Nuts about Needlepoint » challenge

December Twinchy Challenge – December

Janet Perry — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:56:30 +0000

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? Related posts: Twinchy — Monthly Needlepoint Challenge November Twinchy Challenge — Adaptation August Twinchy Challenge – Quilt Blocks Letter Twinchy Challenge Results October Twinchy Challenge – the Watercolours Challenge Related posts:

Needlepoint Challenge – Use your Stash

Janet Perry — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:02:21 +0000

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 an overdye that isn’t one you’d normally use and see how it will work with the other threads in your stash.

Throughout the month, on Tuesdays, I’m going to feature a Scrap Bag Needlepoint design from my archives to encourage you to use what you have. Yesterday’s Roman Stripe Ornament was the first of these. I’ve started my version of it, all in Scotch Stitch.

When you have one of your stash-busting projects done, send me a scan or a picture and next month sometime, I’ll create a gallery of them with some special prizes for entries and winners.

Creating a Color Scheme Based on an Overdyed Thread

Janet Perry — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:16:15 +0000

Originally posted 2009-02-11 07:37:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Yesterday 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 done in silks instead of cotton, largely because I don’t have much cotton in the stash, but I have lots of Grandeur and Elegance, two sizes of silk pearl.

The first choice was the overdye. Looking at the thread list, I noticed the designer had lots of colors, so I chose Tahiti (I know it’s my go to overdye) because it too has many colors. From the rainbow which is Tahiti I chose to emphasize yellow and violet, with red as my accent.

First I picked the metallic, the violet which is needed in two sizes. Since this metallic is pretty matte, I wanted two similar ones and found them in my stash of sparkle braid. One is blue (close to the blue-violet) and one is my accent color, a gold-infused red.

Then on to the pearls. I started with the pearl #8 since I had the most of them and picked three, blue, yellow, and the darker blue violet. I figured one of these would also come in Grandeur (#5 pearl) and knew all of them came in Splendor, which is my floss. I looked through my stash and found nothing to match, so I bought at the store. I found the matching colors in all three threads in the blue and added the threads I needed.

For a bonus I picked a pretty pale blue-violet in Baroque Silk (another silk pearl) and Splendor.

Finally I needed to buy a second skein of Tahiti. The store didn’t have dyelots with the same initials, so they didn’t coordinate, so I bought two skeins of the Tahiti they had.

Tomorrow another approach, choosing color based on your stash.

Counted Needlepoint Challenge

Janet Perry — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 13:58:04 +0000

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 stitching that is not for work.

Besides all of this I’ll be using the time to pray. I have an important special intention that needs to be granted and quickly. So I’m praying for that. If you’re the praying kind, please join me in storming heaven to grant this request.

From time to time, I’ll post an update on the progress (what’s done so far is pictured here).

September Twinchy Challenge – Food & Drink

Janet Perry — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:49:37 +0000

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! Related posts: September Twinchy Challenge Gallery Twinchy — Monthly Needlepoint Challenge Letter Twinchy Challenge Results November Twinchy Challenge — Adaptation August Twinchy Challenge – Quilt Blocks Related posts:

Twinchy — Monthly Needlepoint Challenge

Janet Perry — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:23:49 +0000

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 and will make great ornaments come Christmas.

So off we go. The rules are simple, take the theme and do with it what you will. I’ll announce the theme in a blog post on the first of every month. The last day of the month, I’ll have an entry showing you what I’ve come up with for the theme.

If you have a blog, post and entry, let me know and I’ll include it in the monthly round-up. If you post the picture on a photo-sharing site like Flickr, let me know about that too.

But most of all have fun with this. The pieces are small so they shouldn’t take more than an evening of your time, so you might be inspired some month to make more than one.

That’s cool too.

The theme for July 2008 is initials & letters. The picture at the top of the column is my first twinchy. They’ll be some more posted on the entry at the end of the month.

Have fun!

November Twinchy Challenge — Adaptation

Janet Perry — Sun, 08 May 2011 13:25:47 +0000

Originally posted 2008-11-01 06:28:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

If 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 week.

One of the first needlepoints I designed on my own was an adaptation of a lovely Arabic mosaic I found in a high-end art magazine. It was square tiles and I adapted it one for one, one stitch per tile. It was lovely.

So I thought this month would be a great time to encourage you to adapt something else, preferably another needleart to needlepoint. Throughout the month, I’ll have articles discussing how you can adapt all kinds of different patterns and make lovely needlepoint. These will also be collected into a eBook which should be available in December sometime.

You might adapt Fair Isle Knitting patterns as I’m doing for my current Twinchy. (I’m not far enough along to show it off.) The basic color is bright red with other bright colors. Traditional design in untraditional colors. It’s based on a haute couture sweater from a couple of years ago. I can’t wait to show it off, but I don’t even have the first stripe finished.

You could do a filet crochet design as needlepoint in color on cream canvas or in cream on dark canvas.

Take a bead pattern for Peyote or Brick Stitch and make it into Brick Stitch needlepoint.

Adapt a cool striped fabric into a Bargello pattern.

Some of the needlepoint I’ll show you takes charts for other charts and turns them into needlepoint. Others use different sources of design, often no counted, and makes them needlepoint.

In the needlepoint ideas we’ll talk about this month, I’ll show you how to do all these things, along with some surprise adaptations.

What is a needleart you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t? Now is the time to find a design you like and adapt it into a little bit of needleart.

Adaptation is such a rich and ready-made source of needlepoint design, I never tire of making new things. Earlier this week I saw a glorious needlepoint by my friend Lorene based on randomly cut pieces of paper. I bought the canvas and stitched a whole needlepoint malachite, entirely in metallics just because I saw a glorious sequined evening gown in these colors in a magazine. I can’t afford the gown, but the needlepoint is wonderful.

This is going to be so much fun!

Southwestern Twinchy Gallery

Janet Perry — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:18:21 +0000

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 size.

This final Twinchy is based on some items I saw in Navajo Rugs. The center motif is called Eye Dazzler. The borders were a neat element I saw in another rug of crosses and diamonds. Navajo Rugs traditionally are made from wool spun from the fleece of the Navajo’s sheep. Often it is left undyed or dyed with natural dyes. Some rugs use commerical dyes and some modern rugs use more neutral and pastel palettes which fit modern interiors better.

The Kachina Twinchy has a backgound of a sky, stitched in an overdyed blue floss in Nobuko. The horns and most of the Twinchy are in Tent Stitch. One strand of Trio was used for the mesa, Grandeur for the black areas and Watercolours in Natural for the main part of the mask. The multi-colored bands at top and bottom use threads from my scrap bag.

The feathers are Lazy Daisy stitches and are added last.

Colors in Pueblo pottery and Kachina masks are made from clays and powdered rocks found in the area. This makes for a lovely palette which is surprisingly wide.

The pottery Twinchy is stitched entirely in Tent Stitch using Natural Watercolours, Grandeur, and Alyce Schroth Needlepoint Silk (no longer made).

Indian pots are not thrown on a potter’s wheel but are hand built using the coil method. Once built they are smoothed and painted with different clays mixed with water (called slips). After firing, they can also be polished using rocks.

I just love the variety of this pottery and it is well worth exploring. I can’t wait until I can get my collection out again.

The bear fetish is stitched in Jacquard using 3 Alarm Fire Bella Silk from Cresecent Colours. I love the bright color and variation in this hand-dyed thread. The motion of the stitch reminds me of the arrow on the Zuni Fetish. The eye is a French Knot in black Nordic Gold.

The Navajo Rug Twinchy is also stitched in all Tent Stitch using Lorikeet wool for the dark gray, Burmilana for the black, Trio for the burgundy, and a matte cotton from the scrap bag for the dark coral.

Stash-busting Contest Update

Janet Perry — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:04:29 +0000

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 10 colors besides the border. So I’m picking ten threads from that pile to use for the piece.

I’m going to work on it today and Tuesday, so I’ll post an update this week.

It’s not too late to get started on the challenge. Click on the original post for details.

Bargello Challenge – Virtual Book Tour Stop

Janet Perry — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:01:14 +0000

Originally posted 2008-07-01 20:47:14. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Cyn Davis (her blog is Cyn’s Stitches) and I did a Bargello Challenge this month for my stop at her blog on my Virtual Book Tour.

There are two posts on her blog about it. One is by me and describes the idea behind the challenge and what I did with it.

The other post is by Cyn and describes her idea for the pattern and what she did. I just love her mini-sock and I especially love the cuff. I don’t usually do cuffs on my socks, but Cyn’s is so pretty I just may start.

If you make a Bargello piece from this line or any of the free patterns I’ve included in this Virtual Book Tour, send me a picture and I’ll post it along with your comments.