Nuts about Needlepoint

My life sometimes seems to have a double whammy. Not only do I do a multitude of things as a needlepoint designer/writer/teacher, I also run the business mostly by myself. Today’s craft in June post is supposed to be a snapshot of my day. But I think you’ll find it more interesting and useful if I talk about the things I do to stay organized. Know what you Have to Do Every Day & Do that First Many productivity people say don’t do email first thing in the morning. You are usually most productive then so why waste it. I don’t agree if I run my business on email than email is important. I look at it first thing, every morning. The first thing I do is delete junk. Then I check, file or label the things that don’t need to be handled much. These are things such ass web

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Originally posted 2011-03-04 07:43:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter This week we’ll list the box and tied stitches from the Stitches for Effect books. Each is listed by its name. After the name you’ll find the volume and page number. I – Stitches for Effect II – More Stitches for Effect III – Even More Stitches for Effect Remember all these stitches are also in their “Just the Facts, Ma’am” book, Stitches to Go. Line Stitches Chain III-38 Stem II-61 Cross Stitches Alternating Oblong Cross I-22 Alternating Smryna I-23 Broad Cross I-24 Combination Crosses I-26 Cross Plus Two I-27 Double I-31 Double Straight Cross I-32 Fan Vaulting I-32 Flying Cross I-33 Half Drop Rhodes I-34 Herringbone I-34 Horizontal Elongated Smyrna I-35 Jerusalem Cross I-37 Long Armed Cross I-39 Long Upright Cross I-39 Norwich I-41 Oblong Cross I-41 Octagonal Rhodes I-42 Overlaid Oblong Cross I-43 Point de Tresse I-45 Rectangular Rhodes

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With the popularity of decorating for the Christmas and Halloween, needlepoint shops have deadlines for accepting items to finish. The deadlines are the last days items can be guaranteed to be finished and returned to the shop in time for you to pick it up. Because needlepoint can take a long time to stitch, it’s important to keep these deadlines in mind. Halloween deadlines will be in July and August. For many shops Christmas deadlines can be as early as mid-September. They often have different deadlines for small and large items. Some shops, especially if they do their own finishing, have later deadlines, sometimes even in early December. If you are a procrastinator, you may not even be able to get rush orders done at this time of year. Finishers put these deadlines in place so they can do a great job with every piece. Check with your shop for

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One thing that’s nice about many crafts, including needlepoint, is that the process of making things takes long enough that if something is a VERY BAD IDEA, you can abandon it. Like most of you, I have plenty of UFO’s that got mired in muck before they got done. The picture here is one of the few muck-ups I actually finished. It started with a clever idea. Inspired by Japanese screens I thought it would be neat to do a metallic background. I liked that the iris was realistic but also harkens back to the Japanese love for this flower. The idea might work, but not on this canvas and not in that metallic. The flower was stitched. It’s fine. Then the muck-up begins. Let’s think about what’s wrong because it’s very instructive. Not enough contrast: The value of the background is too close to the values of the iris,

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Originally posted 2011-04-24 07:38:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Next year, in addition to the chocolate eggs and Easter bunnies, why not add this charming needlepoint egg to your Easter basket? It’s a free pattern from Rainbow Gallery, designed by Barbara Baker. I love the crazy quilt theme. It’s perfect for using up your stash. You could make several in different colors to make a whole basket of eggs. The patter is downloadable as a PDF. Thanks and a tip of the Easter bonnet to Denise from Craft Gossip. Have a blessed Easter!

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June’s Needlepoint Learn-a-Stitch Owl could be called :Black & white & red all over.” Inspiration comes in the strangest forms and this owl was inspired by a house I saw in a neighboring town. In this owl I used: DMC Color Variations pearl #5 in red Pebbly Perle in red and black Nordic Gold in white Aurifil wool 12 weight in gray Trace the outline of the owl onto your canvas. Remember that the owls and the tip of the top triangle are represented by dots and transfer them as well. From the middle dot, draw two diagonal lines to make the top triangle. Head Stitch the triangle in the top middle in Four-way Continental, below. I used red Pebbly Perle. Stitch the remainder of the head in Open Continental Stripe, below. I used Nordic Gold. Add the eyes, I used brads (I love how easy they are to use)

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Bargello is one of the easiest needlepoint stitches. It’s made up of straight stitches, usually over four threads. The pattern moves in steps with one or more stitches in each step. Usually, though not always the steps are the same number of threads up or down. It’s the number of stitches in a step and the direction of the steps that make a pattern. NO matter how long the stitch is, a Bargello stitch is always the same. To make one: Bring your needle out of the canvas at the bottom point of the stitch. Count up four threads. Bring you need back into the canvas in that hole. That’s it, you’ve made a Bargello stitch. To make a step: From the bottom or top of the current stitch count up or down the number of threads in the step, usually two. Bring your needle out of the canvas. This

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Originally posted 2008-09-12 06:41:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I promised myself I’d do three Twinchies each month and share them with you. This block, Independence, is my newest Twinchy. It’s based on a block in the book 101 Nine Patch Blocks. I had a small scrap of Buttercream canvas (which has been discontinued) and I wanted to use threads which would showcase this color. So I picked a shade of Watercolours, Autumn Frost, which I think of as “pastel Tahiti.” Then added the apricot and dark blue threads. Because the color of the canvas is so striking, I wanted to have it be one of the patches. You could easily stitch this in four colors instead of three or even use five and make the Nine Patch block in the center a real focal point. The chart is below, enjoy! hart

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Finding stitches for those tricky small areas in needlepoint canvases is always a challenge. You face it, I face it, all stitchers face it. Too much Basketweave can be dull, and too many stitches are to big to fit properly. What’s a stitcher to do? In facing this problem myself, I’ve collected and designed innovative stitches that are great for small areas. Now I’m sharing them with you in a set of four ebooks. The Small Stitch Samplers are ready for pre-order at a special pre-pulication price. Each sampler showcases 25 stitches (the middle blocks), with a wide border in another lovely stitch. The texts are designed to be permanent additions to your stitching library with stitch diagrams, pictures of stitched samples and stitching notes. NOt only do you get a great reference in stitching the projects, you’ll create your own unique color scheme based on a shade of Watercolours.

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Read. I love books and have since childhood. My husband does as well. So do all my children. My mom jokes that we are the only household where “Wait until I finish this chapter.” is a legitimate excuse not to do chores. Early in our marriage we moved because we outgrew our house — we had no more room for books. We buy houses based on how many places we can put bookshelves. When we moved to Mare Island we had a major culling of books. We gave away almost 50 boxes of books to the library. We had so many books to give to them the volunteers asked if we were professors. So yes, I like to read. Because I also review books for Amazon, I have a pretty wide-ranging selection (I get to choose only from what they have available). I always have three books in circulation: the

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Originally posted 2007-12-18 09:00:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Starting the year I was 12 (which was even before I learned needlepoint), my mom bought me a new Christmas ornament. This had many consequences: I love ornaments and collect them, I do the same thing for my kids (and my DH), and our tree is very eclectic and stuffed with ornaments. But it also had the consequence that my favorite needlepoint to stitch is Christmas ornaments. I make at least one for each child each year, have dozens of mini socks which trim our railings, and for many years stitched almost nothing else. I did this because my DH said he was tried of pillows, and asked if I could stitch something he didn’t have to see all the time. The answer was ornaments. It turned out they are the perfect needlepoint for a busy life. I stitched while on

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If you are like most stitchers compensation is an issue, I know that often it is for me. That’s why Joni Stevenson’s series on compensation is so great. She’s taken a shape (black line on the drawing) and shows us, step by step how to compensate it when you are stitching with a diagonal stitch. I love that she shows us how to place each row and that she shows what teachers say but often brush over, “Make the whole stitches then fill in.” She’s also honest and offers good advice on what to do with problem areas. It’s the best tutorial I’ve ever seen on compensation. Read the whole thing here. Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013Some Rights ReservedOriginal content here is published under these license terms: X License Type:Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative workLicense Summary:You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the

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In my mind, I have a leisurely but productive day. I wake up at a reasonable time and settle down to stitch after eating breakfast. I stitch for a couple of hours, then work at my computer in the afternoon. After eating dinner I settle down to watch TV and stitch. Doesn’t that sound nice? The reality is different. I eat meals, except dinner, at my desk (if I eat them). I spends most of the day at the computer, writing, creating classes and ebooks, answering email, updating my news site (on Sulia) or this blog. I look for modelstitchers, check people’s work and make diagrams and charts. IT’s all needlepoint but it isn’t stitching. I do eat dinner and settle down to stitch both before and after that meal. On good days I can stitch 3-4 hours. On bad ones it may only be half an hour or so.

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Originally posted 2011-03-13 07:34:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Jody Valentine has given us a bright and colorful present to stitch in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Her charming St. Patrick’s Day heart ornament is available as a free downloadable chart from her blog. On it there are shamrocks in two sizes, green backgrounds, and a rainbow. It’s simply delightful. The design is also available as a hand-painted canvas

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I’m getting ready for a new printing (the fourth) of Bargello Revisited, I’m having a sale through July 1 only. By using the button below you can get the book for $28 instead of the usual list price of $41. This includes $3 for shipping & handling in the US. The sale is limited to stock on hand only, when they are gone, they’re gone! Shipping costs will be added to each order outside the US and will be invoiced through PayPal. Books will not be shipped until shipping invoice is paid. OWL UPDATE: June’s Learn-a-Stitch owl will be posted June 18. Come back to see him! Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013Some Rights ReservedOriginal content here is published under these license terms: X License Type:Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative workLicense Summary:You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the author(s). You are not permitted

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