guild Archive

Originally posted 2008-01-11 08:24:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter In case you hadn’t noticed, Bargello is back in a big way. You can see it everywhere. Domino magazine showed it last spring on a couch in a hip apartment. Jonathan Adler’s Bargello pillows were named to Real Simple’s list of must haves. Iona Dettelbach’s Bargello book is packed with fantastic ideas and June McKnight has a new Bargello book out. To keep you inspired while I’m at TNNA, I wanted to share with you my latest project, which is in Bargello Revisited (out June 2008). It’s a Bargello checkbook cover. It uses a classic Hungarianpoint pattern in neutral colors with a pop of red. I stitched it in wool, so it will really wear. But what suprises me most is how fast it was to stitch. I worked on it a little but, but last week I was able to

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Originally posted 2009-12-24 08:42:21. Republished by Blog Post PromoterAnother type of resolution improves our stitching skills. Here are some ideas: Want to learn more new stitches? Make a sampler. Divide it up into 12 or 24 squares and pick a stitch dictionary to use. Go to your stash and pull threads. Once a month or once every two weeks pick a stitch that is new to you and put it in one square. Once you’ve learned it, look for places to use it. Want to learn a new technique?Look for programs at guilds and on-line that cover the technique. Look for magazine articles. Start a project, do it long enough to learn the technique, but don’t worry about finishing it. The learning is what’s important. Want to get better at needlepoint in general? Join your local or on-line guild and do every project that is offered. You will be astonished

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A couple of years ago the CyberPointers Chapter of ANG decided we were going to create a project in honor of ANG’s 40th Anniversary. An open competition was held for designs and my design, “Ruby Ribbons,” won. That’s it pictured here. It’s based on a 1930′s quilt block and features two red ribbons curling around a background that moves from white in the center to black at the edges. The design consists of four panels with 64 blocks in each. Every block has a different stitch, for over 250 needlepoint stitches. They use all kinds of different techniques, stitches and threads. It was auctioned off at the ANG Seminar last month. CyberPointers has created an ebook of the stitches used in the project that has close-up pictures of each block, information about the threads used to stitch it and a diagram of the stitch. It’s a grand and affordable stitch

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This lovely design, Philadelphia Journey, was designed by Orna Willis and donated to the American Needlepoint Guild for their 40th Anniversary Celebration last month. All attendees at Seminar got the instructions. Now Orna is extending the celebration. If you would like a copy of the full-color instructions, write to Orna and give her your mailing address. If you’d like a thread kit, visit her Etsy store to get them (they include the beads)

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The 2014 EGA National Seminar will be held in Pheonix and the Pacific Southwestern Region is sponsoring it. As a find-raiser for Seminar they have created this lovely set of six charms honoring “Legends of Needlework.” Each charm shows a bit of stitching typical of each legend’s designs. Chottie Alderson, Jean Hilton, Gay Ann Rogers, Carol Algie Higginbotham, Jacqueline Enthoven, and Margaret Fleming are all honored. You can see each charm and get details about the set here. The charms are $8 each or you can buy the entire set in a decorative tin for $48. You can use this form for ordering

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Originally posted 2010-03-14 07:30:13. Republished by Blog Post PromoterMost of the time we stitch by ourselves or in small groups. But nothing is as much fun as attending a seminar or stitching retreat with lots of other stitchers. Not only do you have the fun of learning and stitching, you get inspired by the exhibits and can stock up on wonderful books and stitchy things at the shops. There are four big events I want to tell you about. First is the National Academy of Needlearts Assembly, held each Spring in Kansas City. It happened this year March 3-9, but you can read about what was offered and make plans to attend. NAN certifies teachers and so one of the highlights of the assembly is the chance to see outstanding needlework of all kinds. EGA’s National Seminar is in early September and will be held in San Francisco (my home

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Originally posted 2008-11-01 16:07:23. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThe new Internet chapter. CyberPointers, of the Americaan Needlepoint Guild opened for business today. It’s been a long time coming. This chapter is designed to do everything other guild chapters do, but do them over the Internet. We’ll chat, we’ll learn, we’ll share ideas, and we’ll have programs and workshops. In fact, the first workshop is scheduled for March and will feature Jim Wurth’s lovely Minerva. We also have a contest to design our logo and a call for original designs for our first fundraising book starting now, so there is lots going on. If you are an ANG member at large (MAL), live too far from a chapter to participate, live in another country, or just love needlepoint, CyberPointers is for you. Our first meeting will be November 6-10 over the Internet. Check us out, join and be a part of

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Originally posted 2009-03-29 07:36:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Since I led it yesterday at my ANG Chapter meeting, I can finally tell you about it. My surprise project was Autumn Haze one of Laura Perin’s free designs. You’ll find it near the bottom of the page. My one is shown at the top of this entry. The idea behind the project is to break out of your color rut and do something unexpected. Here’s how: Pick an overdyed color at random. This piece will work better if you pick a shade which has several colors in it. Most of us have shades of these threads, Watercolours in my case, which we got but aren’t our normal colors. In my case, I used Burning Ember. While the deep blue-violets are one of my favorite colors, orange is not, so this is outside my color comfort zone. Pick the other threads

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The San Bernadino Chapter of ANG is huge, welcoming members from both near (east of LA) and far. Several of my friends belong to this chapter as long-distance members. The chapter is wonderful at having many exiting projects and at making it is easy for members who aren’t close to participate. They have recently put up a wonderful slide show of work from their members. You can view it on their site or on Picusa if you are a member there. It’s full of wonderful stuff. If you’ve never viewed this kind of slide show before, you may be wondering how to see more pictures. Under each picture there is a hidden navigation bar that pops up when you slide your cursor over it. If you don’t see it, slide your cursor down the picture. For each lovely piece, you’ll see the stitched needlepoint and the names of both the

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Originally posted 2010-05-13 07:54:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter One thing has stayed consistent in to 40 years I’ve been doing needlepoint. And it’s not the canvas. It’s that needlepoint education sucks. Originally I thought that I was the problem. My mom’s an artist and a tinkerer, and so we always figured out how to do it ourselves. So I took that into needlepoint and bought books and played. I didn’t take a class until I’d been stitching for a decade or more. But I was always dissatisfied, both with the books and, mostly, with the classes I took. The books never seemed to tell me what I wanted to know and the classes, while the projects might be lovely rarely taught me the techniques I wanted at the price I could afford. Even with the Internet this hasn’t changed much. If we want needlepoint to grow, be popular, and

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The picture here is of my first patch in the 2012 Stitch of the Month (SOTM) from ANG. I am using all stash threads in my favorite color, Teal. Throughout the year I’ll be sharing my progress with you. I’m committed to being thrifty in my needlepoint purchases, so I try to use what I have on hand. I love this because it means I need to exercise my creativity and make something my own. I always find inspiration in how using scarce resources can make something beautiful by thinking of my beloved Amish and scrap bag quilts. In these quilts using what is on hand makes quilts of great beauty. While I don’t aspire to those heights, I do want my needlepoint to be beautiful as well as thrifty. Starting from the teal threads I pulled from my stash I did some other things to make changes. Since I

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Teal is, in clothing, a universally flattering color. In my family where we got from golden to ashy to ruddy to olive, it’s the only color we can all wear successfully. It is also just about my favorite color and currently I am on a serious teal buying spree, getting a leather tote, tops, dresses, and just about anything else I can get me hands on. But all this is besides the point. I’m going to make the ANG 2012 Stitch of the Month (anyone can follow and it’s free, check it out). The piece will be done in shades of one color in a variety of threads. I want to use different color and I want to use all stash threads. I also didn’t want to use a color that is strongly associated with a cause, since I don’t know what the result will be (it’s a mystery project).

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Originally posted 2009-03-22 06:41:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Isn’t this ornament so much fun? I’m showing it to you as a sneak peel of my contribution to the CyberPointers upcoming ebook of classic quilt patterns rendered for needlepoint. The book will be available over the summer and, from what I’ve seen of the other contributions, it’s going to be great. If you’re a member of CyberPointers you still have time to stitch one of the ornaments as part of our ANG Seminar Auction contribution. There’s also some time left for anyone to contribute an ornament to the book. I had so much fun and I like it so much I wish I didn’t have so much to do, I’d make another one

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Originally posted 2008-01-01 08:58:58. Republished by Blog Post PromoterMy ANG chapter, Wine Country ANG, has a President’s Challenge every year. Our chapter President challenges us to do a particular task and complete it before the end of the year. For 2008, our challenge is to finish at least three projects which were begun before January 1. This is a wonderful task and a great New Year’s Resolution for all of us stitchers. If you’re like me, the problem is what to choose. So I decided to write down many of the things in progress around the house. This is a mixture of projects which will be stitch guides (poinsettia wreath), projects for books (bargello checkbook), original projects (ginko leaves), and projects for me (Amish star pillow). Here’s my list: Shepherd with Geese – Needledeeva King’s Elephnt – Needledeeva Patchwork mini-sock – holiday colors – original design Patchwork mini-sock – teal

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Remember how in Rudolph there was an Island of Unwanted Toys? The toys there were unloved or missing something. We have unwanted projects too. Maybe it was a class and we learned what we wanted to and never finished the project. Maybe your taste or decor changed. Maybe it’s too late to give that gift. Whatever the reason we all have projects that have been started but won’t ever be finished. Marlene asked about what to do with them. Here are some ides: Do you have stitching friends? Arrange a “needlepoint swap.” Everyone bring 5 items to trade. The hostess should arrange for food and maybe goodie bags to entice people to come. This is like a pot luck, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Are you in a guild chapter? Donate these projects to your guild for a chapter auction. My chapter has funded our education auction with these

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