Filed under: Embroidery Guild of America, Pomegranate Heart by Melissa Sherbring, Seminar 2023 - Boston
More Ceylon/Ladder stitches for the outer heart. Glad to say now that the Ceylon/Ladder stitches got easier. Leaving more slack is good. It also allowed me to get rid of the magnifying glass. But, I could only do about 4 threads (18″) before having to take a break for my eyes. This seems much more tedious than canvaswork. I was pleased with the consistency of spacing for the rungs and the angle achieved turning the rounded sides.
We were given 2 options for the pair-wrapped ladder. No way was I going to try French Knots with this passing thread like Melinda’s pilot stitcher did. I stuck with the original teacher’s choice of wrap 2 skip 3.
The Woven Laidwork wasn’t too bad. I managed to use longer lengths of the silver passing thread. It took some effort to make straight lines. Melinda’s is tighter than mine, but I will take straight. I worked the Stem stitch left to right to outline all edges. I did start that (can you see where) in this photo. It covers up any imperfect areas along the edges.
For Stem stitch, which if you work from left to right (for right-handers) and right to left (for left handers), always keep your working thread below your needle. For Outline stitch, always keep your working thread above your needle. This is supposed to make it easy to remember: Stem=under and Outline=over (O=o). It’s completely done in this photo and ready for finishing!
This is actually upside down because the crown upside down. I will finish it with the crown uprighted. Since it is a heart, I am posting this today, October 3, to mark our 36th Anniversary!
I have certainly been remiss in posting my framed pieces. This is Mesa Triangle with Kathy Rees finished by Frames Plus in Feasterville, PA. It uses a batik fabric applique as the focal point. As I stitched, I realized that while this is not a symmetrical design, there are components within the design that I made symmetrical by manipulating the overdyed threads. It is very subtle and you may not notice it but it made me happy.
Another framed piece that I forgot to post. The ANG Central Jersey Chapter (CJC) hosted the Autumn 3-Ways Workshop with Toni Gerdes in the fall of 2022 although we had to do it remotely in winter of 2023 because of Toni’s flight cancellation.
Those of you who know the piece will know the piece is framed upside down but I didn’t notice that until I got home and my husband and I decided we like it that way! Finished by Frames Plus in Feasterville, PA.
Filed under: Annette's Bouquet with Deborah Mitek, Embroidery Guild of America, Seminar 2021-Chicago
Annette’s Bouquet with Deborah Mitek was one of the classes I took at the 2021 EGA Seminar and has been framed since November 2021 but I forgot to post it here. A fillet allowed enough space so that the French Knots, Colonial Knots, and the bow would not get crushed by the glass (museum glass). Romeo’s did the framing but they are closed now.
I’m very happy with how it turned out and enjoy looking at it – flowers that never need watering and will never die! Perfect.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Imperial Topaz by Sue Reed
Getting the Square Rhodes color matched and reflected went well. I got all the colors in the overdyed thread, 168 Rainforest, represented. Counting that far away from where you stitched was a bit tough because the first stitch in the Square Rhodes stitch is not one of the corners. I was off once, but thanks to double-checking, I caught it relatively early and was able to reuse the thread. I needed about 32″ to stitch three of them. All the top stitches point towards the center.
All the slanted gobelin stitches surrounding the Square Rhodes in the 4 quadrants are pointing to the center as well. So I wouldn’t forget the slant while talking at our Saturday Stitch-in, I had already started with the inner most over one stitch and the over 2 with Neon Rays in some of each quadrant. I did have to take my curling iron – a must when working with Neon Rays. But, no mistakes. Not a very exciting portion to stitch, but it was a rainy weekend here, and I finished it. Yes, the north, south, east, and west sides are purposely not closed in.
Filed under: Embroidery Guild of America, Pomegranate Heart by Melissa Sherbring, Seminar 2023 - Boston
It’d been almost 2 weeks since returning from EGA Seminar and I had not stitched on the Pomegranate Heart, the one-day class with Melinda Sherbring.
Glad to say, I picked up easily where I left off with the Ceylon/Ladder stitch.
The pair-wrapped ladder worked up well.
This is a 4-column Crown (working on this upside down). The center rungs got lost until I got to the center pointed tip. Since I’m not sure it would rip out easily, I am leaving it alone.
I’m working with Gold,Silver, and Copper Passing Thread. It is a thin flat metal thread wrapped around silk or cotton. It does fray but wax applied at the end helps. Because these threads are more expensive, Melinda makes up smaller spools for kits to keep costs down. Very considerate but certainly adds kit preparation time. The white spool is a harder plastic tube than the green plastic straw. Each have cuts in the end for anchoring the end of the thread. They would make a great spool for leftover threads.
The Ceylon Circle is a little too small so maybe I should have placed the framework stitches further out. I only looped around twice, and I think Melinda got around 3 times. Oh well!
The Corded Lark’s Head Filling offset stitch was tricky – going down and over, up under, and down and under repeated. Working with a magnifying glass didn’t help much. Then, I realized that my tension was probably too tight. Looser thread and the magnifying glass made working the bottom half go easier. So, you can see it is a little denser on the upper half. Again, I am leaving it alone.
It’s kind of slow going because I can only stitch with the magnifying glass so long.
Thanks to Facebook’s Needlepoint Nation,
this is from Amanda Lawford’s old line, Les Nouvelles, circa 1970s/1980s. “Patty Paints Needlepoint” replied to tell me she worked as a copy artist for her, and she remembered painting this canvas. If you haven’t heard of Needlepoint Nation, you are missing a great resource.
Patty has also replied to my inquiry about a certain area of the canvas where I wasn’t quite sure what I was seeing. She graciously responded, and that issue has been resolved. I’m still not 100% sure about a couple of smaller areas and if extra stitching along the outer edge is needed for the finisher, but I’ll bring it to the next greatest resource I have, my chapter members from ANG Main Line Stitchers at our Stitch-in Saturday.
The angel came to me partially stitched belonging to a woman who started it 40 years ago. We met, and I have taken it on as my first stitch for hire project. Why? She is very nice, trying to establish a work-life balance, and can’t fit this in. And I don’t have a basketweave project to work on now. As soon as I agreed, she said she felt lighter. She did an excellent job on what she already did. She used 6 stranded DMC floss as is (not laying the thread). So, I will do likewise.
When I got home and looked more carefully, I found her threads were neatly organized in bags and labeled as to what areas they are to go to. I didn’t promise it’d be done by a certain date because I do have other projects. It wouldn’t be able to get finished by Christmas this year anyway. It’s coming into baseball playoffs, and football is back. So, I should make good progress.
Filed under: Embroidery Guild of America, Lady Sybil, Melita's Designs, Seminar 2023 - Boston
I was pleased to see Lady Sybil got a 2nd Place ribbon at the EGA Golden Needle Exhibit. The critique was late arriving but I finally got it.
For some reason, my photo of Lady Sybil didn’t appear in my Artist Statement. So, that didn’t help the judges. And, I do agree with the judges that the artist’s statement needed more connection to the theme of the exhibit, “Stitch Party.” I indicated that it was a party of Jean Hilton stitches. Not that I could have said much more about it. I don’t much care for entering themed exhibits to begin with. But, I didn’t realize the theme/Artist Statement weighed in at 40% of the judging.
Otherwise, they said, “Your work scored high in Aesthetic Quality, which defines a design’s unity in visual terms. (balance, color, repetition, pattern, scale, shape, and value).” The Pepper Pot Silk showed irregularities but the rest of the piece exhibited a high quality of skill in the execution of the work.
If you have Evertite Stretcher Bars, you have a Bondhus Hex T-handle. This looks like a lethal weapon and would never keep it in my carry-on luggage figuring it might get confiscated.
Someone mentioned (probably on Facebook) that any 3/32″ Hex Dogging Key would work. I found a pack of 10 of them on Amazon. So, I got them to have one hanging off my lamp next to me where I stitch and one in my travel tool bag. It’s so much easier to carry. A few of the rest are part of gift bags. It works just as well.
Filed under: Embroidery Guild of America, Seminar 2023 - Boston, Understanding Color Relationships: Luster and Luminosity with Patricia Goaley
I did manage to finish the class assignment from Understanding Color Relationships: Luster and Luminosity with Patricia Goaley last night after dinner.
I have enough thread left. Perhaps I will make a companion piece for a pair of coasters.
Eventually, I will rework my tiny weaving project. First, I think I will finish the Pomegranate Heart while it’s fresh in my mind but not tonight. Even though I didn’t drive home, it was a long day. We enjoyed Boston and the Seminar but it’s nice to be home!
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