Filed under: Uncategorized
The Dusting of Snow piece from class with Gail Stafford is fun to stitch. I couldn’t put it down until I finished the bushes and grass. It really is coming to life.
Just leaves and sky left to go!
In honor of 4th of July, I’m posting an update today and will be working on the next row! Thanks to all the service members past and present.
The wavy part of the Couching Variation (Block 12, 1st blue block from the right) was fun to stitch and I like the effect of the pattern. More than just a little bit of the canvas shows which I didn’t care for. So, I added a single strand of Splendor under the laid thread which helped a little. The wavy part used differently could be even more interesting. Maybe fill areas with beads or staggered to look like water.
Then, the adjacent Slanted Gobelin Variation (Block 13, 2nd blue block from the right) looked too heavy using Entice as it comes off the card. So, I removed 2 rayon and 1 polyester filaments from the strand (gently pull each out separately). I did the same thing with Entice used in Block 18, 2nd blue block from the left.
The Alternating Oblong Cross (Block 19, 1st blue block from the left) has just a little canvas showing a non-direction pattern.
Starting with the blue block on the right (#12) moving to the left (#19), I used the following threads (1 strand unless noted):
12 – Planet Earth 6 ply Silk 1105 (2 strands), Au Ver A Soie 100/3 SMS510 (2 strands), Merino Wool 98R/45622, and Splendor S965
13 – Entice E255 (2 rayon and 1 polyester filaments removed)
14 – Splendor S1002 (2 strands) and Bijoux MMT427 (4 strands)
15 – Bella Lusso 540 and Soie Cristale 7041 (2 strands)
16 – Elegance E862 and Wildflowers 0076
17 – Splendor S858 (2 strands), Pebbly Perle P07 (2 strands), and Kreinik #12 Braid 051HL
18 – Entice E212 (2 rayon and 1 polyester filaments removed) and Splendor S965 (2 strands)
19 – Planet Earth 6 ply Silk 1106
Filed under: Brandywine Chapter, Edward Scissorfish Scissors Holder, Embroidery Guild of America
My chair may have a few beads in it after this project! Good thing Cleo gave us a lot.
Getting both sides of the eyes and large scales to match was tough but once established, it went well. I loved how the dagger-shaped beads stood up after the surrounding beads were stitched into place.
The back 5 large and 13 small scales took a toll on my left forearm. Apparently, my left arm is gripping the fish too tightly. Got to take more breaks from working on it. With the scales done, that completed Areas 1 and 2. There are 5 more areas to cover and add the lining. It’s good to try new things. Right!?!
It’s been a month since I worked on this! I still want to finish by Labor Day. But, each row is short. So, not a problem.
As you can see, I colored the whole area with a light blue copic marker B00, Frost Blue, just in case there are some open stitch patterns.
The Crossed Gobelin (Block 16, 5th blue block from the right) was fun to stitch and I like the effect of the pattern. Just a little bit of the canvas shows. Looks like a good water or sky stitch.
Starting with the blue block on the right (#12) moving to the left (#19), I used the following threads (1 strand unless noted):
12 – Entice E212
13 – Pebbly Perle P07 and Pebbly Perle P58
14 – Merino Wool 98R/45622
15 – Splendor S965 (2 strands)
16 – Bella Lusso 540
17 – Planet Earth 6 ply Silk 1106 (2 strands) and Bijoux MMT437 (4 strands)
18 – Planet Earth 6 ply Silk 1105
19 – Elegance E862
Filed under: General comments
A couple of sites link to stores listed by state & Canada and/or Australia. However, all addresses are not current. Some may not exist anymore. But, it’s a good place to check.
At CBKneedlepoint.com and
At Sudberry.com
At needletravel.com, they list all types of fiber and fabric stores. A little tougher to distinguish needlepoint from others but nice for people with interest across various crafts. And, I can usually find something of interest to look at. Love the colors of fabrics for quilting.
Filed under: A Dusting of Snow by Gail Stafford, ANG Keystone Garden Chapter
The Dusting of Snow piece from class with Gail Stafford is coming along nicely.
I added snow to the first of the center bushes, have the Dogwood tree in place, filled in the upper right sky in both colors, stitched all 9 distant trees, and the gazebo. I was worried about disrupting the smoothness of the roof with the branches of the Dogwood. So, I wrapped the thread around the padding threads and tacked down sparingly and closer to the single brown thread. I like the rounded effect. It would not have worked out to do that for the whole tree because I couldn’t maintain the tension without twisting. Maybe if I had wrapped a thick wire. I’m very happy the Dogwood tree is done. That was challenging.
Taking a break before working more of the center bushes, the leaves on the trees, and the rest.
My other ANG chapter, Keystone Garden, celebrated their 25th anniversary as a chapter by bringing in Gail Stafford to teach A Dusting of Snow this weekend. We just payed for the kit and the chapter paid the teacher’s expenses. Nice! And, thanks to Jeanne H who did a great job organizing the event. We had almost two dozen in class with members from ANG’s New Jersey Needle Artists and Main Line Stitchers chapters joining in on the fun. It’s always great to see our NJ neighbors.
This is a lovely, award-winning piece of Gail’s from a couple of years ago. It’s a comfortable size (design area 7″ x 5″) and Gail gives us a line drawing with a partial painting of the design on Congress Cloth.
Gail has another view of the same gazebo, Arrival of Spring, that she’ll be teaching at ANG Seminar in Houston in August (registration is still possible). This is a gazebo near her home. With her permission, I am posting the photo of the actual gazebo, what her stitched gazebo looks like, and my progress after our 2-day class.
The instructions are great and Gail was fantastic. Checking on us and catching 2 of my mistakes before I got too far along. It makes sense that she’s great teacher because she is also a college level math teacher. Gail shared her process of designing, knitting, and teaching which I found particularly interesting. This is going to be fun seeing the scene develop.
Filed under: Brandywine Chapter, Edward Scissorfish Scissors Holder, Embroidery Guild of America
Fortunately, I am taking this class from Cleo now as it is the last time she’ll be kitting it (too time consuming). Thanks for your efforts Cleo! It’s an “encore” piece from 9 years ago which several members hadn’t finished yet and others were working on a second or third one in different colors (purple, green, or red). Edward Scissorfish Scissors Holder is from Beadalot, L. A. Hall Designs.
The beads are brighter than pictured. I just can’t get over how many beads we got! Cleo said we have plenty of extra beads. The fish is about 4 inches long without a tail.
We cut out a paper pattern as the foundation and sewed it together and turned it inside out. There are some basic areas marked for us to follow on the wrong side. We’ll stitch right over the paper. I got further on the left eye. It moved along quickly under Cleo’s direction. We’ll work on our own until our next class on July 31. It’s coming along swimmingly!
This is the third of the Christmas Diamonds by Kurdy Biggs from the Needlepoint Now November/December 2015 issue.
This has the same colors as the first diamond and is also on a white canvas with silver sparkles. I added some small (3mm) silver bugle beads and did the beads a little differently than diagrammed. The same size beads are inside the border Jessicas.
I finished the Jessica border during my last Saturday afternoon with my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter (always the 4th Saturday at Starbucks on Lancaster Ave in Wayne, PA from 11 am to 3 pm).
No changes to the threads or beads from the first diamond. The threads are Kreinik #4 Braid 1432, Entice E248, Silk Lame Braid Petite SP118, Splendor S988, and Treasure Braid TR277. The beads are Miyuki Delica Beads 15/0 DBS0166 and Sundance Beads Size 11 and Size 14/15 Color 327P; the beading thread is from Sundance too in Teal and Turquoise colors.
I have enough thread and beads to do the third but I’m getting ready to take a couple of classes. So, I will probably not stitch the second diamond. But, I would like to see them all stitched. And, the finishing should be done at the same time. What to do!?!
Lorraine of Colour Complements gave everyone at ANG Seminar in 2018 a sample of her lovely hand dyed threads. I got a dyed green/gold DMC #5 Perle Cotton (my favorite fall colors). In the package was also DMC #5 Perle 500 solid green and Anchor Floss 392 solid beige grey. I’d already been getting her newsletter and love seeing her combinations of colors in all the threads she dyes. So, I was very happy to see it in person.
I came across her package of threads recently and just after seeing a stitch pattern in Painted Canvas Embellishment: An Idea Book by Carole Lake and Michael Boren called Budapest Stitch. The sample of the hand dyed thread was only 5.47 yards. So, I stitched the over 3 straight stitches until I ran low on thread and made a symmetrical shape (4 units × 4 units of the Budapest Stitch to form an inner square). Each unit looks like a mini 4-way star bargello pattern. The 5.47 yards got used up faster than what I expected. I wanted something bigger. So, I made an outer square with the solid green perle cotton which turned out to be a nice contrast.
At that point, I was still considering a round (4″) ornament or a square (3 & 1/2″) coaster. But, adding compensation stitches of the Budapest Stitch seemed perfect for a circle.
That left small areas for the Hungarian Stitch with just enough of the hand dyed thread to fill in 4 Hungarian Stitches on each corner creating some movement of color towards the edge. For the rest, I used 4 strands of the beige grey floss.
For the squares, I went to Sandra Arthur’s Shapes of Needlepoint, Series I for 4 x 4 square stitches. That size would allow some canvas to show thereby framing the fill-in stitches. I selected stitches that would allow me to use the solid green perle cotton and 2 strands of the beige grey floss. These three patterns seemed to be enough variety for a small ornament: Leviathan Stitch, V Stitch, and Padded Scotch Stitch.
Thanks Lorraine for the threads! This ornament was a lot of fun from a design point of view too. And, it’ll be fun to watch out for other stitch patterns that would work up with just a few threads.
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