Houndstooth

This is one of my rare forays into painted canvas. It's really hard!  But she perseveres!  I don't know the artist, but it is Houndstooth Tablet Case from Dream House Ventures.

It's about half done. It's hard to see, but there's a lot of metallics and most of the black is Pearl cotton. Too much black uurrggg. 
Anyway, the 2 areas marked (upper left and right corners) have me stumped. Does anyone have any ideas about a stitch or stitches to use?
The yellow with gray circles I plan to do with nested Jessica's. The black wedge I want to try to use waffles, with lots of compensation. 

When Memories Fade

This is what I've been working on lately.  When Memories Fade from Sundance,

stitch guide by Brenda Hart.
The background, in Woven stitch, is slow going. I have changed the colors quite a bit and have not followed the stitch guide very much.
I still don't know what I'll do with that pot. It won't be gray that's for sure. Her hair will be last as I will use Very Velvet. I'm thinking about adding a braid of some sort.
Anyway, this painted canvas has been in my drawer for several years and I'm feeling righteous to get it out and finish it!

Marta Mask, FINISHED

Those of you that have been visiting this blog for a lonnnng time, may remember the Marta Mask (a Leigh design).  The last time I posted about it was in 2014!!

Well it is finally finished!  I didn't work on it at all for at least a year, then only a few times last year.  It was the beads.  I don't really like to do beads, but this canvas demanded them.  Lots of them.  Sigh.

But it is finally finished and it looks pretty good, for a non-painted canvas person.

It isn't a great picture.  The camera just doesn't do well with beads and metallic threads.  Plus it is on black sparkle canvas.  Hopefully I can get a better picture once it is framed with black behind it!

Horse with hat

 I found this painted canvas (with stitch guide) nearly two years ago and intended to stitch it for a friend of mine who rides horses and makes her own hats!  Well, 2 years later, I'm actually working on it.
Horsie is actually finished (see photo on the right), and my friend has it now deciding on the fabric to finish it so that it will go on a purse.  Once she picks the fabric, we will decide on a background and I will stitch the background.

This is a Pajamas & Chocolate design.  The pic below is of the cover of the stitch guide.  I did not use the stitch guide at all!  I changed the horse to look like my friend's horse and adjusted the shape some, changed the bridle, moved the eye, changed the nose& mouth area, and changed the colors of the hat to be my friend's colors.  

We have now whited out the "feathers" and the reins.  The reins were in the wrong place for the new bridle and real feathers won't work on a purse!  I tried stitching the feather shapes and didn't like it.  Stay tuned!

Purrfect Spring Finished

Purrfect Spring is finished.  The final pieces were the top part of the wall and the window sill.  I'm glad to have this done.  I don't know what I'll do with it, but for now it will just go in the Finished pile.
Now I have 2 months to decide if I want to do the Stitching Games again next year!  I'm leaning towards NOT.  While it is a good way to get something done, I don't really like having to jump around stitching from the clues.  I prefer a more orderly style.

Marbled Circle Finished

Good, the Marbled Circle is finished.  It was kinda fun to stitch, although I got bored with it at the end.  Partly because I just find painted canvases tedious to stitch.  Anyway, I don't know what I'll do with it.  It needs to be blocked, but I'll just file it in the finished file for now.  

Purrfect Spring, August

August's stitching for Purrfect Spring only took me 2 stitching sessions.  For the Slanted Gobelin window pane dividers.  Used #3 perle cotton.  
I really need a good clue next month to do gray kitty!

Marbled Circle, Progress Report

Here's a progress report on this odd little canvas.  This is an actual photo, better than the scan.  Now that I can work on harder stuff, this project has become "that which I work on when I'm tired of everything else!"

Purrfect Spring, July

The Stitcherie challenge for July is finished.  Got a lot done this month as they used a new type of clue, which had an option of being 3 clues!  I took that option and completed the wall beneath the cats and the multicolored cat.  Cat is all Very Velvet and the wall is Sleepy Oblong Cross (I think, something like that) in Rennaisance Designs Plain & Fancy, which is a thread I will NOT use again - it is polyester, but it came with the canvas and there was lots of it.  Lesson learned.

Marbled Circle

About a month ago, I had cataract surgery and after a few days I decided I HAD to stitch even though my vision wasn't very good!  So I looked for something in my stash that would be "easy" as I didn't want to work on any of my "important" projects.  

This painted canvas marbled circle I bought in Australia, so it has to have been in my stash 4-5 years.  The label says it is "Individual Marbled Canvas by Alison Snepp and Karma Bains and I bought it at Mosman Needlecraft in Mosman, which is a suburb of Sydney.  I think it is painted, but it could be printed, I can't tell for sure.

First I realized it was on interlock canvas - which I hate!  Then I noticed that the circle wasn't really round, which is one of my pet peeves, so I counted it out and basted a more accurate circle.  There is no such thing as a perfect circle in needlepoint (or cross stitch), but it must at least be symmetrical for me to be able to stand it!  

Since it is interlock canvas (18-count), I decided I'd better stick with floss as just about anything else would be too heavy for the lightweight canvas.  So I'm using almost all overdyed cotton flosses from my stash.  I did have to use some regular DMC floss cause I ran out of the rust overdye and I refuse to buy anything for this canvas.  I am also putting in a little bit of Kreinik metallic to spark it up a bit,  also from stash.

Sorry about the quality of the photo.  It is just a scan and my scanner doesn't really like it when the canvas is on a frame - it just won't sit flat enough so it comes out a bit blurry around the edges.  I am fairly pleased with the piece though.  I only hope I don't find too many missing stitches once I can see again.  I get my new glasses in a week or so.  Hurray!

Purrfect Spring, May & June

Purrfect Spring got lots of stitching for May & June.  
For May I stitched all of the sky - acres of basketweave in wool..  
For June I did the flowers & grass outside the window.  The flowers are little French knots in pearl cotton and the grass is my version of a slanted, encroaching gobelin with just 2 strands of floss in 2 colors of green. 
Now I have to hope for clues that I can make work for the window frame, the other 2 cats and the ledge & wall they are sitting on.
What are these cats looking at anyway?!.  If they're anything like my cats, they once saw a bird or squirrel out there and are hopeful forevermore.

Purrfect Spring, April

The clue for the April Stitching Games was 3.  Well, that's easy since the birdhouses have triangles for roofs.  So I stitched the birdhouses.  I will have to white out the part of the string that makes it look like the birdhouses don't know if they are inside or outside!  I think they are outside. 

Now I'm down to larger areas though, so I hope for clues I can work with!  The rest of the year each month will take longer to stitch!

Purrfect Spring, March

I have stitched the March part of the Stitcherie challenge.  The kitty on the far right was painted kind of a pink or mauve.  Well, I don't know about you, but I've never seen a pink cat, even on my worst day!  Seemed odd since the other cats are all "real" colors.  Anyway, I made it a "ginger" cat instead, using 2 colors of Watercolours and a Diagonal Victorian Step stitch.  He looks much better in this color!

Purrfect Spring

This is a painted canvas (OMG! ) called Purrfect Spring by Dee Ross.  I purchased the canvas several years ago from one of the destash sites.  It came with lots of threads too!

Last month I decided to use this canvas to participate in Stitcherie's 2015 Stitching Games.
For January, I did the green leaves at the top in #5 pearl cotton.  
For February, I stitched the brown kitty.  There wasn't any thread in the bag that came with that seemed right, so I used some Appleton tapestry wool from stash.  Awful stuff!  I would never use it for anything but animal fur - it is very coarse and inconsistent in thickness, and a bit hairy, but it did brush up nice which doesn't show in the photo.  That said, it is very old and newer Appleton may be better, I don't know.

Progress to date:

P.S.  Did you notice I finally got the new picture up for my header?!!  Now that I know how to do it, maybe I can change it with the seasons.  

Marta Mask, Progress #8

The Marta Mask (Leigh Designs) is moving right along now.  I have completed another "set" of areas.
The largest of these are below the "feathers" and have open areas of canvas showing through.  There is also some of this at the top of her head.
I used Smyrna crosses in Kreinik #12 braid and an overdyed silk for the Diagonal Mosaic.

Marta Mask, Progress #7

DH was out of town for a week and I made significant progress on the Marta Mask.  
The striped outlines set me back for a long time, but once I figured out how I wanted to do them, it went pretty quick.  So they are all done and the light "feathers" are also done.   I used  "Katie's Cross" from Suzy's Stitches, in 4 shades of gray #8 pearl cotton and 2 shades of light gray Neon Rays Plus.
Next up will be the area below the feathers.  I think I'm going to do that in Smyrna crosses and Mosaic.

Halloween Cat, Finished

The little Halloween Cat is finished.  She goes to the finisher this weekend.  She will be finished as a stand up, with an easel back.
This was an easy little canvas to stitch and was nicely painted.  No globs of paint filling up the holes or making the canvas threads thick!  This is an Amanda Lawford canvas.


Halloween Cat

We're going to be in Reno for several weeks.  Although I have
packed a ton of projects to work on (all WIPs), I decided to get this Halloween kitty ready to go.  It is a painted canvas!  (Are you fainting?  Fan yourself, it will pass!)  It is quite small and I want to get it done for a young friend who is going away to college in the fall. I think it will make a cute standup.  Here are the threads I have picked so far.  I will use a dark blue Neon Rays + for the sky, but I'll have to get it in Reno as I am out of it.  Most of the little details will be in floss & I have a big stash of that up there.  This will be fun & I am looking forward to enjoying the cooler weather!

 

Marta Mask, Progress #5

Last weekend I went to a stitching retreat and I took the Marta Mask by Leigh Designs along to finally work on it again.  The week before, I experimented with stitchs & beads for the "cap" on the top of her head.
I decided to Basketweave the whole cap & then over-stitch it with a metallic in a very bright, shiny silver.  I used a 4-way Continental over 2.  It took forever and it isn't as "in your face" as I had hoped.  I am almost finished with the beads over the eyes (that's what the black thread is about).  So far, all of the beads are a silver lined clear, but they look bright silver.
I think I'll have to stitch over the black above the beads, if I can, with a gray to match the face. 
Then I will put it away again for a bit while I figure out what to do for the next section, which will be the "feathers" with the squiggly lines in them.  They won't be squiggly lines for sure, as they need to have diamond shapes to somewhat mimic the cap.  I have several stitches in mind that I want to try.

Marta Mask Progress #4

DH was gone this past weekend, so out came Marta.  This mask is a painted canvas and, for me, requires totally uninterrupted stitching time!

I completed the ribbon, which took about 4 hours.  It's amazing how long it can take to stitch a relatively small area!  Of course, some of that time was taken up deciding what stitch to use.  After being unsuccessful with Slanted Gobelin, the edges were just too jagged, I ended up using a simple Mosaic stitch.  With Mosaic, it is easy to adjust to the shape.  I used two silk threads and needle blended to go from the lightest to the darkest.  There isn't much variation, so that worked very well.