Nuts about Needlepoint » charted needlepoint

Color Selection

Janet Perry — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:08:55 +0000

Originally posted 2008-10-04 07:12:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

After my recent posting about selecting threads based on a choice of Watercolours, my friend Jan Fitzpatrick send me an email about her method of choosing thread colors along with this picture of a glorious Jean Hilton piece, French Perfume (available from Stitches from the Heart).

Here’s her explanation of how she picked the colors
“I open the skein of Watercolors, etc. Tie one end to the tag so I always know what color it is (and dye lot if needed). Then wrap the thread around the tag until the tag is covered. Then I use that covered tag and search my stash to find colors to go with it. The rest is how you describe your process.

“I did two Jean Hilton designs this summer for our home. One started with Watercolors Rain Forest. I knew I wanted to pull out the olive green and rust as the main colors. Using the technique above, I could easily find the correct shade of each. The design used lots of specialty threads, most of which I didn’t have on hand. Off to Regal Rabbit with my covered tag and other threads I had already chosen. It takes time, but so worth the effort.”

The piece was done on vintage canvas, brown on green, to give it an antique feel.

As you can see from the picture above, it turned out great!

New ( and Inexpensive) Design from Orna Willis

Janet Perry — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:43:25 +0000

Originally posted 2011-01-16 07:22:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

“Lovely” this small Bargello needlepoint heart is designed in four colorways.

Orna’s models are on brightly colored canvas and are perfect for cheering up a gray day. The design is small and simple, featuring Bargello in a heart.

Best of all the design is available as a PDF for only $1.

You can buy it in Orna’s Etsy shop.

You can also get it as a kit or in a set of all four designs. When you get the kit you also get the hoop for a quick finishing job.

What a great Valentine!

Book of Hours Color Twinchy – Sneak Peek at New Color & Thread Club

Janet Perry — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:12 +0000

Going from the earth and mineral colors that predominated the palettes of Ancient Egypt and Greece, the High Middle Ages seem to burst in a world of color and light.

I have adored the bright, rich blues of medieval prayer books, or Books of Hours, since I first saw one in a reproduction in High School. A picture from Jean de Berry Book of Hours, it’s the monthly scene for June, is below.

illustration from medieval book of hours

Those colors are the inspiration for this Twinchy. It captures the bright colors with the blue and red, the lightness of the palette with the blue-violet, the slightly yellow white of vellum and parchment, and the gold that is so much a part of illuminated manuscripts.

It’s just one of the twelve color palettes I’ll be exploring in Color through the Ages my exciting new color and thread club beginning March 1, 2012.

Each month you’ll get the charted Twinchy (2″ square needlepoints) and lots of information on the palettes, color, and three threads in a PDF.

There are two subscription option, basic and deluxe. The basic subscription gets the monthly PDF only. The deluxe gets the PDF, canvas for the Twinchy, and samples of three threads.

Basic Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program. It is $7.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register.

Deluxe Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program as well as canvas and three thread samples of about 2 yards per month. It is $12.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register.

In addition if you make a single payment for either option (using the buttons below or pay via check (contact me for the address) you will receive a10% discount..

Please note that the Deluxe Package prices are for shipment to US addresses only. If you want this option and live outside the US, please contact me. All sales to California are subject to sales tax. If you are in California and choose the subscription, you will be invoiced for the sales tax separately.

Taking Color Cues from Fashion

Janet Perry — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:54:24 +0000

My husband thinks I’m sort of weird because I love fashion magazines. One big reason I love them is that they often give me ideas for needlepoint.
One great thing is that you can use color combinations that they showcase to put together interesting combinations for needlepoint.

Sometimes you are lucky and the magazine spells out a combination for you. For example, the combination of nude, light pink, minty green, and coral in Style Watch inspired the Twinchy freebie pictured here. It’d entirely made up of Cashmere stitches, charted below. (Instead of a complete chart, use the picture of the finished needlepoint to stitch it.)

A stunning malachite-grren sequined evening gown inspired me to stitch a malachite clutch in all metallics.

When looking to fashion for color inspiration there are three types of things that can inspire.

You can take you inspiration from an individual outfit. If you see an outfit that combines a bright yellow blouse with navy blue pants, look at the neutrals paired with it to create the start of a great piece.

You can take inspiration from the colors in a print. The prints do lots of the work for you. They always have a background color, which becomes your background. The figures in the print determine the other colors. You’ll get the best success from using these colors in similar proportions. You can do this by writing down the colors and then ranking them from most to least used. Note also where there are big gaps. (A future post will demonstrate how to do this).

You can also take inspiration from a color spread, as I did here. The spread took these colors and showed current clothes and accessories in this palette. Coral was most predominate, then light pink (some almost white), green came next appearing in one piece and as a print’s background. Nude was used the least, although both the light pinks and lightest corals were almost nudes.

While I love and often use the combination of deep coral and bright turquoise, this combination made me think about these colors in another way. The threads I used included three shades of Aurora silk perle (coral), Gentle Arts floss in porcelin (center pink), Kreink #12 in an unlabeled color (green), Elegance E844 and Neon Rays N40 (nudes), and a mix of Gentle Arts Cotton Candy and Crescent Colors Spun Sugar (outside pink).

And it’s all thanks to the fashion magazine.

Stardust – Thread Review

Janet Perry — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:57:16 +0000

Originally posted 2010-08-03 07:23:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Stardust is a new thread from brown paper packages. It combines their silk/wool thread with metallic. Currently it is available in four colors: white with iridescent, Really Red with iridescent, Pewter with iridescent, and Toast with gold. Future colors planned are Emerald (seen above), dark blue, and light blue, all with iridescent. The intention is to keep the line small with holiday colors, along with some for water and sky.

The iridescent picks up the color of the base thread, but it also picks up and reflects the color of the surrounding stitching making for a nice effect.

The base threads is Silk & Ivory, spun with a strand of metallic. I found it smoother and thinner than Silk & Ivory and it stitched beautifully on 18 mesh canvas. It will also work on 14 mesh.

I used it as the darkest green in this small piece from MJ’s Threadworks. I found that the sparks of metallic were less frequent than for similar threads such as Silk Lame from Rainbow Gallery or Shimmer from Vineyard Silks. In practice this means that the metallic effect will be somewhat more subtle.

Comparing it to another piece I did recently using Vineyard Silks Shimmer, the metallic was obvious in about half the stitches in Vineyard Silks, giving the area a tweeded look. With Stardust the metallic only showed up in about 25% of the stitches, making it much more of an accent. I liked that it added sparkle, but not so much that it detracted form the more matte threads around it.

Stardust is clearly a thread to keep in mind when you want an accent thread, but not one which will overwhelm the other threads in a piece.

Use Free Designs to Make Great Gifts

Janet Perry — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:30:23 +0000

Originally posted 2010-12-05 07:17:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Make a Needlepoint Pin for a Quick Gift!

There are some great free gifts that you can make using free patterns available on the Internet. Many of these designs use innovative finishing techniques.

My sister site, All about Needlepoint, has listings with links for many of these patterns. Today I’d like to highlight some of the categories.

One of my favorite ideas for a quick gift is a needlepoint pin. Amoung the highlights in these designs is a series of monthly pins by Mary Cosgrove, available through the Kreinik site. The Celtic pin pictured above, designed by Kandace Thomas is another one of the many small designs at Kreinik.

Bookmarks are another great idea. There aren’t many in the index, but one is a lovely design by Orna Willis that includes finishing instructions.

There are so many good ideas out there including a plastic canvas holder for “singles” of drink mixes, linked in the accessories for home list, a mesh bracelet from Orna in the accessories list wonderful sea creature magnets from ANG (listed under magnets), and lots of wonderful stitcher’s accessories, large and small.

Color through the Ages Sneak Peek

Janet Perry — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:30:22 +0000

Many of you have asked to see what the Twinchie projects for Color through the Ages will look like. This year’s needlepoint club is going to go beyond the traditional color schemes to look at color combinations that refer to a specific time, place, or object.

Through charted Twinchies (2″square needlepoint) based on quilt designs, club members will explore color schemes typical not just of ancient times, but of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Twentieth Century, along with others.

Pictured here are two of the completed Twinchies, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. I’ll post a couple more sneaks late this month. Both societies used similar color palettes based on minerals. In these packets you’ll learn about mineral colors, why “dirt” isn’t just one color, why blue is so prized, and more.

In each month’s packet you will get:

Extensive information about color and this color scheme
Information about the quilt block or setting
Charted Twinchie with thread list
Information, including stitching tips for three different threads

The club begins March 1, 2012 and registrations are open now. There are a number of different pricing options, depending on what you want.

Basic Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program. It is $7.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register.

In addition if you make a single payment for either option (using the buttons below or pay via check (contact me for the address) you will receive a10% discount..

Come join me on this journey of exploration.

2012 Needlepoint Club – Color through the Ages

Janet Perry — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:34:36 +0000

Color can be so evocative of a time or a place. Think of the combination of deep ultramarine blue, gold, linen white and rusty red. Ancient Egypt, right?

Or what about the terra cotta, black, and golden yellow of Greek pots?

This year’s needlepoint club, Color through the Ages, is going to go beyond the traditional color schemes to look at color combinations that refer to a specific time, place, or object.

Each month you’ll get a PDF instruction packet with the chart, information about the color scheme and something about color of the time, and information about three different threads.

A continuation of 2011′s popular Color, Thread, and Quilts Club, you’ll have a chance to expend and extend your knowledge with these delightful little pieces.

The club begins March 1, 2012 and registrations are open now. There are a number of different pricing options, depending on what you want.

Basic Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program. It is $7.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register.

In addition if you make a single payment for either option (using the buttons below or pay via check (contact me for the address) you will receive a10% discount..

Come join me on this journey of exploration.

Shop for Threads, Kits, and Projects at Orna’s Clearance

Janet Perry — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:03:00 +0000

Orna Willis has just opened a Clearance section in her on-line shop. There you wikll find project packs, some rare or discontinued,kits, a few painted canvases, and lots of stunning thread packs such as the one pictured here.

2012 SOTM Colors – Reveal your Teal

Janet Perry — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:48:59 +0000

Teal is, in clothing, a universally flattering color. In my family where we got from golden to ashy to ruddy to olive, it’s the only color we can all wear successfully.

It is also just about my favorite color and currently I am on a serious teal buying spree, getting a leather tote, tops, dresses, and just about anything else I can get me hands on.

But all this is besides the point. I’m going to make the ANG 2012 Stitch of the Month (anyone can follow and it’s free, check it out). The piece will be done in shades of one color in a variety of threads.

I want to use different color and I want to use all stash threads. I also didn’t want to use a color that is strongly associated with a cause, since I don’t know what the result will be (it’s a mystery project).

So I picked teal because I love it.

These are just the first threads I’ve pulled for the project. They include some metallic, Grandeur and Pebbly Perle, Waterlilies, a vareigated knitting yarn, Vineyard Merino, Silk & Ivory, Dragonfly Lotus Threads, and Planet Earth wool. I haven’t gone through all the drawers yet, so I know I will be adding more threads.

It’s way overkill but this gives me plenty for picking and choosing. I’m thinking I’m going to buy some teal paint and sponge paint white canvas for the background. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

BTW, teal also happens to be the color of our local hockey team, the Sharks, who used Reveal your Teal as a slogan one season.