Four Wizards

Sandy Arthur shows off four versions of the finished pieces from her Wizard of Paws class. This is a design by Brenda Stofft that Sandy's been teaching here and there.  Click on the first photo of Sandy's version and then work through the pictures, admiring the personal touches.  Each piece was finished slightly differently and each was also stitched a little differently.  I don't care if you are working from a stitch guide or lesson plan, each stitcher puts a bit of his or her own personality into their finished design, don't they?
http://sandyarthur.blogspot.com/2015/05/wizard-of-paws-brenda-stofft-design-aka.html

These are so fun!  Thanks, Sandy!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 25, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Final Thoughts on the Wizard

The wizard was my first standup piece and I'm very happy about how he turned out. There are things I wish were better--check out how the bottom of the wizard ripples a bit instead of being totally flat and look at the upper left side of the piece which is a bit dented where the stuffing has shifted.

I might have done better to have stuffed the wizard with stiff foam that I could cut instead of quilt batting that I packed in as tightly as possible followed by rocks in the base. He's fairly heavy and the owner will have to be careful in picking him up or the stitching will pull out eventually from the weight.

But overall I am very happy with him. I hope you enjoyed watching me stitch him and that you gained some ideas for your own stitching.

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

The Wizard Stands On His Own

The Wizard is DONE! I am happy to say that I've finished two rows of beads around the base (the bottom is the larger purple beads used on the side edge, the top row smaller clear beads similar to the Sundance cryatal beads also used on the sides).

You can see the back of the stand-up figure in this photo as well as the beaded base and edges (sort of). It is in a medium blue moire cotton.


I'd like to thank Joan Thomasson for permission to show off this piece in such detail here. I had a blast stitching this piece, but that's nothing new with her Stitchin Stuff Designs--they are all wonderful!

If you are curious about the original piece, you can see it on Joan's website. Click on Catalog in the left hand column and then click on Holiday Spirits. My wizard is the Halloween spirit Santa instead of the Valentine one.

http://www.joanthomasson.com/

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

Buttonhole At the Base

I have the wizard's base half stitched now. I ran out of steam last night after almost two hours of using buttonhole stitch around the base to attach it to the back of the standup figure. I'll attempt to get the bulk of the hand sewing done tonight. I am using buttonhole stitch using sewing thread and putting each stitch very close together in the hopes this will wear well. After all, the rocks in the base will put a lot of pressure on the seam.

This is taking longer than I thought but then my schedule is sometimes unpredictable and I can't always count on as much stitching time as I'd like. Know the feeling? :)

To keep you entertained, how about I tell you about my next two projects, my new painted canvas and what I plan to stitch for the ANG Auction in Milwaukee next September?

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

Assembling the Wizard

Today instead of picking up where I left off finishing the wizard yesterday, the dogs and I took a walk in the woods to admire the fall color. The photo above is the highest point of our property, looking towards the Blue Ridge Mountains which you will see as a blue line at the low horizon under the sky and clouds. I don't have an LNS anywhere near me, no cell phone service, or many other ammenities, but today I prefer having this view.

I took the photo at a spot where 8-10 turkeys were standing around when we climbed into view and flushed them. Sadly I didn't have time to drop my coffee cup and grab the camera before they were in the air and away. I hope those of you who don't have fall will enjoy the view. It was only about 8:30 a.m. and the clouds and fog had not burned off entirely so the photo is darker than it really was to my eyes. You can't see the yellow leaves on all the oaks sadly.


This photo shows the Joan Thomasson wizard yesterday, his top 2/3 stuffed and the bag of rocks in a plastic bag. The rocks are on top of a piece of quilt batting which will wrap them before they are inserted in the base. You also see the paper oval pattern for the base pinned to the fabric so I could cut it out.

The next step is to sew the base on starting at the fabric back. Once I get half of it attached, I will insert the rocks (after checking how well the top stuffing is staying in position) and sew the front of the base. Doing the back first means less mashing of the NP front as I sew the base on with heavy rocks inside.

Stay tuned! I hope to finish tonight and have photos for you tomorrow of the finished wizard standing on his own.

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

No Flair, Beads Instead

Now that the beaded edge is finished around the wizard, I turned my attention to the smoke coming out of the cauldron at his feet. I had intended to use wired Flair to create this effect and pulled out cards of orange, black, lilac and grey Flair trying to decide which color looked best. As I laid the various colors on the canvas, it struck me just how small a space the smoke needs to occupy. The base of the smoke should be less than 1/4 an inch and the top where it twisted and turned and vanished into nothingness (i.e., should be plunged to the back of the canvas) was another 1/4 inch. That's really half an inch only and I just didn't think that Flair with wire inside was going to look its best in such a small space.

I really liked how the crystal Sundance beads looked so I used them instead, starting at the cauldron and laying a line of 4 beads across the surface of whatever potion the wizard has in his cauldron. The next two lines were three beads each, then I moved up a bit and did a row of two beads, then just two single beads scattered to show the smoke (and perhaps bubbles?) were rising and disappearing into thin air.

I used a ply of red silk to attach the beads, and you can see a little of it in the photo above. However, in person you don't see the red. It does not show through the crystal beads' middle. They must be lined with silver instead of actually being clear. They look clear when you use them but the couching thread along the edge was more of the grey silk from the background. I didn't realize the silk didn't show when I attached beads to the edges of the piece because the silk was so close to the clear bead color.

Although this is not what I'd planned to do, I am happy with the look. I'll just remember that you need at least 2-3 inches to use wired Flair to get a good effect the next time I'm tempted to use it.

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

Wizard's Beaded Edge

I have started adding beads to the edge of the Joan Thomasson wizard stand up piece. They must be done before I can add the wired Flair smoke and then stuff the piece, add rocks as weights and hand-stitch the base on. So there is a lot still to do. I thought you'd like to see the edge with the two #16 Kreinik silver threads couched down and the beads beginning to be added on top of that. I am alternating one single pale lavender seed bead from Mill Hill with a group of three crystal #14 beads from Sundance. They don't touch-each group is about 3 mm from the next. The crystal clear beads from Sundance have incredible sparkle while the larger round lavender bead is exactly the color of the purple underrobe. They look very nice. I have about 1/5 of the edge beaded and will continue to work on that tonight.

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

No Feathers

The people have spoken! I've gotten lots of emails on top of the poll on the 360 blog and most folks say I should ditch the feathers. Janine sums up everyone's reasoning particularly well, so I'm going to quote her here.

"I voted for leaving off the feather trim. I think it is mainly because I don't view the trim as 'matching' the rest of the piece. I also think the sheer volume of the feather trim distracts from the wizard. Janine"

So last night I reluctantly put the pretty feather trim back with the other braids, trims and ribbons, pulled out a spool of Kreinik #16 braid and started to attach that to the outside edge of the wizard. I looked at other colors, particularly a tube of Kreinik Ombre in Misty Violet (navy, silver and touches of purple), but the silver looks the best. If I'd had a spool of the #32 braid I would have used that but since I don't, I doubled the thread and am in the process of stitching both lengths along the edge.

Most folks, whether they liked the feather boa trim or not, spoke of things like "cold" or "snow" or "snowglobes" and I think the silver Kreinik is both subtle, looks good with the wizard piece colors, and also gives a wintery feel. By coincidence I traded brands of beads with LD and now have a tube of Sundance beads which are clear and faceted. They look like little ice beads and I may scatter groups of them along the edge with the silver. I won't decide that until all the braid is attached.

I'm half-way through hand sewing it on. Right now it is slow going because I have to put my hand inside the piece like a hand puppet to attach the Kreinik across the top. I will speed up when I get the top arch finished and start down the other side. I am also not couching it but am attaching the Kreink by piercing it with a tiny sharp sewing needle. You can read how this is done here in section 7 near the bottom. I'm not using the flat Kreinik ribbon but the same thing can be done with #16 and #32 braid. The main thing to remember is that your thread will be abraded by going through the Kreinik so use short lengths and when it starts looking rubbed like it might break along the length, change threads. You won't have this problem with the flat ribbon as much. It is easier to attach this way, also.

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/december/directions.php
More details on the edging challenge as I figure out what I want to do and manage to do it!

You can see the Sundance beads on their website. They are really really really nice but no one in my area carries them so I haven't stitched with them much. If I remember correctly I have the Clear in size 14.

http://www.sundancedesignsonline.com/catalog.php?Line_ID=7&Subject_ID=All&Designer_ID=All&PageFinder=1&LimitRows=3
For those who don't know already, size 14 is perfect for 18 count canvas. Read more about various bead brands and see the recommended sizes of beads for various canvas sizes here.

http://www.firesidestitchery.com/FIRESIDE/FSgeneralpages/beads.htm

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

On Top, or Bottom?

Last night I drew around the base of the hollow standup wizard on paper to make a pattern. It's a bit lopsided, so I am thinking just how I should round it off, or whether I should. While I experiment with paper and scissors, I've posted a photo of the wizard with feather trim around his base. I'm dithering over whether the trim doesn't look better around the edges after all....

What do you think? I'll open a poll on the Yahoo 360 site only. Blogspot doesn't have polls so folks with an opinion who can't read Blogspot blogs or who don't have a Yahoo account so they can participate in the poll will have to email me at chilly hollowat hot maildot com.

Thanks for your opinion. Now I can't decide!

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

Sew a Fine Seam

Yesterday I hand-stitched the wizard NP canvas to the backing fabric. If it stops being pitch black before I leave for work, I'll post a photo of my progress. We basically have a hollow stand up figure with no bottom. I had planned to stitch my feather boa trim all around the edges of the needlepoint but it is too wide. Now that the wizard is standing on his own, I can see that the trim is just Too Much. I probably will leave the edges bare (gasp!) with no trim at all but encircle the base of the standup figure with the feather trim which still looks nice with the design but the clean, crisp edge seems to want to remain unadorned with any sort of trim.

I'm not a neat hand sewer, but this time I did good. I back stitched all around the edge of the needlepoint, just inside my two rows of tent stitches that encircled the background edge. Then I carefully turned the two stitched pieces inside out (you put them together with the right sides facing each other) to show the needlepoint and the front side of the backing fabric.

Since I'm not going to put any trim around the edges, the next step will be to figure out the oval shape of the base and cut that from the leftover fabric, then put wire through the Flair and bend it into the right shape and length of smoke for the cauldren. I'll attach the Flair to the back side by reaching up through the open base. The cauldron is near the wizard's feet, after all, so this shouldn't be too hard.

I'll post a photo when it is light enough to take one, but that might not be until I get home tonight. Fortunately, it usually isn't dark when I get home from work.

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

Wizard Supplies

Yesterday I got all the supplies together for turning the Joan Thomasson wizard into a standup piece. You can see many of them above. There's the blue polished chintz, the feather boa trim (hope you can see the silver among the feathers), the black and white copy of the stitched canvas all cut out to use as my pattern, and a mesh bag full of pebbles.

To weigh the base of the standup, I considered buckshot (which I couldn't get) and aquarium gravel (which seemed too heavy). I ended up browsing the crafts emporium's artificial flower aisles. Besides fake roses and chrysanthemums, they also sell glass bowls and pebbles, marbles and glass ovals to fill the bowls, either for display or to hold the artificial flower arrangements in place. I considered glass ovals or glass marbles but the medium-sized pebbles seemed the right weight and were inexpensive, two dollars instead of three for glass oval pebbles or glass marbles.

The rocks will weigh the base. I'll remove the tag and put them inside a plastic bag probably but not cut the mesh. They will be double-bagged, in other words. Not shown is the quilt batting and foam I'll put inside. I didn't want to get it dirty.

I've not made any more progress on this--I didn't even have time to iron the fabric yesterday, much less use the paper pattern to cut it out with an inch extra all around on all sides--but I hope to have a little more time today. Weekends are the time I am not too tired to do finishing but they also are the busiest days of the week!

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

About to Finish

The stitching on the Joan Thomasson wizard was finished last weekend except for the smoke coming out of his cauldron. I have to get it partly put together as a standup before I can add that touch so I don't damage it in finishing.

I have a medium blue polished chintz for the backing fabric and found a feathery boa trim to edge the design. The feathers are white with silver metallic strips woven in. I already have quilt batting and foam for the stuffing. My next step is to pick up something to weigh the base. I thought I'd use aquarium gravel but a friend suggested buckshot. I'll have to see what I can find in the stores but that probably will wait until the weekend. I have too many more urgent errands to accomplish at lunch today and something will remain undone. You know us stitchers--our needlepoint is usually less important than other life chores!

I've also finished my mystery project I can't show you--the Stitch of the Month Project that ANG unveils each December. I did one of the models, so it's a secret for another two months. I'll just whisper in your ear that I choose Caribbean blue as my main color....

The next project is chosen and I've been thinking a lot about it. But more on that after I finish the wizard!

Finally, Yahoo and Google and MSN all changed their interfaces slightly yesterday. Yahoo 360 now has a social component but I want to assure all of you I removed the email addresses Yahoo pulled from my contacts and have turned off everything there I can find to protect your privacy and mine. I don't need any more social interaction, thank you! And certainly not in public. I don't even much like the Friends function that Yahoo 360 has built in but I tolerate it as that boosts the "findability" of Blog in searches. I've not signed up for the Follower component of Blogspot (owned by Google) either. I don't really care to demonstrate how many folks read Blog publicly, how many sign up for readers, etc. That's your business, not mine or everyone else's who wanders past.

Yes, I am an old fogy. Sue me.

Or if you are 20, laugh and then pick up your needle and let's get back to NP.

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

More Progess in CH, No Photos

I stitched off and on all weekend and finished the rows of tent stitch all around the outside edge of Joan Thomasson's wizard. I also have the project I can't show you 2/3 done. This week after work each night I hope to work on the mystery project so that it will be finished by next weekend when I hope to turn the wizard into a standup. I'm going to shop for edge trim or braid and aquarium gravel this week. I have everything else I need to finish the wizard. Wish me luck!

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

The Boring Stuff UPDATED

UPDATE: I added a picture to please Pat.

This weekend I worked on the background of the Joan Thomasson wizard and finished it-Hurrah!

But there are still things to do. I have started putting two rows of tent stitch all around the perimeter of the piece to help in finishing. I have also attached the moon and stars charms using the holes in the charms and also sewing down an arm of a star and the tip of the moon to help everything stay in one place. When you have a star shape with a hole at the tip of one arm, the charm will swing as the piece is moved. To keep movement to a minimum, I stitched across another arm with the same two plies of my purple Accentuate I used to attach the charms. It is visible if you squint, but because it is the same purple as the under robe, you don't notice the stitch much.

I also stitched on top of the wizard's glasses with my #4 gold 02 braid. Oddly, #8 braid was too thick but the #4 disappeared against his face until I stitched the glasses and bridge over his nose a second time. I didn't do the half moon of his reading glasses, just the rim, but that was the perfect touch.

I've added the cauldron's handle by couching a length of the same black Petite Very Velvet I used for the rim. Pretty soon I'm going to have to add smoke coming from the cauldron, but more about that next posting!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Near-sighted Wizard

Last night I stitched on the endless miles of background remaining behind the wizard. Before I forget, I should warn you that when you stitch an open stitch like this with only one ply of silk, the thread will try to wiggle out from where you tied it off. If you can manage it, anchor the thread in the main stitching of the piece (the wizard, the bird, the perch, etc.). That will minimize your having to re-secure the background threads later.

I did put glasses on the wizard's nose. Joan Thomasson padded the nose of her model but my wizard's nose is just tent stitches and it was starting to look very plain and prominent to me. So he's suddenly grown reading glasses in #4 Kreinik braid (gold 02).

Pretty soon I'll add the moon and stars charms around the globe the wizard carries, but first I need to stitch another 40 miles of background!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Staff and the Trunk

Last night the wizard's staff had its jewel added. I used a blue flower shaped crystal with a hole in the center from Mill Hill. You probably can't tell from the photo, but I used a blue bead to hold the crystal in place. Bring your needle up in the center of the Holograpic Fyrewerks oval, put the crystal on the needle, then go through the bead's hole and back down through the crystal and tie off on the back side.




I also added the trunk's brass lock, stitching it on using the same brassy gold colored Fyrewerks that the edges of the trunk were stitched in. The really interesting thing I did was I used the same ribbon-like Fyrewerks for the decorative stitches underneath the stone on the top of the staff. Look at the top photo again. See the gold lines at the base of the oval? That's Fyrewerks, too. I simply came up with a short length in my needle, then twisted it over and over and over until the thread resembled a perle-type thread instead of a flat ribbon. Then holding it steady about an inch from the fabric, I plunged the needle. That holds the twist in place. Come up again, repeat for as many times as you need to do the tight cord that resembles how Joan Thomasson decorated the base of her staff's stone.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Wizard's Beard

This photo shows the beard and hair underway, and also gives you an idea of what I've added to the firebird to give him more personality (or at least a louder voice).

I'm stitching the hair and beard with a mix of threads and a mixture of split and stem stitch. As you can see, I try to indicate the movement of the flowing beard or the direction the hair grows with stem stitch, then fill in with split stitches that go between (or on top of) the stem stitched outlines. The threads I am using alternate between two plies of my light grey Splendor and a length of silver Sulky Metallic (#142); and one ply of the light grey Splendor, the Sulky Metallic and one ply of white Anchor cotton floss. I will do the flowing ends of the beard in a mix including 2 plies of grey and the mustache, which I want to come forward, with a mix that has a ply of white, one of grey and the metallic. I am always using three threads and one of them is always the metallic, but sometimes I use 2 pies of grey and sometimes I use 1 ply of grey and 1 of white. This provides highlights where I want them.

Because I used light grey for the background, dark grey for the floor, and a lot of silver trim on the wizard's clothes, I thought his beard would look odd if it were white so I went for a grey head of hair and beard on this piece. White can be a tricky color since it ranges from snow white to ivory to cream. I think it important to choose the right hair and beard color for any Santa piece, especially since Santa figures often have fur trim that is white. I don't want a Santa (or wizard) whose beard looks odd compared to the rest of the piece.

Tonight I hope to finish the hair and beard and do a bit more with the background. As a treat for myself, I'm also going to work on the jewel at the top of the staff. Study yesterday's blog entry to see how Joan treated her staff jewel. I'm going to steal some of her ideas.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Plans without Photos

Since last night I worked mostly on the background behind the wizard and the firebird, I didn't bother taking a photo this morning. I did add a topknot and a tongue to the bird and have started the wizard's hair and beard. Once the wizard is no longer bald I will add the stone to the top of his staff. I don't want to do that until I am no longer stitching in that area or I'll snag each pass of the threads on the stone!

After that I will need to finish the background and do some final touches. Will I give the wizard glasses? Will I adjust the title on the apricot book? Will I attach the silver moon and brass star charms around the globe the wizard holds or stitch them instead? Am I going to add tassels or something else to the end of his sleeves and tip of his cloak hood? Lots of decisions to ponder as I work the background!

You might want to look at Joan Thomasson's original Holiday Spirit Santa to see how she used the moon and star charms and how she handled tassels on this piece. You can see the piece here by clicking first on Catalogue, then on Holiday Spirits. After that, choose the size of the wizard image that you are interested in viewing, depending on the detail you want and how fast your Internet connection is.

http://www.joanthomasson.com/

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Wizard's Ring

Last night I worked a lot of background behind the wizard. I'm trying to get it stitched all around his bird companion so that I can finish the firebird at least. I did take a break and give the wizard a ring on the hand holding the globe. It just hit me while I was stitching miles of background that would be a nice touch.

I used a single black bead from Mill Hill's Magnifica line. Magnifica beads are highly faceted, so they sparkle more than the regular Mill Hill Petites. The facets mean they have flat sides, too, which means the bead sits flat against the wizard's finger. I stitched right through the bead's center twice with a length of DMC metallic thread that comes on a sewing spool. I think it is just called DMC Metallic but my label's come off the spool so all I can be sure of is that this is Or clair, which means light gold. The label says this is Art. 282. This thread is thin and stiff, thicker than blending filament by a bit. It is very shiny and two threads of it going through the bead middle looks like the band of a gold ring with a black stone. Remember those black onyx rings that men used to wear in the 1950s-1960s? Most of them have something cut into the black stone so I took one ply from a skein of DMC's metallic floss that is pewter colored. (#5287). I laid it right across the bead perpendicular to the two gold threads that went through the bead's middle to give the black a little shading like there was something on the stone. I like how it turned out myself. It adds a little something to the wizard's personality using just two threads and a bead. Easy enough to do, particularly when you have a nice stash of threads and beads to choose just the right colors from.

I love you, Stash!

Can't see the ring well? Try the photo on the main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Measles Cure for Wizards

Last night the wizard's left sleeve was adjusted. I pulled out the couched #12 silver Kreinik which I'd been thinking looked too heavy and replaced it with thinner Kreinik #4 which was done in long stem stitches. Let me tell you, it was HARD to do stem stitch over long laid silk stitches without disturbing the silk. But I managed it in the end and I like the effect so much that I also stitched the right sleeve the same way. I think there one long stitch has a couching stitch to hold it at just the right bend, but it was stem-stitched, too.

After that, I was on a roll! I lengthened the top bar of the bird's perch to make it look more realistic. Then I looked at the beads again on his jacket and decided the blue robe needed some silver metallic stars to make the effect better. So I added those, making the ones on the blue lower robe larger and the ones on the hood, jacket and upper sleeves smaller. There aren't many of these metallic "stars" (a big X with a -- and | on top for the larger ones and no straight line on the top of the other shapes for the smaller ones.

What do you think?

Can't see the photo well? Try the main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow