Needlepoint Stitching Fanciful Fish Designed From a Child's Hand Print!

Green and Purple Fanciful Fish Designed, Painted, and Copyrighted by: Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno

House of Chabrier 2013

This fish was fun to stitch, and I enjoyed the Crayola Crayon colors.  Because it's a child's hand I didn't even try to make it resemble a real fish.

I first stitched the background.  I took June McKnight's advice from her background books.  Sometimes it's just easier to stitch over some of the design and count the threads when the main subject of the canvas is not stitched.  For the water I used Rainbow Gallery Silk Lame Braid SL49.  I love this thread for it is easy to stitch with, doesn't unravel, and adds a little sparkle to the silk color.  It's lovely and I use it frequently.  I usually stitch water horizontally, but I wanted to give the feeling of the fish swimming in water that is moving.

The sand and distant mountains are done in Anchor cotton.  The sand is stitched in a brick stitch, and the distant wavy hills in a horizontal brick stitch.

I outlined the fish with Kreinik Metallic Mediem Braid in a Deep Blue Color 033.  I used a cross stitch to outline the fish, and make the blue lines in the fins.  This Blue is repeated in the border where I stitched and X in every four holes, and allowed the lighter blue of the border to shine through.

 The inside of the fish is done in tent stitch, but I did the outline of the scales first in a Turquoise Blue.  I used Kreinik Metallics 006 Medium braid.  The Eye is outlined in Black Rainbow Gallery, and also the pupil which is done in a a satin stitch, and built up to be padded and rounded.

The Deep Purple scales of the fish are again stitched in a tent stitch using Kreinik Metallic Medium #16 Braid.  The Medium color of purple is Kreinik Metallic Medium #16 Braid 012.  The fins between the fingers are stitched in that wonderful Rainbow Gallery Gold Rush XS Crystal Clear.  I made up the stitch and it varies with each fin to fit the direction of the spread fingers.  The little star fish is just done in a tent stitch with 2 colors of Kreinik Red braid.

This is the finished canvas of my Purple and Green Mardi Gras fish swimming happily in the ocean with  little pearl bubbles emanating from his little mouth.  Happiness is stitching, and I'm going to return to my Green Lazy Boy Leather chair and resume stitching my Thirsty Little Zebra getting a little drink from a waterhole on the Serengeti.  It's almost done, and I can't wait to share it with you.