Sunday, June 29, 2008

Squigee's Trick or Treating Stocking


As you can tell from the little thumbnails I have posted in the right (Blogspot blog) or left (Yahoo 360 blog) columns of Blog and Mirror Blog, I've already chosen what I'm going to stitch next. It's Squiggee Time in Chilly Hollow! I'm going to stitch two of Gail Hendrix's small designs that she markets under the Squiggee name. You probably have seen lots of Gail's more traditional pieces that are sold by The Point of It All. Squiggee is her line of small pieces, many of which are fun quick items. I'll talk about the lovely koi when I get to it, but first I'm going to start with the cute Halloween stocking of trick or treating kids in full costume.

This is a design that is around three inches tall and three inches wide at the toe. It's painted on 13 count (not 18 count) canvas. It is very small and won't take very long, particularly on the larger 13 count canvas. As you can see, the background is plain purple, the top of the stocking is striped oranges and purple and the kids all wear black or purple. The three beads that are their masks come with the canvas. It also has a small packet of orange beads to put underneath the striped top and the purple background. You may not be able to tell each child's black robe is painted with sparkle paint, which tells me I should use a black metallic thread on the robes to add sparkle to them as the designer intended.

I've removed the beads and buttons and put them away in a tiny plastic bag with the threads I intend to use. The stocking is on stretcher bars and I've pulled a bunch of threads from my stash. My first step is going to be stitching the two black robes on either side of the central figure. They are going to be in cross stitches in Kreinik's black 1/15 inch ribbon. I thought about doing just tent stitches, but I think I want the black robes and the hat to be slightly raised. I am stitching them first so I can see how various background stitches work with them and decided I wanted them a bit more raised than tent stitch will do.

Given my new emphasis here on technique, I need to point out I am going to lay the cross stitch legs with a laying tool and make sure I remember always to have the same \ direction on top. I am also going to complete each cross stitch before starting the next. You can do a row of XS with just the first step / for each and then work back the other direction in the row to add the top \ but since I am constantly interrupted when I stitch and it's easy to forget where you are, especially when you are stitching with black threads on a black canvas, I'm going to be careful to complete each stitch before moving on to the next.

If you want to stitch along, feel free. It's always fun to have company here at Blog. These two canvases are available from Gail Hendrix on her Squiggee website. If you enjoy visiting there, make sure you check out Gail's two blogs. Unlike what I do, she often posts different things to each blog on the same day, so visiting everywhere is a must!

http://squiggeedesigns.com/

http://360.yahoo.com/squiggeebuns2

http://squiggeedesigns.blogspot.com

Mirror blog at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Lani's Autumn Leaves Is Done


Last night I finished the Lani "Autumn Leaves" design and this morning I checked it carefully for missed stitches. Do you like it? I am just as much in love with the mix of colors as when I started this piece, and it has taught me just how important technique is in stitching. I had no idea when we embarked on this "tent stitches only" piece just how much there would be to say about how to stitch it. We talked about starting and ending threads, about how to mix various types and brands of threads, and how to make every stitch look as perfect and as much like its neighbors as possible. Believe me, I'll be thinking about perfection on every stitch, no matter what it is, from here on out. It is a lot easier to be a sloppy stitcher on pieces with a mix of fancier stitches than it is on an all tent-piece. I appreciate more than ever before why ANG gives the Princess Grace Award at their annual exhibit to a piece done entirely in this stitch. This is not easy!

To recap, this is a Lani design on 18 count canvas. The rectangle is approximately 3 inches wide and 7 long and the design is the middle of a much larger pattern which she released in a large and a small version, I guess. I started this on May 7 and finished it June 28, and even though I worked on making up several small projects I finished this year and didn't stitch every night, it took a lot longer than I anticipated.

If you would like to see tent stitch perfection, check out ANG's "What is Needlepoint?" section of their webpage (it's hidden under Needlepoint Information). This area shows off award winning stitching from recent annual seminars. Look for the Princess Grace Award winners once you arrive. These folks did a fabulous job, all in tent.

http://www.needlepoint.org/whatis.php


My next move with Autumn Leaves is to see if I can find a red or ecru tote bag so I can applique the design to the front of it. I think this would look fabulous on a red bag and red's my mother's favorite color. AND she has a birthday in September....

Shush! Don't say a word to her!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow