coral class II beginning

This is the second coral canvas that Trubey painted for me to teach several years ago.  I sold the original pillows one August day when I was feeling especially poor!  Now to stitch a replacement.  I have already finished one canvas (blogged the finish on September 21, 2011). 

First I started the border stitch, the Van Dyke.  I'm stitching this canvas in Splendor.  The background (and border) are done in 2 plies of a pale aqua and 2 plies of an off-white.  I like doing all of the border before I start the background stitch, only because the background then fits smoothly and lays over the border stitch.
I hate having to take extra time to be sure I'm not piercing previous stitches to add the border later. 

You can see that I painted out the bottom line so the fan coral is spaced evenly.  The copy painter wanted the bottom border to be closer than the top like paintings in an art gallery.  I used gesso to paint out the line.  Though you can see it in this photograph, it won't show through after I've stitched the background.  You can also use white acrylic paint, but the gesso is actually more effective.  You can buy it (in massive quantities) at Michael's and similar craft stores.  You really only need a little bit, so buy the smallest size you can find.

The background stitch I selected for this canvas is the Old Florentine.  It provides a nice texture.  Now, I just need to get some free time to stitch on this canvas.