I have three new pet guardian angels lurking in my house. The first one is not finished yet but because my scanner does a better job with unfinished pieces and I wanted you to see the dog's wonderful face, I am posting a photo of the ornament before it's made up. Nancy stitched it one-handed in honor of her Schnauzer Cookie. I am amazed that she did this with only one hand (she hurt her other) and that the face is so real! Nancy tells me she used a special thread for the fur called 100% Suri Alpaca Thread and it comes from Salt River Mills. It is distributed by The First and Last Stitch in St. Louis. She says it is for 13-18 count canvas which meant she could handle one strand one-handed and do long and short stitch on Cookie's face and paw with three shades of charcoal gray.
http://www.saltrivermills.com/Needlepoint_-_Yarn.html
http://www.firstandlast.com/
The second two angels just arrived from South Africa today. Odette stitched them and added all sorts of special touches, like crystal butterflies, a delicate beak, beaded halos, lovely green wings, a perfect little rabbit face, etc. I wish you could see them in person. My scanner does a decent job but you have to see Odette's stitching in person to appreciate it.
Aren't they amazing? I am constantly blown away by the artistry of all the stitchers who contributed to this project.
Tomorrow I will start assembling Nancy's angel for her. With only one hand, she just can't do this. Hopefully I'll do OK with two hands! Cookie the Tudor Dog deserves my very best finishing.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
