Several members of my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter have now joined several of us who took a class with Sharon G for her painted canvas, Vases with Curly Bamboo, at Nimble Needle of NJ a few years ago (2012). Original class members have Sharon G’s stitch guide and I’m using her recommended stitches (with a slight alteration of the beads near the black tassel).
Now, we have stitch guides by Amy Bunger and Tony Minieri to learn how different stitch guide writers approach the same painted canvas. These will be discussed every other month (December, February, etc) to give people a chance to stitch a vase before discussing the next one. The last session will review the background and border. We are not copying the stitch guides. Each person has their own or can take notes regarding the other stitch guides.
My first vase was finally done by March 2017. The little bits done on the other vases was done in class. I’m done with Vase 2. After stitching the Diamond straight stitch pattern, I had to get out the magnifying glass to see where to fill in the 2 strands of Bijoux 415 (really tough to get a photo to show the sparkle but 2 stitches fall between the beads on the diagonal). Then, I could see where to put the burgandy Sundance beads 460A. There are two rows of beads on the top rim. Sharon recommended two rows for the lower band near the tassel but I alternated beads on the diagonal with black Kreinik #4 Braid 005 because the cord of the tassel needed to appear to go around the vase. The tassel was supposed to be long stitches that ray out from the top but I couldn’t get that to gather how I wanted. So, I made some shorter stitches to fill in the bottom sides and long ones in the center. The two strings of 5 beads each lay across the long threads nicely looking like they are gathered.
Close up photo.
I’m looking forward to see what others have done with the burgundy vase.
Yesterday, I made great progress on the blue vase at our Saturday Stitch-in (4th Saturday of the month).
Please join us any second Monday of the month from 7-9 pm at Starbucks in Wayne, PA (218 Lancaster Ave).
Filed under: Gay Ann Roger's, Countess of Granrham, Gay Ann Roger's, Lady Edith, Gay Ann Roger's, Lady Mary, General comments, Other People's Pieces, Technique Issues
I asked Santa for Gay Ann Roger’s series of designs inspired by Downton Abbey including the Countess, Lady Mary, and Lady Edith. Hopefully, she adds a fourth based on the Dowager Countess.
And, I expect to learn a lot from Susan Sturgeon Roberts in her book, Tips & Techniques for Needlepoint. After some cooking, I will settle down with this.
Happy Holidays to all!
Susan has beautiful diagrams in her booklet. I love how there is a grid on each page with large colored diagrams and instructions for each section.
I saw three pieces of this design all stitched differently at Woodlawn Needlework Exhibit this year. Each very pretty! I would love to do several of these.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, ANG Stitch of the Month, 1999
One of the counted projects for my ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter is ANG’s Stitch of the Month (SOTM) from 1999, Barbara’s Patchwork. Everyone’s is looking great.
Unlike Area B, most of Area C is covered but there are some open areas. So, watching where threads start and end is important. I started the base, Elongated Cross stitch, in Area A near the upper left corner with a 30” thread so that I would not need to start again. That long length of thread will not get stressed (excess wear) because they are such large crosses. My only change was from two plies to one ply for the last 4 elongated crosses (those that are vertically oriented located between the irregular Smyrna stitches).
Please join us December 9 (always the second Monday of the month from 7-9 pm) at Starbucks in Wayne, PA (218 Lancaster Ave).
Filed under: Uncategorized
At Seminar 2019, Cynthia Thomas introduced us to Stitch Manipulation in a 1-day class. It was lots of fun and I posted a couple of my favorite diagrams from class back in August. I’ve been playing with designs on my computer but haven’t had time to stitch any yet.
In the meantime, I just found a chapter in Needlepoint and Beyond 27 Lessons in Advanced Canvas Work by Edith Anderson Feisner entitled Variations in which she describes varying a stitch by size, by direction, by proportion, and by combination. In fact, she stitched a small landscape in all white using all variations of only cross stitch. I realize now that my design only changed by direction and by size of a straight stitch.
I wonder if Cynthia read this book too and developed it into a class!
Has anyone tried this technique?
Melitastitches4fun's Blog 