THE MYSTERY OF THE
VANISHING CANVAS
(All You Ever Wanted To Know About
Blue Line Waste Canvas)
by June H. Moes

 
As originally published in Needle Pointers, August/September '93

Editor's Note: One of the great joys of needlework travel is the opportunity it affords to meet exciting and creative people in our art. At a seminar we had the opportunity to get to know June Moes. We found June to be not only a "kindred spirit," but also a multi-talented teacher and designer with her own unique approach. She was most willing to share her expertise with our members, and we are grateful for her contribution. This is the beginning article of June's in-depth study of working with waste canvas. We strongly urge each of you to begin a notebook with this article and keep it going... your result will be a valuable tool.

In 1973 I contributed a chapter to Jean Ray Laury's book, CREATING BODY COVERINGS, covering blue line waste canvas, that "funny cheap stuff unknowledgeable people work needlepoint on." I wanted to clarify its usage.

This canvas technique has been around for many years, and the technique can probably be traced back to the time of Berlin Wool work. Any pattern or design on a graph can be interpreted using blue line waste canvas. You can mark your children's, husband's and your clothing indefinitely using not only cross stitch but any one or more of the 72 stitch patterns you will find in the next 6 issues. I will endeavor to up-date new and exciting uses of blue line waste canvas for more exciting embroidery and counted work on woven and non-woven fabrics.

Always interested in embroidering my clothing, I enjoy convincing other canvasworkers how to transfer her canvaswork (needlepoint) skills to clothing or home accessories. I don't want to leave out quilters either. They can easily "mark" or identify a quilt by incorporating a small statement embroidered on the quilt lining using blue line waste canvas.

A couple of simple rules will lead to great success:

1. The stitching must not catch the threads of the canvas. Use a needle with a point such as a crewel or cross stitch needle.

2. If you are going to work on white, paint out the white canvas with a pastel or yellow acrylic to help you see the canvas against the white background. Let the paint dry before stitching.

3. When stitching is complete. dampen the canvas surface carefully. If you are working on a wool background, moistening the canvas but not soaking it should not harm or shrink the wool background. The same holds true for using wool thread to stitch with. I usually hold the embroidered item under cold water for a fast count 1-2-3, blot up the excess water and the nature of wool is that it doesn't absorb much water unless soaked. The' blue line waste canvas is sufficiently wet for the next step.

4. With a tweezer, pull out either the canvas threads which are horizontal or vertical; the threads left come out easily.

The following examples were worked on 10/1 blue line waste canvas. These stitch patterns were compiled for a program which was given at the Marin Needlework and Quilt Show and which has also been shown to guilds throughout the United States.

To Start your own notebook of stitches, cut 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" pieces of blue line canvas and light colored background fabric (tightly woven wool, cotton or felt). Work the stitch pattern twice with a little space in between; cut the blue line waste canvas only in the space between, moisten the right side only and remove the canvas and you will have examples like those pictured following this article. There are more stitches coming your way in the next year. Keep tuned. Will Buttonhole Wheels be able to overtake Captive Rice?

THE STITCHES OF CREATIVE EMBROIDERY (Revised and Enlarged Edition) by Jacqueline Enthoven, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. 1987

DICTIONARY OF CANVASWORK STITCHES by Mary Rhodes, Chas. Scribners, NY, 1980