Nuts about Needlepoint » hand-painted canvas

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.

Exploring the Painted Stitch Canvas

Janet Perry — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:08:54 +0000

I was so excited when I found the vintage canvas on eBay awhile ago. I like it because the stitches are already painted on, much as the wonderful designs of Barbara Bergsten are.

This type of needlepoint has the pattern of the stitch already there on the canvas, you pick your threads and follow along.

In the bottom left corner, you can see a patch I’ve already stitched, in Jacquard. The green line was painted on the canvas, I stitched that first and then filled in the cream.

The patch above will be Framed Scotch, I’m stitching the Scotch Stitches now and the white lines that frame the squares will be in Continental.

For some of the patches here, the stitch to use is quite clear, for others I’ll need to make some choices.

But if you are a beginner, or just want to expand your repertoire of stitches, look at Barbara’s great designs. She’s endlessly inventive and her painted stitches are just perfect and a joy to stitch.

With Painted Stitch canvases and a good stitch dictionary, you’ll learn tons of new stitches quickly.

P.S. In future posts, you’ll see this piece again because I’m using it to test three new threads.

Stitching Mary & Jesus in Needlepoint

Janet Perry — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:51:11 +0000

Originally posted 2009-08-14 07:08:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Awhile ago a friend asked me about religious cross stitch. This got me thinking about religious needlepoint, more specifically the timeless image of Mary and Jesus, the Madonna and Child. So I went on an internet search for needlepoint Madonnas and found several.

Designing Women has a charming small icon-like Madonna. They don’t have a website, but my friend Jane stitched it awhile ago and the link is to her finished one

Jane and I have also both stitched Designs by Petei’s Our Lady of Guadelupe. Mine is the picture at the top of this post. The link is to Petei’s page that has it

Sundance Designs has many canvases that will work as Madonnas. In their De Grazia line, there are many charming ones. Their are also several Tish canvases that will work as Madonnas. I like this one because it has such a sense of calm. It hangs in my studio.

Birds of a Feather makes a charming Madonna. I also found this traditional Madonna ornament at Needlepointus.com. I have also often found Madonnas, vintage and new on eBay.

Finally, if you like counted canvas, look into this lovely Mother and Child from Cross-eyed Cricket. I just adore its combination of folk art and Byzantine embellishment.

Distribution News from TNNA and More New Canvases

Janet Perry — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:34:02 +0000

Sometimes as a stitcher I am frustrated. It seems as if my favorite designer goes away. But, happily, there are companies who pick up these old favorites and continue to make them available.

Gail of GailVail is retiring. While the fate of many of her designs is unclear, Needledeeva is picking up her Navajo rug designs. These pieces are stitch painted adaptations of traditional rugs and each has the name of the rug design on it. They come in many sizes, as do the rugs themselves. Stitched in wool, the traditional fiber for rugs, they make great accents. Even better they are MUCH cheaper than even an ornament-sized rug (about $100 at a local museum shop).

Painted Pony has added Needle Graphics to their line. Along with adding Squigee to the line, CBK has a great new series of whale and heart shapes filled with different painted fabric-like patterns.

Treglown has added Kooler Design Studios to their line. In addition they have a great series of slightly shorter belts that can be finished as purse straps for their two stylish leather bags. I’m crazy about the two Charley Harper ones of course.

My favorite distribution news comes from Pishke Pockets. They now distribute Elizabeth Bradley as well as Kirk & Hamilton. Elizabeth Bradley has a new take on her traditional designs with both single flowers and shells on lighter backgrounds, updating this traditional style for more modern interiors.

Kirk & Hamilton has some really clever designs. I loved their three full-size stockings, cupcakes, roosters, and penguins, all with some ornament rounds to match. They also had a clever series of mini-socks with animals seen from the back gazing at the Christmas star.

Danji has added a new artist as well, Ann Winn. She has some lovely figures including a triangular snow queen, a mermaid, and a striking seahorse. Barbara Russell has added licensed designs based on pieces from the Woodmere Museum of Art in Philadelphia.

Canvas Connection is now distributing all of Designing Women’s canvases. Best of all the wonderful crosses are now available on 18 as well as 13 mesh. I can’t wait to make a bunch more for my tree.

Probably my favorite thing at the entire show was Boots Bailey’s magnificent five-piece nativity. My husband, who saw it Friday night, just raved about it. And he’s right. Gorgeously painted and based on biblical era clothing, they are exquisite. To stitch and own them would be a real treasure.

One final note: You may wonder why I don’t have pictures or links in my show reports. There are no links because often the designers don’t update their sites until well after the show. If I can’t show you what is new, I don’t link. Although many people take pictures with their phones, I’m a disaster at that. Since cameras aren’t allowed on the show floor, my posts are illustration free during TNNA.

Painted Canvas Goodies from TNNA

Janet Perry — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:38:59 +0000

There is always so much more great stuff at TNNA that I can’t cover everything. Here’s more stuff I loved.

Tapestry Fair has some lovely geishas that have a great concept. They are seen from the back. The clothing is line drawn, so you can pick your own stitches, colors and threads, but the heads are painted. A cool basis for creativity. There are three single geishas and a piece with six.

A Collection of Designs has new mini-socks, snowmen, ornaments and, my favorite, elaborate crosses. Jean Smith had an absolutely amazing large (4 feet square) of a single flower, plus many delightful coasters that are smaller versions of her popular flowers and vegetables. These are great for giving you an assortment of her work.

At Elizabeth Turner there was a delightful Noah’s Ark mini-sock, stocking, and mitten, all with plenty of opportunity for embellishments and fancy stitching. They also had a great set of coasters with fancy purses on them as well as glasses cases with many purses as well. Sew Much Fun had another charming variation for those who don’t go in for stockings, oven mitts in large and mini sizes. There were three designs in each size with my favorite being Piece, Hope, Love with cake on the mini and pie on the large.

Birds of a Feather had delightful owls, nativity figures in their whimsical style as individual ornaments, and three sampler designed by artist Nancy Davis. They also had a delightfully different “Hunting Wild Boar” canvas. Cooper Oaks had small pieces of Susan Wallace Barnes artwork in ornament rounds and small (6″ square) pictures.

Looking at the beachy theme of those canvases, my favorite beach pieces were from j.child. They had extremely clever beach stockings, ornaments, and mini socks in lots of designs. Probably my favorites were the beachy ornaments stocking and the mini sock with bright Christmas lights along a driftwood fence.

I simply adored the resin boxes at Amanda Lawford. There were a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. To go along with them were clever canvases. Stitch the canvas and pop it into the box for a fast, unique gift. There I also saw a set of wonderful bird silhouettes that came with thread lists and embellishments. There is a cardinal, chickadee, dove, and blue jay.

The Point of It All had a lovely wedding ensemble that was dainty and elegant. It included votive covers that can be done with your choice of initials, a small ring bearer’s pillow, a tiny brides bag and fairy tale shoes. Making any of these would be such a treat for a wedding. JulieMar & Friends has a new snowman collection and lots of new creative Halloween pieces.

DReam HOuse had several new designers including by Georg with lovely florals. They also had new Mindy pieces and some wonderful mid-century modern pieces, including one called Falling Leaves that has a great 50′s vibe. Needledeeva has a great series of nine Christmas trees of various kinds, each decorated and with a different shape. Vicky DeAngelis did the stitch guides.

Robbyn’s Nest has a lovely series of botanically correct roses as coasters or pillows, along with four new designers eggs (think Faberge), and a set of five colorful tropical frogs. Canvas Connection is back with new Talavera and Imari designs.

I loved the initially yours series of squares from new designer Canvas Art by Barbi. Each square is divided into rough quarters with a different font of the initial with a different color background on each. They each also have a letter embellishment on them. Barbi also makes a great series of needlepoint “postcards” with many colorful heart designs.

Associated Talents has a lovely set of semi-custom script monograms in squares. You can have up to three letters in the monograms and they are available with patterned or plain backgrounds, in several colors and with plain or elaborate borders. I loved them because the script monograms make such a strong and elegant design statement just on their own.

Labors of Love has added to their clip-on line with a new 12 days of Christmas series. The thing I like best about this is that the birds in this series are compatible in size with their other birds.

Tomorrow, news about distribution of some of your favorite designers, along with more canvases. Next Friday another TNNA article with a look at new stuff from two of my favorites, Kathy Schenkel and Melissa Shirley.

Painted Canvases at TNNA – Part 1

Janet Perry — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:32:28 +0000

As always there plenty to love at TNNA. Besides the trends I talked about on Wednesday, two other types of needlepoint are becoming more popular.

I was particularly excited by all the creative bookmarks I saw. Whimsy and grace had over 30 in all styles. Each of these came with a coordinating tassel. A new designer, Shivering Sheep had several delightful ones with Southwestern themes. Another designer, MAP Designs, had a whole bunch of canvases of Koeshi dolls, a type of Japanese doll. These dolls have round heads and straight bodies (no arms or legs). MAP’s Koeshis included dogs, cats. people and a bride and groom. They could be finished flat to be bookmarks or be done as stand-ups or easel-backed pieces.

Another type of needlepoint that’s becoming more popular is 3-D needlepoint, something that takes us beyond the pillow or ornament. Little Shoppe, a pioneer in 3-D needlepoint has made a new series of 3-D candles. There are two pieces, a top, shaped like a donut, and a rectangular side. Finished the rectangle becomes a pillar candle, while the round covers the top. In the hole place an LED tea light. There are seasonal and non-seasonal designs and many come with coordinating pillows.

Over at Sundance, Barbara Elmore has taken 3-D to a whimsical level with her sculptural pumpkin and Christmas Tree. They are constructed of stitched bands and are ekegant and unusual.

The showpiece of dede’s new canvases is her topiary tree, a tall skinny cone stitched entirely in shades of green. On it your place stitched butterflies, also 3-D withe their wings partially folded.

There were so many other delightful pieces, it will be hard to describe them all in these two posts. Rebecca Wood has stockings and ornaments featuring reindeer. Reindeer games shows the reindeer at play. Ruldoplh is featured in both a stocking and whole series of round ornaments that have him hiding out in various places. She also has a stunning smaller nativity and twoseries of monthly cakes. The three-layer cakes are banners and a series of smaller babycakes is two lay versions of the same designs.

Painted Pony has added some new destination angels and rounds including Vatican City and the Galapagos Islands. There are also some delightful charm angels, including a geisha and queen of hearts. She has also brought out a series of seven monthly themed dress forms. These have exquisite detail and are more complex in their painting than the angels and rounds.

A delightful series at Shivering Sheep is their custom critters collection. A clever scene illustrating phrases such as, wildebeest wanders willy-nilly, is able to be personalized with the name and phrase painted in pink or blue or to match Sherwin-Williams paints.

Sharon G has done some of her triptyches as single canvases. They are stunning large canvases. A new geometric of hers called Graphic Wave was stitched so beautifully and I’m excited that Sharon will make her stitch guide for this available. My favorite of hers was her Owl & Pussycat, one of my favorite children’s poems. It’s the best I’ve ever seen.

Waterweave had lots of lovely hearts, with many in blue, white, and yellow. They also had a great sheep that looks deceptively simple until you stitch it all in big wooly French Knots. Then it sings.

City Needlepoint (makers of the great City Silk thread) had a wonderful series of Chinese Zodiac designs. Each had the animal in black in Chinese cut-out style, and had the character for the animal behind it in a rich dark red. They also had many simple designs in 4″ square size that would be great beginners canvases.

More tomorrow and Sunday (new distributors on Sunday as well).

Stitch Direction & Needlepoint – Part 2

Janet Perry — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:10:00 +0000

Originally posted 2010-02-25 12:53:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Tied Oblong Cross Stitch is an oblique stitch.

While straight and diagonal stitches cover most needlepoint stitches, there are three other stitch and pattern directions that are quite powerful because they don’t have a strong direction. I often turn to these types of stitches when I need something that is unusual but doesn’t have strong lines. In fact, most of my go to stitches fall into these categories.

This version of Bath has an oblique horizontal direction.

Diagon Victorian Step is made of diagonal stitches, but has an oblique pattern direction.

Diagonal Cashmere has an oblique pattern direction because of its rectangular shape.

Oblique Stitches are those stitches with a slant off the true diagonal. Many of them, like Oblong Cross, top of article, are rectangular. Some patterns can also create oblique lines. Some of my favorite of these are pictured above. Bath, top, is an offset version of Milanese. Victorian Step, middle, creates oblique lines of longer stitches. Diagonal Cashmere, bottom, is oblique because of the rectangular Cashmere units.

Use Oblique Stitches when you want to create a difference in horizontal and vertical lines, but not have it too obvious. Combining vertical and horizontal versions of oblique stitch patterns reinforces the direction of both without making the change too abrupt.

Encroached Gobelin creates a textured stitch with no direction.

Encroached Stitches are those where the stitches in one row intrude upon, or encroach, stitches in another row. The most familiar of these is Encroached Gobelin, above, where one row of stitches starts before the other row of stitches ends. But stitch patterns can also encroach. These patterns do not have strong lines in themselves and have stitches which but up against other stitches, making the lines mesh together. Triple Diagonal Parisian, below, is one such stitch.

Triple Diagonal Parisian is a textured stitch with no direction.

Encroached Stitches are a great choice when you want no stitch direction but want more texture than Tent Stitch.

Double Linen is a straight stitch with a criss-cross direction.

Criss-cross Stitches are those stitches where each individual unit changes direction and overlaps other units. While there are straight stitches with this pattern like Double Linen, above, most of the time “criss-cross” is used for diagonal stitches.

Criss-cross Stitches form highly textured but non-directional patterns. Often they have a woven appearance. They are nice to use when an object is round, a ring (broken or unbroken) or when two sections need to reflect each other. I’m currently using Sertendipity, below, for the horseshoe on my Charley Harper canvas, where the shape defeated all my other ideas.

Setrendipity is a small criss-cross stitch which works for many areas.

If you can’t figure out what kind of stitch direction you need in an area, try a criss-cross stitch, they often work perfectly.

My apologies for the lateness of the post, I got home late last night and had errands this morning.

New Series from Leigh Designs

Janet Perry — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:40:43 +0000

Leigh Designs’ new series to be introduced at this weekend’s TNNA show is called Shogun. They are 12″ x 16″ on Sandstone 18 mesh mono. There is a picture of one in the newest Needlepoint Now. A stitched model of Yoritomo will be on display at the show. You’ll be able to see them all soon on the Leigh site. Related posts: New Series in Leigh’s Dynasty Ornaments New & Wonderful Needlepoint Ornaments from Leigh Designs Finishing Up at TNNA TNNA Preview – Keri Designs Needlepoint Start on Halloween Related posts:

Siren Song

Janet Perry — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:16:43 +0000

Originally posted 2007-08-16 16:30:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Off the stretcher bars and straight to this sneak peek. This curvacious mermaid is from Happy Heart Designs. I love some of the coll effects I got. The hair is done with two colors of Rainbow Tweed blended together, with Whipped Backstitch defining the locks.

The glittery tail is stitched with YLI new Super Shimmer Ribbon Floss.

The stitch guide is available from Happy Heart.

Changing Colors on a Canvas

Janet Perry — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:57:15 +0000

Depending on what you want to change on the canvas, there are different ways to go about this.

There are some general rules to remember when changing colors:
1. If you are changing from one color to another (i.e. green to red for example) you will have the best results if you keep the colors the same in value.
2. If you are changing values (i.e. going from blonde to dark brown hair), you should color the canvas to something closer to the shade BEFORE you start to stitch. This will make any needlepoint dandruff blend into the stitching instead of sticking out.
3. Check the new colors you have chosen to be sure they work with the remaining colors by lining the colors up together. Sometimes changing one color means you will have to adjust or change other colors as well.

Skin & hair – If you are changing these areas, you should just be able to change them without changing other areas. But you might want to color the canvas first.

Geometrics – Since these don’t refer to anything in real life, you may find that changing one color affects the other colors. So if you changed green to red, you may find that you also need to change the yellow-green and the pink already in the piece in order to keep the overall piece in balance.

Not getting a balanced color scheme is probably the biggest problem when changing colors. If it is something realistic, look at real life objects the new color and make appropriate changes. For example, if you are stitching roses and change your red roses to yellow ones, you might need to change the leaf color. Many of my red roses have dark true green leaves, but my yellow ones have mid-range slightly yellowed green leaves.

In geometric or abstract designs, you need to be aware of the color scheme of the original and start by using that as the basis for your change. If the original is red and green and you change the red to violet, you probably need to change the green to yellow as well.

If you change the saturation of the colors (brightness) you must keep the value the same. If you go from greyed to bright, look for bright shades of the same color in the same value.

In geometrics, it’s critical to check the threads.

And always, when changing colors, you should be willing to make adjustments as you stitch.