Canvas of the Month by Jane (Snow Cat)

My Canvas of the Day postings with stitch ideas have been very popular but they take more time than I have to write except occasionally. Blog readers love them, however, so I have recruited a guest writer to help me come up with ideas for a painted canvas occasionally.

Please welcome Bonnie, who is going to do a Canvas of the Month entry periodically with me. The way this will work is that Bonnie and I will take turns choosing a painted canvas, then both of us will write up ideas for stitching it. Each set of ideas will be a separate blog entry so you can see different approaches to the same piece. We hope to do this once a month but with the holidays approaching like a runaway train, don't be surprised if we can't meet that schedule.

The first canvas is Bonnie's choice: Snow Cat from Brenda Stofft. This is an 18 count canvas that is 9 inches high and 6 wide. There is a Snow Bunny canvas that is very similar also in Brenda Stofft's line of canvas although it is narrower, only 4 1/2 inches wide. http://www.brendastofftdesigns.com/PC120048.JPG

You've just read Bonnie's thoughts about stitching this canvas. Mine are below. I should add that Bonnie and I wrote up our thoughts separately without having read the other person's approach first. I hope that you'll find our similarities and differences interesting.   Note that she thought that the lighter blue on the ground was more snow and I thought it was water but Bonnie's daughter thinks it is ice.  All ideas are ones that would lead a stitcher to try a slightly different stitch and/or thread, and all are "right" although perhaps not what the designer intended.

I think the first thing I would do is make a color copy of the canvas so that I could stitch right over the snowflakes all over the canvas areas, then add them back in at the end.  Now remove the gold snowflake charms and put them in a safe place. They will be reattached at the very end. 

This design is unusual in that there is so much fur in the piece. The cat is furry, of course, and wears a jacket and hat trimmed in fur. The eyes should be stitched first in something a bit wet looking like Flair or a metallic. Do the black outline and pupil in the same type of thread. I would stitch the face, ears, paws, tail and legs in tent stitch using shades of ivory and gray, charcoal and black in silk/wool blends like Impressions or in Vineyard Silks.

Once the cat body is finished, stitch the blue stocking cap and the jacket in Interlocking Goblein. I would use a wool or wool/silk thread that matches the lovely light blue shades. When the blue jacket and cap areas are finished, stitch the white fur trim in a thread that is stark white, using Double Stitch, which is made up of a large cross stitch four threads high but only one wide that alternates with a small cross stitch over just one thread intersection. I would use something like perle cotton as the thread for this as it would contrast with the fur on the cat's body and the jacket and hat. It is also a stitch easy to compensate, which is important when you are stitching a round or curved section. 

For the dark blue sky, use navy blue Kreinik (or any metallic you prefer) and stitch the entire area in Diagonal Triple Parisian Stitch. Remember, you will stitch right over the snowflakes. When the dark blue sky is done, use Diagonal Triple Parisian stitch to stitch the light blue water area behind the cat, in a matching metallic thread. When you choose the dark blue and light blue metallic threads, use a lighter weight thread for the dark blue than the light blue water. You will want the light blue area to be slightly heavier than the dark blue sky. 

For the snow, try Criss Cross Hungarian in Caron's Snow, which is a metallic chainette-type thread. It comes in various colors, including white and blue, so you will be able to switch colors as necesary as you work each row. When you are finished, put a small white or blue bead (or French knot using your Snow if you don't like beads) in the empty spots between the slanting groups of lines. You could also do a tiny cross stitch in metallic thread. Silver might look very pretty with the blue and the white Snow. 

Now it is time to work on the staff. I like to use ribbon floss for barber pole stripes. Work other from the top of the staff, alternating the ribbon floss colors, and lay long diagonal lines. Tent stitch the snowman in the same white thread you used for the fur trim, then add black stitches for the eyes and mouth. These can be either French knots or small tent stitches. Stitch the carrot nose in a bright orange thread, using long stitches laid in a triangle shape to the point of the nose. It probably will be easiest to use cotton floss for the orange nose. Once the snowman and his features are done, add two beads for the buttons on his front. Using a pink wool or wool/silk blend,put a few short horizontal stitches in the brim area, making sure to stay well inside the painted area. Now stitch the pink hat brim using long slanted stitches right over the padding. This will give the hat brim some dimension. Do a few turkeywork stitches in the round pink area at the tip of the snowman's hat. Leave the loops uncut until the end. You may decide that you want to not cut them at all, or you may want to cut the loops and then trim the loose ends to make a more furry ball. Using a wool or wool/silk blend in green and the same pink thread you have been using, lay long diagonal stitches again, following the painted area. You may use the green to do a few straight horizontal stitches at the base of the fuzzy ball at the tip of the stocking cap. 

To do the long strings that hang off the staff and the handle and trim of the purse, you need to couch gold Kreink (probably #8 or #12 size) along the right areas. Refer to the color copy to see exactly where to place things. Once all the strings are on, attach red beads to the purse dangles. 

Stitch the snowman purse itself entirely in tent stitches, using the same threads you have used on the snowman that tops the staff.  I would also stitch the blue and white snowballs in tent stitches, using cotton floss as well. If you want to be really fancy, try using blue and white metallics for the snowballs, but not the blue and white Snow which I think a bit thick for the tiny area. 

Once everything is stitched, now you can add the white snowflakes. Pull out your color copy and put white beads everywhere there is a small snowflake. Once they are done, do the large snowflakes using a fuzzy thread like Cashmere in a very loose stitch. Come up through the background and then lay the stitch in any direction that you need. You will have a very fluffy large flake here and there on the canvas. Note that you don't have to use as many snowflakes as on the original canvas. With everything stitched over, no one will know that your Snow Cat is supposed to be standing in a blizzard. 

The final step is to attach the gold snowflake charms at the end of the staff dangles. Note that Bonnie didn't think the gold snowflakes were charms--she thought they were painted on. Neither of us have seen this canvas in person so we don't know whether the gold snowflakes can be attached later but for the purposes of coming up with stitch ideas, it really doesn't matter. 

Stay tuned next month (if Christmas doesn't kill all our free time) for my Canvas of the Month choice.

Again, many, many thanks to Bonnie for being my guest blogger for this monthly canvas ideas series!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow