Well, I had been stitching this during our ANG Saturday Stitch-in days until we got hit with the coronavirus. And, it got put away and forgotten until I went looking for something else.
So, I decided to finish the glass bottle. I love how the two strands of Bijoux MMT482 Tigar Eye in the Woven stitch look like bourbon sitting in a glass bottle. I can taste it!
It was such a beautiful day that went on a road trip today to Lititz, PA. We were on a mission to get garlic butter from Stauffers of Kissel Hill (Bill got a tip from someone at the Reading Terminal Market that their’s is the best). We should not have waited until 2 pm to pick up a tomato pie from The Tomato Pie Cafe (thanks to Christine for the referral) because they were sold out. Next time. Lititz is the home of Wilber Chocolates and we got their Buds! And, I was able to finally visit Needlepoint For Fun. They’ve been open a little over a year now and I hadn’t gotten there.
Trish was a gracious host showing me around the one room second floor store. What they have is lovely and displayed very well. The canvases adorn the walls and pre-packaged kits (intended for basketweave) are scattered throughout the store begging to be taken home. If I didn’t have so many projects now, I certainly could have found a piece. There aren’t many choices for threads but they kit in their wholesale NJ location which must have more stock.
They have several pieces showing decorative stitches (to encourage people) and Pat provides the stitch guides upon request. Very nice work.
Trish is also the finisher who does lovely work on pillows and ornaments. Her husband is an excellent stitcher and does the blocking. They had a unique display of Zip n Stitch pre-finished round ornaments (Christmas and Halloween designs) and small stockings. No matter what store I go to, I almost always find something that I have never seen before.
Bill picked the Nutcracker Soldier round ornament to go with our small nutcracker collection. Look at the lovely pillows near the window. I love the blue dragonfly pillow.
Filed under: ANG Cyberworshop, Making Stitches Work For You with Carolyn Mitchell
I got the threads I wanted to finish up the sampler.
Bands 3 and 23, both over 3 canvas threads went well enough by using Silk Lame Braid SP100 in an Encroaching Oblique Variation and Plaited Gobelin.
When I added Band 24, the bottom band in the picture, of Florentine and Satin, it seemed ok. But, now with most of the top band of similar stitch of Stacked Cubes added, it seems that the bands which are over 24 canvas threads overpowered the design. It is 3 colors of Splendor (light, medium, and dark).
So, I reached out to several stitching friends, my husband, classmates, and the teacher, Carolyn Mitchell, of the class which began this project for their opinions. And, I got some wonderful feedback about the 2 bands including:
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The light is reflecting off the lightest laid threads drawing your attention.
- The stitches are too modern for the rest of the bands.
- The width of the bands are going to be a focal point no matter the stitch.
- Leave the piece in a place where you can look at for a while and see how you feel about it.
- Since I was talking about making into a pillow to go with other purple pillows, leave it with the pillows and see how you feel about it.
- Several liked the bands as stitched.
- The rest of the sampler is traditional and elegant. The new bands are modern and bold.
- The width of the bands are going to be a focal point no matter the stitch.
- Make the band half the width.
- Leave the piece in a place where you can look at for a while and see how you feel about it.
- Since I was talking about making into a pillow to go with other purple pillows, leave it with the pillows and see how you feel about it.
- Several liked the bands as stitched.
Well, it’s been 5 days considering what to do. When I cover up the 2 outside bands, I really see a cohesive design that I find very pleasing.
Initially, I selected 12″ x 12″ to match the size of another pillow that I have. And, I selected 25 bands because that was how many Carolyn Mitchell had in her design. However, nothing says I can’t just end the piece at 23 bands. That would make a 12″ x 9″ piece. That’s a good size and I can still make into a pillow. So, I am quite sure that I’ll rip them out and leave it as is.
Any thoughts you’d like to share?
Filed under: ANG Needle Pointer's Article, Flying Cranes Wedding Kimono by Lee
This kimono, Lee’s Flying Cranes Wedding Kimono, was part of an article published in Needle Pointer’s magazine (Mar/Apr 2020 issue). It was compared by a certified judge to a basketweave stitched canvas of the same design. It’s an interesting discussion if you have not read it. Needle Pointers is a publication for ANG members and well worth joining ANG just for the magazine (6 issues per year)!
It is a 16 count canvas which I hadn’t stitched on before. It felt like stitching on 18 count. The magazine goes into how I applied batiste fabric to the back before couching the golden clouds.
For the background, I selected Trebizond TRA 401 Red (& needed 2 spools). The stitch, Huck Toweling, came from June McKnight’s Backgrounds. She said is resembles a homespun fabric. It was as easy to stitch as she said it would be. And, it was open enough that I could stitch over the swirls and go back later and see where to stitch the swirls. Loved it.
One of Amy Bunger stitch guides and a Facebook post from Nancy Laux with Needle House in Houston recommended piercing Kreinik #16 Braid in the middle to better make curves in needlepoint. I used Kreinik #4 Braid to pierce. Both 017HL. It is a wonderful alternative to the typical couching technique.
The mat was cut out specifically to the shape of the kimono by Dave at Romeo’s Fine Arts in Lansdale, PA. He did a great job!
I was going to submit it to the ANG Seminar exhibit this year which would have ended yesterday and we’d be returning home today. But, as with most events, it was canceled due to coronavirus. By next year, I will probably have something different to submit. So, I will post this now.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Vases with Curly Bamboo by Sharon G
This is the Cinnamon vase, the 5th and final vase! I love this canvas, Vases with Curly Bamboo. And, I have been very happy with the stitch guide from Sharon G.
This vase once again was stitched lightly enough to allow the shading of the painted canvas to show through. It’s a composite stitch using Gloriana 151 Cinnamon, 2 strands of Bijoux 428 Amber, and Sundance #14 Beads 462D.
The top band, bow, and base use a combination of Kreinik #4 Braid 005 and 002. Couching with Kreinik Cord 005C was used to bundle 5 strands of Kreinik #4 for the bow. And, a long stitch of Kreinik 1/16th ribbon was laid in the top gold band before couching with Kreinik #4 Braid.
This month, we will discuss the background and borders. Again, my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter meet via Zoom.
Between coronavirus and heat, staying at home isn’t a problem. Thanks to AC and Kurdy Biggs, I got busy building a design.
The design in my previous post had too many small Fluer-de-lis crescents in the left quadrant. So, I replaced them with Rhodes stitches. And, I changed the six small diamond patterns. I like it much better now.
One of the points of this class is to show balance within a piece using color. Stitch choices don’t have to be this symmetrical. So, I designed another diamond. This time I did not turn two of the side diamonds causing two small and two large motifs to form at the very center. I do like the cluster of Fluer-de-lis crescents around the center. And, I like the focus of each diamond being the same. The top one is all partial Jessicas, right is Rhodes, bottom is full Jessicas, left is Sprats. Each diamond is therefore very symmetrical which I really do like!
But, the rectangles do not align and the six small diamond patterns are all aligned horizontally. Neither aspect made me happy. So, I rotated the right and left diamonds. Now, I lost the cluster of Fluer-de-lis crescents around the center which I am ok with since I am trying to get a little less symmetrical with the stitches. However, there is a horizontal band of crescents. Maybe I better go outside for fresh air and stop sniffing the glue (just kidding)! The possibilities with these shapes are endless.
Lesson 2 is coming out August 1 or 2. So, I’ll wait before making any new designs until I read whatever is next.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Vases with Curly Bamboo by Sharon G
This is a Sharon G painted canvas, Vases with Curly Bamboo.
Two colors of Gloriana (082 and 157) matched the canvas color making the shading more apparent. I wonder if it would have been a more subtle color shift to use the light colored thread over the whole vase and allow the canvas to show through although there might not be enough canvas showing. Another Gloriana (116) for the leaves with a Kreinik for the center vein.
Using split stitch with 3 colors of Silk Lame Braid for 18 count (SL35, 36, 37) really made the curly Bamboo turn out great. I learned that the ridges along the stalks are growth rings. They are 2 stands of Kreinik #4 Braid 002 and 005. And, Lazy Daisy for the ends for the tiny sprouting leaves.
And, another two Silk Lame Braid for 18 count (SL 24 and 26) for the flowers. I didn’t think Kreinik #4 Braid (002) would work for French Knots in the center but it did. No problem using 2 strands of Gloriana (156) for the rest of the French Knots.
Our ANG Main Line chapter members are enjoying the opportunity to see the approach to the canvas from the different stitch guide writers even though they are not stitching the piece. We discuss the next vase July 13 via Zoom which is going quite well because I can crop photos on particular areas for the comparisons to other stitched canvases.
Luckily, online classes are keeping me busy. Kurdy Biggs began Build Your Own Geometric with Lesson 1 on July 1. There will be weekly lessons for a month.
We were given a template to follow and shapes of about 2 dozen stitch patterns to cut out. Using a glue stick, we place stitches wherever we want. Fun!!
I made all the large and small points the same. I placed two designs in the six center motifs and did that the same in each diamond. Then, I decided to vary the rest of the large and small fills and rectangles from diamond to diamond.
Making the colors consistent while varying the stitches will add a cohesiveness and balance to the various motifs. Since this design is a little too much of the same in each smaller diamond, I will make another crack at the design.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I had hoped to get another band done before posting but decided that I really need more Silk Lame Braid Petite. So, here are Bands 4 and 22 in the overdyed Waterlilies with the last cross in Bijoux MMT441. The Scotch stitches are Splendor S809. Band 22 is from the stitch patterns that Kathy Rees provided in one of her classes. And, Band 4 is a variation of Square of Scotch with Tie of a Windmill from Sandra Arthur’s Shapes of Needlepoint series 1, page 67.
They tie into Bands 10 and 16 with the threads used but are larger. And, because I used the dark Splendor from the center band for the corner Scotch stitches, it ties the design to the center and as well.
Filed under: Canvas Master Craftsman Program, Embroidery Guild of America, Step 2
For Step 2 of the Canvas Master Craftsman Certification Program through EGA, I was tasked with a provided geometric design of 21 areas to be done in an analogous colorway using 21 different stitches in cotton floss. Some stitch patterns could accommodate 2 or 3 colors.
I selected Yellow, Yellow-Green, and Green for my analogous colorway (3 adjacent colors on the color wheel including a primary color; tints and shades allowed). There are a lot of greens. So many that you’d think it would be easy to get colors to look good together. But, it was tough. Not all of the first 15 colors worked.
So, I decreased the number of colors to 11 (5 yellow, 3 yellow-green, and 3 green), replaced one color, and spread out the colors relying on the 5 yellow colors to unify the design.
I mapped out the stitch patterns by area on my computer to minimize the amount of compensation because none of the stitches fit perfectly (probably by intention to test compensation ability). I thought I had everything where I wanted them but then realized I was off by 2 threads when I actually transferred the design to the canvas.
So, back to decide what went where. Only about 6 stitch patterns shifted. And, everything compensated better. A
After some practice stitching to settle on the number of threads needed for a stitch, I finally started stitching the real piece. The only section I had to restitch was the Turkey Work. As I worked from bottom to top, the nap of the threads were pressed downward. So, I didn’t notice that the coverage wasn’t as full as I expected when it was fluffed up. I used 2 strands in the left area and 6 strands (as Mary Corbet suggests in her YouTube video). Much better! At least the stitching was easy to remove from the backside.
I was once again thrilled to find out that I passed with distinction and have been asked to send this for display at EGA National Seminar in 2021 along with Step 1 which would have been going to EGA National Seminar this year except that it was canceled due to coronavirus.
A few threads at the outside right portion of the Turkey work would benefit from additional trimming but overall is “good” (although it could have been squished in transit). I was particularly pleased to have the judges note the “very good” compensation between multiple areas and threads were laid well.
On to Step 3 and diaper patterns!
Read all about the program at https://egausa.org/certifications/master-craftsman-program/.
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