Originally posted 2010-01-31 07:12:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I’ve been a good girl and I’ve managed tyo make a bit of a dent in the UFO pile, have stitched some new projects, and generally gotten more of my to do pile done. And California is having and El Nino winter and so it rains. Lots. To top it all off, here on Mare Island, we have what I call “san Francisco with wind” weather. Add wind, as in knocking small trees down wind, to the rain and I need something new. So I’m going to take an idea from Spinster Stitcher and Jane of Chilly Hollow and bog stitch a canvas from my stash. I’ll have occasional posts about it, so you can learn how I approach the project and maybe even stitch along with me. But I want you to help me decide which to stitch. The first
Monthly Archive:: April 2011
Doing needlepoint for hours on end can strain more than your back and, perhaps, your eyesight. The repeated motion can do damage to your hands. Barbara Bergsten is having her yoga instructor, Carol More, guest post on her blog and the first post is a real winner. Visit the post to learn about some simple yoga for your hands that will relieve some of the stress we put on them when we stitch
Originally posted 2009-06-07 05:24:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter My friend Althea, who has the wonderful blog about Bargello needlepoint, has a special treat for us the next six Mondays. She has designed six Bargello Christmas theme ornaments which will appear on her blog for downloads. There is one ornament each week and it is only available during that week. The current blog post has pictures of the first three patterns. The first one, Bargello Christmas Lights, is pictured above. I just love the way she has taken a very traditional pattern and given it a new twist. I can’t wait until tomorrow!
I just got a leather ebook cover from Lee Needle Arts. I”m excited to stitch the cover and upgrade me Kindle to something that looks more like me. And, of course, I jumped right in and picked a canvas from my stash, that I thought looked like the right size. It’s Dim Sum from Needlepoint for Fun. But it isn’t the right size. It’s too big on one direction and too small in the other But I still think it’s the perfect canvas, so what do you do when this happens? With an extra fine marker, I used and Extra Fine Sharpie in dark gary here, use the LNA item as a template. Figure out where you will want to cut off or enlarge the design and place the needlepoint there. Try to line up at least one edge of the painted canvas with one edge of the open area.
Originally posted 2010-03-21 07:34:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Lamps can be a difficult thing in a home. All too often you can’t find the right one and when you find one that work physically, it isn’t the right style. That’s what’s so cool about this shade from Lamp Gustaf, a Swedish company. It has those clean contemporary lines typical of Scandinavian design, but you can customize it to fit you. The lamp comes with predrilled holes in a choice of two shade sizes, the large barrel shown in the picture and a narrower barrel, shown on the product page. Since the holes pretty much cover the shade, you can stitch it as heavily a you like. You can also see a short YouTube video of people making their own shades. Any charted pattern would work, But what about making a lamp version of the Op Art Bargello, by finding
I recently got a question about where and what to use as initials for signing a needlepoint piece. Like an artist’s signature on a painting, this will generally go in the lower right corner. If your border is wide, you should plan on putting your initials there. If it’s elaborate, you might want to think of it as a frame or matte and put your initials in the corner of the main part of the design. Picking the font is fairly easy. You don’t need to be too fussy about picking a font, unless you want it to be an obvious part of the design. I usually use a very simple and there are tons of charted alphabets available free online. I have an alphabet chart listing on All about Needlepoint, my reference site. Based on the elements around your signature and the letters in your initials, I figure out
Originally posted 2006-07-10 06:26:53. Republished by Blog Post PromoterIt’s been about a month since I last wrote on the progress of my Amish Diamonds pillow. I am now almost done with the colored diamonds, having less than 10 to do. Then it’s onto the background. You can see from the picture above how dramatically the black background changes the look of the pillow. The colors pop against the dark background and the whole thing looks more finished. The bigger the mesh size of the canvas, the greater the difference is between stitched and unstitched. If this was 18 mesh instead of 13, it wouldn’t be as apparent. This is a good thing to remember when you are thinking a canvas looks a bit dull. The space between the threads dilute the colors painted. Stitch a few more areas and see if it is improved before giving up
Originally posted 2008-09-28 06:50:43. Republished by Blog Post PromoterFinding a way to make realistic smoke or other curved items in needlepoint is a real challenge. Usually I couch things down or make Whipped Backstitch. However Jane Wood (of Chilly Hollow) had a recent post on her blog, which went over the technique to make wired Flair. Because Flair is translucent, it’s perfect for smoke or fog. You can make all kinds of wonderful curves by curving the wired ribbon and you won’t have to couch one bit. I can’t wait to try it
If you want lettering on a piece of needlepoint, you may have a hard time finding alphabets. If you want the Latin alphabet, you’re fine. But, as I found out recently, if your want something else, think again. And if you want Hebrew, that’s really hard. But thanks to the folks at Judaica Needlepoint, we have a selection of Renee Frank’s charming Hebrew alphabets (that’s one pictured) available for free. There are 12 charts, each based of a different font. Some are bold, some modern, and some traditional. You’ll be able to find something for every application here. Each can be previewed as well as downloaded which is so helpful for finding the right one. Thanks to Renee, who blogs at Needlepoint of View for pointing this out
Originally posted 2007-07-05 06:50:31. Republished by Blog Post PromoterCREATING CONTEMPORARY BARGELLO: A DESIGNER’S GUIDE, Iona L. Dettelbach, self-published, ISBN:0-9792858-0-1, $34.95 Bargello is a delightful technique and Iona has done a marvelous job with this project-packed book on the technique. Like Iona, I love Bargello and have been stitching it almost as long as I have been needlepointing. And, like many other stitchers, I am frustrated by the lack of information and books on the subject. This book helps address this gap with an excellent introduction to the technique and how lines can be shaped and varied. Another chapter covers stitches which make excellent backgrounds for Bargello pieces. This is a topic which is not often addressed, and the lovely project on the cover shows how effective some of these stitches can be. The heart of the book is the 24 projects, pictured in color on the inside of the front
Originally posted 2010-03-25 07:53:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter As a needlepointer, I am always looking for ways to create new effects in my stitching. One of my favorite ways is to use different threads. Like many of you I was very excited when Kreinik announced their holographic threads in January. They became popular right off the bat. I decided to give them a real workout in my testing so that you would have the best information possible when using them. Construction In order to make holographic threads, mylar which has a holographic texture is sliced into very, very thin strips. The more of these strips there are, the more the thread has the “holographic” texture. This means the ribbon, which is all holographic strips, has more of this look than the braids. Holographic threads have a different texture than non-holographic metallics. They are rougher and more brittle. I found
See this lovely picture of a mountainscape? CRAFT has a video on how to adapt it to making a lovely modern painting. But I kept thinking about how wonderful it would be as needlepoint. Following their instructions, create an irregular edge the width of your finished piece and use it to trace each range of mountains on your canvas. The painting used four, a good amount. Be sure to use a pen made for drawing on canvas. You’ve got the basic design. Now to pick colors. You’ll need four colors of thread, getting successively lighter and, possibly, grayer. Since stitches aren’t flat like paint you will have to pick four or them too. They should become less and less textured as the colors get lighter. Now that you have your design on canvas and your threads and stitches picked — go out and stitch!
Originally posted 2010-02-18 07:25:31. Republished by Blog Post PromoterOver the next week or two, I have lots of news to share with you. There will be detailed posts and reviews on some new products, designer interviews and sneak of my new stuff coming out this month. For now, let’s start off with a round-up of some new needlepoint products just announced. Maybe you love the look of Elizabeth Bradley, but wanted to star with something smaller. There are two new small pieces, available for the first time as a kit. One is a cherub and the other is a Christmas pudding. River Silks has added a delightful Yellow Floral kit from Shelly Trubbey to their line. A series of single flower designs by Terry Dryden is also available as kits. These include Dahlia. They have also brought out their popular assortment packs in a three color size. DebBee’s Designs has
We all think we know what this means, but in fact contrast, i.e. the difference between colors in a piece is at the basis of what males any color scheme work. Most of the time we think about contrast of hue, using different colors to make a design but there are six other types of contrast to think about. Contrast of value combining different shades of the color so there are light, medium, and dark colors. Contrast of temperature combing cool and warm colors in the same piece,even if one is the accent. Contrast of complements uses a color’s complement to add interest. Complements used in small amounts can focus attention on the main color. Contrast of saturation combines bright fully saturated colors with muted tints, tones, and shades. Contrast of proportion uses the different colors in a piece in different amounts. You can, and should, combine more than one