Filed under: Embroidery Guild of America, Mid-Atlantic Region, Overdyed Spools THaP
On Saturday October 16, I taught this to 31 students at EGA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional meeting. About half are going back to teach it to their chapters. It was a great experience.
It’s not a complicated piece to stitch. The hardest part is finding the repeat of color within a skein. Some skeins work better than others. At least 2 people had to switch skeins. I brought a couple of extras and so did several people.
For this one, I am using Caron’s Watercolours Cantaloupe 079. The upper left area uses 11 strands before compensating but only 9 strands had color line up nicely on the horizontal. So, I had to run thread underneath until they lined up. And, I needed an extra strand for a couple of columns.
Since it is my third time stitching it, I tried something different than random in 2 of those sections. The top right has color matched threads moving left to right for 3 rows making vertical columns of matching colors. And, the bottom left area with the 6 x 6 Rice stitch has been stitched with the pink and light purple portions for the large crosses and the blue, green, and yellow portions used for the short over 2 diagonal stitches.
The bottom right area uses 6 strands for the vertical color arrangement and 3 strands for compensation. I think I used the designated compensation threads in the bottom left corner by accident. But, I managed to compensate the area with other threads.
The spools are stitched with DMC Floche 434 which is the same as I used in the other two stitched pieces. There is one hand-dyed thread in the spools. Can you find it without reading ahead?
Lucille C, one of the people who was in the ANG Delaware Seashore chapter when I led the project for them, brought her stitched piece and mentioned that she had padded under the wraps or wrapped extra to get a more rounded effect. Good idea and I padded under all but one spool (upper left corner).
The thread wraps include from upper left to right: The Pure Palette Baroque Silk 1192 (very subtle color change for the hand-dyed thread – really tough to see the color change in the small sample; plies not separated), Madeira’s Burmilana 3893 (two stands laid), Caron’s Impressions 1106 (one strand), The Thread Gatherer’s Sheep’s Silk SPS125; one strand) and from bottom left to right: four strands laid for each color of Rainbow Gallery’s Splendor S994, S977, S932, S1058.
The Pure Palette appears to have 6 plies but I read on several websites that it is has 3. It can be used as it comes off the skein on larger count canvas (13 or 14) or separated into 3. So, I contacted the company and was told, “If you separate it all the way down to the six strands, it becomes more difficult to work with.” It is kind of like Splendor which is a 12-strand skein. Initially it separates into 3 groups of 4 plies but is intended to be separated further into 4 strands. However, Pure Palette should remain in 3 groups of 2 plies.
I revised the text some based on feedback from the organizer of THaP and people can now see another stitched example. One of the messages that I hope I made clear is that one should feel free to experiment with the threads and have fun!
Filed under: Embroidery Guild of America, Mid-Atlantic Region, Overdyed Spools THaP
Today’s 3-hour class at EGA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional meeting was fun and challenging. There were 31 students – larger than anything I’ve done on the chapter level. Everyone was wonderful.
The piece labeled original was done for a purse for my sister in 2015 and the second for the ANG 2017 Chapter Project Book.
I started stitching it for the third time in order to refresh myself. It is intended to be a small project where many (about 20) of the students then go back and teach it to their own chapter. The main idea is to manipulate an overdyed thread in 2 areas to create a striped effect and place color randomly in the other 2 areas. I shared other pieces where I manipulated overdyed, demonstrated a quilter’s knot, and how to find the repeating color sequence.
I sent this photo out to get people excited. After class, the best comment I heard was, “I’ll never look at overdyed threads the same again.” That’s wonderful to hear and fun to open up possibilities for people.
Filed under: ANG Seminar 2017, JP Bird of Paradise & Bamboo, Orange Orchid & Bamboo
I never posted my stitching progress since beginning this at the 2017 Seminar with Cynthia Thomas at her Painted Canvas Embellishment Class. She sent a wonderful one page document that I took to Rittenhouse Needlepoint to select threads for the project which I did show previously (https://melitastitches4fun.com/2017/08/24/ang-seminar-2017-anaheim/). She has you pick thread types rather than any specific brands because she doesn’t know what threads are in local needlepoint stores.
Rather than post all my progress which was pretty good until early 2018 when it got shelved, I am going to post it area by area over the next several weeks/months. As an incentive to finish our painted canvases and share our learnings with our ANG Main Line Stitchers (MLS), I selected this canvas and it was also selected by another member, Beth (same Beth who stitched the Lotus Kimono which was featured in an article of ANG Needle Pointers (Jan/Feb 2020) for A Tale of Two Stitchers). She is using the threads and stitches obtained from Betsy at Fireside Stitchery (although I’m not going to post hers here, I will mention some differences). They are both compared and shared during our MLS monthly meetings.
The first (far left) panel has an open stitch which is kind of a staggered Cashmere stitch with Vineyard Silk and Pepper Pot Silk and separating them are short diagonal stitches using Gloriana with a very subtle overdye that really isn’t apparent. Compensating through the coins was really tough. I like that some of the canvas shows through. The coins are shaped differently and are stitched slightly differently but with the same color of Kreinik. Beth has some open canvas as well because she used unequal armed crosses resulting in an oblong effect. But, she thread blended using overdyed blue and green ThreadworX for a much more subtle color change. Her coins are done in all tent stitch.
The unstitched portions are seen on the far left and right areas and they are stitched in the center.
Filed under: ANG Chapter Book Projects, Embroidery Guild of America, Flutterby by Kurdy Biggs, Rings on Her Fingers with Kay Stanis, Seminar 2021-Chicago
I wanted to showcase the Mauve Pansy that I stitched for the EGA class Rings on Her Fingers designed by Allison Cole and taught by Kay Stanis. Rather than making it into a ring, I selected Flutterby designed by Kurdy Biggs for ANG’s 2017 Chapter Project Book so that the butterfly would be flying around the pansy.
I switched the canvas color and threads from lilac to yellow and blue. My stash came through nicely with threads including Waterlilies 017 Blue Lavender (instead of Gloriana), ThreadworX 710161 (which was a little heavier than Kreinik #4 but worked well), Kreinik Petite Facets 014, Neon Ray’s N98 (rather than Panache which I had in the correct color but hated working with it), Silk Lame Braid Petite SP174 (instead of Treasure Braid), and Sundance Beads Size 11 Color 356.
Then, I enlarged a couple of holes, put the wires through the holes, and whip stitched them to hold in place. Lastly, the 6 strand Colonial Knot was added and covered up the little bit of wires that was showing in the center.
It may take a while to get it finished but it will be done as a stand up on an acrylic stand. My other Seminar piece, Annette’s Bouquet, is at the framers and will also take a while because the frame is temporarily out of stock. But, I am not in a rush for that either. I find it very gratifying to have finished both Seminar pieces.
Filed under: Annette's Bouquet with Deborah Mitek, Embroidery Guild of America, Seminar 2021-Chicago
The lilacs were the most fun flowers of Annette’s Bouquet (EGA Seminar class from Deborah Mitek) perhaps because they are French and Colonial Knots which I am more comfortable with than the other ribbon techniques.
These were also interesting because of the foundation consists of Fly stitches to raise the knots. I added extra Fly stitches than indicated in the instructions for the center top one because my line started out wonky but I had plenty of thread. By the second and third lilac, my Fly stitches lined up. You probably can’t see it but I poked a needle into the Congress Cloth to make the general shape.
Wrapping the lower stem stitches lightly adding twists and links with ribbon sounds easy. It took several attempts to get the first one (center top) and then when I finished it off, it almost looked better on the back. So, I tried until I was happy. Good thing I had plenty of ribbon. The second of the wraps worked great on the first attempt (bottom right). Then, I struggled with the third (bottom left). Wow.
You know that it took me 35 minutes to cut 4 skeins of ribbons for the lilacs (two were 5 yards and two were 5.5 yards). I know it was 35 minutes because dinner was cooking! The way it was cut yielded 4 threads of each color for the 3 flowers. That’s a lot of ribbon!
I saved ironing and separating them to get a good variety of overdyed thread in each set of three for the next day when I was ready to stitch.
The center top was my first one. It’s more dense than was probably intended but I kept putting my needle through thread which pulled the knots tighter than I wanted. Finally, I flipped the canvas and worked them up so the thread wasn’t in the path of where I was stitching. It’s a big lilac (compared to the teacher’s model but no two pieces would ever be the same anyway) which used 11 of the 12 threads one 7 mm strand left over). The shape is good, there is movement of color within the flower, and there is depth because some are tighter to the canvas. I am happy with my first lilac.
My second lilac was the bottom left. And, it too has a good shape, color movement, and depth. It is smaller. I had 3 strands of 4 mm ribbon left over (two solid and one overdyed).
The third (bottom right) is about the same size as the other one on the bottom and all aspects just as good. I had 3 strands of solid yellow ribbon left over (two 4 mm and one 7 mm).
Three lilacs took 3 days. But, I stayed up late to finish the lilac leaves and bow.
There are 6 lilac leaves using 7 mm ribbon in a Lazy Daisy and they were tricky. A little twist, a little luck, and a couple of tries finally got them in place.
The final step was the bow. Easier than the leaves because you twist, preview, and tack. I am very happy with the bow and the whole piece!!
FYI: I allowed my Surface Pro to get down to 22% (took about 3 hours of use) and then connected it to the charger. It took 1 hour and 20 minutes to fully charge my computer (I kept using it during the charging) and was left with 15% on the charger. So, that’s definitely adequate for my needs in chapter meetings and classes.
Filed under: Gay Ann Roger's, Countess of Granrham, Other People's Designs
The corners of Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham by Gay Ann Rogers, were tricky. I couldn’t get the rhythm of the stitch on the first one during my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter members Saturday Stitch-in yesterday. But, the second corner went better despite having one eye on a bad 50s female Dracula movie on TV. Even though I finally had the rhythm, I’ve put it away until next month’s Stitch-in. Hopefully, my mind’s muscles will remember the pattern. It’s a perfect size piece for traveling.
I had seen the Halo Bolt battery charger as a fundraiser for the Pacific Southwest Region of EGA. Very powerful at 440 Wh. It can jump start cars! But, at 3 lbs plus accessories, it was too heavy for my needs.
I mostly want to plug in my 2 prong light which has a clamp for Stitch-ins and classes. My rechargeable light just isn’t bright enough. So, I went with the SinKeu Portable Power Station Model HP5005 I found on Amazon. It’s only 88.8 Wh but will support the light for a full class day. There are 2 USB ports too. And, one of my chapter members plugged her rechargeable light into the unit when her light died. My Surface Pro drains the charger much quicker. But, I haven’t really tested it fully.
My charger is 6.75″ length x 3.75″ Depth x 1.75″ Height and weighs about 1 lb plus accessories. It displays the % of remaining power. So, the 2 units are about the same size and price but weight and power are different. So far, I am happy with the unit I selected.
Filed under: Annette's Bouquet with Deborah Mitek, Embroidery Guild of America, Seminar 2021-Chicago
Given a little quiet time and my comfy stitching chair, I was able to finish the wild greenery (pistol stitch and wrapped backstitch), stems, the 3 remaining daisies, the 5 Periwinkle flowers, and the leaves. I left my 2 practice ones in the bottom right corner to show the difference.
One of the biggest tips from Deborah was to enlarge the holes for the tips of the petals (away from the center) before stitching them to ensure you like the shape of the flower before stitching it.
That leaves (pun) just the 3 large Lilacs and the bow.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, ANG Seminar 2021, Interpreting Color Theory for Needlework with Susan Hoekstra, Snail Shell
The shell was discussed at the last ANG Seminar class with Susan Hoekstra for her class, Interpreting Color Theory for Needlework.
To create some depth between the center white/yellow area and purple area, texture contrast is employed. A thinner weight thread is used for the purple areas on the sides so they recede a little but the same stitch as the center area is used to maintain the rounded effect. The thicker Vineyard is slightly more forward than the silk which is 3 strands laid and couched of Pearsall’s Filoselle Silk 282A. BTW, there is some strange text on that skein that reads “FAST TO LIGHT AND BOILING”. Thoughts on what that means?
A couple of nights before NJ Needle Fest, I sent out a request to locate a dark purple in DMC Perle #8 or #12. Two members of my other chapter, the NJ Needle Artists, had 3 possible choices & the one from Rosie hit the mark, a # 8 Finca 2720. I added the 6 purple round areas then using a double layered cross with a small cross on top. It was nice to see everyone after missing the 2019 Fest (because of a cruise I took) and the 2020 Fest was canceled due to coronavirus. I signed up for their 2022 NJ Needle Fest and it’ll be back in May.
For the 3 blue round areas, I used the same stitch but with the lighter weight DMC #12, color 3822 to get the lighter color blue compared with the darker purple to recede slightly as that part of the shell is rounding down and away.
Once I got home from EGA’s Seminar and was sitting in my comfy stitching chair, I made good progress on the shell and finished it.
The horizontal rings is an encroaching gobelin with Tiara T106 and Kreinik #8 Braid 212.
Basketweave is used for most of the bottom (Waterlilies 217 Chili and 223 Rye) except for the light, medium, and dark teal areas which used a vertical couch. I used Gloriana Teal Twilight #108 for the dark teal but the lighter portion of the overdyed thread wasn’t light enough to show a difference and had to switch to DMC floss #597 for the medium color and used DMC floss #598 for the lightest teal.
For comparison, I am also sharing my first attempt that didn’t go well! I ripped that out in 2016 & left the canvas sit.
This was one of the three painted canvases discussed at last night’s meeting with my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter. Good turn out in person and on Zoom. A few technical difficulties but we managed.
Filed under: Embroidery Guild of America, Rings on Her Fingers with Kay Stanis, Seminar 2021-Chicago
Kay Stanis filled in excellently for Allison Cole for Rings on Her Fingers at the EGA Seminar.
Kay shared that she prefers wooden hoops and even then suggests wrapping the inner hoop with twill which she brought and let us have some. It let’s the fabric hold better in the hoop.
In order to finish this piece, I needed new sharp scissors with the rounded tip in order to cut right up to the edge of each petal. I loved my gingher scissors that I’ve been using a long time. But, when I happened to mention that I needed a new pair of scissors to be sure they were sharp enough, I was told that Kai scissors are fantastic. So, I ordered them and am ready to cut! Nervous to cut that close to the stitching but I am going to do it.
The Kai scissors 4″ have a slight curve at the tip and are very sharp to cut with and have extremely sharp pointy tips. They are so light to hold – much lighter than the gingher scissors but those are all metal and these have the black plastic finger holes (very comfortable fitting). It wasn’t as bad as I expected. I did practice cutting on the practice petal and then kept going. It looks great! Once I am ready to attach it to the canvas, I will finish the assembly process and add the yellow center. I ordered the black Congress Cloth for the butterfly. Nobody around here has it. But, I will start gathering threads for Flutterby by Kurdy Biggs (in the ANG Chapter Project Book – two of us in Main Line Stitchers chapter signed up for it).
My designs, entitled Prime Examples, made the back cover page of the current issue of Needlepoint Now (https://www.needlepointnow.com/product/september-october-2021/). My first publication in Needlepoint Now! Elizabeth B had shown me a proof earlier & I love how she arranged them for the photo. They are based off of a column by Mary Legallet in the Jul/Aug 2020 issue of Needlepoint Now.
I got to meet Elizabeth (publisher/editor/art director) and Joanne C (proofing and editing) over lunch at the EGA Seminar. Both are so nice. Besides classes, meeting people face to face is the other really great part of seminar. And, the magazine was waiting for me at home when I got back from seminar. What a nice treat!
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