Melitastitches4fun's Blog

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.

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?

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.

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.