Three Stitchers, Four Background Stitches (Day of the Dead)

Before we talk about the Day of the Dead canvases from Manuel Salas/Tapestry Fair and my progress since last week, check out what Sheena's been doing when she isn't working Pocito.  Nice job, Sheena!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2012/01/im-such-flirt.html

Sheena has also been stitching her background for her Pocito (green background).  You can read about it on her blog and see why she created a second background stitch after the first seemed not quite right.  I found this fascinating because I also came up with a very similar background idea independently.
http://sheenassweetstitches.com/zia-stitch-re-done/2012/01/sample-post/

I've always loved Peter Ashe's Southwestern designs.  See this?  Look at the sun.
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/proddetail.php?prod=oldsantafe

Here it is again.
http://rittenhouseneedlepoint.com/index.php/pueblo-sun.html

I just loved how Peter Ashe treated his suns so I thought I'd try to chart a stitch that resembles his sun shape for Belleza's purple background.  The diagram below is what I came up with.  See how similar/different it is from Sheena's two versions?  I'll probably use the one on the left for my background.

Peter Ashe Sun Stitches, Diagrammed by Sheena James

I discovered that Sheena's zia and my Southwestern sun are actually taken from sun icons created by the Zia Indians. A zia symbol is on the flag of New Mexico.  So Belleza and Pocito are from New Mexico!  LOL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zia_people#The_Zia_Sun_Symbol

I also created a skull shape for a background stitch, but we'll talk about that later on.  With Sheena's two zias, my Peter Ashe sun symbol and the skull stitch, that makes four background stitches to choose from.

However, I've discovered that Sheena and I are in the "backgrounds first" camp while Janet is definitely a "backgrounds last" person.  She won't even think about her background until most of her Pocito is stitched.  Janet's way of stitching got me thinking because she works totally differently than I do, but she does it because she wants to make sure that her background stays in the background. I normally do my background first, but for the same reason.  I think this means our brains are wired differently.  It is easier for me to pick a background stitch first and easier for Janet to pick it last.  For this piece, I'm working the way Janet does, so I have put my Peter Ashe stitch away and won't do my background until nearly the end.  But that raises an interesting question.  I have added a poll at the top of Blog's right hand column--are you a Backgrounds First or a Backgrounds Last person?

Thanks for voting!


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