Gilding the Lily?

 Since finding this stitched canvas in an antique mall during my summer travels, many brainstorms developed as to what I could do to bring it up to date a little. The hard part (all basketweave) was completed by the hand of an anonymous kindred spirit, leaving me to think of a way to spiff it up a bit by adding a little sparkle and personality. To what level one takes the embellishment is, of course, a matter of personal taste. Trying my hand once again with beads I thought that would be a good place to start. To say I am not a skilled beader would be an understatement as I have no idea all the options, tools and procedures associated in today's beading world. The most I could figure out for the small flowers was to put several beads on the thread, lay it on the the flower shape and tack it down. This saved time and allowed an easy way to cover up some of the uneven edges of the petals. Camouflage is my friend! Along with the seed beads I used a little Crystal Braid in pink to brighten the flowers, yellow Floche was also used (mostly because I love the sheen it exhibits on the skein) and then #16 Kreinik braid couched with extra fine braid for the curly stems. I left the leaves alone even though IMHO they could have used something, I didn't want to change the integrity of the entire canvas.

Also left the Spaniel alone for the most part only adding dog bone earbows. I did brush the pup's body with one of those funky looking tools made for the purpose of fluffing up fur. I was sooooo tempted to do something to her face, but decided not to get involved.

I have the materials for finishing this piece into the pillow myself; figured I'd gone this far futzing around with it I may as well go all the way. This has been a fun process and I encourage you to try your hand at this type of canvas embellishment. It's fun and a great way to celebrate your creativity.

Thank you for visiting today, as always the pleasure is totally mine!

Here is St. Basil's Mini Sock

This is a case of finishing gone wrong. Now I'm the first person to be empathetic to the risk and difficulty that comes along with finishing needlework. I enjoy my attempts at it and am gentle with myself, taking into consideration that I am self trained. My turn around time (quick) and labor cost (free) are often the driving factors when doing my own finishing work. What was that old adage, penny wise and pound foolish? I admit it, I've been there a few times.

On your left is my St. Basil's mini sock that I stitched last year; a glorious canvas designed by Shelly Tribbey. I enjoyed working on it using a variety of stitches and threads, and the tassel was great fun to create. I didn't have a stitch guide but managed because of the intricity of the painted design. Thank you Ms. Tribbey.

After completing the stitching in July, I decided to send St. Basil off to be finished into it's final form; not as a stocking, but rather as a front design on a box pillow. There was to be a variety of fabrics contrasting in color, texture and pattern, cording, a shirred gusset, tassels and the stocking was to be positioned slightly tilted clockwise with a tassel hanging from the upper left corner. I basically wanted a whimsical feel not unlike the color and pattern variations characteristic of Mackenzie Childs http://www.mackenzie-childs.com/. Between my suggestions and website examples of their work, I felt confident. Often times in life we don't always get what we expect and this was the case here.

So now over a year later, with the pillow hidden from view, I am debating whether I am up for another finishing job or just send it off to the finisher I currently use and am satisfied with. I'm not worried about it being finished for this holiday season, but more afraid that it is beyond my skill level. I toyed with leaving the sock on this pillow and try to embellish it with tassels, added cord, etc. Any recommendations out there?

EMPEROR'S GARDEN

designed by Josephine Payne. Do you remember her? She hosted a series on public television out of the University of Georgia back in the mid 90's. I was very impressed with her style and invested in her books, video, and pamphlets. Her specialty at the time was bargello, but not your everyday bargello.

Emperor's Garden is considered a 4-way pattern and is one of the most involved designs I've seen including the 12-sided center medallion. I must have been better at counting back then because I don't know that I would tackle this project today.

It was done with Persian yarn on 12 mesh bargello canvas (at least that's what they called it back then and I think it's still available today). I remember it was brown and very rough. Two strands of wool were required for adequate coverage. This particular pattern called for using 5 shades of one color family which was restrictive as not many wools have a dark, medium dark, medium, medium light, and light range in many colors. Obviously green was one of the Paternayan wools with the necessary variation.

What is so fascinating to me about bargello is that, in the case of 4-way, your chart shows only one quadrant of the whole pattern which is repeated four times making it much simpler to execute than the finished piece looks.

I finished this into a pillow complete with mustache fringe. I am proud to show it off on my blog as it has loyally adorned a wing chair in the guest bedroom for all these years.

Finished!

Cozy Toes #7 is complete and ready for finishing. I am happy to report that I did not stab myself during the beading process; encouraging. Going on to #4 next.

Last night I attended my ANG Chapter meeting. The program was a witchy Halloween canvas by Mile High Princess, complete with custom stitch guide created for ANG by Mary Lou Kidder of Diversions. Julie Storick taught the 16+ patterned stitches for this piece intended to be finished as a box. It is a darling project and I regret not participating. Suffice to say we cannot do everything we desire to in this life and that includes stitching projects.

The Chapter has a Show & Tell segment each month which is one of my favorite aspects of any meeting as I am always inspired by the work of others. Some Chapters have one meeting annually devoted to Show and Tell, I like monthly better.

I showed a piece designed by Leigh. Didn't come with a stitch guide but since the piece was small it wasn't too bad deciding which stitch to put where. The eyelashes were created by looping Kreinik cord in and out of the upper half of the eyelid, then snipping the loops and unraveling the plys. It was fun, stitching was completed earlier this year. As it was lying around waiting to be sent off to the finisher when I decided to take matters into my own hand and actually made it into a pillow.

It was fun putting it together although I do not recommend using the fringe used around the perimeter, it tangles, gets caught on everything and slowed the whole process down.

About finishing. I have done my share and most of the time I am disappointed. I certainly appreciate the labor involved and actually do believe the expense can be worth it. I have had my finishing disappointments even at reputable places, so I am never sure which route to take when it comes to finishing. Framing, I have no expertise or knowledge so I always farm that out. I am still contemplating finishing a kimono myself. The fabric is purchased but I haven't found any instructions on finishing these. Mine is the 10x12" version and is to be hung on a stand instead of framing. I am looking for suggestions, advice or recommendations. Thanks for stopping by today, hope you're stitching something new!