A Finish!

Lately, I've been frustrated by most of my needlepoint projects.  With some canvases, I've been stumped as to which stitch to use.  With others, I just can't get particular stitches to turn out the way I want.  When this happens, I find the best thing to do is to switch to a different project.  Sometimes a little break is all that is needed to get those creative juices flowing again.  That's exactly what I did this last week.  

This canvas is by Ewe & Eye and is called Dee. I'm not sure how it ended up in the closet in my WIP pile because all I had left to stitch was one of the arms and then attach the beads.  Easy!  I had stitched over the spots for the beads, so that they wouldn't get lost between the decorative stitches.  In doing this, I wasn't able to see where the beads were supposed to go.  Most people would just wing it and place the beads where they see fit.  But if you're like me, that is easier said then done.  

Before stitching a canvas, I always make a color copy.  I took that copy and darkened the black dots where the beads were to be placed. Next I carefully lined up the color copy over the canvas.

I pierced the copy and canvas with some large size tapestry needles.  Next, I carefully lifted the copy away leaving the needles in the canvas.

Now, I had the correct placement for the eyes.

I did the same thing for the mouth, too.

Here is the canvas all finished.  Yeaaah!  Finally a finish! The following pictures are closeups of this canvas.  I wish I could take credit for coming up with all these beautiful stitches and thread selection, but the credit goes to Terry Christopher from 2 the Point in Pleasanton, CA.  I love Terry's stitch guides.  She does a great job making sure that a canvas has perspective.  Notice how the snowman looks like he is coming forward, and the background recedes.

Happy Stitching!