I have long been intrigued by Kirk & Bradley’s travel canvases and have recently gotten the two above. To this, I have added a California canvas from Lee Long, below, that has similar small motifs. I’d like to get them started but I am stumped.
What have folks done with the small motifs besides Tent to make them interesting?
Add your ideas in the comments
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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
What’s wrong with basketweave….it certainly keeps the details of these ornaments.
How about couching the Golden Gate bridges (maybe a touch of or nue on the larger one)? Put the white in on the quail with tent and encroaching gobelin all around it with silk floss or Mandarin floss. Cross stitches on the top of the sequoia and VanDyke the trunk with something really thin (and possibly linen?).
West Coaster use ribbon on the pink flowers (Japanese ribbon stitch? satin?) and the palm fronds.
The grapes on Napa cry out to me for diagonal mosaic (reversed) with tent between rows where the single stitches are. Balloons are actually made of silk (and glow when their fire is lit), so something really shiny (rayon?) would pop them out, even in tent. Do the wine and the grapes in metallic/rayon (gobelin over 2 or 3?) and is there enough space to do the stucco in brick? If not, maybe 4 way tent (Alicia’s lace) in variegated if possible.
Couch or whipped stem/outline the lettering in the first two, and I have no idea for the Lee.
I see you are stash-busting up a storm. 🙂
Even though the canvases are small, I might vary the threads and the stitches I use. Many of us do not just have wools or cotton DMC threads but also a selection of silky and metallic threads. The stitches also do not have to be limited to a simple single needlepoint stitch on the entire canvas. If the canvases were large, we might feel less limited in what we might do. We just have to approach the same imagination to a smaller canvas. We could even consider adding French knots, Russian punch needle stitches or even some pulled thread, openwork or blackwork stitches. With the Golden Gate Bridge, I perhaps might select a reddish/metallic thread. A few interesting threads and varying the stitches here and there might be fun. Take care during these challenging times, Janet. Without doubt, needlework, knitting and other interests have made things less stressful. Thanks for all of the help you have given me and others over the years.