My newest project

I felt such a relief when I finished my sister’s Tapestry Tent Christmas stocking. When it came back from my finisher I was so inspired that I went back to work on her husband’s stocking, also by Tapestry Tent. I counted the maximum number of days until the December finishing deadline and even tried to psych myself out by stitching my initials and the year 2009 in an inconspicuous place. When even I realized that I was exceptionally crabby each night as I stitched (mostly basketweave due to the level of detail in the painting) I ripped out “09” Next year, Dennis.

I had been casting around, trying to find an inspiring piece when I realized I had one in my stash. I had kept an elephant canvas from a summer trunk show. Part of a large scale nativity set, I thought I would finish it as a pillow. It will look lovely with my Tap Tent 3 monkeys and my Trubey palm trees pillows, completing my exotic family room theme…when I finish stitching them. (Did I mention that I am not a serial stitcher or that I have HOW MANY unfinished/not begun canvases?) I put the elephant on stretcher bars and moved it from room to room just so that I could look at it. Wait a minute I thought, I’m off the hook for that %^&** Christmas stocking (all my stockings have a cursing phase towards the end). I immediately started pulling threads and planning stitches.

I started with the blanket, ultimately ending up with the Checkerboard Cross in overdyed Kreinik and Sprinkles for the turquoise section. For the purple section, I used the Cross Stitch with

Beads from “Suzy’s Mini Stitches”, substituting Sprinkles cross stitches for the beads because the beads stood out too much from the surface. The oblong cross stitches are done in Burmilana. Still to come—lots of tassels and hot fix Swarovski crystals—and basketweave. The irony is that I had burned out on Santa on the motorcycle because there was so much basketweave to do. As I found myself stitching the elephant’s headpiece in basketweave, looking at more basketweave to come, I realized I was stitching another Tapestry Tent canvas. Even better—I’m going to stitch the entire nativity set. Oh well, at least driving myself crazy is a short trip.

Needlepoint monogram on canvas tote

I stitched this 6” x 6" 14 mesh Barbara Bergsten canvas during a couple of television shows—HGTV, of course. I love this as a teaching piece because each stitch is stitch-painted so that once you put the first color in a square, the pattern is easy to see and follow. I used Vineyard Silk as recommended in the stitch guide and it covered very well. I have said in the past that I thought VS was too skimpy on 13 mesh, but it is perfect on 14 mesh. I will use this design for a class in our Florida store in November.

I was going to use this to tote Morgan & Gracie’s leashes and such around, but it’s way too nice. I guess they’ll just have to wait for something else to come along to replace their grocery bag.

Kelly Clark Needlepoint Project

Since finishing the Halloween March pillow, I’ve been fiddling with little projects, trying to find my next big exciting project.

One of the canvases I have stitched lately is the 1st in Kelly Clark’s 12 Days of Christmas ornaments. The baseball playoffs were on, and I needed (mentally) a fairly easy canvas. Kelly’s designs do much of the work, although you can glitz them up like crazy. My few special effects:

The outside border is Petite Very Velvet using a simple cross stitch over 2 X 2. It gives a very cool raised border

The inside border is done in Neon Rays and a very bright green Trebizond using the oblong cross stitch. I love the modern punch of color the green Trebizond adds.

That green is also used on the tips and edges of the tree leaves.
The pears are satin stitched with padding to within an inch of their lives using YLI Shimmer Blend Ribbon.

The partridge is done in random long and short stitch with a combination of Petite Peluche, Fuzzy Stuff and Wisper.

Only 11 more to go!

King Arthur continued

The base is a very subtle stitch I found in one of Brenda Hart’s books. It’s a lantern stitch turned sideways. I worked the lanterns in Flair and the background in 8 ply of Splendor.

I made up the sword handle stitch (who knows, though, someone may have invented it first). It’s a variation on the Fern Stitch with the center of the Snowflake stitch, surrounded by tent. The tent direction was reversed in the upper left and lower right quadrants. I used the Fern stitch again, this time with Fyre Werks for the light gray areas of the blade.

The gold medallions hanging from the twisted cord (Kreinik #16 and Perle Cotton 5) are an Octagonal Rhodes in 2 shades of Shimmer Blend Ribbon. After I made my twisted cord, I unraveled one end and carried each thread to the back and anchored it. I couched the cording down and unraveled the other end, again taking the tails to the back and anchoring them. It was time consuming and nerve-wracking, but gluing the tails under the cording is wrong on many counts.

As we all know, one is the loneliest number, two starts a collection and three or more means you are a collector. Time to choose my second large nutcracker!

King Arthur large Nutcracker

Yes, I’ve been away from my blog for a while. This Michigan winter was so long (snow from November to April) that I stitched more canvases than ever. Now they are coming back from the finishers and I have time to write a bit before the Florida snowbirds start coming in droves.

I love the JB nutcrackers because their faces are usually fierce, just like the Steinbach nutcrackers I collect. King Arthur was finished quickly, not only because he is on 13 mesh, but because the canvas lent itself to large stitches. The large stitches were a real treat, since I am usually poring through my books looking for very small stitches for 18 mesh canvases.

The King’s crown was stitched in Kreinik gold braid #16. I broke the points and the base into individual sections, combining whatever stitches fit the area. The base is made of two rows top and bottom of Smyrna crosses alternating with the Mosaic stitch. The five rows in between were stitched with the Crossed Rice Stitch from June McKnight’s book of border stitches. I glued the rhinestones in place and anchored them with Jessica stitches.

His hair, mustache and beard were stitched with Silk & Ivory. His hair is done in Encroaching Gobelin over 4 and his mustache is the Stem/Outline stitch. For the beard, I stitched Plaited Gobelin, illustrated in “The Needlepoint Book” by Jo Christensen.

His cape, cuffs and coat border are stitched in white and black Angora in Giant Brick. I still haven’t decided whether to brush the fur with a soft toothbrush. And yes, Ruth Dilts and Joan Lohr were right (and why wouldn’t they be)—you can’t use a nap brush on Angora—it shreds it.

The center section of gold was done in reverse Mosaic with a full Mosaic centered down the middle and the sides ½ Mosaic stitch.

The main body of the coat is a 3-part stitch. The main stitch is a Mosaic in Silk & Ivory. The second part of the stitch was done in Patina, 2 stitches framing each side of the Mosaic, leaving a blank intersection. The third part is a cross-stitch done in Kreinik #12. The sleeves are stitched in alternating rows of vertical slanted Gobelin over 2 in Silk & Ivory and vertical tent in Kreinik #12.

Lollipop back - more on crystals

When I got my lollipop back from the finisher, I was really pleased with the results. (Click on photo for more detail.)

First, the finisher had used a pink Lucite stick for the lollipop--smaller in diameter than the painted one that came with it, something I liked very much. Also, the pink went really well with the Swarovski crystals I used for “bling”. Since the Lucite comes in varying lengths (up to 3 feet) and in 3 different colors, it opens up all kinds of options. Longer lengths will allow for finished pieces of varying height, and I can just imagined how wonderful a needlepoint star would be for a little fairy princess.

Second, I loved my crystals. I used SS.20 rose pink ones for the dots on the canvas. I have learned a few more tips about working with hot fix applicators. Although the crystals are firmly affixed on the finished piece, I found that you have to apply them after the nearby stitching is complete or the leverage from trying to fit stitches under and around them will pop them off. Also, the directions that come with the applicator result in burned fingers, at least for me. Instead of trying to place a crystal in the right sized tip and then flipping it to attach the crystals, I found that placing them on the canvas or stitches and then applying the hot tip to the crystal gave the perfect result, even allowing me to move the crystal slightly for perfect placement. After counting to 10, the crystal is fixed in place.

It looks like I might have to stitch the entire set of lollipops—and then there are the hearts for Valentine’s, the stars for the 4^th and the….

What I learned in needlepoint school

Once again I had the pleasure of taking classes from Joan Lohr and Ruth Dilts, who I refer to as “The Rainbow Girls” because of their connection with Rainbow Gallery. No matter how old you are or how many classes you have taken, there’s always something to learn.

Starting and stopping threads could be a class in itself. In the Valentine House class (canvas provided by Susan Roberts, threads provided by Rainbow Gallery) we used pin knots under Rhodes hearts and away knots with tails long enough that the knot can be cut, the tail threaded in a needle and then woven under the just-stitched area. This keeps dark threads from showing through under lighter adjacent areas, especially if the neighboring area is stitched with a light coverage stitch.

Thread ideas included using Very Velvet or the petite version as the under layer for a padded stitch. It will give good height and grips really well. A favorite combination for a night sky uses Petite Treasure Braid and Impressions in combination. I loved the use of Fyre Werks Soft Sheen FT53 (espresso) for the chocolate kisses—you could almost taste the Hershey’s milk chocolate.

From the Hearts and Clouds class (canvas by Alice Peterson, threads by Rainbow Gallery) I was reminded to go up a needle size when using Flair or Frosty Rays—the needle paves the way for the thread and the canvas will go back where it belongs after the stitch is done.

I had never thought about which direction to stitch with threads like Arctic Rays, Fuzzy Stuff and the like, but it makes total sense to come up in a full hole and go down in an empty hole. This fluffs up the thread and maximizes the effect. Afterwards, tease the threads with the eye of the needle or a soft toothbrush to make things very fuzzy. I was surprised to hear Joan recommend against using a bunka brush on Angora, preferring a soft toothbrush to bring up the nap. I am working on a large nutcracker, King Richard, and I have used Angora for his ermine cape and cuff trim. Since I am a stubborn sort, I will be stitching in the margins and comparing the effect of a nap brush vs. a toothbrush.

Here’s a great idea for finishing a nursery canvas if no pillow or wall hanging is needed. Set the stitched canvas in a glass-topped tray or have your framer make one for you. This can rest on top of nursery furniture and hold powder, wipes and other baby paraphernalia.

Finally, I was reminded that you can change the colors of baby/children canvases to suit either a boy or girl if you love the design and it doesn’t have an appropriate combination. So as long as you can get full coverage from the thread and the stitch combination, you can make any design work for you.

Happy stitching!