cross stitch Archive

Originally posted 2008-09-08 05:54:04. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThe first of my eBooks to be published (out late this month) will be a collection of 50 quilt blocks charted for either cross stitch or needlepoint. The blocks are charted simply and range in size from 15×15 to 24×24. You can stitch them just as they are or substitute other stitches for each square of the chart. To inspire your creativity and to show you just how flexible these blocks can be, I let the modelstitchers loose on them, giving them no instruction, no colors, and asking them to do what they liked. One of them, Jan Sprague, just posted two of her blocks on her blog. They are really cool. The top one, Alaska Homestead, is pretty much stitched as charted, with one Tent Stitch per square on the chart. I just love the way she used overdyes on this.

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Originally posted 2011-05-10 07:21:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter This charming whole stitch African Animals Sampler of was Friday’s Freebie from DMC. The picture shows its stitched on 14 count Aida, but it would be wonderful stitched on needlepoint canvas. Stitch it in a single color in a hand-dyed thread for a great rustic look. Even better, pick out a lovely color of canvas (maybe one of the hand-dyed or Nature’s Palette painted ones) and then stitch it in a darker or brighter hand-dye in the same color. Don’t want to do a sampler? Consider repeating the animals as a wide border, or even stitching the animals singly as ornaments. Thanks to DMC for providing this to us!

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Samplers and quotes are a continual attraction to stitchers of all kinds. From magnets which declare whether the dishes are “clean” or “dirty” to elegantly bordered and framed sayings, the combination of words and stitches allows almost anyone to become a designer. Today I will discuss choosing an appropriate quote, picking a style of alphabet, spacing and choice of a border. With these tools, you can make your own quotable quotes in needlepoint. Choosing a Quote When doing a quote in needlework, you need to be aware of the space each letter will take up and the effect this will have on the size of the finished piece. Ideally a quote for needlepoint should be short. Quotes for cross stitch can be longer because you can use Backstitched letters to put more letters on each line. The quote should also be something which breaks into more or less even lines.

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Originally posted 2010-02-08 07:39:32. Republished by Blog Post PromoterOver the weekend Denise at Craft Gossip published a post of free needlepoint designs. You know I’m crazy about her round-ups of free projects, which she publishes often. Usually needlepoint charts are listed among the other charts, so this is a rare opportunity to indulge in the wonderful talent and generosity out there. There are also lots of whole stitch cross stitch charts (which can be stitched as is in needlepoint). I’m particularly fond of the mosaic motif in the previous post. But there are tons of great ideas in that post (A is for Apple, that great rooster) and in the Valentine’s motifs, she’s been posting all week. If you’re in need of a little pick-me-up, especially in light of the recent snow storm, take a look and give yourself a present. In fact, I’m going off to print a bunch

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Although it’s designed to go on 18-count evenweave fabric, you could easily adapt this design to colord 18-mesh canvas. It features four shades of DMC’s Color Variations thread. Get the entire piece on-line: Central medallion Borders Just these two parts and you’re done!

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Originally posted 2010-08-23 07:10:52. Republished by Blog Post PromoterDenise over at Craft Gossip is the most wonderful source of alerts for free patterns for all kinds of needlework. Over the weekend she posted lots of great free cross stitch patterns. There were three I want to single out for you to give you some ideas of new things to look for when looking for needlepoint. I was really struck by the peacefulness of the seascape pictured above from French site, Les grilles de Thiarlou. Just using whole stitches and a variety of colors, you get a real sense of movement in the sea. That’s an idea you could bring to other needlepoint easily. Think how cool a background or sky could be if you used a similar method. Piet Mondrian’s graphic design is so iconic, it’s inspired all kinds of things. But it’s also an amazing basis for a cool

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Originally posted 2009-09-18 07:02:22. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThanks to the folks at CRAFT magazine, I recently learned about this marvelous site, PatternMakers’ Charts, that provides, free of charge, charts from vintage needlework books. The one that really intrigued me was the set of Cyrillic alphabets. This is the alphabet used in Russia and in some countries in Eastern Europe. Because it’s based on the Greek alphabet, you could also use these alphabets for Sorority and Fraternity items. They are from a Russian book and there are six alphabets, including two script ones. Many alphabets from Sanjou books are also available. These French needlework books are quite popular and are listed by number. There are also reproductions of Sanjou charts for many other motifs as well. From these you could design your own charming sampler or even stitch one of theirs (I’m particularly fond of the one with the donkey

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Originally posted 2009-08-20 06:36:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter The next two borders in the needlepoint reproduction of the Bath Mosaic combine Tent Stitch and Backstitch. Each will be shown as a straight border and then as the corner. The first border is made up of Backstitched squares with Tent Stitch squares in three colors of silk inside them. Remember: blue squares – blue Needlepoint Inc 325, red squares – terra cotta Splendor S925, green squares – gray Splendor S920. Being the border 3 threads rom the previous border. The terra cotta and gray stitches form “L’s” in one corner of the square while the blue is in the other corner. This means that at the corners, the blue squares will meet up on only one side. The corner chart, above, shows the placement of the border in relation to the previous border. The next border (the fifth counting from

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UPDATE: I realized this morning that I forgot the stitched picture of the shadow stitching technique on yesterday’s blog. Check the post after 11 AM Pacific 12/7/12 for the picture. My apologies. Who doesn’t like a plaid? This year delight the folks on your list by making them a quick and easy needlepoint tartan gift (they can be done in cross stitch as well). With my assortment of charted tartans you can. You may have thought you needed to be Scottish to use a tartan, but that isn’t true. As these pictures show. Your needlepoint tartan can be a last name, a country (great for different heritages), or a state. It can even just be colors or a pattern you like. They are charted in full color with separate charts for horizontal and vertical stripes as well as a completed plaid chart, seen here, as a reference. Complete stitching instructions

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Originally posted 2010-05-04 07:18:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter At the moment I’m mostly free from consume lust. There aren’t many things I want but can’t have. The iPhone is one of them. Not that AT&T works as a cellphone on Mare Island (it doesn’t) or that my life is such that I wouldn’t need one if it did. But I still want one. Australian needlepoint and cross stitch designer Happy Threads has published a whole stitch chart (suitable for cross stitch or needlepoint) of the iPhone screen. I could always stitch that and pretend

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All too often when we stitch a person or animal the eyes seem a bit dead and lifeless. That’ because often our stitching lacks the sparkle real eyes have. Putting that spark into your stitching isn’t hard. Here are two methods to do it. Stitch eyes with metallics – There are a number of metallics that are the same colors as eyes and are not very shiny. Stitching single stitch and small eyes in these threads creates that tiny bit of light that brings the eyes to life. Add a white highlight over the stitched eye – Jen Funk-Weber has a fantastic post about how to do this. She’s writing about Cross Stitch but the same method applies to needlepoint. This method works best though when the eyes are a bit larger. The next time you stitch eyes, bring them to life easily

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Originally posted 2010-06-26 07:19:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter The Rhodes Stitch (named for legendary stitcher Mary Rhodes) is a very flexible stitch. It can be any size. It can be any shape. It also attracts attention wherever you use it. And for many stitchers learning to make Rhodes Stitches can be a problem. Kincavel Krosses has recently published this simply delightful Rhodes Stitch Biscournu. Designed to be done on fabric, it will give you lots of practice making squares and butterflies in Rhodes Stitches. Imagine how great this would be in a multi-colored thread! If you have never seen a biscornu, they are eight-sided pincushions often made from fabric. You can also make them from needlepoint. A lovely illustrated tutorial on making biscornu is at Own Two Hands. Another charming biscornu instruction site, with pictures of several biscornu is from Pretty Impressive Stuff. Thanks to Denise from Craft Gossip

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Originally posted 2010-08-09 07:10:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Star has done it again with this delightful free pattern for a scissors case. Besides the great design, you’ll love her instructions for how to scale the design to fit your scissors

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Originally posted 2010-08-21 07:02:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter This week we finish up Star’s delightful Berlinwork-inspired set of small designs. The last three sections: Swan Cat & Mouse Garland of Roses Here are links to the other parts: Part 1 Part 2 Frame & finishing (next week)

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John Wiley & Sons, ISBN: 978-1-118-35997-6. $21.99 Anna Maria Horner is well-known for her quilting, fabric design, and blog. Earlier this year she added needlepoint designer to her accomplishments with her line of kits for Anchor. This new book covers four needlework techniques (cross stitch, needlepoint, embroidery, and crewel) with several projects in her bright contemporary style for each technique. The book is nicely divided into two main sections grid work (cross stitch and needlepoint) and free work (embroidery and crewel). This emphasizes the similarity in the technique, which is rarely done. Each technique has a short introductory section that talks about materials, basic stitches, and working techniques. Following this are the projects. They include both decorative and fashion projects and have something for people of all ages. It’s a good selection of designs. Each project lists the materials she used, has working instructions, and notes. Each project begins with

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