Catra: The Egyptian Cat is Finished!

Catra is Finished!

At long last my Egyptian Catra is done. This is a canvas from Tapestry Fair, 10 inches by 11 1/2 on 18 count.  Her official name is "Cleo's Cat" and she is one of a series of Ancient Egyptian-themed designs.  You can see "Bastet" here along with Cleo.
http://www.tapestryfair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=1

And here is "On the Nile."
http://www.tapestryfair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67&Itemid=1

There is also "Pharoah's Dog" for those who aren't cat people but who still love Egyptian themes.
http://bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/product/pharaoh-dog/

Catra Framed

So you see Catra comes from a beautiful family, which made stitching her a challenge.  Ruth Schmuff has done guides for both Bastet and Pharoah's Dog.  Tony Minieri has done guides for Catra and Bastet.  How does one compete with talented stitchers like these?!!!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2013/05/national-bastet-day.html

http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2014/03/the-pharoah-dog.html

http://www.tonyminieri.com/tapestry-fair

The answer is you don't.  You have to do something totally different.  But what?  It turns out the key for my choosing stitches and threads for Catra was to look for matte threads, beads that aren't shiny, and to add touches like the mummy and extra hieroglyphs to the background.

Catra at the County Fair

Catra went off to the county fair, by the way.  She won a first place ribbon but sadly, that's not too hard when you are the only needlepoint entered.  I can see I have to do some education close to home!

But first I need to choose my next project....

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright August 21, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Catra's Two Borders

Beads Test

Now that the cat and background are done, it's time to tackle Catra's bottom border. The real issue after I got it stitched was whether to add beads to the border and if so, where?  I had decided that ivory was the right color of bead since that brought out the color of the hieroglyphs, so I pulled all the beads from my stash with the same ivory color as the hieroglyphics and laid them out on my canvas to see what I liked.  I discovered some pretty gold beads so I included them as well.

You can probably tell I decided that putting beads on top of the orange boxes was the way to go.  Which do you like?

I liked the ivory squares and the "paw print" pattern the best.  However, something in every orange box seemed too much to me so I skipped every other box.  Here's what I ended up with.

Second Beads Test 

As you can see, I tweaked the paw beads a bit to make them a little less crowded-looking.  Now I was ready to find a frame.  I wanted to use a pre-made frame as Catra is going to be entered in the county fair and I don't have time to have her professionally framed.  I measured the dimensions and discovered that the Egyptian Cat was 10 inches wide by 11 1/4 tall.  That's not going to fit in a pre-made frame.  What to do?!

I decided I would add a second border under the first so that Catra was 10x12 inches.  Most pre-made frames are 11x14 but with a mat, she'll fit in a frame.   Here is what I came up with.

Second Border

The second turquoise border you see is the same stitch used in the backgrounds behind the cat and in the orange boxes.  All I've varied in the three places is the thread weight, plus I added a running stitch to my second border to hide the empty spots behind the stitch.

The stitch is a variation of Parisian Stitch, turned on its side.  For the background behind the cat, I used orange size 12 perle cotton.  For the orange boxes in the original border, I used the same perle cotton, but doubled in the needle to provide more coverage.  For the new border, I used one ply of Watercolours and after I finished the stitch, I added a horizontal running stitch (over two, under one) to cover the white canvas between stitches.

I like it.  I think it looks like a roughly woven linen, which would be appropriate for an Egyptian piece.

Next time, I'll reveal the finished Cleo's Cat and talk about what I plan to blog stitch next.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright August 11, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Egyptian Cat Has Jewelry

Tapestry Fair's Egyptian Cat Unstitched

At long last I have finished stitching the jewelry on the Egyptian Cat!  Sorry to have taken so long but summers are very busy in Chilly Hollow.  We have outside chores, house guests, and much more that takes me away from stitching during the summer time.  But at least I've finished the cat's jewelry.  You can see the canvas above without any jewelry.

Catra All Bling'd Out

And here is Catra with her jewelry finished. Oddly, it was the teal green and gold rows on the collar that gave me fits.  I just couldn't get that right.

Testing Palestrina Knots and Detached Buttonhole

First I tried Palestrina Knots on the upper row, left.  Then I tried two rows of detached buttonhole on the lower row, left.  Finally I settled on using Diagonal Mosaic.  I liked the Diagonal Mosaic best.  It gave me the texture of turquoise chips that had holes drilled in them to make jewelry. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Now for the main question--does the orange nose (satin stitches using orange Shimmer Blend ribbon floss) look ok now that the jewelry is in position?

The bottom border is all that remains undone.  Stay tuned!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 24, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.