Beautiful Ohio was entered in the 2010 ANG Seminar, my first time submitting any needlepoint to be judged. I was thrilled it took a Second Place ribbon in the Adaptation non-professional category & shocked when it won the Princess Grace Award.
It was the only piece I didn’t ask to be critiqued (I submitted 3 others that I’ll blog about in the days to follow). Apparently, being on 18 count & use of a special technique described by David McCaskill during a class (and explained below in my artist’s statement) made the difference. Considering the state motto of Ohio (“With God, All Things Are Possible”) and not believing I had much of a chance to win a national award, the outcome seems quite ironic.
My Artist’s Statement (required for this category) follows:
I had recently become reacquainted and enjoyed using the tent stitch on a small piece. So, when I saw that one of the competition categories was for the Princess Grace Award using only the tent stitch I decided to design something to pay tribute to our host city, Columbus, Ohio.
I googled Ohio, read many interesting facts, and learned why the cover of ANG Seminar 2010 magazine depicts a cardinal for the state bird, a lady bug for the state insect (who even knew states select bugs!), a scarlet carnation for the state flower, a buckeye for the state tree, and the nearby Scioto River. Before I knew it, I located a variation of the Ohio Star Quilt Block pattern by Janet Wickell (http://quilting.about.com/od/blockofthemonth/ss/ohio_star_var.htm).
Then, the design came easy enough when I considered the Ohio flag. I started the center with the red circle within a white circle (although nobody is certain if the white “O” stands for Ohio) and surrounded it with blue like the flag. And, the eight-pointed star stood out nicely using red surrounded by the white like the stripes in the flag. Normally, the four corners of the Ohio Star Quilt Block are all plain but I like the variation. So, I used a red, white, and blue overdyed thread (Wildflowers) placed within Flair (a tubular ribbon) for the half triangles which was a technique described by David McCaskill during a tips and tricks class.
As I write this in July, I am looking forward to enjoying some tomato juice (the state beverage) especially in the form of a Bloody Mary in October in the Buckeye State (the state nickname). Perhaps, I’ll be sitting on the banks of a river (‘Ohio’ is derived from the Iroquois Indian word meaning ‘good river’ or ‘large river’) listening to ‘Beautiful Ohio’ (the state song).
I don’t know if “Beautiful Ohio” will win an award or not but “With God, All Things Are Possible” (the state motto).
I’m back from Columbus Ohio, all unpacked, & ready to blog!! The seminar was a great experience. I can tell it takes a lot of effort in advance & during but it is well worth it! While I’m used to writing trip reports for work & writing in my travel journal, I know you don’t want to know what happened every day but I have to share my first impressions of Seminar.
Unfortunately, my husband, Bill & I arrived late on Saturday so I missed the first-timers get together. All we saw at the bar that night was all the hairdressers sporting some wild outfits & hairstyles for their 3 day affair. But, I got up early to volunteer at the hospitality desk. I enjoyed that & can honestly say that anyone should consider spending at least a shift there. It is easy & fun. Luckily, Barbara Richardson was working there too & informed my husband about the Jack Nicklaus museum in the area because the weather was a little iffy for the first few days of the week when he was planning on golfing.
I shopped briefly at the bookstore which must be more difficult to work at than the hospitality desk because I got charged $5,124.00 for 2 June McKnight booklets! Thank goodness for the void key. Then, since Sunday was our 23rd wedding anniversary, we wandered the North Market & had a wonderful scone for breakfast, went to a used bookstore, & a few antique stores in Columbus for a few hours (& to get my husband oriented to the area).
The exhibit area opened Sunday at noon & I hadn’t known that the ribbons would be awarded that soon. So, when my husband & I wandered in later that day, we found that Beautiful Ohio (on my blog) had received a Second Place ribbon in the Adaptation non-professional category – boy were we pleasantly surprised! This is the first time I submitted any needlepoint to be judged. I submitted 3 other pieces that I’ll blog about in the days to follow but they didn’t win anything. I did get very thoughtful, useful feedback on those pieces from the judge’s critiques (which I was given on the last day). Well, it wasn’t long until the Welcome Banquet. We sat with some folks from various parts of the country & enjoyed chatting with them. Even though Beautiful
Ohio qualified for the Princess Grace Award, since it was a second place winner, I was shocked when it won the Princess Grace Award. What a wonderful surprise!
We topped off the evening by meeting & having a drink with Josie, a fellow stitcher, her husband & my husband’s golf partner for the trip, Tony. What a nice couple! And, thanks again to you both.
Over the whole rest of the week, it was so nice to put names with so many faces of stitchers & teachers. And, in halls & elevators, I heard “Oh, you’re the Melita who blogs all the time.” more often than I expected! I’m glad you enjoy it as much as I have been. So, thanks for telling me – I really appreciated it.
Pat Rusch was gracious to take over in Lois Kershner’s absence for our Landscape class. I learned several things regarding perspective & implied lines which made driving home more distracting than usual – as I do most of the driving & was looking as much at the terrain as the road!! I created a stitch guide, selected threads, stitched some, & look forward to reading the booklet in more detail now that I’m home. I’ll finish Santacicle first though so that I can get it to the finisher in time for Christmas.
For October, I kept the pumpkins but used an encroaching gobelin stitch & a simple stem stitch. I used a light & dark combination of threads to help create the shading.
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: Hilton Gems
I had hoped that the Hilton Gems would be an easy start to learning some of these techniques because they are small. And, I didn’t realize why the thread list I prepared differed from the one in CyberPointers Hilton-SIG Files. It’s because not all the threads recommended are still available. So, it’s not as easy a project as I expected.
However, Betsy at Fireside Stitchery helped me substitute. And, I picked up some extras to use as needed. I just love the colors although we rejected a couple that just didn’t seem to go.
So, I’ll list them gem by gem as they appear (from left to right) on my thread wraps (an exercise & tip from Mary Shipp’s Color class). The extras aren’t listed – I’m not sure I’ll use them all anyway yet.
Gem #1: 24 Karats K 11 Purple, Gold Rush 14 J43C Purple with Gold, Panache PN40 Beige, Gold Rush 14 208C Jade Multi, Flair F547 Pale Aqua, Fyre Werks FT19 Agua
Gem #2: Fyre Werks FT19 Agua, Panache PN 37 Teal, Gold Rush 14WG87C Aqua, Splendor S808 Med Purple, Frosty Rays Y028 Turquiose, Gold Rush 14 WG86C Lilac, Panache PN12 Deep Violet
Gem #3: Gold Rush 14 WG84C Deep Blue, Panache PN37 Teal, Frosty Rays Y054 Dark Periwinkle, Neon Rays N99 Deep Violet, 24 Karats K 11 Purple, Panache PN08 Bright Lilac, Gold Rush 14 WG85C Deep Purple
Gem #4: Frosty Rays Y054 Dark Periwinkle, Panache PN12 Deep Violet, Splendor S808 Med Purple, 24 Karats K 11 Purple, Fyre Werks FT19 Agua, Gold Rush 14 WG86C Lilac, Panache PN 37 Teal, Panache PN 11 Muted Lilac
The designs are free on http://www.rainbowgallery.com/freechartdownloads.cfm?ID=12
However, the pictures for Gems are not matching the designs (swap pics for 1 & 2). And, I can’t figure out what goes inside Gem 1 – seems like instructions are missing. I’ll seek help from CyberPointers Hilton-SIG. But, I’m not ready to start stitching yet anyway. I want to place these into one large piece. So, I need to figure out what stitch(es) & threads will be placed between them.
As I think more about these gems, I’ll tackle The Hilton Sampler as that is in line with our chapter’s project this year anyway.
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!!
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010
The August SOTM eyelets are done but I can’t see what’s wrong with the second “incorrect” eyelet example. In the first “incorrect” example, I see it wraps around but the second looks the same as the correct one to me.
I was almost finished with the eyelets & then put it aside for the chapter newsletter, making the Kissing Pillow kits, & another project. I’ve been working on a baby gift but I can’t blog about because I don’t want the mom to see it. As soon as I finish the second one – for her too, then I can reveal them! Where does the time go? We’ll see how much of Sept I can get done – it looks like a lot of stitching.
Filed under: Soldier Kissing Pillows
The ANG MainLine Stitchers (PA) are beginning a new community service project, Soldier Family Kissing Pillows, for families of soldiers departing for service.
Over Labor Day weekend, I made up enough kits to make 300 pillows (I ran out of threads for the last few but had them done in no time after purchasing more threads). And, at our Sept meeting, I handed out materials to 12 of us who agreed to make 85 pillows. I had 6 free pretty purple bags with handles for folks agreeing to make 10 pillows & 12 clear plastic zipper bags for agreeing to do 5. After that, it’ll be boring ziplok bags. And, whoever stitches the most will get a special thank you gift.
This project is not about whether we are for or against war — it is about the loved ones left behind – especially the children. Stitching these pillows is a little something we can do to support our military and their families. The soldier kisses the pillow and gives one to each of his/her loved ones to hold onto until he/she returns from war. When this project began, it was for the children, but the mothers and wives requested them too. Then, the soldiers wanted one with everyone’s kisses on it to take with him/her off to war.
Unfortunately, not all soldiers return and so, some pillow recipients have died. Can you imagine how important that little pillow is to the family – it’s the last thing daddy or mommy gave them and it has their kiss on it. One chapter learned about a young soldier who was killed in Iraq. When his body arrived in the United States among his personal effects was a kissing pillow. It is believed he had it in his helmet when he was killed. His family placed it on top of the American Flag that draped his casket. The family contacted the chapter to express their gratitude – he died with all their kisses and that has given them comfort. Our military and their families have always and always will sacrifice for those of us remaining at home. Stitching these pillows will show our gratitude for their service.
The “kissing pillows” are small (4” x 4”) cross-stitched pillows that say “I LOVE YOU” with two red, white, & blue stars within a larger red heart. They work up quickly (2-3 hours). Once we have enough stitched, we’ll back them with fabrics in patriotic designs & stuff them.
P.S. I got great prices on the Aida & floss at http://www.createforless.com and the materials arrived promptly & in good condition. I highly recommend the site.
Donation, donate
This was another flea market find, the Yellow Rose. I love roses, it went with our bedroom colors, & I was fascinated by the simplicity of the stitching. I’m not sure what kind of stitching it is actually.
Our ANG Main Line Chapter is going to do the Soldier Family Kissing Pillows as our next community project. So, this is in honor of Geraldine (Jerry) Trappey) & her Yellow Rose Chapter of EGA. She has supplied the chart & supportive information for our efforts.
September’s flower basket seemed fine in cross-stitch. So, I stuck with the design except for the buttons. Enjoy the rest of the summer & last blooms!
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