sharing....

the 'back' of my work!  Most stitchers totally freak if you take even a glance at the back of their work.  I happen to not care.  Of course, the back of my work is annoyingly neat to others.  It's not a 'thing' for me...it just happens to turn out that way.  My head thinks ahead of my hand...it's like a GPS...if I start here...I can slip over there to snag that stitch...then over there to work the other area of this color... and so on.  It's not really a conscious effort.  

Anyway, my point in sharing comes from a discussion about a week ago with other threadbenders on a FB needlepoint page.  The question posed was..."When do I Basketweave as opposed to Continental??"  You can drive yourself crazy over this....my answer is to not do this...remember why you stitch??  To RELAX!  I felt the eye rolls from several dedicated teachers with that...sorry.  I do have some personal rules I like to enforce....a frame is better than in hand...not just because it keeps your canvas from listing to the left but also for your comfort.  Posture, neck/shoulders/the all important hands...gripping your canvas causes gobs of problems down the road.  I've probably only met two stitchers that really relax when working on a piece, most of you have a death grip on your canvas/needle.  

I will say when working on a skinny belt...it's in my hand but it does take me longer this way.  I stitch two handed and am like an addict with the speed I achieve.  This is my business...so I do go for speed...models have to be worked up quickly.  

Getting to the point here...below are several shots of a piece stitched entirely in Tent, so far.  Tent being the generic term for a stitch that is worked on a diagonal over one intersection of canvas.  Basketweave and Continental being the only two ways I recommend Tent to be worked.  You'll see from the pictures that you can actually work Basketweave in very small areas.  Like the little blue arches...even on a 4 intersection block.  Single lines, curves...these have to be in Continental. 

This cute Paisley Elephant is by designer Karen Grant.  I love elephants, she also did the paisley version of my pup Chance ... which I can't wait to work.  He's the carrot at the end of my Biscornu series.

On another note...I am working steadily on the Biscornu designs which begin shipping mid January 2013.  The Swirling Hearts design, fourth in the series is patiently waiting for it's fabric to arrive....for a second time.  The first draft came looking very pale lavender which did not work.  So back to the drawing table and off again to the busy little fabric factory.  The latest email says it's been shipped, due to arrive shortly.  Maybe by the end of this week or beginning of next, I'll have something to show you. 

a Kimberly design....

a.k.a. Kimberly Crum .... several years ago ... I decided to leave the charted world for an indefinite time.  I loved it but sales were not what they needed to be.  Knitting had become the new favorite and even painted canvas was taking a hit.  So I 'retired'.  

In 2005 I went to work for The Needle Works here in Austin, Texas.  Being back around all the thread and canvas was a nice feeling and I took on the task of writing stitch guides for painted canvas sold through the shop.  It's given me many opportunities to explore new ideas and meet many different stitchers.  

On my off time I started to draw again.  In an earlier post I showed you some of my work from the 70's/80's.  I began to acquire a vast array of colored pencils and markers.  I discovered on line marketing and dabbled.  It was fun and I was enjoying myself.  I have quite a collection of illustrations for card art from this period of time.  

This brings me around to the now of my life.  All that card art is slowly inching it's way out of my head and onto canvas.  Circle of life so to speak.  The banner at the top of this blog was a card I drew the week before my daughters wedding three years ago.  I'm thinking I'd like to paint it even larger for a pillow.  Of course, still working full time...my evenings are just not enough time to do 'all the stuff in my head'!  I may have to start making lists...anyone that really knows me....knows this is not a forte for me.  I'm big on post it's that live in my jeans pockets.  

Pictured below is a piece I created back in '98.  It was one of my most popular designs, titled appropriately enough, 'Evolve'....

"Evolve" a Kimberly design copyright 1998