Needlepoint/Petit Point

Lately I've been on a mission to clean this house of mine, so while I had some of the pictures down for cleaning I thought I'd share some of my work with readers.  The above tapestry included a small amount of petit point.  The canvas was purchased for me by my mother.  If I had my time over again, I'd have this framed with a mount board, as I do not like the stitching touching the glass.

I purchased this as a kit some years ago.  It was a trammed tapestry, with all but background wools included.  I really didn't like the feel of the wools provided, so I spent some time in a Lincraft store trying to match it with the appropriate DMC tapestry wools [there were no thread numbers included].  Again, a small amount of petit point was worked in some of the more 'detailed' areas.   The kit was to be made into a cushion about 14 inches square.   I just didn't like the chances of a cushion surviving the children, so I decided to stitch the background out into a circle, and then have it framed and presented this way.  I never tire of this piece, and unfortunately, I've never found anything similar, ie favourite Australian birds.

I'd always felt the urge to complete a design in all petit point, and I have to say this piece took me quite a number of years to stitch.  It has been worked using three strands of stranded cotton, approximately 9 stitches to 1 centimetre with an estimated 37,500 stitches.  I don't think I would be in a hurry to do something like this any time soon!!!  It is extremely hard on the eyes.  Choosing the mount boards and framing was a challenge actually.   The narrow gold bevel hopefully alleviates the problem with the green sitting adjacent to the blue sky.  I seem to gravitate towards green mount boards, and I have no idea why.  I like green, but I can't say that it is my most favourite colour.

I hope some readers enjoy seeing some other stitching I've done over the years.  I still have a creative tapestry in progress.  I did a creative tapestry correspondence course some years ago, which was to culminate in a completed piece.....................................  I suppose you'd have to say I haven't actually completed the course to date.

I may be off the computer in a few days as we are having some changes here.  Hopefully, for the better.