A New Month already!! (again)

I cannot believe another month has gone, and I have produced so little for this blog - another very stressful change of address was in the middle of this one, but as soon as I find my drawing equipment and paint brushes, I'll be back working.

Anyway, this is "December" from my Birthday Crazy Quilt series - and probably my favorite besides April and August. It has lots of symbolism in the mistletoe, holly, narcissus, and the birthstone turquoise. (Tanzanite or blue zircon is the alternative used now, I think). I also like the effect of the blue patch with "rain drops," and the white with glittery snow.

I started these almost three years ago, but still haven't produced January, February, or July. Incidentally, these are now available as e-patterns on my web page, Elegant Whimsies, so you can put your own onto canvas.

Drawing Trees to Enhance and Embellish

This is a project that I have played with many times over the years I've stitched and designed needlepoint. It's a very very simple thing that anyone could do - skill at art and drawing isn't necessary, and with a knowledge of lots of fun decorative stitches, amazing affects can be achieved.

One of my favorites a few years ago was a little grouping of three to five trees of different sizes, heights, and widths to sit on the mantel at Christmas time. I had little stands made with a base and a dowel to fit into a pocket on the back of the tree so that they would stand upright. I wish I had one to show, but I gave them all away.

Anyway - all you have to do is decide how tall you want your tree, and approximately how wide - so the tree will be tall and skinny or short and fat or whatever.

I first drew a straight line across the bottom, and then, using the triangle, drew a vertical line to designate the center. It's marked at 7 1/2" high.

In the second picture, the arrow points to the left side, which is a sketch to show me the shape my tree will be. Then, the bottom is marked at 2" each side of the center, and a straight line is drawn from top to bottom on the right side, using the triangle as a straight edge. (because it was convenient). I added the little trunk freehand.

The next picture is the 5 1/2" tree I drew, using the same center line and base line, but cutting the center off at 5 1/2" high, - and drawing the line down to the 2" on each side, just as I did for the taller one.

At the bottom, you can see where I played with sketches for changing the shape, and then traced them onto tracing paper to use for my trees if I wish.

Drawing the tree onto the canvas is a simple thing - and you may use whatever mesh size you please for this project. Just place the canvas over the drawing with the center line exactly on a canvas thread so it will be symmetric.

The easiest way, if you aren't a perfectionist, is to use a straight edge and draw the line from top to bottom on each side. I've given several tutorials on this blog about drawing with a pen on canvas - a simple thing.

On this picture, I've begun to stitch draw the side, as I insist on symmetry. You can see where I started to copy on the left side what I've done on the right. I keep a little bottle of white acrylic paint on my table, and a trolley needle to dot out mistakes and re-draw them.

These little trees make a great small, bright project that one can do quickly, and they are a wonderful way to use up stash threads and practice stitches and new techniques and effects. You might just make horizontal bands of decorative stitches (I've actually seen these sold as painted canvas with stitch guides), or fill the whole tree with a multi-colored stitch.

I hope to find time to get a few ready to embellish with surface treatments and embroidered effects I've been wanting to try out! If you wish, just print out these drawings for yourself, and then enlarge or reduce them as you want them - an easy thing. I do recommend a coat of acrylic paint if you intend to use stitches that might allow the white canvas to show through - the "dandruff" effect.

Beads for Sugar Sprinkles! (decorating a cookie)

Be sure to check Possibilities, Etc. fairly often, as the decorating continues on the Shamrock cookies. At the present time, the sugar sprinkle icing (made with beads worked "solid") is showing!

Also, for right now, the Beads! E-Booklet is offered at half price!!

November in a Few Hours!!

This year has flown fast, and it will be November in a few hours when I wake up! This is the November Birthday Crazy Quilt heart. Now I need to get busy and finish "January," as I put it down two years ago and never got it back out to do the silk ribbon carnations. Ouch.

Be sure to go see Possibilities, Etc., as I have started another cookie with "icing" - this time solid sugar sprinkles in the form of clear beads!

Stitching the Shamrocks

I have started the stitching on the Shamrock cookies on Possibilities, etc., so you can take a look and follow along if you wish - and do something creative and original of your own!! Experiment!

Also, I'm offering for the duration of the cookies, my E-booklet (at half price) with lots of different cookie cutter shapes that I have used for many years for playing with new threads, stitches, and techniques - and have also added a mini-stocking. Lots of stitches diagrammed, and color pictures as guidance and inspiration.

Cookie Cutter Needlepoint

That title could have double meaning - and I had to remind myself of just that when I was fooling around with the drawing. I had to remember that these are to be "cookies" shaped like Shamrocks, and that I probably would only have one cutter in the drawer. Decorating them is the fun and imaginative part that will make each one different.

Anyway - I started this odyssey on the other blog (Possibilities, Etc.), so you can go there to see what's happening. This pattern is about 4 1/4" across at the widest part, but you could always play around with the size and suit yourself. I used 18 mesh canvas, but 13 would work as well.

The idea is to replicate icing and do such things as you would do with a pastry tube/cake decorator type thing, using lots of fun things and great stitches. It's really a good way to try out new stitches too, and new fibers in your stash. I'm showing the drawing on canvas to illustrate the orientation of the tracing. Use the orange line as a reference.

Please refer to other posts about canvas preparation and drawing for instructions for doing this. I've pointed to places where one must be sure to draw on the THREAD and not slip down between them into the groove - makes it much easier to stitch.

October Again Already!!

The "Birthday Crazy Quilt Heart" for October was finished in 2008, with its opals and calendulas and glorious Fall colors. You can see the other months (some not done yet, though) on the other blog under the label Birthday Crazy Quilts.

There are lots of freebies on this site from last year for Halloween, so don't miss the napkin rings and other small, fun things.

I've never designed a lot of needlepoint for Halloween, as there seems to already be more than enough "out there," and it's also not really my interest for designing painted canvas or for stitching - I leave that to others who excel.

However, I have recently found a web site while cruising on ebay, that has just about sent me over the edge to be stitching on Halloween things!. These pieces are so much fun and so full of originality and personality, they are quite different from any I've seen. I've shown these on the other blog, but to be sure you don't miss it, I'll give you a link here for her Halloween page: Nenah's Needlepoint.

I won't show any canvases here, as that would spoil the surprise. Also, these aren't Freebies, of course, but the prices are so much less than they would be if offered in a retail store!! I love finding these wonderful things that I didn't know were available.