More progress......I have finished stitching a green silk and gold bar and begun a gold and brown bar.  The original design below shows both bars to be shorter but for my shadowbox design they need to be longer.  I also found that the height of the green bar needed to be taller to be proportionate to the space.  I included a photo of the original design showing the green and gold bars.  More stitching tomorrow.

Earth - Deconstructed has begun........I started stitching the first design elements from Kathy Rees' Elements - Earth series.  I choose the central square and the next design to start with.  Because I will mount these on board I stitched a border around them so the edge of the board is covered but not with the design.  Stitching the individual pieces is going slower than expected but since I am not stitching the whole project the time it ultimately takes should be quick.  More stitching tomorrow.

Lone Star is finished......I placed the last stitch and the final order is complete.  This was an easy project to stitch and progressed quickly.

I will begin the shadow box project and see how needlepoint works as an art piece. 

On the Home Stretch.......Well I've rotated the canvas to the last side and working on the last border.  Looking forward to finishing as I am ready to start a new project.

While stitching Earth from the Elements Series designed by Kathy Rees as a special counted needlepoint club for Tomorrow's Heirlooms I had an idea.  There are parts of the design that can be stitched separately and then put together in a shadow box.  This project will require some finishing work to mount the needlepoint pieces on foam board and then attach them in a, hopefully, artistic way. We can talk more about that when I finish Lone Star.

Ramona Cross....A couple of days after Christmas I was at my cousin's house and she asked why I had not ever stitched anything for her.  I said I didn't know she wanted one of my pieces.  The response I got is "I'll come over and pick something framed off the wall", I don't think so.  We discussed the colors she likes, earth tones, and she wanted a cross or a heart.  My mind immediately started working on a stitch that I had used before that could be used for a cross.  So with a general commitment of I'll see what I can do...this is what I did.

 

 

I named the design Ramona Cross because my cousin lives in Ramona and it is a cross.

 

Everything looks better with a mat and frame.  My cousin is coming over on Saturday to pick up her gift.  I have a heart pattern that I ordered and will stitch in earth tones for her as well.  You will see it at some point in the near future when I stitch it.

And the progress continues......Today I had to go to the CPA and pick up my income tax returns so I wasn't able to stitch as much as I would have liked.  I finished the border on the second side and will rotate the canvas again in order to finish the last two stars on the third side.  At that point the canvas will be upside down.

Lone Star continues...

I rotated the canvas to work on the border on another side.  It is easier for me to rotate the canvas than work sideways.  In some cases I turn the canvas upside down to make stitching easier.  Normally turning the canvas upside is no big deal however when I stitched Around the Rainbow designed by Kathy Rees I had to also read the chart upside down.

 

 

This design actually stitches up pretty quickly I started stitching on the 20th and only a couple hours per day.  What will be interesting is to see what project I start when Lone Star is finished.

I've made some progress on Lone Star and wanted to show you. I've finished 4 Watercolours #199 stars and 3 Watercolours #68 stars.  I decided to do the inner border in Perle Cotton #550 which is a very close match to the purple in WC #199.  The border in the original design is all done in a single color but I think you lose the interesting design that Laura created.  I've done the ovals in WC #199 and used Perle Cotton #996 for the blue connecting stars.  The outter border is supposed to over 2 threads but I like to have a wider border from framing so the mat does not cover the design.

 

I stitched the squares at the end of the blue stars in Perle Cotton #996 and #943.  It gives almost a 3-D effect.

I thought I would take an inventory of sorts of the counted needlepoint designs I currently have kitted up and ready for stitching.  I found that I have 9 Needle Delights Originals, 2 larger designs and 7 4" square designs. Kathy's designs have a lot going on in a small design area and interesting and different stitches.

 

I have 15 designs by Laura J. Perin kitted up and ready for stitching.  What I like about Laura's designs are many of them are quilt designs which I think are interesting.

 

 

Last but not least I have 1 design by From Nancy's Needle kitted up and ready for stitching.  This design is Tiger Lily Tiles and is a very interesting design and colors that I really like.  I have stitched several of From Nancy's Needle designs in the past and will continue to do so.

 

In addition to all the kitted up designs I have about 45 more designs that need threads pulled to make kits.  On my stitching table I counted 33 designs that I had not yet put away.  I have several drawers of designs, those to be kitted and stitched and those that I have already stitched.  In addition I have many needlepoint books for reference and design ideas.  I am waiting for two books on ways to finish needlepoint to arrive.  I'm not at all addicted to needlepoint, how about you?

The stitching of Lone Star has begun.  I've started with Caron Watercolours #199 for the stars and the background is Perle Cotton #746.  I plan to fill in the other stars with Caron Watercolours #68 and then see what colors look the best.  More updates as the stitching continues.

Now on to a new project.  About 2 years or so ago I stitched Lone Star, designed by Laura J. Perin.  The original color way was very plain and I did not intend to use the specified colors.  I have a stash of Caron Waterscolours on hand at all times and tons of Perle Cotton so I selected my colors.

What I came up with was a very bright palette of yellow, orange and hot pink.  When finished I had the design custom framed with an orange frame and yellow mat.  I loved the end result.  The framed piece was then mailed to my sister in Texas who's comment when she opened it was "It sure is bright".  Not exactly what I was hoping for so lesson learned is know who you are stitching for and select colors they like.

 

I decided to stitch Lone Star again using a new color palette and this is what I have initially pulled from my stash. As you can see there are 2 different Caron Watercolours and 5 Perle Cottons.

 Let's see if all these are used or if any new colors appear.

Well the heart design is finished.  The finished size is 4X4 to fit in a standard 8X8 frame.  Here is entire design and then a closeup of each side.

 

 

This how the finished design will look with the mat and a simple black frame.  I think my friend will be surprised to find this in her mailbox.



 

Well today's post is going to be a little different.  I have progressed a bit on the heart design but I wanted to show some of my past finishes.

First up is Arizona Star, designed by Laura J. Perin, in reds and pinks with a green border.  I really like the design but the colors didn't speak to me so I changed them to a bright pallet.

 

The second design is Odd Fellows Cross, also designed by Laura J. Perin.  I stayed true to the colors called for in the design but changed the border slightly.  This is one of my favorite designs by Laura so far.  I say so far because I have about 14 more of her designs kitted up and ready for stitching so another one may become my favorite. 

Tomorrow I should be able to show the finished heart design and then frame it and send it on it's way to Texas.

So a little more work has been done.  I decided to use a Peach cotton floss for the center section.  I am not a fan of laying floss or stranded silk but I do it because it looks so much better. Not sure how I feel about the color but what's done is done.  I next started a stripe on the left using Rainbow Gallery Splendor, also requires laying the silk.  Not sure if I will replicate the stripe on the right or do something else.  Ultimately there will be another stripe on either side with one canvas thread peeking through.  Since this is design as you go I have no idea what I'll show next time.

I have a friend that I meet about 41 or 42 years ago and she has been admiring my needle work. I said you never know when something might appear in the mailbox so I need to create something for her.

I thought about a heart as I have Victorian Red 18 count canvas and several different threads from my stash to quickly stitch up a design.  As you see I have an 8" square of Victorian Red stretched and selected several threads to work with.

 

I've worked on the design for about 3 hours or so and you can see if has none of the original threads I selected.  I started with Watercolours #248 for the hearts and am using WaterLillies #190 to fill in next to the hearts.  I was going to only have 1 heart but the design I worked out was too large for the frame I have so on to Plan B, multiple smaller hearts.

Ok so what now, I have no idea.  I'm designing this as I go and you will see the mess on my stitching table, not sure which other threads I will use but looks like the red design is now pinks, peach and lavender.  Not sure how that happened but I'll just go with it and see what the finished design looks like.

Earth is finished!! I have enjoyed stitching this design and really love the colors. The first photo shows the finished design as Kathy designed it.  The second photo shows my striped border, I always add a border for framing purposes.  I do not like the mat to cover any of the design so I add a border.  The third photo is a closeup of the striped border.

Next up is heart design that I am stitching for a friend.

I've been busy working on Earth and have rotated the canvas again.  I am stitching the third side and really making good progress.

 

 

I have an idea to stitch this as a de-constructed piece.  I will use a shadow box and stitch the rust brick design as the entire background.  I will then stitch the other design elements on a large canvas and then cut them apart and mount them.  The individual design elements will be placed on top of the background and mounted to show different depths.  This will be interesting as I have never done anything like this but really like the way this should come out.  Hopefully what I see in my mind can be achieved.

I have made a little more progress on Earth. I completed the waffle stitches on two corners along with the checkerboard squares.  Usually when I stitch a waffle stitch it is with Caron Watercolours and I can just whip through them.  These however are with overdyed silk floss so they have to be layed and that takes more time.

I've now turned the canvas to make stitching this side easier.



That's all for today, will continue to make good progress on this piece and am already thinking about what I will stitch next.  Could be another of Kathy's designs or Lone Star Cottage by Laura J. Perin.