I began stitching the Ojo de Dios canvas with the least inspiring part of the design: the outside border. Many years ago, when I was having another canvas framed into a Sudberry House bookend, a finisher gave me a valuable tip. While quality products, Sudberry House items were originally designed to showcase cross-stitch and embroidered pieces, worked on cloth much thinner than needlepoint canvas. To make it easier to insert the canvas inside the lip of the box, a needlepointer should try to keep the outside edge as low a profile as possible.
The outside edge of this canvas is four threads wide, so I worked the outer frame over two canvas threads with a slanted gobelin stitch using DMC #5 perle cotton #738. Then for the lower profile, I stitched the remaining two threads in basketweave with DMC floss in the same color. Interestingly, the twist inherent in the perle cotton makes it appear lighter in color than the surrounding floss.
I then moved inside to the lattice border, stitching the background in basketweave with DMC floss #738 and the lattice itself with DMC floss #310. A good start, but a long way to go yet!
3 comments:
I'm sure this is a b'day gift for me, as I really like it!! Isn't it amazing how different effects can be achieved within the same color and thread family? The way the light strikes the ropy twist, as well as the long,slanted Gobelin stitch, makes the pearl cotton look much lighter in value than floss in basketweave in the same color. A great effect to exploit! Pearl cotton also seems to stand up higher on the surface than the floss, due to the twist.
Beautiful start! The stitching is just the stitches I would have done. Can't wait to see what comes up next.
Hi Anne,
Very nice!
I always like playing with the same colors in different threads. How the light is reflected can really change the color. :-)
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
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