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.
I looked through a half dozen books and settled on the Balloon Stitch from Sharon G’s Simply Essential Needlepoint Stitch Explanations for the background. Perhaps I was influenced by her saying it has a bit of an Oriental flare to it and suggested it for a kimono. Several Lantern stitches from Keys to Canvas Embellishment by Julia Snyder were nice options too.
It’s a dark blue thread, Impressions, which makes seeing the pattern a little difficult in the photo (used 1 thread). The black collar, cuffs, and hem are just a Satin stitch using 4 strands of Splendor.
Interestingly, one of the stitch guides recommended a lovely open composite stitch. It looks really nice but since it is for a background, I wonder if it might distract the eye from the focal point. So, I selectd a completely filled in pattern that will certainly remain unobtrusive.
My ANG Main Line Chapter got canvases, threads, and a stitch guide from Fireside Stitchery and one from Amy Bunger for 4 canvases. Three of us, Buff, Linda, and myself, selected Lotus Kimono by Lee (SPM 279). I selected a second canvas but it will have to wait. I didn’t get the other 2 canvases because I don’t have time to do every project (bummer).
Linda and Buff are going to bring the threads and stitch guides they got to a couple of meetings and discuss the differences or similarities. It’s an excellent learning experience even for people not stitching the piece.
Today at Rittenhouse Needlepoint with input from Linda and Buff, I picked my threads. We had a great time looking at all the threads. Thanks again to both!
I’ve got Splendor S801 for the trim; Elegance E801 for the black seam lines; Kreinik #4 and #8 Braids 002V for gold; Gloriana 185, Gloriana 048, and Silk ‘n Colors 1068 for the trumpet flowers; Gloriana 288, 096, and 117 for the lily pads; Chameleon Shades of Africa Two Oceans (Au Ver a Soie) for blue lotus flower; Needlepoint Inc Silk 877, 571, 501A, and 501 for the salmon lotus flower; and Impressions 7011 for the navy background.
Apologies to the staff at Rittenhouse because I had a dozen combinations of greens out before I settled with what I have now. They didn’t want me to put the threads back! I’m so fortunate I had that many options.
I’ve been looking over my books tonight to select stitches. I’ll be doing the background first. Does anyone want to make a suggestion? I have 2 in mind but would love to know what you’d select!
Here’s an update to a program that we introduced to my ANG Main Line Stitchers group for a coffee cup canvas that we will all stitch and give to Starbucks as a thank you for letting us use their conference room for free. Come join us any second Monday of the month at 7 pm at 218 Lancaster Ave.
I’ve just stitched 3 more cups including the bottom right green cup. I wanted a full coverage because the canvas wasn’t painted correctly. So, I used alternating mosaic. I like adding a sparkle with Kreinik to that green. It’s odd that the handle is one of only 2 cups with a red handle. I stitched the other cup with the red handle in the upper right corner. For this cup and saucer and the white cup with red saucer near the bottom center, I tried 3 different wavy stitches that I found in Desert Island Stitches, Vol 1. These can be done vertically or horizontally. The wavy stitch in the grey cup was a little tricky but I like the look. Only 8 cups left to go and nearby backgrounds. This is a fun canvas to stitch!
I’ve progressed through Part 4 of Metalforms. These areas, the center 3 interconnecting areas, went along easier. The hardest part is establishing the correction place to start for an interrupted area. But, I counted around the shapes and double checked when TV was off and there were no distractions.
Just an FYI and I did share this with Needle Pointers in case they want to issue a correction to Metalforms: The image Element J in Part 4, pg 24, is inverted like a mirror image. You can’t just rotate it to the correct orientation. But, the instructions and other pictures are enough to figure it out.
Just one more part to go but I’m taking a break from it.
Filed under: ANG Keystone Garden Chapter, ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, ANG Stitch of the Month, 2016, General comments, Woodlawn Needlework Exhibition, Zentangle
Another cold March but the nor’easters decided to give us a couple of sunny, nice days. So, Bill & I did get to Woodlawn this year. We also stopped at a huge magic store outside Baltimore and saw Tony Kornheiser record his sport talk pod cast in Washington (2 of my husband’s favorite things, magic and watching/listening to sports).
Woodlawn had fewer judged pieces this year (407 listed in the handout; numbering starts at 100 and ends at 660 but large blocks of numbers were skipped in between). However, there are 2 special display rooms. One is Japanese Needlework from students of Antonia Evans. Other businesses shown below were also sponsors of the exhibit. They do beautiful work. Oops, there was a sign saying no photography in the Japanese room (so, I removed them from my blog).
And, there were a variety of wonderful pieces from the family of Mary Duckworth, once a longstanding member of Nelly’s Needler’s.
As usual, there were some great entries from all over the country. Winners of ribbons are listed on the website now too at: http://www.woodlawnpopeleighey.org/annualneedleworkshow/ . And, that brings me to my review of select pieces. I will comment mostly in order by entry number (in parens). And, if the entrant is a designer that I know has his/her first & last name on the web or is listed as an award winner on Woodlawn’s website, I’ll cite both; otherwise, I cite full first name and last name initial letter only. I didn’t get photos of other people’s pieces. Docents there today said just photograph your own piece. But, I didn’t think that included the special exhibits as no docents were in those rooms.
Catherine Hicks had amazing original embroidery with stumpwork pieces including a likeness of Diego Rivera’s Frida and Salvadore Dali with a handlebar moustache done in stumpwork (100-103; multiple awards including a Judges Choice Award).
I do like seeing pieces from designers I know like Jennifer Reifenberg’s Colorplay done by Patricia Tector (112; HonorableMention), Catherine Jordan’s original map of Florida celebrating 500 years since Ponce de Leon landed there (135; 3rd place), Long Dog’s ‘Death By Cross’ with 363 x 447 cross stitches over 1 thread on 52/60 count linen done by John Kazmaier (157; Pope-Leighey Award, 1st Place) in a reddish brown color, Deborah Merrick-Wilson displayed 10 stunning pieces either goldwork or canvaswork original designs (227-236; multiple awards including 1sr, 2nd, 3rd, Honorable Mention, and Eleanor Custis Lewis Award for Best in Show), a large version of Drawn Threads Forest designed by Catherine Jordan and stitched beautifully by Margareta MacGregor (305; Judges Award, 2nd Place), Imari Collage designed by Debbie Stiehler stitched by Rosie Lunde (418; 3rd Place) and by Donna LaBranche (507; 3rd Place), and Come Dance With Me designed by Orna Willis and stitched by Maria B (469; no ribbon but well done and this a piece that I stitched too).
Some other pieces that really caught my eye because they were stunning or amazing or both: Susan Baldassano’s fish on gauze (237; Honorable Mention), 2 large coy fish with 32,000 beads stitched by Katherine Ludlow Callahan (489; 2nd Place), Shirley Hutton’s large ribbon embroidery piece won 4 awards including
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,
, and
(503; she’s a member of my new EGA chapter and was at Woodlawn the same day as Bill and I); 9 fuchsia ribbon flowers on a muted background of stitches reminding me of a trellis stitched by Shirley Mucha (554; 2nd Place), Mary Vantyne used 324,025 cross stitches to depict Napoleon Bonaparte sitting on top of a horse that looked like a photograph (565; Honorable Mention), and an original design with lots of flowers using surface/Brazilian embroidery stitches by Karen Maier (Woodlawn award and 1st Place).
My red pillow designed by Susan Hoekstra for ANG’s Stitch of the Month in 2016 was in the Christmas room (415; no ribbon but a docent said she heard people complimenting it). And, there were 5 other framed SOTM pieces in various colors including yellow, gold, blue, and 2 greens. The centers were different in at least 2 of them including a beautiful beaded flower (600; Mary V) and another with a stumpwork flower (602; Mary W). It would have been nice to see them in the same room.
And, my original design is a Zentangle piece that I drew first and then interpreted in threads (416; Honorable Mention).
Drawing:
Another inspiring exhibit! Thanks to everyone who contributed.
Stitched:
