My Wisteria Teapot

What you see on the right is my next project, a teapot with a wisteria and white latticework pattern. This is a really cheap eBay find which I got for something like $5 including shipping because the canvas itself is flawed. I think the designer is Melissa Shirley and so did the eBay seller, but the canvas doesn't have MS on it like most of hers do. It is marked 290 C with another line of letters that are illegible. It resembles other Melissa Shirley small teapots so I think she is the designer.

This piece is about 3 inches high and about 4 inches wide at the widest point. It is on 18 count canvas. Look carefully at the right side of the teapot between the handle and the wisteria stems on the body of the teapot. See the flaw? There's another gray line at the base of the wisteria stem near the bottom of the teapot. I got this at a very good price because of the flaws. When you think about buying damaged canvases like this, consider how bad the damage is and whether it will hinder your stitching first. Because the line of gray is a vertical or horizontal line, it is easy to tell what is supposed to be there. I'll stitch right over it without any problem.

When buying a painted canvas, the first thing to do is analyze exactly what you've got and make a color copy of it. I have my color copy made, so let's list what we have here:

First, this canvas is ornament-sized, which is perfect as I intend it as a birthday present for my mother who loves teapots and flowers. It will be a quick stitch and fairly easy for me to make up myself in time for her birthday celebration.

Secondly, the motifs are the wisteria flowers and vine, the latticework, the leaves and the teapot shape itself with the rounded corners and the fat little spout. I need to emphasize those things and de-emphasize the body of the teapot itself. Since I intend to use silk ribbon embroidery for the wisteria flowers, they will be last. Everything else will be stitched first and I'll test the right size and colors of ribbon and the stitches I might use for the wisteria blooms while I work on other parts of the canvas. Since I want the blue teapot body to recede, I will tent stitch it. So that's my first step, more endless basketweave, after I choose threads, of course!

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