Peace on Earth, good will to all

Here is our lighthouse tree for 2016, with 99 lighthouse ornaments and holding!  We were going through some home remodeling in the last eight weeks and have slid into Christmas on the proverbial banana peel.

The Kansas crew is here to help us celebrate, with the Dallas contingent arriving in time to ring in the New Year.  Mama is happy when her chicks come home to roost, and as they say, if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season and a lot of needlepoint in the New Year!

Looking back

Yesterday I taught a class at a meeting of the Cape Cod chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild on how to stitch skies using the technique of needle-blending.  I had the most wonderful time, working with a group of very talented stitchers eager to try something new to them.  The experience led me to think back on my 16 years of stitching lighthouses, and the various ways I've handled the sky behind them over the years.  To the left is my first model of Cape Cod lighthouse in Truro, Massachusetts.  I had a lot of blue to stitch and thought, at the time, "Better use a pattern stitch to fill in all that blue."  Try again!

In 2002, I started adapting some of my lighthouse designs for use as inserts in Sudberry House bookends.  Pictured right is Camden Island lighthouse in Maine.  I started layering the skies, using gradual shading of DMC floss in a random pattern of basketweave.  Notice that I didn't "cut in" the values of blue--there's a definite line showing between the layers.

That same year, I tried something different for a Sudberry House pencil box insert of Portland Head lighthouse in Maine.  I was still basketweaving the sky with gradual values of DMC blue floss, but VERY randomly to incorporate clouds in the sky.  Yes, it looked realistic--my youngest son tried to convince me I should stitch all my skies that way!--but it was virtually impossible to duplicate from one lighthouse to the next.

Ten years later, with the ins and outs of the needle-blending technique
under my belt, I stitched East Chop lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard,
Massachusetts, with a foggy sky. (Photo right.) It was one of the lighthouse canvases
members of the Cape Cod chapter worked on yesterday.  Is it realistic?
Absolutely!  I copied the details line by line from a photo my youngest son

had taken for me when he visited the island on a foggy day.  Can I duplicate
the look?  Definitely--I've done so since with other lighthouses.  And by
using the same "foggy sky" recipe with the canvas turned upside down, I've created "gloomy" skies, too.

You may be saying to yourself right now, "All these skies were stitched in basketweave and that's just boring!"  Well, not boring to me.  I've seen simple skies and extremely complicated skies filled with patterned stitches that made me want to cringe.  I've always held that the background should stay IN the background without being boring.  You have to admit that a simple sky with the twist provided by needle-blending keeps the subject of the canvas--the lighthouse itself--in center stage.

Highland Lighthouse, new and improved

Sometimes when you're on a stitching roll, you work straight through until the piece is done.  Such was the case for the Highland lighthouse canvas, which is now already to go for the class in September!

DMC #5 perle cotton #B5200, 310 and 415 provided the tower, with a smidgen of Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #221 for the beacon.  The fence was worked in DMC #5 perle cotton #318.

The outbuildings were stitched in DMC cotton floss:  #349 in a slanted gobelin stitch for the roof, Blanc for the siding, #415 for the shadowing and #414 for the windows.

I didn't have enough grassy green variegated thread in my stash, so I decided to make some, using one strand each of two green Burmilana shades worked in a diagonal mosaic stitch.  Dark green Impressions in French knots formed the little bush in front of the fence. 

There's only one more non-blog stitching project to complete before I can get back to my rocking horse!

Two skies, side by side

I finished stitching the sky behind Highland lighthouse (left) using the needle-blending technique.  The same four values of blue--DMC floss #3755, 3325, 3841 and 775--that I used for the Nobska lighthouse sky (right) are at work for Highland.  The spacing of the needle-blends is also the same:  12 rows down from the top, followed by eight rows of consecutive blends down to the horizon.  You'd think the two skies would be identical, but they're not.  Why?

When you combine three plies of one value and one ply of another, and let them play out as you basketweave, one of those values will predominate over the other.  This "luck of the draw" produces a slightly tweedy effect, which will change every time you stitch.  The only constant you'll see is when you're stitching with a full four plies of any value. 

Another lighthouse "remake"

The second lighthouse that needs to be updated is Cape Cod lighthouse in Truro, Massachusetts, almost at the tip of Cape Cod.  The first of its kind on the Cape, it was also the seventh lighthouse to be built in the country.  Its nickname, Highland Light, is derived from the high ground upon which it was situated.

Truro was founded as "Dangerfield" in 1700 because of the treacherous waters along its coast.  To safeguard mariners, George Washington signed a bill in 1796 approving $5,000 to build a 45-foot wooden, octagonal tower set 500 feet back from the bluffs.  Lit in 1798 and rebuilt in 1831, the structure suffered from deterioration due to wood rot.

In 1857, a new 66-foot tower was completed and fitted with a new first-order Fresnel lens that produced a flashing white light every five seconds.  Three outbuildings were also constructed for the lighthouse keeper and his two assistants.  The lighthouse was automated in 1987.

Like so many other lighthouses, which have fallen prey to erosion, Highland Light was in peril of falling into the Atlantic Ocean.  The clearance from the cliff of 510 feet measured in 1806 had by 1989 dwindled to 128 feet.  After raising $1.5 million, the 430-ton tower was moved in 1996 to a safer distance of 453 feet from the cliff using I-beams greased with Ivory soap.

I'll be needle-blending the sky behind Highland Light, just as I did for Nobska lighthouse. 

One down, one to go

The "new and improved" Nobska lighthouse is finished, with the addition of the keepers' houses and the grass.

Roof shingles were worked in tent, slanted gobelin and satin stitches with DMC floss #817 and #347 for the shadow.  The windows were outlined with white DMC floss and filled in with DMC floss #414 in Scotch or cashmere stitches.

To get just the right shade for the cedar shingles on the sides of the buildings, one of the ANG Cape Cod chapter members, who lives near the lighthouse, made a "drive-by" to check it out.  She reported back that a combination of two plies each of DMC floss #627 and #3782 was the closest match, so that's what you see here!

Another blend, this time of two Burmilana greens, created the grass, using a diagonal mosaic stitch.  It looks like the groundskeeper did a very neat job of mowing, don't you think?

Building the lighthouse

The Nobska lighthouse is stitched now , using DMC #5 perle cotton Blanc for the tower and #310 for the lantern room and gallery below.  The perle cotton gives the structure a slightly higher profile when set against the sky stitched in basketweave with floss.

The tower is clad in cast iron, so I stitched it in basketweave, too, for a smooth look.  The shadow below the rings connecting the cast iron plates was defined by a single row of tent stitches in DMC #5 perle cotton #415.  The base of the lighthouse was worked in slanted gobelin stitches with DMC #5 perle cotton #644.

To further distinguish the railings of the gallery from the base of the lantern room, I added individual tent stitches with DMC floss #3799.

Mary Agnes (www.needlenicely,blogspot.com) had asked if the needle-blending class I'm teaching in September would be open to non-members of the Cape Cod chapter of ANG.  I checked with the program chair, and the class is for members only.

The sky at Nobska Point

I've begun stitching the updated Nobska lighthouse model a little differently than usual, starting first with the needle-blended sky.  After all, needle-blending is what I'll be teaching in September!  The blue floss is light in color, and I was careful to begin and end my threads far away from the white tower, so I don't anticipate any problems stitching the lighthouse itself.

I began at the top of the canvas with four plies of DMC floss #3755, stitching in basketweave 12 canvas threads deep and staggering the bottom row every other stitch to avoid creating a line.  The rest of the sky was worked in segments eight canvas threads deep, using DMC floss #3755, 3325, 3841 and 775.  By the time I reached the horizon, I was using two plies of DMC floss #3841 and two plies of DMC floss #775.

So far, so good!  Conveniently, this combination of blue values will also work for Cape Cod (Highland) lighthouse, another design offered for the class that needs updating, too.  On to the lighthouse!

A lighthouse makeover

An intensified work schedule has prompted me to rearrange my stitching priorities:  the Toyland Rocking Horse canvas, which I was stitching for myself, must go on the back burner to make way for more immediate deadlines.

In September, I'll be teaching a needle-blending class with the Cape Cod chapter of ANG using a couple of my lighthouse designs.  I needed to widen two of them so all three would be the same size, so surfed the net to properly elongate the buildings adjacent to them.

As I was living in Texas in 2001 when I first designed Nobska lighthouse, I used a photo from a book with a 1998 copyright date.  Flash forward to 2013, when my internet surfing revealed the keepers' quarters had since been resided with cedar shingles.

I'd also stitched the sky for the original model with a jacquard stitch in a solid blue DMC floss.  Had I known then what I know now, I wouldn't have worked the sky that way.  Bottom line:  time to stitch another model, this one  with a more appropriate--and realistic--needle-blended sky.

A Brief History of Nobska lighthouse

Located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, at the entrance to Vineyard Sound, the original lighthouse was built in 1828.  Its octagonal tower was an integral part of a typical Cape Cod-style house.  Over time, the roof began to leak, and the lighthouse was razed to construct a new 40-foot free-standing tower in 1876.  A second outbuilding was added in 1907 to provide housing for a newly-appointed assistant lighthouse keeper.  The lighthouse was automated in 1985 and the keepers' dwellings are now home to the U.S. Coast Guard regional commander.

I need to write a stitch guide for this "new and improved" lighthouse design, so I'd better stitch it first!

From sea to shining sea

Today is National Lighthouse Day! To mark the occasion, I'm highlighting lighthouses of the Cape and Islands from my collection.

Top row, from left to right: Brant Point on Nantucket; Race Point, Provincetown; Nobska, Wood's Hole; Nauset, Eastham; and Gay Head (Aquinnah), Martha's Vineyard.

Second row, left to right: Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard; East Chop, Martha's Vineyard; Chatham; and Cape Cod (Highland), Truro.

Three cheers for all of our country's aids to navigation!

A fabulous finish

I received an e-mail the other day from Sally, a stitcher in Florida for whom I'd adapted to needlepoint the Ushuaia lighthouse in Argentina. As you can see, Sally has been busy--her ornament is finished!

She has personalized the ornament with the date of her visit to Argentina, aboard the National Geographic Explorer cruise. I love her needle-blended sky and the white cording around the ornament, which emphasizes the snow-capped mountains behind the lighthouse.

Super job, Sally!--and thanks for letting me share the photo with my blog readers!

That was then--this is now

I've finished stitching the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse ornament for my friend, and thought it would be fun to do a side-by-side comparison of this version with the model I stitched back in 1999.

One big difference is in the way I stitched the rocks the second time around. I still used DMC floss here, but needle-blended the different strata and stitched over the dividing lines. Starting with the rocks closest to the tower, I used four plies of DMC floss #648 in a satin stitch, then moved down one layer using two plies of DMC floss #648 and two plies of DMC floss #647. By the time I reached the bottom layer, I used four plies of DMC floss #646.

Except for the Kreinik metallic braid used for the beacon, all the threads in the original version were DMC floss. The second time around, I added some silk-wool blends--Impressions and Sheep's Silk--for the trees and grass to give these areas a softer look.

Probably the most noticeable change is in the way I worked the sky: needle-blended for a more realistic appearance and to give the overall canvas more depth. Amazing, isn't it, the little tricks and techniques we pick up in the course of stitching over 13 years?

Murmuring pines and memories

More progress on Bass Harbor Head lighthouse--it now has trees!

This time around, I used a diagonal oblong cross stitch, an amazingly versatile stitch. I'd used it to form bricks in the lighthouse tower, stitching with the canvas turned 90 degrees. I also divided the tree area into two sections, stitching the tree in the front with one strand of Impressions #5061 and the one peeking behind it with Impressions #5060. A little bit of darker thread in the background goes a long way in adding some depth to the canvas.

I've started on the rock ledge, using four plies of DMC floss #648 in a satin stitch. There are quite a few rocks to go yet, but then I'll be finished!

On a personal note: as I was working on this canvas yesterday, not a minute went by that I didn't think of Judy Harper, who passed away Feb. 28, 2011. What a tremendous loss to the needlepoint world, but she left us with a wealth of information gleaned from a career spanning 40 years. I'm grateful her blog--www.fairy-crafts.blogspot.com-- remains to enlighten and inspire us. Do check it out if you haven't before!

Up on the roof

The tower and outbuildings of the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse are now finished!

The roof and gallery around the lantern room were worked in DMC #5 perle cotton #310 in a combination of satin and tent stitches. The same thread created the railing at the base of the lighthouse. Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #003 in a single Scotch stitch formed the red beacon.

For the roofs of the outbuildings, I used DMC floss #347 in satin and tent stitches. I used all six plies for these areas, to make the weight of the thread more compatible with the perle cotton that had been used in the white areas.

The grass at the tip of the granite ledge was worked in a slanted gobelin stitch, while the area below the railing was worked in a diagonal mosaic stitch. For a softer appearance, I used Sheep's Silk "Green Leaves Dark" for these two areas.

I think I'll tackle the trees next!

Sky and water

I've finished needle-blending the sky around the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse. If you recall, I was working seven canvas rows deep in basketweave, randomly staggering the stitches at the bottom, using four plies of DMC floss. Here's the final formula, beginning at the top of the canvas:

Row 1 - DMC floss #3755- four plies
Row 2 - DMC floss #3755 - three plies; DMC floss #3325 - one ply
Row 3 - DMC floss #3755 - two plies; DMC floss #3325 - two plies
Row 4 - DMC floss #3755 - one ply; DMC floss #3325 - three plies
Row 5 - DMC floss #3325 - four plies
Row 6 - DMC floss #3325 - three plies; DMC floss #3841 - one ply
Row 7 - DMC floss #3325 - two plies; DMC floss #3841 - two plies
Row 8 - DMC floss #3325 - one ply; DMC floss #3841 - three plies
Row 9 - DMC floss #3841 - four plies

While I still had all my blue floss-away bags at hand, I stitched the water area as well. I began at the horizon with three plies of DMC floss #334 using a horizontal interlocking gobelin stitch--a great stitch to use in a very small canvas area to give a slight indication of movement. After three rows, I switched to DMC floss #312 to add a little depth to the water. I'd originally worked this area in a satin stitch using only one shade of blue--I think this new treatment is more effective.

The second time around

It's been a busy week: the column for the upcoming Needlepoint Now issue was approved and the next column submitted, plus an order to paint and another trunk show to get ready for. But I've made a little headway on the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse canvas, beginning with the lighthouse itself.

The first time I stitched this, I used DMC cotton floss in Scotch stitches for the tower. Here I've switched to white DMC #5 perle cotton in diagonal oblong cross stitches over two threads, with the canvas turned 90 degrees. Now I still have the look of bricks but in a much more appropriate scale for the size of the building. The perle cotton also provides a higher profile so the tower will stand out better against the sky.

The sky, too, is getting a change: instead of the diagonal mosaic stitch I used originally, I'm needle-blending this time. Starting at the top of the canvas with four plies of DMC floss #3755, I worked basketweave seven threads deep, staggering the bottom stitches. I've started the next row across with three plies of DMC floss #3755 and one ply of DMC floss #3325. I'll be back with another photo when the sky is completed!

A lighthouse revisited

Once upon a time, I was a monogamous stitcher: I'd never start a new project until the current one was finished. Those days are long gone! I've found that it helps my sanity to have a small project at hand while I'm working on larger pieces under the radar screen.

My newest small project is a canvas of Bass Harbor Head lighthouse in Maine (the photo here is of my model). A friend of mine used to live close by the lighthouse and has fond memories of it--a watercolor of the lighthouse hanging in her home was painted at the exact angle as my canvas. So I'm stitching it a second time for her, but not the way I stitched it originally! That was back in 1999, when new threads, both natural and synthetic, were making their way into the market. My taste and ability as a stitcher have evolved, too, and are reflected in my choice of stitches as well as threads.

Bass Harbor Head lighthouse, at the southwest corner of Mt. Desert Island, marks the entrance to Bass Harbor and Blue Hill Bay. Perched atop a granite bluff 56 feet above the water, the 32-foot-high brick lighthouse has been operational since 1858. Its distinctive red light, automated in 1974, is made possible by a plastic "shroud" over the Fresnel lens, and can be seen for 13 nautical miles. This little gem is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

I think it will be fun to see what changes and what remains the same as I rework this design almost 13 years later!

A spook-tacular finish

Stitching time for me has been limited lately, but I've finally finished the Seguin Island lighthouse!

Since my last post, I resumed work on the buildings adjacent to the tower, giving the small one a roof of DMC floss #355 in slanted gobelin stitches and adding bricks of Sheep's Silk "Lingonberry" in oblong cross stitches with the canvas turned 90 degrees. More slanted gobelin stitches in DMC #5 perle cotton #644 created the foundation, while DMC #5 perle cotton #414 in tent stitches formed the railing in front of the door.

The grass was worked with two strands of green Burmilana in a diagonal mosaic stitch. Rocks in the foreground were added in tent and satin stitches with DMC floss #645, 646 and 647. I stitched over those areas where tall grass had been painted on the canvas, adding this detail last in random long stitches with one strand of Sheep's Silk "Dark Moss."

Coincidence or Supernatural Intervention?
In 1985, the Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse and loaded a boat with furniture from the keeper's house for transport to the mainland. The night after this task was completed, the officer in charge was awakened by the sight of a man in oilskins standing by the officer's bed. "Don't take the furniture--please, leave my house alone!" was the apparition's clearly stated message. The following day, as the boat loaded with furniture was being lowered into the water, an accident occurred that sank the boat with all its cargo.

A sturdy tower

Since my last post, I've finished needle-blending the sky behind the Seguin Island lighthouse.

I'd ended with four strands of DMC floss #3752, so I began adding DMC floss #3753 to the mix, adding one strand of the lighter color and subtracting one strand of the darker color in each section of basketweave worked. Since DMC floss #3753 is the lightest shade in this Wedgwood blue family, I then began adding white. By the time I reached the top of the canvas (remember I've turned the canvas upside-down), I was working with two strands of DMC floss #3753 and two strands of white floss.

On to the lighthouse, where there's a little artistic license in play. The top of the lighthouse is actually all black, but if I'd stitched the base of the lantern room in black, the gallery around it would have disappeared. So I first stitched the base with DMC floss #3799 in tent stitches, then worked the rest of the black areas with DMC #5 perle cotton #310 in tent stitches, with the dome itself worked in satin stitch. Now the base of the lantern room appears to be in shadow, and adds some depth to the top of the lighthouse as well.

The First Order Fresnel lens was worked in tent and Scotch stitch variation with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #221.

The Happy Ghost
Not all tales of supernatural activities at the Seguin Island lighthouse are sad or threatening! At some point in the lighthouse's history, a young girl died on the island and was buried close to the lighthouse grounds. Keepers' logs chronicle sightings of a young girl, laughing and waving to them, as she ran up and down the lighthouse stairs--yet no children were living on the island at the time.

Another foggy sky

First up in stitching the Seguin Island lighthouse canvas were the granite blocks of the tower. These were worked with white DMC #5 perle cotton, with a row of slanted gobelin stitches over two threads under the lantern room and a Scotch stitch variation three threads high and four threads wide for the blocks themselves.

Since Seguin Island is one of the foggiest spots in the world, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to needle-blend a foggy sky! I'm using a Wedgwood blue color family of DMC floss here, unlike the "true blues" I normally use for a sunny sky.

Turning my canvas upside-down, I began at the horizon with the water. This was worked with three strands of DMC floss #931 in a horizontal interlocking gobelin stitch to give the subtle indication of movement in a very small area.

I then started needle-blending the sky with four strands of DMC floss #932, working basketweave over approximately seven canvas rows deep and staggering the bottom stitches to avoid creating a horizontal line. For my next threadful, I used three strands of DMC floss #932 and one strand of DMC floss #3752. I added one more strand of the lighter color and subtracted one strand of the darker color as I moved along, ending as you see it here with a full four strands of DMC floss #3752.

Now for the spooky story of the day!
In the late 1800s, a lighthouse keeper brought his bride to the island, where she became despondent because of the isolation. To cheer her up, he ordered a piano to be delivered to the keeper's house--no mean feat, since it had to be hauled a quarter mile up to the house over steep terrain. The bride required sheet music, but only one song had arrived with the piano. So she played that one song, over and over, much to the keeper's chagrin.

He ordered more sheet music, but when it arrived she ignored it in favor of the original song.
Finally driven into a mad rage, the keeper took an axe to the piano, his bride and himself. But to this day, it's said the faint tinkling of piano music can be heard across the waters surrounding the island.