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I love it all: embroidery, canvaswork, quilting, crochet. So much to do, so little time.





Sunday, November 24, 2013

Stitching Disaster

Hey Blog Buddies,

How's your weekend going?  Swimmingly, I hope.  Mine--not so much.

This past week I had a couple of finishes (more on those later) and decided to start a new project.  It's nothing new, I've been stitching from stash recently, and this project is on my 2013 to-do list.  It's Harper in Stitches - Cool Cardinal.  Charley Harper was an American Modernist artist best known for his highly stylized wildlife prints, posters and book illustrations.  Many of his designs have been adapted to cross stitch.

 
As you can see, it's a rather plump cardinal
sitting out a blizzard, while snow piles up on his head.
When I saw the stitched model at
a local needlework shop a couple of years ago,
I loved the cardinal and I was hooked.
 
I like this design despite the fact
that it depicts a snowstorm
(I hate snow).
But I'm really not too fond of
stitching the scores of "snowflakes."
They are 12 stitches each and are
spaced far enough apart
that I have to start and end a thread
for each one.
Tedious, to say the least.
 
Here is my progress so far:
 
Can you believe that I didn't notice
the difference in color until
I went outside to take the photo?
It's so obvious.
I couldn't either, until I took the piece
back inside and started to "unstitch."
I use a 21-bulb LED light with magnifier
that I absolutely love.
It really illuminates my work.
But this is how the piece looks under that light...
 
Believe it or not, I actually felt better
when I saw this (not as dumb).
The light absolutely does not differentiate
between the two whites.
 
So I have come up with an explanation for the goof.
I was using (or thought I was using) DMC blanc.
I believe that I inadvertently put a strand or two
of B5200 in with the blanc.
I do know that B5200 is a much brighter white
and I always keep it separate from the blanc.
Or so I thought.
I will dig out my B5200 and make sure
that it matches the bottom five rows
before I rip out the top 4 rows
plus one snowflake.
And once I start to restitch the snowflakes,
I'll make frequent trips outside
to check that the white is still
all the same shade.
Because now I'm paranoid.
 
Let's move on to happier topics.
Here is a design from Prairie Schooler's Nordic Holiday:
 
Stitched 1 over 1 on
25-count white Lugana
with DMC 815 and 500.
These are darker colors than the model photos.
I like so many of the designs in this leaflet
that I'm planning to stitch several more.
 
Last but not least,
I'm still keeping up with the
 
The theme this month is Candy Corn.
I adapted a design from
BBD's 'Tis Halloween booklet.
It was a stocking covered with candy corn,
and I didn't want to "finish" another stocking,
so I used BBD's chart for the candy corn
and made the ornament in the shape of a candy corn, too.
Some may see a Christmas tree.
 
That's it from here.
May all your stitching go without a hitch.
Thanks for visiting!

15 comments:

CathieJ said...

I have had that happen once or twice and it is so disappointing. Mine occurred because I used some vintage DMC that I had inheritied and it had obviously faded. I frogged and then used one strand of each shade....nice effect. You really can't do that with your white though. It is amazing what a photograph will reveal.

Jennifer M. said...

That's very frustrating with the whites, especially considering how tedious those snowflakes are. Its hard staying motivated to keep doing a design when you do all that work and then have to take it out and do it all over again. Don't give up though. That cardinal is a very lovely design. :-D

Claudette497 said...

Poor baby - I love Charlie Harper designs, but I would find those snowflakes tedious too. Maybe you do the next batch of snowflakes in ecru and pretend it's supposed to be sort of a gradient effect. Or go back to the B5200 and pretend it's supposed to be striped, lol. It's all hand-crafted charm until you tell the people otherwise.

cucki said...

Oh dear...but snowflakes are looking lovely ..
Your stitching is so beautiful and your finishes are so cute..
Big hugs x

stitchersanon said...

I have to admit, I would leave it and put it down to shading..blending a few snowflakes inbetween to get a natural look, but I know it is a lovely piece and you want to get it just right! So disappointed for you. I know it will look amazing when it is finished!

Chris said...

OMG! I am having the same problem right now with 2 different white overdyes. I love the Charles Harper Designs too.
The PS Nordic designs are fabulous. Love your Candy Corn finish too.
Have a great week!

Karol R Johns said...

Cute finishes! ug on the frogging.

Melissa said...

I love Charlie Harper's art work so I was tickled to see you stitch his design. (I wasn't aware they were available.) To be honest I couldn't see the difference in the whites in the photo but that could just be my eyes.

You've done a lot of great stitching!

Linda said...

Sorry about the snowflake problem. I just ripped out 3 huge snowflakes because I was off one row. Not fun. I like the idea of just using different shades of white instead of ripping it all out. Great progress on the others and cute ornament finish.

Linda

Carol said...

Love that design!! I never realized there was that much difference between B5200 (why is it called that anyway--weird!!) and white. You'll have it looking perfect in no time, I'm sure... Your PS ornament is so cute as is the candy corn creation :)

And speaking of snow--it's coming down like mad here in Pittsburgh right now. Should make for some tough Thanksgiving traveling!

Melody said...

I'm sorry to read about the white mix up... There is a definite difference. I had run out of Blanc, and had to buy more to finish up a couple rows of snow on an ornament recently. I love the cardinal design tho. It will be a great piece when finished.

Heather said...

Gah! What an unfortunate mix-up. I just had to rip out all the work I did on my Torah piece. I think maybe this sort of thing is going around. ;)

Melissa said...

WOW! I can see how you missed it! Sounds like something I would totally do too. Too bad you had to rip it out :(

Anne said...

The cardinal is lovely despite the mix up. Love the PS nordic birds! I adore the Nordic themed PS designs!! Cute little candy corn ornie too!

Julie said...

Oh no... How annoying for you to have to undo those little flakes.