Mystery Class Lesson Two.........................Curios is continuing with Lesson two.  Area 7 is almost square and has a very interesting border in two colors.  The center is Watercolours and Rainbow Gallery Silk Lame.

 

Area 8 is square and the border is Princess Perle and Very Petite Velvet.  The center design is Watercolours with accents of Rainbow Gallery Neon Rays.  The background is stitched with stranded silk, Splendor by Rainbow Gallery.

 

This photo shows the total progress to date.

Area 4, 5 and 6..................I finished Area 4, the center thread does not contrast very much with the one on either side.  The overdyed color is subtle so it doesn't really stand out.  Some of the other colorways show more contrast.

 

Area 5 is a disappointment, the border is stitched with Perle cotton and Vineyard Silk however they are almost the same color so you can't tell they are different threads.  The center of the design is Waterlilies Silk and again the color is almost the same as the border.  Other colorways show a real contrast between the border and center.  Once the design is finished I will probably go and rip out the center design and replace it with something else in a contrasting color.

 

 

I began Area 6 today and is a border of Rhodes stitches in Gloriana Princess Perle Silk.  Princess Perle is a challenge to work with as it is very springy and at times seems alive.  Once you cut into the skein look out because it is all over the place.  I had a tangled mess to unravel and then cut into 1 yard lengths.  The color variation in the thread is very subtle so you really don't notice the color change.

 

If all goes to plan I will finish Area 6 tomorrow and then wait until May 1st for the next lesson and patterns.  The waiting is going to be difficult.  In the mean time I will start a new project, the question is what.  I'll get out all the kitted designs and see what inspires me or I may create my own design.  Tune in on Thursday to see what I've selected.

Mystery Class - First Lesson.........................The long awaited moment has arrived and the first lesson of the mystery class is available.  There are 35 areas in the design and each one has a different pattern.  The first photo shows my progress so far.

 

This is Area 1 which is stitched with a Watercolours borders that includes Very Petite Velvet crosses in the center of the boxes.  The center design is stitched in Vineyard silks, which of by the way are a joy to stitch with.

 

Area 2 has an interesting border of long arm crosses that when stitched looks like a woven braid, it is in Watercolours.  The center design is Vineyard Silk and Frosty Rays.

 

Area 3 is only a striped border so far, it is stitched in Vineyard Silks.  The center section is included in another lesson.  Kathy did indicate that the main design in this area is a Walneto stitch.

 

This photo is Area 4 which is still in progress.  The border is stitched in Watercolours and the lattice background is stitched with Petite Sparkle Rays.  The center section is stitched in Vineyard Silks and Watercolours.

 

  Lesson 1 includes Areas 5 and 6 also which I will work on and should be finished by Wednesday.

 

Curios Mystery Class has begun.........It's April 1st and the first lesson for the Shining Needles Society Mystery Class is now available.  I thought I would show the 25 threads that are used in the project.

 

This photo shows all the threads, Caron Watercolours, Vineyard Silk, Gloriana Silks, Waterlilies, Perle Cotton, and an assortment of Rainbow Gallery threads.

 

 

 

This photo shows Petite Very Velvet, Silk Lame Braid, Frosty Rays, Neon Rays, Petite Sparkle Rays, Spendors and Sparkling Neon Rays.  A total of 10 different Rainbow Gallery threads.

 

 

Here are 2 Perle Cottons, 1 Gloriana Silk Princess Perle, 1 Gloriana Duchess Silk and 1 Waterlilies.

These are the Caron Watercolours, Prickly Pear, Turmeric, Seaweed, Willow and Chardonnay.

 

Now are the Vineyard Silks.

 

This shot shows all the skeins opened and sorted on Twitchetts.  Twitchetts are the best for any stitching project.  It is so easy to sort, separate and handle your threads.  Can you tell I love them.  You can find Twitchetts on Terry's Dryden's website, try them and you will be hooked.  Tomorrow I will show the start of the design for this month.

And we're done........Mint is finished.  After stitching all the Milanese I finished the boxes and stitched a striped framing border. 

I used the Watercolour from the main design along with the overdyed Threadworx Vineyard silk.

 

I have an idea for the next project, something different.  I found a design on EBAY that came with all the threads to stitch the design and bought it.  Next post will show the new project.

Time to Rotate....................I rotated the canvas and finished all the Milanese stitches.  Using stranded silk or cotton floss slows down my stitching as I have to lay all the stitches otherwise the finished piece will not look as good.

 

This photo shows the color of the Watercolours thread better and also you can see the single tent stitches in the center.  Tomorrow I plan to stitch more of the boxes and then the framing border.  Almost done and then on to the next project.

On to the Milanese.........The Milanese stitches are in Waterlilies and Rainbow Gallery Spendor which both have to be laid.  I use a trolley needle and a wooden laying tool depending on how much room I have to work.  Once I finish this side I will rotate the canvas and stitch the Milanese and boxes on the opposite side.

 

The outer border is a square with tent stitches in the middle.  Once the design is complete I will stitched a framing border for the mat.

The beginning of Mint..........I've stitched the very center of the design and working on a border of Rice stitches.  The center is an interesting combination of stitches surrounded by two rows of Gobelin stitches.  A border of Rice stitches surrounds the complete center section.  I really love Rice stitches because they are interesting and give any piece texture and can be stitched in a single color or several colors for different effects.

Houston we have a problem....................Unfortunately I made my classic mistake of being 1 thread off.  If I ever make a mistake it is being 1 thread off.  I found that Section 3 was 1 thread off after being half way through Section 4.  So I fudged Section 4 to makeup the problem and I don't think anyone would notice.  I was not going to confess my miscounting however it happened again on Section 5, the red stripe is 1 thread off so it makes the pale yellow background not come out right.  I had already stitched Sections 6 and 7 before doing 5.  In order to be satisfied with this project I have to rip out all of Sections 5, 4 and 3.  So I have not wrapped my head around doing this so I am putting this project aside and moving on to a new project.  When my frame of mind is better and I have embraced ripping so much out I will continue on.

The next project is Color Delights - Mint by Kathy Rees of Needle Delights Originals.  I have stitched 13 or 14 Color Delights so far as well as several Double Delights.  What I like about the Color Delights is the finished design is 4" X 4", has interesting colors, is quick to stitch and Kathy chooses interesting threads that I would not select myself.  Kathy has opened my eyes and mind to using different threads and seeing the different textures and how light plays off the stitches.  Did I mention that Kathy is a genius when it comes to creating interesting designs and keeping the stitcher engaged.

 

Mint uses 1 Caron Watercolours, 1 Caron Waterlillies, 1 Threadworx overdyed Silk, 2 cotton flosses and 1 Rainbow Gallery Splendor.  As I wrote this I just realized this is the first Color Delight that I am going to stitch that does not have a metallic or sparkle element to it.  My phone just does not capture some colors very well.  The threads appear washed out but they really aren't and the colors are very nice.

Finished!!!.....The stitching is all done, the canvas cut apart and mounted in the shadowbox.  The design I took all the inspiration and designs from is Earth from the Elements series.  The Elements series is designed by Kathy Rees of Needle Delights for Tomorrow's Heirlooms counted canvas club.

Here are all the design elements I stitched. 

 

Here I have remove the canvas from the stretcher bar and cut the canvas apart.

 

 

I have cut mat board for each design element and getting ready for the hot glue.  Ok the hot glue is absolutely no fun and my fingers are raw from that experience. 

 

Once all the design elements were mounted on mat board I arranged them and adhered them in place. 

 

This photo shows the pieces mounted and adhered and I was trying to show the different depths of the pieces.  Not sure I really captured it successfully.

 

 

This photo has the background attached to the shadowbox, the glare from the glass is a real problem when trying to get a decent photo. 

 

 

 

The end result it really about what I wanted it is just difficult to show in a photo all the different heights of the individual pieces.

 

 

What's next?  How about Tangerine Twist from my favorite designer Kathy Rees.  I went to my local needlepoint shop, Needle Nook of La Jolla, and pulled all the threads for the design.

 

Almost done stitching.......Or I should say hopefully I am almost done stitching the design elements for the shadowbox design.  I think the green rectangle is the last piece before cutting the canvas apart and mounting the individual design elements on board.  My plan is to overlap some of them and have some raised more off the background than others to give a 3-D effect.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained so if this does not come out as I see it in my mind at least I tried.

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.



 

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.