Christmas Flowers Progress

I have been having so much fun with this canvas. Finished the stitching on the "flowers" (all but the much needed tweaking and the stems) and am so tempted to break a Cardinal rule by attaching the button stacks to the centers pronto... before the whole thing is stitched....but alas I have resisted so far.

But I was anxious to see how the background shading would turn out. The stitch is listed as Mindy's Background Stitch and I just love it. It adds so much to a canvas including texture and interest and is fast moving. Another good thing about using this stitch,  particularly when there are so many breaks in the background area,  is that it's rhythmical enough so you can easily refer to what you've already stitched instead of having to go back and forth to a chart when you're jumping around the canvas.

Background threads used: Gloriana silk in Halloween Green, Needlepoint, INC silk in Acid Green Range and RG Splendor . These threads stitch like a dream. Also worth a mention is the green used in the black and green circle, Planet Earth's Silk. I have been wanting to use this thread ever since one of every color was purchased by DD as part of my Mother's Day spree. The sheen on this silk is beautiful.

I'm trying my hand at needleblending on the background too. I'm not sure if it can be technically called needleblending if you only use two strands. My understanding of needleblending is to use at least three plies so you can effectively blend, but two seems to be working here, at least to my satisfaction.  - I've only used two strands because the openness adds to the texture and also because the canvas is so beautifully painted it actually enhances the shading gradation. 

I did needleblend using three plies when stitching the center circle of the black and green "flower." But instead of following what I've done, I would like to refer you to Anne Stradal's blog for a tutorial and more information about needleblending. Anne is a master at this technique and she knows all the nuances, ins and outs and is a wonderful teacher.

Once I finish the upper background and stems, I'll move down to the stripey/polka dot areas. Maybe try out DMC's Memory Thread somewhere. Thank you for stopping by today, I'm always glad you're here with me.