V I V A Z I V A ! n e w s l e t t e r

▪volume number: 2128▪ FREE GLASSES CASE DESIGN INSPIRED BY PICASSO’S PAINTINGS OF WOMEN ▪

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One of our RECENT PAINTINGS…. an ART DECO cushion design called ‘Deco Mango’ inspired TWO NEW DESIGNS of Art Deco cushions in the same theme! Have a look!

….PLUS…… NOW AVAILABLE! ……NEW JAPANESE STYLE WALL ART DESIGNS …and more ‘floating’designs for our FRENCH COUNTRY GARDEN COLLECTION.

And…… a FREE GLASSES CASE DESIGN BASED ON THIS 1962 PICASSO PAINTING!

We have adapted part of this Picasso painting from 1962 to create a graphically dynamic glasses case design called ‘TWO FACE’

Click here to see our newsletter back issues with free designs that may interest you!

WHAT’S IN EACH VIVA ZIVA! NEWSLETTER?

• Updates
• Recent Paintings
• New Designs
• Your Stitch/Technique to Try
• FREEDesign
• Ask the ZIVA DIVA!
• Next Issue

UPDATES

NOW AVAILABLE …FOUR NEW ART NOUVEAU DESIGNS FOR OUR FRENCH COUNTRY GARDEN COLLECTION !

We adapted FOUR original Art Nouveau 1907 floral motifs to create “floating designs” for SEAT COVERS or CUSHIONS

For seat covers , these ‘floating’ motifs are all approximately the same size creating a set of 4 for your dining room. You could repeat two of the designs to make up a set of 6 OR make each one twice for a set of 8 OR make up the number you need with just one design. Lots of possibilities!

YOUR CHOICE.

For cushions, the ‘floating’ motifs are also all approximately the same size, but slightly larger than the seat cover motifs.

Go to our SHOPPING PAGES for details about sizes.

DYNAMIC COLOURS

For the four motifs, we have selected the same range of warm to cool greens in the leaves for each design to complement the dynamic flower colours of reds, fuchsias and blue violets.

We’ve kept the background colour neutral in each case (light grey), so you can see the design details.

However, the background colour and even the flower colours can match the colour scheme in your home décor.

Make it yours uniquely!

ALSO NOW AVAILABLE …NEW JAPANESE STYLE DESIGNS FOR WALL ART!

We adapted our two new wall art designs from rare colour Japanese woodblock images from the 1930s.

‘CASCADING CHRYSANTHEMUMS’ (Image above left)

We created a delicate and rhythmic cascade of white chrysanthemum flowers with a disciplined palette of just off-white, greys and taupes so the focus of the design is completely directed to its asymmetrical composition.

‘TIMELESS CHRYSANTHEMUMS’ (Image above right)

These two chrysanthemum motifs have been placed asymmetrically on a wall art needlepoint panel in a disciplined palette of neutral black and white flowers, black stems and leaves…. and set off by a soft ‘cherry blossom’ colour for the background.

For more details about these designs, go to our Japanese Wall Art Collection!

We have the same minimalist Japanese designs available as CUSHIONS, if you want to stitch something smaller!

RECENT PAINTINGS

This Art Deco cushion design is one of our more popular motifs……. having painted it several times for clients all over the world!

Its Modernist motif was inspired by a train…. the Orient Express!

The Venice-Simplon Orient Express was the archetypal train of the Art Deco era.

The 1920’s sleeping cars featured Lalique glass panels, Florentine upholstery and ornate Deco marquetry panels .

We adapted one of these decorative marquetry panels to create the cushion design “DECO MANGO”

NEW DESIGNS

COMING SOON! ……. TWO MORE ART DECO DESIGNS FROM THE ORIENT EXPRESS!

We’ve now adapted two more Modernist marquetry panel motifs from the Orient Express to complement our Deco Mango design.

We have repeated the same angular border detail and cushion sizes in all three cushion designs so they will work together in your décor.

DECO TROPICAL FLOWERS

The sinuous stylized leaves in palette of soft warm greens, browns and golds envelop an array of small tropical flowers in a range of blues, greens and golds.

Its exotic and graceful style typifies the era.

DECO EXOTIC FRUIT

This time we propose a much bolder graphic leaf design with similar leaf colours as the Deco tropical flowers’ motif, plus an addition of a range of soft blue-greens.

For the fruit, we created a classic Art Deco motif of diamond shapes in gradated colour range of red-orange, rust-orange, golden-orange and gold….. graphically resembling the exotic ‘Pandan’ fruit.

YOUR STITCH/TECHNIQUE TO TRY

To create Picasso’s painterly texture for parts of the glasses case, we combined the Straight Gobelin Stitch with the Technique to Try!

Stunning Results!

STRAIGHT GOBELIN STITCH

The diagram to the right shows you how to stagger the Straight Gobelin stitch row by row over four threads

We used this stitch on the glasses case only in the same sections as the Technique to Try.

YOUR TECHNIQUE TO TRY

This technique helped us to recreate Picasso’s painterly textures for some parts of the glasses case!

We started with DMC’s Mouliné Spécial 6-ply thread and separated the strands to create several different colour combinations to make up one 6-ply thread and stitched it in the Staggered Gobelin Stitch (photo left) and the regular Tent Stitch.

What did we discover?

• We found that the more contrast in the thread colours, the more tex-ture was created.
• We also found that the texture in the colour combinations was more visible with the Gobelin Stitch than with using the normal Tent Stitch.

We selected four different combinations for this design which we have outlined in the glasses case chart and colours listing below.

PRACTICE THE STAGGERED GOBELIN STITCH WITH THE TEXTURED TECHNIQUE FIRST!

If you need to practice our Gobelin Stitch first with the texture technique, practice on a piece of 13hpi gauge interlock canvas first until you feel you have mastered it!

FREE DESIGN

‘TWO FACE’ GLASSES CASE DESIGN CONCEPT

We focused our design concept solely on the woman’s face from the 1962 Picasso painting.

Please note the different textures of grey tones in the bottom left sections of the painting. These are the sections where we have used the textured and staggered Gobelin Stitch (details of their distribution below).

By folding over the square design to create the glasses case, we’ve created two different facial features and colour schemes for the same face - one for each side of the glasses case - called ‘TWO FACE’!

The size of the total stitched area of the case, as shown in the photos above, is 7” x 7” (approx. 18 cm x 18 cm), be-fore it is folded to create a the final glasses case size at approx. 31/2” x 7” (9 x 18 cm).

Ample size for most glasses to fit comfortably.

THE COLOURS

With our selection of yarns, we tried to stay true to Picasso’s colour palette of red-rust, warm green, blue and a neutral range of white, greys, blue-greys, and black.

READING THE CHART:

GLASSES CASE CHART

• This chart shows the Picasso glasses case design at 7” square with 13-gauge interlock canvas
• Note the four coded sections on the chart which indicate the textured codes (T.1, T.2, T.3, T.4), shown and listed below.

• You may want to consider using the Cross Stitch and/or French knots for the blue details in the woman’s hair on the right side of the image to give more interest and texture to this side of the case.

FOUR TEXTURES FOR GLASSES CASE AND THEIR CODES

• The four textures images below are stitched in the Gobelin Stitch over 4 threads vertically for T.1, T.2, and T.3.
• We suggest stitching T.4 horizontally still at 4 threads to show off the texture in this wider section and add more interest to the case.
• Below the images we have shown a chart listing the DMC yarn colour number (Colour) and the number of threads (N°) for each colour to make the textured colour combinations.

YARN COLOURS

All the yarns for the Picasso glasses case were chosen from DMC Mouliné Spécial 6-ply cotton range of colours.

They are readily available at your local needlepoint shop or online.

• #1 – 3831 RED-RUST
• #2 – 3832 LIGHT RED-RUST (under right eye only)
• #3 – 367 GREEN
• #4 – 798 BLUE
• #5 - 310 BLACK
• #6 – 762 OFF-WHITE
• #7 – 168 LIGHT GREEN-GREY
• #8 – 415 LIGHT COOL GREY
• #9 – 318 COOL GREY
• #10 – 414 MID GREY
• #11 – 519 LIGHT BLUE
• #12 – 319 DARK GREEN

YARN QUANTITIES

As a guide for the glasses case threads, you will require approximately the following 6-ply cotton thread quantities:

OTHER MATERIALS

You will also need :

• White 13 mesh (hpi) Interlock canvas
• Approximate Canvas Size: 8.5” (approx. 21.5cm) square
• # 20 Needlepoint Needle
• Masking Tape

Go to the ZIVA site for more detail info on the MATERIALS required.

MAKING UP SUGGESTIONS

• Trim the canvas around your stitching to leave a ½” seam. Turn all the seam allowances to the back, and with fabric glue, glue down the seams to the back.
• Stitch the top edge with the “Loop” Edge Stitch, in black cotton thread, or in one of the colours from the design.
• NOTE: I’ve included a diagram of this stitch on the sewing needlepoint page on the ZIVA site.
• With fabric glue, line the back of the glasses case with black satin lin-ing or black thin felt fabric – your preference. Make sure you leave enough of the canvas edges free from the lining (approx. 3 rows) to allow for finishing the side and bottom edges.
• Fold the needlepoint canvas in half to create the stitched face motif on either side of the glasses case.
• Stitch the two side and bottom edges together again using the Loop Stitch.

It’s now ready to use! Congratulations!