Illusions & Menagerie FRAMED

I finally had a couple of things framed.

 

Here is Illusions by Ro Pace.  This turned out better than I expected.  We had the mats & frame all picked out and then they told me the cost.  Whew!  Back to the drawing board & picked a simple ordinary mat, but with the same frame.  Done.  I picked it up yesterday and I think it looks great!  This piece will go in our guest room with all the other "blue" things.

And here is Menagerie.

This was CyberPointers' year long project for 2012.

I'm only a little behind (ahem!).

This technique sampler was fun to figure out & stitch, but I'm not sure I really like it.  I think my colors are too much the same value and the background overwhelms.

Oh well, we learn by doing, they say!

Menagerie, Finished

Menagerie is finished!  It only took me a year & a half to do this year long project...  Of course, there were some pretty long stretches when I didn't work on it at all.  It is finally finished and I'm quite happy with it. 
It is somewhat of a departure for me.  I'm not completely thrilled with the shaded blackwork background, but it does set off the "blocks", which is what I wanted.  I also backstitched around each block with #4 Kreinik.
One of these days I might even have it framed!

Menagerie, Progress #3



I've got a good start on the background and a border for Menagerie.  The background is shaded blackwork, working from light in the corner to dark at the center, the thread is an overdyed silk and I'm using just 1 strand.  (The squiggly lines in the upper right are my shading guidelines & will come out.)  The border is a Crossed Scotch variation in Watercolours and FyreWerks.  I'm lucky that the stitch just fits!

Menagerie Update #2

Menagerie is done except for the large amount of background.  And I may need to add a border.  The photo is dark on purpose so you can see the sections better.  The canvas is actually Eggshell. 

I only worked 16 of the suggested 19 blocks plus background, which will be the 17th "block". 

I chose not to do Whitework, Redwork, Couching or Beading. 

But I added Assisi work (the years 2012 & 2013, lower right), a plaid, and a Darning Pattern. 

The background will be shaded Blackwork.  I think it will go fairly quickly once I figure out what to do!.

 

Menagerie update

It has been almost a year since I have posted about Menagerie.  Or worked on it!  Menagerie is last year's year-long project for Cyberpointers. 
I brought it with me to Reno and have actually completed one section.
This is the second Rhodes stitch section and I decided it would be fun to try to do my name in Rhodes stitch variations.  I spent a couple of days with computer and graph paper, and finally came up with a design.  It turned out OK!  I used 2 shades of Splendor and one overdyed Waterlilies.  I don't know if I will fill in the background or not.  I'll decide later.  Most of my sections have a border, but I could just fill it with whatever I do for the overall background.  Here's the whole thing so far.  Again, sorry for the poor photos, I just have my phone with me.

 


Menagerie Block 8

At last!  Another section of Menagerie complete.  This one is Diaper Patterns which are not exactly my favorite things.  But with the help of Ann Strite-Kurz's book and Margaret Bendig's article in a 2008 Needlepoint News, I finally figured out several patterns.  Some are adapted and some are exactly theirs from the wonderful patterns from those two ladies. 
Bargello will be up next.  I am holding off on the blackwork, redwork and whitework as they will be my background.

Here is the whole thing to date:

Menagerie Blocks 5 & 6

ANG's Cyberpointers Chapter project, Menagerie, has two more blocks!  Block 5 is Box stitches.  I decided to just use a few and put them in one of my small (24x24 threads) blocks.  I used the Watercolours 001 for the Cushion Stitch border, with the Scotch stitches in my 3 shades of Splendor.  Then I did the center Alternating Scotch stitches in Neon Rays +.  I filled the rest with Cashmeres in the 001 Wildflowers.  I had to turn some of them sideways to make it all fit.

Block 6 is Diagonal patterns. I decided I needed to block this out on graph paper first & as soon as I started with the 2nd pattern, I saw that it wanted to be kind of a woven ribbons thing.  I used the same threads as for Block 5, except I switched the Neon Rays + to FyreWerks.  I did the background of this block with the Wildflowers in Nobuko stitch and I really like the way it turned out.  I had forgotten what a great background stitch Nobuko is! 

The picture below shows the whole thing so far.  After I finished Block 6 I realized that I will want to add some background to the Hilton Block, but I'll wait till later to do that.

Menagerie, Blocks 3 & 4

Earlier this week I completed Blocks 3 & 4 of Menagerie.  This is Block 3, Eyelets.  I had fun with this one.  I did not want it to be right at the top or bottom, so I located it kind of in the middle on one side (see Whole Thing photo below).  I used the Wildflowers overdye (#001) and Splendor #S961. 

I worked the Algerian Eye border first and experimented with the sequence of stitching.  I found that the one that seemed smoothest to me was where I worked the 4 straight stitches first, and then the 4 slanted stitches

Next I worked the Round Eyelet, increasing the size a little.

Finally I worked the "irregular" eyelets.  I like the look of the overdye on these.    There are 2 almost regular rectangles.  When stitching the irregular ones, I found it best to skip a few holes to prevent it from being too heavy.

Next up, Block 4, Tied/Crossed Stitches.  I am amazed at how much you can pack into a 24x24 thread square!
First I did the corners in a Sprat's Head, using Splendor #S945.  The instructions had this stitch with the long side at the bottom.  Since I wanted a "corner", I went to the internet and found ANG's version which was just right, although mine is smaller.  The Splendor gives it a lovely sheen.
Next I decided to use a Rice stitch in one quadrant and a Double Leviathan in the opposite quadrant.  For these I used the Wildflowers #001 & tied them with #8 Kreinik #013.
For the center I used a Tied Windmill with the same threads.  I wanted to use a couple of the "spot" stitches for the other 2 quadrants & settled on the Squared Herringbone and the Herringbone Leaf, neither of which I had done before.  For these I used Splendor #S926 with just a touch of the Kreinik.  Finally I kinda filled in the "empty" areas with Smyrna Crosses in the Wildflowers. 

Here is what the whole thing looks like now:

And I am caught up with another project!

Menagerie, Blocks 1 & 2

Menagerie is the new Mystery Project by Karen Anthony through ANG's Cyberpointers chapter.  We are periodically given stitch types to explore & create a sampler.  We were given several designs to use, but I decided I only wanted to do 18 of the stitch types, so created my own design.  You can see the basted outline of my overall design in the photo to the right.  (You'll probably have to click on it to make it big in order to see the outlines.)

I have completed Block 1 (Hilton Stitches) and Block 2 (Rhodes Stitches).  I had a LOT of trouble working out the Hilton block.  I just couldn't figure out an arrangement I liked.  Finally, I used my Mad Miters (see below) technique to break up the block in an unusual way and used that to place the different stitches.  It worked!  Then I filled in a lot of the blank space with the Hilton Stitches called Theresicas, which is
kind of a pinwheel.  I haven't decided yet if I will fill in the background somehow.  I'll wait to decide that later.

Block #2 is Rhodes Stitches.  I only used 2 because I have done many Rhodes stitches over the years, beginning back in the 70s when I first discovered Mary Rhodes' books!  The picture to the right is a detail of the first 2 blocks.

I will decide later if I"m going to add an outer border, or inner borders.

Addendum:  The Mad Miters technique is part of the Mad Miters Bargello class that I will be teaching through ANGs Cyberpointers in a few months.  Registration for that class opens April 1.  The class is Bargello, but the layout technique can be used for many things.  Click the link above for information about the class.