Challenge Ornament: Cutting Out the Materials

Using your ordinary scissors and the Challenge ornament itself with its inch margin of bare canvas as the template, cut out the backing fabric and the fabric to go under the ornament to show through the holes on the front. (If you aren't going to use fabric to show through, just cut the backing fabric.) Above you see my black felt and my gold lame cut and laid out with the Challenge ornament itself.

You also see my paper xerox copy of just the design in the photo. Use that as the template to cut out the finishing foam. In the photo above you see the two pieces of black finishing foam, one turned black side up and one turned white paper side up. The white paper protects the sticky side from gluing itself to my long hair.

You also see something new--I decided to pad my ornament with quilt batting. I cut two pieces of that using the paper pattern as the template. If you don't want your Challenge ornament slightly padded, you can omit this step. If you want to use quilt batting, you can buy a roll of it at any crafts emporium or sewing store. It comes in a sheet that is rolled up like a jelly roll. Unroll it a bit and cut two small bits from the end. Remember to use regular scissors for this part and all the steps above, too.

Next, we'll start to assemble the ornament.

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

Challenge Ornament Supplies

The first step in finishing Gay Ann Roger's Challenge ornament is to take the canvas off your stretcher bars and trim the finished NP design, leaving about an inch of blank canvas all around the edges. The second step is to make a xerox copy of the trimmed Challenge ornament. Cut the copy out but instead of leaving the 1 inch margin, cut it right up to the edge of the design area. In the photo above you see the ornament cut out with its margin of blank canvas, and the paper copy being trimmed right up to the edge of the design.

You also see the other supplies which will be needed: fabric for the back of the ornament (I choose black felt), fabric to put under the ornament (I choose gold lame, but note this is optional although you will need something underneath to hide the ornament's innards since this design doesn't cover the canvas totally), and a product called finishing foam. I bought a package of finishing foam sheets in assorted colors. My sheets are 6x9 inches and are acid free. They come in assorted colors but the back side is covered with glue. You peel off the protective paper and can glue anything you want to the sticky side. I am using two pieces of black finishing foam. You see one piece with the black side up and one with the paper protective side up that is peeled away to reveal the glue. You can get much larger individual pieces of finishing foam in most crafts stores. It is sold under various brand names and comes non-acid free, without the glue, in all sorts of colors, etc. Just check the label to be sure what you are buying.

If you don't have pre-glued finishing foam, you'll need glue. I prefer an acid-free glue stick. I bought mine in the scrapbooking section of the crafts emporium. Don't put your threads away yet. You will need them in finishing the edge of the ornament. If you have pretty beads or a charm that might look good on your ornament, put it with your finishing supplies. Of course you'll need scissors, but use regular scissors instead of your stitching scissors so you don't dull them cutting the finishing foam.

The next step is to use those non-stitching scissors!


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

Finishing Gay Ann Rogers' Challenge Ornament

This last year I've been sitting in Gay Ann Rogers' cyber classroom auditing her Mystery in a Corner class through the Shining Needle Society. As part of the class, Gay Ann did a follow up ornament called Challenge, which is much smaller than the original class piece but which allowed folks who learned new things stitching Mystery in a Corner to try them out. I stitched the little ornament, which you see above. I call mine Insanity Improv.

Several folks in the class asking for help in finishing their Challenge ornaments and I'm going to post step by step instructions as I finish my piece here, starting now. But first, here is Gay Ann Rogers' website where you can see completed Mystery in a Corner class pieces in the MIAC slideshows. The Challenge ornaments were a follow-up and "final exam" in this class. None are posted on the website yet, however.

http://www.gayannrogers.com/site_2/Home_Page.html

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

More Lady's Maid Stitches

I wasn't 100% sure until I saw the photo above, but the Oriental Linen stitches that outline the lady's maid's dress and show fold lines are too light in color. I'm going to need a darker gray, darker even than the face outlines. So that will be pulled out tonight. In the photo above you can see the ovals on her dress, some outlined, some filled in. I decided that it would be best to outline an area with the darker Flax N Colors stitches, then fill in with the longer laid Silk N Colors stitches. Whether you stitch the centers first or stitch the outlines, a stitch is going to be slightly disturbed by the stitch that comes next and shares its hole. Better to disturb tent stitches than long ones, don't you think?

Yesterday NC Pat posted a very interesting comment: "
If you are going to have texture in the other two, go with the Rhodes, if not then I would do the tents, as they are both defining the design......Just my humble opinion.....and hiding behind the chair!"

No need to hide, Pat! You make a good point. When does one decide to do lots of texture on all three outfits and when do you do less texture in one (or more) than the other? I think this is a matter of individual taste as there really doesn't seem to be a rule. Putting texture on all three women will make them all equally important and concentrating the bulk of the texture on the central figure of the Geisha will make her the most important figure. I think I am going to make the Geisha the most important person in the design as she holds the central motif--the peach. That seems to make sense to me.

But truly it all depends on what you are doing with a piece.

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

Lady's Maid Tries on Stitches

The lady's maid and I have been trying on stitches. You can see two I'm considering above in her cotton kimono. First, I did the dark gray outline of her clothes and the fold lines in the same medium gray Oriental Linen (color Seal Skin) that outlines the head wrap of the cleaning lady Pearl. This is a slightly lighter gray than the paint on the canvas but I wanted the upper left and lower right areas to be balanced. I could have used the same grey DMC I used on the face lines but I wanted a different texture.

Then I choose Flax N Colors in French Blue for the dark blue outlines and Silk N Colors in Delphinium for the lighter blue areas. All three of the threads I'm using are from Thread Gatherer. Oriental Linen is a silk/linen blend, Flax N Colors is 100% linen, and Silk N Colors is 100% silk. All three threads have a different texture, although the Silk N Colors is a bit shinier than I'd like.

When choosing stitches, the first thing I do is look at the shape I need to fill. If you have a triangle, use stitches with that shape, etc. It's an easy cheat, and it emphasizes the designer's intent so this is a good place to start looking for a stitch. Jade's kimono is a traditional blue and white cotton summer one. (We've got a peach, so it is late summer in this design and hot.) When you look at the pattern, you have a diagonal line of ovals, alternating between an octagon and a smaller cross shape + and each shape is outlined in darker blue.

I decided right away that the cross shape should be four tent stitches and all the dark blue should also be tent stitches. The center of the cross will either be the white beads that came with the canvas or if they seem too prominent on the design (Jade's a respectable lady's maid, after all, and fancy clothes not appropriate for her), I'll use the same DMC cotton perle used on the white faces.

Here's an octagonal Rhodes stitch (bottom).
http://books.google.com/books?id=KgE1OpKIjVwC&pg=PA196&lpg=PA196&dq=rhodes+stitch+octagon&source=bl&ots=gDdHGcAdVM&sig=pbjIaxUtw3bGIdOYnwklNxYQAIY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

You'll see it in the top row. I love how it looks but this stitch is too fancy for Jade. I decided to tone it down by filling the octagonal shape with alternating long and short slanting stitches. That is what is in the other two rows. I've used my darker Flax N Colors for the outlines. Now I will think about this today before deciding what to rip out and whether to continue with the slanting stitches or try a third alternative.

You try on stitches just like you try on clothes. Pick the ones you like and see if they fit!

By the way, here is Thread Gatherer's website for you to learn about the threads I chose. Click on fibers and start exploring....
http://www.threadgatherer.com/

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