Frankie

Woo-hoo! Yesterday my belated birthday present arrived at the shop.

Thanks to my terrific boss and co-worker.

He'll partner with my Mr. Bones. It's by Labors of Love. There's a witch and a pumpkin man, too.

Cube It

 

I thought I'd share with you my new favorite thing to bring to stitching retreats.

  

 

First photo shows it folded up. This one shows the inside.

  

 

And here we have the assembled product:  a Poppin Cube from the Container Store. My friend and I each brought on to our retreat in January. A place to put your things. Store your varied projects inside. Strong enough for others to sit on while visiting with you. You can put your feet on it. I used mine as a table beside me. 

Never leaving for retreats without this. 

Don't think I'll bring it to classes though as it takes a certain amount of room. 

Comes in eight different colors. You can see them here:  Poppin Cube  

Words Worth

https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/mark-my-words-the-subversive-history-of-women-using-thread-as-ink

My two favorites:  words and textiles. Worth reading.

National Stitch in Public Day

The first Saturday in February is National Stitch in Public Day. That's because February is National Embroidery Month.

I'm doing my part today while traveling.

Blizzard's Away

And the snow began to fall. Quietly. Steadily.

Got several inches already. As of now, it's a dry, fluffy snow. Please stay that way.

Started off my blizzard stitching with Radishes, a class piece from ANG seminar.

Oh, and if you're curious at all about what an impending, major snowstorm does to stitchers, you should work in a needlepoint shop the day before the storm. Wow. We were busy! Came home exhausted. If anyone runs out of thread before Tuesday, it's not my fault!

Wise Words

http://blog.lionbrand.com/2016/01/06/franklin-habits-friendly-three-point-message-to-journalists-who-seek-to-write-about-knitting-and-crochet/

Finally. Some good advice to those who write about what we do.

Thanks.

Color Play

I was bopping along yesterday stitching on my last hexagon. Then I heard the nagging call from the kitchen to wash the dishes as our dishwasher is officially broken and in need of replacement.

Of course I cut my index finger on the paring knife.

Not badly, but enough so that I couldn't continue.

I'm still intrigued looking at this piece and am hoping I can move on to framing soon.

Merry Christmas

A quiet day here with just my hubby and me. We've heard from the kids both near and far (Massachusetts and Italy) and our daughter gets to visit us for a few days soon.

My injured knee and seasonal depression haven't made for a jolly month, but we're surviving.

So here's to 2016 and its many blessings!

One Ornament Finish

Gift given so I can post this now.

The Silver Needle does these canvases of Massachusetts town signs. I bought Truro and repainted it.

Love the finishing.

Needlepoint - Making a Background

Here is a Labors of Love canvas that I fell in love with when we had the trunk show in the shop. She's called the Bride. 

I picked threads choosing Impressions for her skin so that I could get the colors I wanted. Impressions normally wouldn't be my first choice for skin. I would usually go with something shinier. But I figure she's a monster and I can take liberties. 

Her hair is done with white pearl cotton and the brown is 3 strands of Vineyard Merino strandable and two strands of Burmilana. I got exactly what I wanted in terms of color. Then I started laying the pearl cotton and stitching over it to create the effect of the marcelled waves that Elsa Lanchester had in the movie "Bride of Frankenstein." I was fortunate in that what I had dreamed up in my head, worked when I started stitching.  

After solving the mystery of the hair, the only thing I needed to decide was what was my background going to be. Initially I had pulled two purple threads to create a background. But then I remembered my friend Johnny's painting of the Bride.

And suddenly I knew I didn't want an all-over background pattern. I wanted a wall. Here's where it got tricky. I really love the color on Johnny's painting. Could I find it in a stranded thread? Nope. Found what I wanted in Pepper Pot. This meant I wouldn't be able to make shimmery highlights. But I'm okay with that. 

I started by using the scan of the canvas I had made before beginning to stitch. And I drew on a wall on the print out of the scan. Then I pencilled in those grout on the canvas. I started stitching the grout with one strand of Impressions. But that wasn't working on white canvas. Two strands covered much better. Then I needed a floor. That's done with a cashmere variation I found in Carole Lake and Michael Boren's Canvas Embellishment book. I used one strand of Watercolours "Granite" for the floor. 

 

Lastly I started stitching a diagonal scotch to make the stones. And I see this canvas as having light coming in from the top right. That's when my friend Liz suggests staggering the color on a diagonal instead of straight across. Brilliant idea.

Here she is. All done and ready to go off the finisher. Now to make her a mate. Funny how I'm doing this backwards...