Filed under: Christmas Ornaments, Early Needlepoint, Melita's Other Completed Pieces
These are some more cross stitch ornaments, 8 to the set. I finished off them myself by cutting the dowels, glueing the ribbon hangers, & applying felt backings. Believe it or not, I actually made the set of 8 for my mother, my sister (& her husband), my brother (& his wife), my husband’s mother, my husband’s sister (& husband), 2 girlfriends, & myself – 64 ornaments in total! Can’ just make one set – no!
Text
Filed under: Christmas Ornaments
These are some hand-crafted ornaments. The first 3 are from my days in ceramics. I just love them. As I recall, I was the slowest painter. Everyone cranked out pieces like nothing & there I was plodding along. But, I was very meticulous! The last 3 are from unknown persons that I must have picked up in craft shows. Of those, the first 2 are on plastic canvas (quite large count by the looks of it). They are also wonderful. I love the mouse at the foot of the clock. The last is tatting or crocheting (not sure of the difference as I do not do either of those techniques).
I followed the design for these are small round ornaments except that I added beads where I didn’t do cross stitching. They are from a Leisure Arts Leaflet (#197) dated 1981. I still have a nice stash of beads from this period of stitching which will come in handy for the finishing touch in the ANG Stitch of the Month (SOTM) Mystery Project 2010!
The frames are from AC Moore & easy to finish off. The large one is 3&1/2″ diameter.
These are smaller at about 2&1/2″ diameter.
I place the set of 4 small ones on my lamp shades (2 on the pair). I have so many ornaments & a small tree that I’ll place them anywhere!
Filed under: Christmas Ornaments, Early Needlepoint, Melita's Other Completed Pieces
These were mainly cross stitch kits but I didn’t save any information on them.
Filed under: Melita's Other Completed Pieces
I picked this kit up in the Poconos from Selma’s Art Needlework. I love the simplicity of the design. It used just satin & stem stitches. There are only 4 colors of DMC floss. Some part of the design was stamped or drawn on a piece of linen. Simple but stunning. And, didn’t Dan at Framers Workshop pick a great frame?
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Bookmark, Melita's Adaptations, Melita's Other Completed Pieces
For our ANG Chapter Project, we are doing samplers. I found 2 speakers from the Delaware Valley Historical Sampler Guild who gave excellent presentations & “Stitches for All Seasons”, a booklet with 7 different samplers on the Stoney Creek website.
It was a discontinued item & I didn’t find out until after the newsletter was sent. And, because Stoney Creek is not the designer, they could not make more copies. However, they were gracious enough to provide 6 of them at no charge & said, “Hope you enjoy them.” And, I went on eBay & found 7-8 more copies of the book.
I did not realize that the samplers in the book would be based on 28 or 32 ct (our group prefers 18 ct). So, I calculated the sizes if done on 18 ct (Summer Butterflies: 7&3/4 x 10&1/2, Spring Flowers: 7&3/4 x 10&2/3, Winter Wonderland: 7&2/3 x 11, Autumn Leaves: 7&3/4 x 11&1/8, Christmas Love: 7&3/4 x 11, Friendship: 6&2/3 x 13&1/8, Hearts & Waterlilies: 7&1/8 x 12&2/3). I reminded folks that the threads suggested would be thinner than what you’d need for 18 ct. Except for the Butterfly sampler, they should up nicely on 18 ct canvas. I have learned a lot! And, the threads recommended are also not longer available. They are mostly a DMC flower thread – never heard of it!! But, everyone seems willing & able to handle the adjustments. Phew!
I really liked the Hearts & Waterlilies Sampler but didn’t want to stitch the full sampler with so many other open projects. So, I selected the bands I liked best & placed them on 18 count Aida bookmark. I love it!
FYI: Stoney Creek is mainly a cross stitch store but not entirely. For example, there are 3 lovely pieces called Faith, Hope, & Love. And, Love (http://store.stoneycreek.com/love-p8646c20.aspx?Thread=True) was taught at the Stitching Jubilee seminar last year in Lancaster, PA and features several stitch techniques including Queen Stitch, Lazy Daisy, Twisted Straight Stitch, Rhodes Heart, Long Armed Cross Stitch Variation, Smyrna and Four-Way Tied. Faith features Long-Armed Cross Stitch, Smyrna, Rococo Variation, Four-Way Tied, Rhodes Butterfly, Long Tail Daisy Stitch and Star Stitch Variation. And, Hope features Leaf Stitch, Vaulting Fan Stitch, Large Angel Stitch and Star Stitch.” Thanks again Stoney Creek!
This must another “vintage” piece although I don’t have any of the information. It was a kit my mother bought & asked me to finish for her a few years ago. All in tent/continental. The black & white coded chart was tough to follow. There a some lines on the piece to follow but then you had to look at the chart too. I was glad when that was done. But, she loves it. Big bird lover.
Filed under: Melita's Other Completed Pieces, Sun Flower with David McCaskill at Fireside Stitchery
“Sun Flower” was entered in the 2010 ANG Seminar in the Painted Design with Stitch Guide category. For this piece, the judges noted that the twist of the thread was lost in some sections, a comment I got for certain areas on several pieces & something I’ll have to work on. And, the French knots were too big in one of the lower petals, making it a focal point. Looking at the overall % of total points allowed in this category, it scored only slightly lower than “Madam Carina” and got nice comments such as “fun to look at” and “an outstanding piece of needlepoint”. My artist’s statement follows:
I selected this painted canvas at Fireside Stitchery in Frazer, PA for a David McCaskill workshop. The piece is actually called ‘Daisy’ and is designed by Paula Manning for Dream House Ventures, Inc. But, I thought it was a sun until David said it was a flower! Thus, it is named “Sun Flower”. David picked the threads and created mostly free-style stitch patterns for the piece.
The dark green area used Wild Hairs couched with Anchor floss. The light green area used DMC #5 Cotton Perle and Kreinik Very Fine #4 braid for the sparkle.
The petals in the forefront are a brighter combination of Neon Rays + and Trebizond while the receding petals are muted by using Grandeur Silk Pearl and a subtly overdyed Watercolours.
Once I got into a rhythm of the skip tent stitch, the green area surrounding the petals filled in quickly. David recommended using that stitch to cover the holes from the back.
The abstract area used 3 Wildflowers with DMC Cotton Perle #5 couched on with matching DMC floss. The Wildflowers, rather than the Watercolours, is thin enough to allow the canvas to show through. Because I matched portions of the overdyed thread to the canvas as much as possible, I found this area of the piece particularly challenging.
And, I want to thank Dan at Framer’s Workshop in Philadelphia for always steering me to just the right frame! However, the judges thought the luster of the gold frame was a little bright for the mostly matte needlework. I’m going to have to politely disagree – I love the frame! And, I totally agree with the parting comment in the critique, “I know that you will enjoy this piece for many years.” I certainly will.
The original sampler was sewn in 1811 by Hannah Gilbert when she was about 12 years old & is in the collection at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown PA. Unfortunately, when we went to the museum we didn’t get to see it because they have so many pieces, not all can be displayed.
This is a large piece, 23″ x 23″ from Needles ‘N Hoops (Abington, PA) & was a stamped linen using floss. The notes say that the border is uneven where she miscounted – I didn’t notice where that happened & am not going to figure out where it is off. They think that some unfinished areas may be because she either ran out of thread, room, or patience. I can’t even see where it is unfinished!
Filed under: Melita's Other Completed Pieces
This Pharmacy Sampler is to commemorate my profession. I know there are a lot of different kind of samplers & do not know what category this falls under. But the kit says that it’s a sampler & I’m not an expert! This is an 11″ x 11″ framed piece from Needles ‘N Hoops (Abington, PA who are out of business now) & was a stamped linen using floss. Mostly, it used cross stitches but also required satin, outline, chain, and French knots. I haven’t seen it available on Ebay whenever I have looked.
I’m not sure why I didn’t make Melita smaller, use may last name, & add Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA). Speaking of Pgh, we hope to stop at Pirmanti Brothers on our way to & from Columbus, OH!!
Melitastitches4fun's Blog 