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Free Christmas Ornament Patterns on this Site

Janet Perry — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:56:56 +0000

Merry Christmas!

I love CHristmas ornaments and stitch them all the time. Some of that love has been reflected in the projects I’ve done for this site.

In case you are like me and want to start a new stitching project (although I’m most likely cooking not stitching), you might want to make one of these delightful little projects.

Besides these stand-alone projects, check out last year’s Learn-a-Stitch Mini-sock series, and the many Twinchy posts, there are lots more ornament ideas there.

Do I Have Time to Finish It Before Christmas?

Janet Perry — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:42:28 +0000

With only about two weeks left before Christmas, no doubt slight panic is setting in as you think about all the things you wanted to make but haven’t finished.

If you are really lucky, those things don’t need to be mailed. iIf you are really, REALLY lucky, they don’t have to be finished either.

But if you are like me, you’re wringing your hands thinking about how you can get things done in time for Christmas.

Since this happens to me every year, I thought i’d help out a bit by doing a round-up of some posts relating to self-finishing, easy finishing ideas, and finishing techniques. Many of these posts point to external websites for information.

Self-finishing

Easy Finishing Ideas

Four Needlepoint Gift Tags has finishing instructions in the linked article
Stitchy Cell Phone Case
Bargello Tin Toppers
Plastic Canvas Pendants
Bottle Bags
Square Pincushion
Tote Bag

Finishing Techniques

Quilts as a Source of Inspiration

Janet Perry — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:55:15 +0000

Originally posted 2010-04-23 07:16:41. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

A skein of background thread & your stash is all you need for this project

Patchwork Quilts remain a rich source of inspiration of design in all kinds of media, needlepoint not the least. Every time I look at a quilt book, any quilt book, I find lots of ideas for new projects. And I’m not alone in this, many other needlepoint designers do as well. I thought on this sunny (at least here) spring Friday I’d share some of the many quilt-inspired posts and projects you can find here at Nuts about Needlepoint.

First off, we have the Pyramid mini-sock post from earlier this week. Based on a traditional quilt block, Thousand Pyramids, and designed by me in about 2003, this design is one of a series of Scrap Bag Needlepoint ™ mini-socks.

The Sunbonnet Sue mini-sock remains one of my favorites. Sunbonnet Sue has been so popular as a quilt pattern that there are whole web sites devoted to her and her friends. If you wanted to you could use these blocks as inspiration for a whole series of needlepoint designs.

The Pines Trees mini-sock is based on a lovely tradition, that of the Christmas quilt. These quilts, often having pine trees as a motif, are used only during the Christmas season. I like this pattern better than many other Christmas quilts because it’s quiet beauty fits in so many places.

The Sunburst Mosaic Pattern is also based on a quilt pattern, this one called Sunburst. It’s related to the lovely (and easy to vary) Log Cabin quilt patterns.

If you are looking for larger needlepoint projects, consider my Mod Sampler. Based on a charming sampler quilt and done in a mod palette of red, pink, orange, and yellow, this design is a great one to learn new stitches and to practice stitching with silk. The projects in in three parts: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. You can see some wonderful and colorful interpretations of this quilt in the Flickr group for the quiltalong

Another three-part project based on a quilt is Winter Stars. A Scrap Bag Needlepoint ™ project, this design uses a monochrome palette of blues, blue-violets, white, light blue, and gray. It uses Genny’s Scotch in an eight-pointed star pattern for the blocks and has a variety of unusual borders. You can get all three parts on Nuts: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Quilt Blocks have also inspired several tiwnchies, that have patterns on the site including Stepping Stones, Independence, and Christmas Leaves (pictured above).

There are also some quilt-inspired patterns I’ve designed on other sites. This leaf block is available from my friend Kristen’s site Craft Leftovers.

Along with these many free patterns, several of my ebooks are based on quilts, including Maple Leaf Rag, Attic Windows, the heart samplers, and 50 Patchwork Patterns. All if these are available in my on-line store.

Needlepoint Instruction on YouTube

Janet Perry — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:57:12 +0000

Originally posted 2008-05-27 08:58:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

My husband is often fond of exclaiming “Isn’t the Internet wonderful?”

Now people who know my background outside of stitching would find that ironic, as I’ve been on the Internet for more than 20 years.

But, you know, he’s right, without the Internet how would we have access to all these wonderful instructional and inspirational videos about needlepoint.

I was looking through YouTube last night and here is a summary (with links) of what I’ve found.

If you’re looking to make hair, beards, or moustaches, you can’t do better than this excerpt from Amy Bunger’s how-to-videos.

Expert Village has lots of how-to-videos and there a many for beginning needlepointers. This one covers tools and materials. There are also more advanced topics, such as Setting the mood with color. These are unscripted and are probably self-filmed so that the production values are not high, terms are not explained correctly, or even used sometimes, but they are short and mostly to the point.

You may have wondered how artists get inspired to make their projects. A New York artist, Joseph Dunn, shows off how he created his illuminated manuascripts, which are a combination of needlepoint and calligraphy. There are several in this series. In addition, there is a video about his commercial designs and the NYC store Rita’s Needlepoint.

There are also videos like this one, about using a frame or stretching your canvas.

If you broaden your search to include other terms, you can learn about:
how to thread a needle
how to stitch a French Knot
a selection from British cross stitch designer, Jane Green off on stitching on paper
ow to lace the back of needlework

Bargello Links

Janet Perry — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 14:50:21 +0000

Originally posted 2006-09-27 22:26:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Here are some great Internet resources on Bargello to get you started on exploring this great technique or doing a Bargello project.

Cathy’s Bargello Page http://hal.ucr.edu/~cathy/barg/barg.html – an outstanding resource with an historical essay, lots of links, and, best of all, outstanding patterns and pictures of her work.

Bargello Candle Stocking http://www.caron-net.com/dec98files/magdec.html – charming Bargello mini-sock featuring Caron Collection threads.

Bargello Pine Trees Stocking http://www.caron-net.com/magfiles/magdecharts/magdec.html – charming Bargello mini-sock featuring Caron Collection threads.

Steph’s Stitched Pieces http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/charts.htm – find links to pictures of several Bargello items here.

Milano Evening Purse http://www.bayrose.org/needlework/bargello.html – don’t be put off by the title. This is an EXCELLENT SCA article, with many photos of historic Bargello pieces and instructions on the basic stitches.

Beautiful Bargello Profile http://www.caron-net.com/may02files/may02des.html archived article with stunning pictures about this British firm.

Bargello Zig-zag Pillow http://www.jonathanadler.com/shop/product.php?cat=347&productid=16630 – ths ready-made pillow from Jonathon Adler is an inspiring piece of contemporary Bargello.

Florentine Needlecasehttp://www.caron-net.com/designerfiles/desmarfiles/marchrt.html Four-way Bargello project by Sue Kerndt.

Bargello Embroidered Footstool http://www.yeoman-icelandic-sheep.ca/my_bargello_embroidered_footstoo.htm – Beautiful project and article about how it was stitched.

Bargello Frosting http://www.needlework.com/pattseries2pats/patts2stitch47a.html – charming small Bargello pattern.

Summary of Free Patterns

Janet Perry — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:31:22 +0000

I hope you liked this free patterns month. There was lots of stitchy goodness here as well as plenty of inspiring patterns ands projects for you to stitch.

Here’s a summary of what we saw:

If all these weren’t enough there are plenty of other ways to find posts about free patterns on Nuts about Needlepoint. The easiest way is to use the categories, found in the dark gray boxes at the top of every page. Every post that has a free pattern, mine or not, will be in the category, free patterns, found under design types. Come Stitch with Me (under Community) has longer free projects.

You can also find free projects, along with lots of other stuff, under technique categories, beginners, charts, and specific design types.

Have fun stitching!

Great Free Alphabets on the Web

Janet Perry — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:42:18 +0000

Originally posted 2006-11-10 22:16:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

These days I seem to be thinking about alphabets alot. There are some fantastic resources on the Web for creating your own charted words, creating an alphabet, or just great charts.

Here’s a round-up of my favorites:

How to Chart your own Alphabet (http://www.lysator.liu.se/~offe/kors/tutorial/alphabet.html) This page has been around for a long time, but it gives the best instructions I’ve seen on how to chart your own alphabet.

Celtic Cross Stitch (http://www.celticxstitch.ie/cgi-bin/stitches.cgi) has a free on-line chart generator which will take any word and produce a chart in a lovely Celtic alphabet. The charts of fort personal use only.

Carnie’s Creations (http://www.freepatternsonline.com/xscharts/alphabets.htm) has over 40 alphabets, mostly small and simple, available on-line. There is even a Greek upper case alphabet for sorority and fraternity initials.

Tink Boord-Dill’s Americana (http://www.tinkbd.com/Americana.htm) – My friend Tink has this lovely 18 stitch alphabet for free on her site. It’s a superb example of what’s available in her alphabet and monogram books. It’s also a great alphabet for needlepoint.

Caption Generator (http://www.crosstitch.com/fontform.html) – free version cross stitch only. Enter a phrase and get a Backstitch chart, centered or not. There is a paid version with more options.

Times New Roman (http://www.yarntree.com/036alpht.htm) A 14-stitch tall version of this elegant typeface. Both upper and lower case letters.

Subversive Cross Stitch Alphabets (http://subversivecrossstitch.com/howto/alphabet.htm) Three free alphabets from this creator of unconventional cross stitch kits.

French Alphabet (http://francine-broderies.com/Alphabet.html?lang=en) A lovely vintage embellished alphabet (like on old linens) for needlepoint or cross stitch. There are also several alphabets for free embroidery on the site.

Medieval Alphabet (http://www.dragonbear.com/uncial.html) two medieval alphabets in two chart formats.

Inspiring and Instructive Diaper Patterns

Janet Perry — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:32:43 +0000

I hope my previous two posts have gotten you excited about exploring the world of diaper patterns.

As promised, I’ve searched the Web to bring together some additional resources about them.

Diapers in Needlework (instruction)
My friend, Judy Harper, loves diaper patterns and has a lovely post about them on her blog. Best of all it shows two wonderful designs. I have the egg one in my stash, but haven’t stitched it yet.

On the ANG site, there is a two-part article on diaper patterns. Read Part 1 here. And Part 2 here.

Ann Strite-Krutz has a wonderful sampler available to order for teaching you about diapers.

Here are picutres of several stitchers work from an EGA class, Old Staffordshire, which showcases diaper patterns.

Diapers in Other Media (inspriation)

Artlandia has pictures of three diaper patterns.

Google Books has the book Pattern Design availabel on-line and from it you can learn how to create your own geometric patterns.

Look around, you’re sure to find more to inrpie you!

Finishing Resources – on-line and off

Janet Perry — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:35:41 +0000

I promised you guys I would provide you with some resources for finishing. While I’m not terribly good at finishing myself, there are lots of places with information you can use to complete your own projects.

There are lots of instructions for finishing available on-line. Anna Marie Winter has just made available her instructions for finishing ornaments on foam core (PDF format). On her Tips & Tricks page she has many other articles about finishing.

Sandy Higgins has one of the best finishing books out there, Sandy’s Finishing Touches. Another good one is by Summer Louise Truswell. This one is particularly good if you do other types of stitching as well as needlepoint.

Marcia Brown of The Binding Stitch has videos, courses, and supplies for finishing.

This site, while designed for cross stitchers, has a wealth of useful articles, inclduing how to make twisted cord and tassels.

Do you have a small bit of needlepoint which would make a great bookmark? Find instructions on how to make a suede one with a needlework insert here.

Or for another quick idea, how about a needlework refrigerator magnet? The Cyberstitchers chapter of EGA has instructions which can be adapted for needlepoint.

I am very fond of leather and fabric items which allow for needlepoint inserts. Two companies (neither on-line) which make great ones are Needlepoint of Back Bay and Lee’s Needle Arts. I particularly love the tote bag from Needlepoint of Back Bay which comes in several colors and two sizes.

If you are looking for boxes or other wood items to finish, two great companies are Sudberry House and Patches N’Planks.

Finally keep your eyes out for items like photo albums, travel coffee mugs, or jewelry boxes, with openings or inserts to personalize. Depending on how deep they are (they should be deep enough to hold the folded over needlepoint) you can use them as a gret way to finish your stitching.