a buttonhole border over 2 canvas threds so that I could cut right up to the stitching. I didn’t want bulk from folding the edges back like when you finish as a flat ornament. I laid long strands in the well between both borders.
I used a piece of black felt with a sticky back and tacked each piece onto the felt by couching the long laid thread into place before applying the felt to the daily planner cover. And, I can easily take it off the felt if desired.
Filed under: 2026, Magical Color with Jennifer Riefenberg, National Academy of Needlearts (NAN)
Black borders really allow the colors to pop in Magical Color by Jennifer Riefenberg!
The same threads are used across each row. The difference in appearance is all due to the different canvas painted colors showing through.
I have the finishing planned. Stay tuned.
Filed under: Leftover Threads and The Arte Johnson Stitch, Needlework in Progress
In April 2021, I blogged about Leftover Threads and The Arte Johnson Stitch using some of my leftover threads from my EGA Master Craftsman bargello project.
Shortly after my initial post (https://melitastitches4fun.com/2021/04/16/leftover-threads-and-the-arte-johnson-stitch/), I added one more thread, an overdyed green thread, Watercolours 206 Guacamole. I’d been stitching with random selections of 9 different threads using different numbers of 18″ lengths of thread before switching colors.
It turns out that I set this piece aside for 5 years! It was tucked away out of sight and out of mind until cleaning up for some house painting.
I am hoping to obtain an Impressionistic, watercolor effect. The original way Arte Johnson did this was to use 2 different threads in the same needle. So, this is producing a different effect due to the larger areas of color. While it is not wowing me, I’m also not disliking it. It’s easy stitching and surfaced just in time for me to work on during a Zoom call and when I need something mindless.
I’ll see how far I can go with my threads in these colors to form a rectangle and then decide what to do with it. Clutch bag perhaps?
My stitching cup overfloweth!
Some stuff has to go.
Top of the list is this Thread Straightener. I can’t remember where I got but I have used it. The blue and white material is a dense foam and I can see where threads have been pulled through it. I don’t recall it working that great and my flat iron works really well. So, it’s going.
Gone is a large paper clip with a pompon perhaps was for a bookmark, an extra red pen, a red marker, and a pen with a supposedly erasable ink that never really worked great. Moving the glue stick to the basement tool bag opened up the whole cup allowing me to keep most of it! Yes, I have a stitching cup (thanks Linda) with frequently needed items, an upstairs handmade quilt tool caddy with often needed items (thanks again Linda, https://melitastitches4fun.com/2017/06/02/threads-tote-for-tools/), and a basement Find It Media caddy (can’t remember where it came from) with infrequently needed items.
Fess up, how many tool caddies do you have?
Previously, I posted about the various laying tools in my arsenal (https://melitastitches4fun.com/2024/11/24/laying-tools/) that includes my Stitchers Best Friend manufactured by Rainbow Gallery.
That post was November 2024 and despite being right by my side, I haven’t used it. I was surprised to see they sell it in Size 20, 22, and 24.
Do you have one, use it regularly, and use it for what?
Filed under: Brandywine Chapter, Embroidery Guild of America, Lotus Blossom by Brenda Kocher
The challenge with this Or Nué Lotus Blossom is that lots of needles need to be working simultaneously. I don’t want to carry the gold Japanese Silk couching thread across the large center design. So, I have one one each side. There are 3 colors but the center lightest color repeats on the far left and right sides so that is 2 more needles. With the long (4.5 yards) strand of Radiance 13, that makes 8 needles to juggle. I brought my threads up in the hole of the next stitch, laid the Radiance, and then couched with the colored threads first.
Here it is done. I’ll look for a small frame at Michael’s.
Filed under: Brandywine Chapter, Embroidery Guild of America, Or Nué Hearts by Brenda Kocher
I led a class on Wednesday for my EGA Brandywine Chapter Class in Or Nué Hearts by Brenda Kocher. The chapter paid for the canvas (black or ecru) and the threads. By kitting them myself, we split up skeins and saved money. I also bought two large pieces of canvas at Nimble Needle in NJ, cut it, and taped them myself also saving the chapter money. Karen, the owner of Nimble Needle NJ is the only store in our area that gives a 10% discount to ANG and EGA members. A nice perk in addition to an opportunity to chat with Karen!
Since 6″ and 7″ bars are tough to find and because people wanted to learn lacing, we did that first. I wrote up instructions after rereading instructions from Kay Stanis. Even small bars like these took time away from the project but everyone enjoyed learning the technique. It’s handy if you don’t have the proper size bars and if the canvas becomes loose, you can tighten the lacing. Here it is in process.
Rather than using Kreinik, I had everyone use Radiance 13 for the laid thread and we couched with Kreinik Japanese Silk Couching Thread. It went well – it took a couple of people two tries to get the hang of couching in the same hole but everyone was getting the hang of it. So, hopefully, there’ll be some finished pieces by our next meeting on July 14. Mine has been done so people could see it.
Since I had Brenda Kocher’s Lotus Blossom in my stash to do, I am getting started on that piece.
Filed under: Brandywine Chapter, Depression-era Crayon Art, Embroidery Guild of America
This is the finished 27″ sack cloth with one of the leaves enlarged in the center. Thanks again to Patrick B who led this excursion into Crayon Art or Crayon Tinting for the EGA Brandywine Chapter. It was popular in the 1930s and demonstrated the resilience of creativity throughout the Depression. This will serve as a towel hanging next to our basement sink. Heat set the crayon (a paper towel protected the iron). It is washable and may fade over time but that’s ok.
Today I lead lacing canvas onto bars and then a small Or Nue piece.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Razzle Dazzle by Ann Strite-Kurz
If you work with Watercolours often enough, you should come to realize that when you unwind the skein, the color flow can look different than how it is packaged. I shouldn’t have been but was surprised to see one span of light teal portion and the rest was all the blue. So, I found the repeating pattern of color and cut a long enough length to move from light teal in the center moving towards blue for the outer edges. Very pretty. But, I didn’t realize the full impact of the Watercolours until I went to pull threads for Area 2 of Razzle Dazzle by Ann Strite-Kurz.
Initially, I picked up Petite Very Velvet (V660, a blue) but based on Ann’s color scheme it should be the teal color. So, I selected V662 Green Aqua at our ANG Main Line Stitchers May Monday meeting. I was thinking of staying with silk but there isn’t the correct blue in Grandeur (a silk #5 pearl). So, I went home to regroup. In my stash there was a full skein of DMC #5 Pearl 517, a blue cotton. That’s when I realized that the Watercolours caused the first four petals to be more blue than teal and I need to make the diagonal petals more teal. I had inadvertently inverted (partially) the colorway. So, back to my stash and into the teal drawer. What should appear but a lovely spool of Trebizond, a silk, in a lovely aquamarine (TRA701). I only had the one spool until stopping at Nimble Needle in NJ for another 2 spools. Problems solved!
One of Ann’s comments after giving us guidance on selecting colors for her design is, “Beyond this, anything goes, so have fun playing with threads.” That part is easy! In studying various versions of the design I’ve seen online, they can and do vary. So, as long the colors look good together, it should be fine. In a recent email with her, Ann said she believes a dark canvas is better because it creates a negative space better than the lighter canvas colors. I can see that as well but working on the darker colors is tougher on my eyes and I will not stitch a third colorway.
I did go back to do the Autumnal colorway and as you can see the diagonal ovals are stitched in an overall darker value than you see in the diagonal ovals of the Aquamarine colorway. Ann is correct in that it is fun to see these develop.
Next up (at tomorrow night’s June meeting) will be filling in the center and tips around the ovals. While that will be pretty, I am really looking forward to getting to the ribbons and I have enough thread to go in whatever direction moves me.
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