The Letters on the Pirate Cat's Sign

The lettering on the pirate cat's sign is done!  Like all beading, it seemed to take forever, but I think it looks great.   The turquoise blue shade of the beads stands out very well against the pumpkin orange background, and is able to compete with the sparkly orange because the beads are dark and faceted.  I have some small round navy beads that looked ok, but the faceted turquoise beads looked great.  I always go for Great over Ok, don't you?

Black beads would work just fine here as well, but I went with the turquoise blue beads because they are a slightly darker shade than the thread I choose to stitch the bandanas around the cat's neck and head.  Just like when you add accessories to match your outfit, picking colors for various parts of your canvas that harmonize almost always is the right thing to do.

In stitching news, Needle House in Houston has posted their Autumn Newsletter on their website.  There is lots of good information, from a book review to a diagrammed fancy stitch, plus a great stitching tip.  You'll find the newsletter link on the right side of their home page.
http://www.theneedlehouse.com/jm/

I happened across great photos of the diachroic glass needle minders on The World in Stitches' blog. I bought one in shades of pink and gold at my last visit to Waste Knot and just love it.  Click on the tiny photos to see more shapes and sizes.  If you fall in love, just the contact information in the second link to order from the shop.
http://twisinc.blogspot.com/2010/07/dichroic-glass-needleminders.html

http://www.twisinc.com/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Pirate Cat's Sign Revised

The original sign the pirate cat holds was painted to have navy lettering on a medium orange background with the edge of the sign in dark reddish-orange.  Since I wanted to use Gold Rush 14 in a darker orange metallic, I couldn't find a reddish-orange in my stash that would stand out, so I switched the edge trim to one of my favorite Kreinik colors, #5007 Brocade.  This is a newer color that mixes purple with orange I first saw used on Michele's blog when she stitched Tapestry Tent's Halloween March.  It is perfect for the sign.  However, it left me with a dilemma--what to do with the lettering.

I had purple beads only a slightly lighter shade than the purple Kreinik, so I attached two of them and then looked at the effect.  They are too light in shade and the orange Gold Rush background overwhelmed them.  Then I tried green beads, which you see in the photo above.  They also are too light.  A viewer just can't pick out the letters easily if they are green.

So I'm going to have to rummage around in my stash and look for navy or black.

This color delimma shows up a lot on painted canvases when you try to change colors.  If the original color is very dark, you will need a very dark shade of another color for the whole thing to still work.  The problem with my purple beads is they were medium in color while the letters were painted a dark shade of navy.  The green beads are light in shade.  I really need a dark colored bead to stand up against the the medium orange metallic behind them.

I did manage to stitch the cat's eyes before taking out the beads.  I mixed green Kreinik with white and black cotton perle and tent stitched the entire area.  The dark squiggle you see between the eyes is the loose end of my black thread visible through the unstitched areas of the canvas.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Pirate Cat's Sign

Deciding what part of your canvas to do next depends on a lot of things:  if one area has to be finished before you can do the next part, your own personal preferences, if you have a lot of white you need to do before stitching a darker area next door so you don't get fuzz from the dark area stitched into the white one, etc.  Sometimes folks like to start in the center of a design, sometimes if a piece is all in basketweave, it makes sense to start in a corner.  This is why folks find painted or printed canvases confusing--there is not a rule that works for each design in every situation.  You just have to think about what makes sense for the current piece you are stitching.  I personally like to stitch my background first, then I like to do faces, but for this canvas, I wanted to do something easy before I started on the cat's face so I decided to stitch the sign next.

It is done in tent stitches using Gold Rush 14, which is really too fat for an 18 count canvas, but I used short lengths to make it work without unraveling too much because this sparkly pumpkin color is just perfect for the background of the sign.  Gold Rush 14 was the only size I had since I don't think Orange comes in Gold Rush 18.  I like Gold Rush a lot.  It comes in lovely colors and the chainette type thread is easy to stitch with.  The cut ends ravel in the needle's eye eventually, but you just cut that off if you don't want to dab the cut end in your needle with Fray Check.  Gold Rush comes in a huge range of sizes for various canvas mesh holes, even Gold Rush XS for congress cloth. Here are some of the lush colors.
http://www.rainbowgallery.com/detail.cfm?ID=64

The edge of the sign is a darker red-orange and the lettering is navy but I am going to change those areas a bit. You'll have to stay tuned to see what I come up with there.  I ran out of time!

By the way, I'm starting to see pirate themes show up everywhere online as Halloween approaches.  Gail Hendrix has a great pirate hat and sweater ornament set just added to her Squiggee line for the St. Charles show.  By coincidence she has a great feather for her pirate hat but I'm not using one for my Patt and Lee canvas (which has been christened Cat Tin Hook, by the way).
http://squiggeedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/09/st-charles.html

WaterWeave has a great pirate cat canvas of their own (top row middle and right end for a finished version).
http://www.waterweave.com/WaterWeave/canvasHats.html

Whether you "get" Halloween or cats, or would ever stitch such whimsical canvases, they are fun to look at.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Pirate Cat Background

Horizontal Gobelin Background 

After experimenting with various background stitches, I settled on one that I liked.  I have to emphasize that choosing which background works is to some extent a matter of taste.  What suits me is not necessarily what suits you.  Remember, this is needlepoint, not math.  There is not one right answer to choosing a stitch like there is to 2+2 which always equals 4.

The stitch above is called Horizontal Gobelin Background in Brenda Hart's Favorite Stitches Book 2 (page 81).  I love Brenda's books and use them more than any others in my stitch library.  (I think canvas embellishment beginners won't find Brenda's books as easy to use as the Stitches for Effect series, however.)  As you can see, I decided it would be easier to work this with the canvas turned on its side.  The stitches are roughly rectangular shaped and they are done in gentle slopes that point directly at the Pirate Cat.

Whenever I fill a large area with stitches, I try to start my first row in the largest point.  By the time I worked my way from the center out to each side, I am familiar with Horizontal Goblein Background and find compensating easier.

Speaking of compensation, look at the photo on the right.  See how I am continuing my background stitch in red right over the pirate hat?  If you stitch your background first, you can stitch complex background stitches from one area to the next using a contrasting thread color to continue the rows on the other side.  It's easy to pull out the red stitches later.  This way I made sure that the rows on the left side of the cat match up with the rows on the right side because I had a row stitched all the way from one side to the next.  Once I got through the pirate hat, I switched to my regular background thread and continued on, establishing a row that I could use to fill out the area properly.

One reason I like to do backgrounds first is that you can easily count over (or stitch over) the main areas to make sure the background areas are all lined up.  There is no rule that says you have to do the background first.  I just find it easier.

Background Finished

Here is what the finished background looks like.  I'm sure you are all asking why I picked green thread for the background.  Study the canvas again.  Green paint is used in just one spot--the kitten's eyes.  They are huge and dominate his face.  I decided I would emphasize the eyes even more by using a lighter shade of green for the background.  I rummaged in my stash and found some green silk floss that looks lovely with the metallic green I've chosen for the cat's eyes.  So now we have a diagonal slanted stitch that echoes the shape of the sign while pointing toward the cat and making his eyes more prominent.

Each choice you make when embellishing a canvas narrows down the choices you make later on.  Since I decided to emphasize the green eyes with green metallic thread and a green background, I have to have two greens that work together.  It makes it easier to choose threads when you have a goal in mind.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Picking Stitches for the Pirate Cat: Part Two

I have three ideas for the background of the pirate cat:  use box shaped stitches to echo the rectangle of the sign, use diagonal stitches to subtly point toward the cat and his sign, or use darning stitches to write out either words of Halloween symbols.  Once I reach this point, I need to pull out my stitch dictionaries and start looking for stitches that meet the criteria.

Most stitchers have books with stitches diagrammed in them in their library.  I think two series are particularly useful for folks who are going to be choosing stitches for their canvases.

One is the Needlepoint 101 and Needlepoint 202 Guide to Painted Canvas series by Ruth Dilts.  These two small books walk you through a series of canvases Ruth stitched, with diagrams of the stitches she choose and some information on why she picked what she did.  There is information about how to pick a canvas to embellish with your own stitches and help with threads.  The canvases are usually small but they are varied so you can see examples of all sorts of designs you might like to stitch.  These are useful books, especially for the novice.
http://www.ruthdiltsdesign.com/guide.html

http://www.ruthdiltsdesign.com/Needlepoint202.html

However, when I start looking for a variety of stitches, the first place I go is my three Stitches for Effect books.  These were written by Beth Robertson and Suzanne Howren.  (There are four books in the series, but Stitches to Go is intended as a portable book with just the diagrams from the Stitches for Effect series.  Ignore it for now.)  You want Stitches for Effect, More Stitches for Effect and/or Even More Stitches for Effect.  These three books have a huge number of stitches diagrammed and they are organized by effect.  Want to look at stitches for snowflakes?  Refer to the index in each book and look at the stitches that make great snowflakes.  Need something for fur?  Look it up in the index, then browse the recommended stitches.  For beginners in canvas embellishment, these are great books!
http://www.threadneedlestreet.com/booksndptstitches.htm

I also pulled out SuZy Murphy's SuZy's Darn Stitches as it has pages of darning patterns.  I might find a pumpkin or skull diagrammed there for the background.  (See link above for info on this book, too.)

I browsed SuZy's Darn Stitches first, but didn't find a pumpkin stitch that really grabbed me and there were no skull stitches.  I reluctantly decided that I didn't want to go to the trouble of graphing out the words Feed Me, either, so we are back to just two ideas for the background:  a rectangular or box shape that resembles the sign or a diagonal stitch that will subtly point toward the Pirate Cat.

So I browsed my stitch dictionaries and did a little test stitching on scrap canvas (you can always use the wide margins of your current canvas if you want) before I came up with a stitch I liked.  But that is another Blog entry for another day!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow