THE DOG ATE IT!!!

Well, at least it was thread, and not my stitched canvas. amazing how dogs can act like children sometimes. He was upset because I wasn't able to take him for his walk, and I failed to share my steak with him!

Kathy

Entourage Stocking

Well, since I gave it first priority in my 2009 goals, perhaps I should post some pictures. I have mainly been doing the boring stuff: the snow, the sky...all the flat stitches. The "bling" (is that a common term, or just a Jane thing?) will come after I put it on stretcher bars, as I don't want the textural stitches smushed. so, right now there's not too much that is exciting on it!

take care,
Kathy

Bevo

...the University of Texas mascot. See the "evil eye" he is giving me? maybe it is the camera, but he really did not like me much! I stayed very close to the gate!!

Parlez vous francais?:

I wish I did! Sharon B's stitch explorer challenge (http://www.pintangle.com/community-challenges/)for January was "chicken scratch". (longhorns, chickens, and the pioneer woman...and my ancestors were ranchers in Midland in the 1880s!) Click on the title above to go to a blog in French, but even if you are not conversant, scroll about half way down and look at the daisy, using Trellis for the center, and cut fibers for the petals!!
:))Kathy

Bears, Hats, and Teacups

all from the trellis stitch! (click on the title above for the link)

I love this chenille bear from the trellis sitch, and think what we can do with hair!!

yes, I am up at 3:34 am...ugh!!
Kathy

Gells , Mediums, and Pastes

http://www.joggles.com/gelsmediums.htm

Copyright Law and the Stitcher

It's important to know what you can and cannot do with a pattern, stitch guide, or magazine.
Copyright Law and the Stitcher

take care,
Kathy

WHEATEAR

A stitch on Sharon B's site, Wheatear seems to be easily adaptable to needlepoint.

SINFULLY DELICIOUS

No, you haven't accidentally jumped to the pioneer woman cooks !!

A RECIPE from Amy Bunger, and a painted canvas from Kelly Clark makes for quite a stitcher's treat!! I can't wait to see this 3D manger when it comes back from the finisher.

I love this BIG tied stitch for the manger; perhaps I can stay caught up with this series after all! Amy, how did you know I needed that?!

You can view this Home Study on Amy Bunger's website: http://www.amybunger.com/home_study_all.html
Click on "Nativity", then scroll to the bottom of the page for the images.

I guess I deviated a bit from the guide by pulling from both ends of my Lorikeet. I may like Amy's better, but mine is stitched and will stay. Mine has a much more subtle color variation.

take care,
Kathy

THE GARAGE

While we are on the subject of closets, we might as well talk about the garage. In my very first needlepoint class our teacher taught us how to make a "garage" to "park" our needles. I usually use random thread, like the cut off piece when I finish an area, but I have found this Rhodes stitch wonderful for storing my needles! I stitch it in the upper left hand corner of my canvas, outside the painted design area. (Left-handers would place it in the upper right area.)

I have also found that I can temporarily store my laying tool in the garage, but isn't that where tools belong??

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA

He's smiling; you just can't tell. I'm glad I am not a nutcracker. Can you imagine not having lips? You see, he did get a few gold beads after all. He found them in his STASH . Amazing what all we can find in closets!)

The red dots are french knots out of floss, and the epaulets are a WIP, eventually to be tacked down, perhaps with black. Instead of a burden stitch on his hat, I am doing basketweave because he just can't take on any more burdens. He is having a hard enough time! The gold will be couched and the flourish will be the focus anyway.

life is great!
Kathy

Trellis step by step

http://juststring.blogspot.com/2008/06/spiral-trellis-stitch.html

Trellis stitch

http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2009/2/14/stitch-explorer-2009-february.html#comment2999580

Needleblending

http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2009/02/mississippis-lonely-lighthouse.html

Anne Stradal

CHIN UP!

Keep your chin up, Mr. White!
Tuna isn't all that bad! Mix it with pico and champagne lite dressing and it's delicious! So, keep your chin up through this economic crisis, even if you can't have designer duds. Oh, you don't have a chin? .....sorry, I forgot!!

I have almost finished his jacket, and have done most of his face. He may not have a chin, but he has a cute nose!

NUTCRACKER SERIES LINK:http://www.theneedleworks.com/new.html#2009

Kathy

FLORAL RONDEL-Lesson #1

This is temporarily turned upside down so I can work from top to bottom on the piece. I mounted the frame on a table clamp I found in my "stash" of things I have never used, but it sure works well for this project! I have the clamp facing the ceiling so the clamped width is more narrow, so it is actually clamped from underneath rather than attached from the side.

these holes are tiny!!--I am not used to working on such small scale. I love these colors and the stitch design!! I am behind the rest of the class though, as lesson #2 was distributed yesterday.


happy stitching to all, and to all a good night! (I love Christmas!)...Kathy

Manual labor for Mr. White

Adjusting to rice and beans, a bit of manual labor out back is called for (the background!).

You can see how I am putting in the gold first (on the right side of the background). It gives me a "roadmap" so I know to fill every other vertical area with the perle cotton and I start each segment in the bottom right of the second gold stitch.

I DID rip out until the mistake was eliminated! I think I had two errors that were offsetting each other, so it was hard to find how to fix it. But, Mr. White insisted I keep things tidy.

NUTCRACKER SERIES LINK: http://www.theneedleworks.com/new.html#2009

All for now,

Kathy

Mr. White falls victim to Economic Crisis

Well, so much for designer clothes!! Mr.White decided he had better save his money, and thus, no beads on his fancy jacket. Well, actually if he eats tuna for 2 weeks he may be able to afford a FEW beads! But, for now, it's rice and beans. I put in a rice (!!) stitch with Kr#8 202HL and had to run it under the white , and noticed a few spots I will have to go back and fill in. It is a more yellow gold than what's in the background, but I like it. I wanted the jacket mostly white, and the beads were putting the white in shadow, so I took them out. They stood up too much, too!

NUTCRACKER SERIES LINK:
http://www.theneedleworks.com/new.html#2009

Kathy

Projects for 2009

Hi all!

First priority is the Entourage stocking by Tapestry Tent, which I am making for our grandson born in Dec 2008. I have also taken on two series: The 12 Days of Christmas Nutcrackers from The NeedleWorks, and the Nativity homestudy from Amy's Golden Strand. I recently joined the Shining Needle Society (it's free), and signed up for the "Floral Rondel" online class taught by Judy Souliotis.

I would not have taken so much on , but we have collected nutcrackers since my eldest son was a baby, and I love this series. I couldn't pass up Amy Bunger's nativity homestudy either. The canvases are painted by Kelly Clark! And, Judy's class interested me because I have a Tapestry Tent angel stocking with all golds and white on ecru that I plan to stitch at some point (maybe next year), so I am interested in the real metals and the silks.

I will try to post on a regular basis, so I would love for you to subscribe, or follow this blog.

(I think my 6th grade English teacher would tell me not to start every sentence with "I"!)

Welcome!!!
Kathy

Mounting the Sha

SHA is an interlock silk that Judy Souliotis imports.

I mounted mine on evertites. The same technique can be applied to canvas. I actually mounted mine twice. The first time, I thought I knew how to do it, but I realized my Sha threads were crooked. I had tacked the center bottom and had not pulled the Sha horizontally while tacking the top. The whole top should be tacked before moving to the bottom. So, I watched the videos again, and then remounted it correctly. The video is posted on Gay Ann Rogers' website. Click on "Judy S" on upper right side of the navigation bar at http://www.gayannrogers.com/

take care,
Kathy

The Needleworks' 12 Days of Christmas Nutcrackers

Hi!!

This is the first nutcracker in the series from The NeedleWorks. (That is why he has a #1 on his shield...!) All the nutcrackers in this series will have ribbons flowing from the staff. All have the same backgrounds. If you would like to see other stitched pieces, go to www.theneedleworks.com/new.html#2009

I changed the front of the suit from what the stitch guide calls for, using Sprinkles from my stash which gives the same greenish highlights that the Kreinik in the background has. The guide called for petite very velvet white over a trellis of gold. It also has a different pattern for the sleeves and bottom of the jacket than I will stitch. It's always hard to do a white nutcracker against an ecru background, but I plan to do a brick with the Sprinkles, stitching over the gray outline. The thread in the beard is just my beading thread which I "stored" while working more of the background.

I LOVE this background, but initially labored over it, counting stitches to place the diagonal cotton. The vertical base is vineyard silk, which gives a nice sheen. The Kreinik has a greenish tint. Now, I've figured out if I put the gold in first, then stitch the long diagonals skipping every other area vertically, it is MUCH faster because the gold serves as a roadmap. I am off one stitch on the right side, but cannot find the error, so I am going to try to compensate for it and leave it. hopefully, the tree will help make it not so noticeable.

The jacket will have the petite gold beads and probably red beads, or, if not, then metallic french knots. so, this guy will have a designer jacket!


I have a tendency to "skip around"...sorta the way I live my life!

NUTCRACKER SERIES LINK:
http://www.theneedleworks.com/new.html#2009

take care,
Kathy :))