Santa Martini needlepoint by CBK

This is one of the canvases from the 4 classes I took at the Columbus market. Nothing quite like coming back from a trip with four more UFOs (UnFinished Objects).

The class, taught by the delightful SuZy Murphy, was called "Santa in a Martini Glass". The canvas was provided by CBK Needlepoint.

This was a breeze to stitch and will look great finished as a stand-up for our bar.

Since stitch guides are just that, guides, I made a couple of changes to SuZy's stitch guide.

SuZy stitched her glass with Water 'n Ice from Rainbow Gallery, which gave the glass a frosted effect. I decided to stay with the bright holiday colors and stitched my glass with Petite Frosty Rays to match the painted canvas. The base of the glass is painted a bright royal blue. Although I have seen martini glasses that are painted exactly that way, I had to agree with SuZy that no matter what thread you pull in blue, the base just screams "look at me first...and second...and third."

The second change I made was to use a darning stitch from Brenda Hart's book "Stitches for the Millennium". Appropriately enough, it's a martini glass pattern. I chose to stitch Lemon Drops instead o Appletiniis in honor of my stitching friend Linda B.