Filed under: Gay Ann Roger's, Countess of Granrham, Other People's Designs
The Countess of Grantham, Cora, was actually the first in the series of her Downton Abbey inspired pieces.
Cora is an American and the only one who has just white, black, and a touch of brown. Looking back at various outfits she wore during the series, she didn’t wear as many colored outfits as the daughters.
The center motif, Step 1, is completed. The double-running stitches in black Kreinik for the petals and outer border remind me of black work. It really keeps the thread hidden underneath. And, I used long lengths moving out from the center in opposite directions. I find that very helpful in open areas. It was easy to follow the path because I did it with the TV off!
I continue to find it interesting to see Gay Ann’s designs develop such as when she repeats a stitch but in a different color and number of repetitions. And, Gay Ann is not afraid to leave some open canvas which I find can be difficult. This piece was broken up into 4 steps but I could not stop!
I am glad my phone has the ability to flip a photo and make a mirror image because I couldn’t see where to put the three long diagonal silver stitches in the center opposite sides. Looks easy now!
There are 4 columns of Tied Mohair that called for Planet Earth Fun-Fuzz-Funn but I had Rainbow Gallery Fuzzy Stuff which was fine. However, the pattern called for long strands of the darker color tied with the lighter color. I didn’t see that until I stitched them all dark. I should have taken a pictures of all the iterations I went through. Next, I stitched 2 of them as instructed. Bill & I liked the 2 dark ones better than the combo. So, out the combo came. Then, I stitched 2 of them with just the lighter thread. Bill liked either but when I showed him the picture, he agreed with me that the lighter gray was better. I stitched 9 columns to figure it out. Luckily, they were not a large area or a complicated stitch.
Gay Ann was by inspired by this photo of Lady Mary for her design.
Lady Mary is the second in the Downton Abbey series by Gay Ann Rogers. These are 6″ x 6″ and the center waffle stitch covers a 2″ square. It’s probably the biggest waffle I’ve stitched. The overstitching with the third thread (silver) was brilliant. And, then how she made it appear as a medallion with the slanting stitches was interesting too.
Again, careful counting is required. Not too much had to get restitched. Cross referencing to other areas helps.
Step 2 is finished and so is this piece! It was a very enjoyable project. In this step, there is only one variation of mine but it was by choice. The single brown Plant Earth thread between the couched long Pepper Pot Silk diagonal stitches seemed to get lost. So, I used 2 threads between and to tie.
Gay Ann was inspired by this photo for her design.
The center waffle has a variation in it because I was watching TV. I have to blame it on something other than I can’t follow well written instructions. This is my first piece from Gay Ann Rogers. Only looking closely at the original would anyone know. I actually like it just as well.
In my opinion, this is not a piece for someone just starting counted projects. In order to get this correct, I had to stitch in a different order than Gay Ann suggested. There was no way I would have counted correctly doing all the Tied Diagonal Stitches without stitching the Plaited, Slanted, and Elongated Cross Stitches first. Working from the center out is safer for me. Also, I am happy that my husband golfed when he did and is reading a 1,000-page book about Abe Lincoln (the period before his presidency) because the TV is off. I am proceeding well. Everything is matching up as expected.
By the time of my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter Stitch-in yesterday, I had completed the inner brown border of Elongated Cross stitches. So, stitching the rest of Step 1 was easy while we chatted over Zoom. The difficult counting was done.
All this was Step 1! I just love it. It’s broken up into only 2 steps. While I’m anxious to forge onward, I will switch to a different project to be sure that I am ready for our chapter meeting on Monday February 8.
Filed under: Gay Ann Roger's, Countess of Granrham, Gay Ann Roger's, Dowager Countess, Gay Ann Roger's, Lady Edith, Gay Ann Roger's, Lady Mary, Other People's Designs
It took ordering from 3 stores to compile the required threads to stitch all 4 Gay Ann Roger’s Downton Abbey pieces. Everything including the 4 pieces of canvas are now ready to go. I only substituted Fuzzy Stuff which I had in my stash for the Planet Earth fiber Furr-Fuzz-Funn. One of the Kreinik colors has been discontinued but I was able to get it. I thought it was interesting that 3 of the 4 pieces use DMC Ecru and Lady Mary’s does not. Nothing as common as Ecru for her!
The next decision is in what order to stitch them? Do I stitch youngest to oldest or vice versa? This decision is based on one key point: The Dowager Countess is the newest design just released in her October sale and I would her done hers first. But, it uses Watercolours Amethyst 006 and I have stitched with Waterlilies Amethyst 006 recently. So, I will start with Lady Edith.
A very Merry Christmas indeed. My needlepoint gifts included a pair of string art earrings my husband found in the Signals magazine!
The Dowager Countess design from Gay Ann Roger’s is based on a plum and black dress. I started ordering the threads for the other three designs and now can finish my shopping for the rest of the threads! These look like very enjoyable projects for 2021.
Best wishes to you and your families!
Filed under: Gay Ann Roger's, Countess of Granrham, Gay Ann Roger's, Lady Edith, Gay Ann Roger's, Lady Mary, General comments, Other People's Designs, Technique Issues
I asked Santa for Gay Ann Roger’s series of designs inspired by Downton Abbey including the Countess, Lady Mary, and Lady Edith. Hopefully, she adds a fourth based on the Dowager Countess.
And, I expect to learn a lot from Susan Sturgeon Roberts in her book, Tips & Techniques for Needlepoint. After some cooking, I will settle down with this.
Happy Holidays to all!
Susan has beautiful diagrams in her booklet. I love how there is a grid on each page with large colored diagrams and instructions for each section.
I saw three pieces of this design all stitched differently at Woodlawn Needlework Exhibit this year. Each very pretty! I would love to do several of these.
Filed under: General comments, Other People's Designs, Stitch N' Zip, Threads
Having a small, easy piece to stitch and carry with me is great for trips. And, Stitch & Zip pieces fulfill both requirements. I found this eyeglass case in a corner of a gift store called Wonderful Things in Great Barrington, MA in May 2018. The only needlepoint in the store was a few of these. So, I had to pick it up! It’s called Watercolor Poppies.
I found a few threads appropriate for 14 count canvas in my stash including Vineyard Merino a violet M-1042 Dark Earth, 2 greens M-1065 Martini and M-1067 Foliage and 2 roses Silk & Ivory 161 Lida Rose, 162 Rosie O’Grady.
But, I still needed lots of colors so I found more Silk & Ivory in August 2018 while stopping at Point of It All (before ANG Seminar) including yellow 241 Maize, 2 shades of orange 213 Banana and 215 Clementine, 2 shades of pink 185 Cosmopolitan and 119 Grenadine, a red 199 Tamale, and 3 blues 198 ahoy, 36 Admiral Blue, and 69 Forgot-Me-Not.
Apparently, Silk & Ivory pills more depending on which end is threaded! If you thread Silk & Ivory one way, it pills. If you thread it the other way, it doesn’t. So, if you find which end splays more, you should always thread that end into the needle’s eye. I didn’t find any pilling issues but these are small areas and the canvas is 14 count. Good tip!
I found this tip in an earlier blog posting and it’s worth repeating: In order to get the top edge to angle like the rest, turn the canvas upside down and stitch left to right with the needle moving straight up, the thread ends up angled correctly (like basketweave).
I was surprised to see how the colors in the photo of the stitched example differ from the canvas colors.
I stitched more closely to the canvas colors.
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