Weeks Dye Works has updated and redesigned their website. The site features drop down menus for their products. For each type of product there are great clear pictures and a listing of links to their different color, laundry care, and order forms, all in PDF format. There is also information about their history, a FAQ, and a listing of retail shops. I love their designer section of the site. There you can find a list (with thumbnail pictures) of free patterns from different designers featuring Weeks products. There is also a listing of designers using their products, information about their designer program and more. For retailers there is a link to a credit application and a password-protected area for customers. All in all, this would be close to a perfect thread site if they would make on-line color cards and switch from white-on-black to the more traditional black-on-white
Monthly Archive:: February 2011
Originally posted 2009-07-21 06:48:19. Republished by Blog Post PromoterLast week, Dee posted a comment which said, “Love all the different styles you do in needlepoint and mixing the stitches but what do you do with all of your needlepoint? ” That’s a great question and one which most of us stitchers face. For years, like so many of us, I stitched but didn’t turn the finished items into anything. In other words I completed UFO’s but I didn’t actually finish them. And I have two stuffed full boxes of needlepoint to prove it. About two years ago I made a decision to finish the stuff I made. I’m doing pretty good at this by following some not very rigid guidelines. 1. Stockpile finishing items. If I see a box or album or something at the store (especially thrift stores) which could have needlepoint in it, I buy it. I have
Needle Delights makes extraordinary (and popular) charted needlepoint, usually featuring Caron Watercolours or other overdyed threads for rich combinations of color. Several of their projects, including Sierra and Galaxy, have been blogstitched by Stitchlady and Liz Morrow. They have just come out with several new projects. Appalachia is a companion piece to Sierra using all new stitches in a lovely blue colorway. The cool thing about it is that it uses the same threads as Sierra but in different colors, so you could use these colors to stitch Sierra too, or think of this as another piece to use your Sierra threads. Rainforest Revisited uses the threads (with a few additions) from the recent release Rainforest Crunch to make a delightful pattern of 32 squares. Bargello Diamonds is a fantastic piece to be inserted into Sudberry’s Long Jewelry box. This one is on the top of my list. One of
Originally posted 2010-02-07 07:55:41. Republished by Blog Post Promoter The new shades of Caron Collection threads are arriving in stores. Ever since they came out, they have been a serious addiction to me. I buy skeins of Watercolours, the way other women buy lipstick, they are my favorite pick me up. When the new colors come out, I anxiously await the list of names, because they are so evocative of the color combinations. They are available in all four multi-color threads. Thanks to Theresa at Homestead Needle Arts, here’s the list. The color numbers are in bold, with the name following and, in parentheses, the main colors. Thanks to Theresa for the picture as well. You can find them on her What’s New page along with many wonderful canvases. 260 Sticks and Stones (dark and very dark teal with flashes of dark gold, dark olive and light teal), 261 Karakum
Originally posted 2009-10-18 07:25:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Yesterday I went to the a benefit auction at one of my local ANG chapters. Many guild chapters use auctions as a significant way to raise funds. For you, as a stitcher, auctions present amazing opportunities to find canvases books, and supplies at a bargain price. Auctions can be very bad places for your budget, so it’s best to do some preparation before you go. First, look at your stash and know where you have holes and what things you collect. My friend who came with me collects snowmen, she bought 2. I have been wanting to do a Mindy mini-sock and found one. I have always wanted to try using Sisha mirrors in my needlepoint; the Aspen project pictured below does just that. The second thing is to know your budget. Live auctions are especially bad for this. I knew
June McKnight, self-published, 2011. This book is a must if you like to stitch Halloween canvases, but I think it’s a wonderfully clever stitch book even if you’d rather die than stitch a jack o’lantern. That’s because so many of the stitches and ideas will work with any canvas. Like her previous book on stitches for overdyed threads (previously reviewed), two pages are given to each stitch. On the left is a picture of the stitch, on white canvas, done in Haloween colors. The threads used are below the picture. On the right is a diagram of the stitch along with stitching notes or an explanation about how to use it. At first I wasn’t sure about doing the open stitches on white canvas, they looked so bare. But as I thought about it, it made wonderful sense, I won’t be using them on white canvas, but on colored areas,
Originally posted 2008-02-20 08:15:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter My friend Phyllis stitched this mini-sock from the patterns in Bargello Revisited. I just love it. Not only is it made from my very favorite family of colors of Silk & Ivory, it is such a classic pattern. BTW, the darkest shade here, Pomegranite, is my favorite color of all, maybe I should take it when I next go look for paint. The pattern is simple, the stitches all go over four threads and move up in step of two threads. The pattern reverses itself to make both convex and concave curves. This kind of pattern is one of the enduring staples of Bargello. If you’ve never tried Bargello, this is the place to start. Finally, my thanks to my friend, Phyllis, for stitching this model for me
I just got this books and I can’t wait to tell you about it. Earlier this month when I saw a picture of these close-up pansy portraits, I knew I had to have the book. And stitch more than one of these charming designs. Debbie Rowley has come up with and endlessly creative way to translate these charming flowers into needlepoint with these eight portraits, all in one project book. What she’s done is take about 35 different hand-dyed flosses and given each one a specific 4×4 stitch. These range from the simple, such as Scotch, to wonderfully complex Bound Crosses. Then each of the eight pansies is translated into the color/stitch pairs. All the thread/stitch combinations are summarized with large, clear charts at the beginning of the book. The result is wonderful textures flowers, delightfully modern in style, but with the happy charm of these blossoms. With a photograph
Originally posted 2009-08-24 06:50:15. Republished by Blog Post PromoterFor the next several Mondays (more or less), I’m going to have a series of classic needlepoint designs recharted for you all. The designs are taken from a 1938 magazine packed full of stitched needlepoint designed by Anne Orr. You might be wondering who Ann was. Born in 1869, she was a life-long resident of Nashville. Both in her position at several women’s magazines and through her own business, Anne Orr Studios, she created delightful designs for many kinds of needlework, including needlepoint, crewel, tatting, cross stitch, and embroidery. She is best known for her distinctive quilting designs, which often featured central appliques. I first came across her many years ago through a collection of her designs published by Dover. It is no longer in print, but you can find used copies. I also have this magazine in my files. There are
Do you love Bargello? Are you looking for a source of new Bargello Needlepoint designs and quick projects? Do you want explore different threads for Bargello and try new color combinations? Are you intrigued to fill templates using Bargello? Look no further, beginning April 1, 2011, I will be launching Little Bargello Treasures, a monthly Bargello Club. The first of each month club members will receive: 13 or 18 mesh deluxe mono canvas with template outlined new Bargello pattern with color picture of the model color picture of the model stitching tips and supplemental information All this for only $7.50 per month when shipped to US addresses (if you are outside the US, contact me to get pricing). This club is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time and you’ll be so delighted with the possibilities for quick and charming projects. To join, sign up today using
Originally posted 2009-08-14 14:14:38. Republished by Blog Post PromoterStarting sometime yesterday (August 13) afternoon, my blog was hacked. I’m working to get to the bottom of the problem, and think I have found them all. We have restored the blog framework from as backup and I’m cleaning things out. I will leave this post up until all is fixed and resume posting Monday. I will notify subscribers to my newsletter and anyone else who would like to know when all is well, via email. If you do not already subscribe to the newsletter and want to know, please email me at napaneedlepoint @ gmail . com and remember to remove all spaces. I will be posting updates as I work on this problem. Thanks for your patience and support. UPDATE: 2:30 pdt 8/14/09 – I have identified a possible problem post and deleted it. I am requesting Google check the
Originally posted 2008-05-04 16:23:40. Republished by Blog Post PromoterHERE BE DROLLERIES, NANCY SPIES, Arelate Studio, 2007. A second volume of charted motifs and patterns from Medieval Sources, Here Be Drolleries is a great companion to Spies’ earlier book, Here Be Wyverns (link is to my review of this book). You may wonder what a drollery is and the Introduction tells you that these a whimsical creatures often found in the margins of medieval manuscripts. Following the introduction are the charts. The charts are divided into sections based on subject, including birds, drolleries, and odds & ends. There is an extensive section on borders. One of my favorite aspects of Spies’ books are her commentaries on the charts. Ever chart has a note of its source and the pages are ornamented with relevant quotes from medieval documents. The designs range from small to large and many can be adapted for other
Originally posted 2008-06-28 06:40:13. Republished by Blog Post PromoterToday’s Virtual Book Tour Stop is atNeedlepoint for Fun, a delightful, free, on-line and email magazine about needlepoint. If you’ve ever wanted to learn Bargello, here a quick and easy instructions to get you started. Take some blank canvas, draw on a rectangle, pick your threads, and get stitching!