Postcards from home

Last week marked a very proud moment for me: our oldest son began a wonderful new job in his chosen career of emergency management! I wanted to stitch something to commemorate this milestone in his life, but what?

To the rescue came Denise DeRusha, a fellow designer and friend from my Texas days, with whom I had the pleasure of volunteering when her oldest son and my youngest were buddies at the local intermediate school. Denise has a series of postcards representing every state in the U.S., as well as a number of foreign countries, that I had long admired. I'd been looking for the perfect opportunity to stitch some of these canvases, and with my son starting his new job, that chance fell into my lap!

To view the complete postcard series, visit www.denisederushadesigns.com

I've chosen three canvases: Connecticut, his birth state; Texas, his "adopted" state; and Kansas, his new home. I'll be working these up as a set which I'll have framed for him to hang in his new apartment. Thanks to Denise, who has graciously given me permission to blog-stitch these canvases--this proud mother's way of saying "You've come a long way, Baby!"

The French knot marathon

I've reached the Goat Island lighthouse finish line after running a French knot marathon.

Since my last post, I added a beacon--Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002HL--and a little signal light--Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #032--in spring stitches. These are simply oblong cross stitches which are tacked down horizontally with tent stitches.

The shading was stitched with DMC floss #415, while the windows were worked with DMC floss #318, and the door with DMC floss #414, in satin stitches. Using DMC floss #312, I worked the water in a diagonal horizontal cashmere stitch, which gives the look of movement in a very small area.

On to the rocks at the water's edge, which were worked in satin stitches with DMC floss #647. The small grassy area was filled in with a diagonal mosaic stitch using Impressions "Emerald."

For the dense vegetation in the foreground, I chose two silk/wool blend threads: Impressions #5011 for the lighter shade of green and Felicity's Garden "Evergreen" for the darker shade. I worked this whole area in French knots, with one strand of thread and two wraps of the needle. Every so often I switched from lighter to darker thread to provide shading. I'm really happy with the depth that the French knots have given to the canvas!

I'll be back at the beginning of the week with a new project, stitching a canvas that--for a change--isn't one of my own designs!

Raising the roofs

I'm back in the "paint-by-day, stitch-by-night" mode, but I have made a little progress on the Goat Island lighthouse.

Since the surfaces of the lighthouse tower and attached building are basically smooth, I stitched these areas in basketweave with white DMC floss.

The lantern room of the tower was worked in a combination of tent, satin and gobelin stitches over two threads, using DMC #5 perle cotton #310. The weight of the perle cotton makes this area stand out from the basketweave of the sky.

The roof of the attached building was worked in slanted gobelin stitches over two threads with DMC floss #817. This little red roof really makes the canvas start to come to life! When I finish stitching the tower, I can start adding lights, windows and doors. Now back to painting!

Tranquil skies

I began stitching the Goat Island lighthouse canvas with the sky, needle-blending once again. There are actually very few families of blue in DMC cotton floss that will produce a seamless, needle-blended sky--the "fair weather" sky here was created with DMC floss #3755, 3325 and 3841.

Starting at the top, using four plies of DMC floss #3755, I stitched a random basketweave across the canvas, ending at the first lines marked on each side of the canvas. For each section, I subtracted one ply of the darker shade and added one ply of the lighter. By the time I reached the horizon, I was using two plies each of DMC floss #3325 and 3841.

If I had wanted a "stormy" or "cloudy" sky, I would have chosen DMC floss #932, 3752 and 3753 and used the same formula. Using these same shades of floss in reverse order would create a foggy sky! Isn't it interesting how a little manipulation of color choices of floss can create an entirely different look for a sky?

A trip to Goat Island

This armchair traveler is heading north today to Maine--specifically Cape Porpoise, which legend says was given its name in 1614 by Captain John Smith (of Pocahontas fame), after he saw a school of porpoises swimming in the area. I'll be stitching Goat Island lighthouse, near the entrance to Cape Porpoise harbor, a new design requested by a blog reader in California!

There are conflicting accounts as to when the original 20-foot Goat Island lighthouse was first lit--one source says 1822, another 1833. There is agreement, however, that the present 25-foot brick tower pictured here became operational in 1859 as an aid to navigation in what once was a busy fishing center.

In 1990, Goat Island lighthouse had the distinction of being the last lighthouse in Maine and the next-to-last station in the United States to be automated. Its beacon, flashing white every six seconds, can be seen over a range of 12 nautical miles.

During the presidency of George H. W. Bush, Goat Island was selected by the Secret Service as an air-sea command center, as it provided an excellent vantage point for surveillance of the president's Walker's Point estate in nearby Kennebunkport.

As always, my posts will be written as a "virtual stitch guide," offering suggestions for threads and stitches to the person requesting the design, who has indicated she'd like to stitch along with me--what fun!

A study in silver threads

As I was finishing up the stitching on my little friend's mini-sock, it occurred to me that this project has turned into a study in Kreinik silver metallic threads!

The cuff was stitched with Vineyard Silk Classic "Bright White" in basketweave--the sheen of the silk thread is much more obvious in person than in the photo For the name and the date in the lower left corner, I chose an old stand-by: Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #001. It still provides "bling" and shows up well against a white background.

I'm happy with the effect the combination of silver threads has produced on this project. At some point, I'd like to experiment with combining gold threads as well. But for my next project, a lighthouse is calling to me!

Twinkle, twinkle, little thread....

....how I wish you wouldn't shred!

For the fourth and final ribbon in this mini-sock, the vertical band in the center and far left, I decided to give the Kreinik 1/16" holographic ribbon a try. It had much more of a gleam on the spool than the Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #001L, and I was hoping for even more "bling."

I began with the ribbon edges, working slanted gobelin stitches over two threads. Just to be on the safe side, I cut lengths of thread much shorter than I normally do. But it didn't take long before I realized the end of my thread was shredding--I mean REALLY shredding.

Before any of you out there reading this start hopping up and down advising me to use Fray-Check or whatever it's called, let me add that I don't own such a product. My rule of thumb is simple: if a thread shreds, is so slippery that it won't stay where it belongs, or otherwise creates hassles that interfere with my pleasure in stitching, I don't use it. Life's too short!

So after filling in the background on these bands with DMC floss #809, my medium blue, in basketweave, I went back to the Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #001L to work the snowflakes in tent stitch. This braid shreds a little, too--more so than other #12 tapestry braids--but didn't leave shards of silver all over my kitchen table as it produced the "holographic" look I was aiming for.

In my next post, I'll be speaking "off the cuff"!