needlepoint in the news Archive

With a star-packed cast, and buzz about it being great, you may be wanting to see The Big Wedding once it opens April 26. Knowing that needlepoint plays a big decorative role in the movie makes me want to see it even more. Susan Sarandon’s character in the moevie is an avid needlepointer and her bedroom is filled with beautifully stitched pieces. There are finished pieces on the walls, pillows on the beds, chairs, and shelves, and even unstitched canvases rolled up in containers. You’ll see canvases from JP Needlepoint and Jean Smith Designs. Many of the pieces on the set were stitched by customers of two shops, Eye of the Needle in Sarasota, FL and Marji Nydick Needlepoint in Livingston, NJ. These were lent for decorating the set. The set decorator received assistance from House of Needlepoint in Darien, Connecticut. The movie was filmed in Connecticut. When you go

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My friend Sandy has been profiled in the Contra Costa Times this week. Sandy does delightful glicee-printed canvases in bright colors and a whimsical star. In her recent ventures, she’s been using different materials for needlepoint (washers for example are used in the pictured piece). You’ve also seen her guest posts on creating customized needlepoint from photos (Part 1 and Part 2). I was at Sandy’s last weekend and a trunk show had just come in. I was astounded by her creativity. The article is short and you can read it online. Sandy’s designs can be seen on her site and ordered through your local shop

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Sulia (http://www.sulia.com) is a great new site that consolidates many different subjects into several channels. It provides news, how-tos and lots of other great contact in short articles, placed in an appealing magazine format. Several times a day, I’ll be contributing to the crafts channel, mostly with content not found on this blog. Sulia will be a great place to check for needlepoint news. Unlike many other sites, Sulia is designed to be current. Each item will be its own story (so no annoying long lists of links) and will be posted quickly. There will be new content added several times a day with at least 20 updates a week. Here you’ll find lots of the great stuff I don’t post, including information about sales, contests, new shops, trunk shows, great sites, stitcher’s finishes, and all the little things that you’re seeking but can’t always find. Up until now, I’ve

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Get a jump on fashionable dressing for Spring. Orna’s needlepoint jewelry graced several outfits on runway collection for spring 2013 from Donna Karan and others. The picture here is just one of the outfits accessorized with here necklaces, brooches, and bracelets. There’s lots more on Orna’s recent blog post. The folks watching the show may think the pieces will be out about the same time as the clothes, but we know a secret. You can buy kits for these same pieces in Orna’s Etsy shop right now. Make them and have them ready to wear for spring

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Needlepoint, especially vintage looking designs, has attracted the attention of the high fashion world. Several designers, including Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino, had pieces in their fall collections that were, or were inspired by needlepoint. Doc Marten’s has a pair of needlepoint-covered boots. I now see needlepoint pop up often in fashion magazines as something on editors’ radars. If it’s in high-end fashion now, there is a real possibility that it will trickle down to the masses within a couple of years. In the meantime we can be in the forefront of fashion. Do you have some vintage needlepoint? Do you have needlepoint waiting to be finished? Here are some ideas of what can be done. Take two rectangular or square pieces the same size, sew them together, line them and add fringe and a heavy chain strap. You’ve got a fashionable bag. Turn a belt canvas into trim at

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Originally posted 2008-04-25 05:43:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter The April 2008 issue of Cookie magazine had an article about needlepoint maps. You can take a look at them and read about them on-line. They look to be cute, bold in color, and probably really easy to stitch

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My friend Jen of Funk & weber is simply amazing at making bookmarks. She has a strong passion for the cause of literacy (she developed the Stitching for Literacy program) and has also pioneered education about stitching bookmarks. While her class is great (I’ve taken it) and she now has an ebook out putting together all her bookmark information, the rise of ebooks has caused her to wonder if bookmarks are irrelevant. Her ansewer is “NO!” and it’s really worthwhile to read her thoughts. It’s so good because it addresses not only why we stitch but also ways bookmarks can be used today and on into the digital age. And while I love both my Kindles and love reading and writing ebooks, the hold list on my account at the library has close to 30 books on it, all needing bookmarks while I read them

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Originally posted 2010-03-18 07:34:46. Republished by Blog Post PromoterEach March Woodlawn Plantation near Washington DC host one of the most highly regarded needlework shows in the country. Put on by a group called Nelly’s Needlers, this show has been held annually for almost 50 years. I am always slightly jealous that I can never attend. But this year I don’t have to be unhappy or wait for written reports. There is a Flickr show of the First, Second, and Third Place winners. Woodlawn covers more than just needlepoint. There are lovely samplers, including several Quaker ones, Japanese embroidery, and goldwork. You’ll be delighted and inspired by it. There are over 250 pictures in the slide show, and many pieces also have close-ups. While the designers’ are not listed on the tags, you will see some that are familiar from Laura Perin, Maggie Co, Mindy and others. I just keep thinking

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When I saw these charming Jonathon-Adler needlepointed flask in the December Allure, I know I had to use it as the basis of Bargello. Not only do I love the colors and it’s masculine feel, but I can’t afford the $98 price tag. So bargello it is, and I’ve put the pattern below (click picture for full-size chart). On to the colors. Depending on how you’ll be finishing it, go for a single type of thread in these colors: grey, brown, navy, light blue, white, aqua, olive, and yellow. If you like the rose one better, get rid of grey, aqua, and olive, and add taupe, light pink, pink, hot pink, and red. Follow the sequence of colors in the original. I’m planning mine from wool and putting it into my new Lee’s tote. And, of course, I’m using the pink version using threads from my stash including High Cotton,

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Recently there has been lots of discussion on various needlepoint lists about ways to help those in need. It’s mostly focused around helping those struck by disasters. But, as the saying goes, need never takes a holiday. That’s why I’m so excited about Rittenhouse Needlepoint’s wonderful charity program. They are doing something about the needs in their community and could use you help. The shop teaches a free weekly beginners class in needlepoint and provides materials to those in need from the materials donated by people like you and me. I wrote to them and they are hoping to have a website devoted to this up in the next couple of months. Rittenhouse, a full-service needlepoint shop located in downtown Philadelphia and on the Internet, is working with several area charities, including Project Home, JEVS (Jewish Educational Vocational Services), and Pennsylvania Prison Society (PPS), specifically half way houses of women

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Last week Marni Jameson of the Orlando Sentinel posted this lovely article about needlepoint. Go read it, I’ll wait. She said some wonderful things that really spoke to my heart, but I want to talk about one of her recommendations: “For every high-tech gadget in your home, have a low-tech one.” Maybe it’s more a product of upbringing, but this is something I do. My mom’s an artist (and I have more of her watercolors than anyone else), my grandmother was a seamstress, knitter, and inveterate crafter (I still have ornaments she made 40 years ago). My mother-in-law, though not an artist, had many artists as friends and students and she bought their work. An then I needlepoint. Throughout my house there are paintings, sculptures, needlepoint, hand-thrown pottery, and lots of other low-tech. I simply love the mark of people’s hands and talents on the things they make. Sitting here

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If you live anywhere near Des Moines go and see the amazing needlepoint by Joyce O’Brien now on exhibit at the Ankeny Art Center. The picture above, a skyline of Des Moines, is one of her pieces. Much of her work focuses on stitched renditions of landmarks in a style called, in art, hyper-realism, where the artist renders something in near photographic exactness. This piece is HUGE 3 feet by 2 feet and the artist estimates it took her 6000 hours to stitch. Even if you worked on it without doing other projects and stitched 6 hours a day on it — that’s almost three years of work. She is an artist who switched from paints to needlepoint because it was “more portable.” There is a short article about her in the Des Moines Register. Another article from the same paper has more about her along with information about some

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Originally posted 2010-02-14 07:35:04. Republished by Blog Post PromoterIn the United Kingdom, Fine Cell Work‘s mission is “to rehabilitate prisoners by giving them the opportunity to earn and save money and the chance to reflect on and rebuild their lives through craft and achievement. Prisoners do Fine Cell Work for an average of 3 years: the benefits can therefore be profound.” They want to establish a tradition of skilled craftswork in prisons. The prisoners work in a variety of techniques, including needlepoint. Currently about 80% of the participants are men, working in 26 prisons. The inmates are taught by volunteer teachers and most classes have waiting lists. The stitchers spend an average of 20 hours per week doing embroidery in their cells. The highest earners stitch for as long as 40 hours. “It is a way of life that enables them to serve their time with dignity and purpose.” According

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Last week The Washington Post had an short article about needlepoint. There wasn’t much to it. Great for The Point of It All, that got mentioned, but not good for the MANY other shops in the area that were ignored, or for the Woodlawn Exhibit, or (I could go on and on). Having worked as a journalist I am somewhat sympathetic, it could have been done in a hurry, it needed to be a specific length, and a dozen other reasons why it was so bad. If any publicity is good publicity, then we should not be unhappy. But we can, and should, change people’s misconceptions about needlepoint by showing them it is so much more than the article. And the paper is helping us by having an open slideshow of our favorite pieces of needlework. Jane in Chilly Hollow has added some and so have I and many others.

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In my blog reading recently, I found this lovely testament to needlepoint by Marni Jameson, a syndicated home design columnist. Near the end of the article she has some wonderful guidelines for using needlepoint in your home: For every high-tech gadget in your home, have a low-tech one. Not too old-fashioned. Be a patron. Evaluate quality. Weave a history. Appreciate humanity. Read and enjoy the whole article here

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