Nuts about Needlepoint » twinchy

November Twinchy Challenge — Adaptation

jmp — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:00:16 +0000

Originally posted 2008-11-01 06:28:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

If you think about it, there are so many lovely sources of design. As needleartists, we take lovely things we find and adapt them to our medium of needlepoint.

I’m a resolute saver of interesting pictures and drawings I like. I have two notebooks stuffed full of things cut from magazines, copies from books, and drawings I like. I’ve started a third

This summer’s massive clean-up project has yielded a box of recipes, inspirational pictures and house ideas, culled from the magazines I’ve thrown away as part of my reduce mania. I think of my recycling bin as “free trash can” — it’s as big as my trash can, I pay for it anyhow, and so why not fill it with stuff which can be recycled. These days I fill them both and still have trash to carry forward to the next week.

One of the first needlepoints I designed on my own was an adaptation of a lovely Arabic mosaic I found in a high-end art magazine. It was square tiles and I adapted it one for one, one stitch per tile. It was lovely.

So I thought this month would be a great time to encourage you to adapt something else, preferably another needleart to needlepoint. Throughout the month, I’ll have articles discussing how you can adapt all kinds of different patterns and make lovely needlepoint. These will also be collected into a eBook which should be available in December sometime.

You might adapt Fair Isle Knitting patterns as I’m doing for my current Twinchy. (I’m not far enough along to show it off.) The basic color is bright red with other bright colors. Traditional design in untraditional colors. It’s based on a haute couture sweater from a couple of years ago. I can’t wait to show it off, but I don’t even have the first stripe finished.

You could do a filet crochet design as needlepoint in color on cream canvas or in cream on dark canvas.

Take a bead pattern for Peyote or Brick Stitch and make it into Brick Stitch needlepoint.

Adapt a cool striped fabric into a Bargello pattern.

Some of the needlepoint I’ll show you takes charts for other charts and turns them into needlepoint. Others use different sources of design, often no counted, and makes them needlepoint.

In the needlepoint ideas we’ll talk about this month, I’ll show you how to do all these things, along with some surprise adaptations.

What is a needleart you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t? Now is the time to find a design you like and adapt it into a little bit of needleart.

Adaptation is such a rich and ready-made source of needlepoint design, I never tire of making new things. Earlier this week I saw a glorious needlepoint by my friend Lorene based on randomly cut pieces of paper. I bought the canvas and stitched a whole needlepoint malachite, entirely in metallics just because I saw a glorious sequined evening gown in these colors in a magazine. I can’t afford the gown, but the needlepoint is wonderful.

This is going to be so much fun!

Another Watercolour Twinchy

jmp — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:06:12 +0000

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.

It’s small, very delicate, but tons of fun.

Each block is made up of four leaves, which rotate around the center. By using Mosaic, you get the feel of a complete quilt in a small space.

Twinchies for 2010

jmp — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:49:17 +0000

I have just spent some much overdue time looking at the Twinchies I have done and uploading them into a Facebook album.

This year, as much as I can, I will be using the Twinchy format to try out new needlepoint techniques as part of the 2010 President’s Challenge. We will be trying a new technique each month including Hilton Stitches (this month, hardanger on canvas, bargello, and surface embroidery on canvas. It’s free and open to all members of CyberPointers.

But looking at them all got me excited again about these little bits of needlepoint. so I’m going to start doing more of them. In the spirit of trying something new, I’d like the Twichy theme for January to be monochromatic color schemes. To make it even easier, I also want you to use the Attic Windows Twinchy pattern shown above.

That’s it, use any stitches you like, any threads, but in a monochromaticscheme in this pattern.

I’ll make a gallery of pictures people send me and show you my results in early February.

Tomorrow look for a post about this color scheme.

Twinchies on Holiday

jmp — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:36:43 +0000

I have to start out apologizing. Between the flu, a cold from hell, and allergies worse than ever, I didn’t get to this month’s Twinchies.

Now with tons of Bargello to stitch for the Maker Faire, I’m spending all my time, even Sundays, working on that.

So the Twinchies are going to take a vacation and resume in June.

Happy Hearts – February Twinchy Challenge – Part 2

jmp — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:00:09 +0000

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 lower left heart is stitched in linenfold, a stitch which uses a combination of straight (wider stripes) and diagonal (narrow stitches). I used a dark red-violet Pebbly Perle for the narrow stripes and alternated Neon Rays and Kreinik ribbon for the wide stripes.

The background is Hungarian, a stitch I often forget about and one which should be used more often. It’s stitched using Crescent Colours floss is Purple Toile, a very pale violet.

The last heart is stitched in Trianglepoint using Dinky Dyes silk and Flair I dyed myself. This background is also T Stitch but made with Petite Very Velvet, making a more solid background.

March Twinchy Challenge – Vintage Children’s Toys and Books

jmp — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:24:43 +0000

>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 from which to choose.

Remember to email me (napaneedlepoint @ gmail.com – remove all spaces) to tell me about what you’ve done. If you attach a picture, I’ll put it in the gallery at the end of the month. If you send me a link, I’ll put the link there.

Happy Hearts – February Twinchy Challenge – Part 1

jmp — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:42:23 +0000

This was a real challenge to me, trying to make hearts which had bright contemporary colors and still use threads in my stash. But didn’t my bellpull turn out great?

I used a taupe metallic (72) from Kreinik for the grid and all analogous color schemes, mostly keeping the colors medium to light and all the backgrounds light. The analogous colors keep things calm instead of frantic and the lighter values make it, I think, happy.

I also picked geometric patterns and kept the stitches simple. Since there are eight of them, I’m going to split the explanation of it into two parts. The first four will be today and the next four on Tuesday.

If you want to make your own heart sampler begin by drawing out the 2″ squares on your canvas. I have eight on a 6″ x12″ canvas. Then using the heart outlines in this post trace a heart into each square. Then mix or match these patterns or others and threads from your stash into your own design. (The instructions will be available in an eBook in April).

The top left heart uses the same pattern as the original heart Twinchy. I used the grid metallic for the zigzag lines, Wild Berries Watercolours for the overdye, two Pebbly Perles (one dyed by me), and an overdyed floss of unknown origin for the heart. The background is done in Basketweave using a hand-dyed silk ribbon.

The top right heart is stitched using a yellow-green color scheme with a sapphire blue accent. The blue and bright yellow-green are both Watercolours, the light yellow-green is a Dinky Dyes silk and the darker yellow-green is EPiC crewel wool.

The center is a Scotch Stitch over five threads. It is surrounded by two borders of mitered Straight Gobelin over three threads. The remainder of the heart is stitched in Basketweave.

The background is Horizontal Diagonal Cashmere.

The next heart on the left is stitched in Irregular Jacquard. By varying the number of stitches in the vertical and horizontal legs, you get an irregular version of the stitch. The longer stitches are done with Rainbow Linen, the shorter ones done with Pebbly Perle.

The background is stitched in Woven Plait using Neon Rays.

The second right heart is stitched in random Diagonal Gobelin and Tent stripes. The key to this pattern is to make every other row Tent Stitches using the same thread (a Dinky Dyes silk in this case). Then vary the width of the Gobelin rows between 1, 2, and 3 stitches. The single row Gobelin just being another Tent Stitch row. These rows alternated threads between Gold Fingering, Pebbly Perle and Dinky Dyes.

The background is stitched in columns of Diagonal Gobelin over two threads using an overdyed floss from Steph Francis in England.

Twinchy Heart Outlines

jmp — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:54:22 +0000

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 a bit and curving it up.

This heart is tall and narrow. Notice that it is not symmetrical at top. This makes it look more contemporary I think.

Have fun stitching!

February Twinchy Challenge — Happy Hearts

jmp — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:29:49 +0000

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 this set of colors as I like the way the undyed thread tempers the intense, somewhat clashing colors.

The zigzag pattern is modified from a Kaffe Fassett knitting pattern and made smaller. Then one stripe is done in the Watercolours and the others in solid threads in colors taken from this Watercolour. I used orange Kreinik from the gourmet collection a pink velour thread and blue-violet Elegance. The background uses Dinky-Dyes in a more intense version of the red-violet in the overdye.

One note of caution, if you are going to pick a color similar to the overdye for the background, be sure to pick one which does not appear on the edges of the foreground. My first two ideas for backgrounds, cream and dark green were discarded because of this. Against one of these colors parts of the heart will “melt” into the background.

I’m also doing as a sampler. It has eight hearts and each will be different. I’m hoping to have the whole thing done and in the Twinchy Gallery at the end of the month.

Tuesday I’ll post all four outlines and give you some details about the Twinchy Hearts Sampler on Tuesday.

Southwestern Twinchy Gallery

jmp — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:57:18 +0000

I just love this Twinchy. It showcases everything I like about Kachinas. It has feathers, lots of color, and antler horns. The stepped pyramid around the mouth represents the mesas of New Mexico and Arizona.

The charts or drawings for all the Twinchies along with notes for stitching appear after the pictures.

This Twinchy is based on a fragment of Pueblo pottery. While newer pottery is white, older pottery takes on a creamy color I just love. It isn’t symmetrical because I’m not as good an artist as they are.

The medicine bear fetish was my inspiration for this Twinchy. I wanted him to fill up as much of the space as possible, but I was drawing freehand and drew it wrong. So he looks too big to fit the size and is bursting out. The line drawing is the proper size.

This final Twinchy is based on some items I saw in Navajo Rugs. The center motif is called Eye Dazzler. The borders were a neat element I saw in another rug of crosses and diamonds. Navajo Rugs traditionally are made from wool spun from the fleece of the Navajo’s sheep. Often it is left undyed or dyed with natural dyes. Some rugs use commerical dyes and some modern rugs use more neutral and pastel palettes which fit modern interiors better.

The Kachina Twinchy has a backgound of a sky, stitched in an overdyed blue floss in Nobuko. The horns and most of the Twinchy are in Tent Stitch. One strand of Trio was used for the mesa, Grandeur for the black areas and Watercolours in Natural for the main part of the mask. The multi-colored bands at top and bottom use threads from my scrap bag.

The feathers are Lazy Daisy stitches and are added last.

Colors in Pueblo pottery and Kachina masks are made from clays and powdered rocks found in the area. This makes for a lovely palette which is surprisingly wide.

The pottery Twinchy is stitched entirely in Tent Stitch using Natural Watercolours, Grandeur, and Alyce Schroth Needlepoint Silk (no longer made).

Indian pots are not thrown on a potter’s wheel but are hand built using the coil method. Once built they are smoothed and painted with different clays mixed with water (called slips). After firing, they can also be polished using rocks.

I just love the variety of this pottery and it is well worth exploring. I can’t wait until I can get my collection out again.

The bear fetish is stitched in Jacquard using 3 Alarm Fire Bella Silk from Cresecent Colours. I love the bright color and variation in this hand-dyed thread. The motion of the stitch reminds me of the arrow on the Zuni Fetish. The eye is a French Knot in black Nordic Gold.

The Navajo Rug Twinchy is also stitched in all Tent Stitch using Lorikeet wool for the dark gray, Burmilana for the black, Trio for the burgundy, and a matte cotton from the scrap bag for the dark coral.