Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Another lighthouse finished

Sanibel Island lighthouse is complete! The trees were stitched with one strand of Impressions #5061 in a vertical diagonal cashmere stitch. The grass was worked with two strands of Wildflowers "Jade" in diagonal mosaic stitch, and the bushes in front of the house are French knots in Sheep's Silk "Green Leaves."

For the sand, I wanted a stitch that mimicked the rivulets that occur when waves wash up onto the shore. I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for in a book, so I grabbed a doodle canvas and some DMC #5 perle cotton and started to experiment. The stitch I've used here is best described as a series of three gobelin stitches over three canvas threads, with the next set of gobelin stitches worked directly over the first set. I'm sure there's a name for this stitch somewhere, but for the sake of simplicity, I'll call it the "sand and snow stitch," as I think it would work equally well to create realistic snow drifts.

Lastly, I re-inserted the cross braces for the lighthouse tower's skeleton supports, once again using two strands of DMC satin floss doubled over in the needle. I tacked these stitches several times on the back of the canvas to prevent any slippage down the road. I can now add this little model to my stockpile of canvases ready to go to the finisher!

8 comments:

Possibilities, Etc. said...

I like your "sand and snow" stitch - it does look like the pattern the waves leave on the sand. This is really nice.

Edy said...

Anne...Your lessons and stitches are invaluable. Lighthouses are a favorite of mine, and I will certainly look for some of your designs at my LNS.

M&Co. said...

I love watching you pick stitches. Those cross-braces for instances. I'd have driven myself crazy trying to stitch them because I forget I can cover the canvas and then put stitches on top.

Cyn said...

Hi Anne,

Wonderful job!

The "Sand and Snow" stitch works wonderfully!

I also like making up my own stitches to fit an area or to have a special look. That and I usually don't have the time to dig through a lot of stitching books! LOL!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Well, that was quick. You must have been using a very fast needle (grinning).

Pierrette =^..^=

Anonymous said...

This is great. I love the stitches you chose.

NCPat said...

Very nice! I too, like the sand and snow stitch!

Possibilities, Etc. said...

Looking at this again this morning, that REALLY looks like sand. Good job!!