Yesterday I spent some time looking at my four sets of threads for the Stars for the New Millennium project. I discovered that I had my A1 and A4 mixed up so I needed to make sure I didn't have other errors. I also needed to read the instructions several times to figure out where I stopped work 3-4 years ago when I put Stars down.
To work this piece you choose four colors: A is a main color, B is the sashing color--sashing is what quilters call the borders between quilt blocks--and a second main color, C is your neutral, and D is an accent color. You also need an overdyed floss that includes at least these four colors. Most folks start by choosing the overdye and then picking their four ABCD colors based on it.
Naturally I didn't do that but more on this later.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
Mr. Minieri tells you what type of thread (floss, perle cotton, tapestry wool, etc.) you need for A1 or C3, and you can look at the list of threads he used to see what brand he used to get another idea of what type of thread he recommends if you need to substitute.
I think I'm going to need more of my A1 and B1 threads. B1 is black Soie de Crystale and I have three skeins but I'm not sure it'll be enough. I was clever enough to choose threads that I thought I needed more than one skein of from brands that don't have a lot of color variation among skeins, but I didn't think about getting enough of A1 to do the outside border which is purple in Tony's model in the photo. I am using Impressions for A1 currently but I think I might look at Vineyards Silk and see if there's a good violet color in their line in March to use as A1 when I get to the Woodlawn needlework exhibit and visit the local shops. There are a lot of threads available now that weren't available in 1999 when Stars was published and I think I'd like to include a new thread, particularly one that covers as well as Vineyards silk does.
This means that I can't do the outer border yet. I will have to finish the two corners and the top borders without stitching the outside edge of those areas in A1.
I'll publish the threads I am using section by section. I anticipate that I'll use both Impressions and Vineyards Silks for A1, depending on what area I am stitching.
I don't know if you saw Sara Leigh's comment that her stitching group (which is working on Stars right now) all spent right around $100 on threads. They used threads from their stashes whenever possible. As far as I know, all the stitchers are using one of the 13 colorways listed in the instructions. Is that right, SL?
Guess I'm going to have to settle down and work on Stars today instead of shoveling snow!
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
4 comments:
I'm the odd duck in SL's group who is not using an already established colorway. I'm going with chocolate brown, blue, white, and a silvery-gray-blue. That explains why I making my own overdyed, eh? LOL
Good for you, Donna! Your colors sounds beautiful. I'm faking an overdye, too. Violet, black, terra cotta and copper don't exist as an overdye already.
Yes, Donna is the brave one. I was a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of making up my own colorway. I sort of wish I had, although I don't think I'd go Donna's route and dye my own variegated thread.
A note about the colorways provided in the book: Two of the Silk 'N Colors have been discontinued (one is Morning Garden and I can't remember the other), so their colorways would be problematic but not impossible. One colorway used Needle Necessities, but that's easily replaced by its ThreadWorx equivalent.
Sara Leigh, I am going to fake my overdye as there isn't a violet, black, terra cotta and copper overdye. I do have a terra cotta/copper overdye that Vikki Clayton did for me as a test. It's not really all that appealing on its own, but I am sure Vikki could do any overdye you wanted if you provided her guidance and were willing to wait on her schedule. Here's her site.
http://hand-dyedfibers.com/
When I first started this project around 2002, the two Silk 'N Colours (Morning Garden and Spring Frocks according to my notes) were already discontinued. Of course they might have been in the stitchers' stash for a very long time before they were used in Tony's classes. That's one of the problems of choosing threads for a project. The Kreinik milk chocolate with stars color I love and just used on O'jishi has been discontinued. Nothing lasts in this world.
I think if you are not a threadaholic, it would be pretty overwhelming to choose your own threads. I loved that process but it took me weeks to work out with help from my fellow threadaholic Linda. However, you can always substitute something as you work if you don't like the effect.
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