Two Melissa Shirley Easter Eggs...

These two canvases have been in my stash as work-in-progresses for quite a while! I really love Melissa Shirley's designs and these are quite charming.

I stitched the bunny with the boat completely in tent stitch and basketweave. I wanted to use only hand-dyed six-strand cotton only from my stash, but I added in just a touch of Kreinik metallic on the boat for the metallic paint.

Threads Used:

Dragon Floss – 11 Sunlit Waters

The Dye is Cast – Moonlight, Lemonade

Seaside Treasures - Moondark

Weeks Dye Works – Onyx, Pebble, Deep Sea, Crimson, Oak, Saffron, Sophie’s Pink, Sage, Emerald, Tin Roof, White Lightening, Emerald, Butter Bean

For the Easter Bunny House (surrounded by Jelly Beans!) I used a variety of specialty threads and stitches and just had a bunch of fun. The bunny is Wisper fuzzy thread!

Threads Used:

Au Ver a Soie yellow

Brown Paper Packages Silk N Ivory - Lime

Caron Collection Impressions – 3017 Gold, Watercolors Dark Red Overdye

DMC Floche

Dragon Floss – 11 Sunlit Waters, 12 Misty Vapours

The Dye is Cast – Sunbaked, Apple Blossom, Bright Leaf, Fuschia, New Grass

Kreinik Silk Serica 4163 Moss

Needle Necessities – 1481 Lavender

Rainbow Gallery Wisper

Weeks Dye Works – Onyx, Camelia, Pebble, Cactus, Scuppernong

Both are finished with green silk dupioni and the color really matches on both of them - it looks odd in the boat picture but it really goes with the greens in the grass. Fun!

Royal Wind by Carlene Harwick

"Royal Wind"

"Royal Wind", designed by Carlene Harwick, is an ANG Workshop by Mail. I believe it is available until June 2010.

I stitched this piece in January and February 2010. Color changes, small design changes, and all the mistakes are mine alone. ;) Stitched on congress cloth with DMC floss and spools and spools and spools of Kreinik Metallics.

Do you know who designed these?

In my recent inventory of my stash (see this post) I came across a bunch of canvases with unknown designers. Some of them have numbers (which brought me nothing on google). Please leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you know who designed them!

Pat Van Cleve's Iris and Butterfly

This is a charted canvaswork design from Pat Van Cleve. It is called "Iris and Butterfly" and is from the 2005-2006 ANG Chapter Project Booklet. I will be teaching it at our guild meeting this week. Fun!

Bits and pieces...

I've been getting projects completed the last few days. We replaced four of the rotted fence panels on the back fence and hung three mounted baskets on them. I planted some hostas, ferns, a vine maple and a small magnolia tree. I did get out to Flower World a couple weeks ago and picked up the basket starts so I'll do all my pots sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Today I framed Twister. I bought the mats and the frame from Cascade Frames in Mercer Island so I just had to lace it and put it in the frame. It took forever though! I really don't like to do framing but now it's completed. :-)

I also sewed two more little Pick-Me-Ups... the lavendar one is sold but the red one is for sale for $38. E-mail me if you're interested in any of the ones I have for sale.

Fabric layered bottom with a cute twisted cording trim. Hand-beaded button accents.

Lavender and white blend with a beautiful woven ribbon.

Royal Santa by Amanda Lawford #9

The crown is just about completed; there are two larger jewels that will be added later in the process. The gold outline is fill cross-stitch in Kreinik 1/16" ribbon. The gold silk is Trebizond. Beads are fire-polished jewels.

I've also started on the background. I'm using Woven Stitch and one strand of cream Impressions. Lots of background to stitch - I'm making myself switch back and forth with 45 minutes of background, then 45 of other stitching, then 45 minutes of background... It's a big background. :)

Royal Santa by Amanda Lawford #8

"Santa has a brand new bag..."



This is stitched in Medici wool, Caron Snow (in gold curls), Rainbow Gallery Fyre Werks (the mosaic variation in the center goldwork). The Scotch stitches on the stripe are done in two colors of Medici wool, then instead of tenting gold around them I worked long Satin Stitches with tacking stitches at each intersection. Think Trellis Stitch.

He also has a snow globe!



The silver underneath is tented in Kreinik 1/16" ribbon. Stitched over that is Rainbow Gallery Water 'N Ice. The flash makes it appear more translucent but in person it looks solid. Weird camera.

Isn't it exciting?

Well, I think it is exciting. :)

http://www.needlepoint.org/Seminar-09/classes/1day/10234.php

Why is it that EVERY picture ANG takes is much better than the crappy ones I take?

Royal Santa by Amanda Lawford #7

The top right corner is completed. This includes "The List", the gift box, and the frog.

The stitches used in these areas were tent stitch (basketweave where I could), Diagonal Victorian Step on the package top, and Brick Stitch on the background of the paper. Threads used include Soie d'Alger, DMC Floche blended with Accentuate, Kreinik #12, Rainbow Linen, Rainbow Gallery Fyrewerks for the package top, DMC floss for the green package, Trebizond gold for the frog's belly, and Rainbow Gallery Flair for the frog itself. Flair is a tubular mesh thread that is sparkley and transluscent.

I've been working on Santa's man-bag. The red so far is Medici wool. The squares are Scotch Stitch, and the red on the bag is basketweave. There are two strands used, so it is easy to blend them. Stitch all the darker areas with two strands of dark wool. Stitch all the lighter areas with two strands of red wool. Fill in and stitch all the areas in between with one strand of each.

A note about the stitch guide: I've received a few e-mails about the stitch guide. I did give credit before so I'll do it again. :) This stitch guide is by GeorgaDee MacLeod. She designed our ANG chapter nametags. GeorgaDee works at The Needlepointer, a shop up in downtown Everett, Washington. She is a neat lady and has a great sense of style for canvases. GeorgaDee is actually the person who taught me how to use a laying tool!

I don't know if this stitch guide is purchaseable without taking the class, but I do know that she's done quite a few stitch guides for other canvases and every one I've seen has been fantastic. The stitch guide I have for Royal Santa includes what thread, the amounts, and what stitch should (could) be used in each section. She also has stitch diagrams for unusual stitches. It makes it very easy to break down a large piece into maneagable suggestions. I will confess I skipped the line where it said "Stitch Background" and gave stitch and thread suggestions. I need to buy thread for that and will do that when I can. My kit came with a cream silk n ivory and I'm not sure if I want to do white or a light green.

I am really enjoying stitching on this piece - I have a small Melissa Shirley easter egg I've been stitching on and it is much slower than this large design. Funny how that works.

Egg finishing...

This hand-painted canvas from Associated Talents is finished into a shaped Easter Egg. This sweet little egg is finished with a periwinkle ultra suede backing and is trimmed with woven grosgrain ribbon. The bow on top is made from polka-dot ribbons, lace, and pearls.

Pillow finished...

From this photograph I can see I will never again photograph on a dark background. Whoops! This is a great pillow - the textured background of the piece is echoed in the same-color-yellow/tan chenille fabric. There is twisted cording trim, green velveteen fabric frame, the chenille fabric frame, then a beautiful brush trim that matches the twisted cording and the leaves in the design. Design by Ewe and I.

Bags finished...

I finished two bags this last week. The Elizabeth Turner bag, shown above, is finished with a fine wale cordoroy and has lots of pockets and a removable strap. Very fun colors!

The second bag was actually a rework that my client had had finished by another finisher a while ago - the leather hadn't been interfaced so I took the bag apart, added interfacing so it stands up on its own and doesn't flop over, cleaned up all the loose threads, and then fixed the crooked seams on the lining. Therefore no picture because I'm not the real finisher on that one.

Love Stand-Up...

This is just too cute. I "LOVE" it. :)

Design by Raymond Crawford. The lady who stitched this always does beautiful stitching. (1, 2, 3, for some examples)

This is finished as a hard stand-up box. Each panel is laced over acid-free matboard (I use the sueded kind so it isn't paper-y sounding) and then they are stitched together. The wooden feet on the bottom are hand-painted with two shades of green and pink polka dots. The bow is lots of fun ribbons in pink, lime green, and white. Very fun!

Marnie Ritter's "Scotch Ya!"...

This is the Workshop by Mail piece for the first half of 2009. Isn't it lovely?

Stitching notes are on my Marnie Ritter page -

http://www.summerlouise.com/albums/stitching/designers/marnieritter.html

You can order your own on the ANG website -

http://www.needlepoint.org/byMail/index.php

Royal Santa by Amanda Lawford #5

Quite a bit of stitching has been going on with this beautiful piece!

Right now I'm working on the jester. He's primarily in basketweave.



I finished the knight to the left of Santa's shoulder. All I could think while stitching him was various Monty Python songs. The plume is in Rainbow Gallery Very Velvet and Medici Wool. The feather is Medici Wool. The knight's armor is stitched in Kreinik metallic threads.



The belt buckle is comprised entirely of size 14 seed beads in six different colors. It is framed in gold metallic thread. The belt is long stitches laid in lighter Anchor threads.



The bottom of the coat is stitched in oh, goodness, what's that stitch called... Cashmere stitch.


The opening of the cloak is stitched in the same way. Note how blending the colors in the needle gives a completely different look in shading.



Right mitten - stitched in Silk N Ivory with Encroaching Gobelin.

Left mitten, same stitch reversed, same thread.

Easel Finishing...

This stand-up design is finished into an easel. It is finished with matching blue silk dupioni and accented with twisted cording from threads leftover from the design.

Needlepoint Bag Finishing...

This cute dog canvas is finished as a tote bag. One can never have too many bags!

The design is framed in an orange linen and blue microfiber. It is lined in the orange linen. The bag is accented with simple topstitching - "no frou frou" was requested. ;-)

The bottom of the bag is pinch-pleated to allow it to hold a bit more.

Ornaments finished...

More lovely ornaments to ship out tomorrow...

This is a gift box from Kathy Schenkel. The red ribbon and heart came with the design. I curled that ribbon and then added more colors to make a really poofy box on the top of the cube. It is lined with acid free foam core for firm sides.



This bride and groom set are finished as padded ornaments. They have complementary beaded edges and are trimmed with a fancy beaded hanger. The hanger between them is wired so it helps keep them apart while displayed.



This boat ornament is finished with a requested thicker cording in extra threads left over from the design. The tassel at the bottom has a wood bead to keep the ball round and the boat buttons were beaded into the skirt of the tassel. It is backed in blue velveteen fabric.

Royal Santa by Amanda Lawford #3

More stitching on the coat - this is in 1 strand of Appleton's Wool.

Pat Mazu Miniature Stocking finished...

I just did the finishing on this little miniature stocking. It is backed in a textured velvet and lined in red silk dupioni. The twisted cording is made from white, two shades of red, and a gold metallic. Very fun! Design by Pat Mazu and is in the ANG Chapter Project Booklet.

Royal Santa by Amanda Lawford #1

I can't remember if I've already discussed this needlepoint design. This piece is called "Royal Santa" and he is painted and designed by Amanda Lawford. The design is about 30" tall. He is so gorgeous and I love him!

Anyway, Royal Santa came to me in April of this year. Out of all the beautiful canvases I've sold for Denise the Wonder Organizer on eBay this is the only one I bought for myself. :-) The lady who owned him originally took him as a class so there were little itty bits of the piece started. There is a binder stitch guide and a huge bag of threads, all beautifully organized. I love it when it's ready to just jump in!

He is so large that I'm working on a lap stand. This is my first piece on a lap stand and it's working out well. The piece is so heavy there is no way I could hold it up.

The first thing I stitched was his skin on his face. This is Soie d'Alger silk floss.

Then back down to the bottom to work on the treasure chest. The gold scrolls and silver and completed with Kreinik metallic. The black is Trebizond Silk or Caron Impressions. The wood slats are Caron Watercolours. Right now I'm working on the wood of the chest. It is in four different colors of floss.

Last night's update of the wood treasure chest:



I have no idea when he'll be done. No goal setting for me on this one! Maybe next year? :)