Sharing Time

A few weeks ago I sent off several pieces that I had stitched to one of my favorite finishers, The Spinning Wheel. Today a box was delivered with the finished pieces inside. Opening the box and pulling out each piece is as much fun as Christmas. I wanted t share two of the items with you since you watched the stitching. The first is a Christmas piece, Skating Santa. I had him finished as a simple box. I think I will find some Christmas ribbon to wrap around the outside edge of the box and then it will be perfect. The second piece is Saint Claire. St. Claire is the patron saint of needleworkers. She is joined by 2 other saints, St. Francis and the recently added St. Jude. Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes and hopeless cases. I show him seated, surrounded by a basket of unfinished needlepoint canvases. If you are like me, it will take a miracle to get through all my unfinished projects. He's on my "to stitch" list.

St. Francis of Assisi

I just wanted to share a picture of my new piece. It's a companion design for the St. Claire I just finished stitching today. They are both about the same size. I really like the cat and dog at his feet and my daughter thought he should have a dove in his hand. Hope you like it.

St. Claire - Close Up

I do believe that the hot, humid weather has finally arrived on the Texas gulf coast. This is it until around Halloween. Of course the heat drives us inside making this prime stitching time. I'm nearing completion on my St. Claire and wanted to share one last picture before I finish and then send her off. I plan on making her into a small stand up that I can keep by my work table.

All I have left to do is finishing up on the background. I decided to use a 3 Way Cross Stitch, filled in with Tent Stitches. The thread is one of Kreiniks Milkpaint Colors, #0534. On the right hand side of the canvas you can see that I've only done the tent stitches. This leaves a checkerboard effect until you go back and add in the 3 Way Cross. The halo is stitched with Petite Sparkle Rays, #PS27. I first made five "spokes" fanning out around her head. These are done in Buillion Knots. Then I filled in the rest of the area with tent stitches.

I've just finished adding a companion piece: #213, St. Francis of Assisi. He is a well loved saint and is the Patron saint of animals and the enviroment. Many gardens, mine included, feature a statue of St. Francis. Stay tuned and I'll post a picture of him soon.

St. claire: Patron Saint of Needleworkers Update

I haven't done nearly as much as I promised, blame the lovely spring weather. But I will share what I have completed so far. I finished her monstrance by adding the "light" in the center. The area is square in shape so I choose to work it in a Woven Cross stitch. I used one strand of Tiara, #T117. The Tiara is a soft twisted metallic thread and gives a nice shine to the stitch. If you've never worked this stitch before a good example is shown in one of my favorite books,The Needlepoint Book, by Jo Ippolito Christensen. (page 285) It looks more complicated than it really is so give it a try. The rest of my work has been on her gown. I'm using two shades of Splendor, #S826 (lighter) and #S827 (darker). Since I have some shading in her gown I work with two needles at the same time, one with each thread. The gown is stitched in your basic Mosaic stitch.