Saturday I had to pull together some projects to start stitching. Obviously, a new project has to begin with a canvas, such as this landscape ornament from Blue Ridge Stitchery, above.
After selecting a canvas, my next step is to find a project bag. I keep empty project bags in a bin in my office. From the bin, I pick a bag that will fit the canvas on stretcher bars. I put scissors and a threader in the bag. My threaders all have knitting stitch markers on them, making them easier to find.
Next, I shop my stash to find threads. I have been shopping the stash first for decades. If I have an idea of how I plan to stitch the design I shop those threads first. Another project I am starting is a penguin. For him, I am taking inspiration from a penguin ornament I have and will be using Straw Silk.
I’m planning on stitching this in Longstitch, so stranded threads are the order here. The landscape will use floss. I don’t have much DMC, but I have lots of Gentle Art floss. I shopped that first and found all the threads. I am not happy with the two top colors, so I will save them until later. You can easily start stitching without all the threads picked out.
To keep things neat, I put the threads into the project bag. Now it’s time to mount my canvas onto stretcher bars. Because my tacks are in the same drawer as the minders and needles, I pick a matching minder and needles to match my canvas.
Taking my canvas, I go to my boxes of stretcher bars, sorted by size, and test the bars by putting a bar against the side of the canvas. When I find a match, I pull a matching bar and then repeat the process with the adjacent side.
Clearing off space on my desk, I assemble the bars and open my tack bin. I pull some out into the jar to make them easy to grab. I tack the corners first, then the center of each side. Finally, I add more tacks if needed.
The last step is to add the minder. I have found an easy way to do this. I take the needleminder back on my desk, under the stretched canvas. I place the canvas on top of this and place the needleminder front on the canvas. I move it around until the satisfying click tells me the back is attached. it’s so much easier than trying to hold both front and back at the same time.
Add the needle, put into the project bag and I’m ready to stitch.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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