Grant's stocking part 3

The trees are two strands of Vineyard Silk in a Horizontal Brick stitch for the large dark green tree.  The snow on that tree was stitched with Silk Lamé Braid for 13 count canvas. The background trees were also stitched in the horizontal brick stitch using one or two strands of Vineyard Silk as needed to cover.

Santa’s bag was also stitched with two strands of light tan Vineyard Silk and one strand of Very Velvet for the dark brown.  The stitch was the Burden stitch, a quick and easy basket stitch.

Grant's stocking part 2

The border was great fun—I used my new favorite thread, Silk Lamé for the squares. The Lamé for 18 count covered beautifully on 13 mesh—the Lamé for 13 count would have been too heavy. I had the thought that most of my Christmas stockings have been stitched for adults or near adults and involved complicated stitches and things that might come loose with heavy use. With this stocking I was careful to anchor everything very well and to use stitches that could stand use and abuse for many years. The boxes are a tied mosaic stitch—the longest center stitch is cross-stitched with one short stitch. I continued the same stitch in Silk & Ivory for a more subtle continuation, stitching a rectangular area around the name in basketweave.

Grant's stocking

I’m at the very end of this project, obsessing as I usually do.

I have one doll’s eye to add (didn’t like the first blue), I would like to beef up the reindeer antlers (3 tries, 3 failures), the reindeer needs lips (but I don’t think the green they are painted is too appealing), and I found a missed stitch on a package bow (and brought the wrong thread to the store). After these little items are cleared up, I’ll add a quick two rows to the outside edges so that I don’t lose any of the painted area and it will go off to the finisher.

The sky was also basketweave in Silk & Ivory to give a quiet place for the eyes to rest. (to be continued...)

Christmas stocking #15 for Grant‏

With stocking #14 still on the back burner (I might be over my angst by summer), I decided to start stocking #15 and a little later, stocking #16 for Grant’s cousin Evelyn.

My criteria: I wanted 13 mesh, a design that would use a lot from my stash and would lend itself to decorative stitches. I also wanted to get away from the monster-sized stockings that have become the norm. These two will fit with the knitted or sewn stockings the kids’ parents have.

This canvas from the Susan Roberts trunk show fit the bill. It is going to be fun and won’t take years and a lot of ground tooth enamel.

The tip… I love Silk Lame’ Braid and I ordered all the colors for 18 count canvas. I found the perfect color for my quilted coat lining and I wasn’t willing to wait for an order for 13 count thread. I first tried doubling the braid using the mosaic stitch, but it was way too fat. I finger-laid one strand and it covered beautifully.

Now it’s time to channel one of my favorite stitchers, Miss Y, and get this stitched in record time.

Three French Hens

Three French Hens is my latest canvas in this series. I finished him just before I started Kat Z Witch, a model for an upcoming class (photos to come).

Here are a few of my favorite things:

• Weeks Dye Works overdyed cotton floss in two different colors for the greenery. I used the satin stitch for both, although the style varied.
• Size 11 beads for the holly berries. There’s no real rule about what size beads to use; I’ve used Little Charmers beads on some projects. They are a sort of “bead soup” with beads in various sizes, shapes and finishes in a single color way—lots of fun.
• Coronet Braid 8 and the fly stitch for the epaulets.
• Combining Petite Very Velvet and red Snow for the coat.
• My very favorite thing—Santa’s shoes. I used Patent Leather following the Slanted Stitch Pattern from “A Background Stitch Reference Book” by the Golden Gate Canvas Workers Chapter of the ANG. The trick was to stitch every other stitch to allow the Patent Leather to lie flat. Voila! Gucci loafers for Santa.

Tip: I stitched the red velvet first, then stitched the fur trim in French knots using white Petite Very Velvet. The result was a pink-tinged fur trim—the white velvet picked up red lint as I stitched. Next time I will stitch the white first and then the colored velvet, using a soft toothbrush to remove the white lint. I’ve decided to leave the pink in—this Santa is very self-confidant and can carry off a little pink. (Besides, nestled in the tree branches, I’m the only one besides all of you who will know.)

Having FUN with Needlepoint

This past week a customer and her daughter bought the Pirate backdrop and all the small characters to stitch for their little ones. I have another customer who has stitched many ornaments for her three year old grandson who can decorate his very own tree without worrying about breaking anything. What I love is that these pieces will be touched and played with and will be a part of childhood memories--so much of what we stitch is not to be touched.

Happy New Year and have FUN stitching!

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.