For this heart, I used all Planet Earth Silk left over from the Cups canvas that our chapter, ANG Main Line Stitchers, recently finished. One strand covers great on the Bargello pattern. Colors used include: Pyrenees 121, Embers 011, Citron 067, Bok Choy 051, Persimmon 157, Sizzle 008, Burgundy 170, Sunburst V302, Port V171, and Lettuce V052. V is for variegated and would be more evident in larger areas.
The Outline stitch and diamonds are all done in Planet Earth Silk Midnight 102.
I got the idea for this heart from Nan’s Afghan Scrap Bag Needlepoint on Nuts about Needlepoint’s blog.
I had to alter the diamonds to fit this heart but the idea was to fill the centers with the last of the threads from the other 2 red hearts including Rainbow Tweed RT53, Splendor S994 and S953, ThreadworX Expressions 234, and The Thread Gatherer Sheep’s Silk English Meadow SPS 084. But, I needed another thread with some contrast and added Gloriana Lorikeet Slate Green 051W3.
The outline was stitched with DMC Perle #5 902 for back stitches and for the whipped stitching. The diamonds are stitched with 2 strands of Felicity’s Garden 034 Dubbonet Cocktail.
This is a great stash buster and wonderful way to use up smaller amounts of threads.
Here’s another heart that I finished on vacation. For this one, I used Felicity’s Garden 034 Dubbonet Cocktail, ThreadworX Expressions 234, Rainbow Tweed RT53, and Splendor S994. The outline was stitched with DMC Perle #5 902 for back stitches and Felicity’s Garden 034 for whipped stitching.
And, I finished the second heart last night during what turned out to be the last game of the World Series. Quite an exciting series. I couldn’t stitch anything very complicated so I could pay attention to the games. Congratulations to the Sox!
For this heart, I used Felicity’s Garden, DMC Perle #5 902, Splendor S823, Splendor S953, The Thread Gatherer Sheep’s Silk English Meadow SPS084 (the overdyed thread in eyelets along the dividing lines). The outline was stitched with 1 strand of Felicity’s Garden 034 in the chain stitch.
My husband likes the first one best and I like the second one better. Which one do you prefer?
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2018, Designing Geometric Sampler with Kathy Rees, Hearts of Hospice
One member of my ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter suggested that we stitch hearts for a Hearts For Hospice begun by the ANG Greater Kansas City Needlepoint chapter. They provide hearts to area hospice organizations.
“When a resident passes away, a heart is placed on the door which notifies those passing by to be respectful of others who are mourning the death of a loved one. The heart is then taken home by a family member as a remembrance of the care their loved one received while at the center.”
So, our chapter will stitch some hearts for them. We are using some threads that members from the 90s reviewed in our newsletters. I have 10 thread bags ready. Between Linda’s and my stash, we came up with 2 blue, 2 purple, 3 wine, and 3 magenta colorways. Each bag has 10 threads including a Perle #5, 2 silk floss, a wool and wool blend, cotton/rayon blend, rayon, and a rayon ribbon. One of our new members picked up a bunch of Wonder Twist in a grab bag-so we’ll each get a skein. Wonder Twist is a 100% nylon thread like perle by Beau Geste Inc which has been discontinued but still can be found online.
Stop by Starbucks at 218 Lancaster Ave at 7 PM tomorrow for our October 8th meeting. We’re also meeting there on the 4th Saturdays from 10 AM – 2 PM (October-March) for Stitch-in Time.
For this heart, I used Spring II which is now known as Threadworx Expressions (50/50 cotton/rayon blend) and Wonder Twist. I augmented those threads with Silk Lame Braid For 18 count SL151, Kreinik #8 Braid 051HL, and Kreinik Cord 051C.
The heart is about 4&1/2″ x 4&1/2″.
Linda, Lori, and I are here in Washington DC representing the Main Line Stitchers Chapter. Our chapter is entering our 35th year together. The colors of our logo changed over the years but it remains essentially the same. This has been on display at Seminar for many years. Has your chapter sent your logo to display? Once you send it in, they keep it and display it year after year.
Also in the picture are the goodies from registration and the banquet dinner. Trish Vine made 450 of her plastic project bags! She also made my lanyard.
Can you believe that 2 chapters stitched 450 of those ornaments? Mine is stitched with beads on both sides. Wow! Way to go Nova & Seashore ANG Chapters. I have to ask Brenda or Roseanne if that’s the Delaware ANG chapter. Probably is them.
I ran into Gretchen Janesak from Threads in Charlottesville, VA & she remembered me visiting the ANG Hampton Roads Sandpipers Chapter near Virginia Beach. She was teaching the day I visited. Gretchen is the designer and stitcher of the Seminar logo, Stars, Stripes, and Stitches on the cover of the booklet and the pin. Very pretty. I was very honored and pleased to hear her say she enjoys my blog! Thanks again Gretchen.
As in Woodlawn earlier this year, there were a variety of wonderful pieces on display from the family of Mary Duckworth, once a longstanding member of Nelly’s Needler’s.
Also, “Valley Tapestry” from the Shenandoah EGA chapter is on display and I joined the community of stitchers who have contributed to the piece. You can sit down and stitch a small section that will make its way onto the larger piece. It had a nice write up in the EGA magazine.
I’ll share more about my 2 pieces after I get home so I can include comments from the judge’s critique. I did get 3rd place for Crescent Journey and 2 people have made it a point to say how interesting Purples Mountain Majesty is.
One of the pieces I loved from Woodlawn this year was 2 large coy fish with 32,000 beads stitched by Katherine Ludlow Callahan which got a 2nd place ribbon. Well, she got the State Award and Honorable Mention in the Painted Canvas without stitch guide category. Congratulations! And, what are the odds that the identical design would appear under Painted Canvas with stitch guide. That won a 1st place ribbon.
So many pretty pieces that I’m glad I’m not a judge.
One of the items in a past member’s stash that continues to provide some interesting programs includes “Fun With Fur” which explores some threads and their uses. I did the first 3 exercises to share with my ANG Main Line Chapter tomorrow. We are going to continue to explore different threads as an ongoing project throughout the year.
Since stitch samples like these are not very exciting, we have a heart that we’ll break into smaller sections to stitch on with 2 different threads showcased each month.
Stop by Starbucks at 218 Lancaster Ave at 7 PM for our August 13th meeting. Here all about our plans to celebrate our 35th Anniversary as an ANG Chapter.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Brandywine Chapter, Embroidery Guild of America, Fiber Art
My EGA Brandywine chapter had a challenge to stitch on paper. I had saved a print from New American Paintings, a catalog of the fourteenth open studios competition, a juried exhibition from Feb 1998 at a flea market. Many of the pictures were interesting, different, and colorful. I did Fruit Basket by Stacy Thomas-Vickory last time when I had suggested stitching on paper to my ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter (search ‘fiber’ on my blog). This time I have a print of leaves by Jamie Brunson, an artist in Oakland, CA. I used 1 strand of DMC 935 to stitch the veins on some of the leaves. The rest of the leaves won’t be stitched.
This is Lotus Kimono by Lee (SPM 279) with the Lily Pads (right upper and lower green areas) and Trumpet Leaves (left olive green areas) stitched.
I wanted similar but different stitches for these areas. And, I was ok with some canvas showing through. In fact, I thought it would be better even though the threads I selected match the canvas so well. So, for the Lily Pad, I selected a stitch that lies on the true diagonal, a Double Woven Plait. The Trumpet Leaves has more of an angle. So, I settled on Herringbone Ground I. Both stitches came from Keys to Canvas Embellishment by Julia Snyder.
I didn’t break the pattern crossing the shifts in colors. I just used the thread closest in color to most of the canvas for that single stitch. So, the Double Woven Plait was always over 3 x 3 and Herringbone was always over 2 x 3. I’m not going to go into what stitches either stitch guide recommended except that one is full coverage and the other is very open.
The veins are done in outline/stem stitch with Splendor S801 Black in upper right corner, Gloriana Elizabethan Green 117 in upper and lower left corners, and Kreinik #8 Braid 002V.
Remember, this is the piece that other Main Line Stitchers Chapter members are stitching based on stitch guides from Fireside Stitchery and Amy Bunger. I, on the other hand, am selecting my own threads and stitches. Join us tomorrow night at Starbucks (218 Lancaster Ave) in Wayne, PA and see in person how we’re coming along on our canvases.
Metalforms Part 5 and the last had four areas to stitch. However, I added a fifth area which is near the upper left middle because it seemed too big to leave empty especially after remembering Linda stitched the Jagged Linking Block larger. By the time I thought about it, it was too late because the edge had compensating stitches. So, I added the small mosaics (over 2) above both the Triangular Scotch (over 3) and the Scotch Cross Corners (over 5). Hopefully, what I added blends in because I related the stitch to the surrounding stitches and made them smaller. I used Silk Lame Braid SL52.
This was challenging at times but that’s a good thing.
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Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, General comments, Threads, Winter Scene Sleigh
As part of an ongoing thread project for my ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, I researched the following chainette threads: 24 Karats, Alabaster, Cresta d Oro, Gold Rush, Nordic Gold, Snow, and Winter. A chainette is like a chain of crocheting. Because each chain is tucked into the one before it, it can unravel. I didn’t experience that while stitching with either Snow, Alabaster, or Winter. However, I was able to pull on all 5 chainettes that I had samples of and make them unravel. If you experience unraveling, there are several options: cut off the raveled part and rethread your needle; use a larger needle to open the hole and pull straight through the canvas to create less friction; use Fray Check; or, apply heat to the frayed end with a thread burner tool.
These stitched samples are Snow (left), Alabaster (center), and Winter (right). All 3 threads are similar in size to a #5 perle cotton and worked well with good coverage on 18 count canvas.
Snow feels the softest, is the whitest, is the least iridescent, and looks the least like a chainette.
Alabaster has the most visible chainette effect even when stitched.
Winter covered the best, has a good blend of being white and iridescent, and doesn’t look like a chainette when stitched. It photographs best too! So, Winter will probably be what I use for the snow in the Winter Sleigh canvas that our ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter are discussing and some of us are stitching.
Speaking of our chapter, I’m so excited that we have 5 new members since September! Oddly enough, each have arrived via a different path including being an invited guest to speak about her work on ecclesiastical needlepoint, a friend of a member, one met a member at Seminar, another heard of us through a local frame store, and the last through a Google search. And, that means 4 new ANG members as well!