March 20, 2022--Just finished stitching another of Susan Portra's Holiday Ornaments. This one is called White Gift and was published in the 2015 issue no. 4 of Needlepoint Now Magazine. This is the 12th ornament I've stitched to date out of 16 published. There were supposed to have been 24 ornaments published in the magazine, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Susan Portra is selling the instructions for these ornaments on her website, but in groups of type--all eight "gifts" together, eight "lights" and eight "bells". I don't need all of them, just the few I'm missing. Hopefully I'll be able to purchase individual instructions from someone who no longer needs them. Click on the Collections page on the right to see which ones have been done so far.
This ornament has a lot of shine, but the RG Neon Rays ribbon looks a bit wonky. Try as I might (took it out a few times), I just couldn't get it to lay flat and smooth. Suspect it has something to do with the length of the stitch being done on the diagonal and how close they lie next to one another (the ribbon is pulled against a corner rather than a straight canvas thread when stitched vertically). I hope this makes sense. Below is a graph of what I'm trying to say where you can see a flat ribbon is squeezed into the upper and lower corners of the stitch when done on the diagonal, causing the center of the stitch to curve in on itself. It stays flat on the canvas when stitched vertically (or horizontally). The longer the stitch and the more closely they are placed together, the more exaggerated the curve becomes.
One other thing to note--I inserted white beads where french knots were called for. My beading skills far exceed those of french knot making.
 |
| Ornament Holiday Gift White Completed |
 |
| Ornament Holiday Gift White Completed Side View |
I can't remember if I used Neon Rays on the diagonal. Maybe making the holes a little larger would have helped. It's a very cute design.
ReplyDelete