Two Door Tardis

Even though I've been posting here about other things, I have been stitching my Tardis ornament each night and have the tent stitched walls finished.  I also replaced the mutins (just long stitches in perle cotton couched with a ply of DMC floss where the horizontal and vertical stitches cross) in the windows.  You'll remember I had to rip out the windows and door panels to get them all sized and positioned correctly.

I started working long stitches over the front left corner but stopped when I ran out of time last night.  I will count (shudder) the threads the free standing right door covers and then count (shudder) the same amount of threads over from the center where the two doors meet and then add horizontal satin stitch on the right side corner today.

After that I will need to work on the roof.  Once I know exactly where and what the roof stitches are, I can continue working horizontal satin stitches up the front corners toward the roof line.

The end is in sight!

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

Kimono Cyberclass Updated Again

Remember that I mentioned the three mini cyberclasses that Janet Perry is offering?  I have an update for you--a photo of the first class's finished kimono.   The painted canvas is from Patt and Lee Designs.  Janet has chosen the stitches.  The first class starts April 1 so if you want to learn a bit more about fancying up your needlepoint, or if you know a beginner who'd enjoy this class, head over to Janet's blog to sign up.

http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/textured-stitch-cyberclass


UPDATE #2 - Here is the stitched second kimono for class #2 which is going to be about shading.

Update #3:  Below is the third kimono finished.

More details can be found on Janet Perry's blog.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/cyberclass-on-needlepoint-shading-starting-may-15


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

Melita's Woodlawn Report

Another kind person has posted a report about their trip to see the Woodlawn Plantation exhibit on their blog.  This time the visitor is Melita.  You can read all about it here.
http://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/woodlawn-roadtrip-2010/


She's provided a link to the photo album of the ribbon winners. If you want to look up the items that won awards she mentions, enter the IMG number in the search box. BEFORE you push Enter, use the Search pull down menu to choose Preservation Nation's albums so that you don't get results from all over Flicker.


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

Tools for Ripping Out UPDATED

I'm working away on the Tardis ornament.  To date I have tent stitched the entire left side plus the left door, and have ripped out the interlocking Goblein I first thought would work on the right door so I could start tent stitching it.  This is time-consuming, but perfect stitching for a weekend spent mostly in yard work.  I was too pooped at night to do anything more complex than basketweave anyway.

I've done quite a bit of ripping out in my last couple of pieces and it dawned on me perhaps you might be interested in the three items I use for this from my needlework toolbox.

When it comes to cutting threads, if I have more than just one or two to remove, I usually turn to my sharp little Thread Snips.  Mine are Japanese and they look like the ones here except mine have colorful foam covers on the handles so that squeezing them to cut is easy.  I bought mine at Needlewoman East but Liz didn't know who distributed them and there is no manufacturer's name on the package or the snips themselves.  They are quite sharp so there is a plastic point protector on their tip.  I like them because they are small and slip under the threads I want to cut easily, making it less likely that I will cut anything I didn't mean to.
http://www.allstitch.net/product/412-squeezers-thread-nips-1708.cfm

Once I have the threads cut and removed, I pull out my Boo Boo Stick to carefully brush the surface of my bare NP canvas where the threads were to pick up any leftover fuzz.  The wider end of the Boo Boo Stick is soft and the smaller end is hard bristles, so you can scrub or just softly wipe the canvas, depending on your need.  I've had my Boo Boo Stick for at least ten years and use it often but it looks brand new.  Of course I keep it in the plastic envelope it came in to keep the bristle ends clean.
http://www.berlinembroidery.com/tools.htm#booboo

My final tool is one we all have--a 2-3 inch length of leftover metallic thread.  When I finish a length of metallic thread, and cut off the short end that is not long enough to use elsewhere, I check to see if there is a similar piece already laying with my pile of current threads.  If not, I keep it, particularly if it is something medium sized like a #4 or #8 Kreinik braid.

Often I find when I rip out threads I accidentally disturb threads next door. Sometimes these threads will start to poke their end through my stitching to the front.  When that happens, I thread up my needle with my leftover metallic (no knot on the end--that's important) and put the needle in the hole with the loose end from the front.  Pull the metallic thread to the back and it will drag the loose thread with it.  Then you can decide whether to snip it close to the back or re-secure it.

My friend Mimi told me about this trick which she picked up from the ANG email list years ago and it has proved very useful.  So keep a little tail end of metallic thread around.  It is a useful tool when you find yourself ripping out something that needs replacing.

Hopefully tonight I'll finish the tent stitching on the Tardis and can start stitching the roof line.

UPDATE:  My spies say the little thread snips are distributed by Dovo, who also distribute the grasshopper scissors.  I still can't find a photo of a set exactly like mine but these are close.
http://www.threadandmore.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=5843

Here are the "grasshopper" scissors. I don't own these but I find them intriguing.  They also allow for precise fine cuts and are operated by squeezing.
http://www.threadandmore.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=5838

If you need scissors to meet a special need, while searching for the above I found Nordic Needle's newsletter that talks about the scissors they carry and recommends various types for various chores, for lefties, etc.
http://www.nordicneedle.com/newsletters/stash/01.shtml

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

Canvas of the Month - Bonnie's Buddha Cat

This month's canvas of the month is a Brenda Stofft design called Buddha Cat. This is a 6x10 inch design on 18 count canvas.
http://www.brendastofftdesigns.com/Cats%20and%20Dogs.htm

Bonnie's Buddha Cat Ideas:

This month with the cat canvas, I would start with the cat. I think its time to so some turkey tufting with a strandable wool/wool blend fiber following the shading on the canvas. The center of the ears would be a tent stitch in a cotton floss to make it distinct from the fur. The paw pads would be a padded satin stitch in floss to raise them up a bit to match the fur. The eyes would be silk, done in tent stitches and with a stem stitch outline – maybe add a little metallic for the sparkle in the middle of the eye. The nose is a padded satin in silk and the mouth a stem stitch in the floss.
Next I would move to the robe. All of the shaded folds make it tough to come up with a stitch that would work. Ideally a stitch that would make a wave pattern would be perfect, but it is such small areas. I started thinking maybe just lay horizontal satin stitches in a strandable silk breaking the stitches at the dark lines and the breaks would create the folds, but the idea of a horizontal stitch on a robe that lays vertically seems off to me. So I would maybe try some vertical satin stitches over three or so instead, maybe in groups of two staggered so that you end up with a diagonal feel, but not too strong of one. So I would do two over 3 vertical satin stitches, then drop down one hole and do another pair and then drop down one hole, and so on. I would make sure I compensate at the dark lines so the idea of a fold stays. Each side would form a diagonal down towards the center so would mirror each other. The middle which isn't angled could just be down in staggered pairs of just a row of satin stitches depending on how tall it really is. After the robe is all stitched, if the folds aren't prominent enough, I would go back in and stem stitch them in a slightly darker color or maybe even the same color with maybe just one strand so there, but not bold. There are a couple of dark areas that appear to be the lining of the robe. Those I would simply tent stitch in silk. That leaves just the bracelets and the belt buckle on the cat which I would simply bead.

The pillow is next. I envision the part the cat is sitting on in a rich velvet, so I would do satin stitches in very velvet making sure it lays smoothly. Then I would take silk and lay it in long straight stitches toward the middle of each petal for the pale green parts – this would mean changing the direction of the stitches as you go to match the direction of the petals. So it would be vertical at the top and bottom, horizontal on the sides and angled to fill the spaces in the middle. I might even pad under the stitches to give the petals a more raised look on the edges. The middle of the top petals would be a version of the sheltered diamonds pattern from Brenda Hart’s Favorite Stitches 2 – you'd have to compensate to make it fit, but the middle would be a metallic and the edges a silk. The smaller leaves at the bottom would just be the silk part of the stitch without the middles. Lastly I would take a metallic braid or cord and couch it all around the petals and leaves to get that nice smooth rounded look.
Now what is that behind the cat? A sun or what? For lack of a better guess on my part, I am going to go with the sun. So I would find a nice fiber with some shine – maybe a metallic, or maybe something like Flair which would just catch the light or maybe something like Neon Rays since it has a nice sheen to it. I think to get more of the light play, I would go with something like vertical and horizontal pavilions which is essentially one row of vertical diamond patterns followed by one row of horizontal diamonds. Now if you tell me that is something else, I may change my mind entirely!
The letter to the right I would tent stitch in silk or they might be fun to couch some really thick metallic for them depending on their actual size. And that leaves the background. Since it is black and stitching on black is tough, I may be just tempted to leave it unstitched. If I was going to stitch it, I would pick a #12 perle cotton for some texture, but no shine. Something like the crazy rain stitch or even the gobelin wave II stitch from Brenda Hart’s Favorite Stitches 2 book would be fun. Neither fills up all of the canvas holes but with the perle cotton would provide some texture to the background.


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