I enjoyed the opportunity to have a class, Blue Hills, with Dawn Donnelly for this “mixed media” piece that incorporates Dawn’s hand-made paper. It’s about 6″ x 8″ on 14 count. Fun to stitch.
You can see it in the third area from the top. I cut the paper and stitched it into place.
Between the 8th and 9th area (under the straight satin stitches of Watercolours) I did not like the ripped paper because it didn’t rip how I wanted. So, instead of using that piece that was supposed to be tacked down with a “fake bullion” created from DMC Pearl Cotton #5 which required at least 72″ and crunching one strand to create a coil (which is a long length to get without shredding). I decided that it was not going to happen for me. Not worth the aggravation especially because I knew I had Woolly Whites (WW010) from The Thread Gatherer. It’s perfect!
In the second to the bottom area, underneath the Satin stitches are 4 pieces of blue painted papers instead of 3 that Dawn suggested (they show up more in the photo than in person). I thought the one piece was too small but it fit in on the far left. That allowed the 2 medium sized pieces to fit in the center and the large on the right. I did not want the papers to shift during framing. Dawn had suggested glue. But, I used one strand of dark blue thread and a chenille needle to tack them in place. They aren’t going anywhere ever! In order to see the paper through the stitches, one strand Trio worked fine (2 strands didn’t allow any paper to show).
Placing the beads and French Knots (with 1, 2, and 3 wraps) randomly with all variety of threads was fun (just don’t look at the back).
Day 2 of my third class with Dawn Donnelly started with Dawn demonstrating the Butterfly Chain stitch. That’s the green stone stitches tied together. I took photos of the steps as I stitched it because I kept missing it from her diagrams.
The stem stitch went in underneath just fine. However, once I got past the third row of Oriental stitch, it got tough because the area got so thin. But, I figured it out on graph paper. I didn’t fill in any of the Gobelin stitches yet.
Dawn talked us through straight stitch areas to allow more time on other areas. The Mosaic Checkerboard is tricky only because it is a small area. The green is Huck’s Weaving which is easy enough.
I’m not looking forward to making a fake bullion with DMC Pearl #5 because you need at least 72″ length of thread to cover from side to side without breaking!
Various French Knots, eyelets, and blue Rhodes stitches (begun in the bottom area) should not be a problem. I hope my notes on paper and beads are clear when I get home.
I’ll have to finish this asap once I get home so that I remember what to do! Once I get in my comfy chair with my lap stand (which I forgot to bring), I should be able to finish this relatively quickly. It’s on 14 count canvas and really fun once you get the rhythm of an area. During a 2-day class, you have to move on just when you are enjoying the area. That’s just what happens in a class setting.
Seminar 2022 is over now. What a week! Lots of people telling me that they are looking forward to stitching Crescent Journey – very happy!
My third class, also 2 days, is Blue Hills with Dawn Donnelly. It is another type of applique of a different sort – applying paper to a canvas. This is also referred to as Mixed Media. Dawn makes her own paper. We didn’t have to do that but she explained the process and has a Zoom lecture on that topic which I was fortunate enough to be an invited guest earlier this year. She gave an abbreviated talk about the process today.
Her advertised description of class is: The hills in Michigan may not be big or blue, but they are beautiful. We are surrounded by water and a wide range of terrain. Blue Hills is my attempt at bringing that beauty to life. After a short lecture on handmade paper, the student will spend time exploring the paper by painting, wetting, tearing and cutting it into shapes. It will be attached to the canvas and surrounded with stitches including Corset, French Knots, Branscombe Edge, Criss Cross Hungarian, Butterfly Chain, Oriental, Rhodes and a fake Bullion.
We cut and ripped paper in the am and then painted some of the pieces.
In the afternoon, we started attaching one of the pieces. We also did 2 of the toughest stitches, Corset (top stitch) and Branscombe Edge 2nd from the top stitch). Corset comes up under stitches and Branscombe Edge builds 3 buttonhole stitches next to each other. Dawn said that we could make the backstitches over 2 or 3 canvas threads. I did over 2 and they got crunched together.
This is over 3 canvas threads so you can see the difference. I kind of like mine better because it is not as uniform.
Day 1 progress. I will be finishing the 4th band tonight so that the paper is completely attached.
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