The Cat, The Bat and the Pumpkin

The above design is what I've been working on during the last month.  This is Debbie Mumm's "Cat and Bat."  It's on 18 count and the ornament is three inches in diameter.  

http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galsearch/index.cgi?index=1347988786_5152&col=&cat=

I choose it as Halloween and autumn are in the air here in Chilly Hollow and I wanted something to try various stumpwork techniques on.  Can you tell how raised the cat's face and leg are?

Stumpwork techniques are becoming more popular in needlepoint.  Kimberly's "Dragon and Son" design is a great example.

http://www.akimberlydesign.com/2020/09/the-journey.html

So is what Kelly Clark is doing with her canvases.  Click on Stumpwork to see closeups.

https://www.kellyclarkstudio.com

These techniques can be used on any type of canvas whither it is painted, line drawn or charted.  All you need is a little imagination and some idea how to go about it.  You have to supply the imagination but I can tell you how I did this, to help you get started.

Using several raised elements on one design is always a challenge because some things need to be more prominent than others.  The first thing you have to decide is what is most prominent, what is less so, and what is receding into the background?  For me, the cat is the most prominent thing, then the bat, and finally the pumpkin.  Not every canvas has such obvious focal points, though.  

The first item I want to talk about is Mr. Pumpkin.  I decided to bead him.  I like brick stitch beading for solid areas.  It's fast and easy and works well for size 11 beads.  Luckily I had just the right shade of orange beads in my stash.  Unluckily, I only had black in size 14.  So the eyes and nose and mouth of Mr. Pumpkin were also brick stitch beaded with black beads, then I added beads here and there in the somewhat empty black spaces to fill in.  It's easy to just add a bead with a tent stitch if necessary.   I suggest if you have to mix sizes like I did, that you check after each new bead to see what you think.  It's easy to remove a bead if it's not working after each stitch.  The pumpkin stem is stem stitch using Straw Silk, by the way.  

I like the subtle sparkle of the pumpkin.  He doesn't overwhelm but you won't overlook him, either.

Next time, I'll talk about creating Mr. Bat.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright September 20, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Pharaoh Ramses II is Finished

My Leigh Designs Pharaoh is done!  Here is what he looks like.  Click on the photo to see a larger view.

I used two of the larger Gemstone beads from Sundance and a mix of olive-tan, red and gunmetal colors from Sundance's Color Inspiration Collections: Shells for the rest of the beaded area.  The beads are still wiggly and easily move out of position.  I've gone through them all 3-4 times to try and keep them in position but they are contrary things.  I may add a dab of glue on a toothpick to keep the worst offenders in place later.  (I use Eileen's Tacky Glue which dries clear.)  But I will wait until I decide how I am going to finish this before I actually use glue.

Here's a tilted photo to give you a better idea of the dimension I have.  By the way, I've always planned to not stitch the little hanger at the top of the ornament, so this section of the canvas has been ignored.  I didn't forget it—promise!

So what do you think?  Did I meet my goal of conveying a granite statue that wasn't overshadowed by a fancy feather fan?  Did my change of the gold and white striped background to a zigzag one work out well?  Would you stitch this?  

I hope to add more of the series to my stash and probably will do others from the Egyptian Dynasty collection over time.  Until then, time to move on to another project!

By the way, I have listed all the postings about this design on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog so you can easily follow along as I blog stitch this.
https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2020/08/pharoahs-fan-finished.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 15, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Pharoah's Fan Finished

Last time we talked I had chosen the beads to use on Pharaoh's feather fan.  But I had not finished stitching the head and shaft of the fan before adding the beads.  I could have just tent stitched the whole thing except for the spaces where I wanted to put beads, but I thought given that all the beads I'm using are round and some are really large for the space, that I might do little boxes around most of the places where the beads go to help corral them into position.  Beads are very wiggly things, especially round beads like the smaller ones I'm using from Sundance's Color Inspiration Collections.

So I got out my size 8 Kreinik gold and went to work.  First I did a little ladder shape — going up the shaft.  I was able to do the straight stitches going vertical as I went around the arched area so it looked natural.



Then I did back stitches with my Kreinik gold to make the sides of the little boxes.  I ended up with this.  At the bottom of the head of the fan I added a few tent stitches to cover spots that were not even.  Hopefully you can see where I am am going—I have empty spaces to settle my beads!

Boxes Done

I attached the beads in sections, doing the beads around the outside of the gold head first, then adding the rest of the head except for the two spots where I planned to use larger Gemstone beads.  Finally I worked down the shaft adding beads there.  I had to go through each bead 2-3 times to get them roughly where they belonged, using clear beading thread from Gutermann's. 

This is what I use.  It is actually nylon machine thread that I buy from Joann's Fabrics.  It comes in clear and brown.  
https://www.joann.com/gutermann-invisible-thread-273-yards/prd37982.html#start=1

I used the clear.  This is a thinner version of the clear beading thread you buy from companies like The Collection.  I like it better than the fatter version but it does knot itself.  However, a friend gave me a great tip—run a length through a flat iron and it straightens right out.  I never would have thought to do this myself for fear the flat iron would melt the nylon thread, but she turns her flat iron on low.  My flat iron—the cheapest one I could find at Walmart— doesn't have temperature control but I ran it over the thread as fast as possible and it straightened out fine with no melting.  It was also very well behaved after that!  Thanks, Sheena!

This is getting long so next time I'll show the finished fan and we'll talk about the final piece.

By the way, I have listed all the postings about this design on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog so you can easily follow along as I blog stitch this.

https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2020/08/pharoahs-fan-finished.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 15, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Pharaoh's Feather Fan

Fan Feathers Done

Once I finished the feathers on the fancy fan behind Leigh's Pharaoh, it was time to stitch the rest of the fan.  Above is the fan with all the feathers stitched so you can see how it doesn't overwhelm the statue of Ramses II.

If you look carefully at the fan you'll see I've done a lot of tent stitching on the head of the fan.  The red area is stitched and at this point I've also added gold tent stitches with Kreinik around the head's central area.  I ended up tent stitching the golden yellow areas, too.  With all that out of the way, I could bead the rest of the head section.  But first, I needed to rummage in my stash for beads in the right colors.  

Here's what I selected, all from Sundance Needlepoint.

Gemstone Beads from Sundance

Color Inspirations Collections from Sundance

The Gemstone beads are 3mm in diameter, roughly, which makes them larger than size 11 beads.  The little round beads from the Color Inspiration Collections: Shell are smooth and much smaller, probably close to a size 14 bead.  They are also more even.  The gemstone beads have been tumbled to shape I think and they are not smooth.  I like all of them.  The colors are right and I think they will add to the feather fan without drawing too much attention from Pharaoh.

When I laid them on the canvas, though, it was obvious that 3mm beads are too large.  I hope you can see the beads laid on the canvas.  One of the gemstone beads is at the bottom of the fan head and there is a smaller round bead below it and also one to the left.  

For me, scale is very important on a painted canvas.  Unless I'm stitching a portrait of Dolly Parton, I don't want one are to overwhelm another.  So although I might be able to use a few of the larger Gemstone beads, I will have to bead the fan head and shaft with mostly the smaller ones from the Shell Inspiration Collection.

However, before I can bead, I have something else to do.  Those who have sharp eyes can see the next step which I've already done but not described.

By the way, I have listed all the postings about this design on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog so you can easily follow along as I blog stitch this.

https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2020/08/pharoahs-fan-finished.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 15, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Pharaoh's Statue

Highlights on Basketweave

I've finished basketweaving the statue on my Pharaoh canvas!  It took a while to do because I had to do the black areas in stolen moments during the day when I could see to stitch black on black.  I am not sure you can see the final touch I added to the basketweave.  I added metallic highlights.  To do this, use a very fine metallic and a beading needle.  Then turn the canvas a quarter turn so that Pharaoh is lying down and do a few tent stitches over the tent stitch layer you've already done.

This is the thread I used—Sulky's overdyed #7027 which is a mix of gold, red and green.   Sulky is a machine embroidery thread that is very fine.
https://www.sulky.com/catalog/sub/thread/metallic/original/

I bought my spool at Joann's Fabrics.  I had a spool of copper Accentuate but I liked the color mix of the Sulky so that's what I used.  There are sparkles on his shoulder, around his eye and cheek and a few on his headdress.  They are hard to see but this is the best photo I could get.  In person the sparkle is more apparently.  I wanted the look of granite which has crystals in it.

Once the statue was done, it's time to stitch the feather fan.  I'll explain how I worked that next time.

By the way, I have listed all the postings about this design on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog so you can easily follow along as I blog stitch this.
https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2020/08/pharoahs-fan-finished.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 4, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wrestling with Pharaoh's Background

The last time I showed you Pharaoh, I was basketweaving the statue and trying to figure out how to stitch the cream and gold striped background.  The black areas on the statue took a long time as I had to stitch them during the day when I don't really have stitching time. I find black on black (and navy on navy) too difficult to do after dark, even with good lighting.  So I stitched a length of thread each day in the daytime, which is all I have time for.  But the statue is finally done.  More on him in a minute.  Let's talk about the background of the canvas now.

Background Auditions

I knew I wanted to use DMC's cotton floss in ecru but I had no idea what stitch would look best.  I needed something smooth and on a small scale that wouldn't outshine the statue or the fan.  I needed a background stitch that would stay in the background and not try to overshadow anything.  So I did some testing of various background stitch that are small and not overpowering.  That's the mess in the margins.

I ended up with two stitches that I liked and tested on the canvas itself.  The top stitch is Double Hungarian, stitched with three plies of the cotton floss.  It is in rows like the stripes are painted but the gold paint shows through and it seems a little too busy now that I've stitched a few rows.

The bottom stitch is Byzantine 2 which I found in Ruth Schmuff's iStitches Volume One.  It is a smaller version of regular Byzantine stitch which normally is over 3 or more threads.  You can see the stitch and other variations of Byzantine diagrammed on Susan Robert's Needlepoint Teacher website. She calls it Byzantine Variation 1.
https://www.needlepointteacher.com/stitches/numbered-a-b/byzantine-variations/

I ended up using Byzantine 2 (also called Byzantine Variation 1) with my three plies of DMC cotton floss in ecru.

Cream and Gold Area Done

As a finishing touch, I backstitched the "ditch" between the rows of the Byzantine stitch with gold Bijoux, which is a very thin gold metallic.  That adds a touch of subtle gold in keeping with the original cream and gold paint job.  Note that I ripped out the cream area at the top of the ornament and restitched it as lime.  I didn't think the compensation of the Byzantine stitch at the top would look good.

Original Unstitched Canvas

As a reminder, here is how the design was originally painted by Leigh Designs.  You can see I adjusted the cream areas to work with my vision of Pharaoh.

Next time I'll finish the statue and add a special touch, then tackle the feather fan.

By the way, I have listed all the postings about this design on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog so you can easily follow along as I blog stitch this.
https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2020/08/pharoahs-fan-finished.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 4, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Let's Create a Pharaoh Statue

Brick Stitch on Head

Last time I showed you my Leigh Designs Pharaoh Ramses II, I was stitching away on the statue.  I'd chosen to use brick stitch over two for the coronet on top of the Pharaoh's head, then tent stitches on the rest of him.  The photo above shows my progress.

I swear that the tent stitches on his face and the brick stitches on top of his head are the same color of DMC cotton.  They are even done from the same skein, so there are no dye lot color changes.  What you see is the play of light on the straight brick stitches versus less light bouncing off Pharaoh's face.   There is a darker terra-cotta color in DMC cotton but it was too red to use, so my only option is to rip out the brick stitches, even though I like the texture of them on his headpiece.

All Tent Stitches

I ended up with what you see above.  It's much better.  I still really like brick stitch, however, so I used it on the cream and gold stripes on the left side.  It's running in a horizontal fashion.  I just turned the canvas on its side so Pharaoh was lying down to stitch it smoothly.

More Brick Stitch—and More Ripping

And that's too much texture!  Sigh  I'm going to have to rip the brick stitches out and try for a smoother look that doesn't detract from the fan and statue.  Oh, well, on the bright side I managed to do basketweave on the cream section at the top under the ornament hardware and in the lime section of the fan.  I had originally planned something else for the lime sections of the fan but I don't have lime in the threads I plan to use.  Given the difficulty of shopping for it, I opted to use tent stitches for the lime. 

By the way, the lime area is done in size 8 perle cotton but I had to rip out the size 8 perle cotton section in ecru.  The ecru thread seemed thicker than the lime, even though they are both size 8.  The lime is from Prescencia and the ecru is from DMC, so probably the manufacturer of one makes a skinner version of size 8 than the other.  Not to worry, I used three plies of DMC cotton floss in ecru and that looks good.

Plans change all the time as I stitch.  Sometimes things don't work, sometimes I can't get threads or embellishments I want.  So needlepoint embellishment for me is always changing and evolving to meet my mental idea of what I want a painted canvas to be.  This involves a lot of ripping out but sometimes you don't know what it will look like until you try and sometimes the threads surprise you.  On Pharaoh the threads and stitches certainly threw me a lot of curve balls!

Stay tuned to see what surprises the threads and stitches have for me next time.  

By the way, I have listed all the postings about this design on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog so you can easily follow along as I blog stitch this.

https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2020/08/pharoahs-fan-finished.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 26, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Introducing Pharaoh Ramses II

I have chosen my next painted canvas, an Egyptian Dynasty ornament from Leigh Designs.  It is four inches in diameter (if you ignore the metal hanger for the ornament) and is on 18 count sandstone canvas.  This is called Ramses and it is one of a series of eight designs.  You can see all of the set here.
https://needlepointus.com/products.asp?cat=Leigh+Designs&pg=8






I suspect it was inspired by the photo of Pharaoh Ramses II in the British Museum.
https://sites.google.com/site/100objectsbritishmuseum/home/statue-of-ramesses-ii

This is going to be a challenge as the statue should look like solid granite and it cannot be overshadowed by the fancy feather fan on the left side.

Of course the pinkish clay color of the statute provided impossible to match in thread. The closest I've come is DMC cotton floss in 356. I wanted a metallic sheen to the statue—that's not only realistic as granite has some sparkle naturally from the crystals in it, but it will help to focus the eye on the statue, not the feather fan—but that's impossible. I studied the Kreinik online color card for a long time. They have a lot of pinks and a lot of siennas. It's possible that the new color 5006 Ore will work.
https://www.123stitch.com/item/Kreinik-Ore-5006-8-Braid/B85006

I thought about ordering Ore but I suspect it is more salmon than brick-clay in color, so I stuck with the DMC cotton floss. I have a plan that might work. Or it might not.  Fortunately I can always rip out.  I already have, in fact.  My first thought was to use the DMC 356 to attach clear beads. I tried that last night using both size 11 round clear beads and size 15 round clear beads with an iridescent finish. The smaller beads have too much sparkle that hides the color of the paint and the thread used to attach them. The size 11 round beads do let the color show better but it's not right. The beads detract from the statue. You see the round shape of the beads more than the detail of the statue, so Plan A is out!

On to Plan B. Here's what I got done last night. The circlet on top of his head is the circlet of uraei, according to the museum website above. That roughly means the sacred serpent. Egyptian art often used stylized cobra to signify sacred snakes. The statue is wearing a circle of them, sort of like a diadem. I used brick stitch over two (3 plies) there and I used my DMC 356 in basketweave on his neck (3 plies).  Plan B says to use the brick stitch in black DMC cotton floss (also 3 plies) for the shadow on the right of the face and the head cloth in shadow.  I'm not sure that will work. The head cloth might need to be in tent stitch, which is what I plan to use for the face, neck and shoulders using my DMC 356 with touches of black for the features.

Guess we'll have to see how this plays out.  I have an idea about how to add metallic sparkle and a gloss of hardness to the statue but that needs to wait until I have the whole thing stitched.  I'll come back with a progress report once I have something to report.

By the way, I have listed all the postings about this design on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog so you can easily follow along as I blog stitch this.
https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2020/08/pharoahs-fan-finished.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 21, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

I Want to Stitch A Belt UPDATED

Let's Stitch a Belt!

I've noticed that many nights I am too tired to stitch anything complicated. but I still want to keep my hands busy. So I took a dive into The Stash and pulled out some narrow scrap canvas and all my colors of size 8 perle cotton to make myself a belt.  Then I borrowed a set of small scroll bars from a friend and put the canvas on the roller bars.  To do this, you need to first measure your belt size, cut the canvas the proper length to fit your waist, and make sure your canvas for the belt isn't wider than the scroll bars.  Then you sew each end of the plain canvas to the material stapled to the roller bars, using long basting stitches.  (See above.)  I also marked with a pencil the start line on my canvas.  The end line (I need 35 inches of belt length*) is also marked but of course you can't see that because it is rolled out of sight.  I will roll my end tighter when I start to stitch.  I just wanted you to see the basting stitches.  You'll need a sharp needle and a thin thread (like size 16 perle cotton or regular sewing thread) to baste the canvas to the stretcher bar fabric.

If you do a lot of belts, invest in K's belt frame.  You can see it below, mounted in a table stand.
http://kscreations.com/acc_belt.htm

You can also use regular scroll or roller frames in your floor stand.  I borrowed a small scroll frame (the dimensions are roughly seven inches for the side bars where the fabric is attached and eight inches for the bars that are normally at the top or bottom).
https://www.amysgoldenstrand.com/store/p1833/K%27s_Creations_Belt_Frame_12%22.html

Some folks also stitch belts in hand, rolling each end and clipping it shut with something like the giant paper clips available at office supply stores.

I'll be stitching this turned on end, with the side bars that have the nuts to tighten/loosen the canvas on the top and bottom.  Here's another view so you can see the two rows of basting I did.

I charted two vaguely Asian motifs (a flower and a paper lantern) for my belt.  I've decided to use dark navy blue for the background and will stitch the motifs in other contrasting colors.

My Size 8 Perle Cotton Threads

Stay tuned!

*As always, think about finishing before you start a project.  Since I plan to send my stitched belt to Hill Top Leather Shop to make up into a belt, I read over their belt information very carefully.  That's how I know my belt needs to be 35 inches long and that the first and last two inches of stitching will be covered by the leather and buckle of the finished belt.    The belt finisher you choose may use different finishing techniques, so always check with them first.
https://hilltopleather.com/belt-finishing

UPDATE:  Here is belt information from Needlepoint.com.  They want something totally different when it comes to measuring a belt length and how to work the edges.  The moral is, always ask how to measure the length and the preferred edging technique before you start your belt.
https://needlepoint.com/blogs/needlepoint-know-how/everything-you-need-to-know-about-stitching-a-belt?utm_source=Needlepoint.Com&utm_campaign=ece01b8591-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_07_12_06_57&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6eed0b10d5-ece01b8591-579725333&goal=0_6eed0b10d5-ece01b8591-579725333&mc_cid=ece01b8591&mc_eid=3a360cb48b

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 24, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Woodstock Christmas Logo Finally Done—Really!

Beads are the final touch!

The Woodstock Christmas Logo from Purple Palm is done!  I finally just added 28 mm green drop beads from The Collection to the edge.  That gave me the extra bling I wanted in a muted way.

In case you've forgotten, here is what the design looked like originally.  This is an ornament about 4 inches in diameter, on 18 count canvas.

Unstitched

Here is what it looks like now.  I changed the background green to a more Christmas green, darkened the brown of the guitar, and decorated the ornament with a peace symbol.

Done

Now I need to put this away until the county fair in August. I always enter something there, just to promote needlepoint.  After the fair I can send this to the folks I stitched it for, to use on their Christmas tree.  Hope they like it!

I am adding each week's progress report to a tab on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog. If you want to catch up on what you missed or just re-read everything, it's all there. Click on the Magic Carpet photo on the right side of this blog and you'll go straight there. Then all you have to do is click on the right tab at the top of the page under the header photo. Click on the Magic Carpet photo there to return to Blog's home page.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 22, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Woodstock Christmas Ornament Finished—Or Is It?

Woodstock Finished?

Now that the stitching on the Woodstock Christmas Logo piece is done, it's time to make it up into an ornament.  This is a roughly four inch round, by the way, so it can be hung on a tree for Christmas although I would personally probably hang it on a door or off the mantelpiece.  I don't like finishing but I do my own ornament finishing when possible to save money.  

What you see above is the finished piece.  The needle and clear beading thread I used to attached the braid I made from leftover Kreinik metallic are sticking out of the top because once I added the trim, I decided I needed something else.  But what?

I rummaged around in my stash and pulled out 20 or so bead tubes and 2-3 sequins, trying to find the perfect red-green-gold or silver colors, sizes and shapes to make the edge just a little more festive.  I also sent the following photo around to stitching friends, asking them if I should use the red beads, the green or the silver.

Decisions!

I didn't realize unti I arranged the beads around the ornament that I already have two shades of red in the ornament.  I think I should stick with the green and/or silver beads instead of adding more reds to the mix.  But all bets are off when it comes to what I'll end up with.  Guess we'll all have to wait and see what I do. I haven't a clue right now!

I am adding each week's progress report to a tab on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog.  If you want to catch up on what you missed or just re-read everything, it's all there. Click on the Magic Carpet photo on the right side of this blog and you'll go straight there. Then all you have to do is click on the right tab at the top of the page under the header photo. Click on the Magic Carpet photo there to return to Blog's home page.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 21, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Woodstock for Christmas Background

I like to work my backgrounds first when I stitch a canvas. My Woodstock Christmas Logo piece needs to have some background worked before anything else anyway since there is going to be a lot of compensation necessary. Working a row across the middle of the design will help me make sure I don't make a mistake trying to work the background around the guitar and the dove.

I wanted a stitch that runs vertically since that will echo the way the guitar lays.  I like to choose background stitches that resemble a main part of my design whenever possible.  I really liked this stitch that Mary Legallet described on her Whimsical Stitch blog.
http://www.whimsicalstitch.com/whimsicalwednesdays/2018/07/25

But there's a problem.  If you look at the diagram you'll see there are many stitch intersections that are not covered in thread.  I wanted to use a dark Christmas green on my background instead of the olive green that it is painted.  I can't have any empty spots of olive green showing through.  So I had to modify the stitch somehow.  This is what I came up with.



The first row in the diagram (black stitches) I stitched with two plies of a dark green Splendor silk floss.  The second row I used the same Splendor for the long stitches (red in the diagram) but used a similar shade of green in Kreinik size 16 braid for the short stitches (blue).  That adds a touch of sparkle to this piece, which is a Christmas ornament, after all.  It will have to stand out among many other ornaments and Christmas tree lights.

This is how it looks.  Now I want to finish the background and then decide what to do next.  Of course anyone else stitching this can finish the background last if they wish, but I think it's smart to at least have one row established that you can work from as you stitch the top and bottom areas above and below the row.



By the way, I'm listing all my blog stitching articles about Woodstock Christmas on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guide blog as they are published.  You can go there by clicking on the photo of the flying carpet in the right hand column.  Then look for Woodstock Christmas Blog Stitching among the tabs.  Want to return back here?  Click on the flying carpet again.

I'll see you flower children back here next week.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 7, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Woodstock for Christmas 2019

Purple Palm Woodstock Christmas Logo

Purple Palm Designs introduced a variety of licensed Woodstock music festival logo canvases last year. You can see some of them here.  I think there are others, too.
http://www.knit1needlepoint2.com/shop/Needlepoint-Canvas/Needlepoint-Canvas-by-Designer/PURPLE-PALM-DESIGNS.htm

I've decided to stitch one of them as a Christmas ornament (above) and am going to show off my progress here for those who would like to stitch along.  My Woodstock Christmas ornament is 3 inches around on 18 count canvas.  I've mounted it on 8 inch stretcher bars and am rummaging in my thread stash for supplies.

Stay tuned!  (Or should I say Rock On?  LOL)

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 30, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

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.

Choosing A Stitch Path for Angel with Tree

Inspired by Orna Willis' essay yesterday on the types of stitches one can choose, I thought I'd walk through my stitch choices on this darling Christmas angel. This is Angel with Tree, one of Melissa Shirley's angel series from a year or so back.  This design is 7 inches high by 4 1/2 wide on 18 count canvas.  She is one of a series of six angels which are also available as round ornaments and small stockings.
http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galsearch/index.cgi?index=1430178336_7822&col=

As Orna Willis made clear in her essay yesterday, there are a variety of paths one can take when picking stitches on a canvas that will be embellished in various ways.
http://ornadesign.blogspot.com/2017/05/how-i-make-my-stitch-choices-on-painted.html

I rarely know exactly where my path will take me when I start a canvas.  I tend to like realistic pieces (if you can call a portrait of an angel "realistic") and this one appealed because the angel reminds me of my godmother and a good friend.  I also liked the little white dots in the background which remind me of the tiny snow balls we often get here in the wintertime instead of lacy snowflakes.  So already I know two things:  I want pearls in the background instead of snowflake sequins to resemble the snow we get and I want a hairstyle and color that looks like my godmother and my friend's hair.  See?  Two choices have been made already!  If you simply look at the canvas you bought and think about what you liked about it, that will give you stitching ideas.

Of course knowing I want hard little balls for snowflakes is an easy choice—beads, specifically white pearls.  My godmother had lovely brown hair that she wore in soft curves and curls.  I happen to really like wool and wool-like threads for hair so now I know I want to look through my stash for wool appearing threads that I will use in French knots and Colonial knots.  See?  Making these choices is easy.

I like tent stitches for faces so that's another choice down.  The white outfit the angel wears I want in something that looks lacy.  So that narrows down my stitch choices to something rather lace-like, perhaps eyelets?  I like leaf stitches for trees, so there's another narrowing of the path forward.

So far we have something for the hair, skirt and jacket, skin, and snowflakes.  That's enough to get started.  You'll discover as you experiment with embellishing painted canvases that each choice you make narrows down the following choices.  One you are set for a hair stitch, you probably will use the same thread for eyebrows, for example.

Next time I'll talk about where I started stitching, what choices I made, what worked and what didn't, and how I altered my path as I worked on this design.

Today's Stitch Guide Moral:  Make a few choices and the path starts to unfold before you.

Many thanks to Melissa Shirley for allowing me to stitch this for you!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 3, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Studying Sunset and Water

Rachel pulled out an older piece of needlepoint and talked about what stitches she used on it and why in this interesting blog posting.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2017/05/02/sunset-study/

Got any ideas for her for the unstitched areas?

Rachel also posted a finished piece, with information about the threads, stitches and canvas to help you learn to analyze what you see and use some of the ideas on your own canvases.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2017/05/09/canvaswork-again-the-lady-by-the-lake/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 2, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

Remember No Flying Monkeys?  The charming canvas from Point of It All Designs I blog-stitched here last spring?  I just heard from Hyla Hurley of POIA that it is framed now and ready to make a debut at the Destination Dallas show.

Want to see?

Ok.   Hyla propped it on her couch and took a photo.

Close your eyes.  Count to three.

One

Two

Three

Here we go....

Canvas with Martini Glasses Ready

Surprise!

Enjoy this cutie and the fun way it is made up.    I think it's time to open that bottle of champagne I've had put away for a while and christen those martini glasses.

Here's to stitchers and designers everywhere!  If you are a shop owner going to Destination Dallas, visit the Point of It All Designs suite to see this in person.  I expect plenty of toasts to fun to be made in Dallas, people.

If you are new to blog and missed the fun, here's the link to all the steps of stitching this fun piece.  By the way, the guide comes with the canvas, but if you got the canvas before the guide was finished, just email me at chillyhollow at hotmail dot com and I'll send it to you free.)
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/p/no-flying-monkeys-point-of-it-all.html

Thanks, Hyla!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright August 14, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: What's in YOUR Background?

The No Flying Monkeys canvas is a tabula rasa when it comes to the background, isn't it?  The feet are up in the air unsupported, while the lettering floats above.  This means we can do anything we want as long as the stitch is small scale enough that compensation around the letters isn't hard.  Check out what Mary Waldsmith did for her penguins stocking.  I'm going to do something similar, but what?
http://owlstitchery.blogspot.com/2015/04/adding-background-to-painted-canvas.html

I started to think about what the witch's feet were resting on.  Two possibilities came to mind.  Her legs were propped up on a footstool or her heels rest on a railing or chair rail.  Hummmm....

A chair rail could be broad enough for me to create a decorative band with flying monkeys across it....

Or I could put flying monkeys on a footstool.  The footstool has the added advantage of creating two background areas--one under the legs and one on the wall where the lettering is.  I could do something fancy and larger scale on the footstool and then work a smaller scale pattern on the "wall" around the letters.

I had not put my canvas on stretcher bars yet, so I used one of my stretcher bars to take photos of my canvas showing several positions for a dividing line on the canvas.  Here they are--

The higher bar on the left is where I thought heels would rest on a chair rail on a wall while the lower bar on the right is where I thought the edge of a footstool would be.  I think a footstool space looks better.  But then I consulted a stitching friend who thought the footstool looks better lower down, nearer her calves.  Like this--

Hope you can see this.  I think it is better, although I will put the footstool area up a bit higher, but not as high as in the other two photographs.  Now all I need are two stitches for the two background areas-- one for the footstool and one for the wall, both of which have to look ok with the stripes on the stockings.

Any ideas?

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog.  You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 19, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: Choosing Colors

No Flying Monkeys,
From Point of It All Designs

The first thing I do before I start a canvas is analyze what is in the design.  If you take a good look at the canvas I am going to blog-stitch, you'll see it is mostly black and white and red, with touches of gray (along the stockings and martini glass) and gold (shoe buckles) plus the flesh color of the hand and the green of the martini olives.

The background is nonexistent.  The design is mostly the legs and shoes and hand with the lettering floating in the background.   My first decision is what color to make the background.  With black and white and gray being neutrals, I think my main colors are red and green.  What goes well with red and green?  (I had already decided that using either red or green in the background would make the red shoes or the green olives disappear, so I wanted a third color.)

To answer that, I used Adobe's online color triad tool.  Spin the central arms so that one is on red and one is on green and the answer is medium blue.

http://tinyurl.com/nlneh48

Note that you can change the number of colors you are playing with on the left side of the website, but since I have two colors and want a third, I used the Triad.  

Next I called Lori at The Waste Knot and told her I had a 13 count canvas and wanted 2-3 shades of a medium blue thread for the background.  I sent Lori the picture above and told her to surprise me with the type of thread she sent.  (Hey!  This blog is called the Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure for a reason.  I love to stitch dangerously! LOL)  Lori sent me three shades of blue Splendor silk floss and a cream to match.  I raided my stash and came up with this--

Thread Possibilities for No Flying Monkeys

Lori's blue and cream Splendor cards are on the left side near the red flat backed crystals from The Collection.  Under them on the left is a card of pink Flair, then working to the lower right corner you see green Petite Silk Lame Braid and red Entice, three shades of lovely reds in High Cotton next to red sequins from The Collection, two spools of Kreinik's new quarter inch ribbons in two shades of gold, more High Cotton, this time in black and white, and two spools of Prescencia's gray perle cotton since I'm not certain if I want darker or lighter gray to outline the legs.  I don't know yet what I'll use from this selection or if I'll find another thread,  but it's good to have some choices laid out.  Once you start making decisions for a canvas, it gets easier as the possibilities narrow as you work.  I'm also probably going to use clear Swarovski bicones but they are pretty small and easy to lose and also don't photograph well, so they were not included in the photograph.

Next time I need to talk about all that empty background.  Stay tuned!  

Remember, I'm collecting the links for my blog stitching of this piece on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog.  As I publish my steps each Friday, I'll put the links there so everything is in one place.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 19, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys! UPDATED MORE

"No Flying Monkeys" from Point of It All Designs

A couple of weeks back I "shared" Park Avenue Needlepoint's posting of this darling canvas from their Facebook page with Facebook's Needlepoint Nation group because I thought it quite funny.  Turns out this is a design from Point Of It All Designs, created by Hyla Hurley.  It is 9x7 inches on 13 count canvas and a real charmer.
http://thepointofitallshop.com/goodday-noflyingmonkeyss-386.aspx

I am going to blog stitch this, with the permission of Hyla.  You'll be able to watch me figure out the background, come up with something neat for the lettering, and stitch those fabulous shoes and martini glass.  As Blog's motto says, "Watch me embellish painted canvases, make creative choices, fail, rip out, succeed, and learn new swear words--all at no charge."

If you want to stitch along, Park Avenue Needlepoint is in Dayton, Ohio.  They had the canvas in stock when I saw it on their Facebook page.
http://www.parkavenueneedlepoint.com

The Needle Bug in Montgomery, Alabama also has this in stock.  
https://www.theneedlebug.com

Waste Knot in Arlington, Virginia is having a Point of It All Designs trunk show.  I am not certain if they have this canvas, though.
http://www.wasteknotneedlepoint.com

And Designers Desk in Geneva, Illinois has this canvas also.  But your local shop can order it for you from Point of It All Designs.  Just hurry to order so you don't fall too far behind.
http://files.ctctcdn.com/68b0d50b001/e8176a0e-3f47-48c1-ada8-e88b28f6aa9e.pdf

Now, where are my stretcher bars and those durn flying monkeys?

By the way, I'm collecting the links for my blog stitching of this piece on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog.  As I publish each step, I'll put the links there so everything is in one place.  You'll find a tab at the top of the page once you click on the flying carpet photo on the right side of this page to travel to the CH Stitch Guides blog.

UPDATE:  Almost forgot!  I will be posting about this canvas each Friday until I finish it so you can stitch along if you please, or at least can check on my progress.

UPDATED AGAIN:  Park Avenue Needlepoint in Dayton, Ohio posted they have two copies of this canvas on their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Park-Avenue-Needlepoint/215593498452477

UPDATE #3:  Pocket Full of Stitches just got one of the No Flying Monkeys canvases in.
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2015/05/more-and-more-new-canvases.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 1, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.