Mary Agnes' Tips: Needle Blending a Background

Can't find the perfect color for your background? Mary Agnes has a brilliant idea that solves this problem. 
http://needlenicely.blogspot.com/2014/06/trubeys-bow-doorstop-long-time-shop.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 6, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Cheeky Santa

Since I know many folks find faces hard, I thought everyone would be interested in how Anne Stradal of ABS Designs is stitching the rosy cheeks of her current Santa (by Amanda Lawford).
http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2013/10/needle-blending-not-just-for-skies.html

Anne uses needle blending of colors very often for skies. Here is her last example--
http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2013/07/two-skies-side-by-side.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Two Needle Blended Skies Aren't Identical

Take two canvases and stitch their skies with the same thread colors in the needle blending technique and they will not look alike.  Anne Stradal, master of needle blended skies, explains why here.  Thank you, Anne!  I did not know this.
http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2013/07/two-skies-side-by-side.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Needle Blended Robe

Recently Anne Stradal (ASB Designs) showed various ways of handling skies behind her lighthouse canvases on her blog.
http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2009/01/needle-blending-sky.html

She was stitching her newest lighthouse and decided to needle blend the sky above.
http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2009/01/painting-florida-sky.html

I was finishing up the bottom of the Baroque Fish's gown and looking at colors for the rest of this pet guardian angel. I have choosen a lovely pale green for the inset in her sleeve and the front of the lower hem and thought it might be lovely to use a green similar to the Caribbean blue I have used already. It struck me it might be nice to needle blend the colors so that the top half of the skirt slowly turned from blue to green. Then I could use the green for her blouse and sleeve and go back to the blue for the collar and cuffs. Mermaids are often a blend of blues and greens and I think of the Baroque Fish as a mermaid in disquise.

You can needle blend colors easily with flosses and I am using 4 plies of Splendor already, so I found a pretty green (Splendor S880) in the same brand of silk and started above the floral band with 3 plies of the green and one of blue. In traditional needle blending you have 4-6 plies and work with all the plies in color one, then add one ply of color two, and work the area adding a ply of one color and substracting a ply of the other until you move from solid color one to solid color two. I'm skipping some steps here as I don't have a great deal of space and each row is pretty broad. What you see in the photo above is 2 plies of blue with 2 of green. For the middle third of the upper skirt I will switch to three green plies and one blue ply, then the top near the waist will be all green. It is not going to be as subtle or natural as Anne's lighthouse sky, but what is subtle or natural about a fish in a long gown?

Jane, smiling and having fun in CH

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow