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...

Auction Fever

http://jeffreysevans.hibid.com/lot/22269031/amelia-labru--american--needlework-sampler--silk/?q=454&sort=2&ref=catalog

I now own my first antique sampler!

That was fun.

Around the World

I'm going on a journey. Got some friends going along with me. First stop - Scotland!

It's time to go around the world every 80 days with Amy Mitten.

Got my kit yesterday. Amy's beautiful threads and fantastic directions. Includes Scottish sampler facts. How-to personalize my sampler - I've got some choices to make on whose initials to use.
No linen in the photo because I washed it and it's currently in the freezer awaiting the iron.

I love that she has created passports for us!

Go more info head to Amy's website:
http://www.amymitten.com/

Meowww Finish

I finished this on Wednesday. Totally love it.

Had some issues - my bats were sinking into the moon. I had to frog them then stitched bullion knots for the skinny ones. And a made up thing for the big one.

Much more better.

The compensation on the background was a bear, but I tamed it.

All in all, just cute as can be.

Meowww Moon

I've occasionally been picking up this piece and working on it slowly.

It a DC Designs distributed by Amanda Lawford.

I really set myself some challenges here - compensating my background around the cats & compensating the moon.

First I stitched the bats with just tent stitch, but when I started stitching the moon the bats were sinking behind the moon. Nearly two hours spent removing them. But now I'm doing Bouillon knots for the small bats and I've got an idea for the larger one. Now the bats are in front of the moon where they belong.

ANG Seminar

On Friday my roommate and I arrived in South Carolina. First we stopped for some terrific BBQ in North Carolina. And a bit of shoe shopping in North Myrtle Beach. We were totally surprised to find a huge sale going on at the shoe store complete with a live band and people gathered outside in their lawn chairs enjoying the show. I did purchase exactly one pair of Alegria shoes, my first pair. I believe I will be buying more.

We easily found our hotel, checked in, dumped a huge amount of stuff in our room - I regret not taking a photo of the luggage trolley - and headed off to the registration desk. 

We got the lay of the land, found a few of our friends, and headed off to dinner. 

The next morning found food and left for our first class. 

  

This is Color Play, a Teaching Excellence Class, by Jennifer Riefenberg. I have to say I picked this class because it is a Teaching Excellence Class, not for the project. Here's the painted canvas we started with. Just five hexagons painted like color wheels. 

So here's my progress on the first day. OMG. I love what happens on this piece. Totally cool. And Jennifer is a terrific teacher which is good because I've got another class with her on Monday and Tuesday. 

This is my progress after two days. I got lazy today, the second day of class. I could be further along. Do you like the blackwork pattern background? I do. Except for the fact that it is stitched with DMC Jewel Effects. I had given away all the skeins of that particular thread because it's horrible to work with. I will persevere with this even though I will grumble. 

If you'd like to see more about Jennifer and her art, her website is the Art of Sunshine.  

Happy Dance

I finished the pillow complete with extra rows the finishers want. Got to leave it at the shop yesterday before heading off to the American Needlepoint Guild seminar in Myrtle Beach.

We're here now getting ready for our first classes tomorrow. In a happy place.

(edit) This is a Charley Harper canvas called Lil' Sipper. You can view all Harper canvases on the Treglown website, http://www.treglowndesigns.com/artist-s/1857.htm. But you must order through a needlepoint shop. 

And Then This Happened

So life was moving on in August. My son, his wife, and my almost two-year old granddaughter moved to Italy courtesy of the US Army. We're happy for them. Jealous, even. Sad for us. It's been nice having them be a six hour drive down the road from us. But I will now get to make that long awaited Italian vacation. 

Then end of month approached and I was just starting to ramp up some planning for attending the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in Myrtle Beach in September. When one morning, rushing off to work, I fell right in front my own house. We used to have a half-step in our sidewalk that collected water and had puddles and ice and was generally useless. In the spring when we had our sidewalk redone they eliminated that half-step. 

Apparently that morning my muscle memory remembered the step. And down I went like the proverbially ton of bricks. I knew I'd hurt a finger on my left hand - I actually thought I'd ripped the nail off. And that my right knee was questionable. I limped back in the house. Bandaged my fingertip. Took ibuprofen and grabbed and ice pack for my knee which I kept on it while driving to work. 

The next morning I knew a visit to the ER was in order being a Sunday and all. 

Sure enough. Broken finger. (I think there were two broken fingers.) A splint. X-rays showed no broken bones in knee. A few days later I got to an MRI machine and few days after that I finally had a referral to an orthopedist. 

Meanwhile, I've been sitting with ice, ibuprofen, and the occasional vicodin. Hardly moving and watching my knee swell. And wallowing in self-pity because what if I had screwed up my trip.

I got to that fateful appointment with the orthopedist this past week. Had the needle under the kneecap to drain fluid. And then another to inject a steroid. Don't ask how much this hurts. Because I'll have to use very bad words. 

Meanwhile, all kinds of things that should have been getting done, weren't. Hubby stepped up nicely with cooking and laundry. But all my usual planning and organizing for Seminar wasn't happening. 

So today I sit here. Able to sit at a table again. First hurrah!

I've got water on the knee. This should dissipate with time. RIGHT. It's uncomfortable. And annoying. 

And I have nerve damage from the fall. Can't feel my skin from my kneecap to half-way done my leg. That's disquieting and strange. This, too, should improve with time. 

But I can move without massive amounts of pain. And I didn't tear anything major in the way of ligaments. I've got a follow-up appointment this week with Doctor Pain and then I am leaving for Myrtle Beach. 

Stay tuned for updates!

Sipper Progress

Charley Harper canvas I'm doing for my mom. Pretty straightforward. Only basketweave. Mostly Planet Earth silk. Except the flower is DMC #3 pearl and the hummingbird head is Silk Lame Braid. Needed just s touch of sparkle.

Name of this canvas is Lil' Sipper.

And that's how far two skeins of Planet Earth got me on the background. I've got three more skeins and two may be enough.