Dressed to the nine

Before I begin I want to insert a couple personal comments.

This week Jane over at Chilly Hollow’s blog (http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/) wrote about my blog. What an honor that was, Thank you Jane. I noticed an increase of traffic to my blog but did not realize what was happening until I read Jane’s blog later in the morning. Needless to say, had I more visits to my blog than ever. Thank you Jane. AND Thank you to all of you who took a few moments to visit and read my blog, I hope you will return.

I also had this comment from Deborah Hubbard from South Africa (it is posted to the blog too) but I thought it worth quoting…

“You might like to know that here in South Africa we use the word (not name, but hey) Toppie (with a long aw sound) for an old gentleman. Usually a pleasant one, but it’s also a good word for muttering under your breath if the driver ahead of you shows signs of strange behavior! Either way, it’s perfect for a leprechaun, and I’m pretty sure he knows that and somehow suggested it to you …”

I did not know this but I’m sure Deborah is correct and Toppy picked his name…he just has that look about him.

Okay back to Toppy…

Last week-end Toppy got duds…His shirt is a windowpane pattern stitched in Continental & Basketweave stitches using linen threads. First a dark green outline was laid and then filled with the white. Notice that the pot of shamrocks is being covered, BUT they  will return (that’s the main reason I take a picture of canvases before I start stitching…at my age I could forget what was there or just because sometimes on larger canvases it takes time to start adding the embellishments.)

His suit is Velvet, so soft but requires a wee bit o’ patience to stitch. Very Velvet threads need to be cut short, really no longer than 12-15 inches…a good quick measuring tool is from fingers to elbow. Use a larger sized needle, this will help open up the holes of the canvas and allow the thread to pass more quickly with less friction. Place the needle a ½ inch onto the thread and DO NOT move around in the needle. The pictures on the right show how thread will wear.  Sometimes the thread will break and then the needle needs to be moved in another ½ inch.

Toppy’s jacket is stitched in Mosaic stitch. Notice the letters on my jacket (A-B-C-D). This was the order my jacket was stitched in case one card of Very Velvet did not allow my entire jacket to be stitched. There did not appear to be a change in dye lots but sometimes these subtle variations do not show up until after stitching is completed. Should a new card have been needed it would have been used in ALL of area D.

There is a psychological reason for this…we read words from left to right and we also usually scan pictures from left to right. If the thread needed to be changed and there had been a slight variance in the dye lot it probably would have be skimmed across and areas C & A would have been the last the eye would have scanned and since they are identical the mind would have dismissed the first B-D variance.

The sleeves are padded Horizontal Gobelins. The padding of the sleeves was done with the Very Velvet but #5 perle coton could have been used for the padding to conserve thread usage. See how the sleeves stand up off the jacket?

The pants are also Very Velvet but a darker green and they are stitch in Diagonal Gobelin. You would also stitch these in a special order if using 2 cards of threads. In this case the two outside areas would be stitched first because when finished they well be adjacent to each other. The two inside areas are separated by other stitches and will show less change.

The ideal thing is to not to run out of thread or to have to use threads from two separate cards. Buy enough thread to stitch a piece at the same time! AND this WILL NOT work for obvious dye lot changes in threads. But occasionally it will happen that you have to use more than one card of a thread and if you cannot use either a needle blending or stitch technique to blend these threads together this is another way to minimize the subtle changes that might occur. This only works IF the dye lot change is hardly noticeable or if you are unsure that the cards were purchased at the same time. Remember not to place two different cards of threads adjacent to each other or where they will touch when finished. Also try to place in the most inconspicuous areas. Toppy’s sleeves would have been the best area to change threads  since the stitch also changes and “the mind” would have probably attributed this small color change to light play on the stitches.

So now Toppy has duds and is feel’n mighty proud…next socks, shoes and a hat, then he’ll get some hair too.

Little long today…but

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have time to stitch today!  ttfn…sue

My project: Pattern Couching

This is one of the projects I have been working on this summer.

BUT, this is my project, 51 pages about Pattern Couching. Choice of two projects with instructions

I agreed to do this for my guild and so I am going to let them be my pilot class too. After they are finished going over it and I get their feedback, I will revise the instructions and then it will be available for the general public…Hopefully my DH will have figured out a webpage/site for me by then.

This was not only a study of Pattern Couching for me, I had to enhance my stashes: books and threads Enhance I did…all for learning. I love it when I can say to DH, “but I had to get it for this project.” never mind that some of those threads I didn’t use this time…there is always another day (lol)…But we know that these threads just become part of the bigger picture…stash. And of course when that next project starts these leftover threads won’t be exactly right…Life is good.

There are more greens (Shamrock piece) than golds and other colors because I had  decided from the “get-go” that the Celtic Knot project needed to use
the same colors as my finished Jean Taggert Gaelic Gold class. Not a Sept 11^th
and an October comes by, not a mammogram goes by, that I don’t think about Gaelic Gold and Jean and the victims of 9-11. I was privileged to take this class  in 2001 at the Washington DC ANG Seminar; it was the last national class that Jean taught. I loved every minute of this class.  I came home amid 9-11 and decided to finish this piece right away. I entered it in the NAN Exemplary (http://www.needleart.org/Exemplary02/Exemplary02.php ) in 2002 and on the entry form (just reread it…it is attached to back of picture) I read:

“I either said prayers for Jean and the victims of 9-11 or said
prayers of forgiveness for the bad words I was thinking stitching some areas of
this piece.\

There are more good prayers (stitches) than bad ones.”

Gaelic Gold also became known as “The Hail Mary piece” at my house. To this day it is one of my all time favorite pieces. It is fitting that I show this here…It is breast cancer awareness month and Jean succumbed to breast Cancer soon after this.

I also got a new computer, upgraded programs and even learned a few new tricks while writing these instructions. Amazing the things I am learning…so I guess you can teach old dogs new tricks. Stayed tuned…

The rest of the week-end, I am getting the instructions printed, AND then taking the week-end off! On Monday will begin teaching project for guild, go to lunch, and then next week it is back to the grindstone… starting another teacher project. I really like writing and graphing projects for other designer/teachers; I love to see the creative process of others and their style of teaching. Writing instructions is like being able to stitch without ripping…one little key stroke and I have “frogged” the error.

I’m off to fix my lunch and then I see a nap in my afternoon…

Thank you for stopping by and spending a few moments with me…hope you have time to stitch today! ttfn…sue

More on the classes

My desk is looking better but still has lots of projects to complete; four down four to go and that is the computer work.  Stitching projects are still holding at four, well maybe five in the nest…millions in the wings (I’m going to live forever if my needlework round-toit projects are any indication.)  I think I will refrain from signing up for another class for awhile but I won’t make any promises.

Many of you are heading for San Antonio and the national ANG seminar (http://www.needlepoint.org/Seminar-11/index.php) … have a great time and keep us posted about all the good times. I’ve always thought they should call it the “Great American Stitch-in.” When I did attend, there was always a place where everyone could gather and stitch into the wee hours of the morning. I learned lots of new ideas, new techniques, found new threads and met many great friends here…I do hope they still have this area…that’s what we are all really about…stitching, learning and sharing. So all you wonderful stitchers have a great time, stay cool and keep us posted on what’s happening.

Here are my first two Christmas presents completed; now if I can just remember where I stash them and to whom I plan to give them. There was one small hitch with the finishing but the framer made it worth the mi$take ; one was suppose to have a blue mat, but two pictures framed for under $100 is very rare (one would be rare), so I’m not complaining.

Here’s the progress on my class, Laura Perin’s, One Long Panel (http://laurajperindesigns.tripod.com/index.htm). I am keeping up with the class and this week I have two weeks to complete the area (our instructor is headed forSan Antonio). I try to make every class or even just a project I do learning experience.

First I started stitching the border, I always pay attention to the where and how I going to anchor my threads, so I sometimes change the stitch order, especially if it does not affect the appearance of the stitch. I did this for the Overlapping Cross stitches in the border. Our instructor for the class suggested we stitch the sides of the border as we go because there has been a discrepancy in the count (more about that later) so I just stitch far enough to complete the next session but I do make sure I have places to hid travel threads and bury threads starts and stops.

I happened to notice while stitching the first panel that I did not care for the green in this overdye with the other thread choices, so I removed it. Yes, I added to my ort jar…gone. Now you might ask why I just didn’t choice another thread with no green…remember this is a class and the threads were in a kit. Purchasing a new thread was an option, but I also could purchase one more overdye with the same dyelot number in case I will need it (and it looks like I will).  So I am manipulating the thread by removing a portion of the thread…

And I am also watching the placement of these stitches. Before stitching areas of the piece, I am really thinking about the order/ direction I am placing the stitches.  I am not only watching where the colors may be placed but I am watching how I place the stitches. I noticed when doing the first panel I could see the travel threads being carried from one stitch area to the next, but if I thought about the placement these travel threads were not so visible. So I made a decision to take the time to plan my stitch order while I was still trying to place the color in a pleasing placement. You can see when I hold the canvas up to the light  the open areas and when you look at the front close up you can see it too.  It may have been unnecessary but it was an interesting study and I will know.

On panel 1 and 2 when stitching with the overdye I placed the center stitch of these areas first and then placed the outside stitches next. I did not pre-plan panel 1 (LP Area 2) this way; the instructor/ moderator suggested this placement to get the stitch in the correct place. So after panel 1 was done this way I decided to repeat it for panel 2(LP Area 4)

 On panel three (LP Area 6) I stitched both sides of the area (Herringbone) at the same time so the overdye was symmetrical, others in the class stitched up one side and down the other (I’ll try and take a picture of this and show next time.) I also tried not the have the overdye cross the open areas where the Rhodes Stars were to be placed. And when I stitched these Rhodes Stars I buried my travel threads.

The rest will have to wait for another day, must get back to the computer.

Those of you heading for San Antonio have a stitching good time and if you have a blog don’t forget to write!

 Thank you for stopping by and spending a few moments with me; hope you have time to stitch today! ttfn…sue

Final visit to The Neigborhood (s)…almost

Well, maybe one more…Will take them to the framer in the next couple weeks and show you when I get them back.

Well, it is still very very warm but the weatherman has promised relief the next two days…I think these weather people should take up needlepoint, maybe they would get better results.

I have been working on “The Neighborhood”, the classes are over and I did finish stitching the houses, but I saved all the windows to do last…BIG Mistake! I had forgotten how much I dislike Marlitt. For those of you, who have never had the misfortune to use this thread, let me explain…Marlitt is a 4 ply rayon floss with a mind of its own. You can dampen the ply, use a laying tool and it still acts up. And when you have over 34 + places you stitch with this stuff it really becomes a labor of love or hate. But as you can tell from the pictures I have completed “The Neighborhood.”

Hey notice by the windows I stitched this piece twice…68+ places to use Marlitt…such fun. But as luck would I ran out of Marlitt and did not have a back up skein. I did have DMC Satin Floss; looks like Marlit, same color, 6 ply instead of 4 ply…I’ll  try it. Now call me crazy, but I dampened it used 4 ply instead of the 3 Marlit and I really thought it laid nicer, I didn’t think I had to fight it as much and I can’t tell the difference. Notice I did not say, I’m in love with this thread but I did think DMC Satin Floss handled better than Marlitt.

And yes, I stitched this twice. My DH loves everything I stitch, but seldom says more than this is nice, but he did say this piece would look great on our family room wall. Humm-m-m justifying finishing…a gift for DH!;-) And I like this piece too… it truly is a sampler of architectural stitches. If you want a fun piece to stitch, this would be one.

Oh yes, remember the last time I blogged about “The Neighborhood” (http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/more-to-the-neighborhood/ ), I was going to compare pictures from my old standby camera to that of my Droid phone. The Olympus are on the left, the Droid pictures on the right;  I thought the quality was pretty much the same. My phone pictures were large files for whatever reason because size-wise they were the same. I liked the brown roof of one better and the red roof of the other. I have noticed I do better with non antimated subject matter on my Droid…people seem to blur quicker. Maybe I just need to learn my phone/camera better (I’ll put this on my tuit list.) But now I can take look for new camera off my tuit list until the next time I get a bee in my bonnet. My old friend will work for me and I know just how she works, so for now my trusty Olympus Camedia C-5500 with its 5.1 megapixels is safe.

I’d like to stay and gab but I barely am going to get this blog posted. I have two other projects for other people on my desk and I am suppose to be writing a project for my guild…gotta go…work this week-end.

Hope everyone has time to stitch today and this week-end too!  ttfn…sue

Ort Art

 I tried to get permission to share this picture with you from the artist but she never returned my e-mails but Susan did friend me on a social network; and since there were no restrictions on photos at the IMQA quilt show (http://www.mqsshow.org/), I guess I am not breaking any copyright laws. If I am infringing I am sorry buy really this piece is just too cute.

This is the ultimate ort collection!

 

Great Hair – Susan Kipp, Michigan: (entry description) “When someone puts on a wig “It’s Magic!” I’ve been saving threads for over ten years. How fun to have a wig made of all thread! Sewn onto a cap so it can be worn.”

This was just too cute and should be shared with everyone. Notice the hair clip…pun intended.

I have always thought that there should be something to do with these little clipping; after all they represent the fabric of our lives. What do you do with your orts?

I hope everyone has time to stitch today! 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

Spread’n the “ah-ha’s”

I’m having my cuppa and reading blogs this morning and have one of those “ah-ha” moments. You know this stuff in the back of head but it just doesn’t seem to surface until…

Kathryn at Threads of Desire http://threadsofdesire.blogspot.com/2009/07/why-floss-tosses-dont-always-work.html  or  (http://threadsofdesire.blogspot.com/ ) put it into words. Yes, I remember learning this in sewing class at school too, but Kathryn must be younger than I and so it is not buried as deep in her memory bank.

This is something we all need to be refreshed about; it makes a difference when stitching with different weights of threads or number of plies in the same piece.

For examples:

Using two different weights of thread to execute a stitch…

 

 

 

 

Couching a ribbon thread with 1 or 2 ply floss, especially if you want a self color couching.

 

 

 

Overstitching: layering threads over previously stitched areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Etc…

Some of these things we just do from habit  but occasionally we will have something not look quite right and as they taught us in art school…it is probably a color value mistake.

Isn’t it amazing what surfaces when we stimulate each other through our blogs!

ttfn…sue

TJ is going to the finisher tomorrow

 

 

 Stitching TJ,aka Thomas Jefferson from ABS Designs (http://www.absdesignsonline.com/) was fun…I used Rainbow Gallery Very Velvet for most of his clothing and Rainbow Gallery (http://rainbowgallery.com/) Patent Leather for TJ’s shoes. Very Velvet and Patent Leather are easy to use for stitching if you follow a few easy hints: #1. Use short lengths – I use 12 to 15 inches max. #2 Use a larger needle than you would normally use to stitch- I use a #20 or #22 Tapestry or Chenille on 18 count canvas. #3 When threading needle use a short tail and do not move the needle around on the thread while stitching. The Patent Leather will not wear like the Very Velvet but it will distress the thread at the eye of the needle. I also lay the Patent Leather on the front and back.  

 

 

  

  

 For me, the hardest part of stitching TJ was his hair, it is a Loose Basketweave. For me, Basketweave is one of those stitches that is relaxing and a “no brainer”; and I can tell if I’m tired or irritated because my Basketweave stitches are tighter. For the most part my tension on the thread becomes second nature, it is just part of the stitch process… But if that tension is changed on purpose it takes concentration. I kept finding myself, watching TV and just normally stitching and then would have to “frog stitch” and then loosely re-stitch the Basketweave. After all the stitching is complete, it is then picked/pulled with a sharp needle and that gives TJ his soft curly look. It is a good stitch to learn, so that when French Knots seems too much Loose Basketweave is a good substitute. The stitch can even be stitched looser and can have a loop effect; play with this, it is fun.

 

I think he turned out very nice and can hardly wait to get him back…I’ll post a picture of him finished. Now I am going to go back to work and do some computer work for a few days.

 

ttfn…sue

TJ update

Thomas Jefferson is progressing. I think I am becoming one of those stitchers who does not like to stitch black on black. I had a difficult time keeping RG Very Velvet (http://rainbowgallery.com/ ) on the true diagonal for his hat. I tried the white cloth of the lap, light under the canvas, more powerful magnification, every trick I had been told over the years…but the best for me seemed to be daylight window with white cloth on my lap.

 

Anyway the black is all completed now but I have to make a trip [oh darn ] to LNS to get gold (002) Kreinik (http://www.kreinik.com/) #8 braid; I have #4-12-16 and ribbon but no #8 (at least that I can find). And I’m sure something else will pop into my hands, this is how stash enhancement starts. You never get just what you are going to purchase and pretty soon you have a whole room of necessary stitching supplies…But alas, never the ones you need for the current project.

 

I also need (notice I say need not want) to look for hair threads.  On the right of  TJ canvas you can see when I have been experimenting with TJ’s hair color. This is what I had decided upon, 2 colors of Epic (http://www.epicyarn.com/index.html) mixed in the needle…but you never know what I might discover. History trivia: Thomas Jefferson was described as a strawberry blond or light red head. And even though powdered wigs and hair were the style of the day, Jefferson never did anything to his golden locks.  

 

Stash Enhancement…a beautiful circle of stitching life.

 

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