The End of My Path (Angel with Tree)

The Angel with Tree Finished

As I continued stitching Melissa Shirley's Angel with Tree, I did a little editing of the design and of stitches chosen for it.  The photo above is the finished Angel, with her jacket, apron, skirt, petticoat, shoes and stockings and of course her little Christmas tree stitched.  If you compare my version with Melissa Shirley's unstitched canvas here,
http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galsearch/index.cgi?index=1430178336_7822&col=

…you will see that my version has the gray line of the skirt and petticoats stitched from left to right, although the original has the gray lines only on the left side.  As I worked I just felt that the line needed to extend all the way across.  So I did took it all the way across the bottom of the skirt.

When it came to choosing the jacket stitch (I used Combination Scotch and Inverse Mosaic Stitch) I decided that I would only do the first two steps in the stitch.  Adding beads as shown in the diagram above just seemed Too Much.  So I didn't.

You are stitching to a mental image that is informed by your own taste.  Sometimes the original design will need a bit added or taken away to fit what you are trying to do.  One of the problems people have in coming up with their own ideas for a painted canvas is that they do not trust either their instincts or their ability to figure out what is right and wrong with something they are working.

You just have to be brave and try it.  You can always rip out.  I audition a lot of stitches before choosing what I think works.  And if something that I start isn't working, I try something else.  It takes self-confidence and experience to do this but it is the only way to up your stitching game to the next level.  Learn to look critically at what you have done (most people are very critical of their own stitching so this will be easy) and then analyze what you don't like and how to fix it (which is much harder but you can learn).

The stitch guide moral here is to trust your own judgement.  You don't have to stitch a design exactly how it is painted or use a stitch exactly the way it is diagrammed.

Thanks again to Melissa Shirley Designs for allowing me to blog-stitch Angel with Tree.  Hope you enjoyed peeking over my shoulder to see her develop.  Her stitch guide is available for purchase from me, by the way.  Your favorite shop can pick up the canvas for you from Melissa herself.
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/2017/05/angel-with-tree-melissa-shirley-and.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 28, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.