Getting ready for St. Patrick's Day

It's hard to believe I actually stitched this piece more than four years ago.  Designer Judy Harper had created an Irish Angel for me, since I'm 100% Irish, and then repainted it without wings to produce "Maureen."  I stitched her for Judy's last Possibilities column in the March/April 2011 issue of Needlepoint Now.

Some of my favorite threads were incorporated in this piece:  Petite Very Velvet for her green dress, Sheep's Silk by The Thread Gatherer in a diagonal oblong cross stitch for her shawl, and Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V for the Celtic cross.

Just remember:  everyone's a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day, so have a happy one!

Finally--a finish!

Give me a new canvas to stitch and I'm like a puppy with a bone!  For some time, I've been working on a canvas for an upcoming Needlepoint Now column and poor Herald Angel has been languishing on the sidelines.  Feeling sufficiently remorseful, I finally finished her.

Her hair was worked with two strands of Burmilana #3506 in long-short stitches for the crown, ending in a cascade of French knot curls tumbling down her back.

Now it's decision time:  what do I work on next?

Swirling ribbons

The ribbons encircling Herald Angel were painted in muted tones--dusty rose probably best describes the overall look.  I chose to brighten the ribbons a bit to coordinate with her turquoise dress.

Using three strands of DMC floss #600, 602 and 604, the ribbons were worked in an encroaching Gobelin stitch.  The angel's lips were added in tent stitch with DMC floss #602.

Winging it again

The only thing I wasn't crazy about in the Herald Angel design was the yellow with which the wings were painted.  The yellow paint wasn't an intense hue, so covering it up wasn't a big problem.

The individual segments of the wing were first outlined with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002 in tent stitch.  Each segment was then filled in with a satin stitch using four strands of white DMC cotton floss.

The white wings show up nicely against the navy Petite Very Velvet sky and will fit in much better with our decor.

Herald Angel - Part Three

A quick trip to my LNS took care of the gap in navy Petite Very Velvet under Herald Angel's outstretched arm!

Her dress is now finished, using the three shades of aqua Impressions in basketweave.  I used the Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002 from her dress to work the body of the horn, with #2122 for the ring at the bottom.

Time to move on to the wings!

Herald Angel - Part Two

Stash raiding again!--this time for the threads to create the Herald Angel's dress.  Scouring your stash to find old threads for a new project is a little like traveling down Memory Lane.  In this case, the last time I used them was for Mindy's Winter canvas, stitched for my Needlepoint Now column a couple of years ago.

The outline for the hem and accents on the dress were provided with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002 in tent stitch.  The body of the dress is being stitched in basketweave with Impressions #8112, 8114, and 8116 (darkest to lightest).  The hem was filled in with slanted Gobelin stitches.  Working my way from right to left, I've reached the tails of the ribbon, a little more than half-way through the dress.

Herald Angel - Part One

The form of the Herald Angel has already been outlined on the canvas, so I decided to tackle the background first.

 The idea of posing the angel against a night sky appealed to me, and using a dark color here would make the colors of the angel "pop."  My choice of thread was navy Petite Very Velvet, which has a matte finish that would make all the metallic areas twinkle even more.

Two cards of PVV covered all but the small section under the angel's outstretched arm--I'll need another card but dye lot won't be an issue since this area doesn't touch previously stitched sections.  I've started outlining the hem of the angel's dress with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002--there will be a lot of this thread in Herald Angel's costume!

Heralding a new project

You've probably heard the phrase "passing it forward," when a person who's benefited from a good deed repays it with another to someone else.  Well, this is a case of "pointing it forward."

A cyber-friend recently decided that she was unable to continue stitching due to arthritis in her hands and was looking for a good home for her stash.  She asked me if I would like a canvas--Herald Angel designed by Judy Harper--and I responded with an immediate and resounding "Yes"!

I recall Judy showing this canvas on her blog as an example of one of the angel designs she had created for Texas First Lady Anita Perry to grace the Christmas tree in the Governor's Mansion.  This angel was one of the last canvases that Judy painted as her health declined.  I'll be blog-stitching it so it can join the rest of my angel collection next Christmas, hopefully finished as a stand-up mounted on a dowel in weather vane fashion.  If anyone knows of a finisher who could do this, just email me or leave a comment.

The Acoma Pot canvas: finished!

In my last post, I mentioned I thought I could finish this canvas in a week's time.  Either I overestimated the amount of work still to be done, or I underestimated my determination to complete this canvas. 

Stitched entirely in Vineyard Silk Classic, it will be finished as an insert for a pillow to grace the loveseat in our family room.  That's the one surface where the dogs are not allowed to snooze!

I've practiced creative avoidance long enough, and really do need to finish my angel canvas!

Acoma Pot progress: on a roll

I picked up the Acoma Pot canvas again to work on as I composed the copy for the next Needlepoint Now column in my head.  There's nothing like the soothing rhythm of basketweave to help arrange one's thoughts!

I've finished all of the Vineyard Silk Classic "Natural" and "Bark" background areas and am now hopping around, alternating colors as I fill in the areas that remain.  Today is the monthly meeting of our local needlework group, and the canvas will come with me.  I'm hoping I may actually finish this canvas within a week.

More on the Acoma Pot

Our monthly needlework group get-together was cancelled yesterday due to snow--boo, hiss!--so the Acoma Pot canvas and I went nowhere.  But I have done some work on it over the last few weeks, since it's my go-to project when I'm practicing creative avoidance.  While some folks may do their best thinking in the shower, I do mine while mindlessly basketweaving away!

I did succeed in making my way around the bottom right corner with the Vineyard Silk Classic "Natural" and "Bark," and have added some "Cactus" to the leaf areas.  I estimate it's at least two-thirds complete--it's just a matter of keeping at it!

Acoma Pot, part 2

The Acoma Pot canvas went with me to the monthly meeting of the local needlework group yesterday.  This design had taken a back seat when I started work on the angel canvas, but the angel was much too large for an outing.  And I'm getting to the tricky part on the angel canvas, too.  Doing some simple basketweave in the midst of a lot of folks chatting while plying their needles seemed like a good idea!

I've now added the last two colors of Vineyard Silk Classic to the mix.  "Caramel" is filling in the lower arc and some of the flowers, while "Dark Earth" outlines the rainbird's tail feathers and the centers of some flowers. 

I'm keeping up pretty well with the background, too, and am more than half-way finished with the "Natural" and "Bark."  A lot of details remain, but I'm having fun popping in a little color here and there.  With any luck, I will have "rounded the bend" on the bottom right corner after next month's meeting!

"Acoma Pot" progress

Work on this canvas began at last October's meeting of our local needlework group.  I don't think I'm doing too badly considering this is a "downtime" project!

All the threads are Vineyard Silk Classic, with "Bark" for the outside border and "Natural" for the inside background.  One of the pluses of VSC is the "mileage" you get from a single skein:  30 yards of thread covers a lot of territory.  I've used one full skein of "Bark" and two skeins of "Natural" so far.

  I stitch as many strands of one background color as I can before going totally loopy, then treat myself by adding another color here and there.  So far I've used "Cactus" for the leaves, "Russet Orange" for some of the flowers, and "Monk's Robe" for outlining and the tail feathers of the rainbird motif.

Switching gears

I've come to the end of the thread line for now on the angel canvas.  For the lion's body, I decided on Petite Very Velvet--it will provide a smooth surface to contrast with the mane and the garland around the lion's neck.  But my LNS had only two of the four values of brown I need--the lightest (and predominant) and the darkest shades are on order.

Those of you who follow the blog regularly know that I tend to be pretty systematic in my stitching--I have a certain order in my mind as to which areas I work on before moving on to the next.  At my house, we refer to this as "proceeding in Dewey Decimal Format."  So I've stitched all the areas requiring the two brown shades on the lion, but will have to put this canvas aside until my ship comes in.

Heaven forbid that I should be without something to stitch at night!  So for now, I'm turning to a canvas I began last fall--Acoma Pot by Judy Harper, which I've had in my stash for a few years.  Inspired by a water jug created by Southwestern Native Americans, this design is painted in colors that seemed particularly appropriate for autumn.

The size of the canvas--approximately 10 by 12 inches--made it suitable for me to work on at meetings of a local needlework group which meets once a month.  A friend of mine in this group had asked me to teach her to needlepoint, and since I'm basketweaving Acoma Pot as a pillow insert, the canvas was ideal as a teaching tool.  I've worked on the canvas a bit from time to time outside of group meetings--tomorrow I'll show you my progress to date.

A TADA moment

As luck would have it, I ran one skein short of DMC floss #503 to finish the English Rose canvas I'd taken on our recent trip.  But while we were away, I'd received a message from my LNS that some of my finishing was ready for pick-up.  So off I went this morning to collect my treasures!

Here's the finished Nellie's Imari pillow, a design by Judy Harper that I'd been working on for the last three years.  It's nestled in its new home, in the corner of our living room sofa.  Backed with navy blue velvet and a welted seam treatment in the same fabric, it has a zipper in the back for ease in cleaning. 

I was so excited, I just had to snap a photo right away!  I'll show more of the finishing I collected when I take some photos.

Tree-topper angel: The finale

Looks like I'll have a tree-topper for an angel tree this year after all--my "back" for Judy Harper's "front" is finished!

There really wasn't that much stitching to do since my last post. I got the DMC floss I needed to finish the skirt, then worked the holly sprig on the left with the Fleur de Paris fine mesh velour. Holly berries were added with French knots of DMC floss #816.

Finally I popped in the date with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V.

Off she'll go to the finisher this week, with time to spare before she'll be needed for the holidays. I promise to show her in 3-D splendor when she comes home!

Almost, but not quite

No, you're not seeing things--I changed the bottom of the skirt a bit! I decided that a sprig of holly on one side only was too plain, so I painted another in mirror image and popped in the date in the middle.

When I totally exhausted my supply of DMC floss to complete the skirt, I moved on to the hair. Using one strand of Silk & Ivory "Coffee Bean," I worked the main portion in a satin stitch, turning the canvas 90 degrees to angle the stitches for the left side. I then added French knot curls at the nape of her neck.

Her belt was worked in tent stitches and Smyrna crosses with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V and #014.

The sprig of holly on the right was stitched in basketweave with two shades of green Fleur de Paris fine mesh velour. Discontinued several years ago by the manufacturer, this thread is equivalent to Rainbow Gallery's Petite Very Velvet and provides some dimension to the holly against the floss of the skirt.

Off to my LNS for some floss, and I'll be able to finish this angel!

No more cold shoulder

Working on the back of the December angel tree-topper, I've been raiding my stash for threads. I've lucked out on some of the specialty threads, since I evidently haven't touched them since I stitched the front of the angel two years ago.

Still waiting for me were the burgundy Petite Very Velvet and the Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #080HL for the trim on the angel's shawl. And I had plenty of DMC floss #902 for the rest of the shawl, too.

I resumed stitching the skirt in basketweave--I'll definitely need more DMC floss #3726 to finish it. Then I took a break and worked the angel's halo with the same Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V that I'd used for the wings. The outside edge and radii were worked in tent stitches with the inside worked in satin stitches.

One thing that's been bothering me as I've worked on the skirt is the trim at the bottom--it's looking a little too plain. Now's the time to make any changes, before I get too far along with the skirt. Stay tuned!

Pardon my back

Work on the back of the angel tree-topper began with the wings, using Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V in the Nobuko stitch. So far, so good!

The front of December angel's dress was needle-blended, so I needed to continue as I began. Using four plies of DMC floss, I progressed through four values of one color family: DMC floss #778, 3727, 316 and 3726. This photo was taken when I'd made my way to four full plies of DMC floss #3726.

I don't think I'll have enough of this thread to finish the skirt, so I'll move on to other areas and check thread quantities before making a trip to my LNS for reinforcements.

Already half-way there

I was quite disappointed when the tree-topper angel canvas I'd been working on turned out to be poorly painted. The stitch count for the front didn't match the back, which would have produced a cock-eyed mess for a finisher had I gone ahead with the tree-topper idea. I finished stitching Emily as a one-sided ornament--pretty, but one-sided.

Then it hit me: I already had the front of an angel that I dearly loved, tucked away safely in a drawer for more than two years. It was the December angel, painted by Judy Harper for me as December is my birth month. I stitched it for her Nov/Dec 2010 column in Needlepoint Now, blog-stitching it with her permission in August of that year. She insisted that I keep it, but I hadn't decided how to finish it. Now I know!

I got out my graph paper, carefully counted the stitches from the finished canvas, and then painted the outline on canvas in mirror image. I decided to simplify the flowers on the angel's skirt, adding just a sprig of holly at the bottom. I'll be stitching this back as my next project--just for me, a one-of-a-kind angel that will have much more meaning for me than any canvas I could have purchased.