Stitch By Stitch Times 76

I've just discovered the amazing gallery of seventy-six stitched pieces on Stitch By Stitch's website. Click on the link to open a new window with the slide show. I saw the Christmas Door I have also stitched, bangle bracelets (which the Washington Post said in yesterday's paper are In this year), a headband, gorgeous purses (look at that monogrammed one with the raised letter on the beautiful background!), and lots of lots of nutcrackers in all sizes, shapes and designs.
http://www.stitchbystitchneedlepoint.com/photogallery.html

I was feeling sorry for myself not going to the trade show in Columbus this weekend to see all the new designs, but this slide show is almost as good.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Blue Angel in SIlk and Merino Wool

Now that the Red Madonna icon is done, I've started on the Blue Angel. I stitched her face and praying hands first, using the same set of Splendor Bronze skin tone silks with a bit of pink DMC cotton tossed in for pink cheeks that is on the first piece. I used the same brown Sheep's Silk for her brown eyes and also did a few tent stitches in it near her neck with this thread. I like using tent stitches for faces and other details like necks and hands. It is the perfect stitch for smooth skin. Note that I had to use 8 plies on this 14 count canvas except when I switched to one strand of the dark brown Sheep's Silk wool/silk mix.

Her blue robe was a quick stitch. I used the same Scollop stitch from Brenda Hart that was on Mary's robe but this time it was done as a horizontal curve like a smile instead of the ) shape on Mary's clothing. Because there is less space horizontally you don't see much of the pattern but it is there. If you look at the photo of the unstitched canvas over on the left side of this page, you'll see that there are three shades of blue in the robe, but I only used two to stitch it. I often ignore shading. This shall be our secret, ok?

I didn't have three shades of the blue thread I wanted to use, so there! If I don't post anything tomorrow you know a Blog reader blabbed and the NP police arrested me.

The dark blue is a silk/Merino wool blend from Felicity's Garden called 023 Blueberry. The medium blue is a silk/Merino wool blend from Silk & Ivory called 102 Cornflower. Note that the two threads are both a 50/50 blend of silk and Merino wool but they have different finishes. Silk & Ivory is shinier and is plumper in diameter. It is actually made for 13-14 count which this piece is. (Brown Paper Packages also has a thread called Trio in the same colors as Silk & Ivory made for either 14 or 18 count that is strandable. You don't use all the plies on 18 count, just like Paternayan wool. You remember Paternayan, don't you?) Felicity's Garden is denser and the shine more subtle. It is also thinner. If you look very carefully at the two tiny compensation stitches at the base of the angel to the left of her folded hands, you'll see that the Felicity's Garden doesn't quite cover there. I pulled a little too tightly on them and the background shows. Not to worry, I just stitched right on top of them with another strand of the Felicity's Garden. Just be careful of your tension when stitching. It is all too easy to pull too hard when you have a tiny stitch to do.

The Felicity's Garden was used for the collar. Again (GASP!) I stitched over the gold on the collar as I plan to use the blue as the base for something that will go on top. Already I've done button hole stitch around the edge of the collar to raise it a bit. I pulled tightly on the poor Felicity's Garden when doing buttonhole to make the raised edge the proper size. The thread doesn't hide the gold paint but that's ok. Blackwork (in a thin gold metallic thread) or beads or perhaps the pearls I didn't use from the Red Madonna will cover the bare bits.

I had planned to also talk about the Blue Angel's curls but this is so long I think I'll wait to talk about that tomorrow. Just note that I used three different brands of silk/wool threads. That's one trick I used to stitch on 13-14 count--fatter threads that have the shine of silk appropriate to an icon and a Christmas piece and the ability of wool to fluff out and fill hole to cover the canvas.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

More by SharonG

Remember how I sent you to the ANG website to look at several frame stitches for borders that SharonG created? She's updated her blog and there's a fabulous gold bamboo frame around the koi piece on the site.
http://sharongneedlepointdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/06/ct35-is-newer-canvas-that-now-has.html

The photo above is the small dragonfly abstract from SharonG's blog. It is stitched with Kreinik's new Japan threads. It is beautiful!

I had a wonderful time looking at all the photos. The horses gave me a big laugh but I admired the blossoms on the great background more as they are something I'd stitch. Do I like the black one better than the white? I don't know! They'd make a fabulous pair of framed pieces, wouldn't they?

SharonG is one of my three favorite designers (Leigh and Mindy and SharonG) so I was thrilled to find the update of new pieces that will be offered at the Columbus trade show that starts this weekend. Tell your shop to hurry and order!

Jane, drooling here in CH

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Background Abandoned

The Red Madonna is done! Boy, that didn't take long. These small pieces (they are 3 inches wish by 5 inches tall) are quick stitches, particularly on 14 count canvas and when you don't stitch a background at all.

Yes, after fiddling with the Maltese Stitch and trying to reduce the example I had to a size that worked on the background, I gave up. I never did come up with anything that looked good using that stitch. So I worked on the bottom corners and the top framework instead.

I took several photos and this is the best one. You can't really see the Kreinik gold and red striped thread I used well on the framework. I'll try a closeup that is heavily enhanced to show detail. Ok, here it is. Let me work from the top left corner out, explaining what is there, then I'll do the bottom corner, again working from the corner out.

I've talked about the outside border I added so we'll skip that, ok. The next thing you see is a red Toho bead (size 11/0) in the corner, followed by a cluster of 5-6 gold Mill Hill beads (size Petite). The next area is my red and gold mix Kreinik #203 couched down with red Kreinik #003 in #4 braid. (203 is called Flame and it is a mix of red and gold in one thread, not very attractive on the spool, but Oh Baby! it looks good stitched.) I laid a pair of stitches across the area and tied them with four stitches, two at the bottom and two at the top. Then you see the gold Kreinik done in the diagonal mosaic stitch. This is the area that I added three crosses on top of. They are all in the red and gold Kreinik mix. Then we return to another pair of couched red and gold Kreinik threads. The next area is interesting. It's just tent stitch but I used ribbon floss to do the tent stitches. I think ribbon floss, usually done in long stitches, makes great tent stitches if you can get over the fact that it twists and turns like crazy while you are trying to do the stitches. A laying tool of some sort is a must when it comes to tent stitches in ribbon floss! I like how the gold is shinier than the gold in the diagonal mosaic section but less shiny than the bright Fyrewerks gold in the halos. When it comes to mixing a lot of gold threads, if you can get the same color of gold but mix the textures, you get a lot of interest in the look of a piece. The last area is more red and gold Kreinik, also in tent stitches. If you look at the original unstitched canvas photo on the left side of this page, you'll see white pearls came with this piece and two were supposed to go in this area. Instead, I used two more red Toho beads. The white pearl in the corner also turned into a red bead. This is what happens when you hand a stitch guide to Jane--she runs wild! LOL

Before we look at the bottom corner, look at the two decorative areas right over Mary's head. I used my gold Kreinik to do a box turned on its corner edge and then my red and gold Kreinik to do a second box under the first. The gold box has a red bead in the middle and the red and gold box has a gold one in the center. These make a decorative pattern in the middle of the arch that the Red Madonna and Child stand under. The stitch I used has a name but I can't remember it and can't find it in a quick browse. Sorry!

Now the bottom corner. It is much simplier, just tent stitches in the red and gold Kreinik with another red bead in the corner next to the gold frame I added. The hardest part was deciding whether to make the two bottom corners match. They were not painted to be identical, in fact the top corners weren't either. Looking at the design, you'll see how there is much more open space to the left of Baby Jesus than there is to the right of Mary. That weighs the canvas to the right and focuses your eye on Baby Jesus on the left in my opinion. So there is more "stuff" on the right side so the corners are a bit less to make room. I finally shrugged and stitched the corners more or less as painted. After all, this is more realistic. Very few things in real life are symmetrical.

After all this, you can see why a plain background looked good to me. Sometimes you need a resting place for the eyes. I'll put gold lame behind the canvas to add a little more sparkle and to hide the finishing foam that'll be inside. I'm going to finish both pieces together, however, so I've put Red Madonna away and have started Blue Angel. You can see the plain canvas of Blue Angel on the left side of this page under the Current Project title.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Framed by SharonG

Last night I pulled out all the sizes of Kreinik's 002 gold I had and started trying to figure out a smaller version of Maltese Cross for the background. As you can see in the photo above, I haven't worked out anything yet. I discovered I had trouble seeing to stitch with gold thread on a gold background. I'll try again today while it is still light. I probably will use either my 002 blending filament or the #4 braid for the Maltese Stitch background, but that is still up in the air.


I ended up stitching the left corner in diagonal mosaic as specified with my Kreinik 002 gold in size #12 braid. I need to put the cross on top but I discovered my On The Surface vintage gold thread didn't show up enough against the gold Kreinik so I pulled it out. I'll have to see how the two threads look in natural light and rummage around for a better color to put on top of the gold. Red Kreink might look very nice, actually, especially since I already covered my halo edge in red beads....

I always intended to do a second border around the fancy frame painted around the two icons. For inspiration, I turned to SharonG who puts lovely borders around her designs. You can see two examples all diagrammed out for you in ANG's Stitch of the Month for 2005. SharonG did a wonderful dragonfly kimono pattern then.

Here's her Favorite Border. Isn't it lovely?
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/oct.php


And here is the border I used as inspiration--Simply Elegant Border #1.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/mar.php

If you look at this smaller photo, you see the upper left hand corner with it's diagonal mosaic stitches in gold and the Kreinik 002 gold (#16 braid) laid in two parallel ditches around the outside of the original frame. At the bottom I've started couching the thread down with a strand of my On the Surface Vintage Gold metal thread. It is pretty subtle but I hope the change in color of the couching thread adds a bit to the piece. It's often the little things that make a difference! You can also see that I'll added three tie down stitches to the corner to make this more like a frame. That's a wonderful touch in my opinion. SharonG is very, very smart!

Now I need to look for red metallic threads for the original border and the crosses that go on top. Wish me luck!

By the way, I've been meaning to mention that I try to explain why I choose the threads/stitches/colors/whatever I did when stitching a painted canvas but if you are at all insecure of your ability to do this all on your own, a canvas that comes with its own stitch guide is a good investment. You can finish a project and know what it'll look like and learn enough to give yourself confidence for the next time. I just discovered that The Needle Works in Austin, Texas has photos of 73 canvases that come with a stitch guide included on their website. It's a nice place to browse if you want a little help before you start your first painted canvas.
http://www.theneedleworks.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=27

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow