First wall in the Blue and White Room

I find it really helpful to photograph things in process -- for some reason I can be more dispassionate looking at a photo rather than at the scene itself.  (The macro setting is amazing, isn't it -- I keep finding all sorts of infelicities when I examine things close up :)) Looking at this first wall, I think I want framing over the mantle, too.  Looks a little bare.  Should I "marble" the fireplace or leave it be, I wonder? 

The colour, Stuart Gold, looks paler than I thought it would -- it's certainly a little too pale for the period.  But I think it's pretty, so here's another place where historical accuracy will take a back seat to "but I like it!" :)

I've got a McQueenie's fireplace screen kit, so I'm busy designing a Chinese-themed blue/white/gold petit point pattern for it!

And I still need to go down to the workshop and cut those walls!

Bellpull finished

Here's the finished bellpull, photographed against the Stuart Gold of the wall I'm working on.

Now I need to go down to the workshop and cut the two inside walls for the first floor, so that I can start assembling things.

Hope you're all having great mini days!

Sampler and frame

This morning I made a little frame for the sampler from some moulding I had lying around.  I know from real life art that a frame always makes a piece look about one third better than it does without a frame!  I'm going to stain the frame oak to go with other pieces in Mum's roombox. (Edited to add photo of stained frame, below).

The sampler I just fabric-glued to a piece of card, let it dry, and then trimmed it to fit the frame.  Very easy to do.

I've decided to go with the gold/yellow for the Blue and White Room -- thanks to everyone for chiming in!  The colour is called "Stuart Gold" by Benjamin Moore, so I need to do my panelling first and then get painting!

Sampler on 40 ct silk gauze

On Friday the piece of 40 ct silk gauze I ordered from eBay arrived, and yesterday, with a certain amount of trepidation, I started stitching a tiny sampler, destined for my Mum's Edwardian roombox.

This is my first piece on 40 ct, and it shows :) I made a basic mistake, and I picked out a couple of places, but this particular sampler project goes really quickly because you don't stitch the background -- I'll mount it on a piece of off-white card before I frame it.  Mistakes aside, working on gauze is truly addictive! 

The chart is from Sue Heaser's book Embroidery Projects, by the way.  The finished piece is about an inch wide and an inch and a third long.  (Because it's for my mum, I signed it with my maiden initials, NH :)

Choosing colours for the Blue and White Room

I got some little pots of historical paint colours, having checked out which wall colours were possible circa 1700.  Stone colour was popular, as was a dark blue and a yellowish ochre, so I grabbed some examples of those and painted some swatches so I could look at some blue and white plates against the colours.

I like this dark blue, but it's a bit predictable with the blue and white.

I like this stone grey, too, but it's a little dull for this particular room.  I want this room to be quite pretty :)

Okay, now we're talking!  Elga sent me some photos of her own delft-ware against a yellow wall.  You can't beat blue, white and yellow, can you?  I think this is very pretty.

Here's some plates against the red wallpaper:

And here's the same plates against an earth-toned paper:

What do you think?

Bellpull stitiching done

Yesterday I finished the stitching on the bellpull -- I'm in the process of hemming it and adding the pewter top and a tassel on the bottom!

I've learned that one should never carry a dark coloured thread from one area of the canvas to another, because it WILL show up behind a light background :)   Good lesson to learn!

And I learned how much I love stitching on silk gauze. I'd like to thank the Petitpointers and my other friends in the mini world for your encouragement to give this a try!

What skills have you learned in the mini world that you never thought you'd have?

My Mum's Edwardian Roombox -- post Christmas photos

Last Mother's Day David and I built an Edwardian-era 1:12 scale roombox for my Mum, and we've been filling it with goodies ever since :)

Tuesday is usually the day I spend with my Mum, hanging out with her, shopping with her, helping her with things.  Well, we had a great time yesterday, and I got a chance to take some photos of how she's arranged her roombox to incorporate her mini Christmas presents.

I think she's arranged things really nicely :)  I love you, Mum!

Links for petit point sites and resources

Bobbie Schoonmaker's Afshar rug on 40 ct silk gauze

Needlepoint is the general term for embroidery worked on a counted canvas or fabric using tent stitch (continental stitch) and basketweave stitch.  Gros point is the larger scale stuff, worked on size 16 ct canvas and above (16 ct to 8 ct per inch).  What we use in the miniaturist's world is petit point.  Definitions for petit point vary, but the current consensus seems to be that petit point is small scale needlepoint, especially on silk gauze, smaller than 18 ct (22 ct, 32 ct, 40 ct, 48 ct up to 100 ct!)

START HERE :)

Petitpointers group on Yahoo:  the best, most active group of people doing petitpoint on the Internet.  Most of the members are working on silk gauze, in the 40 ct range and smaller, but they're VERY welcoming of all people, including beginners, and there's no pressure to do anything but have a good time at whatever level you're working at.  Very inspirational, and a very supportive group of people.

ABOUT PETIT POINT

The Needlepoint community at About.com

 Miniature Needlework Society


SHOPS SELLING SCALE PETIT POINT KITS, CHARTS AND SUPPLIES

Micro Stitchery -- IGMA Fellow Bobbie Schoonmaker's charts and kits available here, most of them on 40 ct silk gauze.

Miniature Home -- IGMA member Melissa Boling's charts and kits here, most on 40 and 48 ct.

Janet Granger --  Beautiful charts and kits, mostly at the larger end of the petit point definition (18 - 32 ct, some on silk gauze).  She also sells some supplies.  Great starting place for beginners!

Mini Stitches -- Annelle Ferguson's site, with silk gauze kits (mostly gorgeous samplers) available

Stitches in Miniature -- some very pretty carpet designs on 22 ct canvas.

Magic Miniatures -- historical works of art charted for petit point -- some very high count charts (70 ct) and many more at 40 ct.  Charts only, some can be downloaded, which is convenient.  A wide variety of subjects.

Felicity Price -- Patterns and kits on 22 ct canvas.  Some really lovely designs -- I have her book, too :)

Cookie Ziemba -- gorgeous kits for miniature crewel work (okay, it's not petit point, but it's beautiful :))

Janet Granger Willow pattern bellpull in progress

Months ago I ordered two kits from dolls' house needlepoint artist Janet Granger:  a cushion kit on 18 ct canvas and a blue and white bellpull on 32 ct silk gauze.

That bellpull kit has sat in my workroom for months, waiting for me to get up the courage to try stitching on silk.  Well, I started it a few nights ago, thanks to the encouraging effect of hanging out with the Petitpointers group on Yahoo and looking at their amazing work on silk gauze.

It's inspiring, I tell you!

So here I am, a couple of days later, with the design all stitched and a new obsession -- stitching very small things on gauze.  This is about half an inch wide, by the way.

This looks very messy -- I'm sure I'll get better at it -- and I totally botched the whole "find the centre of both the gauze and the chart and match them together" thing, because I was running out of room at the bottom of the piece and had to excise about 5 stitches from the pattern :)  You can see how close it's getting at the bottom!

But it's a very pretty pattern and surprisingly easy to do.  Actually, I found it easier to stitch on 32 ct gauze than on 32 ct evenweave fabric or canvas -- because the warp and woof threads of the gauze are so fine, the spaces are bigger, and easier to see.  And it's VERY satisfying because the whole thing is so dainty.

Close up of the top of the pattern.

I'm starting a resource list for petit point links and shops, largely to organize my own collection of links, but also in case it's of use to other people.

Finished carpet in the bedroom and start on Blue and White Room

Here's the finished carpet in the bedroom, with its edges hemmed :)  I've always loved oriental carpets and can't afford the real thing, so I think I'll start a collection of needlepoint ones in miniature!

Here's the start of work on the fireplace wall in the Blue and White Room.  I'm still hemming and hawing over the wallpaper.  This pattern is based on a scrap of early 18th century wallpaper which I laser printed.  I can do it in other colourways, too -- but I chose red because I didn't want my blue and white china to disappear against its background.  I want to mount blue and white plates in an arrangement above the fireplace, comme ça:

Okay, it's not period, but it's yummy :)  Photo from Better Homes and Gardens found at http://bijoukaleidoscope.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html

The wainscotting will be painted a coordinating colour to whatever I choose for the wallpaper.

What do you think?  There's the dark red, or I could do a dark blue, which might still give me enough contrast with the china, or I could go sort of goldy-ochre-orange which would be complementary to blue.  Or maybe I should do high panelling and paint it in an ochre or red? Decisions!