FATC Archive

I love small needlepoint pieces but I am constantly frustrated by finding ways to finish them. That’s why I love this clever idea from Gingerbread Snowflakes. You can create charming pressed tin frames using tooling foil, tacky glue and tools you have around the house. Designed for ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), this will work for any small piece of needlepoint. You can make each one unique and hang your work in small groups or make them into nicely finished ornaments. If you are doing this with a piece on interlock canvas, just cut the canvas close to the edge of the stitching. If you are using mono canvas, you could cut about three canvas threads from the edge if the piece will get light use. If it will have heavier use, finish the edges. These frames are so clever & so distinctive, you’ll want to make dozens. Get the illustrated

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I am so excited about the classes I’ll be teaching for Art Needlepoint over the summer. Each class will focus on a specific technique. They are offered exclusively through Art Needlepoint. Best of all, the class is free with the purchase of the canvas and kit. The first class, pictured here, is a basic shading class. It uses this charming Art Nouveau Iris and Needlepoint, Inc silks to teach needleblending, a technique for shading using stranded threads. It begins June 11. Starting June 15 is Stitching the Impressionists with Shadow Stitching using a lovely watercolor of waterlilies by John LaFarge. The combination of this technique with the changing colors and textures of Impressionism will make for dynamic needlepoint. Learning how to do effective shading with single strand threads is the topic of the class beginning July 1. It uses a contemporary shaded circle design and wool threads. This technique will

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Does the whole process of picking stitches and threads for a canvas confuse you? Would you like to feel more confident in your stitch and thread choices? Do you have a canvas you love but have never started because you don’t want to “spoil” it? Have you abandoned or been disappointed with pieces you’ve done because they seem “wrong” or “too much?” I’m putting together an email class designed to help you put together your own stitch guides. While each person stitches a canvas differently, there are guidelines, techniques, and tips that will help any one, at any stitching level, create a lovely finished canvas. I’ve worked and thought and stitched over decades and developed principles that I want to share with you in this pilot cyberclass. Participants in the class will not only get the five-lesson cyberclass but a selected group of people will get to have a canvas

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Stitches and threads. Stitches and threads. They are the stuff of needlepoint and are always exciting. But learning them can often be a daunting task for new stitchers or those trying needlepoint for the first time. In this class, suitable for beginners and all others, you’ll have an opportunity to learn about eight threads with seven stitches all in the context of this charming canvas from Sandy Grossman-Morris. While many beginning needlepoint classes cover stitches only, this class teaches about stitches and threads within the context of painted canvas, today’s most popular form of needlepoint. The class is packed with so much information, you’ll learn how to make Basketweave and Continental properly. You’ll try stitches from several stitch families, including ones that call for two kinds of threads. You’ll discover tips and techniques for using all types of threads, including ribbons and the popular overdyed threads. You’ll even learn some

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Overydyed threads are both wonderful and seductive. The colors are great, the textures are lovely. So you buy one to use one your canvas and BOOM! you run into what I call “the overdye problem.” No matter how solid the thread looks, stitch it in Basketweave and suddenly you have diagonal stripes. The end result is that you swear off these threads forever from painted canvases and non-geometric projects. It doesn’t have to be that way. In my upcoming on-line class you’ll be learning about handling overdyes and hand-dyes, how to use them in different stitches and easy ways to control the thread (as opposed to the thread controlling you). In this class you will have the opportunity to work with five different overdyed threads. You’ll learn ways to manage them for Tent Stitches and Tent Stitch equivalents, how to color match and how to cut threads at the repeating

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I’ve been planning my on-line education offerings for the next few months and I’m really excited about them.  My plan is to make each one focused on learning a particular aspect of needlepoint. Each one will use a lovely computer-printed canvas. This means that not only will you be learning the technique or stitch but you will be putting it in context on the kind of canvases you see in shops. At the end you’ll have a lovely finished piece that you can use as a reference, give as a gift or keep for yourself. The projects and instructions are easy enough that beginning stitchers can take the class. Each class will be announced here when it is open for registration. You can also sign-up for the email list on Needlepoint Stitch Guides. October 2010 – Overdye Kimono – An Introduction to Overydyed Threads. This class will use three different

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Threads, they can make or break a canvas. How many times have you found yourself wishing that you knew how to use that luscious new thread you see in your LNS?How many times have you tried to use a new thread and found yourself frustrated? My new kimono class, beginning July 10, focuses on needlepoint threads. By stitching this kimono (only four stitches used), you’ll get a chance to try more than a dozen threads. In the class you’ll learn about the fibers that make up threads, thread classification and construction, tips for stitching with all kinds of threads, and thread substitution. You’ll also learn how to balance a needlepoint so that it looks perfect and two new background techniques The class is $27.50. You’ll get the three lesson class, the canvas (no threads), and participation in the lively Yahoo discussion group, which will give you even more chances for

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Learning new stitches and making something lovely is a double win for needlepointers. When the canvas is as delightful as this little kimono from Patt & Lee Designs, that’s even better. Patt and I are collaborating on a series of three classes for the three kimonos in this series. Each class will focus on a particular technique and will be suitable for both beginning and experienced stitchers. The textured stitch kimono is the first in the series and will begin, via email, April 1, 2010. The class uses Patt’s canvas, Kreinik metallics and floss. Other thread options will be provided on request. Fourteen different stitches will be taught. Valuable extras in the class include information on stitch selection, stitch variations, and stitch dictionaries. The cost for this special three-lesson class is $27.50, including the canvas and mailing in the US. It included membership in the Yahoo group set up for

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Personal, or birthday, plaids are a unique way to make a needlework accessory for yourself or as a gift. As part of Counted Wishes, beginning Feb. 1 I will be teaching a Cyberclass on making these plaids as a wallet insert. The class can be done in needlepoint or cross stitch (the cross stitch insert is pictured above). In the three-lesson class you will learn how to create your plaid and arrange colors for it, how to design the plaid, stitching the plaid, and how to finish it easily to fit into a wallet. This delightful class is only $20. and will include a free ebook copy of my popular project pack, Birthday Plaid Mini-sock (value $10). You can register for the class via PayPal. All registrants will be added to a private Yahoo group for the class

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You read about the FATC exchange yesterday and the idea intrigues you, BUT you do needlepoint and needlepoint can be “finishing unfriendly.” It is and it isn’t. Here are several ideas you can use to make your FATC while still doing needlepoint. 1. Use interlock canvas. Because of the construction of the canvas you can cut your needlepoint almost to the edge (leave a margin of one unstitched thread all around) without ravelling. 2. Use counted cross stitch cloth and do needlepoint on it. I used to do this all the time and it is pretty easy, if a bit strange at first. It’s more like stitching on perforated paper or plastic canvas than needlepoint canvas. 3. Use plastic canvas or perforated paper. If you do this, be sure you arte comfortable with the color of the paper or plastic. 4. Use silk gauze. It comes in meshes as large

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You’ve read the great information about Fiber Artist Trading Cards (FATC) posted earlier this month. Now it’s your turn to participate. Since this is a new thing, we’ll only have four exchanges this year, one each quarter. For each exchange there will be a theme, picked by one of the participants or a designer. You will be paired with a person. By the deadline, you will send your FATC to your partner. That person will send an FATC to you. To Join just send me an email (napaneedlepoint @ gmail.com – remove spaces) before February 29, 2008 and let me know. I’ll put your on the list and send you an acknoledgment. Each exchange you will be paired with a different partner. The rules are these: 1. FATCs must be 2.5″ x 3.5″ and the design can be finished as either portrait or landscape. 2. All pieces must be finished.

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