Filed under: Leftover Threads and The Arte Johnson Stitch, Needlework in Progress
In April 2021, I blogged about Leftover Threads and The Arte Johnson Stitch using some of my leftover threads from my EGA Master Craftsman bargello project.
Shortly after my initial post (https://melitastitches4fun.com/2021/04/16/leftover-threads-and-the-arte-johnson-stitch/), I added one more thread, an overdyed green thread, Watercolours 206 Guacamole. I’d been stitching with random selections of 9 different threads using different numbers of 18″ lengths of thread before switching colors.
It turns out that I set this piece aside for 5 years! It was tucked away out of sight and out of mind until cleaning up for some house painting.
I am hoping to obtain an Impressionistic, watercolor effect. The original way Arte Johnson did this was to use 2 different threads in the same needle. So, this is producing a different effect due to the larger areas of color. While it is not wowing me, I’m also not disliking it. It’s easy stitching and surfaced just in time for me to work on during a Zoom call and when I need something mindless.
I’ll see how far I can go with my threads in these colors to form a rectangle and then decide what to do with it. Clutch bag perhaps?
Filed under: Swirling Leaves
Sister Linda at Second to Nun Framery (in Huntingdon Valley, PA) took only 2 weeks framing Swirling Leaves (DH3825) an Elements canvas by Dream House Ventures Inc. Janet Perry (NAPA Needlepoint) wrote up a stitch guide during her online/cyber Stitch Guide class in 2015.
I elected not to get museum glass but it is the non-glare which is still difficult to get a great picture. I got to practice my newly learned Photoshop technique to straighten photos. I like the simple silver frame because it blends into the background.
Filed under: Swirling Leaves
Finally, this is the last post for Swirling Leaves (DH3825) an Elements canvas by Dream House Ventures Inc. Janet Perry (NAPA Needlepoint) wrote up a stitch guide during her online/cyber Stitch Guide class in 2015.
The gold threads for the swirls are Access Commodities Metallic Soft Twist Trim Cord which I first saw at the Edwardian Needle. I picked up a few packages of it to consider for this project. Well, years later, I realized that I didn’t get the correct silver and found they make it in gold too. So, I placed an order with Traditional Stitches, a store in Canada, it was on backorder, after it finally arrived I realized that I didn’t order enough gold and ordered more. Now, I am finally done!
To recap the whole project: Janet suggested stitching the background first so that the focal points are on top of the rest of the stitching. She suggested an open Tent Stitch pattern but I stitched it as Alternating Continental by mistake which took forever to stitch and covered the canvas completely. The blue bubbles were next which are also in the background and she recommended a couple of options that would serve to bump up the glitz from the Elegance used for the white background. I went with Silk Lame Braid Petite and a darker one where the bubbles overlap using basketweave as Janet recommended.
Since the green leaves are behind the red ones and cool colors like green recedes while the warm color, red, advances, Janet recommended related shapes in which a similar but a smaller stitch should be behind a larger stitch which were a smaller offset Mosaic for the green and a larger offset Scotch for the red.
Lastly, she recommended several techniques to permit the swirls to be the top focal point layer. Initially, I was going to couch both the gold and silver swirls with Access Commodities Metallic Soft Twist Trim Cords #20 in silver and #16 in gold. Well, the #20 trim turned out to be too large to insert into a #18 canvas hole. Since of the larger silver swirls lie underneath the leaves, I basketweaved them all in Kreinik #8.
This is the oldest painted canvas project that I’d started and not finished. That leaves Embracing Horses from March 2017. And, the two JP canvases Bird of Paradise & Bamboo and JP Orange Orchid & Bamboo from August 2017. I can’t believe that was 4 years ago! There are two other older projects including Stitches in Sterling by Nancy Cucci from October 2011 which is a counted project and Tar River Trail by Gail Stafford from August 2012 which is a landscape with a partially painted and line drawn canvas. What project will be next?
Note: Gifted to Jeff and Leila in March 2025.
Filed under: Leftover Threads and The Arte Johnson Stitch, Needlework in Progress
My bargello design for Step 4 of EGA’s Master Craftsman program is on it’s way for evaluation and I had so much thread left over that I decided to try The Arte Johnson stitch. Yes, Arte from Laugh-In. I didn’t know that he was a stitcher. But, he came up with this way to use up his scraps of threads. I wasn’t sure if I had enough threads from the Star of Stitches project to use them. So, I selected an overdyed thread from my stash and not even a third of the threads from my EGA project.
I read about this scrap busting technique in Janet Perry’s blog, Nuts About Needlepoint (https://nuts-about-needlepoint.com/youll-be-laughing-at-the-way-this-stitch-uses-stash/); Susan Sturgeon Roberts’ blog Needlepoint Teacher (https://www.needlepointteacher.com/stitches/numbered-a-b/arte-s/); and Jan’s blog Needle arts and Beyond (https://needleartsandbeyond.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/artes-stitch-needlepoint/). Then, I remembered that I tried it in small samples when I tested several techniques recommended in “A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That” by Linda Damiani (Dec 2017 original post). I wasn’t thrilled with how it turned out perhaps because I didn’t like combining different thread types in a needle.
The stitch is either a Cashmere (2×3) or an Elongated Cashmere (3×5). Either way, they are worked in diagonal rows. This time I’ll try it with the Vineyard Merino which can’t be doubled in the needle anyway. Up close I won’t get the tweed effect but perhaps from a distance I’ll obtain an Impressionistic, watercolor effect.
I cut 18″ lengths and put two of each color in a bag. As my husband pulled them randomly from the bag to determine the stitching order, I placed them on a thread holder.
The 18″ length only got me 6 Cashmere units of the 3 x 5 variety. So, I stitched one complete row to get started. For the second row, I started back up the third row. Then, I started varying the number of stands before switching colors.
Maybe I’ll try a smaller piece and see how it works with the 2 x 3 Cashmere and the Star of Stitches leftover threads.
Before starting my next Gay Ann Rogers piece, I am happy to have some mostly mindless stitching for a while. All I have to decide is how many lengths of thread to use before switching colors.
Filed under: Swirling Leaves
I always feel I have to recap this project because it started in 2015 when I took Janet Perry’s (NAPA Needlepoint) online/cyber Stitch Guide class (offered annually I think). I actually started the background in May 2017 and finished that in October 2019. The blue bubbles got done quickly enough in October 2019 but then the piece was put away for other projects. In my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter this year, we are encouraging members to bring a painted canvas to the group as we stitch it. We discuss the stitch guide we have for the canvas or discuss options for a painted canvas that doesn’t have a stitch guide. It brings a lively discussion to the meeting. We now have 5 members sharing their canvases at our upcoming Monday Zoom meeting. This is mine and is a wonderful way for me to stay motivated to finally finish my painted canvas!
When Janet discussed perspective, she points out that the green leaves are behind the red ones. Also, cool colors like green recedes while the warm color, red, advances. Since they are related shapes, a similar but a smaller stitch should be behind a larger stitch. So, Janet recommended offset Mosaic for the green and offset Scotch for the red. I started at the top of the green leaves and worked my way down compensating as I went around the swirls. It got a little tricky in the small areas and compensating the red leaves were tougher. I’m so glad that I started at the bottom of the truck and worked up.
Of the threads Janet suggested, I used Pepper Pot Silk 75 Cilantro and 019 Claret.
Believe it or not, I have to put this piece away now because I am waiting for a special order of threads for the swirls that I have never used before to arrive. And, it’s not going to be here until January 2021 at the earliest. But, more on all that in what I hope will be my last post for this piece when I finish stitching.
Next up for Swirling Leaves was the blue bubbles which are also in the background. Janet Perry, NAPA Needlepoint during an online class, recommended a couple of options that would serve to bump up the glitz (from the white background) for the bubbles. So, I went with Silk Lame Braid Petite SP98 for the light blue area and a darker Silk Lame Braid Petite SP151 where the bubbles overlap.
The bubbles are in the background as they are lighter in color and not tied to the other elements. I stitched them as Janet recommended with basketweave. However, because my background was not open, my circles look round and I didn’t need to outline each with whipped backstitch.
The flash is allowing some of the sparkle to show.
Filed under: Swirling Leaves
Considering that this has leaves in the design, it is Fall, and we’re watching baseball, I decided to stitch the rest of the background.
To recap this piece, in 2015, I took Janet Perry’s cyber class about learning to create your own stitch guide. I submitted a picture of this canvas which she chose for one of the class discussions. It’s Swirling Leaves (DH3825) an Elements canvas by Dream House Ventures Inc.
Janet suggested stitching the background first so that the focal points are on top of the rest of the stitching. However, she suggested an open Tent Stitch pattern. And, I didn’t realize until it was way to late that I didn’t do it correctly. No wonder it took so long to stitch.
So, now it is the Alternating Continental stitch and still a non-directional pattern that she intended (just not open). I had plenty of Elegance E800 and plenty of time watching baseball.
I stitched all the stitches that went from lower left to upper right first. Then, worked the second pass in the opposite direction which went faster than the first pass maybe because I was distracted by baseball. I am glad that background is done.
IN 2015, I took Janet Perry’s cyber class about learning to create your own stitch guide. I submitted a picture of a design which she chose for one of the class discussions. It’s Swirling Leaves (DH3825) an Elements canvas by Dream House Ventures Inc.
She suggested stitching the background first so that the focal points are on top of the rest of the stitching. However, she suggested an open Tent Stitch pattern. I didn’t realize until now that I didn’t do it correctly. It isn’t open. No wonder it took so long to stitch. Now, I will just have to stitch Alternating Continental to get the non-directional pattern that she intended. I won’t rip all that out – it just won’t be open. I’m using Elegance. Good thing I bought enough! Near the bottom left corner inside the swirl you can see where I started going the other direction.
Dragon Fly is a Kathryn Molineux painted canvas that I selected at Nimble Needle for a class with Sharon G who provided the stitch guide.
I’ve had this done for a while & was enjoying looking at it but I can only keep so many pieces. So, this went to Anita, another coworker for her birthday! And, now everyone I work with has gotten something I stitched.
The design was exactly 5″ X 7″ & Michael’s cut the mat to fit exactly. I really got lucky with the color of the frame matching my design – also from Michael’s! I just cut the canvas down & left it unblocked. There isn’t the same amount of space in this type of frame to add another layer of thickness. And, my stitching doesn’t pull the canvas out of shape anyway – so, it should be fine.
Filed under: Queen's Silhouette
The Queen’s Silhouette is traveling to Woodlawn for the 52nd Annual Needlework Show. She’ll be there for the month of March.
Before the Queen left, she was able to visit the people who I work with including Roya who gave me the piece. She brought it back from Tapisserie in London.
Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth wasn’t able to visit my ANG stitching friends.
Nancy & Murphy at the Artful Framer in Paoli did a fantastic job with the frame. They were very patient helping us (my husband & ) picking it & the mat out. I really appreciate their efforts. I really recommend deciding on how you will finish a piece before you finish stitching! I switched to an oval but not the same size oval as typical mats come in. But, they figured out a way!
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