Aloha All,
The month of June flew by and with it, two classes that I took through Bedecked & Beadazzled.
First came Transformation, by a Kimberly Designs, followed closely by a Mary Legallet of Whimsical Stitch class. Everyone chose a Terry Runyan canvas that had Stitch Concepts written by Mary. Terry Runyan is an artist distributed by Maggie & Co. Both classes were hosted by Ruth Schmuff of Bedecked & Beadazzled via Zoom. What can I say, so much fun!
Of course there was also The Sirens mermaid mystery class in between. Just a few canvases on stretcher bars at the moment! June was a fun class month. July is shaping up to be another fun month. This weekend is Zoombellishment with Ruth! Woo Hoo! Classes are my social and learning outlet. Since I am home bound at the moment, I really look forward to these Zoom classes.
Let’s get started with today’s stitch which is a follow up from my last blog post and is Little Wavy Variation 2. Then we can talk about fun classes.
Stitches:
Little Wavy Variation 2
- This variation would look great for on a canvas that requires water with a current, or a river that needs movement. I will also show how it would work as a possible trail or walkway.
- This sample was stitched using one strand of Petite Silk Lame on 18 ct. The next photo shows how the stitch came to life.
- I start with a stitch idea, then trial different threads and stitch sequences until I come up with what I like.
- You can adapt any stitch to meet your own needs this way.
- The very top three rows were stitched using one strand of Gloriana Princess Perle.
- Rows 4 -7 were stitched using two plies of Gloriana Silk.
- I then started using Petite Silk Lamé for the remainder of the stitch sample.
- I cropped the sample to show how I see a possible pathway using the stitch as charted.
- It would allow the shading in your canvas to show. I would trial using one thread color.
- I am a visual person and this is how I see possible ways to use a stitch. We are all different and you may not see a path here.
Enjoy the stitch and use it to meet your own needs.
Diagonal Oblong Cross
This is a stitch that I charted several years ago. It was brought to my attention recently when Mari, one of blogs long time followers, emailed me a photo of how she altered the stitch to use for a background.
- I charted the version that Mari stitched to show how easily you can alter a stitch to fit your needs.
- Mari’s background stitch, Diagonal Oblong Cross Rotated.
- This was not an easy background stitch but it worked beautifully.
Thank you Mari for allowing me to show your lovely stitching.
If you would like to show how you used one of the stitches posted on blog, please send me an email or comment. I would love to have more samples for Readers Showcase.
Classes:
Transformation Project Class
Transformation with Kimberly was a fabulous project class.
Based on the three dimensional wings of the Dragonfly, I thought Transformation was going to be a very challenging piece. I was astounded when I found out how the wings were stitched. My mind had gone through several different stump work techniques and the ease of the wing creation made me actually say, “that’s it”!. I was really flabbergasted!
Don’t think it is not a challenge. There are many different techniques taught in this canvas, so lots to learn. For me, seeing how dimensional the dragonfly wings were had made me think it would be really hard. Honestly, I thought you would have to use wire and buttonhole stitch to make the wings. Thankfully this is not the case. Cutting wings from Kreinik Copper mesh makes the wings much easier.
This stitch guide is so well written with step by step photograph instructions, I know you could stitch it at home. It is more fun being in class and watching Kimberly demonstrate the different techniques. But in a pinch, you could stitch this following the guide.
Kimberly walked us through needle weaving, chipped gold work , bullion’s, Japanese ribbon stitch, to name a few of the demonstrations. At the end of the guide you are then shown how you can finish your piece in a Shadow Box.
I do recommend taking this class or buying the kit. You will learn a lot and definitely not get bored. It is not a huge, 8 x 8 on 18ct, definitely small enough to complete. It may take me a while to finish, since I do keep taking classes, but it is in my current stitching rotation.
Thanks Kimberly for a terrific class!
Embellishment with Mary Legallet
Mary Legallet of Whimsical Stitch taught the next class I took in June.
This class was all about artist Terry Runyan’s cats and dogs, distributed by Maggie & Co. You were able to choose which canvas you wanted to stitch from a list of canvases that Mary had written Stitch Concepts for.
I chose Cat on Back, which will be a lot of fun to stitch. I know that at least three other people were also stitching this canvas. Mary is stitching Stepping Out, another fun design that captured a few people.
Cat on Back is a great stitch guide and I am looking forward to stitching this canvas. I did not stitch much in class, but did start on the basketweave for the cats head. This was more socializing and meeting Mary for me since I had never taken one of her classes before.
Of course like Kimberly’s class Mary demonstrated a few different techniques and answered everyone’s questions. In class if there is a stitch you want to change you have the opportunity to do so with Mary’s help.
Thanks Mary, I really enjoyed meeting you and being in your class!
Kitty Tales:
The furry children are all doing well but have taken to blocking my robotic vacuum (robo). If the girls are awake they will stare down robo and get in the path which makes robo go around them. This week robo notified me there were too many obstacles and went back to the dock! Yes, the girls were wreaking havoc and I had to start robo once they were all sleeping. They had been walking in front of robo to stop it from vacuuming. They must like seeing their hair on the wood floor!
Stimpy has recently started avoiding me when I have my camera out. She refuses to look at me!
Well folks that’s all for today. In my next post there will be a shop tour since we went to Pittsburgh for a few days in June. Of course I found a needlpoint store called Beehive NeedleArts that I had to go and visit. It is a lovely store with great threads and canvases. I now have quite a few photos to edit and post for you to see.
So stay tuned for the shop tour and my Zoombellishment class! Take a few minutes to stitch when you can. Have a great weekend.
Sheena
