Thanks to stitch suggestions from Susan Hoekstra in a Seminar Color class in 2019 and a thread from Rosie at NJ Needle Fest in 2021, I finished stitching this Seashell ornament. Fast forward to 2022 when I won fabric pieces as a door prize at Linda’s Quilt Guild Show. There are 19 pieces 5&1/2″ squares all different but coordinated. I narrowed the choices for the backing down to 6 and let my husband pick the fabric to coordinate with the seashell.
I did my cutting and ironing of the fabric and fusing web onto Skirtex as previously described.
On the canvas, I see areas that appear raised and want to accentuate them. So, I spent time cutting and tacking felt into the vertical areas along the bottom left and the larger upper right area. One layer of felt on the outer 2 vertical areas, two in center 2 vertical areas, and two in the upper right area.
Then, I attached the padded canvas to another piece of Skirtex in the unpadded areas to make the padded areas raised.
I tacked the edging back using invisible thread (not the lacing technique).
I didn’t have any cording I liked. So, I went into my stash and found Vineyard Silk Shimmer S-515 Toffee which is brown to match the back, frames the seashell nicely, and has a little gold sparkle. The skein was already cut into 38.5″ lengths. So, I thought I’d need 11″ without a hanger. The instructions for the Kreinik Custom Corder say to start with 3x what you need. Tension can vary ending length.
By tying together 2 lengths for one large loop and 2 for the other, I got 16″ final twisted cord which even allows for a hanging loop. Between the Kreinik written instructions and YouTube video, I made the cord and hopefully I got enough twist.
With more invisible thread and Wonder Clips to hold the back and front together, I attached the twisted cord between the two layers.
Plenty of time to clean up the dining room table before Christmas!
I just found this picture & realized I never put it up on my blog. It’s a past (2001) housewarming gift for friends. They love the shore and we’ve been on multiple vacations with them – mainly near water (cruise, Wildwood, NJ, Seaside Heights, NJ). With summer here in March, it seemed like a good time to post it!
Unfortunately, I did not save any info from this piece. As I recall, it was a stamped canvas with a diagram to follow (mainly backstitch or cross stitch). Threads were included. If anyone knows, I’d love to find out.
Postscript: Lisa from my ANG Keystone Chapter saw my posting and actually has this in her stash – it a WIP. She brought it to our meeting Wednesday & it’s coming along nicely! It’s from 1986, called “Seashell Wreath Picture”, and was “NEW!” to have portions of the design printed in color on the Aida cloth (14 count, 14″ x 14″ design area). It’s by Candamar Designs, Inc. who are still around but I didn’t find this vintage piece on their website. Thanks again Lisa for sharing that!!
I wonder how that would look in a round frame? It probably could be a nice looking pillow too.
Melitastitches4fun's Blog 
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, ANG Seminar 2021, Finishing, General comments, Interpreting Color Theory for Needlework with Susan Hoekstra, Seashells, Snail Shell
Thanks to stitch suggestions from Susan Hoekstra in a Seminar Color class in 2019 and a thread from Rosie at NJ Needle Fest in 2021, I finished stitching this Seashell ornament. Fast forward to 2022 when I won fabric pieces as a door prize at Linda’s Quilt Guild Show. There are 19 pieces 5&1/2″ squares all different but coordinated. I narrowed the choices for the backing down to 6 and let my husband pick the fabric to coordinate with the seashell.
I did my cutting and ironing of the fabric and fusing web onto Skirtex as previously described.
On the canvas, I see areas that appear raised and want to accentuate them. So, I spent time cutting and tacking felt into the vertical areas along the bottom left and the larger upper right area. One layer of felt on the outer 2 vertical areas, two in center 2 vertical areas, and two in the upper right area.
Then, I attached the padded canvas to another piece of Skirtex in the unpadded areas to make the padded areas raised.
I tacked the edging back using invisible thread (not the lacing technique).
I didn’t have any cording I liked. So, I went into my stash and found Vineyard Silk Shimmer S-515 Toffee which is brown to match the back, frames the seashell nicely, and has a little gold sparkle. The skein was already cut into 38.5″ lengths. So, I thought I’d need 11″ without a hanger. The instructions for the Kreinik Custom Corder say to start with 3x what you need. Tension can vary ending length.
By tying together 2 lengths for one large loop and 2 for the other, I got 16″ final twisted cord which even allows for a hanging loop. Between the Kreinik written instructions and YouTube video, I made the cord and hopefully I got enough twist.
With more invisible thread and Wonder Clips to hold the back and front together, I attached the twisted cord between the two layers.
Plenty of time to clean up the dining room table before Christmas!