Back From the Framer

Gossipy Geisha Kitties designed by Patt and Lee Designs
This was a very fun canvas to stitch. The original design depicted both kitties with white fur; I contemplated changing the fur color and ultimately decided to go with tabby colors. After living with the change for a month or so I stayed with the change.
The canvas was painted on interlock canvas, a departure from the mono canvas I was used to, and the differences though slight are not visible in the finished piece. After all was said and done, I would use interlock canvas again to keep costs down, but prefer to stitch with the more flexible mono canvas if given the choice.

A triple mat and black frame were selected but a less visible fourth "under mat" was used as a background, adding color to the areas of the canvas that were not filled with stitches. This subtle use of color changes the overall look of the stitched design, i.e. yellow was used in this case, if white would have been used the look would have been noticeably brighter.

As promised

I'm including a photo of my progress on my gossiping geisha. I never know if I should put an "s" on the end of geisha to indicate more than one. Sidebar: Think it's a carry over from my days living in the South where most, if not all would typically omit the "s" as in your change is 35 cent! Drove me crazy. Put the "s" on there already.
Anyway I've decided to use various Oriental Diaper Patterns for the kitties kimonos. I felt it was a lost opportunity not to utilize these wonderful stitches on my previous two Asian pieces and hope to make up for it here. Beginning with The Ming Stitch taken from "Father B's Book of Stitches," first I outlined with DMC Perle Coton and then filled with 4 strands of overdyed floss. Deciding against basketweave and instead using continental or tent stitch to fill in each individual "medallion." It seems to work better that way allowing more pattern control of the overydye. Dr. Bob recommends the fill be either one color and texture or if more than one color is desired, to use 4 different colors to fill in a contrasting outline. I chose the overdye with a contrasting outline.

In a previous post I mentioned that the canvas was painted on interlock instead of mono. I was warned that interlock can be a little rough on threads. So far the overdye is working beautifully, but the Perle Coton needs to be a shorter length as it seems to easily fray. So shorter strands is the key here. In addition, I did think the interlock was more difficult to put on stretchers as it has no give whatsoever. I am using Evertite's so once the canvas was attached it was easy enough to tighten to satisfactory taughtness. Other than that I haven't come across any other issues using the interlock, but will keep you posted. Thanks for stopping by today.

Holidaytime surely.....

....separates the men from the boys. I don't know how my fellow blogmeister's do it. Keeping up with their blogs and preparing for all the trappings of the holidays; I didn't have time to read blogs, let alone post on my own. In fact I haven't been stitching either. I miss the blogs I follow and I am really missing stitching. But thanks to a wonderful friend reminding me that I had neglected my blog long enough and that Christmas was over with already, strongly suggesting "that was then, this is now!" and to get to gettin'! I'm finally back in the groove. Thank you Gloria!

See what I won on eBay. I let the first canvas listing get away from me and then the designer, Patt of Patt and Lee Designs, offered it again; this time on Interlock canvas instead of Deluxe Mono at a much reduced price. I hadn't planned on buying any more painted canvases for '09, but Jane of Chilly Hollow fame posted the eBay listing on her blog, which apparently is my hypnotic cue to check it out, I spied it and voila...MINE! Ya know, I've always heard she is the queen mother of enabler's and I do believe it to be true. Don't know what I'd do without all her good tips on what's available and where! Thank you Jane.

I am very anxious to get 2 Geisha Cats kitted up and placed on the queue. Not sure where it will land, but it's in for 2009. I don't think I've stitched on painted Interlock canvas before, it's definitely different from Deluxe Mono and the actual painting on the design seems much lighter. This is because the actual canvas threads are much thinner on Interlock, as explained by the artist. I'll give it a try and keep you posted on how it works up. I'm not sure if there will be any noticeable difference on the finished work, I hope not, or if I will choose my thread palette differently. These things will become apparent as I stitch, I'm sure. If any of you have any suggestions or experience with this I am most anxious to hear from you.

Currently I have 3 small projects I'm working on completing. One is a beautiful white on white biscornu and matching scissor fob created and taught by Janice Wood at my local ANG chapter. It's on linen, let's see where are my 5X magnifiers? The picture is of her finished piece, my in progress piece amounts to a needle on my needle minder ready and waiting. Then as a Holiday surprise, again by our local Chapter, we were presented with an ornament project designed by Caela Conn Tyler (scanned photo of her finished ornie at right). It's so delightful and is working up quickly. There is a hidden message in the design too! Thank you Caela and Mile High Chapter, ANG. Oh, and the third project from the Sept '06 issue of NeedlepointNow magazine. This very charming ornament, created by Pat Mazu, is quick and would already be finished had I not put it down to "do" Christmas!
Dare I say one of my New Year's resolutions is promising not to have a hick-up in my blogging; to plan ahead for such delays and always have something readable to publish. There, I've said it. Thank you to my readers for being patient with me, I will do my best to earn back your valuable time. Happy New Year everyone!