December Canvas of the Month (Jane)

The December Canvas of the Month is a 4 inch ornament (on 18 count canvas) from Rebecca Wood Designs called "Down the Chimney".  Chosen by Bonnie because of its simple and traditional design, you can see the canvas and others in the series on the Rebecca Wood website.
http://www.rebeccawooddesigns.com/ornaments.asp?pageno=24

Jane writes:

This traditional design would make a lovely ornament no matter how you stitch it, but since the holiday season is always so rushed, I thought I would try to stitch it a bit differently in a very simple style.  You will need just one thread, either Kreinik's 032 frosty white in blending filament size or Accentuate #300 Opal White.  You could also go gold instead of sparkling white and use Kreinik's 002 gold in blending filament or Accentuate #023 Gold.

Now stitch snowflakes all over the canvas.  Use stitches like the Square Eyelet

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/98-08.php

and the Smyrna Cross

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/1999/99-02.php

as well as the Double Straight Cross

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2001/01-03.php

and perhaps a few Upright Crosses to scatter big and small snowflakes across the design.

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/1999/99-04.php

If you want a large star in the night sky, use the Medallion Stitch (although I'd stick to just snowflakes myself).

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2002/Nov.php

If you are feeling particularly fancy, put a few crystal clear beads (preferably the hex shaped ones to add sparkle like Mill Hill's Magnifica beads #G11009) in the center of some of the largest snowflakes.  It will also add to the festive snow and ice feeling if you use the same beads to bead the rounded edge of the ornament in finishing.  If you choose gold instead of white for your snowflakes, use a few gold beads, preferably Mill Hill's Magnifica beads in #G11036 Victorian Gold as they sparkle more than round beads.

Finish this with either white or gold braid trim into a round ornament.  Put a piece of gold lame underneath the canvas so that more sparkle shows through.  Hang this on your tree, turn on the Christmas lights, and enjoy!

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

December Canvas of the Month (Bonnie)

The December Canvas of the Month is a 4 inch ornament (on 18 count canvas) from Rebecca Wood Designs called "Down the Chimney".  Chosen by Bonnie because of its simple and traditional design, you can see the canvas and others in the series on the Rebecca Wood website.
http://www.rebeccawooddesigns.com/ornaments.asp?pageno=24

Bonnie writes:

First of all warm holiday wishes to everyone who reads this!

This looks like a fun little canvas!  I may have to add it as an ornament to stitch for my girl’s ornament boxes.  I have these boxes with a few ornaments of various techniques that I have made over the years for them with the idea that when they leave home they will have a start for a tree of their own.  I started this the plan of adding one ornament a year, but that didn’t really work.  Some years I add two, some one, some none, but the collection is growing.

This Santa needs some rich textures for his robe and bag, but since the ornament is small there isn’t a lot of room for decorative stitches.

I would start with the Santa suit in a small diagonal brick or a tent stitch (maybe over 2) trying to match the shading with 2 colors of Silk ‘N Ivory. Since the area is so small may find it easier to just tent.    Fur trim in encroaching gobelin – Silk n’ Ivory to match the rest of the coat or a furry fiber, either one slightly brushed when done stitching.  Maybe do turkey tufting for the pom-pom on his hat.  Gloves, a simple tent stitch in Silk ‘N Ivory.  The belt would be a vertical satin stitch in Patent Leather or Ultra Suede.  And finally the boots would be a diagonal satin stitch in patent leather.

Santa’s face and his features are done in a strandable silk in tent stitch since it is such a small area.  His beard and mustache are tent stitched in a fuzzy very white fiber like Designers Dream and then random french knots over the top. May need to add a second color to get shading between beard and mustache or decide to let it all grow together with one color.  Make sure you don’t use the same fiber for his beard/mustache as you did for the coat!

For the chimney, I would use framed brick Cashmere (Amy’s Cookbook chapter 14) in an overdyed cotton for the bricks and a solid color cotton floss for the frame (mortar).  Not sure I would worry about the different shades of the sides of the chimney when picking my colors or do something simple like just change the direction of the stitches on each side instead.  Snow would be Kreinik 032 braid or Caron Snow in random upright crosses (some long upright crosses, some ‘normal’) to try to get some depth or maybe just staggered cross stitches.

I would stitch Santa’s Bag with a T – stitch (also called woven stitch) in two shades of petite very velvet.  Add gold beads on top for the dots on the bag. For the tie on the top of the bag, use a length of Kreinik braid and tie a small bow on the top of the canvas or a knot with end dangling.

And last, the sky in a  4 way continental or Alicia’s lace with a 12 perle cotton or a single strand of cotton floss, just go right over the snowflakes and then add them on top.  Snowflakes, a Smyrna cross in 032 Kreinik braid – may want to vary the size of the braid to get different size snowflakes.

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