Last night I pulled out all the sizes of Kreinik's 002 gold I had and started trying to figure out a smaller version of Maltese Cross for the background. As you can see in the photo above, I haven't worked out anything yet. I discovered I had trouble seeing to stitch with gold thread on a gold background. I'll try again today while it is still light. I probably will use either my 002 blending filament or the #4 braid for the Maltese Stitch background, but that is still up in the air.
I ended up stitching the left corner in diagonal mosaic as specified with my Kreinik 002 gold in size #12 braid. I need to put the cross on top but I discovered my On The Surface vintage gold thread didn't show up enough against the gold Kreinik so I pulled it out. I'll have to see how the two threads look in natural light and rummage around for a better color to put on top of the gold. Red Kreink might look very nice, actually, especially since I already covered my halo edge in red beads....
I always intended to do a second border around the fancy frame painted around the two icons. For inspiration, I turned to SharonG who puts lovely borders around her designs. You can see two examples all diagrammed out for you in ANG's Stitch of the Month for 2005. SharonG did a wonderful dragonfly kimono pattern then.
Here's her Favorite Border. Isn't it lovely?
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/oct.php
And here is the border I used as inspiration--Simply Elegant Border #1.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/mar.php
If you look at this smaller photo, you see the upper left hand corner with it's diagonal mosaic stitches in gold and the Kreinik 002 gold (#16 braid) laid in two parallel ditches around the outside of the original frame. At the bottom I've started couching the thread down with a strand of my On the Surface Vintage Gold metal thread. It is pretty subtle but I hope the change in color of the couching thread adds a bit to the piece. It's often the little things that make a difference! You can also see that I'll added three tie down stitches to the corner to make this more like a frame. That's a wonderful touch in my opinion. SharonG is very, very smart!
Now I need to look for red metallic threads for the original border and the crosses that go on top. Wish me luck!
By the way, I've been meaning to mention that I try to explain why I choose the threads/stitches/colors/whatever I did when stitching a painted canvas but if you are at all insecure of your ability to do this all on your own, a canvas that comes with its own stitch guide is a good investment. You can finish a project and know what it'll look like and learn enough to give yourself confidence for the next time. I just discovered that The Needle Works in Austin, Texas has photos of 73 canvases that come with a stitch guide included on their website. It's a nice place to browse if you want a little help before you start your first painted canvas.
http://www.theneedleworks.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=27
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
2 comments:
Jane,
I love all those border links you gave. Quite lovely. Something for me to keep in mind.
Thanks also for the link about the painted canvas with stitch guides. I just may let myself be tempted, but not just now, as got way too many projects screaming at me to get them done. Can't even hear myself think anymore with all this cacophony :-(
Pierrette =^..^=
Hope you find them helpful, Pierrette. And I hope you make room for a painted canvas someday!
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