Breakfast with the foxes, not Lucy!

 

Breakfast with the foxes on my patio, BUT you’d think they could take their leftovers home and not leave on my patio. Sorry so blurry but taken at 6:30AM, through a screen. One had a darker tail…wonder if that means anything. And also only one ate…other watched and left.

And Lucy, she was not in the least interested in her relatives…they woke her up!

What a week!

The old saying, “Time passes quickly when you’re having fun.” is apropos for this week.  This was the week that was…and truly it went by much too quickly…I’d like another, thank you very much. If nothing else was going on this week the weather was beautiful…and I caught a sever case of Spring Fever!

I could barely keep myself inside this week and had the doors open on several occasions…in February! Lucy sniffed every blade of grass in the yard and even wanted to play soccer. From 2 feet of snow on the ground to 70 degrees, love that Mother Nature!…but Jack Frost will be heard from again and not in the too distant future I’m sure.

It was also Valentine’s Day this week. My valentine bought us a picture I have wanted for a long time…Thomas Jefferson painted by Bob Holloway a local artist. I have several of his pictures and love them all. http://www.bobholloway.com/

I also purchased supplies to try needle felting. It looks like fun and something that could be applied to needlepoint as embellishments. I made a ladybug just to see if I could. Since I am not sure yet…was searching the internet last week and bookmarked several stops but haven’t gotten back to them yet. There will be more to come about needle felting I’m sure.

I also picked up a couple packages of rick rack to make rick-rack flowers. Kathy’s blog Shakl http://www.shawkl.com/search?updated-max=2011-02-11T09%3A21%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=10 told how to do them and I thought they looked like fun and something else that could embellish a needlepoint. When I was a the store picking up needle felting supplies I also picked up two packages of rick rack, I didn’t read the blog close before I left home to know which size to buy. I also bought a rick rack that was one sided (painted). I just had to cut my rick rack and make a couple adjustments. It would have been easier with one color but these turned out just fine for my first try.

Also made a large temari ball. I thought I might participate in Barbra Suess challenge but I may not have enough time since I played this week. You can read all about it and see Barb’s beautiful temari on her blog http://temaribarb.blogspot.com/  or her website  http://www.japanesetemari.com/ . But at least now I have one very large temari ball…unstitched

And poor bunny…well, he is still on the stretcher bars. All the black (except ears) is stitched. Started working on the turkey tuff tail but between the nice weather; trying my new projects; and oh yes I am suppose to be doing computer graphics for a teacher (sh-h-h, maybe she won’t notice it is taking me forever) I haven’t made much progress. I tried to stitch six thread lengths a day but I am about 24 threads behind this week…but who’s counting.

And that’s the week that was in the Midwest…and now I’m off to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day. Lucy and I are taking a walk and then we are cooking on the grill tonight. If Mother Nature wants to tease us, we are going to enjoy every moment!

 I hope everyone has beautiful weather too and if you can squeeze it in…time to stitch!  ttfn…sue

Bunny Progress

Good thing our streets are clean and my DH could get out this morning, otherwise we might have had to put sleeping pills in his coffee. I think he was beginning suffering from Cabin Fever, Brain Freeze or Snow Stupor, and maybe a combination of all. Yesterday, out of the clear blue he asked me if I was stitching the bunny because it was the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. I simple answered that I obviously needed to do more shopping, since my 100 or so rabbits with blue coats and carrots collection was too small for him to notice. That sent him to his computer and I did not hear from him until lunch.  

The then news media announced the Punxsutawney Phil in Punxsutawney Pa didn’t see his shadow and they would have an early spring. Well congratulations to the Pennsylvania folks; I am very happy for them and envious too. Because here in the Midwest, the rodent would have to have been blind not to see his shadow and so I’m guessing with out -10 degree temperatures with a wind chill of -15 it will be at least 6 more weeks until we see crocus and jonquils popping up through this snow. 

And with this bone chilling weather I am so-o-o-o very happy that I can stitch, compute and read. With my blanket (camouflage army liner for sleeping bag supplied by 2^nd son from his army days, too warm) shared by Lucy and hot chocolate, I’m as snug as a bug in a rug! I can zone out and only have to face the harsh reality of the snow and cold when either Lucy needs to go out (and that is only when her eyes turn green and she’s walking with all four legs crossed) or I need more hot chocolate, nature or food calls me.  

The bunny is progressing nicely his coat and tail are completed and I have cut the felt for the tulips. Hopefully,  by the end of the today I should be finished with him and he should be heading to the finisher on Friday or Saturday. I do have a problem but it is not with the stitching, it is the materials I am planning on using. I decided the tulips should be appliqued and I am using felt. I had all but the one pink and so last week I headed out to find a pink that I could use. I was open to the possibility that my pink could be the lightest or the middle value. I went to two local national craft stores and then to the national fabric store. The felt is awful compared to what I bought just last year. I purchased one but it is almost paper-thin as you can see in the picture. Since I was at the fabric store I checked both in the craft area and the cut fabrics; most of the felts were thinner than ever, some were thicker but you could tell these colors were not the most popular colors and were probably older. When I got home I noticed that felt I purchased last year (yellow) was better than the felt I just purchased but was also a bit lighter than the stuff I’ve had for several years. I took a picture, hope you can see the differences…the top row are felts I have had, yellow is felt I purchased I last two years and pink is the newest. Since I seldom use felt and I have a nice stash of the older felt for my purposes I will have time to research and study other alternatives, but I sure feel sorry for those felt artists that love to work with this media, I thought the felt I saw was of poor quality. If you are a felt designer or artist out there, where do you get your felt and have you seen a difference in the quality of felt?

Okay, enough of the felt box stand, back to my stitching plan. I am planning to stitch the carrots with 2 colors of Epic wool (persimmon and sienna) in padded satin stitches. I’m going to pad the carrots with orange #3 DMC perle cotton. I will slant the stitches on three of the carrots to match the slant they are painted. I am planning on doing the leaves with a Radial Satin stitch using all 3 ply of the Emerald Watercolours as it comes out of the skein (I am NOT stripping this thread). I will then use #3 DMC perle cotton very dark green (890) to place the veins on the leaves in an Outline/Stem stitch when the leaves are completed. I’m going to stitch the center portion of the tulips in a Diagonal Mosaic with a dark value pink, medium value yellow and light value purple #3 DMC perle cotton to blend with my felts. Then I am going to stitch the petals of the tulips using felt and padding. I made one master petal pattern and then adjusted it according to the tulips on the canvas. I have also cut the appropriate padding from quilt batting that I keep for finishing ornaments and padding appliques. After all the flowers and carrots are complete I plan on stitching the carrot tops in a Fly stitch using 4mm overdyed green silk ribbon; and I will stitch the tulip stems in a Wrapped Chain Stitch using #3 DMC perle cotton very dark green. The basket will be stitched with #3 DMC perle cotton very dark brown (838) and Walnut Watercolours (NOT striped). I’m going to pad the very top with dark brown perle cotton 3 or 4 times and cover with an Overlapping Cross Stitch so it will look like a lip to the basket. Directly below this I am going to pad again with perle cotton 2-3 times and stitch a Diagonal Gobelin over this using the dark brown perle cotton very forth stitch and filling in with Watercolours. The body of the basket will be stitched in rows: #3 DMC perle cotton very dark brown (838) used for the Continental Stitch outlines filed with a giant rectangular Flat Stitch using the unstripped Watercolours.

Okay enough with the planning, off to get more hot chocolate, and then to some serious stitching today. Can’t believe I might have three posts in the same week…see there are some good things to come from cold and snow.

I hope everyone is staying warm and safe… AND I hope everyone will have time to stitch today!  ttfn…sue

Let it Snow

You cannot pre-write a snow blog, so this one is off the cuff. Even my Lucy would not go out without her coat and she was none to happy about this, but her legs were crossed and her brown eyes were turning yellow. She wasted no time and you can tell by the look on her face she was none too happy that I thought a picture would be cute.

This is definitely a sit by the fire, have hot tea, take a nap, play on the internet, read the blogs and stitch day.  We are expecting 5 to 8 inches expected; we have 5 inches already and it is not stopping until tonight. Oh well, it’s the first really big snow of the year, I have tea and stitching…I’ll survive and I’m not complaining…last year was our 20 year big snow year so I’ll just put the teapot on and live through this snow and the next two really cold days. I also have Tortilla Soup I fixed for the Family Sunday dinner yesterday and soup is always better the second day! So I’ll fix a salad and dinner is done.

Hope everyone has time to stitch today (and stay warm)!  ttfn…sue

P.S. Lucy has found her spot for the next few days.

Odds & Ends

I have mentioned several projects and never finished up on them. So today is my catch up day.

3^rd Eagle has already flown my coup and is happily perched at his new home with #3 Eagle Grandson  AJD. At his Eagle reception it was noted that the next one is possibly 10 years away…I may not live that long (no, there is nothing wrong with me today…but only The Big Guy knows when my time is up) so, I have decided to stitch the remaining three possible candidates and have them preserved like a wedding dress and then when the time comes, someone will add the year and have it framed. I’ll keep you posted on this progress.

Namesake Granddaughter piece also has gone to it’s new home. She is such a good girl (must take after her namesake), she slept through the entire baptism, nary a peep (not her namesake). 

And Lucy is finally hanging on the wall. I showed Lucy her picture and she growled at it…must mean she thinks it looks like her. I Love Lucy!

I took a class from Sue Reed the 3^rd weekend in April and have finished stitching the piece. I lent it to a friend that was unable to attend the class so she could get an idea of what the piece should resemble. I have not decided how to finish the project, but am leaning to a pillow.

AND I completed Eagle #4 and will take it to the cleaners to have packaged & preserved next week. I thought I would do #5 and #6 too but decided that I burn out when I repeat stitch and #6 might not look too good. So…

I need to take time off from projects that have to be completed, stitching eagles and do something else. So I am completing my Deborah Forney HO-HO-Ho Santa (http://www.deborahforney.com/) . Another class I took last year and haven’t stitched on since. I am following the instructions and stitching each section top to bottom. I think there are a couple of places I will do something differently but so far straight from her teaching guide to my canvas. Something for me unless I decide to give it away.

ttfn…sue

Starting 2010

We are 12 days into 2010 and I am just getting around to posting. This year I am going to make no promises about how often I will post. I seem to get bogged down in self-inflicted promises to myself.

2009 was a good year and a bad year. Seemed like everything would go along just fine and then the bottom would fall out.

Nov 1^st was one of the blackest days of the year. My friend Patty Morrison unexpectedly passed away . Patty was my needlework finisher and friend. It was quite a loss to her family and friends. Patty had the most infectious smile, bright outlook and happy attitude that you could not help but be uplifted by her even if you were just talking to her on the phone. It was a loss that will be felt throughout this needlework community for a long time. I will never pick up a gold thread again and not think of Patty; her company name is “A Thread of Gold”. Her friend and assistant is going to carry on and that is a complement and credit to Patty.

Started out 2009 with computer problems and ended 2009 the same way. This last episode fried the hard drive…bad news…but… good news…I was backing up the hard drive when it happened and so far looks like hopefully 95% of my data was saved. I have encountered a few problems but so far nothing I can’t repair or redo. And I found a computer angel who didn’t charge me an arm and a leg just to look at my computer and then turn it on at an hourly rate. He was so considerate too. Called me with 2 hours of having my baby and gave me the preliminary diagnoses and kept me informed every step of the way about what he was doing and the approximate co$t. I never realized how dependent I have become on this baby to keep me informed, connected and entertained. Now she is home, better than new (she got a memory enhancement too), and is  appreciated more than ever and I have a new angel in my life.

Since Dec24, we have had nothing but snow and cold, cold & snow… I do not mind the white stuff within reason, and as long as it is white and not dirty gray. I would prefer it came and went in small increments of 3-6 inches at a time but this winter it has been 3-6 inches on top of 3-6 inches and still more 3-6 inches. AND if it hasn’t been snowing, it is colder than…well I’ll let you file in the rest…cold and windy, with wind chills in the negative double digits. Here is a picture of my patio over the week-end.

With the wind and the cold it was hard to keep me and the house warm. I even had to get gloves so I could stitch…

 

And Lucy, well Lucy had her own way of dealing with the cold…

You want me to go where?

She gave Stewey at Spinster Stitcher (http://spinsterstitcher.blogspot.com) a run for the blanket. I don’t think she came out of this blanket more than three times a day for three days. And when she did come out the look was too much, I really think she expected me to go outside too (Thank goodness for indoor plumbing) and I know she would have preferred me to spoon feed her. I tried to explain to her that moving around kept your blood moving but I don’t think she believe a woman sitting next to a fireplace, under an electric lap robe with fingerless gloves stitching or reading and sipping warm tea. Oh well, it is a Mom-my-lism (Things your mother used to say, that you are NEVER going to repeat to your children): “A case of do as I say and not as I do”.

We all have survived and yesterday it was a sunny 30 degrees…felt like the tropics of January. Today we are back to gray and 20 degrees…too many people must have been doing a happy dance and getting out of their cabins. But it is double digit degrees in the positive and no white stuff.

And that is the last few months in a blog post. My family all live close (sometimes too close) and are all relatively healthy. My computer is back in the pink. These are all blessings and a great way to start the 2010 New Year and my third year blogging.

ttfn…sue

How I Random Stitch

Before I ever stitch, I Goggle pictures of animals if I am not familiar with the animal to see how nature makes this animal’s fur/feathers grow (I did this for the eagle, Leopold, (more about these later) and I had the original picture I used to have Lucy painted). I look at the canvas and get an idea of how I want the fur to I look and visualize the stitched piece.  I visualize how I think the areas move or change and I begin to divide the areas into sections. You could make a copy of the canvas and draw lines on the copy to help if you are not a visual person. I look for starting points in the pictures; ( See the top drawing at left: everything somwhat radiates from the red dot but the red T are some of the parts in the fur…just like the parts in our hair.) Then find the best starting point on my canvas. Sometimes there is more than one starting point and sometimes it is not a point but a line or area. There is no one correct way…ever had a bad hair day?! (second drawing are suggsted stitching lines )  Then Unlike the diagram I am showing, I work in small sections. I will randomly pick an area and stitch the first line of fur (for our discussion the purple stitches shown on the diagram) then I will stitch the blue stitches. I fill in this area or sometimes will do several of these divisions (see Lucy picture yesterday); then I fill in these areas. I save the single overstitches until large areas are completed; then you can see the areas that need a different color or need to be lighter / darker.I try to make all the stitches work as I am stitching but I have done my fair share “Frog Stitching.”  I have even taken complete areas out, but like any technique, the more you use it the better you get. But the beauty of Random Stitching is that if you have the general direction of the fur correct, you can add subsequent layers of additional color to help make the fur realistic.

 

I do Random Stitching a bit different, but does that surprise anyone who knows me.

 #1: I use a Chenille needle (I use a Chenille needle for much of my stitching, but this is another day’s blog). Chenille needles are sharp and will pierce not only the threads but the canvas as well.  #2: And I stitch from the lower to the upper (clean hole to filled area.) I do this so I can change the direction of the line and still connect to previous stitches. Notice I did not say filled hole, you may not be using a filled hole…I have even been known to pierce the canvas threads if need be. I usually use a minimum of two strands/plies of thread when I am stitching the base layer and I try to split these strands/ plies as I stitch. The base of my Random Stitching is done the way diagramed but then the stitches on top are randomly stitched and can come up anywhere and go down anywhere.

 Another secret is the thread. I use mostly Epic yarns for my fur (http://www.epicyarn.com/index.html ). I have also used Felicity’s Garden and Newport Harbor threads from Rosebud Designs (http://www.rosebud-studio.com/yarn-menu.htm). All these threads have dyelot changes but when you are doing Random Stitch this doesn’t matter as it would if you were stitching a background with this thread, you want the subtle changes of color for fur.

 This is a brief general method of how I stitch Random Stitching. My best advice, jump in and try it, practice, practice, practice. Next blog I’ll show you some of the feathers and furs I have stitched.

ttfn…sue

Week-end Stitching

Friday I was looking for something in my den and found “Lucy.” I had not forgotten about her…hard to do since she is at my feet all the time…but her needlepoint had just gotten put aside …out of site out of mind. All that was left to stitch was Lucy’s fur…so this weekend I stitched lots of Lucy.

 I am one of those people who like to do “Long & Short” stitch. Some stitchers are put-off by the term “Long and Short” Stitch, others go into stitching shock at the mere mention of this stitch…the only thing worse would be to tell these stitchers to use Marlitt. I learned very quickly to avoid the L&S words whenever possible, instead I prefer “Random Stitching or Directional Stitching.” These terms do not seem to strike terror in the eyes of stitchers; their eyes do not glaze over and sometimes you can even get them to try the stitch before they realize that this might be the dreaded L&S.

I also think that Random Stitching is one of those stitches you have to be in the mood to stitch. If you are up tight (been there) or tired (been there too), you may not be open to the creative free spirit needed to stitch Random Stitch freely.

One of the best books in my library about creative free stitching  is Robert Cates’ book: Creative Needlepoint.  I bought this book many years ago at an ANG Bookstore but I have seen it on Amazon at different times.  I loved the way he stitched his designs freely and experimented with threads, textures and stitches. He bent the rules and colored outside the lines!

So this week I am going to blog about Random Stitching. I’ll show you my method of stitching,  how I decide where to begin and  I’ll also show you some of the different pieces I have stitched.

ttfn…sue

Lucy is back

Poor little Lucy got lost in the shuffle. That and the fact that I hit a stitching block. See her paws? Well they were driving me nuts, I think I took them out 3-4 times. I decided to put her up and wait to see if this last stitching would not bother me as time passed. Time passed, 4 months and the Lucy canvas had worked her way to my workroom. Remember I said you can almost tell what date it was by the pile…Lucy is about September. Anyway I found her and she is now residing on the family room mantle to remind me she is around. I have decided her paws are fine and have begun to stitch her head. I have stitched her lower lip and dark lines by her eyes. Random stitching (aka: Long and Short) is one of my favorite things to do, especially animal fur. I love the way the animal comes to life on the canvas.  I’ll try to find pictures of two of my favorites and post soon.

Today, I am off to the doctor…nothing serious just want to have something checked out.

ttfn…sue

Lucy has ears & eyes

  Lucy got eyes and ears this week and in fact has some of her legs stitched now. But for today’s post I want to talk about her eyes and ears.

Lucy’s eyes are stitched with DMC floss in basketweave whenever possible; otherwise it is a continental stitch when necessary. And yes, I carried the threads from one eye to the other…I measured it’s less than 14 threads and since she is painted on 18 mesh canvas that translates to less than one inch…and I’d have done it anyway.  Although her pupils appear to be black they are stitched with 6 strands DMC floss #3371 and 1 strand of Kreinik Blending Filament: #005HL Black. I try to remember to do this to all my eyes, it adds just a tad of sparkle in certain light. The outer eye color is 6 strands DMC floss #3860 and the small areas of white are 6 strands DMC floss #822. White and black floss seemed to stark and so I frog stitched and re-stitched them again.   Around the outside of her eyes I did a stem/outline stitch using  1 strand Epic #201 Earth. When I finished stitching her eyes I thought she looked a bit bug eyed, but then she is a bit bug eyed  and I think when her fur is stitched , it will tone these eyes down.

Lucy’s ear were stitched in a random basketweave, shading these areas using a needle blending technique. Her ears are stitched using 6 strands DMC floss. I started with her inner ear using the lightest pink color DMC #754. Next I added several stitches using 3 stands of the lightest pink color DMC #754 and 3 strands of the dark pink DMC #3859 blended in the needle. I did not lay these threads because I wanted them to fall as they would. I completed the inner ear pink areas with 6 strands of dk pink DMC floss #3859. I next outlined her ears with 6 strands dark cocoa brown DMC #3860. I filled the remaining parts of the ears with random basketweave stitches using three needles filled with:

1. 6 strands DMC lt cocoa #3861

2. 4 strands DMC lt cocoa #3861 and 2 strands dark pink #3859

2. 2 strands DMC lt cocoa #3861 and 4 strands dark pink #3859.

As I was stitching the ears, I wasn’t sure I was going to like them either…but then I am usually over critical of my own stitching. I do hate to “frog stitch” and so usually have been able to talk myself into a wait and see attitude. When I finished stitching these area I set her away from me and just looked at her. Now I think these areas are going to work…and of course I am stitching another area so I am critical of the new area now…

Until next time…ttfn sue