JP Bird of Paradise & Bamboo, Finished

December 17, 2021, 7:06 pm
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, ANG Seminar 2017, JP Bird of Paradise & Bamboo

Sometime before March of 2016, I had purchased JP’s Bird of Paradise & Bamboo canvas at Gazebo Plus in New Hope, PA (sad to say, it has since closed permanently). In March of 2016, I found a companion piece at Waste Knot in Arlington, VA, JP’s Orchid & Bamboo with almost the same motifs.

My opportunity to begin them came with the 2017 Seminar where Cynthia Thomas was having a Painted Canvas Embellishment Class. She was gracious enough to address the additional panel on the second canvas for the orchid since I wanted to have them match as much as possible. The Bird of Paradise is done now thanks to our painted canvas project at ANG Main Line Stitchers and Beth for stitching the same canvas. Beth used threads and stitches suggested by Betsy at Fireside Stitchery (although I’m not going to post her piece here, I will mention some differences). Beth actually finished before I did! So, I had to buckle down and get ‘er done for this month’s meeting! Members of our chapter continue to enjoy our canvas discussions during our MLS monthly meetings.

I forgot to post this last month. So, here are the final discussion points.

Bird of Paradise Panel: Both stitch guide writers, Betsy (for Beth’s) and Cynthia (for mine), selected the same pattern but oriented it in the opposite direction. Isn’t that amazing that of all the stitches, they selected the same one. Both threads are red although Beth used a very slightly overdyed cotton floss and I used a solid perle. Both pieces highlight the lovely colors in a Bird of Paradise. Beth used all Vineyard Silks for the flower and Rainbow Linen in tent stitch for the stalk. I used all sparkly threads for the flower and Needlepoint Inc Silk over a padding of Very Velvet for the stalk.

Center Blue and Beige Panel: Beth stitched this center panel in all tent stitch as had been done for the 3 larger coin motifs on the outer left and right panels. On this panel, a little sparkle is added by using Neon Rays+ and Silk Lamé Braid (rather than the beige ThreadworX for the 3 larger coin motifs). I stayed with the same beige Kreinik used for the 3 larger coin motifs and also used Vineyard Silk for the blue areas. I stitched mostly tent except for 3 square motifs where I used diagonal stitches to fill in the area.

Bamboo Panel: Beth transitioned from a light ThreadworX overdyed thread to a darker Sampler Thread overdyed thread using the Nobuko stitch for a full coverage. I used 2 strands of a beige Splendor in a very open stitch (Railway Woven) allowing the shading from the painted canvas to show. I used Interlocking Gobelin for the stalks and random or long/short as did Beth for the leaves.

So, how long will it take for me to finish the other one? I hope to finish it in 2022. They will be a set of pillows and probably my last pillows for quite some time! Have you seen the Dr. Rick commercial with the pillows? Well, that woman will be me and my husband will be Dr. Rick if I don’t stop with the pillows (do a google search for youtube dr rick pillows – makes me laugh every time)!