Thursday, May 13, 2010

Another basketweaving marathon


I've been working non-stop on the sky of the Mission Santa Clara canvas for the last two days, and this is what I have to show for myself: a sea of blue!

Unlike my other mission canvases, I decided to needle-blend the sky on this one, with a predominantly deep blue gradually fading to the horizon. So far all you see here is DMC cotton floss #813, in basketweave using three plies. I normally use four plies of floss on 18-count canvas, but after experimenting on my Mother's Day flower project, realized I could cover a painted canvas adequately with one ply less. Thinning the background will also help make the buildings stand out in higher relief.

The area stitched here represents one full skein of floss, and within it is a tiny bit of streaking which, at this point, I've chosen to ignore. I'm hoping the eye will be drawn away from this when I start adding another value of blue in the needle-blending process.

When I reached the top left corner of the canvas, I treated myself by working the crosses and dome of the bell tower using DMC cotton floss #927 in a combination of tent and satin stitches. I've got a long way to go yet, but console myself that almost one-third of the canvas is stitched!

4 comments:

Possibilities, Etc. said...

and now the fun begins - I always like watching you stitch the buildings - as well as the shrubbery. That's a lot of sky to stitch - perseverence.

M&Co. said...

What size is this canvas? I agree with Judy, I love watching you stitch buildings.

Anne Stradal said...

Margaret- The canvas is 5-1/2 in. wide by 4-1/2 in. high on 18 ct. canvas.

M&Co. said...

That's a lot of basketweave!