Sunday, May 4, 2008

ANG Baltimore Seminar Nametag

I'm still working away on my ANG Baltimore Seminar Nametag. I ordered the nametag and though I appreciate the hard work that the volunteers put into the design, I decided to tweak a few things. You can see a picture of the original name tag here;

http://www.needlepoint.org/newsletter.php#cyberworkshop

I removed the crab from the design. It was stitched in a coral color and everyone knows that's a cooked dead crab who obviously will not be stitching anything! I originally planned on redesigning the crab so it would be an uncooked Blue Crab. Actually it was going to be a "She" crab as she was going to be a lovely shade of aqua blue with red tips on her claws. The "Boy" crabs do not have red tips on their claws! I came up with a design that looked like a blue crab but I still thought it looked way too big in comparison to the other elements on the name tag. So scratch one blue crab. I’m planning on putting the crab charm in the lower portion of the Chesapeake Bay to take the designed crabs place.

I also redesigned the lighthouse so it reflects the style of lighthouses that were and still are on the Chesapeake Bay. I based my lighthouse design on the Hoopers Strait lighthouse which was moved from Hoopers Strait to the Chesapeake Maritime Museum. You can see the lighthouse here;

http://www.cbmm.org/ab_main.html

Click on the “About us” link to see the lighthouse.

Another picture of the lighthouse is her.

http://www.cheslights.org/heritage/hoopers-str.htm

Of course I then couldn’t leave well enough alone with the boat either… So I worked up two designs for the ship. One is based on a Skipjack and you can see an example here;

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/symbols/boat.html

The second ship design is based on the “Lady Maryland” which is a pungy schooner. You can see the “Lady Maryland” and read about her here;

http://www.livingclassrooms.org/Facilities/LadyMD.html

After tweaking the ship designs, my daughter and I decided that I should stitch the Skipjack as it doesn’t look as busy with just two sails as the schooner with three. The Skipjack is also more reflective of the Bay’s history.

I've finished the designing portion of this project and I was able to start stitching a few nights ago. I don't have a lot to share yet as I was able to stitch only the "ANG Baltimore 2007" and my name on the nametag.

Later in the week I began stitching the lighthouse but it’s not going to look like much until I can add in the backstitching. It looks like a UFO right now!

I then decided that the letters, which are stitched in a very dark midnight blue, need a little accent. I've pawed through my stash and I've found a couple of colors of Kreinik blending filament which I hope to try tomorrow. I did consider ripping out the letters and replacing with a Kreinik braid but I finally decided that I just want to add a little glisten to the letters. Plus I need to get this done if I have any hope of finishing it in time so it can be finished for Seminar!

If what I've pulled from my stash doesn't work, I may have to go to my LNS on Monday. Now that will be fun!

I also redesigned the Chesapeake Bay for the nametag. This was the most challenging part of the project as I wanted it to look like the outline of the Bay instead of just any old body of water. The Bay does have a distinct shape and feeder rivers which are hard to stitch on such a small scale. I finally came up with a design that I’m happy with. I’m just crossing my fingers that it stitches up well!

As soon as I get more of it done, I’ll post a picture. Yes, Kelly, Pat and Jane I promise!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

Original Comments:

- Wow! What a lot of work! How large is the nametag going to be? Sounds like a lot is in one small area. We look forward to pictures, of course.

Jane of Chilly Hollow

- Hi Jane,It's been fun to redo the design and I'm enjoying the stitching and seeing it all come together! Plus it's helping me to keep my interest in this project. The nametag is going to be 4.4" by 3.2" and of course the finishing will add a little to the size. This is just slightly bigger than the badge I wear everyday to work. I used my work badge for comparision to make sure I didn't make anything too big! I like the larger dimensions of the design on 18 count than the size it would have been on congress cloth which is one of the reasons I started redoing the design. Since I'm stitching on 18 count, it's working up fairly quickly. Or it was until I ran into my thread dilemma which I plan on solving today. As soon as I stitch the main motif's and start working on the background, I'll post pictures. I promise!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

- Thanks for all the information, Cynthia. I look forward to photos. Your nametag is about the same size as the one I'm stitching on congress cloth so I am eager to see how all those motifs are crammed into that small a space.

Jane of Chilly Hollow

- Pictures, pictures, pictures came the chant from the mountains...

NC Pat

Orginally Posted: July 7, 2007

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