Solaria Gallery

Iveron Theotokos
Source: Soyanka Ivanova, Solaria Gallery

Bulgarian artist Stoyanka Ivanova has some beautiful original Icon patterns & kits for sale through her website Solaria Gallery.  They are meant to be done using petit-pointe, a needlepoint technique that she explains on her website.  This technique allows for up to double the number of stitches as with typical 'over two' or aid-cloth cross stitch and the amazing detailing on these designs is the result.  I am seriously considering her Iveron Theotokos (left) for my next large project.

Chatelaine Designs: White Nights of St. Petersburg

If you like large projects, lots of beads, and working with silk and variegated yarn then Chatelaine Designs has a beautiful pattern available featuring Eastern Orthodox Church domes as well as other architectural features of St. Petersburg. 


The full design is stunning (as is to be expected from a Chatelaine design):

 Source: Martina, Weber - Chatelaine Designs

Review
I am really enjoying working on this project.  The colors are beautiful and the pattern is complicated enough that you don't get bored from doing the same thing over and over.  Perhaps my feelings on that will change once I get to the border, which seems to be the largest repetative piece.  I have never worked with either silks or petite braid metallics before so it has been a treat.  I particularly like the petite braid in comparison to regular DMC metallic thread.  I may make this my substitute of choice from now on.  The braid doesn't have the fraying problems of the thread and there is also a much greater variety of shades. 


Cost
The pattern is reasonable for the size and intricacy of the design, but making it up using all of the silk threads can be very costly.  If you don't want to make any substitutions then I recommend buying the kit if you can as it will save money vs. trying to find the threads elsewhere.  If you do wish to substitute or buy threads as you go, then there is an option of purchasing just the bead pack.  I priced out beads through other sources and found the pack to be the most affordable by far.


Availability
The pattern is available as a PDF or chart pat from the European Crosstitch Company.  They also sell full kits with fabric, full kits w/o fabric, and bead packs.  The information for this pattern is here:  http://europeanxs.com/cgi-bin/chat_detail.pl?CD057-


Support
There is a Chatelaine Design Yahoo Group you can join if you want to share your progress or get clarification on the instructions.  The Chatelaine Design forum archived the sub-forum for this design which contains many tips and hints.  Both of these can be found throught he Chatelaine Designs Web site.

Center Medallian and start of colums/gates

White Nights - WIP 4/11 on Flickr.

Thea Gouvernor: Pantocrator and Theotokos Icon Kits

A friend at church kept encouraging me to stitch an Icon, however most of what I found I either didn't like the style of, involved sending a money order to Russia, or were photo conversions.  I confess to being an art snob - at least with regards to this subject.  One day I opened my favorite cross stitch magazine to see two new Icon kits by Thea Gouverneur.   The intricate stitching allowed for the original beauty of the historic Icons they were based on to shine through.  I haven't been able to find the original source for the Theotokos, but the Pantocrator is based on the 'Christ the Savior and Life Giver' Icon written by Metropolitan Jovan-Zograph currently held in the museum of Skopje, Macedonia.  (More info: http://www.soros.org.mk/konkurs/019/eng/i42.htm). 

I researched hundreds of Theotokos  Icons available on the net, yet never found anything similar to this one that would appear to be the source.  I tried contacting the company multiple times, but all that got me was added to their monthly mailing list.  I'm not sure if I will stitch this one as many key features have been damaged.  I do not feel up to the task of trying a little 'art restoration' given the complexity of the coloring patterns.  Since I have all the artistic skills of a stick figure cartoonist, stitching will likely be the only way I can bring my talents to bear on such a holy work.  I only pray the end result will prove my meager skills up to the task.  Nothing ventued, nothing gained as they say - so I ordered the Pantocrator and have been slowly working on it for the last 9 or 10 months.

Here are top and bottom of my work - almost done.  The backgruond contains a lot of confetti stitching and I've often needed to take a break for a few weeks before having the energy to go back.  I want the final design to fit in an 11x14 frame so I 'cut' some of the top, bottom, and sides to a managable number and now need to find a border pattern 19 high (-1/4cm for frame lip) that repeats at 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27, or 54 pattern

Pantocrator Icon WIP 4/11

Review:

I like the pattern directions, they are clear and easy to read for something with over 70 colors.  Threads are DMC but numbers are not provided.  I was able to determine the numbers for most of them for my own reference. There is a lot of 'confetti' stitching, especially in the background, but the final effect makes it worth it.  I hve discoverd that metallic cotton stranded thread is an abomination!  After this project I intend to do everything within my power to never use it again.If you have a good 'braided' substitute I would suggest using it instead.

Availablity:

Kits are readily available at many online retailers.  I bought mine through Arts and Designs.  Which seems to be the cheapest.

An Introduction, or why this blog...

Who am I and why another blog...
I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian and also an avid needleworker (mostly counted embroidery). I have discovered that in the United States, at least, it can be difficult to find patterns and kits with an Orthodox-related theme however if you search hard you can find a great number of options through the Internet and Eastern European sources.  My hope for this blog is that it will serve as a central resource for others interested in needlework patterns and kits related to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.  

What I'll post...
My main area of focus is on patterns for home or personal use, but if I ever run across good resources for liturgical needlework I will post those as well.  I am more interested in patterns than in finished goods so most of the information I will post will be geared towards the crafter.  I'll also post some of my WIP's and completed work because what is the point of having a vanity site if you don't get to show off...

Anything related the Orthodox faith or Orthodox Church will find it's way up - Icons, Church buildings, 'Red' corner scarves, Pascha basket covers, and so on.

How to find...
I will not post any patterns unless I have created them myself, have permission to do so, or know them to be in the public domain.  I will post pictures of finished work or magazine drawings as a point of reference.  If I know of a legitimate place to purchase the pattern I will link to it, otherwise I leave acquisition of patterns up to you. 

So, I think that sums everything up.  Now to the fun part - the patterns!