Nuts about Needlepoint » gifts

New Canvases from Kathy Schenkel and Melissa Shirley

Janet Perry — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:38:06 +0000

I am always so happy at TNNA to go to Kathy Schenkel’s and Melissa Shirley’s booths. They are always full to bursting with great new ideas and canvases I just drool over.

I love Kathy’s bone-shaped ornaments for dogs and this year she has a delightful new set. These are “Things Dogs Do,” all done in a clever, easy-to-stitch style.

She also has mini-socks and ornament rounds for a number of different colleges and universities that aren’t just the usual logo style, often they have iconic buildings or other symbols of the campus.

She also has new dog and people tote bags and new North Woods designs. There are two new Christmas series, a nativity and a stars of Christmas, people associated with Christmas in stars.

A very clever idea is her animal alphabet, available both as a panel and as individual letters. The animals are creatively posed in and around the letters. An unusual ornament series would be to do a name or initials this way.

As always Melissa Shirley has tons of new stuff, so I’ll only hit the highlights.

If you like her pears, but have been wishing for designs that were less geometric, you’ll love her new series that has a different fruit in each pear. With gold backgrounds and fruits and blossoms vining up each shape, they are both elegant and timeless. There are 10 in the series.

She has expanded the selection of her popular crackers with a Thanksgiving series, a new Halloween series that features some of her vintage Halloween characters, pink or gold Christmas crackers, and a set of Christmas toy crackers. There is also a new series of candy canes, mostly stripes, in a modern palette of red, white, green, and light green.

Her newest series is 3-D needlepoint cupcakes. Each design is in two parts, a top and the sides. There are designs for Christmas and Valentine’s.

If you have been collecting Christmas canvases in particular colors, there are conical CHristmas trees in fabric-like patterns in both green and gold. Her acorns have been very popular and a set of Christmas acorns has been added. Her banners have been expanded with a series of pumpkins for Halloween.

There is lots of new stuff from her licensed designers. My favorite of these was Debbie Mumm’s “Trick or Treaters,” a haunted house background with twelve Halloween figures. Three of these are animals,a cat, a raccoon, and some mice, dressed up for Halloween.

There are lots more new canvases including some great seashore and insect pillow designs, and lots of new Christmas stockings. THere’s plenty to love and stitch here.

Use Free Designs to Make Great Gifts

Janet Perry — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:30:23 +0000

Originally posted 2010-12-05 07:17:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Make a Needlepoint Pin for a Quick Gift!

There are some great free gifts that you can make using free patterns available on the Internet. Many of these designs use innovative finishing techniques.

My sister site, All about Needlepoint, has listings with links for many of these patterns. Today I’d like to highlight some of the categories.

One of my favorite ideas for a quick gift is a needlepoint pin. Amoung the highlights in these designs is a series of monthly pins by Mary Cosgrove, available through the Kreinik site. The Celtic pin pictured above, designed by Kandace Thomas is another one of the many small designs at Kreinik.

Bookmarks are another great idea. There aren’t many in the index, but one is a lovely design by Orna Willis that includes finishing instructions.

There are so many good ideas out there including a plastic canvas holder for “singles” of drink mixes, linked in the accessories for home list, a mesh bracelet from Orna in the accessories list wonderful sea creature magnets from ANG (listed under magnets), and lots of wonderful stitcher’s accessories, large and small.

Happiness Is Homemade – The Finished Product

Janet Perry — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:34:52 +0000

Because it was a gift I couldn’t show you, but here’s the finished vintage Petei canvas I made as a quick gift for my daughter.

REmember it probably an 80′s canvas (at least it’s 80′s colors). I brought the color palette up to date (post here) with berry colors for the dusty rose, a dark blue-green for the French Blue, and a very sparkly silver for the light blue edge of the jar.

Then I had major problems with finding the right background (post here). I finally settled on a simple darning pattern using a pale aqua Silk n’Colors.

The canvas was bought on eBay and all the threads came from my stash.

I centered the design to fit a standard 4 x 6 frame from the dollar store (post on using ready-made frames here).

Perfect little gift for my jam-making daughter.

Are Bookmarks Irrelevant? Thoughts from Jen at Funk & Weber

Janet Perry — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:40:53 +0000

Design from Funk & Weber

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.

Needlepoint Quilt Block Gift Tags – New Free Pattern

Janet Perry — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:33:11 +0000

Get these free gift tag patterns at My 365 magazine's site.

These four almost Twinchie (34 stitches square) quilt blocks are really quick to stitch and can be finished quickly to make simple ornaments or gift tags.

They are stitched in colors to compliment the overdyed canvas colors, but any scrap of mono canvas will do.

I just love the bright bold look.

The patterns for the quartet are free and can be found in My 365‘s holiday issue, out today. The beautiful magazine is on-line and free.

As a part of the issue, I’m participating in a giveaway of my books. Visit the site to learn how to enter.

BTW to turn any of these into a true Twinchie, just add a one row “binding” in Continental as a border.

Last Minute Needlepoint for Gifts

Janet Perry — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:00:34 +0000

Originally posted 2007-12-12 07:39:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

It’s almost mid-December and, no matter what I do, panic sets in about Christmas gifts.

You’re probably like me and so I want to share with you some of my ideas for making quick needlepoint for gifts.

A small needlepoint box or picture frame is fun to do. One of my favorite sources for these are Raymond Crawford’ magnets. They are small (2″ square) and come in dozens of designs, so they work for anyone. I’ve made them as box tops for Romancing the Past’s boxes. You can also buy small frames for pictures and use them. Often you can’t find 2″ frames, only 2.5″. In that case add a border of Diagonal Gobelin around it to make the needlepoint fit.

Another fun idea is to make a needlepoint bookmark. You can buy charming blank or painted bookmarks already inset into Ultrasuede. The top is not sewn so you can get to the needlepoint. Then sew the edges to get a lovely finished piece.

Sometimes I have made glass paperweights as Christmas gifts. Yarn Tree makes a nice variety. You don’t need to stitch something fancy, even a geometric pattern or a Bargello design will look great.

The accessories from Lee’s Needle Arts and Needlepoint of Back Bay make lovely gifts (though more expensive). Why not stitch something for one fo their small items. I’ve given needlework coin purses often as gifts and now my thoughts have been going towards Needlepoint of Back Bay’s stunning Silk Dupionni jewel boxes. Sine these products have sticjy adhesive with them, you can finish them yourself.

Don’t overlook your local stores. With scrapbooking popular, you can often find albums which have openings in the front for photos. Often these can be used to hold needlepoint. But not every album works, you need to have certain characteristics. Look for an album which:

has an accessible hole (i.e. not covered in paper)
is thick enough to hold needlepoint
has a back like a frame or one which could be covered with decorative paper once the needlepoint is inserted

If you can’t find an album which works, you could always scan your needlepoint, make a high res print and insert that.

In my house, Christmas ornaments are the big thing. Two of my favorite ornament finished work great for last-mimute gifts. I like to use the largest size of Dritz button forms (2.5″ or size 100) to make round ornaments. I usually use Congress Cloth, make the design, cover the button form with sparkly fabric and then put the needlepoint over it.

Another great finish was used for the Four-Way Bargello ornament. This works with any diamond-shaped needlepoint.

Make a square around the diamond and cut it out about five canvas threads beyond it.
Fold that margin and then fold the corners of the square to the back so that they meet in the center.
Insert your hanger at one of the points.
Sew the edges of the canvas together on the back.
Glue on a pretty piece of Ultrasude to cover the unstitched canvas.

So happy stitching!

Great Finishing Idea – Bargello Tin Toppers

Janet Perry — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:50:06 +0000

Originally posted 2010-02-12 07:08:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

from Colorado Stitcher

Are you looking for a quick gift, that is a. needlepoint, b. inexpensive, and c. easy to finish? I am crazy mad in love with these tin toppers. Take a bit of Bargello, or other needlepoint, an empty mints tin and some paper, thread, and glue and you have a wonderful project.

Colorado Stitcher made these and has detailed instructions for making them on her blog. You could expend this idea to cover other metal items as well. I like the Dean and Dulucca metal round tins for storing things and this idea would be perfect for them.

A big shout out to Althea at Bargello Needlepoint for finding and blogging about these. Now off to buy some mints.

Magazine Alert & Needlepoint Gift Ideas

Janet Perry — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:57:09 +0000

Originally posted 2008-11-23 03:56:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I love December issues of magazines, they always have such cool things, cleverly disguised as gift ideas.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about AMH’s kits to make needlepoint iPod cases. One is pictured in the December issue of Lucky magazine. It’s the section of the Gift Guide called Anglomania and has a Union Jack on it. The price is $25.

The December issue of Elle has a great needlepoint coin purse from Jonathan Adler. It’s round and zippered and has a dollar sign on the front. It’s shown in two color combinations, black and white and pale pink and orange. The price is $28.

Speaking of gifts — are you looking for a neat, inexpensive tool tote for your needlepoint? I was in Wal-mart this week and saw, in their school supplies section, a pencil pouch which came in a couple of Pucci-style prints. The colors really popped. They were about 6-8 inches long and had a zipper on the top and, I think, a little loop for a hanger. I loved them and at under $4, they are a great deal.

Last Day for Early Bird Price on Stash Club

Janet Perry — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:54:17 +0000

Today is the last day to sign up for my stash busting club — the Easiest Needlepoint Club Ever.

The special price of $30 for a whole year of delightful projects designed to help you use your stash of threads ends at midnight Pacific.

The first stash busters project

Each month, beginning tomorrow, you’ll get emailed to you a PDF of a great stash-busting project, usually including finishing instructions, so you can create unique projects such as the two shown here.

Even better, participants will have a chance to order finishing items, threads for backgrounds, and selections of scrap bag threads at special prices.

If you live outside the US, this club is great because all projects are sent to you electronically — no long waits for the mail, no customs hassling, no extra payments for international shipping.

I love using up my stash and I think you will too. Click on the button below to pay with PayPal or a credit card, or contact me (using the link in the masthead above) to arrange for payment via check.

Remember, the price goes up to $45 for the year tomorrow, so don’t delay!

Make your own “sewing cards”

Janet Perry — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:02:32 +0000

Remember when you were little and you got those cards with holes punched in them that you sewed with shoe laces? With the new Cutter Bee Piercing Bugs from EK Success you can take this idea and update it. The tools allow you to pre-punch paper and card stock with rows of holes. While not big enough for shoelaces, you can use embroidery floss for sewing. To turn this into a special gift, make the holes on cardstock with decorative paper glued on it, include charts for motifs and borders along with threads to match and a needle. Package it all in a pretty basket for a great gift or rainy day activity. Related posts: Make an Inchie Gift Tag Make Yourself a Portable ORT Box Make a Quick Bracelet from Stash Threads & Plastic Canvas Make the Tag the Gift with this Needlepoint Use Free Designs to Make Great Gifts Related posts: