Vandals in Chilly Hollow

Yesterday's photograph of Brenda Stofft's Rabbit Geisha is from her website.  There's a good reason for that beyond the fact that my scanner won't scan entirely a piece that is 7x13 on stretcher bars (which adds 2-3 inches all around), but if you have a weak stomach, you won't want to look at the photo of the canvas above.

This beautiful piece was a gift from a dear friend and I didn't know it was coming in the mail.  Much to my surprise the mail lady showed up at the house one day with an opened mailing box in hand, telling my husband she'd found the package she'd put in the mailbox the day before lying on the side of the road, ripped open, the wrapped contents set fire to by a match, and dumped in the ground in disappointment that there was nothing worth stealing, I guess.  The match and the ribbon that tied the canvas in a roll were in the bottom of the box but the tissue paper was burned away almost entirely.  Some of the canvas was damaged by the fire as you see above.

I was really sick about this, particularly since it was a gift, but the lovely lady who sent this to me briskly told me to pull myself together and not let the sick person who did this win.  So I put the canvas away, determining that I would stitch it and make a masterpiece out of it.  Fortunately there is no burned smell and the damage is repairable.

Here is the bottom of the design.  The three burned areas are in the top half, and the one edge that is charred we can forget about as it will be cut away in finishing.  None of this area is damaged.

But the two burns at the top must be dealt with.  First of all, I patched the burns.  This photo shows the burned hole with a patch in place.  I cut some spare canvas that is the same 18 count size in ecru (I wouldn't use a dark color of canvas for this unless the original canvas is also dark) in a shape that would cover the worst area, then lining up the holes exactly, I stitched it in place using long stitches that I can pull out later.  The second patch is lying on top on the right so you can see the general shape I'll use there.  That is not burned through but the canvas is charred on the back so I want to reinforce this area.  I am not framing this piece as I have no idea what being sealed in a frame might do to a burned piece of NP canvas.

This photo shows both holes patched. The thread tail ends are on top of the canvas so I can easily pull out the stitches when I am ready.  I will need to be careful to pick a stitch that covers the background completely to make sure the patches are secure.  I considered trimming the background around the rabbit geisha but consulted with my finisher who says it'll be easier to use this as a tote bag design if she has squared off edges to work with.  So I am going to use the patches to reinforce the canvas and patch the hole.

I have patched canvases before and never had one separate (my first spliced canvas was done as an experiment in around 1989 when I stitched a glasses case for my Mom who has carried it in her purse for decades without any problem) but you can't do light coverage or very dimensional stitches that are mostly on the front of the canvas instead of going through the holes in these instances. You have to secure the two pieces by stitching right though them both.

I will make sure I do two rows of tent stitches all around the outside edge of the blue painted background to help secure the patches futher.  That way the finisher can trim the patch away if necessary.

By the way, the mail lady now brings any boxes we get to the top of our driveway and leaves them in the open garage.  Both the post office and the sheriff's office told me there was nothing they could do to track down the vandal.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
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