Filed under: ANG Seminar 2018, Designing Geometric Sampler with Kathy Rees
A Stained Glass Violet is a 4″ square design that began in Washington, DC with Kathy Rees at her class, Designing Geometric Samplers in 2018. The piece uses Watercolours 296 Stained Glass and 232 African Violet (thus, the name).
I am finally done with my finishing frenzy for 2022! Actually, I still have unfinished stitched pieces but I don’t know where I’d put them anyway.
Months ago, I found a square frame off the shelf at Michael’s that fit this piece. I like the silver with the purple/blues and the piece will look good in my purple spare bedroom. The only thing I needed to do was add a border to fill in up to the mat. So, I found the card of Splendor S864 used elsewhere in the design and stitched an outer border of diagonal gobelin stitches over 4 changing directions in of the four quadrants. It fit snug in the frame without any blocking. Done in no time!
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2018, Designing Geometric Sampler with Kathy Rees, Tahitian Treat
The online version of the March/April, 2021 issue of Needle Pointers magazine is available now for ANG members at https://online.fliphtml5.com/bjsk/apin/#p=1
What a wonderful surprise to see my design, Tahitian Treat, on the cover page! I knew it would be in the issue. Marilyn O created great diagrams in Adobe Illustrator from what I had sent her in Excel.
The actual piece was away from me for almost a year! After returning from ANG Seminar in late September where it got an Honorable Mention award, it went in February 2020 to the Woodlawn exhibit and got a 3rd place ribbon. However, the month-long March exhibit turned into a delayed exhibit due to coronavirus. After the show concluded in July, it went to northern NJ with the New Jersey Needle Artists member who picked it and others up. There it stayed all fall and by early December, we finally arranged a hand off half-way between our homes. That day, I repacked it and sent it south to Marilyn to photograph for the article. When she finished, it was before Christmas and it got stuck for over a month on the return trip in the USPS distribution center in Philadelphia. After multiple requests, I finally got it back on January 29, 2021! One year ago this weekend we visited Woodlawn-just before everything shut down.
Lorraine of Colour Complements gave everyone at ANG Seminar in 2018 a sample of her lovely hand dyed threads. I got a dyed green/gold DMC #5 Perle Cotton (my favorite fall colors). In the package was also DMC #5 Perle 500 solid green and Anchor Floss 392 solid beige grey. I’d already been getting her newsletter and love seeing her combinations of colors in all the threads she dyes. So, I was very happy to see it in person.
I came across her package of threads recently and just after seeing a stitch pattern in Painted Canvas Embellishment: An Idea Book by Carole Lake and Michael Boren called Budapest Stitch. The sample of the hand dyed thread was only 5.47 yards. So, I stitched the over 3 straight stitches until I ran low on thread and made a symmetrical shape (4 units × 4 units of the Budapest Stitch to form an inner square). Each unit looks like a mini 4-way star bargello pattern. The 5.47 yards got used up faster than what I expected. I wanted something bigger. So, I made an outer square with the solid green perle cotton which turned out to be a nice contrast.
At that point, I was still considering a round (4″) ornament or a square (3 & 1/2″) coaster. But, adding compensation stitches of the Budapest Stitch seemed perfect for a circle.
That left small areas for the Hungarian Stitch with just enough of the hand dyed thread to fill in 4 Hungarian Stitches on each corner creating some movement of color towards the edge. For the rest, I used 4 strands of the beige grey floss.
For the squares, I went to Sandra Arthur’s Shapes of Needlepoint, Series I for 4 x 4 square stitches. That size would allow some canvas to show thereby framing the fill-in stitches. I selected stitches that would allow me to use the solid green perle cotton and 2 strands of the beige grey floss. These three patterns seemed to be enough variety for a small ornament: Leviathan Stitch, V Stitch, and Padded Scotch Stitch.
Thanks Lorraine for the threads! This ornament was a lot of fun from a design point of view too. And, it’ll be fun to watch out for other stitch patterns that would work up with just a few threads.
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″.
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2018, Designing Geometric Sampler with Kathy Rees
A Stained Glass Violet is a 4″ square design that began in Washington, DC with Kathy Rees at her class, Designing Geometric Samplers. You can only cover so much in a class but she covered the various elements behind designing very clearly.
I had a tough time deciding what to do in the corners and was overcomplicating the small design. So, I contacted Kathy after class who gave some good advice.
The piece uses Watercolours 296 Stained Glass and 232 African Violet (thus, the name), Splendor S864, Fyre Werks FT7, Neon Rays N144, and Petite Sparkle Rays PS37 (which I haven’t used much before and loved it because it laid so easily and doesn’t snag or fray).
Part 2 of class is designing a larger piece, a 12″ square. That means 9 squares of this size in one piece. It’s a challenge and that’s why I took the class!
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2018, Melita's Designs, Purple Mountains Majesty
Purple Mountains Majesty didn’t receive a ribbon even though it scored 91 out of 100 (design=23, color=25, workmanship/technique=17, suitability=19, finishing=7). No real negatives were pointed out in this judge’s critique. Rather positives were pointed out including that the stitches themselves were well executed with a nice even tension, I manipulated the thread well to yield the affect I was looking for, and the areas that I refer to as ‘broken color placement’ (in my artist statement below) enhanced the overall design by providing depth to your landscape. She did make an interesting comment: “There are a few spots where the dye is not solid on the thread. There is nothing you can do about that unless you get a colored marker. Such a marker can be used on a thread before or after stitching. If the thread is too thin, you can color wash the canvas to prevent it from glinting through.” I didn’t realize using a color marker on thread was an acceptable practice!
My artist’s statement follows:
I wanted to explore using one overdyed thread with a few distinct colors to see how I could control the color of that overdyed thread in a single design that was pictorial in nature. This thread popped out at me because it had blue and green. I knew using an overdyed blue thread for sky and an overdyed green thread for grass is very effective. When I saw that the color shift was green to purple to blue, I heard “America The Beautiful” singing the lyrics “purple mountains majesties” and knew this would be great for the exhibit in Washington, DC. I thought I’d control the color best with the brick stitch. However, the various lengths of each color varied within the skein make controlling the color more difficult. There is some broken color placement which when viewed from a distance mixes optically to form the impression of reflected color. And, I obtained some aerial perspective with some of the mountains in the far distance which blurred into a bluish-purple haze.
Crescent Journey received a 3rd place ribbon at ANG Seminar and scored 94 out of 100 – anything in the 90s is fantastic! So, you know some other wonderful pieces were submitted in this category. I requested a Judge’s Critique and am thrilled especially with design and color scores – doesn’t get any better! The technique issue that continues to plaque me is twisted threads. I knew I was having issues with Trebizond. Apparently, some beads were not oriented correctly (I may have rotated my canvas as I stitched & if that was intended then I should have noted that in the statement) or they leaned a tad (I need to get out my magnifying glass as I stitch). And, the judges thought some stranded silks might have been more suitable and would have eliminated the twist issue. I can see them used as well although I think it would give a different effect.
My artist statement follows:
I’ve been through an enlightening journey with Orna Willis. During her “Color Inspirations”, “Come Design With Me”, and “Dare To Design” classes, I have learned techniques and processes that allowed me to discover designs within myself. Two of the earlier black and white sketches are shown to see how I developed this design. The colored sketches do not even represent the final design because portions didn’t stitch up as I expected. So, I discarded some stitches and kept others until I had the final stitched design.
Key elements were the way the crescents came together in the corners and the frame within the triangles (Knitting stitch and Mosaic stitches in light and dark purple). The base that the 3 diamonds fit into is same throughout the design except for the colors of the crescents and half Waffles. The center diamonds have 2 or 3 shared components (Wavy, Smyrna, and Nobuko stitches) adding to the continuity within the design. And, the placement of colors helped tie all the elements together too.
One step back and 2 steps forward is part of designing. Kathy Rees isn’t the first person to say it is necessary to try something different requiring restitching.
I didn’t like the center overdyed thread getting lost next to one color or another and outlining it wasn’t going to make it better. So, I took it out. Luckily, I put it in in such a way that it was locked into itself and allowed me to keep the solid purple overdyed, Watercolours 232 African Violet, Scotch stitches in the center.
Now, I’ve added Byzantine using the multicolored Watercolours 296 Stained Glass excluding the yellow and green portions. I did do some manipulating of the overdyed thread as I stitched but didn’t go crazy. This is better.
I am very excited about my plans for each corner. That’s next. Since the overall design size is 4″ square, this was an easier size to start with and is stitching up quickly. We got another canvas for an 8″ square design and lots more thread including Tahiti. This is our practice canvas!
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2018, Designing Geometric Sampler with Kathy Rees
I played with several options before deciding on 3 basic diagrams repeated multiple times.
Before lunch, I stitched the center motif.
And, after lunch, I got a little more done. I have to find a thread to outline the center motif because some portions are getting lost.
Lots of small areas to stitch. In contrast, Jan from PA, who sat next to me, made larger areas, got started last night and looks like she’ll be done by the weekend! And, it’s looking fantastic. I know, it’s not a race. Just interesting to see the difference in approaches.
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2018, Designing Geometric Sampler with Kathy Rees, General comments, Threads
Last night at Expo, I picked up Jean Hilton’s Light ‘n Lacy booklet and a Bohicket Road Bag that fits all my threads from Kathy Rees’ class. She had some nice fabrics to choose from and I went with the lobster/seashell/beach theme.
Day 2 was examining design elements, stitches, and threads. I played with paper designs.
Of course, I have my own diagrams I’m playing with. Tomorrow we stitch!
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