First finish of the year!

I’ve stitched a little gold star with Madeira Metallic on the top of my Rhodes stitch Christmas tree…….

…… it’s very subtle and may need a bit of tweaking.

Then on to the glueing round the edge, with neat PVA this time. I left it overnight to make sure it was completely dry, and then for the scary bit of cutting it out. The white cut threads of the canvas show up too much…….

……. so I used a damp Inktense pencil in a dark green around the edges, both front and back, a yellow around the star, and left it to dry again. Then I put another layer of PVA, just to make sure.

I cut a slightly smaller triangle of mount board to go in the middle, and found some green felt to stitch on the back. I had stitched another piece of felt to make a pocket for a pencil on the inside, to use as a trunk for it to stand up. I found a wooden reel for a tub, a reel of red, and couldn’t decide which to use. Then I found a dark green Sylco on a wooden reel to stitch the pocket and the front to the back. I realised when I’d stitched across the bottom, up one side and about an inch up the other side, that although it would stand up I’d not put the mount board in the middle! I thought it would be worth undoing that little bit, and managed to wriggle it in.

Now the stitching’s finished.

The pencil’s in place, and I decided that the green reel looked better than the empty wooden reel or the red one. I can easily take the pencil out and use the thread, if I need to use such a dark green for anything else. I think Lorna is right, and the star needs to be more obvious, but I’d not got anything suitable with me.

So it’s not really quite finished…… yet!!!

No, no Resolutions

As usual, I have not made any New Year Resolutions, as I wrote in January 2023’s No resolutions. But as I wrote then, I do try and finish a few things off before starting anything new.

I’ve not looked out any old projects yet, just continued with the Christmas tree from last week. It soon got to this……

……. then this. The Rhodes stitch is finished, a tiny one at the top, then a little X-stitch at the very top. It will probably have a gold star over it.

Then to add some beads: I liked the shiny red glass ones, but they didn’t show up as much as I’d expected. Over time, the red plastic ones have come off a favourite red cheesecloth top. I did consider stitching them back on, but the fabric has washed and worn so thin that it didn’t seem worth the effort. They have been kept in a spice jar and have proved just the right bead on a couple of projects. It’s good to re-use / recycle them.

I didn’t want to use them all over, they looked too much, but alternate rows looked fine. They are just laid on below.

I started stitching from the top downwards.

I finished stitching the beads. It all looks very even, which is not at all like our Christmas trees, which have all sorts of different baubles, mainly glass, some very old and precious: my Mum’s, Colin’s Mum’s, even some that were my Nanna’s. Handmade decorations, some mine, some from friends from here and abroad, stitched, wood, glass, felt. Most have stories and lovely memories attached to them. It takes a while to put them up, and nearly as long to pack them all safely away ready for next Christmas. It’s like saying goodbye to old friends.

I’ve got another couple of days before 12th night to finish the star. Then I’ll decide how to mount the full piece, maybe glue round the edges and cut it out…….. or it may wait until late next November or early December to make a decision……. As I said earlier, I do try and finish a few things off before starting anything new……. later in the year……. sounds familiar!

More Oh Christmas tree(s)

Why, oh why do I start new projects without finishing the last, in this case, Christmas tree?

This is a Rhodes stitch Christmas tree started a few weeks ago, not content with doing a small tree. It did start small(ish), as you can see from the bottom right hand side, but it grew in the way that trees do! I wanted to use the whole piece of canvas and not waste it. I’m using my go-to dark green perlé, which will work well to show off the other colour(s) later.

It’s growing slowly and lopsidedly……

…… I started to even it up…….

……. and (maybe) finish the top. I’ve left the thread attached so I can unpick the X-stitch at the top, and possibly the smaller Rhodes stitch below it. It might have a silver or gold star instead.

Now it needs the rest filling in.

The unfinished Christmas tree past is the one from The Great Scunthorpe Embroidery Challenge December 2023, which progressed by Merry Christmas 2023, and only this December had the tiny orange beads added. It’s still not attached to the green velvet, and I’m not sure whether to add more to it first.

I’ve decided to work on unfinished Christmas pieces up until Twelfth Night, so some may get finished this year!

Happy and Healthy New Year to everyone.