Filed under: ANG CyberPointer's Chapter, Landscape Features: A Notebook Class by Gail Stafford
Lesson 2 for trees and leaves of Landscape Features by Gail Stafford is done.
The tree on the far left has padding thinning at the top ends and is covered in diagonal gobelin.
The branches on the far upper right are padded and covered with straight gobelin done horizontally for the branches bending down and vertically for the top branch that lies horizontally.
The center tree employed the outline stitch layered using Watercolours on the base and then Simply Wool too make it a well rounded trunk!
I did not add leaves to the line drawing on the left because I did not want to cover the sky. The leaves moving counter clockwise from the right are double layered cross, Smyrna, upright cross, cross/giant cross, large/small diamond ray, and Dutch stitch.
This lovely handkerchief arrived in the mail from a woman I helped get back into needlepoint to thank me for helping her with a new issue she was dealing with. It’s from France. A delicate flower design.
Just look at all the fall colors in the tote!
Between the by Mindy bookmark canvas and the lovely fall colored threads, I am set for autumn. I can choose between DMC and Presencia Finca Perle! I’ll have plenty of thread left over for other projects.
The PHL is a cute magnet since I live in Philly.
Linda presented everything in a perfectly arranged, very handy tote. Quite the birthday bonanza!
Linda found another winner with the matching Mad for Plaid project bags (10x13x3 and 6x9x1) in the color, Pumpkin.
It includes a motif to stitch and various DMC Perle #5 threads to use. Or, I can do whatever pleases me!
The design is cute and would probably be less complicated than whatever I would think to do. I’m leaning towards using the design as supplied on the large bag and doing something else on the smaller bag. So, I have to ponder on this one for a bit!
As I recall, Jim Wurth retired when I was early into canvaswork and felt his pieces would be too difficult for me. But, I did like them. Now, I’ll finally get to stitch one of his designs, Silken Sonata, thanks to Linda. It’s a lovely 4″x4″ piece on a green canvas with copper and beige threads. It’s a lovely design with colors I love. Linda even included the needles! She’s so thoughtful. This is the second posting in my special Birthday Bonanza! The mug was the first.
For a small piece, it is packed with Jean Hilton type stitches, including Sprats and Jessicas of different sizes with Smyrnas and Eyelets. Some overlaying of threads is needed, which will be interesting as well.
I’m excited to start this.
Look at this amazing magnet. The white to part actually turns! It’s 2″ across and so strong. Accoutrement Designs has excellent magnets. Such good quality. Birthday gift to myself.
I’m using my new mug, Taking it one STITCH at a time, from Linda to help me get organized. This is only one of a few gifts for my birthday, which is one of the big ones as far as birthdays go! Thanks to Linda for thinking of me and for the fun new projects (subjects of future posts).
The mug clears up some table space next to where I stitch. The tall wooden holder outgrew my needs and would periodically tip over. But it’s great for holding my skinny tools and scissors. So, I put the wooden holder inside the mug and added the stuff that had been laying flat.
One of my goals is to get organized. It’s tough to get my mind around this, but taking one area at a time is like taking one stitch at a time – right!?! The rest of the table space still needs to be organized, so I am posting only the mug! But, I am going back to my table space now.
Filed under: All That Simmers by Sundance Beads, ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter
I had the stitching all done prior to our Stitch-in yesterday. I manipulated the overdyed so that the dark areas fell on the outer edge and the light portion of ThreadworX 1006 appeared in the full diamonds to emphasize the diamond motifs in Ribbon 2.
With a little push, the Silver Square (MA006) metallic accent fit perfectly into the bed of beads, which was then anchored into place with another bead. I used 2 strands of beading thread. Believe it or not, that’s the beading needle laying in the yellow area looking mangled! It started out straight.
I would have gotten it done during our Stitch-in, but since we were at Fireside Stitchery, I spent some time buzzing around the threads for my butterfly. I found some good ones, but that is for another post.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Laurel Burch Rainbow Butterfly by Danji, Serendipity - Stitching Club with Ellen Johnson
I fell in love with this canvas at NJ Needle Fest a couple of years ago, and Linda had it in her stash and gave hers to me for my birthday! Thanks again, Linda. I’m finally getting to it. Kristen has the canvas, too, and we are going to stitch it for discussion at our ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter meetings. I introduced the canvas at our Monday night meeting earlier this month.
There is so much going on this 6.5″ wide x 4.5″ tall canvas that it is kind of tough to decide where to start. I joined Ellen Johnson’s Stitching Club where she has amassed a series of videos on “Evaluating Your Canvas”. I went through them and immediately knew that I was learning to read my canvas better.
I want this to be a flat ornament hanging at an angle like it is flying.
I decided the focal is the red and orange portions on the wings – not the whole butterfly as I thought initially. Those areas contrast in temperature (warmest) and are completely outlined in black compared to the transition area where red changes to purple (warmer to cooler) and which is partially outlined in black. The opening along the bottom takes you into the cooler portions of the lower part of the wings.
I also read up on butterflies. Butterflies have 4 wings – not 2 wings as I thought initially! The 2 top wings are the forewings and the 2 lower are the hindwings.
The body may be the entry point that takes you to the antennae, which leads you to the wings. It may be a focal point, too.
There is balance within the design. The right and left sides are symmetrical (alike on left and right sides) but there is also some asymmetrical balance between the larger forewings on the top and the smaller hindwings below because of the large flower motifs.
My research also found that there is texture to the butterfly’s wings – not smooth and flat as I initially thought. The wings are covered in tiny scales that possess a microscopic texture that can produce iridescent colors by reflective interference. That sounds like what we see when stitching alternating scotch or cashmere with silks.
Possible textured stitches include Rhodes, French Knots, couching, surface embroidery, beading, and sequins. Possible thread suggestions from members of my chapter included memory wire, Petite Facets, and fuzzy threads. Kristen expects hers will be so embellished it will be too heavy to fly!
For the body, possible ideas include stuffing beads inside Flair, chipping with goldwork (would look good but would tarnish), and padding with kid leather.
I’ll be selecting threads tomorrow at our chapter’s monthly Saturday Stitch-in and the first time at Fireside Stitchery!
Filed under: Uncategorized
I was close enough today to Edwardian Needle to take advantage of a special 3-hour sale of Trish Vine products while Bill was golfing! I got to see her, Candace, Pam, and a few members of the ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter. Nice turnout. Some ladies decided to sit outside on lawn chairs and stitch.
I picked up a couple of project bags and a tissue holder from Trish. The 2 threads, finger light, and Ed-Mar needles are from the store.
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