Canvas(es) for Sharon G. class
When I first heard that Sharon G. would be visiting our ANG chapter, I immediately thought of a canvas I purchased at Threadneedle Street outside of Seattle. One of the major things I noticed when driving to the shop were that the trees on the hills were so very different from our woodlands in New York state. 
This canvas is designed by Mindy, and though it was September, not winter, when I purchased it, I knew the evergreens in the piece would remind me of Seattle.
Anyway, I know that since this is an abstract, I have a lot of leeway in how it's stitched, but I don't know how to start. I thought about square Rhodes stitches in the border, but what about those squares that are partially one color and partially another? Variegated threads? What about the trees - just tent stitch, or should I stitch the background over the tree painting, and then add long stitches in for the trees? I could probably find stitches enough for the larger hillside areas, but I'm open to suggestions!
So, I was all set to bring the Mindy canvas to the Sharon G class, but then my LNS owner decided to bring some of Sharon's designs in. I could resist just seeing it on the internet, but in person, Tuscan Spring called to me. 
I was in Tuscany last May, and this canvas brings the countryside back so vividly! (Although I can't figure out what the purple puffy things are in the foreground. The hills, villas, and poppies I understand, but not the purple puffballs. If you have a guess, please leave me a comment!) Since I have stitched a total of 2 painted canvases (including the in-progress kimono), I am absolutely clueless on how to start this, so I'm going to bring this to the class.
I would appreciate any and all suggestions for either of these canvases!
Thanks again to the website of Needle Nook of La Jolla for the great pictures of these canvases.
4 comments:
I don't have much advice about the lovely Tuscan canvas. Needlepainting is an art. There are a lot of different ways to blend threads to cover a variegated canvas. Although I will say that the image may not be Tuscan, but instead be a villa in southern France. There the purple clumpy bushes would be lavender (there are dozens of different varieties).
As far as the lovely Mindy canvas, I would first concentrate on the stars and trees. Once I had stitched those, I would worry about the backgrounds. As for the boxes, Rhodes stitches sound lovely! I wouldn't worry about the exact boundaries on the boxes. The point is to make them blend from one to the next. I would probably blend threads on the multicolor boxes from the threads used on boxes on either side. Canvases never look exactly as they are painted once they are stitched. It's just a guideline.
You are doing a good job on the kimono, so just grab your artistic side and flow with it.
Love both of those canvases. Do you have any stitch books for needlepoint? I have 5 of them and they were worth every penny. The Needlepoint Book is the best one and I have all of the Stitching For Effect books ;)
Thanks for the suggestions and comments! After a Google image search, apparently lavender does grow in Tuscany too (as that's not that far from southern France). I guess I just wasn't there at the right time to see it bloom, because it isn't in bloom in any of my pictures from my trip!
Kathryn, with regard to my artistic side - have I mentioned that I'm an engineer? My artistic side is hiding behind my perfectionist technical side!
:-) As for stitch books, if my husband heard that question, he'd be laughing out loud! Yes, I have all those you listed and probably about 15-20 more! Books from Brenda Hart, Father B., Carolyn Ambuter, Jane Zimmerman, Hope Hanley, etc. Some of the older ones I've picked up from ebay because the EGA canvas Master Craftsman program (I'm on step 2) requires the use of a limited set of books for stitch references. I sometimes just can't decide what stitch to use! Maybe I have TOO many to choose from! :-)
LOL. I'm an engineer, too, so I know how hard it is to "cut loose" and "experiment". Maybe that is why I am doing so much cross stitch -- every thing is counted out. But I am also getting cranky about "bad bits" in designs and I'm more and more "fixing" colors and patterns that are simply "wrong".
We both have artistic sides somewhere, we just have to do things the way we want to and call it artistic.
Did you know I have over 100 quilt books? I've made one quilt. SOMEDAY I will make another one.
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