Barbara has posted stitches for two more patches on her blog. One is for my favorite stitch, T Stitch in a great color variation. Two colors, pink and blue, alternate in lines. I love this stitch because it gives such wonderful texture and is so easy to do. The second is for Byzantine Stitch another great stitch and one which is so fun. It’s also stitched in two colors. The cool thing about the multiple colors in this sampler is that it helps this delightful piece function as a sampler. By having the rows of Byzantine, for example, alternate colors, you will easily be able to see the structure of the stitch and use it in another canvas. I can’t wait to start mine!
Monthly Archive:: December 2008
Finishing is not my best thing. There I’ve admitted it, in public. It certainly is a major contributing factor to my huge pile of stitched but unfinished projects. Even so, finishing your own projects is often not as hard as it looks. But finding information on how to finish projects isn’t do easy. I found a site which seeks to remedy this, Focus on Finishing, it has posts from several contributors, all on finishing. While the focus is cross stitch, most of these finished can be done with needlepoint as well. The important thing to remember about finishing needlepoint is the thickness of the fabric. This makes it stiffer, so you can’t make shapes as easily. It also means that you will need to use heavier fabric overall. There are photos of the steps in the process, great instructions and, often, galleries of finished items. There are tutorials on: Pillows
Laura J Perin has made Christmas come early with a free mini-quilt, Holly & Ivy. I love the soft coloring of the piece which has such an old-fashioned, but not dull look. She also has a picture of another mini-quilt she designed, Holiday Square, which is available as a free pattern on the Rainbow Gallery site. Thanks Laura!
Good scissors are such a joy to use. You might find your scissors more a pain than a pleasure. I did. And then I found large finger-hole scissors. They made my life so much easier. The only difference between regular scissors, pictured below, and large finger-hole scissors, pictured at the top of the article, is the size of the holes. But what a difference that makes. Instead of scissors which pinch as you manipulate them, these scissors fit on your fingers and are comfortable. If you’re doing lots of cutting, this means a smaller chance of blisters or bruising. And no annoying deep grooves in your fingers. Besides all of that if your fingers are stiff, these work better as well. With the large holes, they are easier to grasp. I have a few pairs like this, ranging from fine embroidery scissors to a more serviceable everyday pair with plastic
Jan F is about halfway through her Moroccan rug and has written a post about it today. It’s a fantastic post because it goes into the kinds of questions we all face when we are making an original project and asks for your opinion. I really enjoyed it because Jan does a fantastic job of analyzing the design and articulating the kinds of things I often wonder about when coming up with something new. Often when we make an original project we take an idea from somewhere else and adapt, pretty much as seen to needlepoint. One example of this would be the quilt block Twinchies. The block and its arrangement are a given, you just arrange the colors. You know from the beginning that it will work. But Jan did something, while still an adaptation, is more difficult to do, especially in a large piece. She took given elements,
We’re on the home stretch for Celebrate end will finish up next week. Today’s block has a big, bold exclamation point. Behind it is an experiment in making a stitch larger which turned out differently (and better) than I expected. The stitch is Giant Diagonal Cashmere (diagrammed above). When I made this stitch larger something interesting happened, the bigger blocks became more obvious than the diagonal feel of the stitch and a boxy, but not rigid background appeared. I really like the result and am thinking of other canvases which could use it. The exclamation point is one I designed just for this sampler. I wanted it to have that Mod look of graphics in the Sixties. Because the background is dark (Burmilana), it doesn’t stand out quite so much, but on white it would be very Mod indeed. Here’s a rundown of the sampler so far: Marking the canvas
I know the song properly refers to the 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany (January 6), but you may be looking for gifts for people to give you, or gifts you have a chance of making before Christmas. So for the next 12 days, I’m going to be posting, along with the regular blog posting, a 12 Days of Christmas post. Today’s gift is perfect if you want to make a quick gift or if you want to introduce someone to needlepoint. This kit makes a great gift, either finished as a keychain or as a project for a stitcher. Made from two pieces of acrylic, the keychain has your initial against a solid-colored background. It is available in six different colors of acrylic and each color has a choice of two thread sets. Persian Wool is used for the threads. The kit includes, the keychain, a length of satin
I have been busy the last couple of weeks, adding and updating pages on All about Needlepoint. Here’s a rundown of what’s new: Pearl Cotton Needlepoint Pattern Free Directories Pins Adaptation – Making a Needlepoint Plaid Adaptation – Change Ringing Adaptation – Clumping – formerly this was part of a $5 technique sheet Adaptation – Stained Glass Thread Stash Building How to Miter a Corner Ornament to Stand-up Conversion with Button Back – includes information on how to do this with already finished ornaments Ornament Finishing – Box Finish The Ornament Collection – my story Last Minute Needlepoint Gift Ideas Ornament Finishing – Covered Buttons Ornament Finishing – Folded Diamond Christmas Decorating Ideas Using Needlepoint I’m planning this week to add the ornament section of the free patterns, more Christmas articles, and a couple more adaptation articles