twinchy Archive

Originally posted 2008-09-12 06:41:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I promised myself I’d do three Twinchies each month and share them with you. This block, Independence, is my newest Twinchy. It’s based on a block in the book 101 Nine Patch Blocks. I had a small scrap of Buttercream canvas (which has been discontinued) and I wanted to use threads which would showcase this color. So I picked a shade of Watercolours, Autumn Frost, which I think of as “pastel Tahiti.” Then added the apricot and dark blue threads. Because the color of the canvas is so striking, I wanted to have it be one of the patches. You could easily stitch this in four colors instead of three or even use five and make the Nine Patch block in the center a real focal point. The chart is below, enjoy! hart

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Originally posted 2008-11-05 05:45:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I told you there was another one, complete with chart (below). It was hiding in one of the smaller piles on my desk. I was celebrating the start of CyberPointers by cleaning the desk off (cheap thrills I know but seeing the desk surface is so nice) and, literally, it fell out. The design is a four block leaf quilt made from Mosaics in one of my favorite Watercolours, Camoflage. I love it’s more subtle but still Christmasy colors. I used Watercolours in Natural for the background and a knitting yarn from my scrap bag for the red. I also love the more complex border. I punched it up by making the corners, Smyrna Crosses in the green. I think if I were to stitch it again I’d use two Watercolours for the leaves, alternating the color used for each leaf.

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Originally posted 2008-08-31 07:30:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter This Twinchy Challenge was so much fun. The Twinchy pictured above is a block called “Black Beauty” It’s stitched in two shades of Watercolours, the dark one for the border and the lighter one for the main blocks. The center block is a coordinating metallic, and the background is a pastel thread (Watercolours in this case). The chart shows the whole block except the center. You can make that any stitch you like, I used Leviathan. A smaller version of this block will be available in my new eBook, 50 Quilt Blocks for Needlepoint or Cross Stitch, out in September. Jan Fitzpatrick often stitches small quilt blocks for ring boxes. I Just love this version of Bear’s Paw. I love the way the four paws come together in the center to make a star. Jocelyn also had another three wonderful Twinchies,

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Originally posted 2009-02-01 06:29:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter If you go into the stores these days, you are bombarded by Valentines. Every time I got shopping I’m glad I don’t have to find Valentines and candy for each of my kids for every person in each class. Talk about candy overload! But I also bought an adorable set of stickers recently which had 42 hearts, each different, in bright, cheery colors. The patterns were simple geometrics, with stripes, squiggles, polka dots, and squares. But they just looked happy and I couldn’t resist them. They have also inspired this month’s Twinchy challenge. Just trace a heart outline (I’ll be giving you four) into the 2″ square, find colors and patterns which make you happy and stitch away. The heart pictured above uses one of the very first Watercolours, Sunset. Sunset then had undyed parts, sunset now does not. I love

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Originally posted 2009-03-01 06:24:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter>My eldest daughter, Maggie, loves children’s books. She even has a great blog devoted to them. As a result, I am often looking and finding vintage children’s illustrations which I think would make great needlepoint. I particularly love the kind which have that sweet Mid-century Modern look and those washed out colors which are now almost pastel. Looking through one of my design notebooks awhile ago, I found many I had cut out for inspiration. Plenty of ideas, but none stitched yet as I can’t get to my blank canvas, it’s buried. So that’s the theme of our challenge this month, vintage children’s books and toys. Pick a favorite illustrator or author and do a picture from one of their books. Find a retro looking wallpaper and use that. Pick a vintage clipart (Dover has a whole book of them). There’s plenty

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Originally posted 2008-07-31 07:33:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Here are the three twinchys I made for this month’s challenge. The main colors are my kids’ favorite colors and the threads came from my scrap bag and from my stash. The backgrounds are done in T Stitch. I used white Nordic Gold for the A, very pale yellow Kreinik for the green, and silver Kreinik for the T. All of these are thin threads, so that the canvas shows through. Here are the charts for you (click to get a larger size): A M T To make them, I made the middle letter very large and then found additional letters, many from Tink Boord-Dill’s book, Alphabets Tantalizing and Terrific, or from the Internet. I arranged them around the central letter, some behind others, and stitched each in a different thread so they would stand out from each other. Some do

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Today is the last day to sign up for this year’s color club, Color through the Ages. Through charted Twinchies (2″square needlepoint) based on quilt designs, club members will explore color schemes typical not just of ancient times, but of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Twentieth Century, along with others. In each month’s packet you will get: Extensive information about color and this color scheme Information about the quilt block or setting Charted Twinchie with thread list Information, including stitching tips for three different threads There are three options for the club, available as a monthly subscription or with an annual payment. Only the basic program is open to new members. Basic, patterns as PDFs only Basic Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program. It is $7.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register. Basic Subscription Threads, patterns and thread samples No longer available. Deluxe,

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Originally posted 2009-03-03 08:00:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter This heart uses Watercolours, glow in the dark Kreinik, and Sparkle Rays for a very citrus color scheme. In scanning, the Sparkle Rays bleached out completely. The pattern has three rows Tent Stitch in square and rectangular blocks. The background is stitched in T Stitch using Kreinik #4. This thread is very fine, so it leaves a hint of color and a sparkle. This heart uses another pattern of square blocks, this time grouped in sets of four. The square blocks are outlined in dark violet Very Velvet and the background is an extremely pale blue, all in Tent Stitch. The squares are filled with Diagonal Mosaic, with the upper left and lower right using a blue-green Gloriana (deep blues sea). The upper right and lower left use a light blue Elegance. The background is Nobuko, stitched using pearl cotton The

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Originally posted 2009-02-03 05:54:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter This is the finished heart from Sunday. I also worked on the sampler during the SuperBowl and will give you an update after a couple of hearts are done. My plan is to pick one overdyed thread, like Sunset in the Twinchy above, and use it as the basis for each heart. Over the weekend I pulled a bunch of lime green thread as well as son bright pink and magenta ones I dyed myself. Now for the heart outlines. They are all displayed full size. This heart is taken from the San Francisco heart and made smaller. It’s a classic heart shape and was used for the zig-zag heart. Another classic heart, this one a bit taller than it is wide. This heart has a little bit of a tail. You can make that more pronounced by extending the bottom

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Originally posted 2008-12-01 06:29:59. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThis month’s challenge is a wide open one. What does December mean to you? Is it gingerbread men baking, Christmas, winter, peace

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Going from the earth and mineral colors that predominated the palettes of Ancient Egypt and Greece, the High Middle Ages seem to burst in a world of color and light. I have adored the bright, rich blues of medieval prayer books, or Books of Hours, since I first saw one in a reproduction in High School. A picture from Jean de Berry Book of Hours, it’s the monthly scene for June, is below. Those colors are the inspiration for this Twinchy. It captures the bright colors with the blue and red, the lightness of the palette with the blue-violet, the slightly yellow white of vellum and parchment, and the gold that is so much a part of illuminated manuscripts. It’s just one of the twelve color palettes I’ll be exploring in Color through the Ages my exciting new color and thread club beginning March 1, 2012. Each month you’ll get

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My husband thinks I’m sort of weird because I love fashion magazines. One big reason I love them is that they often give me ideas for needlepoint. One great thing is that you can use color combinations that they showcase to put together interesting combinations for needlepoint. Sometimes you are lucky and the magazine spells out a combination for you. For example, the combination of nude, light pink, minty green, and coral in Style Watch inspired the Twinchy freebie pictured here. It’d entirely made up of Cashmere stitches, charted below. (Instead of a complete chart, use the picture of the finished needlepoint to stitch it.) A stunning malachite-grren sequined evening gown inspired me to stitch a malachite clutch in all metallics. When looking to fashion for color inspiration there are three types of things that can inspire. You can take you inspiration from an individual outfit. If you see an

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Color can be so evocative of a time or a place. Think of the combination of deep ultramarine blue, gold, linen white and rusty red. Ancient Egypt, right? Or what about the terra cotta, black, and golden yellow of Greek pots? This year’s needlepoint club, Color through the Ages, is going to go beyond the traditional color schemes to look at color combinations that refer to a specific time, place, or object. Through charted Twinchies (2″square needlepoint) based on quilt designs, club members will explore color schemes typical not just of ancient times, but of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Twentieth Century, along with others. Each month you’ll get a PDF instruction packet with the chart, information about the color scheme and something about color of the time, and information about three different threads. A continuation of 2011′s popular Color, Thread, and Quilts Club, you’ll have a chance

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Originally posted 2008-07-04 07:26:47. Republished by Blog Post PromoterCraft Stylish is a new magazine from the publisher of Threads (a superb sewing magazine) which has a clever, unstuffy approach to crafts of all kinds. It’s a brand new magazine (the first issue is on newsstands now). I’m so excited that one of their editors singled out the Twinchy Challange. I hope you’re working on yours. Happy Fourth of July!

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Originally posted 2009-01-01 06:04:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I’m crazy about the American Southwest. The magnificent scenery, the colors, the Native American art of all kinds, the wonderful history of it all. It continually inspires me in so many ways. This month it can inspire you as well, with the Twinchy Challenge. Your design could be as simple as the one pictured above, a petrogplyph (rock painting) on a “painted” background, similar to many of the rocks you see in Arizona and New Mexico. The Twinchy at the top of this post is one from November’s gallery. Check out that post for complete instructions on how to make this Twinchy yourself. It could be based on a Zuni fetish, Navajo jewelry, those wonderful Native American pots, the Grand Canyon. There’s so much to choose. Have fun with this one!

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