He died in earlier this year, but Raymond Dockstader was a phenominal needlepointer whose work graced many needlework exhibits at Woodlawn Plantation in the DC area. I became more aware of his work through a recent blog post. His specialty was 3 inch square Tent Stitched pieces that were stitched and either finished as “paperweights” or assembled into larger pieces. The Washington Post, in his obituary, described the work he had in his apartment as “abstract works, usually in riotous colors; floral designs; and needlepoint that resembles poster art.” He had a clear acrylic box with 25 of the 3×3 paperweights displayed. This was shown at Woodlawn one year. These small squares weren’t drawn out but stitched on plain canvas. The geometric and abstract floral designs often have small color changes that add life to the designs. Threads and colors were picked from his stash. He gave many of them
Monthly Archive:: October 2009
Awhile ago, Fionna Kazanow sent me some pictures of the delightful use she is making of completed needlepoint from her stash in her mixed media work. If you are like me, most of your stitched stuff sits in boxes (mine are in the garage), so I was so delighted to see what Fionna does and to ask her about it. Here’s what she told me about her work: “The idea of using my needlepoint in my mixed media paintings was a natural progression. I have been experimenting with craft sand, gravel from my yard, and deconstructing silk flowers to reconstruct them into my idea of a rose bush. I also have used beads, calcified oyster shells, and plastic in several paintings so when I finally had the idea of using needlepoint it was a good fit. “Which came first the painting or the point? It started with a golden sunburst
Yesterday I had an occasion to look at the oldest needlepoint book I own, Needlepoint Made Easy, published in 1955. It gave me pause, because I was also looking at The Needlepoint Book, first published 21 years later. Since most of us started stitching after the needlepoint “revolution” of the early 70′s we probably don’t think about it much, but the needlepoint of the 50′s was very different. In the 50′s almost all needlepoint was pre-worked and very traditional in style. Furnishings inspired by the American colonies was popular and these designs fitted well in those decors. Wool ruled to the exclusion of almost anything else. Original design was not encouraged, in the 50′s book only a short chapter near the end covers it. Half-cross was the default stitch. Although Basketweave and Continental are covered, every picture of the back of stitching is half-cross. Only one non-tent stitch is even
One of the harder things I’ve done in needlepoint is advance from doing Tent Stitch to feeling confident in making different stitches, using different threads, and trying new color combinations. That’s why I’ve designed this new series of projects for those people beginning needlepoint. But they are so fun to stitch, experienced stitchers will want to try them too! The projects are designed with beginners in mind, there is lots of explanation on every aspect of the project from drawing the outline on canvas to tips to help you with you stitching. Each of the three projects showcases different aspects of needlepoint and they are arranged by increasing levels of difficulty. The projects, in ebook form, will be available beginning this weekend in the Napa Needlepoint ebook shop
Lee Meredith, of Leethal Designs, has come up with a clever idea for knitting called Game Knitting. The concept is a cool one, that can be adapted to needlepoint. Basically the idea is you look for something recurring in a game show and change something in the knitting every time that happens. You could expand it to work for other shows as well. Choose the laugh track for a sit com, someone clapping on a talk show, a penalty in a football game. The key is randomness, something harder to do than you might think. As long as the action happens repeatedly but not at regular intervals it’s perfect for this. After you’ve decided on your event, you need to decide what to vary. Stitches or threads work best. If you vary stitches, make a list of stitches the same size. if you vary threads, pick your stitch and pull
Free Patterns.com is a great resource for project ideas, especially for plastic canvas designs. Thanks to Denise, the Needlework Editor at CraftGossip for ferreting out these and tons of other great stuff. You may think of plastic canvas as something icky done by your grandmother, but it can be so much more than that. My friend, Diane from CraftyPod, is another huge PC fan and her stuff is not boring or old-fashioned at all. PC projects such as this Diagonal Mosaic tissue box cover are only as boring as you make them. Make it from acrylic knitting yarns and it’s dull. Make the same box using leftover knitting wool (maybe a self-striping one) or Persian Wool from your stash and it becomes something special. It’s charted for 7 count canvas, which means thick, thick thread. But double the count for each piece (or use the measurements) and use 14 mesh
Last weekend at the St Charles Needlework Market, my friend Leigh introduced four witchy designs. Go take a look at the fives of them on her site. I think they are very cool because they have all the lovely shading and painting that make Leigh’s pieces so wonderful, but in a very different context. The witches have very ugly faces. But then they are combined with amazingly shaded suns, such as the one in Dorcas (third from top), detailed animals, such as the owl in Delphine (fourth), and beautiful flowers and fruit in all of them. I think it’s that juxtaposition of ugly and beautiful that makes them so compelling
The winner of September’s contest is Patt who wrote about her favorite shop: There are a lot of great shops in our Bay Area, but my favorite is Madonna Needleworks in Morgan Hill, CA. When you enter the door, Jack is there to great you with his tail wagging. Teri, the owner, always says hi with your name — it seems she knows and remembers everybody. There is a very long table where you will almost always see people stitching on their various projects. If you want help on picking out a stitch, Teri, the owner is always there to help — she does it for free. Best of all, though, is the fantastic selection of threads — more than most stores. No theme for October’s contest, jut leave a comment. one winner from the US will win a selection of threads