AFRICANA FINISHED ‼️‼️
Yes, I finally completed Africana. It is a real sense of accomplishment. I set a goal of completing the class project in two months and I made it. The last few areas were a challenge…..not everything fit exactly. But it was only a thread or two so I just adjusted.
I do feel good about handling the two threads error I made early on the vertical borders. It required really paying attention and planning ahead as I approached right side.
I have to give a lot of “high fives” to Lorene Salt for her great charts. Some took awhile to figure out as they were Jean Hilton style stitches. But after a few tries the chart made perfect sense.
Now I get to choose my next project…..and I have many to choose from. Stay tuned….
More Africana
I missed a week of posting…and here’s why
I took a trip to North Carolina to see my new great-granddaughter. My daughter went with me and we had a wonderful weekend. Upon getting home I just rested for a few days before getting back to stitching.
As I continued along the bottom of the design I began to think about those two missing threads on the right side. The pattern on the far right did not lend itself to a re-design so I moved to examining the one next to it. It was easier to adjust one thread on each side and keep the original pattern.
Now I must tackle the inside areas…..which includes another large circle, a challenge when I did the first one. I hope the second one goes easier.
MORE AFRICANA
Another week has passed and much progress made. I completed the Kreinik inner borders and pray that all my checking and double counting has eliminated some future errors. I know, without a doubt, that all is not perfect but it helps me to know that areas may not come together and I can figure it out.
You will notice at the top of my canvas there are two areas unfinished……. I usually complete areas before moving on BUT the chart for the Double Crescents that surround the Teardrop Jessicas just has me confused. I will have to get a practice canvas and get the flow of the chart before I go back to my project canvas. I left the triangle area adjacent blank until I get the Double Crescents figured. Just another challenge….
I decided to work the areas at the bottom of the canvas that are outside of the inner borders. I continue to be amazed at the color choices and placement.
Here is where I am tonite…..
AFRICANA……now a bigger challenge
I’m really liking this project. So much that I stitched on it every day and made great progress.
NOTE: I must say now that I am stitching the with the canvas and charts turned upside down. The stretchers are 13”X18” so it would be hard on my arms and shoulders to reach up to the top.
As I approached the area to the left and began the final area…..I almost cried. There is supposed to be to be 12 threads for the pattern………if you look close you can see that I have started the first part of the pattern and there is only 4 threads to the border not 6 🤯. It turns out that I made a counting error that I can NOT correct. My border was 2 stitches too narrow. No way am I taking the big circle out, there is about 10 hours of stitching and ripping in that circle.
Step one; I used the colors called for and the pattern but redesigned it to fit within the 10 threads I had. Step two; I went to bed and thought about that error most of the night 😢. Step three; it dawned on me that if I miscounted on the width….did I do the same on the length….yep
That error was correctable 👏👏. I very carefully took the border out. I knew I needed to use the same thread, if possible, because the same thread is used in the design and I might run out. This worked ok. I did check my thread stash and found a purple silk that is very close to the Vineyard Silk that is in the kit….just in case.
Now I was excited to get back to stitching BUT I began to think about all the possible adjustments I’m going to need to make because of those two threads. Just added to the challenge, as I really want to finish this design.
The next area to be stitched is a continuation of the partial edging that defines areas. It’s done with Kreinik braid and no way did I want to wander out in space and not be sure exactly when I needed to be. Out came a basting thread. I wanted to baste the edging but also to baste the areas along the bottom to check placement and make sure when I got to the right side I was still off just two threads. Whew ‼️‼️‼️
Tomorrow I will get back to the real stitching 👏. My plan is to post every week….so stay tuned for challenges I know I will encounter and the ones I haven’t thought of yet.
Happy stitching.
AFRICANA….The Beginning
I attended a class taught by Lorene Salt on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was fun to be in a class again. The class was small, only 8 students. AFRICANA is a four day class that we squeezed into two days. All of the students are experienced stitchers so it worked out well. If you have ever attended a class you know that not a lot of stitching actually gets done but a lot of discussion and note taking is the rule.
The first challenge was a 57 hole Jessica….just let that sink in…. Instructions called for 3 1/2 yards of Vineyard Silk….unless you wanted to stop and start on the Jessica. If you have done Jessicas you know it’s best to have one continuous strand of thread. The enlarged chart included in the instructions was excellent. BUT I spent hours stitching and ripping 🤪 I just couldn’t get the rhythm and the count was a little crazy in order to create a circle. You will note in the photo below that mine still isn’t perfect and my thread was getting very thin at the end. There is stitching that goes in the circle and I think it will disguise the slight problem…..I really don’t want to rip the whole thing out. There is another one in the design so I hope to have better success with that one.
The second day I had better success with the areas we worked on. I actually did a stitch that I had never done before. It called a Chilly Hollow and was first designed by Jane Wood. It is the stitch in the brown and gold. Not a big stitch but a different stitch in that the stitching is on the top of the canvas wrapping around anchor stitches.
The long days of sitting and the hour and a half drive each way took a toll on my back. I rested most of Thursday. Yesterday I got back to the project. The photo below shows where I am as of tonite. The 5 Fleur-de-Lis Flowers took time. Once I got the count memorized it went faster. They are still not perfect but I think only I know where a stitch it two is off.
As you can see by the partial chart in the photo that the Lorene’s charts are excellent. This will be a challenging project so I plan to take it slow and be sure to read all the instructions and make sure I understand them for each area.
Here is the complete design
Santa by Melissa Shirley
After posting this project on Needlepoint Think Tank with Facebook I was advised that this could be a Melissa Shirley canvas. So pleased to have one of hers in my collection.
I am really enjoying stitching on this. When I first started it I had great ideas for changing the green Santa bag to something brownish with some stitch or thread looking like burlap…. As I stitched I realized that this was a project that I just wanted to stitch. I didn’t want to make it a “thinking” project. Any one ever just wanted to stitch and not really think?
The bottom of the coat and the cuff on the sleeves is done with Fuzzy Stuff. I just did random verticals stitches to fill the area. I do think I will go back and add some more filling stitches.
A simple tent stitch with four ply of Soie Cristalle and four ply of Needle Necessities (now Thread Worx) was used for the Santa bag.
Using Burmilana, a wool/acrylic blend, I made hundreds of French knots using a single strand with three wraps for the hat trim and ball on the hat.
I then used two strands of the same Burmilana for the mustache and beard. I used a random long and short stitch with a few stem stitches to accomplish the curve.
Now I’m ready to tackle the tree and begin thinking about the stars and background.
STITCHLADY'S ADVENTURES 