challenge Archive

Originally posted 2009-06-21 06:36:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Remember our stash-busting needlepoint challenge this month? I wanted to bring you up-to-date on my progress and plans. I decided I wanted it to look like stained glass, so I’m using one of my favorite colors of Kreinik, Gunmetal (025HL) for the outline. I love the way it looks like the lead in stained glass. I’m about 2/3′s done with the outline and have finished off one spool of the metallic. It will probably use all of the second spool. My original plan was to use just scrap threads in many colors, but my DH told me he liked the smaller pool of colors in the original chart. So I’ve changed my thinking. I had already pulled out violets, blue-violets, and grays for another project, so I’m going to use that restricted palette. I also looked at the chart, it uses

Read More...

Winter is a lovely time to stitch and so I’m announcing an easy stitch along that will run monthly through the end of 2013. It’s a monthly color challenge and there will be two sources of inspiration. Pick one, do both, improvise on them — whatever. The choice will be up to you. You don’t even need to use all the colors, maybe one will be perfect for a project in progress. You just need to stitch something based on one of the inspiration colors. That’s it. If you like you can send me a picture of what you stitched, I’ll add it to that month’s color challenge gallery. The first basis for the challenge is a skein of multi-colored thread. This month’s is Illawong, a very warming combination, from Dinky Dyes. It’s pictured above. The second basis is a color scheme from my favorite color blog, Design Seeds. In

Read More...

Originally posted 2009-02-12 05:37:12. Republished by Blog Post PromoterNeedlepoint mystery projects are lots of fun, but they pose challenges for the stitcher. Since you don’t know what the finished project looks like, you pick color by faith that it all will work out. Designers give you their color and thread choices, but what if you don’t like them? Then you have to pick your own. Yesterday’s post talked about picking a color scheme based on an overdye. Since most mystery projects these days use an overdyed thread, this is easy to do, but for the ANG Stitch of the Month Mystery Project, I took another approach, I shopped pretty much completely from my stash. I had an idea for a color scheme based on one I had seen in a book about kimono. Happily there is an overdye, Spruce from The Caron Collection, which is similar. It’s mostly teal, but

Read More...

Originally posted 2008-08-06 08:18:19. Republished by Blog Post PromoterIt’s been going on for almost 2 years, but I just learned about this challenge to reduce our stashes. We all tend to get stashes which are out of control. Sometimes our guilds have projects to reduce our stash of UFO’s, but sometimes we need some additional motivation. Here’s one. If you take part in the challenge you can’t buy a new project until 10, 25, and 50 projects from your stash are complete. There is no time limit and you can set out what will be exceptions from the beginning. I’m planning on doing this. My exceptions will be models and gifts. Since most of my stitching is one of these two things, and I often neglect the projects for me, I think this will be an outstanding way to get something done for myself for a change. Maybe I should

Read More...

Originally posted 2008-08-31 07:30:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter This Twinchy Challenge was so much fun. The Twinchy pictured above is a block called “Black Beauty” It’s stitched in two shades of Watercolours, the dark one for the border and the lighter one for the main blocks. The center block is a coordinating metallic, and the background is a pastel thread (Watercolours in this case). The chart shows the whole block except the center. You can make that any stitch you like, I used Leviathan. A smaller version of this block will be available in my new eBook, 50 Quilt Blocks for Needlepoint or Cross Stitch, out in September. Jan Fitzpatrick often stitches small quilt blocks for ring boxes. I Just love this version of Bear’s Paw. I love the way the four paws come together in the center to make a star. Jocelyn also had another three wonderful Twinchies,

Read More...

Originally posted 2009-02-01 06:29:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter If you go into the stores these days, you are bombarded by Valentines. Every time I got shopping I’m glad I don’t have to find Valentines and candy for each of my kids for every person in each class. Talk about candy overload! But I also bought an adorable set of stickers recently which had 42 hearts, each different, in bright, cheery colors. The patterns were simple geometrics, with stripes, squiggles, polka dots, and squares. But they just looked happy and I couldn’t resist them. They have also inspired this month’s Twinchy challenge. Just trace a heart outline (I’ll be giving you four) into the 2″ square, find colors and patterns which make you happy and stitch away. The heart pictured above uses one of the very first Watercolours, Sunset. Sunset then had undyed parts, sunset now does not. I love

Read More...

Originally posted 2008-07-31 07:33:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Here are the three twinchys I made for this month’s challenge. The main colors are my kids’ favorite colors and the threads came from my scrap bag and from my stash. The backgrounds are done in T Stitch. I used white Nordic Gold for the A, very pale yellow Kreinik for the green, and silver Kreinik for the T. All of these are thin threads, so that the canvas shows through. Here are the charts for you (click to get a larger size): A M T To make them, I made the middle letter very large and then found additional letters, many from Tink Boord-Dill’s book, Alphabets Tantalizing and Terrific, or from the Internet. I arranged them around the central letter, some behind others, and stitched each in a different thread so they would stand out from each other. Some do

Read More...

Originally posted 2008-12-01 06:29:59. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThis month’s challenge is a wide open one. What does December mean to you? Is it gingerbread men baking, Christmas, winter, peace

Read More...

Originally posted 2010-04-07 07:05:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter My friend Kristin runs the blog Craft Leftovers and has a great idea for April — make it a stash-busting month. Vow not to buy any new craft materials in April and then challenge yourself to use them in a new project. You can get all the details, a button for your blog, and information about the contest she is running on this post. I’d like to put a needlepoint spin on it and encourage you all to make something from your stash. Your project needs to come completely from your stash, canvas, threads, everything. It can be an original project, a UFO, a canvas from your stash, or even a project that is in your stash. If you like, you can challenge yourself further by trying to pick colors that are different than what you would normally use. Maybe pick

Read More...

Originally posted 2009-02-11 07:37:07. Republished by Blog Post PromoterYesterday I pulled and bought threads for two mystery projects. These pose particular problems for the stitcher because you don’t know what the final project will look like (that’s the mystery) so you are picking by faith. Most mystery projects allow you to pick your own colors and list threads in a table, you write your own color choices in a column next to the designers. As you stitch you substitute your own choices for the designer’s. Of course, you have to have faith that your choices will work, but that’s part of the fun. I took two very different approaches to creating these schemes, so I thought I would share them with you. These threads are for the CyberPointers President’s Challenge Project, Carnivale. It calls for metallics, two sizes of pearl cotton, and floss all in similar colors. My scheme is

Read More...

Counted Needlepoint is not one of my better things. Although I have successfully completed a few counted projects (namely Romance & Rhapsody), I avoid counted projects, largely because I don’t feel confident. Fixing this problem is one of my needlepoint resolutions for this year, but I haven’t done anything about it, except buy projects. One project I bought is Amazing Color from Needle Delights and, inspired by Liz at Dragonfly Lotus who is doing an Inchie a Day, I have started it. I’m not doing it in Kathy’s colors but in a spectrum of colors from burgundy in two corners to violet down the diagonal middle. Everything will be from my stash starting with overdyed floss as the main thread. I’m hoping to stitch 2 squares a day but want it done by December. I need the discipline, I need to learn this stuff, and I need to do some

Read More...

Originally posted 2008-09-01 06:23:16. Republished by Blog Post PromoterAround here, Napa Valley, September is the height of The Crush. This means that the whole Valley takes on a strange, busy air. It’s the hardest work for the vintners as they are harvesting the grapes and making the wine. It’s the busiest time of year for the restaurants and inns because of all the people who come to see what’s happening. Locals mostly work too hard and hope for rain. This month’s theme reflects Napa’s obsession with food and wine. So have at it. Stitch your favorite food, make a non-alocoholic needlepoint cocktail, or make a warming bowl of soup. No Twinchy for me yet, but with my best friend from high school and her DH coming to town tomorrow, I’ll have plenty of inspiration in the next few days!

Read More...

Originally posted 2008-07-01 06:57:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter This is the start of a monthly challenge, I’m inspired to take up and I hope you will too. It shouldn’t take up too much of your time. The idea is to make a two inch square of needlepoint on the specific challenge theme each month. I got the idea from a challenge project called inchies. These are 1″ square pieces of art which use just about any medium. There’s even a blog (Inchy by Inch) about them if you want to learn more. Also many people who make inchies blog about them and show them off on the web. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt as if 1″ was too small. Then I found three charming frames I bought a Kmart last year which are 2″ square. They’ll be perfect for holding these little needlepoints

Read More...

Originally posted 2008-11-01 06:28:11. Republished by Blog Post PromoterIf you think about it, there are so many lovely sources of design. As needleartists, we take lovely things we find and adapt them to our medium of needlepoint. I’m a resolute saver of interesting pictures and drawings I like. I have two notebooks stuffed full of things cut from magazines, copies from books, and drawings I like. I’ve started a third This summer’s massive clean-up project has yielded a box of recipes, inspirational pictures and house ideas, culled from the magazines I’ve thrown away as part of my reduce mania. I think of my recycling bin as “free trash can” — it’s as big as my trash can, I pay for it anyhow, and so why not fill it with stuff which can be recycled. These days I fill them both and still have trash to carry forward to the next

Read More...

Originally posted 2009-01-31 06:57:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I just love this Twinchy. It showcases everything I like about Kachinas. It has feathers, lots of color, and antler horns. The stepped pyramid around the mouth represents the mesas of New Mexico and Arizona. The charts or drawings for all the Twinchies along with notes for stitching appear after the pictures. This Twinchy is based on a fragment of Pueblo pottery. While newer pottery is white, older pottery takes on a creamy color I just love. It isn’t symmetrical because I’m not as good an artist as they are. The medicine bear fetish was my inspiration for this Twinchy. I wanted him to fill up as much of the space as possible, but I was drawing freehand and drew it wrong. So he looks too big to fit the size and is bursting out. The line drawing is the proper

Read More...