Filed under: Welcome Baby Norah
Our beautiful grandniece, Norah, was born back in April. So, I designed this sampler piece to commemorate her birth. She’s Irish & so, her name is spelled out in green with touches of the colors of the rainbow & a pot of gold in the letter H. We wish her good health, happiness, & good fortune throughout her life.
The letters came from either the Leisure Arts Leaflet 2285 called 120 Alphabets or Leisure Arts Leaflet 3071 called Alphabets Galore 136 Alphabets.
From top to bottom:
- Blocks (3 rows from A-Z): Diagram 88 on pg 32 (136 Alphabets)
- Welcome baby with balloons: Diagram 113 on pgs 39-40 (136 Alphabets)
- Norah (modified to fit my width): Diagram 73 on pg 26 (120 Alphabets)
- Diaper pins (without the letters): Diagram 49 on pg 14 (120 Alphabets)
- April: Diagram 19 on pg 7 (136 Alphabets)
- lower case pm, lbs, and oz: Diagram 53 on pg 15 (120 Alphabets)
There are mainly DMC flosses used: yellow 444, green 701 and 700 a little darker for Norah, blue 825, violet 552, red 666, red-violet 915 because red 666 looked terrible right next to violet 552, orange 970, and black 310 for the balloon strings. I also used Kreinik #12 braid 010HL for the pot, #8 braid 002J for the gold, and #12 braid 001 for the metal portion of the diaper pins (thanks to Linda – I had #16 which was too thick while my #8, #4, and balger were too thin).
I am amazed that I used graph paper, pencil, & plenty of erasing to lay this out but 100 years ago young girls stitched samplers without such aids!!
The tenth (& last) clue in the Stitching Games 2015 run by stitcherie is “Line Stitch”. Straight stitches are line stitches including those done on the horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. So, I am repeating my last diagonal line stitches (cashmere) on the right side of the piece but in the opposite direction. With this post, I am concluding an interesting adventure. I may never stitch with Panache by Rainbow Gallery again – too difficult to control.
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2015, Gentle Waves, Melita's Designs | Tags: ANG Seminar 2015
This is the second rendition of Gentle Waves. While I didn’t win a ribbon this year, I’m happy looking at this piece. And, even better is that 2 of my designs are going to be available to members through 2 different venues. Can’t say more yet.
Initially, the judges were concerned my initials were in the piece (they are supposed to review without knowing who pieces belong to). But, an exhibit assistant pointed out that it meant “Love Myrtle Beach”. Very true. They said it is a very clever and creative addition to the piece. Little did they know, it is also means “Love Melita & Bill”. It happened that seminar was later this year near our 28th anniversary!
The judge’s critique raised excellent points. A few threads in the sandy area began to lose the twist. However, my laid threads are smooth and tension is very even. Maybe I should stay away from threads that twist!! The texture and color of the chenille was a good choice for the breaking waves. But, the gradation of the blues was a bit too abrupt especially because the texture changes of the threads emphasize those sudden transitions. When I switched from a diagonal stitch to the vertical bargello pattern, the thread was too thin & they didn’t miss it! The judge said a diagonal water stitch would have drawn the viewer ‘s eye from the water to the beach (that was more of what I had used in my first rendition).
This was interesting: “Turn your piece upside down so that you’re viewing the heart and letters upside down and do the same with the photo you took from the John Hancock building. First, do see how the water (the larger portion of the design) is sweeping you “up into it” and moving you toward the sand? Do you see how the water now appears to go from the “heavier” weight it to the “lighter”. Since this is an aerial view, this gives the viewer a more “I wish you were there” sensation.” I can see the sweeping motion differing between the two.
As always, I love learning from the comments – the judges do an excellent job offering constructive criticism.
Merry Christmas Anita!
For the stitchers viewing this post, I used Watercolours, Lilac (039) for the border. The stitches were selected in order to get the random effect on the top & bottom while the sides were solids. But, the same thread was used. Stitches selected from Suzy’s Portable stitches are Cross 6×6 on bottom left, Stephanie on right side, Shamrock on top right, and Double Trellis on left side.
The threads on the bottom row of spools from left to right are: Grandeur (G808), Wildflowers (6026), Rainbow Tweed (RT38), Splendor (S932); top row left to right are: Pepper Pot Silk (81), Impressions (7072), Soie Cristal (SC15), Rainbow Linen.
My bag & insert:
Anita’s design is Spools:
The ninth clue in the Stitching Games 2015 run by stitcherie is “Hello, Mrs. Pot”. And, what lady wouldn’t like to be dressed in cashmere! So, the background (left side) is done in a diagonal cashmere stitch.
The eighth clue in the Stitching Games 2015 run by stitcherie is “apple”. Since I saw others already used the Issac Newton gravity connection, I decided to go with the other apple guy who, as it turns out, introduced apples to the state I now live in (PA). John Chapman, often called Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as the northern counties of present day West Virginia.
The popular image is of Johnny Appleseed spreading apple seeds randomly, everywhere he went. With that in mind, like seeds falling randomly, I created a random stitch pattern for the sides. It’s not irregular continental, oblique beaty, or nobuko. The closest it comes to is Kennan but it is still different from any of the diagonal stitches in The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen. I’m not going to check other books. Here’s the diagram:
And, the piece:
The seventh part in the Stitching Games 2015 run by stitcherie offered two choices: (1) You can pick one of the clues (but not a technique), do the usual thing or (2) you can play tic-tac-toe!
From the combinations of clues and techniques that were available, I selected couching/laid filling, eyelet stitches, and Lima.
Since Lima is a coastal city in Peru, I stitched the east & west “coasts” of my piece in a couching/laid filling technique from parts of ANG’s Stitch of the Month in March 2005 to create a border. And, because there is a Lima in Ohio I decided to add a couching around each of the circles to represent the Os in OhiO. Lastly, half square eyelets (not sure what else to call them) fit into each corner.
The sixth clue in the Stitching Games 2015 run by stitcherie is “lilliputian”. From Gulliver’s Travels, a race of very small people; also meaning very small. So, the smallest area left on my canvas is the other circle (the one on the right).
I created my own round Amadeus based on my learnings from my Jean Hilton books.
The fifth clue in the Stitching Games 2015 run by stitcherie is “topsy-turvy”.
I actually found a motif called “Topsy-Turvy” in Jean Hilton’s Stimulating Stitches which is a crescent that “wraps around on itself and then keeps on going into a tail”. However, I couldn’t use it exactly as she designed it on this piece. So, I took the crescent concept & with some creative thinking, which she encourages on practically every page, I created my own exotic crescent. It took me several attempts to get the coverage and roundness that I wanted.
And, one way or another, a future clue will tie into the Sprats Head, Chicago Variation (also from in Jean Hilton’s Stimulating Stitches) – in the form of a cross between example C & D to make a circle & balance this pattern on the right!
The fourth clue in the Stitching Games 2015 run by stitcherie is 3.
Initially, I thought a 3-sided stitch pattern but with the 6-sided shapes in the vase, I didn’t think that would work anywhere.
I really wanted to work on the bottom area which is area number 3 when you start with the top area as number 1 and going either clockwise or counter clockwise around the exterior, the bottom is area 3.
It doesn’t end there. I tried 3 thread types. First was Pepper Pot Silk (Tendrils 098) which is a great match to the green bamboo in one and two threads in the Florentine and Satin pattern from SuZy’s Portable Stitches. Two was too thick and one not enough coverage. So, I tried Silk & Ivory (Lime 56) which seemed dull somehow but coverage was great. Then, I tried Vineyard Merino (English Ivy M-1197) which was so close to the bamboo color that it would detract from the focal point. And, by then, I’d stitched enough to see the diamond pattern would conflict with the 6-sided pattern.
The 3s saga continues as I searched for a new stitch pattern. The vertical look of Buildong Blocks conflicted with the vertical bamboo. So, I was thinking horizontal pattern as I thumbed through The Needlepoint Book (looking forward to the 3rd revised edition coming out soon; but, I have too many notes in this one to part with it!). Plaited Gobelin is pictured vertically but easily works in either direction. And, I can mix in rows of the dark Mandarin Floss (M914) used in the bamboo and maybe Needle Necessities/Kreinik #12 braid overdyed with greens and purples unless the sparkles conflict with the vase. But, I am happy with my 3rd stitch pattern!
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