The Queen is coming along nicely. Her head was done in basket weave using 1 strand of Trebizond (light blue, color 602). The background is Crisscross Hungarian using Silk Lame Braid (dark blue, color SL15). I thought I just had to add the beads but I see the background needs the cross stitch. What thread should I use?
You can see that I altered this from a square to an oval which I think is more appropriate for a silhouette.
Filed under: Queen's Silhouette
At the start of the year, I displayed many of my active projects. And, the one the most excites me is the newest canvas of the bunch! It is the Queen’s Silhouette from Tapisserie in London, England that was a gift from a coworker.
The store was kind enough to email me the PDF of the stitched model. They deviated from the painted canvas using beads for the crown. I love the Royal Blue background and powder blue profile. Since I didn’t have the same beads, I am modifying the crown to fit what I got at Fire Mountain Gems:
- 6mm Crystal Swarovski Elements Crystal Square Mini Beads
- 8mm Crystal Swarovski Elements Crystal Round Mini Beads
- 6mm Crystal Swarovski Elements Crystal Round Mini Beads
- 2mm Crystal Swarovski Elements Crystal Round Beads
I worked up a drawing and then stitched a model with the wrong color beads that I ordered, but I will use them for something else eventually. I still have a few changes to what I stitched below.
And, I wanted to use the Queen’s Stitch or Rocco using the method described in A Pageant of Pattern for Needlepoint Canvas by Sherlee Lantz with diagrams by Maggie Lane. It is unconventional & I spent an evening learning and practicing it just to decide that I didn’t like how it would look in this piece. The angle is not matching the angle of the crown. So, I will use some other background stitch. And, I am going to do the EIIR differently but will have to graph it & practice with beads and threads before I place it on the actual canvas. But, I am stitching the powder blue portion now.
Hopefully, everyone is safe, stays safe, and has something fun to stitch as we weather out Hurricane Sandy. I am working on the bookmarks for Christmas gifts. Who is going to get which one? Another stash project!
I had to make a trip for more Kreinik #4 braid 3228, a yellow gold with a hint of green for the single gold rows That uses a Van Dyke stitch over 1 and 4 threads. In between those rows are Alternating Mosaic using 2 strands of Gloriana #192, Peacock Blue which I am using a laying tool. It’s not may favorite thing to do but it looks sloppy if you don’t – even with just 2 threads. I love getting a section done! I think I’ll go back to the wings next. Alternate gold/green – Kreinik/Gloriana for variety.
Last weekend, I found a SharonG canvas that will go perfectly as an insert to a black purse to carry with one of my winter coats which has 2 snapdragon pins. But, Karen at Nimble Needle offered me a discount on a returned stitch guide/threads packet for that canvas (subject of another blog another time!). So, I had to find another canvas that didn’t have a stitch guide to take to the canvas enhancement class today! That wasn’t too hard with so many pretty canvases!
Today (actually took me longer to write this up & it is technically now Sunday), I worked on a green/gold Dragon Fly canvas by Kathyrn Molineux for a Sudberry House wooden tea-tray. The pictures are showing the canvas more blue – I wish I could adjust that aspect. It is a 5×7 design area on 18 count. But, I’ll need to expand past that for the 5&3/4 x 9&3/4 area of the tea-tray. SharonG recommended a bamboo border to fill in which I won’t get to until last. Also, she recommended a gold Mylar or Lurex underneath to be reflective which I’ve never heard of that before-sounds facinating.
I met a nice bunch of fellow stitchers from all over NJ, PA, & MD. We talked Seminar classes – everyone is excited! And, we had a lovely lunch at The Bistro which was a short walk on a beautiful day. Quite a pleasure to finally meet SharonG! Hopefully, I’ll get her class, Anatomy of a Stitch Guide, at Seminar.
When I got home & looked at SharonG’s book Needlepoint SENSE (Simply Essential Needlepoint Stitch Explanations), I realized that the Alicia’s Lace that Sharon recommended for the gold wings on the Dragon Fly would let the gold of the canvas show more & allow the reflective layer to be effective. So, I ripped out the Alicia’s Lace Variation that I’d started on the wing because it covered too much canvas. I hadn’t done much & didn’t realize that they’d be so different. The hardest part about the Alicia’s Lace is starting and ending your thread so that it doesn’t cover the holes from the bottom. Here’s a picture but if you click on it you’ll see the white underneath the holes.
And, with the flash off, you can really see through the canvas. You can see where I am finishing off the threads on the left. I have to run a border thread around the wing & couch it anyway – so, it’ll be fine.
Back to front with flash for close-up. There is only one hole in upper left corner that is covered by a thread from the back in this picture.
The single gold rows are a Van Dyke stitch over 1 and 4 threads using Kreinik #4 braid 3228, a yellow gold with a hint of green. In between those rows are Alternating Mosaic using 2 strands of Gloriana #192, Peacock Blue (again that looks more green than here), a 12 strand hand-dyed silk. I was going to use Watercoulors or Waterlilies but Sharon likes open stitches to allow the painted canvas to show through. I never used Gloriana before-it’s nice.
I caught up to where I was at the end of class. You can sort of see the green along the bottom row in this picture.
I’m ready to stitch the background. After working on bigger more complicated pieces, it is nice to work on quick smaller ones. I like the portability of the small ones too. I stitched at lunch hour & on the EL on my way home.
I thought I’d have time to finish a couple of things (read below the picture) before I worked on the key chain because I don’t have to leave Center City for my job until the end of the month. But, my husband brought a Ford Focus home on Friday for him to drive around the neighborhood. So, I decided I better get stitching & fast!
Except for the background tan, I had all the right colors in my stash!! So, I was able to get a lot done today – all except hillies, white outline, and background is done.
I finished getting the canvas ready for our chapter’s ort box project – nothing to show yet. And, the other things I’ve been stitching I can’t blog about yet either. They are the pilot class and some thank you gifts I’m making for folks who volunteer this year at the Hospitality Desk which I’ll be organizing as we get closer. I’m going to do a daily drawing for just folks who work the desk & they’ll get an opportunity to get a hand-stitched piece to commemorate the Seminar. For every hour you work, you’ll get 1 entry – so, the more you volunteer, the more chances you’ll get. I’ve made 4 gifts so far. I decided to take the time to thank you since you are taking time to work the desk. I’m really looking forward to Seminar!!
In the meantime, I’ve got a lot of handkerchiefs of my grandmother’s to photograph so I can show them to everyone. I ran out of time this weekend!
Looks like we’ll need a second car in 2012 & so, this will be for Bill’s key chain. Merry Christmas Bill!
A quick stop at Rittenhouse Needlepoint before Christmas uncovered this gem. It is by Voila, measures 8.25″ x 1.75″, and come with what you need to finish it!
You may recall that a previous blog was about the process of pilot stitching for ANG (http://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/pilot-stitcher/). Well, I finished that blog by saying, ”My hats off to the folks who match people & courses – it must be quite a challenge!!” Little did I know that person was Christine, or know that she’d ask me to take on her role of Correspondence Course Chairman (CCC) one year later while at seminar in Philly, or that the role involved matching select courses with pilot stitchers. And, I must say that being CCC is a bit more involved than I’d expected. But, I decided to take it on because I’d gotten so much out of the 3 correspondence courses that I’d taken shortly after joining ANG (http://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/my-first-ang-correspondence-course-first-steps-with-nanette-costa/ and http://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/understanding-design-by-mary-shipp/ and http://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/understanding-color-by-mary-shipp/). This year’s Seminar was certainly a whirlwind of activity!
So, I am certainly glad that I have had the experience to pilot a course now that I will be more involved with the process. Christine has been great showing me the ropes and walking me through each facet of the position. It’s going well so far. And, come November 1, it’s going to get more busy as many of you enroll in one of the 10 new courses being brought to you by ANG. Basically, I act as liaison between the Rees Group, the teachers, and the students for the Correspondence Courses.
That leads me to the main subject of this blog, Patchwork Quilt by Pat Donaldson. Now that Patchwork Quilt has “gone public” and I have permission from Pat, I can blog about Patchwork Quilt. Had I thought she would be at seminar, I would have shown it to her in person. Oh well. I did meet Pat at Teacher Expo night and told her that I’d enjoyed doing the piece. She also has my permission to share my picture with anyone if they want to see a different color combination.
What a wonderful opportunity to use my stash! At first, I was worried about picking threads too thick or thin and would have to rip it out. Or, that I’d end up with an unbalanced piece. But, Pat said there were few rules except to have fun! So, one Saturday with Bill golfing, I sat down and spread out ALL my blue and green threads because I had the most of those 2 colors and they look good together. I began by dividing them by value (light to dark). She suggested 10 or more threads in each of the 2 families although less was ok – it would be more fun with more. I never expected that I’d end up using a total of 84 different threads including 36 fiber types across the 2 color families & the neutral. As you can see, I got over my reluctance and just had fun!!
Hopefully, some of you take Pat’s course and use it as an opportunity to experiment. If I do Patchwork Quilt again, I would do it in smaller units for gifts and donation pieces. I still have plenty blues, greens, and whites. My next largest stash is of different blacks, grays, reds, and purples. But, I have very little of yellow or orange. Bottom line, I could stitch a lot more squares in a variety of color schemes. Many thanks to Pat for designing Patchwork Quilt and Christine for selecting me to pilot this piece. It’s really a small world.
First color family is blue:
Second color family is green:
Neutral color is white:
All the threads are listed below (the 2x and 3 x in the parenthesis indicates how many time I repeated the thread somewhere in the piece):
Burmilana 3873
Designers Dream D02 (2x)
DMC #3 319, 336, 367, 368, 823, 890, 895, 939 (2x)
DMC #5 blanc, 334, 367, 890, 3346 (2x), 3348
DMC Floss 336, 3755
Flair F502
Fleur deParis 24
Frosty Rays Y042, Y090 (3x)
Grandeur #5 G802
Gumnut Yarns 369, 629 (3x)
Impressions 5133
Kreinik #8 braid 051HL
Kreinik #16 braid 393, 622 (2x), 4639 (2x)
Kreinik #16 ribbon 032
Merino Wool 98R
Needlepoint Silk 823
Neon Rays N68 (3x), NP02
Pebbly Perle P061, P66, P76 (3x)
Petite Very Velvet V634
Rainbow Linen R430 (2x), R445 (2x)
Rainbow Tweed RT14 , RT38
Sheep’s Silk SPS036(2x)
Shepherd’s Silk SS045
Silk & Ivory 02 (2x), 17 (2x), 55, 56, 70, 86 (2x), 102, 1063, 1316
Silk Lame Braid SL02
Splendor S860 (2x), S1026
Thread WorX 200
Vineyard Silk Shimmer S537
Watercolours 041 (2x), 065, 121, 127, 129, 140 (3x), 159(2x), 169, 228, 242, 254, 256 (3x)
Wildflowers 041, 127, 228, 254, 0076 (3x)
Not only is this a thread sampler but it is a stitch sampler incorporating over 16 different patterns. I learned a lot stitching the diverse blocks. And, with permission from Pat, I am very happy to share a photo of the finished piece:
Another aspect I understand better now is the ANG Distance Learning Programs. ANG has 2 different people who coordinate the Workshops by Mail Program (http://www.needlepoint.org/byMail/ChristmasHeartland/index.php), and a third (separate from CyberPointers) for CyberWorkshops (http://www.needlepoint.org/CyberWorkshop/Geo/geo.php). Apparently, I have not been reading Needle Pointers as closely as I could have been. The third person handles the Correspondence Courses (http://www.needlepoint.org/corr_reg.php) with more coming soon! Whatever you find to stitch, have fun!!
What a wonderful weather we had for the long weekend in Rehoboth Beach, DE! And, the class was even better. Nancy Cucci taught bead basics (I’d never applied beads to needlepoint before) & darning patterns (which I had not done very much of before). So, it was a wonderful learning experience.
I am also very impressed by her instructions. All the images are hand drawn. I thought everyone used a computer & was thrilled to learn she does them by hand. They are so well drawn that I didn’t realize that they are hand drawn! Such a personal touch to be doing it by hand.
We applied various types/sizes of beads the first day. Then, yes, I finished 2 areas of the beading at a bar! It was so well-lit & almost nobody in the bar that it was like working at home with just the TV on – baseball, beer & beading with Bill by my side!! The second day we learned about the background stitches (some darning others more wrapping to create flatter/rounder looks) & a way to sign & date the piece in a very subtle stitching pattern. We talked about all the areas before we left.
There were 2 ladies that came from Albany, NY & 4 of us from Philly, & the rest were Delawareans. It was really a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow ANGers. Most everyone went out to a group dinner on Monday night, including the 2 traveling husbands. Roseanne & Geri did a fantastic job at organizing everything. It really was a wonderful group of people, location, & learning experience. Thanks again for thinking to invite us!
And, on the drive home, I came up with an idea for a piece to submit to ANG Seminar for 2012. I even got the basics down on paper last night when I got home so I wouldn’t forget. I was picking her brain about how she designs during class. Thanks Nancy for a very educational & enjoyable learning experience!! And, eventually, for a loving piece of needlepoint.
