Nameplates Discussion

How to see (or ignore) them, what they are, how to use them.
http://www.wowhead.com/?blog=62488

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Companion Piece to Three Women and a Peach UPDATED

I've discovered from reading Judy Harper's blog that Squiggee has a new round Asian piece that is a companion piece to Three Women and a Peach. It is called "Nippon Textures." I assume it is also seven inches in diameter on 18 count canvas but it's not on the Squiggee website yet for me to check.

http://fairy-crafts.blogspot.com/2008/12/nippon-textures-more-gail-hendrix.html

I love the way the clothing patterns move the eye around this piece. I understand that Anne Strahal will be blog-stitching this. I'll let you know when she starts it so you can watch it unfold as well.

UPDATE: Anne has started stitching! Here's the first posting about this piece on her blog, The Cape Stitcher.
http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-year-new-project.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Boxes for the New Year

Do you like boxes? How about this portable paper box for travel or as an inexpensive gift for a stitching friend? They have a new ort box/needlecase coming in January that isn't on the website yet.
http://www.lbcrafty.com/new.html

Happy New Year, everyone!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Three Women and a Peach by Squiggee

It's done! YEAH!

Many thanks to Gail Hendrix and Dr. Janet Moyer for all their suggestions. Couldn't have done it without you.

Now, how do I finish it?

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Final Touch

When I finished the hair ornaments on The Geisha's wig, I was close to being finished with this canvas, but not quite done. I wanted to add one more thing--the Chinese characters for "three" and "women." You see them above the cleaning lady's outstretched arm. The three horizontal bars are "three" and the intertwined character below is "women." This was the idea of the Asian scholar I asked about the canvas before I started stitching it. She found the characters for me, which are used by the Japanese. I practiced on a scrap canvas until I could embroider the characters and used two plies of DMC in #610. It's darker than the DMC background (DMC #612) but not as stark as black would be.

Finding the right color was a bit of a struggle but I took various leftover threads from my stitching of this piece to use in my practice stitching to see if the plum color looked good, if black was too dark, if the blue from the lady's maid's yakuta would tie the two sides of the design together, etc. Nothing worked until I just picked a darker shade of the background color. It's there but subtle which is very Japanese.

Tomorrow I'll post a photo of the whole design.

Before I forget, the ANG website has a nice little charted "chop" from the late Mary Duckworth (renowned for her Asian charted designs) which is the little frame you can put your initials in to sign an Asian piece. That could easily go on the background instead of the Chinese characters....
http://www.needlepoint.org/Archives/Circles.php

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Stitching Hair Ornaments for The Geisha

Above are The Geisha's hair ornaments. If you look at the hairpins on the right and left, you can easily see that they were done before the beads or the long straight stitches were added on top. I sat down with my color copy of the original canvas and planned out what I wanted to do with the hair ornaments, step-by-step. I had the beads (white, blue and pink) that came with the canvas and the original design from Gail Hendrix which I didn't follow entirely. I love the little dangles that geishas wear in their hair and wanted to add some to this design. I also didn't want quite as many beads in her hair as in the original design since the black Japanese flat silk I used for her hair is so lovely. I didn't want to cover it all up, and I also was worried about disturbing it by stitching through the flat silk.

So planning was important. I needed to decide what to include, what to omit, and the order in which things had to be stitched. The pink comb was stitched already. You probably remember that the black areas between the comb teeth are tent stitches done in the same Soy Fiber I used for the hair of the other two women. I also added the three straight lines that make up the hairpin on the right side before I put the flat silk stitches in. I thought metallic thread might disturb the flat silk.

It turns out the flat silk is rather forgiving when it comes to putting other stitches on top of it as long as you are careful. I tried to go down into the canvas from the front as much as possible. I also used a sharp beading needle for the beads so I could put the stitches exactly where I wanted instead of using a John James short beading needle which is shorter than regular beading needles with a slightly duller tip.

The dangles are a long length of Accentuate with a bead added, then stitched again with a short stitch through the bead to hold it where it needed to be placed. I scanned the canvas to give you a good look at the headdress which disturbed the beads somewhat since the canvas goes face down on a scanner. I had to reposition them with my needle's tip slightly when I finished the scan. Looks like there's a bit of Accentuate sticking up also. A photograph or scan is very good to find things like this, even though using the scanner probably caused the disturbance to begin with!

The real trick to adding hair ornaments on top of flat silk is to plan out what you are going to do, going slowly and using a sharp needle as much as possible.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Assassin: Machinima without Words

Here's something different--"The Craft of War: Blind." Great storytelling in machinima form.

http://vimeo.com/2625538

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Planning Hair Ornaments for The Geisha

I hope to finsh laying the black Japanese flat silk on The Geisha's wig today. Once I have all the stitches in, I will need to add her hair ornaments. Here is what the plain canvas looks like. I have a xerox copy and scans of it to use as reference material so that I can put everything where it belongs once I stitch on top of the painted areas and see the pattern of the beads. I may add to this, of course, but I like the original placement so I am very glad I have all the copies of the original painting of the canvas I need!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Sunrise of a New Day

I took photos of the sunrise in Chilly Hollow this morning. I hope you can see the fog over the river below us turning pink as the sun climbs up over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Every morning is a new day. Hope I captured the winter chill and the coming warmth of the sun--and maybe spring, for those of you buried in snow!

I've not stitched the last two days with Christmas and all, but I'll be back to it this weekend. I'm starting to think about how to finish Three Women and a Peach so one of my chores today will be looking at Joann's Fabrics for trim. I'm thinking a large medallion to hang on the wall. Anyone have any other ideas? Use the comments below or email me at chilly hollow at hot maildot com.

Thanks!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Glimpses of New Kelly Clark Designs

Kelly Clark is a real tease! She is posting tidbits from her new designs for the big January TNNA trade show on her website.

http://www.kellyclarkneedlepoint.com/gallery

Make sure you also check out What's New for female elves in Santa's workshop, and Exclusive Programs to see the exclusive Santas Kelly's done for Buckeyes, New Yorkers, Texas, Carolina, Bostonians, and especially the needlework Santa for Family Arts Needlework in Phoenix. Note that there is contact information so you can reach the shops where these are currently sold. They aren't available anywhere else until the exclusivity expires! New exclusives will appear after the trade show when they are public, so bookmark and return at will.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Merry Christmas!

Renaissance Designs' Christmas Door, stitch guide by Tony Minieri, stitched by Mimi Maddox and myself.

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

Have Yourselves a Creative Christmas (in Video Games and Elsewhere)

I know Christmas is a bad time for a lot of people. Those of us who have lost friends and family, those of us who don't have the money we think we need to properly celebrate, those who are ill or who love those who are ill, and those of us who through no fault of our own don't have a prayer of achieving a perfect Christmas with a perfect family can feel pretty awful this time of year. And of course those of us who aren't Christian naturally feel left out, and so do those who are deeply committed to their Christian faith when the commercial aspects of the holiday are offensive. Every cheery Christmas song can make one sad for many reasons.

Me, I hide out in my needlepoint when things go badly. At least if something is wrong there I can rip it out and try again--I can stitch an almost perfect Santa, even if Santa isn't going to visit me this year, or stitch beautiful ornaments even if I'm not putting up a tree. Our imagination and the creative spirit are balm for a lot of things, even Christmas Gone Wrong. I've been reading a series of articles by The Brainy Gamer on a video game called Little Big Planet that brought home to me how important a creative outlet is to folks and how much what I do with my needlepoint matters to me.

You've probably not heard of the video game Little Big Planet--heck, you may not even have ever played a video game--but trust me, this game is news for the Under 30 set, most of whom have at least a middling acquaintance with video games. The hero of the game is a little knit doll with a zipper in his tummy called Sack Boy. Sack Boy runs and jumps and climbs in a virtual world made from what looks like felt, string, rubber bands, yarn, cardboard, buttons, pulleys, wheels and such. Sound familiar? Any of us might have knit Sack Boys (or Sack Girls) for the kids to play with at home. Want to see a documentary of Sack Boy in his natural environment?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doF9mSSh03w

The point of the game is to run, jump and hop through the environments as you explore them, then use the built-in ability to make your own environments which you and other people can explore through their own Sack Boys or Girls.

However, as I read the Brainy Gamer blog, I started to realize how much Little Big Planet is like what Ido with needle and thread, except the creative impulse lives inside the Playstation 3 environment of video games instead of in a real needle and threads. Little Big Planet encourages the game player to make their own world in their own way. Which is what needlepoint does. Except I use needles, threads and NP canvas to create and populate my world in my own colors and threads and textures--I'm not using a game controller and software. Stitching the Three Women and a Peach Canvas, I gave the ladies clothing, hairstyles and what actors call a "back story" which is simply personalities and a personal history to help me stitch the design. I entered into a kind of dialogue with the designer, Gail Hendrix, and build on what she designed to make the women in the canvas come alive in a new, unique way based on my decisions on how to handle the canvas. Together Gail and I have created something that didn't exist before for other stitchers to enjoy and explore based on Japanese art and tradition.

Needlepoint painted canvases enhance creativity, encourage exploration and to work with others to make something more than what was there originally. Just like Little Big Planet does for video game players. I do have something in common with 18 year old boys! And they do something very similar to what I do even if you lined us up in a row and had to pick out who was the most creative, the kids might not be your first choice.

So this Christmas I'm going to be grateful for all the other treasures hidden in my stash and start thinking of ways to explore there to find new lands, new threads, new stitches and new designers. I'm not going to worry about a holiday that's missing something, not when I have so much to discover among my stitching. I'm going to work a bit on the stitch guide for Three Women and a Peach so that other folks can follow the path behind me and discover Japanese art and personalities through their needle also. And I'm going to remember that video games are another way to play creatively.

Happy New Year, everyone! Be creative and enjoy, no matter what medium you create in.

Anyone curious about The Brainy Gamer's thoughts on Little Big Planet can read the three articles that got me thinking here.

http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2008/12/made-by-human-beings.html

http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2008/12/family-plays.html

http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2008/12/creativity.html

The illustration of this article is Melissa Shirley's Red Christmas Cottage canvas, currently on sale at Needle Nook of La Jolla. Merry and Happy!
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/proddetail.php?prod=ms949&cat=192

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Twelve Days for Grand-mere

A friend got her first grandchild for Christmas! So here's a Twelve Days of Christmas ornament set for all the grandmothers in Louisana. (You know who you are.)

http://www.gardendistrictneedlework.biz/jude.htm

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

A Christmas Present for You

I've been saving a special present for you for Christmas--Anne Stradal has a blog!

http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/

Right now she is alternating photos of her Christmas designs with an explanation of how to transfer a black and white line drawing to NP canvas and then how to create texture and light/shadows on a piece with just black and white threads. It's fascinating reading. Go to the bottom of the blog and click on Earlier Posts, then start reading from the bottom forward to the top page.

I hope you enjoy this special holiday visit to Cape Cod and Anne. By the way, the little ornament above is from her website and there's a link to the front door on the upper left hand corner of her blog.

Merry Christmas, Anne!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Half a Wig is Better Than None

I didn't get any stitching done on The Geisha's wig last night--Christmas madness has struck Chilly Hollow and there are many last minute items to see to before the holidays. So you'll have to be satisfied with a photo of my progress to date, which is the lower half of the wig with some stitching done on the top. I didn't enhance this photo. I wanted you to see how the left side wing of the wig looks grey while the right wing looks black. That's the light reflecting from the scanner in different ways. Flat silk when laid carefully bounces light in all directions and these two "wings" are slanted differently. So the light is reflected differently.

I am considering whether to even off the right wing's tip. It isn't noticable in person that there are many separate strands of silk there. I'll think about it. I also see in the photo one of the Accentuate long stitches has moved around. I'll put it where it belongs tonight. A photo or scan is great for these little things which are often not noticable in real life.

Glenda posted that it helps her to stitch black threads on black to put a red cloth or towel in her lap. If I have time to stitch tonight I'll try that. Thanks, Glenda.

The pink comb in the wig was stitched before I started laying the silk for the wig. I first tent stitched the little comb teeth with Kreinik 1/16" metallic ribbon in the lavender/pink shade #093, then I did long slanting stitches \ along the diagonal line for the bottom base of the comb with the same thread. The final step was to do a long narrow cross stitch on top of each comb tooth with Accentuate in Lavender #111 and then do long horizontal stitches across the comb base, again with the Accentuate. This very thin and strong metallic thread adds a tiny bit of darker color to the comb and also holds the long slanting stitches in place.

I'll use the same 1/16" ribbon to stitch the large pink hair stick that is on the right near where the length of black silk end stitcks up on the front of the canvas. I left that untrimmed so you could tell where it is approximately. I probably will bring up that thread at the base of the hair stick before I lay the silk around it, then put it down gentle on top of the silk. I think that will disturb the wig stitches less than having to come up at the hair stick's end in the background area and plunge the thread through the wig stitches.

Everyone else, hope your holiday isn't too hectic -- or too cold, snowy and icy!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

What I've Learned About Flat Silk

I'm stitching with black thread on a black canvas. Regardless of what thread or stitch you are using, you need good lighting in this situation!

Flat silk is on a tube with the free end run through two slits in one end of the tube. Pull the plastic wrap off the tube and roll it up and put it in the middle of the cardboard tube so you keep the thread color number on the label, just in case. Unroll 12-18 inches at most and cut it with your best scissors, then put the free end off the tube back in the slits. I found that the flat silk would easily snag on my frame, the other stitches, the metallics, etc. so I kept it off the canvas whenever possible. I normally stitched with lengths of about 14 inches on this piece.

Always use a new needle and your sharpest scissors when stitching with flat silk. It will snag on a worn eye or worn scissors. It looks like a flat ribbon made of at least 6 filaments and probably more. Japanese embroiders twist sections together to make fatter versions of the thread for their stitching but since I am just stitching long stitches, I didn't bother to do this.

Having soft hands is a must for stitching with flat silk. All my prep time scrubbing and putting hand cream on my fingers didn't go to waste!

I knotted the end of my stitching length, then did two L stitches to both start and end the thread within the area of the geisha's hair.

Flat silk is wonderful to stitch with but you need to use a laying tool at all times to make sure the thread is laid flat.

I doubt you'll be able to see the shine of The Geisha's wig in photographs but in person it looks wonderful!


Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

How to Stitch a Wig

The drawing above is my feeble attempt to show you how I plan to stitch The Geisha's wig. The arrows show how the thread will be laid. Remember that most of these areas are padded with Soy Fiber laid in the opposite direction as the top flat silk threads will be laid.

The drawing above is my feeble attempt to show you how I plan to stitch The Geisha's wig. The arrows show how the thread will be laid. Remember that most of these areas are padded with Soy Fiber laid in the opposite direction as the top flat silk threads will be laid.

Actually, half of the hair is finished. It covers the ornaments except for areas where hair ornaments poke out over the background. I hope to finish tonight if the light is good. Getting the direction right when stitching with black threads on black painted canvas is difficult!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Flat Silk Resources

Shay Pendray's Stitching Toward Perfection

This is a small booklet full of techniques for good embroidery. It is a wonderful resource that explains how to use your laying tool exceptionally well. (The more recent Shay Pendray's Inventive Needlework repeats the laying tool information and is probably easier to find, but note that Stitching Toward Perfection has better information about the use of flat silk.)

Shuji Tamura's Techniques of Japanese Embroidery explains everything you need to know about Japanese emboirdery, from how to lace your frame to how to twist flat silk to make it up for embroidery. Japanese embroiders make up their flat silk into various sizes for various stitches, depending on the technique they want to use. It is a wonderful book for anyone who is curious about this ancient art and is a great reference tool for folks like me who plan to explore some of the techniques.

Since you may not have either book handy, I've found information about flat silk for you to look over. First, Carol Anne's Japanese Embroidery blog has a lovely posting about Japanese flat silk. She shows you the various sizes (twists) of Japanese silk before and after they are stitched.
http://threadsacrosstheweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/one-thread-fits-all.html

Here is a color card of the various flat silks available from the Japanese Embroidery Center in Atlanta.
http://www.jecstore.com/Flat-Silk-OFS.php

You can also order from Australia. Thread Studio has a lovely photo of the various colors available.
http://www.thethreadstudio.com/cathand/kamaito/kamaitotext.htm

Kay Stanis's beautiful website has tips for laying flat silk. Believe me, I studied this very carefully!
http://www.the-gilded-edge.com/laying_flat_silk.html

You can buy flat silk from her, too
http://www.the-gilded-edge.com/buy_supplies.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Salt and Miracle Whip and Flat Silk

While I have been finishing the geisha's clothing and stitching her peach, I've also been preparing to start her hair. I deliberately left this until last as I plan to stitch her hair with flat silk to give it the shine a geisha's wig should have. I don't want anything left to stitch that might snag on her wig. If you watched the video I found on the Immortal Geisha site of the man styling the wig, you will have seen the hair is brushed with oil before it is twisted into shape. That helps add a shine to the wig. I think Japanese flat silk will add a similar shine to the wig I'm about to stitch.

You will remember that I laid down a padding base of Soy Silk earlier right across the wig. I also tent stitched the areas between the pink comb in her hair so that I don't have to put flat silk in a small area next to metallic thread that might catch and snag it.

But the main things I've done to prepare to use my flat silk is to pull out my copies of Shay Pendray's Stitching Toward Perfection and Shuji Tamura's Techniques of Japanese Embroidery, and to start preparing my hands. The photo above shows both books, my tube of flat silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center and my Best Laying Tool (or BLT) which is the Americanized version of a tekobari.

We'll talk about the books another time. Right now I want to talk about what I do to smooth my hands when I'm going to handle silk, especially a silk that snags on air like flat silk. Every morning and every evening for the last three days I've been washing my hands and then after I rinse the soap off, I pour 2 teaspoons full of salt into my palm and start rubbing-rubbing-rubbing in all over my fingers and palms, paying special attention to the sides of my thumb and forefinger. If you have cuts or hangnails, the salt will sting but you can use a packet of real sugar instead. (If you've ever been eating at a Seminar and saw folks taking several packets of sugar from the dining room, odds are they are going to smooth their hands for the next day's stitching, not getting sugar for their tea or coffee.) Rinse the salt (or sugar) off, dry your hands, and then apply hand cream. Here are some links to folks talking about what they use. I have not tried the Au Ver a Soie cream but I use both Udderly Smooth and Acid Mantle. The only difference is that I had to special order the Acid Mantle at the drug store and it was more expensive. I've also used Miracle Whip, a plastic squeeze bottle of which I keep in the refrigerator. (I'd highly recommend that you don't let your loved ones catch you absentmindedly rubbing fake mayo into your hands in the kitchen, however!)

Rub everything in well and your hands will be smooth and won't snag the silk badly. Please note that the Japanese Embroidery folks do not use hand cream when they are about to stitch. They simply wash their hands. They feel hand creams don't belong on silks so they would never put any on their silk to tame it like Mary mentions in the link below. I am of two minds about this. I don't worry much about using good conservation techniques but I think I'll keep hand creams well away from my stitching. What you do is up to you!

Hand cream article by Mary Corbet
http://www.needlenthread.com/2007/02/working-with-silk-thread-hand-cream-for.html

Kathy Dyer's recommendations
http://home.comcast.net/~kathydyer/nf_xstitch_tut.html#soft_hands

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Geisha's Peach

Last night I stitched the peach The Geisha is studying. It is the central motif of the design and stands for a long life or immortality, depending on your interpretation. It is painted in lovely shades of peach, orange sherbet, pink and rose and is obviously intented to be tent stitched. However, I wanted to do something a bit different that would make the peach stand out more than tent stitches and four shades of silk, so I stitched it in long Interlocking Goblein stitches with one strand of peach Accentuate (#304). Once I finished the Interlocking Goblein, I laid long stitches vertically on top of the peach in the "ditches" between the NP canvas threads. This made the peach more solid but didn't cover much of the lovely shading of the painted canvas. In person the peach gleams but the metallic isn't overpowering. You can also see the shading of the colors through the Accentuate. I did try stitching this with two strands of Accentuate but that hid some of the shading and it also made the peach a little too prominent.

My next step was to stitch the leaf. I used a beautiful green silk perle from Au Ver a Soie called Soie Gobelins (#225). (My spool is older and has the Kreinik label because Kreinik did distribute the thread at one time.) It is a very thin perle thread, probably #12 or even smaller in size, and when I used packed stem stitch, it looks both delicate and like a freshly picked leaf.

I probably will cut a small piece of gold lame and sew it in place underneath the peach so that it has an extra gold gleam, but I'll decide that when I finish the piece. It will take some planning as there is open background stitch nearby that I won't want the gold fabric to peek through. We'll see....

Perhaps The Geisha is just looking at the peach to see if it's really ripe but her contemplative face tells me she is thinking about something more important than dessert. I hope I managed to stitch the peach well enough that it is worthy of her interest!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

More Free Christmas Ornament Charts and a Needle Roll

Many designers are posting free charts on their blogs as a Christmas treat. I have several more of my favorites to show you so you can be sure to pack a a few supplies and treat yourself to some stitching as you travel or wait at home for Santa.

First, here is Judy Harper's lovely Christmas flower/four way bargello ornament. You start with a red Christmas rose and then fill out the design with bargello wave patterns. Lovely!

http://needle-crafts.blogspot.com/2008/12/four-way-bargello-ornament-or-egg.html

Laura Perin has posted links to two free Christmas quilt ornaments on her blog. They are beautiful! She is a terrific designer and these two squares show off her inventiveness with color and pattern very well.

http://two-handedstitcher.blogspot.com/2008/12/need-little-christmas.html

Finally, need a Christmas present for a stitching friend? Mary Corbet shows off a favorite and very easy to make tool from her stitching tool box--a needle roll. Very clever!

http://www.needlenthread.com/2008/12/keeping-my-embroidery-needles-all.html

Have fun making something special for the holidays. By the way, the Plum Pudding canvas above is by Joy Juarez and is on sale at eBay now for $145 with free shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Plum-Pudding_W0QQitemZ190271421525QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item190271421525&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A7|294%3A50

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Geisha's Robe Is Done?

You may have noticed how I avoided talking about one part of The Geisha's robe--the medium dusty rose pink labels that overlap the chrysanthemums on plum body of the robe. If you watched the video showing kimono layering I found on the Immortal Geisha website, you'll probably agree that this area is a kimono layer showing from underneath. This was the most difficult part of the kimno for me to stitch as I had a lot of ideas that didn't seem to work well with either the plum chrysanthemum area or the box-covered shawl collar.

I finally did long straight vertical satin stitches (4 plies of Splendor S1035) for the bulk of the collar except for a tiny area at the bottom of the left side where straight stitches looked odd. I pulled them out and used diagonal stitches from the top of the flower to that area's left to the bottom of the kimono and that worked better. I may replace some of the long stitches on the right side of the kimono near the peach with diagonals, too. I haven't decided yet.

Once the long stitches were in, I wanted to emphasize the thin deep plum line that separates the various collar areas from each other. I thought a stem stitched line in my deep plum would be perfect but I wanted a perle type thread for that so I'd have a bit of "loft" -- round perles are higher than flat plies and so I wanted perle.

Enter Stage Left my very best friend when it comes to stitching supplies--Liz, the new owner of Needlewoman East. [Loud applause!]

I gave Liz the color number of my Splendor and asked her to rummage around to find a silk or cotton perle around size #8 that was the same deep plum, or something very similar. I hoped that there was a card of Elegance in the same color (Rainbow Gallery also sells three sizes of perle silks in colors that match Splendor and Elegance is #8 perle-sized) but that wasn't the case. Unfortunately, the closest color match was a cotton perle that was several shades lighter than my deep plum Splendor S1037. We talked it over and decided that a deeper color would work, but not a lighter one. So Liz wasn't able to help, although if I'd broadened my search parameters to a wool or silk/wool thread, I suspect she might have come up with something. You do have to think texture when matching colors. A silk like Splendor that's not really shiny will look enough like a cotton perle that a viewer probably won't notice they aren't the same thread but a wool and a silk will not match in texture.

Thanks anyway, Liz! I'll come see you for the big after Christmas sale....

[Liz bows, waves and blows kisses to you all, then exits to join the other shop owners in the audience. Many thanks to shop owners everywhere. What would we do without you?]

So I did what anyone would do who couldn't get a perle to match her floss--I made my own. It's pretty simple: Put 4-6 plies of your floss in your needle, secure it on the back and come up as usual at the starting point, then twist the needle (I went counterclockwise) until you have a tight little cord. Plunge the needle while keeping the tension on the thread so it doesn't untwist. I did my stem stitches carefully up the kimono collars, carefully checking to make sure the thread wasn't unwinding when I came up from the back. It took a while but now I have a little edge along the dark plum lines on the kimono. You can't see it in the photos but it is there in person and it raises the areas enough to give a bit of lift to the kimono's edges to frame The Geisha's face.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Rainbow Gallery's Christmas Lightbulb Ornament Chart

Here is a free chart for Christmas bulb ornaments in needlepoint. Note that when the instructions say you are to trace three mini sock outlines on the canvas, they mean you are to trace the three little lightbulbs.

http://www.rainbowgallery.com/images/Carolines%20Mini%20Lights.pdf

Rummage in your stash and find leftovers and stitch these in your free moments while traveling Christmas.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Beaded Boxes

Last night I finished the shawl collar's boxes of both colors. I did do fake eyelets in the blue boxes by using tent or reverse tent stitches all around the edge. I left the centers bare and added pink beads which are attached with a cross stitch using one ply of my deep plum Splendor S1037. I thought since the beads are all sitting on top of a thread intersection due to the way the blue boxes are painted, that a cross stitch would secure them better than my more usual doubled thread through and then stitched again with one ply on either side of the bead.

I used 4 plies of DMC 964 for the blue boxes, which is a lighter version of the teal blue thread (DMC 187) that outlines the cleaning woman's yakuta on the left side. The canvas is painted this way and I think the color looks very good with the plums and dusty pinks in The Geisha's robe.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Boxed Kimono

Yesterday Pat in NC mentioned that eyelets might work for the blue boxes scattered among the pale dusty rose ones on The Geisha's shawl collar. I hadn't thought of that! My idea was to use a split Scotch stitch variation where the long middle stitch is turned into two short stitches with an unstitched place in the middle where I can put one of the pretty pink beads that came with my Squiggee canvas. Last night I worked more of the regular Scotch stitches in the background and did two blue boxes on the right lapel's bottom, one in a boxey eyelet that's really just tent and reverse tent stitches (my blue squares don't have a hole in the center; they have a thread intersection) and my Scotch variation. What do you think? Right now I'm leaning toward Pat's eyelet stitch....

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Squares on the Kimono

Last night I finished the embroidered chrysanthemums on The Geisha's robe and worked on finding the right stitch for the shawl collar. It is painted with squares scattered in an irregular pattern on it, so I wanted a background of squares, or at least as many as I could squeeze in before I had to compensate.

I ended up using Scotch Stitch with my Soie Perlee silk.

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/98-06.php

I am not placing my Scotch stitches in a regular way--I'm scattering them into the largest areas where I can and compensating around them. The painted blocks of color are not in a regular pattern--why should my Scotch stitches be?

Note I am making sure my Scotch stitches all slant the same way. One can alternate them and stitch a beautiful pattern that catches the light but this is random enough already that I thought changing direction of the Scotch stitches would look messy.

I'll attempt to finish these little boxes tonight while I think about how to stitch the painted blue boxes they surround.


Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Blue Christmas UPDATED

This beautiful Blue Santa is so lovely, I wanted to post it as a Christmas card to my blog readers. The designer is unknown as is the canvas count, but I think the seller is right--it does look hand-painted to me. The overall size of the canvas is 12 inches by 9 1/4 inches. Here's the eBay auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HAND-PAINTED-EMBROIDERY-NEEDLEPOINT-HOLIDAY-DESIGN-WOW_W0QQitemZ170286249837QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item170286249837&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Enjoy!

UPDATE: This lovely piece was sold for $40.34 plus $3.29 shipping.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Chrysanthemum Robe

As you know, the Geisha's kimono is in three shades of plum and has flowers on the outside. (It has little squares on the inner part but more about those another time.) I tent stitched all the deep plum color first (4 plies of Splendor #S1037) before stitching the flowers. In the photo above, they are all done except for the bottom flower on the right side, which still has lower petals to go. Using my pale dusty pink Soie Perlee (a silk perle thread that is about the size of #8 cotton perle according to the Thread Thesaurus) in color 3333, I filled the chrysanthemum shapes with packed stem stitch, working from the outside largest curve to the inside. In a few places I did a tent or reverse tent stitch to indicate the single stitch that was painted there. Occasionally I noticed that my stem stitches weren't packed tightly and had to go back and add a stitch between two that didn't touch the way they were supposed to.

I'm hoping this looks like a chain stitch flower that I've seen on many Chinese robes. I know our ladies are Japanese but the flowers reminded me of Chinese embroidery and I suppose it isn't inconceivable that The Geisha might have a robe made from imported Chinese silk.

Enjoy!Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Before I Stitch the Kimono and Wig,

you should watch some of the wonderful videos collected by The Immortal Geisha website.

http://www.immortalgeisha.com/videos_01.php

I highly recommend the fourth clip from the bottom, "Twelve Layer Kimono Dressing" which shows how kimonos are layered.

You also will enjoy watching the third clip from the bottom, "Traditional Japanese Katsura Stylist" which shows a man dressing a traditional Japanese wig, or katsura. This is what our geisha is wearing, a highly stylized and carefully composed wig.

Finally, don't miss the short four-part series entitled "Sakurako - Asakura Geisha" which shows a 25-year old modern geisha putting on her white makeup and being dressed by her maid in kimono and obi.

Many of the videos I wanted to see are File Not Found when you click on the link but luckily the ones above are still there for our viewing pleasure and to help us understand the Japanese tradition and beauty I'm trying to recreate in needlepoint.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Progress Report on Three Women and a Peach

It's time for an overall photo of the Squiggee design of three Japanese women I've been stitching. After all, the separate parts of the designs have to look good together. It's not enough for one part to look great if it clashes with the rest of the design. So here you go.

The figures on the left and right are finished. You should go back to the Dec. 13 posting about the lady's maid and look at the left side of her yakuta where it touches her neck. See how jagged it looks? This happens in NP because you are working a grid. When you do tent stitches along a diagonal, they look like stair steps. Most of the time no one notices but when you have a very dark thread like the black outline of the robe against a very light area like the white skin all our ladies have, it can look odd. It bothered me enough that I laid a long stitch on top of the area with my black Soy Fiber and then tacked it down with a few little tent stitches right on top of the old ones. This seemed to smooth out the line somewhat and make it darker. I prefer the new look.

You can also try turning your tent stitches into cross stitches to see if that helps make the jagged line disappear. It didn't in this case (I tried) but occasionally this is the way to make the line less prominent. Gee. Make a line less prominent by stitching it twice? Who'd a thought that would work!?

I've been working on the central figure of The Geisha off and on for a while. I have tent stitched the darkest plum purple sections of her kimono (Splendor #S1035) and have started work on the satin labels and the flowers. But I'm running out of time today to talk so just take a look at her wig. It has the long lines of Soy Fiber put in right on top of the hair ornaments to use as padding. I'm going to stitch her hair with black Japanese flat silk but not until I finish the kimono.

Hope you like how this is coming together.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Introducing Robin King's Insomnia

Robin's got Insomnia. Yes, indeed! And she's willing to share....

Before you start emailing me home remedies for sleeplessness, let me assure you that Robin doesn't have trouble sleeping. She's stitched a canvas called Insomnia which you see above which she is graciously sharing as my guest blogger today. Insomnia is a Maggie design, adapted from a Jeanju Clifton painting. The link below has the plain painted canvas on Maggie's website. Insomnia measures 11.5" wide by 15 " high on 18 count canvas.

http://www.maggieco.com/html/detail.php?ID=973&Category=1&pg=1&q=@Jeanju%20Clifton

Here's what Robin told me about the design and how she stitched it:

"I am attaching the photo of Insomnia. Here is my story: Pat, my guy, photographed the original art piece by the artist, Jeanju Clifton. When I saw the photograph, I said to myself, 'This would make a great needlepoint canvas!"' It took me a few years to get Maggie Co. and Jeanju Clifton together, but it was finally made into a canvas.

I had Amy Bunger create a Stitch Guide through her Cook-Up a Canvas classes, and then I stitched it. I learned how to knit, and knitted the long scarf with Poppies on size 0 Bamboo needles. I made her curlers (from curlers) for her hair, and I made her knitting needles out of the same size 0 Bamboo needles. Her hands are wire-wrapped floss so that she is actually holding her knitting project. I was true to the painting, so yes, those are blood-shot eyes. After all, it is entitled 'Insomnia'. Each of the cats are wearing a different sweater. You can even see Elliot in the aqua Argyle sweater. She isn't a pretty woman, but she sure was fun to stitch. I lost count at the number of Colonial Knots for her Chenille robe. Her Curler Cap was done with Gathered Flair. The blue/gray flooring is the Tessellated T's. She is wearing an actual pearl pierced earring. The white cat is playing with a real ball of thread that I wound up.

I submitted Insomnia to the Nashville ANG in 2005. It didn't get any awards, but there was a nice commentary from Tony Minieri and Judy Souliotis. They asked that Insomnia be given a chance to comment on, and for me, that was all of the prize that I needed."

[Jane says: Heck YEAH! Ribbons are one thing but being singled out for recognition from Tony Minieri and Judy Souliotis is rare and priceless. You can read what they said about Insomnia and see another photo of this piece on the ANG website in the link below. By the way, Robin is the photographer and webmaster of Amy Bunger's website and she films the Amy DVDs. The Elliot she mentions is her orange tabby cat who loves wandering into the photo shoots she does of finished Amy needlepoint.]

http://www.needlepoint.org/WhatIs/2005/conversation.php#502np

Robin continues: "So, that is my story. I took an idea and through determination brought it into reality. Yes, those are real curlers. I went to Sally's Beauty Supply, found some tiny curlers, and then cut them down even 'teenier' to fit Insomnia. The small yellow velcro type curlers were about the size of your little finger. I used about a 1 inch length, and then I trimmed away some of the guts so that the curler would tighten down even more. Remember, all stitch suggestions & threads were à la Amy; I was merely the worker-bee. Amy was fearful about sending her needlepointer customer / friend into a Knitting store ... would I get hooked and ditch needlepoint for knitting? I told her to not worry. I was only learning to knit for Insomnia. (Later I found out that I couldn't multi-task while knitting like I can when I needlepoint.)"
********************************

Learning to knit so you can stitch a NP canvas? Robin, that's REAL dedication!

Hope everyone enjoys seeing what a talented stitcher can do when helped by a terrific teacher like Amy Bunger using a hilarious canvas from Maggie. Thanks for sharing, Robin, and for being my guest blogger this morning. I get a grin all over my face every time I look at Insomnia's details.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Jade's Hair

In the photo above you can see Jade's hair stitched on top of the padding, using the Soy Fiber in long stem stitches that were staggered so that each one began or ended at a slightly different place than its neighbors. I tried to do the stitches in the same direction that real hair would go. Of course there are areas that the stem stitches couldn't fit, like the curls at the nap of her neck. The tent stitches done there cover the painted canvas and look ok.

By the way, this photo is color adjusted so you can see the black threads on the black painted area of the canvas better. It is really black in person!

The bows are finished also. The knot was painted in alternating stripes of light dusty pink (I used Kreinik's Soie Perlee #3333) and light blue (Thread Gatherer's Silk N Colors in Delphinium which is the thread used on the light blue parts of her robe), so I covered the stripes with long skinny cross stitches in those colors, then took my needle full of pink silk under the row of cross stitches to put a horizontal line under them. I did that because the skinny cross stitches didn't cover well. The pink cross stitch was done using Soie Perlee which is a skinny perle-type silk thread. Very pretty but it was too thin to cover entirely.

The ends of the pink and blue bows were done in outline stitch except for the tiny bit of blue ribbon on the left which was done in reverse tent stitches covering one or two thread intersections. I worked from the centers out using my light blue and light dusty pink but I needed a darker dusty pink and a darker blue, so I used the dark blue thread from the robe (Thread Gatherer's Flax N Colors in French Blue) and the darker purple-pink that I will use on the geisha's robe. That is Rainbow Gallery's Splendor in S1035. I used the Flax N Colors as it came off the card, the Soie Perlee in one perle thread, and two plies of the silk floss Splendor and Silk N Colors.

The bow itself is a bit fancy for a lady's maid but we have to remember that she dresses the geisha and is probably up on the latest fashions and rather skilled in fixing hair so I expect her vanity got the better of her.

I'm going to work on the geisha's robe but before I do, look at the last blog entry and check out the neckline of the maid's robe. Doesn't the left side look a bit jagged? I'm going to talk about why that happened and how I fixed it next.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Dressing Jade

The lady's maid I call Jade on the right side of the Three Women and a Peach canvas has a robe now and I've started her hair. As you can see, I removed the medium gray outlines of her robe and restitched them in black using the same black Soy Fiber I am going to use for her hair. This same thread also created Pearl's hair, the cleaning lady on the left of this set of three women.

Robe
I discovered it was a lot easier to rip out everything (her robe, her arm, the outline stitches) and redo it when the grey outlines on her robe were just too pale. Combining medium gray outlines with medium and light blue stitches for the robe didn't give me enough contrast. I know this, having stitched a background in mint green with lilac flowers once. Although you'd think mint green and lilac aren't much alike, pale shades of both disappear into each other, which made my background muddy and without the flowers scattered around I intended. I should have learned from that but it is easy to forget lessons learned in needlepoint, as in Life! So don't you forget--mixing two light shades or even a light and medium shade may not give you enough color contrast to define the various parts of the design you are stitching.

Hair
For her hair, I mentally divided the hair into sections: the "pony tail" held by the ribbons, the tendrils of hair along her cheek and forehead, the little upturned curls at the base of her neck, the bangs at the top of her forehead and the main body of her hair. If you look at the photo, you'll see how small an area there is for her bangs, the tendrils, the nape of her neck and some of the pony tail area between the pink and blue bows in her hair. I tent stitched all of these areas except the tendrils with my Soy Silk. Tent stitches will cover all these areas and serve as padding for the top stitching I plan to do. The main body of her hair and some of her pony tail will have long lengths of my Soy Fiber laid across them in straight lines reaching from a stitch or two inside the black hair paint border to the other side almost to the edge of the paint. This raises the next layer of stitches to give a padded effect, but padding doesn't work in very small areas, hence the tent stitches. The little curls along her check had to be done differently. They are jagged vertical lines which are perfect for padded stem stitch. There are four lines, two short and two long. The short ones each got only two staggered stem stitches but the long lines had a series of rows of padded stem stitch. Sometimes I did three stem stitches, sometimes two, depending on how wide the area was.

Once the tendrils and tent stitches were done, time to pad. My first step was to grab my black and white xerox copy of the canvas and sketch in pencil how her hair flows. Once I had an idea whether an area would have slanted lines, horizontal lines, etc. of hair, I could decide how to lay the underlying padding threads. If your top layer will be straight vertical stitches, the padding is horizontal. If your lines will slant/ to the right, your padding probably will need to slant left \. This keeps the top layer raised. I will sketch this out in detail when I do the geisha's hair because she has such an elaborate wig, so this may become clearer later on. Hopefully you can see the mostly horizontal stitches of padding on Jade's hair. I'll post a second photo with her hair finished once I get the bows in her hair stitched.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Finished with a Beaded Fringe

Above is the finished Challenge Ornament with a fringe of beads at the tip. I want this to look as Art Deco as possible as it's a Christmas present for an admirer of that style. Beaded frineg like this is very easy to do.

First, you need beads and a beading needle. Regular needles have eyes too big to go through beads unless the beads are really large. John James makes short beading needles if the 3 inch long ones are too long for you. Watch out for the sharp tips! We needlepointers aren't used to anything except tapestry needles which have blunt tips so watch yourself. I chose three colors of beads: the black Magnifica beads from Mill Hill that I used on the front of the ornament, a Magnifica metallic bead that is a mix of silver, gold and copper (I didn't use any copper ones), and a larger regular Mill Hill bead that is a teal green. The larger green bead is used only at the tip, the metal and black ones were just used as I felt like it in a mix of colors. For example, the longest length of the beaded fringe is eleven black beads, three metallic ones, six black beads and the single green bead at the tip.

I used black silk in my needle and came up underneath the twisted cord trim at the tip of the ornament, then threaded some black and metal beads on the needle until I had a nice long line. Once I thought the length was right, I added a slightly larger green bead to the needle. Then I took my beading needle back through all the beads EXCEPT the green one. That makes the green one a stopper bead at the tip of the fringe. What happens essentially is you do a U turn and go back through the bead holes again except for the green bead at the end.

Then I did a shorter length on either side of the original fringe and then two more still shorter lengths on the other side, making five lengths of fringe in all.

There are a lot of ways to add something to the tip of your Challenge ornament if you plan to hang it set in a diamond shape. Tassels look great, beaded tassels will be spectacular, and a large glass or stone bead will look great. So suit your own taste. Hope all this was enlightening for anyone who wants to try finishing their Challenge Ornament themselves and that it helps explain why finishers are expensive.

And to all the finishers out there, I salute you! I hate finishing personally and I don't have the magic fingers that pick out beautiful fabrics, trims, buttons, beads and charms that really make a piece fabulous. But you do, and I admire you greatly.
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

Well, maybe not in Chilly Hollow, where I am NOT decorating this year. I am tired of spending a ton of time hauling out decorations, putting them up, picking them up off the floor after the puppy bangs into the tree to see them better, and then repeating the last item daily until it is time to put everything away again. This year Santa can leave my presents on top of the dining room table! Still, it is very nice to see all the needlepoint decorations. Summer Louise has put photos of many little ornaments she's finished for her customers on her blog and it gives me a lot of Christmas cheer just looking at them. Hint: Skip the top entry unless you want to crave candy! http://www.summerlouise.com/blogger.html 

Jane and Margaret have received finished pieces back from their finishers and also put photos on their blogs. I expecially love Jane's use of her little mini socks to hold silverware for dinner parties! http://janew1102.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/12/6-days-of-christmas-are-back.html http://cranecottage.com/stitchingblog/?p=584 

Judy Harper's showing how easy it is to design your own little mini socks. http://needle-crafts.blogspot.com/2008/12/mini-stockings-and-ornaments-design.html 

I love her "Elizabethean Rose" border. Here's a charted and larger authentic version done from an Elizabethean cushion. I've always thought these old rose designs beautiful but I never thought what a pretty border a smaller version would be. http://www.dragonbear.com/cenrose.html

Finally, many stores have wonderful December newsletters up with news of sales. Homestead Needle Arts' is my favorite because of all the great photos of the sale Christmas canvases. By the way, the canvas above is a Melissa Shirley Christmas angel from Homestead Needle Arts. http://www.homesteadneedlearts.com/thelatest.html 

Enjoy the little break from my long, drawn-out finishing series. I am beginning to bore even myself, but I wanted to break all the steps into manageable pieces. 

Jane/Chilly Hollow

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

Challenge Ornament: Attaching Front to Back

Or have I attached the back to the front? LOL

It doesn't matter. I have stitched two edges together with one ply of my black Splendor silk that matches the black NP canvas. I'm not quite decided about a tassel or whether to use my braided cord for the hanging loop but I'll have to decide so I can attach one to a corner before I can continue stitching the front to the back.

By the way, I used a small sewing needle (if you don't have a sharp sewing or crewel needle, try the smallest tapestry needle you have as the #26-28 ones have a sharper tip than larger sizes) to come through from the back, catching the felt lining, to the front just under the blue edge of the design. Because my canvas and thread are black, one can't see the stitches. In fact, in the photo above you can barely see the needle! I did enhance it as much as possible and switched to a loud thread to help. Hope you can tell what I'm doing.

You can see that I tied a loop in the end of my twisted cord, tucked the loose end inside between the front and back and stitched it down, and will hand sew the trim to the edge all around the perimeter. I am probably going to make a beaded tassel once I have the hand sewing done but I don't think I'll have that all finished tonight. Hand sewing is slow going, especially if you are making the stitches as tiny and inconspicuous as possible.

By the way, you can see the gold lame fabric gleaming underneath the needlepoint stitches on the left side of the Challenge Ornament in the photograph.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Making Twisted Cord and Tassels

The photo above shows a model of the Challenge Ornament from Gay Ann Roger's blog. I grabbed the photo from there to show you how your ornament can look. It has a tassel, ribbon bow, and a twisted cord around the edges. I may or may not finish my ornament this way but the loop and any tassel will have to be sandwiched between the front and back of the ornament when it is assembled, so it is time to talk about how to make these items before I actually assemble my ornament.

You can make your loop from your twisted cord edging as was done above, or use a separate length of Kreink metallic. Just attach it securely to the back of your needlepoint at one tip before you put the back and front together. That's how the tassel is attached to the opposite tip, too. I've found various sites that explain how to make twisted cord and tassels. Here are the links:

Instructions for making twisted cord.
http://www.serve.com/marbeth/twisted_cord.html

Slideshow on making twisted cord.
http://www.slideshare.net/kootoyoo/how-to-make-twisted-cord-presentation

How to make one or two-colored twisted cords (start reading at middle of page) and also how to add tassel to cord.
http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/projects/feast.html


How to make a Simple Tassel
http://www.nezumiworld.com/crochet_057.htm

How to make a variety of tassels, including beaded ones.
http://www.modnet.com.au/~firefrog/twistcord.htm

Here's a simplier beaded tassle on Mary Corbet's goldwork Christmas Ornament (scroll down to see). Her ornament has a bead tassle and twisted cord covering the sides. The loop isn't made from her twisted braid but is a separate piece of metallic thread, probably Kreinik.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_QjhvD47-hd4A0adREk4eacP5fdkH9M7EKG2U9VIKwLx38IqLN_xthEbeXf9BGfbEC6fAb9Nl_9j1ZgGPkOFeP4mE_HaPoNWUDhWjlY6jdP7AtxIwnm6xAtaF48OjB9mKeCgpvV4gZUse/s1600-h/DSC_0007.jpg

Whatever you decide, make your tassel and/or twisted cord now before moving on to the next step.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Lacing

The next step in finishing the Challenge Ornament is to assemble the back of the ornament the same way the front was done. My back side is the felt backing fabric, the quilt batting and then the finishing foam. First I checked to make sure the finishing foam (with quilt batting stuck to the sticky side) was the same size as the front section of the ornament. You eventually are going to have to sew the two together, so you want them as close to the same size as possible. You may need to make the finishing foam a tad smaller if the backing fabric you will wrap it with is very thick, but my felt didn't seem to add substantially to the size of the back.

I clipped the corners of the felt just like I'd clipped the corners of my piece of needlepoint, wrapped it over the finishing foam so that the quilt batting was inside, between the finishing foam and the felt, and pinned it in place. Then I laced the corners. My final step was to lace the top to bottom and sides to each other. This lacing technique (seen in the back half of the ornament above--I've not done it for the front half yet) pulls the sides gently together and makes little "pillows" of the ornament back and front. Many framed pieces are laced over foam core (which is a rigid but light styrafoam-type material) before it is put in a frame. That's one reason why designers leave such huge margins around their painted canvas designs--so finishers can lace a piece.

You would think at this point that the only thing remaining would be to sew the front of the ornament to the back, but actually this is the time when you need to decide whether to trim the edges of your ornament with braid, cover it with beads, make a tassel (or not), whether to use charms or large beads, what color thread to sew the front to the back with, etc. These are the final touches and what really makes the ornament special.

I decided to use black silk to sew the back to the front of the ornament as I used black canvas for my version of the Challenge Ornament, but I haven't decided whether to finish the edges with braid (made from my leftover threads) or with beads (gold and silver ones are laid out above as is a string of Facets, the Kreinik thread that minics beads) and whether to make a tassel or use a large bead to dangle from the bottom of my ornament. This all depends on personal taste and whether you want a flashy or more subdued ornament.

I'll think about it while I lace my ornament front and start putting the two halves together.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Turning the Corners and Sides

The photo above shows the back side of the Challenge Ornament after all the corners are turned under and the sides folded flat. Once you double-check the front to make sure the edges are even, use a thread from the ones used in the design to stitch two corners together with long stitches, not pulling anything too tightly. I used a high contrast lime green thread above to help you see the hemming, but it is probably best if you use something a bit more subtle!

Only do two corners, then stop.

Put your ornament and the finishing foam that goes under it together and make sure the finishing foam is a bit less than a quarter inch smaller than the ornament's face. My finishing foam has gold lame stuck to the sticky side. I trimmed it a bit to make sure it would slide inside the hemmed corners.



In this photo you see the black side of the finishing foam --the gold lame side is facing out. If I turned the ornament over, you'd see a bit of gold through the holes not covered by the stitching.

Once you have your finishing foam slid inside, check the layer of quilt batting that also goes inside. Trim it, and insert it as well, then hem the remaining two corners. If you turn the Challenge Ornament over with the design facing up, you'll have the gold lame fabric underneath, then the finishing foam and the quilt batting on the bottom. If I'd wanted a puffier ornament, I could have items in this order: Challenge Ornament, gold lame, quilt batting, then finishing foam.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

A Break In the Regularly Scheduled Programming

Here's a short break in our regularly scheduled programming (a demo of how to finish Gay Ann Rogers' Challenge Ornament) so that Coni, The Spinister Stitcher, can demonstrate again how stitchers are the nicest folks in the world....

http://spinsterstitcher.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-i-was-sitting-on-floor-in-target.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Time to Cut and Fold

In the photo above the corners of the Challenge Ornament have been trimmed to within 2-4 threads of the edge of the border. Cutting the corners off allows you to fold the bare canvas under to the back side.



Before you actually fold the corners back permanently, fold the bare canvas all the way around the square edges (top side) and then fold the corners back (bottom left). Pressing them to the back with your fingers makes a crease that helps hold them in place better in the next step. If you study this folded over photo carefully, you'll see why you don't trim the corners any closer to the design than 3-4 threads of the bare margin--it starts to fray.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Time to Glue

Above you see everything laid out in two rows. The top row, left to right, is the Challenge Ornament, trimmed to within 1 " of the design, the black felt for the back of the ornament and one piece of the finishing foam, with the paper backing pulled off and it stuck to one side of the first piece of quilt batting.

The bottom row, also left to right, is the paper xerox copy of the Challenge Ornament trimmed right to the edge of the border, the gold lame fabric that will be underneath the Challenge Ornament with the second piece of the finishing foam stuck to it, and then the second piece of quilt batting, which isn't stuck to anything. I also included my glue stick as you need glue for this step if your finishing foam doesn't have the self-stick side to it.

By the way, I often use this acid-free glue (purchased from the scrapbooking section of my local crafts emporium) for finishing. You do need to be careful with it as too much glue will saturate the fabric, so put some on a paper plate and use a plastic knife to spread it as thinly as possible around the finishing foam. Make sure you have some in the middle and some all around the perimeter so the quilt batting sticks to both areas. Put a book on top of it to weigh it as it dries but if you are worried about the glue bleeding through, put a piece of waxed paper on top of the quilt batting and the finishing foam (or fabric) first and then put the book down.

Probably most folks will want to glue their quilt batting to their finishing foam, not the fabric, but if you want one side of your ornament pretty flat, attach the foam to the fabric. My Challenge Ornament will have a flatter face than back side and will have padding in the middle. If this doesn't make sense, don't worry. It will become clearer as this goes together.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Cutting Out the Materials

Using your ordinary scissors and the Challenge ornament itself with its inch margin of bare canvas as the template, cut out the backing fabric and the fabric to go under the ornament to show through the holes on the front. (If you aren't going to use fabric to show through, just cut the backing fabric.) Above you see my black felt and my gold lame cut and laid out with the Challenge ornament itself.

You also see my paper xerox copy of just the design in the photo. Use that as the template to cut out the finishing foam. In the photo above you see the two pieces of black finishing foam, one turned black side up and one turned white paper side up. The white paper protects the sticky side from gluing itself to my long hair.

You also see something new--I decided to pad my ornament with quilt batting. I cut two pieces of that using the paper pattern as the template. If you don't want your Challenge ornament slightly padded, you can omit this step. If you want to use quilt batting, you can buy a roll of it at any crafts emporium or sewing store. It comes in a sheet that is rolled up like a jelly roll. Unroll it a bit and cut two small bits from the end. Remember to use regular scissors for this part and all the steps above, too.

Next, we'll start to assemble the ornament.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament Supplies

The first step in finishing Gay Ann Roger's Challenge ornament is to take the canvas off your stretcher bars and trim the finished NP design, leaving about an inch of blank canvas all around the edges. The second step is to make a xerox copy of the trimmed Challenge ornament. Cut the copy out but instead of leaving the 1 inch margin, cut it right up to the edge of the design area. In the photo above you see the ornament cut out with its margin of blank canvas, and the paper copy being trimmed right up to the edge of the design.

You also see the other supplies which will be needed: fabric for the back of the ornament (I choose black felt), fabric to put under the ornament (I choose gold lame, but note this is optional although you will need something underneath to hide the ornament's innards since this design doesn't cover the canvas totally), and a product called finishing foam. I bought a package of finishing foam sheets in assorted colors. My sheets are 6x9 inches and are acid free. They come in assorted colors but the back side is covered with glue. You peel off the protective paper and can glue anything you want to the sticky side. I am using two pieces of black finishing foam. You see one piece with the black side up and one with the paper protective side up that is peeled away to reveal the glue. You can get much larger individual pieces of finishing foam in most crafts stores. It is sold under various brand names and comes non-acid free, without the glue, in all sorts of colors, etc. Just check the label to be sure what you are buying.

If you don't have pre-glued finishing foam, you'll need glue. I prefer an acid-free glue stick. I bought mine in the scrapbooking section of the crafts emporium. Don't put your threads away yet. You will need them in finishing the edge of the ornament. If you have pretty beads or a charm that might look good on your ornament, put it with your finishing supplies. Of course you'll need scissors, but use regular scissors instead of your stitching scissors so you don't dull them cutting the finishing foam.

The next step is to use those non-stitching scissors!


Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Finishing Gay Ann Rogers' Challenge Ornament

This last year I've been sitting in Gay Ann Rogers' cyber classroom auditing her Mystery in a Corner class through the Shining Needle Society. As part of the class, Gay Ann did a follow up ornament called Challenge, which is much smaller than the original class piece but which allowed folks who learned new things stitching Mystery in a Corner to try them out. I stitched the little ornament, which you see above. I call mine Insanity Improv.

Several folks in the class asking for help in finishing their Challenge ornaments and I'm going to post step by step instructions as I finish my piece here, starting now. But first, here is Gay Ann Rogers' website where you can see completed Mystery in a Corner class pieces in the MIAC slideshows. The Challenge ornaments were a follow-up and "final exam" in this class. None are posted on the website yet, however.

http://www.gayannrogers.com/site_2/Home_Page.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

More Lady's Maid Stitches

I wasn't 100% sure until I saw the photo above, but the Oriental Linen stitches that outline the lady's maid's dress and show fold lines are too light in color. I'm going to need a darker gray, darker even than the face outlines. So that will be pulled out tonight. In the photo above you can see the ovals on her dress, some outlined, some filled in. I decided that it would be best to outline an area with the darker Flax N Colors stitches, then fill in with the longer laid Silk N Colors stitches. Whether you stitch the centers first or stitch the outlines, a stitch is going to be slightly disturbed by the stitch that comes next and shares its hole. Better to disturb tent stitches than long ones, don't you think?

Yesterday NC Pat posted a very interesting comment: "
If you are going to have texture in the other two, go with the Rhodes, if not then I would do the tents, as they are both defining the design......Just my humble opinion.....and hiding behind the chair!"

No need to hide, Pat! You make a good point. When does one decide to do lots of texture on all three outfits and when do you do less texture in one (or more) than the other? I think this is a matter of individual taste as there really doesn't seem to be a rule. Putting texture on all three women will make them all equally important and concentrating the bulk of the texture on the central figure of the Geisha will make her the most important figure. I think I am going to make the Geisha the most important person in the design as she holds the central motif--the peach. That seems to make sense to me.

But truly it all depends on what you are doing with a piece.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow