As you may recall, not long ago I showed Sky 23 from Stitch Landscape by Little Shoppe Canvas Company. My one negative was that the diagrams do blur a tad when you open to the 2x size on iPad but not so horrible that you can’t look at it. Elaine from Little Shoppe Canvas Company commented that an upgrade was coming – it came.
But, when I went to upgrade on my iPad, I got a message that I needed iOS5 or greater to upgrade. Well, I’d just bought this iPad in Sept 2011, so back to the Apple store to find out what was going on. I found the oldest clerk in the store to help me. And, he was patient, helpful, & explained that I am supposed to plug the iPad into my computer & the upgrade will practically occur by itself. Yeah, sure. I was not optimistic but I went home to try. I never knew that I was supposed to plug this into the computer – you don’t get manuals any more!
Well, messages automatically came up all right – but it told me that in order to upgrade the iPad, I had to upgrade iTunes version to 10.2 or greater. You got to be kidding me! Can’t they ever just STOP upgrading I lamented to myself, knew “they” wouldn’t, & bit the bullet.
So, I bravely went to apple.com, looked at the support tab, & then downloads. Amazingly, I located the right thing & it worked!! It took hours to do it it’s thing – it must have needed a ton of updates because as little as I use iTunes, I recall ignoring those annoying pop-ups telling me an upgrade was available. But, this latest upgrade went much smoother. Maybe “they” are listening to us computer light weights & making it easy for us to stay in the game.
So, back to the iPad for its update & it worked as easy as the Apple clerk had said. Then, to the app updates on my iPad for Stitch Landscape & it worked!! And, the diagrams at 2X are clearer. I only wish the pictures showed the improvement because even though they weren’t bad before it was worth the effort!! So, thanks to Elaine for her update & Apple for making updates easier. And, I’ll probably still ignore updates until I am forced to download.
Before 
After 
I went to Rittenhouse Needlepoint to get more Arctic Rays (AR2) & Fuzzy Stuff (FZ15) but they were out of FZ15, a very bleached white. It was fortuitous because I prefer the more natural FZ26. And, they had an antique white (FZ27) with Fuzzy Stuff (AR3) that I think will be nice as the 2 background trees keeping the whitest one in the front center.
Here’s the first tree (center whiter one) from different angles so you can see the fluffy effect of the thread.
I like the pattern because it resembles branches going in different directions cathing the snow – it is Tree 16 from Stitch Landscape.
I got the blackwork finished & the bottom. I really had to focus doing the blackwork (Area 7 – top photo). I enjoyed it because it was a challenge but I wouldn’t choose to do a lot of it!
On the bottom square, I wish the overdyed thread on the one diagonal had some red & white in it. But, I didn’t notice that as I was stitching. I didn’t even notice it until I looked at the picture!
Now, I can remove the canvas from the frame, cut the squares apart, & stitch the edges down!
Last weekend, I found a SharonG canvas that will go perfectly as an insert to a black purse to carry with one of my winter coats which has 2 snapdragon pins. But, Karen at Nimble Needle offered me a discount on a returned stitch guide/threads packet for that canvas (subject of another blog another time!). So, I had to find another canvas that didn’t have a stitch guide to take to the canvas enhancement class today! That wasn’t too hard with so many pretty canvases!
Today (actually took me longer to write this up & it is technically now Sunday), I worked on a green/gold Dragon Fly canvas by Kathyrn Molineux for a Sudberry House wooden tea-tray. The pictures are showing the canvas more blue – I wish I could adjust that aspect. It is a 5×7 design area on 18 count. But, I’ll need to expand past that for the 5&3/4 x 9&3/4 area of the tea-tray. SharonG recommended a bamboo border to fill in which I won’t get to until last. Also, she recommended a gold Mylar or Lurex underneath to be reflective which I’ve never heard of that before-sounds facinating.
I met a nice bunch of fellow stitchers from all over NJ, PA, & MD. We talked Seminar classes – everyone is excited! And, we had a lovely lunch at The Bistro which was a short walk on a beautiful day. Quite a pleasure to finally meet SharonG! Hopefully, I’ll get her class, Anatomy of a Stitch Guide, at Seminar.
When I got home & looked at SharonG’s book Needlepoint SENSE (Simply Essential Needlepoint Stitch Explanations), I realized that the Alicia’s Lace that Sharon recommended for the gold wings on the Dragon Fly would let the gold of the canvas show more & allow the reflective layer to be effective. So, I ripped out the Alicia’s Lace Variation that I’d started on the wing because it covered too much canvas. I hadn’t done much & didn’t realize that they’d be so different. The hardest part about the Alicia’s Lace is starting and ending your thread so that it doesn’t cover the holes from the bottom. Here’s a picture but if you click on it you’ll see the white underneath the holes.
And, with the flash off, you can really see through the canvas. You can see where I am finishing off the threads on the left. I have to run a border thread around the wing & couch it anyway – so, it’ll be fine.
Back to front with flash for close-up. There is only one hole in upper left corner that is covered by a thread from the back in this picture.
The single gold rows are a Van Dyke stitch over 1 and 4 threads using Kreinik #4 braid 3228, a yellow gold with a hint of green. In between those rows are Alternating Mosaic using 2 strands of Gloriana #192, Peacock Blue (again that looks more green than here), a 12 strand hand-dyed silk. I was going to use Watercoulors or Waterlilies but Sharon likes open stitches to allow the painted canvas to show through. I never used Gloriana before-it’s nice.
I caught up to where I was at the end of class. You can sort of see the green along the bottom row in this picture.
The last set of handkerchiefs are monogrammed M for my grandmother, Mae. Since my middle name is Mae & my first name begins with an M, I had the 2nd one bunched up in the center as shown & inserted into my bouquet when I got married. It’s at my wrist in the picture. Something old & a way to have her with us on our wedding day!
The first 2 have tatted borders. Isn’t the first so dainty to have such a small plain area surrounded by a large delicate edging. Beautiful. The 2nd is interesting to me because they used 2 colors. The 3rd is probably crochet. If I’m wrong, do let me know!
These make a lovely set as well. Each has some petite point work. And, a couple of shades of each color make a simple but effective flower.
Well, I did have to go to the store for more threads because I’d already cut most of my DMC skeins in shorter pieces. Oh well – so much for using up stash.
I found I needed 40″ to complete the row of double upright crosses for Area 3 (blue Kreinik #8 051HL), 40″ for each set of 3 Rhodes stitches for Area 4 (blue DMC 825) & 40″ (folded in half) for each V of upright gobelin stitches for Area 5. On 14 count, doubling the DMC #5 provided excellent coverage. And, it seemed easier to do each V separate rather than turning 90 degrees to work the second. Area 6 are Sprats Heads worked with 54″ folded in half to make a 2 ply coverage as well in white DMC #5. This is still working up quickly & as our monthly meeting approaches, I hope to complete the blackwork as well.
Filed under: Needlework Documentation Project
Special event! And, an opportunity that I won’t miss . . .
IN STITCHES: Unraveling Their Stories
December 2, 2011 – September 7, 2012
Chester County Historical Society
225 N. High Street
West Chester, PA 19380
The exhibit is a rare opportunity to see large portions of the needlework collections of Westtown School and Chester County Historical Society (50 minute drive due west of Philadelphia). Enjoy select samplers and other embroidery made by girls from Chester County and the surrounding area 200 years ago.
For further information visit www.chestercohistorical.org or call 610.692.4800
Volunteers are needed to help facilitate the documentation process by assisting with registration, writing descriptions of incoming embroidered pieces, and interviewing participants. There is a 1-hour training session (either Mar 28 or Mar 31). And, then the volunteer day is Sat Apr 14. Volunteers are requested to participate for at least one shift of 4 hours, 8:30 to 12:30 or 12 noon to 4:00. Anyone interested in participating the whole day will be offered a sandwich lunch. Read more at http://www.chestercohistorical.org/pdf/Needlework-Documentation-Volunteers-press-release.pdf
I found out about this from a friend who read about it a newspaper. I’ve passed it on to my ANG chapter members & now reaching out to others in the area. Sounds like a wonderful, different experience. Maybe I’ll see you there!
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