Walking the Dog (with Ruth) UPDATED WITH ROSES

Ruth Schmuff has just announced her next mystery class to start in mid-February, after the holiday mystery class (the one with the Santa birds) ends. It's Michele Noiset's dog walker and dog piece, licensed especially by CBK Designs for Ruth and her class.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2013/12/inquiring-minds-want-to-know.html

This is going to be another fun piece!  Can't wait to see what Ruth does for the dog fur!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2014/02/the-star-of-show.html

UPDATE:  The background is wonderful and the shoe very fashionable.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2014/03/the-spotlight-is-on.html

UPDATE #2:  The ribbon touches are wonderful!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2014/03/swanky-cute.html

UPDATE #3:  Finished!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2015/01/not-day-for-walking-this-pup.html

UPDATE #4:  Finished again!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2015/06/ooh-la-la-dog-walker-got-makeover.html

If you want to see all Ruth's mystery classes, click on the "Bedecked and Beaddazzled Mysteries" tab in the link above.  Most of the classes are still available, even though the mystery has been solved.

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.

Or Nue' on Needlepoint Canvas

Sunday I posted a link to a video about Margaret Nicholson and her fabulous Or Nue' embroidery.   Today I want to talk about all the variations of Or Nue' (which I believe translates as "shaded gold") used on needlepoint canvas.   Traditional Medieval Or Nue' was used on church vestments and altar cloths.  You can see some stunning examples here.
http://www.pinterest.com/gbertholet/embroidery-opus-anglicanum/

The Nimble Needle has a fabulous article with photos of Or Nue' that includes a link to Jane Zimmerman's explanation of how to do Or Nue' on needlepoint canvas.  When you study Jane's article, note she is couching pairs of gold threads. The reason I emphasized this will become obvious tomorrow....
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-or-shaded-gold-work-ready-to-try.html

If you would like to do a little Or Nue' yourself, how about using Mary Duckworth's flower pattern generously hosted on the Caron website?  Note that Mary couched down Caron threads using other Caron threads instead of using the traditional gold base thread held down with silks, but there's no reason you can't switch threads if you prefer to use what you have in your thread box.
http://www.caron-net.com/designerfiles/desaugfiles/augchrt.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.

Or Nue' My Way

Japanese Tea House by Leigh Designs

From keeping an eye on other folks' Or Nue' embroidery and reading everything I could get my hands on, it seems clear that Or Nue' on needlepoint canvas often runs into trouble trying to a) manage all those different colors of couching silks and b) trying to keep the pairs of gold threads you are couching straight and covering the underlying canvas.   There's not much I can do about managing the threads used for couching colors except by recommending you use lots of magnets to park your needles out of the way when you aren't using those colors, but I can help a little when it comes to choosing gold threads for the base.  I just finished a piece of Or Nue'-inspired stitching on a Leigh Designs Fash Insert (which is 8.5 inches long and 4 inches high on 18 count canvas) called Japanese Tea House.  What you see above is the unstitched design.   Look at the gilt painted eaves of the tea house.  I stitched the eaves using Or Nue' as you see below.

Or Nue' Underway

Yes, the photo is upside down.  I turned the canvas to make it easier to reach the eaves areas.  In the photo the left side is done for the larger eaves area and I've laid a line of gold across the right side just so folks could see what I was doing.  That single line has been couched with a brick stitch every other canvas intersection.   I worked half the eaves, then finished the other half.  The single line is for display purposes in the stitch guide.  Normally I would work an area from the top down.  

What you don't see in the photograph are the magnets I used to park my threaded needles out of the way when I switched colors.  

What you do see in the photo is a single row of Kreinik #8 gold braid, laid in a channel between two threads.  I couched it down every other thread using one ply of yellow, orange, or gold Petite Silk Lame Braid or a Kreinik #8 copper. I worked one row at a time, laying my gold thread, then couching it into position, before laying the next gold thread.  The couching stitch was a simple brick stitch pattern over two threads.  Pulling the Petite Silk Lame Braid tight straightened the underlying gold thread into a straight line against the row above.  The main problem I found working the design this way is that the  painted canvas is hidden from view by the gold thread you are couching, so sometimes it was difficult to figure out what color I should use for the brick couching stitch.  I compensated for this by having a color copy of the canvas by my stitching chair and not worrying too much about what color.

If you compare the finished side to the unstitched side, you will see I lost some of the detail in the intricate scrolling pattern.  If I wanted to keep that detail, tent stitches and perhaps a little couching of the scrollwork would have been a better technique but I didn't mind if I ended up with a somewhat pointillist look.  The end result is a lot of muted sparkle, perfect for a painted and gilt building.

If you want a sharper look, choose a canvas without so much shading.

I hope you you play around with Or Nue' and see what fun things you can do with it on your canvases.

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.

Stitched, The Film

I stumbled across mention of a new movie about to appear in movie theaters.  It's called "Stitched, the Film."   It's a documentary that follows three well-known quilters who are displaying at the big Houston Quilting Show in Houston, Texas.  Since many needlepointers also do other needle techniques, I thought some of us might be interested in seeing this.  Looks like you can also order the DVD to watch it at home.
http://www.stitchedfilm.com/home.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.

Santa Faces (Not Blue Russian)

I promised when I started blog-stitching the Northern Light Santa that I would talk about things that would work on other Russian Santas in the series. So this morning I want to talk about faces a little more, especially faces for the other three Santas in this series.  Take a careful look at the faces of all the series.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp833x.html

The Holly Hills and Forever Green Santas face the viewer directly.  The Birdland Santa's face is turned slightly, but only slightly.  This makes all three good candidates for brick stitch over two faces, although if it were me, I'd do this on Birdland Santa because his face is larger.  You do need some space for the Over Two length, after all.  If you find brick stitches too large, basketweave is the way to go for these Santas except for their eyebrows and the black eyeliner area.  That probably should be done with one ply of a thread in stem stitches or perhaps a few straight stitches on top of the area after the basketweave is done.  I always use silk flosses when I can for faces but silk perle is just as nice and of course cotton flosses and perles are almost as good, just without the shine that silk gives a face.

Here is a diagram of Brick Stitch Over Two.  This is one of my favorite ways to attach beads so the diagram shows beads as well as just the plain Brick Stitch Over Two.  A bonus!

Next Monday I will be ready to talk background for my Blue Russian.   Hopefully folks will have their Santas by now and can start stitching faces and assembling threads for the rest of their canvas.


Questions?  Email me at chillyhollow@hotmail.com and I'll get back to you within a day or so.

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.