Yellow CurleyCue Building

Finished another building!!  This one is named for its interior.

I started with the dome area and wanted to emphasize its rounded appearance.  To achieve this effect, Splendor (S1139 and S875) in 6 ply was used  in a horizontal gobelin stitch for the middle 3 stripes.  The two outer stripes were slanted by 1 thread moving upwards towards the outer edge.  More clearly, the left stripe went bottom right to top left over 1 thread and the right stripe went bottom left to top right.  This helped create the round effect.

The background of the center area was done in a 6-ply Brick over 4 threads using Splendor S909 stopping at the black interior design.  The yellow interior continued with the same thread in a 4-ply basketweave being very careful to leave the black design exposed.  I wanted the design to lay even in depth with the background and not sit atop other stitching.

The interior design was tricky to stitch and I made sure that I was awake because it required attention.  Kreinik very fine braid #4 in color 005 was used with a #24 needle to avoid creating large holes in the canvas.  Since there was a specific design shape painted, a modified Jean Hilton Crescent stitch was used.  Modified since the needle placement was not every other hole, but based upon where the design was taking shape.  Like the Crescent stitch, all holes were used twice and the stitch lengths varied to accept the curve shape.  The shapes are irregular, small and working with shiny thread made this whole experience a challenge with lots of needed concentration.

The exterior design was a breeze using a chain stitch.  Each chain started on the sides and followed the painted lines.  Therefore, there are 4 separate starting points for the chains.  For the chains on the left, the upper chain went towards the top and the lower chain went towards the bottom.  The chains on the right were mirror images.

And here is the stitch guide...

Beginning the Curley Q Building

I have been studying this space for quite awhile to determine the best stitch for the Curley Q's.  While studying my version of the Jean Hilton sampler, the "aha" moment arrived with a solution.  Use the crescent stitch in a fine thread.  Before stitching it on the actual canvas, a test was needed.  Out comes the practice scrim and here is the result:

Now to stitch the background for the Curley Q Building.  Since it is a building, the idea of using a brick stitch seemed appropriate.  Splendor was the thread of choice since it will give a nice smooth finish and lays easily.  The brick stitch was done over 4 threads in 6-ply just in the area outside of the Curley Q, leaving the black outline exposed.  For the interior of the Curley Q, a basketweave was the only choice since it is a very small area.  This was done in a 4-ply.  In order to see where the crescent stitch should be placed, all of the black outline was left exposed.  Here is the work in progress and the next entry will detail the stitching of the Curley Q.

Purple Yellow Zigzag Building

Trying to get back on a stitching routine.  We now have a new update!! I finally get to move the rollers and am now working on the left panel.  After spending so much time on the block building, the zigzag building had similar colors and became the starting point.

The arch was the easiest place to begin using Splendor and Renaissance Designs Sprinkles in a basketweave.  I just love the sparkle of the Sprinkles thread!  The window detail became the next spot.  The frame was done in basketweave with a 4-ply Splendor.  The window was a more difficult area.  I wanted to continue the pattern of some shine coming thru the window and the challenge was the unusual shape with very dark colors.  Previously, a horizontal elongated rice stitch was used but it would not completely fill this area.  To fill in the extra area at the top, a elongated cross stitch was used.  Because this is such a small area, only flecks of shine would appear and a magnifying glass would be needed to see the detail.

  

Using the actual photo, the stitches are noted on the right window and a diagram is charted on graph paper.

The zigzags were next.  Neon rays adds a nice sheen and Splendor in 6-ply is a soft contrast.  Some adjustments were made in stitch placement to assure that a zig would have a point.  I guess this is artistic license. 

For the door, a framed mosaic was chosen.  Starting at the bottom of the door to make sure that the blocks would be even, the frame was started.  Because of the count, there were two frames that met in the middle, creating a double row.  At the top of the door, when there was no more room to add a complete mosaic stitch, basketweave was used as the fill.  For the mosaic stitches, the blocks in the left column slanted // and were reversed  to \\ for the right column.  This was just to make the detail a little more interesting.

The finished building:

And the stitch guide:

Right panel done!!

Whew! I finally finished the yellow and purple building!  This area took so much longer than I thought.  It was difficult to see the location of the stitches.  Maybe a magnifying lens could have helped.  The bug eye was indispensable to help see the details.

After stitching the blocks, the separation of the magenta and green in the arch needed to be clarified.  A backstitch was added between the two colors without adding bulk.  The top section of the building was also done in horizontal interlocking gobelin, but over 2 threads, not 4.  The idea was to continue with the stone appearance.  Using the smaller stitch gives an appearance of being a taller building.

The update:

The original painted canvas is on the left with the stitched panel on the right.

And the stitch guide:

Outlining the stone

For the purple and yellow stone building, I decided to use a horizontal interlocking gobelin over 4 threads.  When you look at the original canvas, you can see that the blocks are outlined.  I tried stitching the blocks without outlining, but they all blended together and showed no separate space.  Therefore, I decided to do a backstitch around each block to give it some additional depth, as shown here:

As a caveat, I thought that this stitch would stitch up quickly but it is taking much longer than I expected and goes thru a lot of thread.  Hopefully, I will get this area done soon and can then move on to another area.

Yellow and Purple Block Stitch Choices

After stitching the doorway the same as the Blue Arch, what horizontal stitch would best for the stones? Out came the scratch scrim to start playing.  There were several experiments tried and they each had issues:

The two stitches with their variations considered were the Reversed Continental and a Horizontal Interlocking Gobelin.  The Reversed Continental was rejected because it was cumbersome to stitch with the Flair and didn't provide enough texture.  The enlarged Reversed Continetal would have too much open space and need too much fill.  Now let's see if the interlocking gobelin is better.  The sample over 2 threads size had a scale that was too small for the area to be stitched.  But it  probably could be used for the top of the building. The 3 thread version had appeared too uneven.  The 4 thread version seems to be the right scale.

Now which fiber to use: Flair, Neon Rays, or Splendor?  The Flair looks nice, so far.  The Neon Rays seems to snag for this stitch and is too shiny.  Fortunately I was doing this testing at my local shop, the Rose Cottage, during the Thursday night stitch-in and was able to get some feedback.  The winning choice?  Splendor!  Rationale being we need an area to rest our eyes from all of the busyness of the piece.  Here is the start of this area in 6-ply Splendor and 6-ply Gumnuts:

Since the block areas seem to be blending into one another, some black backstitching as an outline may be needed.  To be continued in the next post...

Large purple dome building

After completing the small purple dome building, the large one appeared a little easier to tackle.  I started with the vertical stripe area.  While examining the stripes, the purple stripe to the left of the candle minaret seemed out of place and lacked continuity of the building.  So I took artistic license and changed the purple to yellow and the aqua to yellow.



The horizontal stripes were the next area and they required some counting and compensation.  There were 12 threads to the right of the candle minaret, so a stitch that was 2x6 would be a good size.  I wanted it to look a little bumpy like detailed trim on a building.  An oblong Smyrna cross stitch would be a good fit.  The shape was perfect for the right side, but the left needed some compensation.  The stitch was worked from right to left as shown in this diagram:

On the far left , the stitch would be cut off, so a partial stitch was done.  Only the areas that would be visible were stitched.  When the second row was started, I had it line up directly underneath the first row so they would look like blocks.



The last area to be stitched was the roof.  I chose a criss cross Hungarian using a 4-ply Splendor and a 3-ply Gumnuts as the accent thread.  The Gumnuts is heavier than the Splendor, so fewer ply are needed.  I started stitching on the right side so I could get a feel for the pattern.
The tricky part was when I went to the left side of the roof, the minaret was in the way and was affecting the count.  Out came the paper and pencil and I had to actually draw the compensation.  The solid lines indicate the location of the minaret tower.