Establishing a game plan

Before I started stitching my three postcards designed by Denise DeRusha, I needed to figure out how I could best portray the canvases as a set. I plan to frame them, stacking one above the other in chronological order, based on when my son lived in each state. If you look back to my last post, you'll see that the banners and borders are the same for two states, but different for the one that will be displayed first--not a good plan visually! So I opted to make the banners and borders the same for all three.

I stitched the banner first in basketweave using navy Petite Very Velvet. To make a frame around the central scene of the postcard, I worked a gobelin stitch over two threads with DMC cotton floss #920. I then filled in the space between the rows with a diagonal mosaic stitch, since it's easy to compensate around the numbers at the bottom--the year in which Connecticut ratified the U. S. Constitution. Around the outside edge, I stitched three threads wide in basketweave to provide my framer with some "wiggle room" in placing a matte over the canvases.

I've started filling in the letters with DMC floss #3752 in basketweave. When I'm finished, I can start work on the heart of the matter--the central scene of the postcard!