Halloween March needlepoint back from finisher

The Halloween March canvas is on order and headed to the Bristly Thistle.

Here’s my finished pillow—I had so much fun stitching it and our pillow finisher did an incredible job matching the fabric and trim to make the canvas truly outstanding.

Grand Hotel needlepoint complete

And here it is finished! Check out the personalized lid - this can be added to any Limoges box. If you can see it, I found a small American flag that fits perfectly on the design.

This canvas from Julia's Needleworks is available only at the Bristly Thistle.

Halloween needlepoint finishing

These spooky Halloween ornaments were a gift from a stitching friend / fiend. I love the charms that the finisher added at the top—can you see the dancing skeleton at the top of the black candy cane? The Arctic Rays used for the cording adds a further frightening touch.

Grand Hotel needlepoint finished!

This week brought over 6” of snow to Good Hart. Putting the final touches on this canvas kept me from losing my sanity. It will be May before the trillium appear and the lilacs bloom, but I could imagine the beauty of Michigan summer while I stitched.

The detail on the Grand Hotel is such that most of the building was stitched in basketweave. I used Splendor for the gray areas. In classes this January I learned that I have been using too many ply of Splendor on 18 mesh canvas. I went down to three strands for all the gray areas except the small windows, where I used two strands. And yes, you do have to use a laying tool when you use more than one strand—it was especially important for full coverage with two strands. The flowers around the hotel were done in tent and French knots using Grandeur, Perle cotton #5, Burmilana (for the perfect mauve) and Pure and Simple. The horse bodies were stitched in interlocking Gobelin. I added manes to the horses’ necks.

The sky is stitched using one strand of Impressions in a darning stitch. When you stitch darning stitches, it’s very important to anchor your thread at the beginning and the end of each row. The last thing you want is for the threads to come loose after the piece is finished. For the clouds, I first tried stitching the blue outline with Trebizond, planning to fill in with more Trebizond. I didn’t like the heavy look and ripped out all the outlines using my favorite curved scissors with the very sharp points. I then satin-stitched the clouds using white Flair. Much better.

The grass is one of my favorite sections--I turned the Parisian stitch on its side and used Boucle’ for the thread. It gave a different texture and depth to the “front” of the canvas.

The top of the Limoges box is stitched with a basketweave background and overdyed silk for the leaves. For the lilac blooms I played around with Splendor silk ribbon, using lazy daisy and padded satin with beaded centers. I will be stitching another one of these canvases and I am going to try French knots and variegated silk ribbon for the petals.

This canvas is a gift and will be embroidered inside to really personalize it.

With thoughts of Spring….Michele

Darning stitch

Cowgirl needlepoint finished

I am so pleased with the finishing on my girls’ 2009 Christmas ornaments. The difficult corners were stitched perfectly and I love the embroidery on the back. Each ornament has the recipient’s name and the year on the back. Now it’s time to start my 2010 ornaments!

Kelly Clark needlepoint project

This wonderful canvas by Kelly Clark is one that I kept for myself from last summer’s trunk show. I had a lot of fun stitching it.

My favorite stitch was the Woven Trame’ for the main body of the basket. The trame’ thread was 2 ply of a dark brown Pebbly Perle cotton; the woven stitches were done with 2 ply of a light camel Burmilana. You could also make the basket 3-D by using a wire framework.

At the very end, I played with what I have said is my new favorite thing—hot fix Swarovski crystals. I stitched the sky using 4-way continental stitch and #12 Kreinik braid, which meant that I couldn’t use Kreinik for French knots because you would see the carry thread from the front. I’m burned out on beading at the moment, so I used 2mm hot fix rhinestones in the color Crystal. Here’s what I learned.

1)You need to have a steady hand and accurate placement to cover the spot. The 2mm crystals cover 1 mesh of the canvas, and being just a little bit off will leave the spot uncovered. I went back and covered the white spots for the stars which meant that I had to reheat the crystal to set it firmly in place.

2)To pick the crystals up, I poured them into a small shallow white china bowl. I flipped them so that the crystal side was up, the hot fix side down. I then used the heated applicator with the appropriate head to pick up a crystal. The crystals can get stuck sideways or stick to the side of the applicator, so make sure that the crystal is in with the flat side out before you set it in place. I had the best luck when I picked it up gently, rather than pressing firmly. Since this was my first time to set this size crystal, I ruined a few, so I threw out all the remnants to make sure I didn’t end up using a spent one later.

3)Despite the claims I have heard, I did experience some melting of the black Kreinik thread around the crystal, but it was not obvious, finally stopped pressing so firmly into the canvas. (I did not experience melting or discoloration when I set 4mm crystals on silk.) If the crystal did not set completely, I used the edge of the heated element to heat the crystal (you can also use a craft iron to set the crystals). I had good success when I added a crystal to an area that was stitched over completely with Kreinik.

Stay tuned for more hot fix flashes.

Needlepoint Peasant Dress

I just finished the canvas featured in a class taught by Amy Bunger at Market. Her stitch guide introduced me to some new threads and accessories and I thought I would share my thoughts with you.

There were three products from Gloriana—a 13mm silk ribbon, Lorikeet and Princess Perle Petite. The ribbon was used to make the rose at the top of the dress. 13mm ribbon is hard to find and this ribbon is hand-dyed. I liked the effect of the ribbon worked with the colonial running rose stitch. The ribbon was very thin, but I think it has to be for a use like this. Lorikeet is a 9 strand overdyed wool thread; Amy used two strands for the woven stitch she called for. I liked the thread—it didn’t shred or pill, and you can clearly use any number of strands from the thread. The Princess Perle Petite gave me fits—it reminded me of Patina in its slipperiness and was difficult to work with. I would substitute Trebizond or Grandeur for the Princess Perle Petite.

I used Silk Lame’ Braid from Rainbow in two colors. This is a silk, rayon and polyester braid with sparkle that works on 16 to 18 ct canvases and on 13 to 16 ct canvas if you are using a long stitch. I liked this thread—it didn’t shred or split and was easy to handle. The range of colors is good and it’s fun to use something relatively new.

Vineyard Silk in two colors was called for in the stitch guide. This silk is beautifully and evenly dyed; it doesn’t shred or pill. One strand (as is) provides full coverage on 18 ct canvas--the manufacturer says that it can be used color-on-color on 13 or 14 ct canvas, but I didn’t think it covered well enough. I loved stitching with it so much that I am adding the entire classic color line to my store.

My absolute favorite new products were the 4mm hot set Swarovski crystals and the electric tool to set them. The 4mm crystals cover 4 stitches in a box shape. After setting the crystals, I tried like mad to pull them off—no chance. This is my new favorite thing—I’m going to try smaller crystals for the stars on my current Tapestry Tent Christmas stocking. And of course, I’m adding them to my store. They are super-easy to apply and the effect is wonderful. You just need to make sure that you are covering all the threads with the crystal before you let it hot set. The applicator heats to a cotton setting and it doesn’t melt or burn the adjacent threads. What a great way to add bling to canvases!