The mats we chose are soft gold for the outer mat and the dark orangey red for the inner mat.  The frame is simple soft gold wood with a subtle scroll work pattern.  An interesting question arose as to what color to use as the backing......since there is a lot of exposed canvas.  We finally decided on Eggshell, the color of the canvas, and not a darker one.  I am looking forward to seeing the finished, FINISHED piece!

But now, on to Color Kaleidoscope.  I will post something an update photo late next week on this one.

August is almost here already!

I won't be back again until I post the final finished photo which will be no later than  July 29th as I am leaving the next day for Louisville.  The piece is going to the framer before I leave town!

So wishing everyone a great two weeks.  Terry

Something interesting happened though, while I was taking a break to draw a few Zentangle® designs......I kept thinking of patterns for Leaf Collage.  The upper right corner is one result:  "Boxes".....so that is what I will call it when I write the instruction book.  Also, you might find this hard to believe, but color seems to be finding its way into my Zentangle designs.  Thought you might like to see a few.  The color wash was created with Derwent Graphitint Pencils.

For my holiday weekend it is Leaf Collage stitching, Eclipse, Zentangles and BBQ for me!

Wishing you a great 4th of July weekend too!!  Terry

But since returning home on two weeks ago I've been continuing to work on Leaf Collage and have made progress on the upper right quadrant. (The above is only a partial scan, being sure to include all the new stitching).

Granted, I have an overall color sketch for this design, but finding the right threads to achieve the effect in threads, as opposed to paint or colored pencil, is the challenge.  I will continue to work around the bottom right quadrant next week, after I return from teaching Safari this weekend in Dallas.  

Wishing everyone a great week!

It is exciting to think of all the possibilities.  I am looking forward to experimenting further.  

But as indicated by the title of this entry I am retiring the Wild Roses Oval Box from my teaching portfolio and will be adding it to Designs and Kits for sale on June 15th.   I will also make up a few thread kits at the same time. 

My last item for today is to let you know I will be removing Moroccan Sands from my Teaching Portfolio for about two years as it has just been chosen to be an upcoming ANG Cyber Workshop.  It will be awhile as it is scheduled for late 2011.  After the Cyber Workshop has concluded it will be moved to Designs and Kits for sale. 

Wishing all of you a happy Mother's Day and time to stitch! 

Terry

And during the time between the two pilots I received a call from the selection commitee accepting the two proposals I have previously shown here:  Leaf Collage (as a 3-day class) and Color Kaleidoscope (as a 2-day class).  I am very excited about both of them and will be completing the stitching on both upon my return from my next teaching trip....back home on April 21st.   Both of the pilots have already been scheduled and have been added to my teaching schedule.                                                                           But in the meantime I am finishing up the stitching on a small design I will be using for a new "guild" class.  Previously I have not had a good topic for short guild meetings so I'm very happy to now be able to share these techniques in this format.  This design (interesting border pattern, don't you think?) uses the same technique as I desribed in my blog entry of Sept. 13, 2009, and Leslie Riley's Transfer Artist Paper.  Also as part of the short class, the students will each transfer their own design and then we will review the sketch technique and the border designs.  Each student will have the choice of a leaf or this California Poppy design. 

Happy Easter to everyone! 

Terry

For the proposal I sketched in the outline for the second half and then blocked in the colors with two to three layers of water color, followed up with color pencils for definition.   There wasn't enough room to scan the drawing turned on point as I would have liked.....but hopefully you can get the idea. 

This is my interpretation of a 12-point color wheel with the emphasis being on complimentary and analogous colors.  It  has taken 31 threads and beads so far...just to stitch the first half....and I estimate 40 to 45 threads and beads overall.  

I've had a lot of fun designing this project.  Can you begin to pick out the complimentary color patterns? And I know it is might be hard to see, but the beads are in the skinniest, zig zag patterns (green and red-orange).  I really like those flat, square beads. 

Wishing everyone a great week and better weather.

In the process of writing the instructions I have been creating stitch diagrams and graphs and have been reviewing all that I have previously created using buttonhole stitches.  And there it was.......my very first "In Stitches" column in the May 2007 issue of Needle Pointers magazine. The sample I stitched for it has lots of examples of various used for buttonhole so I thought it might be fun to show them again here.   And here are the basic stitch diagrams for reference.  I hope you get some ideas you're able to use in your projects.  Buttonhole stitches add lots of texture as you can see. 

Have a great week!

During the last few weeks I have been designing and stitching the column I write for the May 2010 through March 2011 issues of the ANG Needle Pointers Magazine.  I'm happy to say all six of them are just about  completed.  I continued the theme I started last year as stitchers have told me they enjoy seeing the "tile patterns".  So I hope you'll look for them. 

Now on to the next project.  Before I get started stitching on another proposal, I must write the instruction book for Olivia Ostrich.  I designed and stitched this piece back in 2001 but set it aside.  But a few months ago the members were told to bring something we had stitched some time ago.  I thought this would be a good project to bring as my designs have changed somewhat since that time.   Several of the guild members liked it, Olivia is kind of silly and fun, and now we are having it as a one-day workshop in early February.  There's that "time" thing again....so much to do, so little time. 

The project was originally stitched on 24 count Congress, but it should translate easily to 18 count, so I'm offering it in both sizes.   The stitching was done with limited threads:  stranded silk, Kreinik #4 braid, metallic cord, and Arctic Rays and the finished size, including the border is 3-3/4" X 9" on 24 count. Depending on the response, Olivia might be available as a future kit.

I will be back sooner next time, and hopefully with some progress photos of the next new design. 

Happy New Years to everyone!