Melitastitches4fun's Blog


Busy Building a Geometric
July 30, 2020, 8:52 am
Filed under: ANG Cyberworshop, Build Your Own Geometric-Kurdy Biggs

Between coronavirus and heat, staying at home isn’t a problem. Thanks to AC and Kurdy Biggs, I got busy building a design.

The design in my previous post had too many small Fluer-de-lis crescents in the left quadrant. So, I replaced them with Rhodes stitches. And, I changed the six small diamond patterns. I like it much better now.

One of the points of this class is to show balance within a piece using color. Stitch choices don’t have to be this symmetrical. So, I designed another diamond. This time I did not turn two of the side diamonds causing two small and two large motifs to form at the very center. I do like the cluster of Fluer-de-lis crescents around the center. And, I like the focus of each diamond being the same. The top one is all partial Jessicas, right is Rhodes, bottom is full Jessicas, left is Sprats. Each diamond is therefore very symmetrical which I really do like!

But, the rectangles do not align and the six small diamond patterns are all aligned horizontally. Neither aspect made me happy. So, I rotated the right and left diamonds. Now, I lost the cluster of Fluer-de-lis crescents around the center which I am ok with since I am trying to get a little less symmetrical with the stitches. However, there is a horizontal band of crescents. Maybe I better go outside for fresh air and stop sniffing the glue (just kidding)! The possibilities with these shapes are endless.

Lesson 2 is coming out August 1 or 2. So, I’ll wait before making any new designs until I read whatever is next.



Vase 4 of 5 Vases by Sharon G
July 12, 2020, 3:03 pm
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Vases, Sharon G

This is a Sharon G painted canvas, Vases with Curly Bamboo.

Two colors of Gloriana (082 and 157) matched the canvas color making the shading more apparent. I wonder if it would have been a more subtle color shift to use the light colored thread over the whole vase and allow the canvas to show through although there might not be enough canvas showing. Another Gloriana (116) for the leaves with a Kreinik for the center vein.

Using split stitch with 3 colors of Silk Lame Braid for 18 count (SL35, 36, 37) really made the curly Bamboo turn out great. I learned that the ridges along the stalks are growth rings. They are 2 stands of Kreinik #4 Braid 002 and 005. And, Lazy Daisy for the ends for the tiny sprouting leaves.

And, another two Silk Lame Braid for 18 count (SL 24 and 26) for the flowers. I didn’t think Kreinik #4 Braid (002) would work for French Knots in the center but it did. No problem using 2 strands of Gloriana (156) for the rest of the French Knots.

Our ANG Main Line chapter members are enjoying the opportunity to see the approach to the canvas from the different stitch guide writers even though they are not stitching the piece. We discuss the next vase July 13 via Zoom which is going quite well because I can crop photos on particular areas for the comparisons to other stitched canvases.



Build Your Own Geometric with Kurdy Biggs
July 3, 2020, 1:37 pm
Filed under: ANG Cyberworshop, Build Your Own Geometric-Kurdy Biggs

Luckily, online classes are keeping me busy. Kurdy Biggs began Build Your Own Geometric with Lesson 1 on July 1. There will be weekly lessons for a month.

We were given a template to follow and shapes of about 2 dozen stitch patterns to cut out. Using a glue stick, we place stitches wherever we want. Fun!!

I made all the large and small points the same. I placed two designs in the six center motifs and did that the same in each diamond. Then, I decided to vary the rest of the large and small fills and rectangles from diamond to diamond.

Making the colors consistent while varying the stitches will add a cohesiveness and balance to the various motifs. Since this design is a little too much of the same in each smaller diamond, I will make another crack at the design.