Originally posted 2007-11-30 09:25:05. Republished by Blog Post PromoterYou probably think the word “diaper” refers to something babies wear, but it doesn’t. They are called diapers because the fabric often used for them had diaper patterns woven into it. Diaper patterns are geometric patterns which have regular repeats in both diagonal directions. They also generally have regular repeats horizontally and vertically as well. But the diagonal repeat is what is critical here. So a stripe isn’t a diaper pattern (no diagonal repeat), but a check might be. Many kinds of stitches, think of a block of Scotch Stitches, are diapered by nature. But in order to be a diaper pattern there needs to be come contrast in color as well. A background of Scotch in one color is not a diaper, but coloring the same block of stitches to look like gingham fabric does make a diaper. The repetition is,
Monthly Archive:: November 2010
Originally posted 2008-01-16 18:15:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Printer’s ornaments (those little graphics you sometimes find at the end of chapters) are a superb source of ideas for needlepoint. They work great as the basis for needlepoint because they generally have simple lines and large areas which look good in stitches. The little piece above is a great example. It’s a classic Arts & Crafts motif of three gingko leaves. I made it for a friend who is from Korea and loves this tree. In the Fall gingkos have brilliant yellow leaves, which I reflected in the yellow color. The background is a simple T Stitch. But enough about this piece — how can you do something like it yourself. First find an ornament. Dover Books’ Pictorial Archive series has tons of books with small designs which will work (the ginklos came from one of these). Use a photocopier
Originally posted 2009-06-14 18:15:45. Republished by Blog Post PromoterJust to let you all know, Bargello Revisited is now back at Amazon and available to order there. You can also get it from your local needlework shop and through Nordic Needle. Shops, Rainbow Gallery has an exclusive on the books. All books ordered through them are autographed. I also have models of most of the projects in the book available for trunk shows or mini trunk shows. Contact me directly about scheduling one. We can also work some show special pricing for my books and chart packs
Originally posted 2003-04-03 17:56:39. Republished by Blog Post PromoterWhenever you buy a painted canvas or when you design your own needlepoint, you will need to pick stitches for it. Here are some simple rules for deciding what stitch should go where. Every canvas, no matter how big or small, should have some areas of tent stitch (basketweave). Think of this as “neutral texture.” By having some tent stitch, the eye gets a place to rest. Without some tent stitch, the canvas will look way too busy and can be difficult to read. Areas which almost always need to be worked in basketweave include areas which have lots of detail (like faces) areas which are very narrow (like these Chinese characters), and areas with shading. Sometimes your choice of stitch is determined by what the design is showing. For example, if you were needlepointing a cat, you probably wouldn’t want to
Doing punchneedle is a nice break from needlepoint. You can even use it as a technique on needlepoint canvas as a substitute for Turkeywork. Although there are many people who make designs for punchneedle and several different types of needles, there isn’t lots of instruction on the Internet. Recently, Denise at Craft Gossip posted about a tutorial on punchneedle. It’s fro Hello Craft and is a nice overview of the technique
Even though the finished piece will be loaded with lots to trim, it will look better if the untrimmed tree looks more realistic. It’s a small thing, but having a variety of colors as the background for the trim will make it pop just that much more. With the changes in color your attention will be directed to the trim because the tree looks dimensional and “right.” The flat coloring of a solid thread will draw more attention to itself. Maybe not consciously, but unconsciously you will pause because it isn’t quite right. With this in mind I decided to use two shades of Lorikeet wool. The varied tones and soft texture will look good against the harder surfaces of the embellishments. Beginning with the lighter color I stitched modified “clumps.” Instead of being discrete clumps, the color does change and they snake down the tree in longer curves. I
Originally posted 2003-01-20 08:39:12. Republished by Blog Post PromoterTNNA was so full of fantastic needlepoint canvases, threads, and finishing ideas that this entire issue is going to be devoted to an in-depth report on the show. In the next issue I’ll resume with all the regular features, but I wanted to devote as much space as possible to let you know about the goodies I’ve found. Because of scheduling and deadlines on my part I went through the show like a house afire, so I am sure that your local shops will have lots of new canvases I missed — there was just too much to see. The article is divided up into four sections: New Canvases, New Threads, Finishing and Accessories, and Trends in Needlepoint. You’ll find information about new products you’ll love in every section. When possible I have included links to the companies in the article. Shopowners
Once I had decided to do lots of embellishment techniques on the tree, I started to think about what I could use. I came up with three areas: buttons, beads, and brads. Buttons: I have a jar of buttons from my mother-in-law with some lovely vintage buttons in it. I was inspired by my friend Marlene who has many lovely vintage buttons to look there for some items. I found, as you can see, some lovely textured gold buttons that are a perfect size for the larger gold balls. I also found the wonderful rhinestone button pictured above and decided to make that my tree topper. It isn’t a star shape but it’s big and bold, so it will be added. Beads: In the button jar were a couple of small teardrop pearls and a tiny pearl button. I’m adding them. I also decided to try Kreinik’s Hot Fix crystals,
Originally posted 2008-10-31 07:05:21. Republished by Blog Post PromoterUsing a thread as your inspiration is a fantastic way to develop a color scheme, and one which you can do no matter how confident you are about picking out colors. This month’s Twinchy Challenge encouraged you to pick a color of Watercolours, find some threads which go with it and then stitch away. This Twinchy is based on the quilt block Attic Windows. The square is 24 stitches wide and uses a stitch called Staircase, a Byzantine variation. The two sides are 12 stitches wide and meet at a mitered corner. They are stitched in Half-framed Scotch and Laid Cross. I think the Scotch works, but the Cross does not. But this block is so simple you can put in any stitches you like. Nancy White did this charming Twinchy. She describes it this way: “I have been interested in Jean
Recently I bought this APC Christmas tree from Canvases be Gone (currently available from Vintage Needlepoint). I have another one from them and I’m planning to finish this as a stand-up to add to my Christmas tree collection. But while I like the tinsel and garlands and ornaments. I don’t want to stitch them. So I’m planning on using man different embellishments and ideas on it. I’ll be sharing each of these with you in a series of posts as I work on it. Today we’ll talk about planning the piece. Tomorrow we’ll talk about finding some embellishments and Thursday we’ll cover stitching the tree. Looking at the canvas I see tinsel, garlands, two sizes each of balls in two colors, star ornaments and a tree topper. The tinsel will use holographic blending filament. The garland will use Kreinik’s Petite Facets. I will use different embellishments attached in different ways
Originally posted 2006-05-29 22:34:12. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI’m hoping to have a picture up later today, the scanner wasn’t working). Yesterday I finished a mini Nautilus shell from Julie Pischke. It’s so adorable and it’s going to be a Christmas ornament. I stitched it in Silk & Ivory, Spring II, Alyce Schroth silk, and a white knitting yarn from my stash. If I had thought more about it, I would have made the stripes in metallic, which would look cool on the tree. But this got me thinking about Christmas ornaments. I think I’m a little strange because our Christmas trees (1 large, many tabletop) don’t have ornaments all of a kind. I’ve collected ornaments and made ornaments for years, and the trees bear the fruit. It is eclectic in the extreme but it tells the story of our family’s life. On Saturday someone asked if a person would
Do you love Threadworx threads? Beginning in 2011 subscribers to the free journal will be able to submit pieces using Threadworx threads to the magazine. The piece can use these threads completely or only in a portion. Subscribers will get email notices for the submissions. They will be accepted all year long, but sometimes there will be a theme. Files can be in jpg, png, tif or pict format and need to be at 300 dpi. Check out the magazine’s website for more info
Originally posted 2009-09-16 07:08:39. Republished by Blog Post PromoterFor all of us who love the Lee canvases and leather products a new owner has been announced. The new owner is Colonial Needle. Unless you also knit, you might not be familiar with their name. Along with making wonderfull rosewood knitting needles, they are also the distributor for John James needles. They also distribute several other lines of European needles, thimbles, and accessories. I’m so excited they are taking over one of my favorite lines
Originally posted 2008-07-29 07:52:33. Republished by Blog Post PromoterIf you’re like many of us, you have lots of bits of thread. And if you have long runs of thread, you think about how to keep them neat but still useful. You might use bags or stitch bows, but those cost money. You might reuse empty thread cards or spools, but where do you put information. You might use thread drops, but they don’t work well unless your thread is cut. But Craft Chi has come up with free thread cards, which are lovely, can print on your printer, and have space for identifying the thread. There are two styles available, elegant & whimsical, and instructions of how to use the template to make cards as nice as any you would buy