Thistle Needleworks -- Trick or Treat

Thistle Needleworks
Trick or Treat
with Joni Stevenson

Trick or Treat

Design size: 8"w x 10"h on 18-count canvas

Class Fee: $55.00 includes complete kit

Saturday, October 3, 10am - 4pm

This delightfully transparent ghost is looking for some treats for his Halloween fun. The ghost is a mixed media creation from sheer and netting fabrics, with tent stitched eyes and mouth, that allows the ghost to have a transparent nature. The pumpkin bucket, to hold all his treats, is stitched in Burden Stitch; the gravestone is in a Reversed Slant Divided Beatty Stitch. The ground is a combination of Whipped Backstitch and Outline Stitch. The three-part border includes couching, a Scotch Stitch Variation, and Slanted Gobelin combined with Rhodes Stitches. A variety of threads are used, including silk and wool, metallics, and cottons.

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Class Description:
This intermediate class will introduce the student to stitches and techniques used with mixed media applications of appliqué with sheers and netting fabrics to create a transparent effect. The treat bucket that the ghost is holding is stitched using metallics and cottons in a Burden Stitch. The gravestone is stitched with an overdyed thread to create irregularities in a Reversed Slant Divided Beatty Stitch, and is stitched in a manner to give it a three-dimensional look. The ground beneath the gravestone is rendered in a minimalist style using Whipped Backstitch and Outline Stitch.

The border is created in three parts. The first section is Couched metallic thread with a Cross Stitch over the top. The second border is a variation of the Scotch Stitch in two colors of a silk and wool thread and a metallic thread stitched diagonally over the top. The third border is a Slanted Gobelin Stitch in a cotton thread, hi-lighted with Rhodes Stitches in metallic threads. A technique to hide the canvas peeking through the black threads is introduced.

The words "Trick of Treat" are counted onto the background from a chart. The majority of the background is left unstitched so that this piece is quick to work up and provides a nice opportunity to have a large decorative Halloween needlepoint piece in a short amount of time.

Biography:
Joni Stevenson is a needlepoint teacher and designer who specializes in thread and color manipulation to create realistic effects. Enrolled in the ANG Master Teacher Program, she will teach a class and receive her Journeyman Level at the Milwaukee Seminar in October 2009. She has been published several times in Needle Pointers and has won many awards for her stitching at ANG National seminars. Joni is a member of both EGA and ANG and supports both groups through her many years of volunteer work at the local, regional, and national levels. Her design "Let It SNOW-MAN!" is featured in the September 2009 issue of Needle Pointers magazine.

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