Happy Fourth of July!

A safe and happy July 4th to everyone!  I'll be stitching--what else is new?--and hoping the weather holds so we can have a barbequed dinner.

This design was created from a photo of an actual doorway.  Stitchery Square in Camden, Maine, had a brick-and-mortar shop at the time, and sponsored a yearly island stitching retreat.  The shop invited participants to submit photos of their doorways, and I adapted the images to canvas.

I was so pleased with this doorway that I asked the homeowner for permission to use the design going forward, and she said yes!

Readying for the Fourth/Ducking a Hurricane

Arthur, the first hurricane of the 2014 season, has caused a few changes in plans along the Eastern coastline.  Tonight the Boston Pops will hold its annual Fourth of July concert on the Esplanade a night early, due to heavy rains scheduled for tomorrow.  So I decided to bump my celebration, too, in case heavy winds leave me with no power to blog on The Day.

Flying our flag proudly is The Hermitage in Nashville, TN, a design from the Doorways to the Past series.  It was the home of Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States.  Friends of ours from Texas--native-born Canadians, no less--took a family vacation there several years ago over July 4 and brought me back a great photo, which I adapted to needlepoint.

 The only unclear detail in the photo was the doorway itself--was it painted or stained,  and what did the door handles look like?  I got my answers when I called The Hermitage and talked to a lovely lady at the reception desk!

Remodeling completed

Ten years after stitching a model for Holiday Home from the Doorways to the Past series, I've finished a new version to be taught to the Cape Cod Chapter of ANG in September.  So what have I changed here from the original?

The glow from the lantern and door side lights was originally provided by a pale yellow DMC cotton floss.  The new version was worked with Water 'N Ice WT-1 Transparent Ice, which gives a glassy appearance to the areas of the canvas painted yellow.

The stone porch, originally worked in a slanted Gobelin stitch with Needle Necessities overdyed floss, was replaced by Wildflowers Granite in an encroaching Gobelin stitch.

The door itself probably sports the biggest change.  At the request of ANG chapter members, I didn't paint the door its original black.  I decided to make this version with a stained and varnished look, achieved by needle-blending two golden brown shades of DMC floss.

Now I need to catch up on some painting!

Getting ready for class

The Cape Cod Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) has once again asked me to teach a class in September featuring two designs from my Doorways to the Past series:  Cape Cod Summer and Holiday Home (pictured here).  It's hard to believe that Holiday Home was designed and stitched 10 years ago!  A lot has changed since then, not only in terms of the threads available but also in my repertoire of stitches.  Time to update this canvas, so I can write an up-to-date stitch guide for use by class members.

One of the changes requested by the chapter was that I not paint the door black--a lot of folks have difficulty stitching black on black and some members may wish to personalize the canvas by matching their thread to the color of their own front door.  While I thankfully can still work black areas without difficulty, I'll probably change the color of the door myself just for variety.

The porch steps were originally stitched in Needle Necessities overdyed floss, which is no longer available, so I'll be looking for a substitute for that area.  The lantern and side windows will also be stitched a little differently.  I honestly don't remember what thread I used for the garland, wreath, trees and bushes--Impressions, I think--so I'll need to scour my stash for a close match.  The same holds true for the thread I used to stitch the brick path.

This canvas won't be blog-stitched, since it's not fair to chapter members who've paid for the information to give it to others for free.  I'm also not anxious to see images of the project appear in Social Media.  I've been "pinned" too many times by folks, some of whom I don't even know, who "lifted" photos from my blog without asking permission.  I will show a photo of the finished piece, however, in case some of you are interested in the changes I've made.

Ready for an Open House!

With the hydrangea bushes planted at the foundation, the "Cape Cod Summer" doorway is finished!

For those of you not familiar with hydrangeas, their blossoms resemble large blue snowballs. The color can range from a light blue to a very intense dark blue when the plants are given a healthy dose of aluminum sulfate!

I wanted to accentuate the flowers in these areas, rather than the leaves, so began with a background stitched in basketweave using Sheep's Silk "Dark Moss," a 50/50 silk/wool overdye. Then I took my ring of blue floss-away bags outside and held various skeins up to one of my hydrangeas to pick just the right value--DMC floss #799!

Using four plies of floss, I stitched the flowers in French knots, using a single wrap but stitching each thread intersection to achieve the round, snowball appearance I was looking for.

In working this canvas, I've broken down different sections--woodwork, clapboards, doorway, etc.--and stitched each as separate segments to illustrate how one goes about attacking a painted canvas. There's no hard-and-fast rule to which section you stitch first, or whether you actually finish one section before moving on to another--it's just my way of doing it. But I think you'll agree that by breaking down the canvas into "bites" or individual elements to be stitched, the process becomes less intimidating and more pleasurable!

Siding the house

With all the white woodwork stitched, I'm now free to start filling in! I decided to next attack the clapboards that form the siding for the house.

You'll often find Cape Cod-style houses sheathed with clapboards on the front facade, while the other three sides are covered with cedar shingles. In typical frugal Yankee fashion, the early builders put their more expensive materials facing the street--but today I believe the tide has turned and the cedar shingles are more expensive.

If you refer back to the photo in my last post, you'll notice that I haven't painted in any breaks between the clapboards. In order to keep this area in scale, I've stitched the clapboards in rows of slanted gobelin stitches over two threads, using DMC floss #762--a pale gray which, strangely enough. looks an awful lot like the color of my house!

When I finished siding the house, I treated myself by stitching the light fixtures on either side of the front door. The style of these fixtures is known as an "onion" light, pretty typical for the Cape and Islands, so named because of its shape. I used Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V--in oblong cross stitches for the hanging bracket and a combination of satin and tent stitches for the light itself.

For those of you still wanting to see a little color on this canvas, stay tuned: I'll be installing the door next!

Taking the first bite

Where do you begin stitching on a painted canvas? In the case of "Cape Cod Summer," the answer was easy. Most experienced needlepointers advocate stitching the lightest areas first, and there's a lot of white in this canvas.

I like using DMC #5 perle cotton to stitch wood: it gives a "raised" look to these areas that will contrast nicely with other threads when I fill in later. I started with the horizontal board at the top of the canvas, working it in slanted gobelin stitches over two threads. The pediment over the door was stitched the same way, with a row of tent stitches beneath. The door casing was worked in a vertical slanted gobelin stitch over two threads.

I framed the window with more slanted gobelin stitches, adding mullions with tent stitches, and filled in the window box with a satin stitch.

On to the fence! Once again using the white perle cotton, I worked the posts in a slanted gobelin stitch over five threads. The balls at the top of the posts were first padded with white cotton floss in basketweave, then satin stitched with the perle cotton to provide additional dimension. The slats of the fence were worked in a slanted gobelin stitch over two threads, with the horizontal supports in tent and mosaic stitch.

When these areas were done, I treated myself by adding the roof, again with slanted gobelin stitches, using one ply of Trio "Caviar" which provides textural contrast against the perle cotton.

Not too shabby for two nights of work! By stitching these white areas first, I've broken down the rest of the canvas into more distinct and manageable areas--"bites," if you will--which I'll work on over subsequent evenings.

Summertime, and the stitchin' is easy

A few weeks ago, a needlepoint shop contacted me with a request: could I design a Cape Cod doorway for a customer who was fond of my Doorways to the Past series? I already had one Cape doorway--Nantucket--but the customer was looking for one with more of a cottage feel, complete with hydrangeas and a picket fence. I finally came up with this design, called "Cape Cod Summer," which incorporates all the elements that make my part of the world so charming at this time of year!

I shared this photo with a friend, who responded that she wouldn't know where to begin to stitch the canvas. A strange comment, I thought, from someone who is a phenomenal stitcher! It's a fairly straight-forward design and stitch-painted, which takes the guess-work out of where one color ends and the next begins.

Some designers rarely stitch their own canvases, but I always stitch my models as a "test-drive" before painting a master: if there's any "tweaking" to be done, I want the kinks ironed out before the canvas reaches the customer's hands. As I blog-stitch this canvas, I'll be breaking down the individual elements into manageable "bites" of stitching--the easiest way I know to avoid "choking" on a painted canvas, be it an architectural design or an entirely different design theme.

Looking for an armchair vacation to Cape Cod? Join me as I develop a virtual stitch guide for this canvas!

Happy Fourth of July!

It's the 233rd birthday of the United States, and a time for celebration!

The "Fourth of July" doorway pictured here was not a figment of my imagination: it's actually someone's doorway! A few years ago, a needlework shop invited attendees to its annual needlepoint retreat to submit photos of their doorways for me to convert to needlepoint canvas. When I saw this doorway, I fell in love! And luckily, the proud owner was happy to give me permission to market it after the retreat.

The main part of this doorway was stitched in DMC cotton floss and #5 perle cotton. The bunting was stitched with Silk & Ivory; Sheep's Silk, in a Nobuko stitch, formed the grass. The cat was stitched with black Petite Very Velvet, white Medici, and DMC cotton floss yellow eyes, just like the original!

One of my favorite parts of this design are the two urns of geraniums flanking the door, created with mounds and mounds of French knots in two shades of DMC floss to create more of a 3-D effect. The urns themselves were first padded with a basketweave of floss before adding the top layer of satin stitches in DMC perle cotton.

When enough is enough

Looking at the copyright date on this canvas last week, I realized to my horror that I'd been sitting on it for almost five years! The poor thing moved from Texas to the Cape on stretcher bars more than three years ago, and I hadn't touched it since. And what has changed since then? Absolutely nothing!

I'd originally thought, after arriving at the point of stitching you see here, that I'd add some beads to the garland above the door and the little trees on either. That didn't work. So I pulled a length of Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #032 and started over-stitching in the two areas. That didn't work, either.

I'm not a huge fan of beating a canvas into the ground with layers and layers of stitches and embellishments, and I realized that was exactly what I had been doing with this canvas. So I've decided enough is enough--here's the newest entry in the Doorways to the Past series: Holiday Home.

Thanks to my good buddy from college days, who provided the model for this doorway when she purchased a former ship captain's home built in Maine in 1836. Since she's never at the house at Christmas time, I asked her if she minded if I decorated it for the holidays, and she replied, "Go for it!"

The house itself was stitched in DMC cotton floss and perle cotton. All the greenery was stitched in Impressions, using either French knots or what I call "free embroidery." The brick path was worked in a modified Scotch stitch with Sheep's Silk--"Lingonberry" is perfect for bricks!--and the front porch was worked in a gobelin stitch using Needle Necessities overdyed floss.

Mardi Gras

Translated from the French, Mardi Gras is Fat Tuesday, the last fling before the 40 days of Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday. What better time to visit New Orleans, the hub of Mardi Gras activities!

The ancient Romans began the tradition, with a celebration of Lupercalia. And the first Mardi Gras celebration in the United States was actually held in Mobile, Alabama.

But in the late 1700s, New Orleans began to affix its mark on the celebration while still under French rule. The French king gave the territory away to his Spanish cousin, whose representatives nixed the pagan festivities. But along came the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and by 1823 the new governor permitted masked balls and street masking was again legal by 1827. In 1872, the official Mardi Gras colors were selected: purple (for justice), green (for faith), and gold (for power).

So today, in the spirit of the Mardi Gras, I'm beaming myself from Orleans, Massachusetts, to New Orleans, Louisiana, to revisit my doorway--one of my favorites from the Doorways to the Past Series.

For those who are interested, this piece was stitched almost completely with DMC perle cotton and floss. The hanging ferns and greenery in the potted geraniums were stitched with Caron Impressions.