come stitch with me Archive

Originally posted 2008-09-24 07:07:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Now I’m caught up. Since my DS gave me Pushing Daisies on DVD as a birthday present, we’ve been watching to get ready for the new season. And House was on last night, So for a change, I’ve had some time to stitch these past couple of days. I finished the second E block on the Celebrate Sampler and I am really loving the way it is coming together. I want to take a minute to talk about the thread selection as a whole. It was inspired by some beads in my stash which combine pink and just a bit of gold. Since pink is one of my favorite colors, I have tons of it in my stash, especially orangish pinks and corals, so I pulled them first. I made sure if I picked overdyes that they were primarily these colors.

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Originally posted 2009-03-12 07:24:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Three more cats stitched on our stash project. One thing which is so fun about this project is that Patt slightly changes the colors from square to square. so this can really reflect what’s in your stash. For the dark violet, you could use the same thread throughout, or you could change it with every patch, either will look great. Since I really want to mix things up, I’m using different threads right now, but I’m sure most of them will reappear for other cats. The first cat is an unusual uneven check pattern of Mosaics (sxometime Cashmeres) and Tent Stitch. It;s not Mosaic Checker because the Tent Stitch areas are only one thread wide. The Mosaics line up in columns, as do the Tent Stitches, switching between the two colors. Every third row uses Cashmere instead of Mosaic. This patch

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Originally posted 2011-01-26 07:52:10. Republished by Blog Post PromoterMy initial plan for the Learn-a-Stitch mini socks was to use a different color combination for each one, trying different shades of Watercolours and challenging myself to find threads that matched. Then two things happened. First, I stitched February’s mini-sock (you’ll see it next week) and found the Watercolours I’d picked, plum, didn’t go with much in my stash and I ended up not liking the result as much as I thought I would. This could be a product of our recent gray days, or aging eyes, or just changing tastes, but I’m longing for bright cheery colors. The second thing was that someone asked me if the series could be done in one set of threads. I hadn’t thought about it this way, but yes, it could. But I would get bored with only one set of threads for all twelve

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Originally posted 2009-11-17 06:59:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Colonial houses, especially the ones of Colonial Williamsburg, are one of my favorite things. I grew up in a neo-colonial house (it looked like Mt. Vernon). I loved Williamsburg when I went there when I was 10. One of the things I love about Annapolis is all the charming colonial houses. I’ve been asked recently about needlepointing houses, which poses some interesting problems. As a result I’m putting together a free project on stitching houses, our new Come Stitch with Me project. Our project will have four houses on it, all colonials. One will be brick, one stone, and two wood. hey can be stitched as a set or individually as ornaments. We’ll got through the process together, talking about threads, stitches, and techniques for stitching windows, paths, grass, and roofs. We’ll even spend a little bit of time “decorating” the

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Originally posted 2008-12-17 08:16:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter The last thing to do on your sampler is to sign and date it, which I finished last night. I modified my initials to make them into a monogram using this alphabet, Bungalow, which I designed several years ago. (Click on the picture to get the full-size graph to print.) Then I used the Bungalow numbers to add the date. I put one thread between the numbers, making the date 21 threads wide. Since the block is 28 threads wide, I went in four threads and up two threads to add the date. (Click on the picture to get the full-size graph to print.) Next your need to center your name above the date. Because the date is symmetrical the open thread between the zeroes is the center. I found the middle of my initials (also easy, it’s the top of

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Originally posted 2009-04-22 06:38:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Here are the second two squares of the Mod Sampler Quilt. One is a check, the other a stripe. Although I haven’t stitched them yet, they will go in diagonal rows down the quilt. I’m not entirely happy with the yellows I picked. There’s not enough contrast. While I know there isn’t much margin for contract in yellow, I think I can do better. So I’m going to pull out the duller yellow and replace it. But I didn’t want to keep you waiting to do more. I’ll update with a picture of the quilt so far in a couple of days. The checked block is stitched in this version of Genny’s Scotch Stitch. The original stitch goes over six threads, this goes over 5, so the longest stitch has been taken out. By dividing some of the longer stitches, a

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Originally posted 2009-02-25 07:45:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Time to get started on the cats. I want to have some consistency in this stash project, so I’m using the same thread for the border. and narrow dividing line between the rows of cats. A second thread will be used throughout for the background. Borders & Dividing Lines I’m using dark brown Paternayan Persian Wool from my stash, but Silk & Ivory or Vineyard Silk would also be nice. A very dark brown overdye, such as Gloriana’s Lorikeet, could also work. You should stitch the inside border and the horizontal lines dividing the rows of cats before beginning to stitch the cats. Because the canvas is printed by computer, this will make sure you have the lines perfectly straight. The inside border is stitched in Reverse Diagonal Gobelin over three threads. Find the lines which are most commonly the border

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Originally posted 2008-09-02 07:07:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Here’s the center block for the top, a big bold lower case e. The alphabet charted below, is Computer 24 from Tink’s Alphabets Tantalizing and Terrific. The background, below, is Criss-Cross Hungarian with Crosses stitched using a limited edition silk called Brazilian Boa from The Thread Gatherer. Make all the Hungarians first, using 6 strands, Then go back and using only three strands, make the little Cross Stitches. This will distribute the colors nicely. One last note about using limited edition or discontinued colors. If you are planning a large project using them, by more than you think you will need, you may not be able to find them. If you don’t have a project in mind, pick up a skein or two to use for small projects and as accents. I positively adore this color with the flashes of bright

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Originally posted 2008-12-09 07:56:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Here’s the T patch for Celebrate. The T has a fun modern style but still with some curves. I think it constrast nicely with the background, which is Staircase Stitch and is done in a solid color thread (Silk & Ivory) and an overdyed (flamingo Watercolours). If you wanted a less obvious contrast between the two parts of the background stitch, go with two solid colors in contrasting textures. Of course, since part of the point of this exercise is to learn about stitches, I wanted more of a contrast. This way I can go back and look at the sampler to find out how to make the stitch. The T (click on the chart for a full-size version) is Arco 24 from Tink’s Alphabets Wild and Wonderful. It’s available in the bookstore. It’s a great alphabet, combining thin straight lines

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Originally posted 2009-07-03 06:09:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter That’s on the cover of Celebrate! The ebook version of the Come Stitch with Me needlepoint sampler from 2008. It has been expanded with additional ideas for using the stitches and information on how to develop a color scheme This cover is from 50 Patchwork Blocks Charted for Needlepoint or Cross Stitch, my other new ebook. You’ll be amazed and delighted by the originality shown by the stitchers in interpreting these classic quilt designs. More books in this series are on the way. You can purchase these book now using the PayPal shopping cart on this page. I’m so excited about them both because they represent an affordable way to buy needlepoint projects as well as great ways to use material you already have on hand. A PayPal shopping cart makes it all easy to purchase. And don’t forget the custom

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The picture here is of my first patch in the 2012 Stitch of the Month (SOTM) from ANG. I am using all stash threads in my favorite color, Teal. Throughout the year I’ll be sharing my progress with you. I’m committed to being thrifty in my needlepoint purchases, so I try to use what I have on hand. I love this because it means I need to exercise my creativity and make something my own. I always find inspiration in how using scarce resources can make something beautiful by thinking of my beloved Amish and scrap bag quilts. In these quilts using what is on hand makes quilts of great beauty. While I don’t aspire to those heights, I do want my needlepoint to be beautiful as well as thrifty. Starting from the teal threads I pulled from my stash I did some other things to make changes. Since I

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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).

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Originally posted 2009-01-20 06:07:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter A sparkly sky in icy blues. white, and pale grays is the inspiration for this Scrap Bag Needlepoint piece based on a quilt design. You can make the quilt in any monochromatic color you like. To do so, first pick out your background color. In my case this was white, pale gray, and pale blue. Pull out all your threads in this color. Then pull out all your threads in the main color of the quilt. In my case this was blue to blue-violet. There will be a few blue-green patches, but not many. For each block of the quilt you will use two shades of blue and one accent color. As you can see by the sample, you can have the darker shade either as the center or as the points. The only trick is to keep the look varied

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Originally posted 2009-07-14 06:50:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter If you want to make a Scrap Bag Needlepoint from your stash and want it to have a coordinated look, there’s nothing better than pulling out all your threads in a particular color scheme. That’s what I chose to do for my version of the delightful abstract cross stitch you first saw awhile ago. I’m making it to go into my powder room and using a blue-violet and violet color scheme. There are also some accents based on Caron Collections Amethyst (pink and olive) and on the gray and brown undertones of the violet colors. But just randomly picking colors doesn’t always work, especially if you have a design such as this one which is busy and doesn’t have any background. If I picked all my threads in these color and just chose randomly, I’d end up with a mess. But

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Originally posted 2009-02-09 05:23:38. Republished by Blog Post PromoterBarbara has posted the latest patch to the sampler on her blog. It’s Diagonal Scotch, one of my favorite stitches. She has alternated rows in two colors, but you can also make another fun stitch, Hesitation Stitch by only making the shortest stitches in each row a contrasting texture or different color of thread

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