Peacocks in Magnolia Tree

Peacocks in Magnolia Tree
24" X 60" Alkyd and Gold Leaf on Board

Friday, December 27, 2013

Annie's Needlepoint Stitching!

I have been busy for the last 8 months Needlepointing my own canvases, and a few of Barbra Trotters canvases.  I have learned a great deal in the past months, and learned how to design a better canvas because of having stitched.  I want to thank and show my appreciation for the books of June McKnight, Ruth Dilts, Sandra Murray, and Donna Kooler.  I like the book The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Chistensen, and the book Rhapsody Geometric Satin Stitches III by Sandra Murray.  My favorite books are those written by June McKnight,and I always have them close to my chair within reach of my avid mind and hands.  These books are simple, spiral bound, easy to use with simple instructions.  The illustration lays flat because of the spiral binding, and is on one small easy to follow page.  I love these books and reccomend them to anyone interested in stitching Needlepoint.
I also want to thank Sally London at Rainbow Gallery.  She provided me with advise about thread, advise about stitching, recommended threads I was not familiar with and was very helpful in many ways even she can't immagine. It's good to know someone is there to answer a question or two or three.  Thank YOU Sally!  I also want to thank Barbra from Jelly Bean Stock for just sharing ideas, commenting on the stitched canvases and being a good friend.  Somebody to share the joy and the frustrations is always a blessing.  
Here are some of the Canvases without any stitching I've been working on.  That will give you an idea of what you will see stitched.

 Blue and Cream Peacock Copyright: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno Houseof Chabrier

Dancing Dinos Pink and Yellow on Zweigart Canvas
Feelin' Luck Punk? Canvas designed by Barbra Trotter at Jelly Bean Stock
Copyright Jelly Bean Stock

 Green and Gold Venetian Mask Designed and Copyrighted by HouseofChabrier Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno
 Hand Animal Designed Painted, and Copyrighted by: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
 Hand Animal Giraffe Designed by Copyrighted: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
 Hand Animal Green Fish Designed and Copyrighted: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
 Hand Animal Leopard Designed and Copyrighted: Anne E. shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
 Hand Animal Tiger Designed and Copyrighted: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
 Hand Animal Zebra Designed and Copyrighted: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
 Hand Animal Camel Designed and Copyrighted: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
 Hand Animal Lion Designed and Copyrighted: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
 Hand Animal Peacock Designed and Copyrighted: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier
Hand Animal Sun Fish Designed and Copyrighted: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno HouseofChabrier

Sun Fish Stitched and Embellished with Ribbons and Pearls...

I have stitched most of these to completion or near completion.  The last one up is part of my Hand Animal Collection.  These were printed using James Shanahan's hand when he was in Kindergarden.  Each is Jame's hand painted with Acrylic Paint and printed on Zweigart Canvas. I then turned his hand into a fun Animal, and there are more handprints and designs to come.  If you remember a long time ago we painted the hands of all the children in Kindergarten ( that was done by Ale` Shanahan), and then their hands were printed on squareds of cloth, and I turned each childs hand into a different animal. This was then turned into a fabulous Quilt that was raffled off to earn money for the school.   I thought that would be so cute and fun for moms to do in Needlepoint so I did this series.  
Here is a finished canvas done of the SunFish Hanimal, all stitched.  I wrote a stitch guide for each canvas, and what you see on the original canvas is not what I ended up doing on the finished canvas as you will soon see.

I made up some of the stitches in this one, and created a random Diagonal stitch for the background.  As you can see I painted over the background plants with another coat of blue paint, and then stitched ribbon on top to create the effect of the green plants I painted over.  I will redesign this with more area for ocean around the fish, but at this stage of my stitching I'm happy with this little 10" X 10" canvas with the 7" design within.
I hope you like my experiments in stitching, and I will share another canvas with you tomorrow. I used Kreink Braids in the Fish, and Rainbow Gallery Neon Rays N01 in the background and in the Border.  The background stitch was Done in Rainbow Gallery Silk Lame Braid for 18ct, and the colors I used are SL49, SL76, and SL39.   Thank you for any feed back you care to give, and if you have any questions I will be happy to answer your questions.  I am also very open to suggestion, new stitches (to me), helpful hints, new threads, floss, and braids.  I love stitching because I did a great deal of hand embroidery and sewing as a young teenager and young mother.  I enjoy coming back to stitching in my old age.  Write when I get work!  I don't know if I really need any work as I'm devoting all my time to stitching my canvases and Barbs.  But new work is always welcome.  Enjoy your day, have a Happy New Year, and do what you LOVE!

3 comments:

yakshi said...

Ann

yakshi said...

Annie, I just love the whimsy and child-like quality of your hand print animals. I will have to try some of them in another media with my preschoolers

Chabrier said...

Yakshi, these are fun to do, and you can cut squares of solid heavy cotton cloth that will co-ordinate with prints and cut them to a 10" or 12" size. We did 10" but that's a bit small because trying to print a childs hand can get tricky. Put the Child's name on the square that his or her hand is printed on. You need a parent for the paint, a parent for the pressing down printing, a parent to get the kid into the bathroom (or just send them and clean the bath later), and a parent or older child to be clean and carry the printed cloth to a clean table. After they dry you change the hand into an animal that fits the child or is a favorite, or is inspired by the hand print itself. The Animal is painted directly on the cloth with Acrylic and brush. To turn it into a quilt...you know how to sew. Or sew onto a tote bag or back pack or make into a framed picture for mom. They are whimsical and fun, and you never know what that child's hand print will inspire! Love YOU! Have fun!!!