Filed under: ANG Central Jersey Chapter, ANG Seminar 2025, Christmas Ball Canvas
The ANG Streetcar Chapter had at table at Expo this summer and I picked up this little ornament. It’s marked CB6 (maybe CBK Needlepoint Collections). I have to work ‘in the well’ because the canvas measures 4.5″x5″. I could lace it to larger size bars but this should be fine.
Needing a small piece to work on at the ANG Central Jersey Chapter meeting on Saturday, I pulled threads from my stash including 2 sparkly threads and 2 non-sparkly threads for contrast. I’ll pull a gold for outling later.
Then, I went to my Sandy Arthur book for a parallelogram stitch that would work. Most were for larger areas but Nobuko should work in all the areas and will compensate easily.
Looks like a good project for Saturday!
Here’s an update on Nautilus by Kay Stanis.
Thanks to Mary Corbet’s post on handling silk threads, I can say using a larger eye needle to open the holes is helping alot. Also, even though my hands didn’t feel rough, Gloves in a Bottle helps too. I’ve had this bottle almost 10 years. I haven’t used it much because my hands aren’t a problem, generally! Just like my spool of invisible thread, this bottle will last my lifetime. I got it at Stitch by Stitch in Cape May, NJ in April 2016.
The other strategies that I am employing are starting in the smallest areas to see visible progress, using 2 strands to cover more, and staying with Trebizond (not using Silk Serica). After cutting 2 lengths of white and 2 lengths of light Turquoise Trebizond, I separate and iron them. That gives me 6 strands of each color. Once I finish stitching them using 2 strands, I have to take a break. It helps. Some.
It’s time for a break!
The ironweed flowers were fun to put in. And, as I was adding the green leaves, I noticed that I had missed 2 pods and one whole ironweed flower. I wasn’t and am still not sure if I have enough leaves but I ran out of the 7 mm green fill in ribbon. So, I am done!
Deborah Mitek really explored the Japanese Ribbon Stitch in this piece.
I’ll have to make a trip to the framer soon. Since I’ve been doing my own finishing lately including 4 framed pieces, he might not remember me!
Well, the next part of Nautilus by Kay Stanis involves more separating of Trebizond or Silk Serica. I like using stranded Silk Serica less than Trebizond and I didn’t think that would be possible.
Generally, I try to find something positive to blog about. As a kid, I remember being told, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” But, I have to warn you not to strand especially when it involves this much silk thread. I had to stitch all the spirals first and will fill in the chamber with 1 or 2 strands in the Outline Stitch battling snags. None have been worse than this one but all are annoying. I’m not using too long lengths either.
The only positive is that the final piece will be lovely if I can ever fill in the chamber. It feels like I’ll be doing this for days. Two strands cover more but snags more too. I really want to get this stitched in 2025. Fingers crossed!
I have to give it a break to give me time to forget how much I dislike stitching with this thread.
I felt the urge to go for a Walk in the Woods. This is a Deborah Mitek design from ANG Seminar in New Orleans this summer.
The leaves on wooded stems included a variety of ribbon stitches with a few different overdyed green ribbons. The seed pods were tricky and are probably slightly different from Deborah’s but they are fine!
The ironweed flowers are next and I am excited about that!
I decided to work on Walk in the Woods by Deborah Mitek for a bit. It was the first of the three ANG Seminar classes I took in New Orleans.
It’s on Congress Cloth and has a photo transfer that we’re embellishing. Not everything gets covered. Her husband took the photo of ironwood a few years ago.
Her kits are so organized and clearly marked. We got plenty of needles. Partial skeins help keep kit costs down. That takes some time but makes following her instructions even easier!
Deborah has excellent instructions and I started at the beginning by finishing the border and the background fern-like grasses and wooded stems.
Now that I’ve added the stems of the ironweed and seed pods, I can tackle the ribbonwork!
There is so much going on that you can barely see where it is stitched in the photos. It’s visible up close and under my light. The ribbons will pop.
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2025, Nights in White Satin by Jennifer Riefenberg
Nights in White Satin by Jennifer Riefenberg was fun to stitch although several areas had some tricky compensation to work out. The soft pale blues with neutral colors is very calming. That completes Goal 21.
Both Howard L and I shared out finished pieces at the San Bernadino Chapter’s Show & Tell this month.
There are 8 goals left for 2025 and it’s looking like a few will carry over to next year which is OK especially because I did some other pieces throughout the year.
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2025, Nights in White Satin by Jennifer Riefenberg
I switched over to Nights in White Satin also by Jennifer Riefenberg to stitch Areas 6 and 15 in order to get rid of the basting. Then I finished all areas begun during class which included Areas 4, 9, 12, and 13.
This is the first time I’ve used Radiance. Jennifer had issues getting Kreinik and substituted Radiance for some kits. It feels more like thread and the ends do fray but nothing terrible. The sparkle does not show up as much from a distance in the photo.
Only 7 areas left to stitch. I’ll probably stitch on this at our ANG Main Line Stitchers Stitch-in on Saturday at Fireside Stitchery.
I’m going to pick up a Kreinik #8 to compare sparkle to Radiance. I want the colors to be similar and I only have Kreinik 194 in a #4 Braid.
Besides working on my National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) which I won’t show until after the exhibit in March 2026, I will alternate stitching between three ANG Seminar projects. First up is Nautilus with Kay Stanis.
As this was a 1-day class, I didn’t get the basting finished. So that was first to stitch. Some of the basting lines were so close that getting the tissue paper off was tedious. I needed my Uncle Bill’s tweezers.
I wrote Mr. Bill’s tweezers first but realized that was wrong. Do you remember Mr. Bill?
Kay had us unstrand Trebizond to lay over the padding. I didn’t know you could do that and I’ve used Trebizond before (as supplied). So, this part was a completely new learning experience. I can’t say it is easy to work with but it is creating a smooth surface. Kay explained a little about different silks. Mary Corbet discusses them in great detail on her website and I’ll summarize her thoughts with, Trebizond is not meant to be taken apart but the three plies of flat silk can be separated. We also learned about using a sugar rub to remove any roughness from our hands and which lotions Kay likes for handling these silk strands. It’s not so much my hands causing a problem rather it was the Congress Cloth. I had to hold it as I passed it up and down with each stitch. I won’t be doing this too often! But, I am happy to have learned about it and even happier to have completed this part of the piece. And, it’s all going to get covered anyway. You would never guess this is Trebizond.
Everyone who exhibits gets the Judge’s Score sheet although the points vary by category (this is for original design). A summary of the critique which follows does cost $25 but is worth it to hear their thoughts about the piece. Always thoughtful, supportive, and offers constructive feedback.
The judge’s main comment on the design was that the curves at the start and the end are too abrupt which I can see. Also, the values of the greens do not have enough contrast. That is also a good point. I did not take the black and white photo of the threads before stitching (the judge did). The other comments on the framer (me) needed to align the top border – it’s off just a tad on one side. Getting 8 out of 10 is actually good – I usually get a 7 (even when I am not the framer)! There were plenty of positives such as:
- “The quiet color and sizes of the mats pull the viewer’s eye into the piece.”
- “The variety of threads and stitches are suitable for this canvas. They are controlled, evenly stitched, and very appropriate.”
- “The bright pink (I call them coral) stylized flowers are fun! Your stitching shows your mastery of those specialty stitches.”
If you submit a piece for judging, I highly recommend getting a critique. And consider sharing it with your chapter members as a learning experience.
For the artist statement and to see the lovely Creative Inspiration Ribbon, go to:
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