Melitastitches4fun's Blog

Heart Swirls by Janet Zickler Casey, Finished

Goal #7 was to finish Heart Swirls by Janet Zickler Casey into an ornament. The stitching has been done since October 2024.

The backing fabric is left over red fabric from my Magic Quilt Poinsettia. I used Peel n Stick Fabric Fuse along the inside edge to hold the fabric in place. Two long pieces of Peel n Stick across back kept the front and back sides together just enough, allowing me to stitch the cord in place while cinching the 2 sides together as I went. I don’t like clips placed all around the edge because they put dents in the stitching.

There are a few layers of wool felt (not craft felt) to give the front a little thickness. I tried building it up in the center, and although it’s still flat, the edges rounded really nicely.

I found a fantastic cord at Fireside Stitchery a few months ago and decided that I was ready following my success with the Silken Sonata ornament. The cord is Passementerie 3/16″, Vatican Red (PAS-31642). There are a couple of colors of that cord. I’ll be using it whenever possible. The finished size of the ornament is 4.75″ wide by 4.5″ tall without the loop.

I should have taken a picture of the loop attachment. I cut exactly the length I wanted for the loop with about an inch inside to sew/tack in place on the Craftex. Then, I cut enough length of cord to wrap around the edge. So the end of the cord doesn’t ravel, I taped around the end and cut through the center of the tape.

I aligned the long length of cord snugly up against the one side of the loop and sewed it in place by attaching it to the Craftex and the adjacent loop. Then, I sewed the cord in place with red beading thread (perfect color match to the cord) passing the needle through the center of the cord, making the stitches invisible, catching the backing fabric and the canvas. Once I got further around, I tucked the other cord end into place. I couldn’t sew that end of the cord to the Craftex, but I did secure it to the adjacent loop.

I don’t think that I have ever done exactly the same thing twice when finishing. Partly because each one reacts a little differently in the process. These last two finishes have to be my best finishes yet. I’ve even put away the threads rather than stockpiling them. Hope springs eternal! Now, back to fun stitching.

Heart Swirls by Janet Zickler Casey, Stitched

Heart Swirls by Janet Zickler Casey was a half-day class (8:30-11:30 am). In such a short time, we only got about 1 strand done per area. I heard it takes 30 minutes to teach a stitch and that’s about what we got through. We did spend extra time on the second and third areas (moving left to right). So, we didn’t stitch in the 6th or 7th area.

Once home, I found stitching the Alternating Reverse Gobelin Rectangles in the 2nd area was easier moving vertically rather than horizontally. Once I got the rhythm of the stitch, I moved horizontally on the bottom half.

Compensation was a little tricky in a few spots, especially in the 5th area. But, in several other areas, it seemed like I picked the perfect spot to start because the compensation worked out great.

The 7th area called for a Woven Scotch Variation with long laid threads moving diagonally from NW to SE, but in such a skinny area, I didn’t like it. So, I selected the Mosaic Stripe, which usually uses 2 different threads, but I used the same 3 threads that were used in the first area. Once I got stitching, I realized the right side needed to be higher by 2 canvas threads to match the left side. The over 2 stitches in the Mosaic were with Very Velvet, and the over 1 stitched was done with Neon Rays+ stitched twice because it sunk down, disappearing between the thicker Very Velvet stitches. I filled in with the gold Fyre Werks but not stitched twice because they appear sunken in the first area. I’m very happy with the substitute stitch.

Most of this was finished during the National and American League Division Series games. It is with a heavy heart (pun intended) that we watched our Phillies lose. They had a great first half, mediocre second half, and a disastrous finish. You’ve got to be red hot like this heart in September, not June.

The Kansas City ANG Seminar heart magnet was also perfect to use with this piece. I had a couple of needles working, and so both magnets were helpful.

FYI: I found my KC clip magnet in a pocket of my purse. Now I can’t find a felt bookmark I made for myself. But I found the gold sequins for my butterfly in the cushion of my chair as I recovered a needle threader for the umpteenth time, which is now connected to a beaded fob, so I don’t lose it again. Only one needle went missing during this project. The saying should be, “You find some, you lose some.”

ANG 2024 Seminar in Kansas City, MO and 1/2 Day of Heart Swirls by Janet Zickler Casey & KC Needlepoint

It was 2010, my first seminar, when I had a 1/2 day class with Janet Zickler Casey, and I didn’t keep up with the pace of a 1/2 day class. Well, it’s 2024, and I kept up, but I still felt rushed. We got bogged down by area 2 because it’s not on the true diagonal. Since it’s only a 3 hour class and we had 7 areas to cover, we didn’t stitch the 6th or 7th. But, it’s all good because I need my light and comfy chair!

Linda M and I Ubered out to KC Needlepoint after lunch. It’s a huge store, good light, all painted canvases, and nice self finishing products. No counted designs. There’s Linda before we head inside.

We found Planet Earth leather coasters. I got 2 navy, and Linda got 4 black ones.

I got another magnet, and the Watercolours Sandstone skein has more color variation in it.

There were 5 taxes listed on the receipt:

Missouri State Tax (9.475%)

Missouri State Tax (4.225%)

Jackson County Tax (1.375%)

Kansas City City Tax (3.25%)

Jackson County Kansas City Zoological District SP Tax (0.125%)

Total: 18.45% in taxes. That’s crazy!

Our return Uber driver was very nice and acted as a tour guide, pointing out various areas as we returned to the hotel.

Dinner at the KC Royals ballpark tonight. Bill got me earrings for the game made by a local artist out of wood.

Can’t ask for a better day!