My Sunday stitching project at the moment is an older canvas and I’m stitching it in hand. Working on it yesterday got me thinking about canvas.

High-quality canvas, like Zweigart mono, is made from 100% cotton. The stiffness of a new needlepoint canvas comes from sizing added to the canvas once it is woven. Sizing also makes canvas hard on threads because the stiff sizing wears out the thread more quickly than the smooth fabric alone.

Sizing is removed from canvas is several ways. If you thoroughly wet the canvas, you notice it’s a bit sticky — that’s the sizing. Wet it and wring it out a couple more times and the sizing is removed.

As you stitch the canvas, your needle moves the canvas back and forth – this will eventually break down the sizing. Folding the canvas also does this along the fold.

Finally the sizing disappears as the canvas gets old.

In my case, the canvas was folded (and I know better) and it is three years old. So it’s very soft. I’m still crumpling it up in hand, so I don’t mind too much, but if you have an old canvas and want stiffness, your only solution is to stretch it on a frame. Stretching and the tension it brings will put stiffness back into the canvas. I would go further and say just use Evertite bars because you will need to adjust the tension more often with an older canvas.

Related posts:

1. Canvas Clips – Product Review
2. Print Needlepoint Canvas on your Inkjet Printer
3. Stretching Old Canvas
4. Longstitch – Making an Older Technique New
5. Deciphering Needlepoint Canvas

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.

Related posts:

1. New Canvases at TNNA (Winter 2011)
2. Painted Canvases at TNNA – Part 1
3. More New Canvases from TNNA
4. Great Canvases a TNNA
5. Thread News from TNNA

Since I don’t have a laptop and don’t know what kind of Internet access I’ll have, my reports on new products will have to wait until I get back next week, starting on Wednesday.

But in the meantime, I have blog posts planned to drip in daily while I’m gone.

I’m really looking forward to all the great new things at TNNA.

Related posts:

1. TNNA – Back Home
2. New Products from TNNA Market
3. TNNA Preview – Happy Heart Winter Wreath
4. New Canvases at TNNA (Winter 2011)
5. TNNA Coverage Starts Tomorrow

Amazingly I decided to take my own advice about finishing projects, namely those UFO’s all over the house.

I’m going to work on one at a time, stitching two needles of thread each day until it’s done. I’ve got the first two planned out. On Winter Stars, the current UFO, I only have three corners, two sides of the outer border and the binding to do. I’m working on that first and started the third side today. I’m hoping I’ll have it done within two weeks.

The it will be on to finish my version of the abstract cross stitch. I really love the way it looks but there are so many things cal,ling my attention.

For the project after that, you guys can help me choose. Do I do:

• the shepherd with a lamb from this needlepoint nativity
• the halloween license plate
• the foreground of the game needlepoint mini-sock
• the mod sampler
• the Painted Pony Botswana angel (994AR, on left about halfway down page)

I have ranked them from least to most to do. Leave a comment to tell me which you’d do next.

Related posts:

1. My Needlepoint Resolutions
2. Needlepoint Resolutions as a Way to Conquer your Stash
3. Needlepoint Resolutions
4. Are You Making any Needlepoint Resolutions?
5. Resolutions to Learn Needlepoint

I typed it wrong, NCPat’s canvas is from Sharon G.

An archive article about finishing will be up later this morning after I get back from the DMV.

Related posts:

1. A Short Break
2. Thread Reviews & New Product Articles Coming!
3. Halloween & Mask
4. Oops!
5. Pierrette’s Santa — Update

Although I didn’t add to my blog for the last several days, I have been stitching up a storm.

I finished the Leaf Mask on Saturday.

I worked on a cool quilt pillow from Susan Roberts on Sunday.
On Friday I bought the thread for the background. I decided with lots of background, I’d try a knitting yarn. I bought Cotton Classic from Tahki/Stacy Charles. It’s a mercerized cotton, less shiny than pearl cotton, in a five-ply strand. I cut the skein once at the knot to have great stitching lengths. I’m using three-ply for basketweave on 14 mesh. The thread is great, MUCH cheaper than any alternative and looks perfect, an inky black which really sets of the bright colors of the star pattern.
It’s big, on 14 mesh and I only work on it on Sundays. It will probably take me all year to do. Adding in the background color added so much to the design it was hard to put it away Sunday night.

Related posts:

1. All about Needlepoint Update
2. All about Needlepoint Update
3. Needlepoint Vacation
4. Ty-Di Threads
5. Game Needlepoint Update

When I moved to California in 1980, I was sort of lost for needlepoint.

Yes, there were some stores in San Francisco, but I didn’t have time on my lunch hour to get to them. There was a knitting and needlepoint store on my way home from work, but it was not too exciting.

But all that changed when I moved to Rockridge, a neighborhood in North Oakland.

On the main street and just at the bottom of my street was a wonderful needlepoint store, The Crewel World. Owned by a lovely lady named Diane, this place was needlepoint heaven. There was lots of thread, more than the Persian Wool and floss combo of most places, canvas, books, charts, painted canvas, classes.

What joy!

In those days Jane Zimmerman, who lived nearby, also taught there, and Diane and the other employees who worked there were unfailing in their support. They were such thread addicts they would buy odd threads and sell them to people like me. I bought all sorts of things from them, DMC matte cotton, Empress Silk, and some mystery threads.

After awhile Diane sold the store and the new owner, Linda, kept the same friendly atmosphere. By that time I had kids and they never minded me with two kids in the stroller coming in (a sign of a great store to my mind). Linda had a second shop in Walnut Creek, which became my LNS when I got a job out there.

Good shops, like good friends, aren’t just stitchy enablers, they become your friends, a haven, a place for creativity. Where would we be without them?

Related posts:

1. Medici Hanks for Sale
2. Texas Needlepointer Profiled
3. Stitch your Stash around the World – Almost Done!
4. Stitch your Stash around the World – Blocks 1-3
5. Stitch your Stash Around the World Update

They fall into three main categories, so here’s what’s on the plate:

Models for Classes

I have on stretcher bars a charming alphabet from Art Needlepoint that will be a different sort of class, more like a teacher-led group project. They’ll be lots of interesting techniques and unconventional uses of materials here.

I am also actually stitching on the model for another class, soon to be announced.

Then I have two big canvases for models that I haven’t even gotten on bars yet.

UFO’s

I always ay to myself I’m going to finish a ton of UFO’s and never do. But this year I am serious about finishing two large Maggie geometrics that have been in progress.

One is so softened that I have had to put it on stretcher bars just to get it finished. Even then it’s pulling away in areas, so I’m going to need to redo it.

Year-long Projects

I counted them yesterday. I am going to do the ANG SOTM for 2012. I haven’t picked colors for this yet because I’m going to do it as a stash project and need to put away threads to see what colors to use.

Then I’m taking part in Shining Needle’s Society Kimono with John Wadell. These are both big.

The later in the year I’m doing two projects with CyberPointers: PLum BLossom Kimono and Liz Morrow’s Bargello piece.

None of these is small, in fact for someone addicted to projects that fit on stretcher bars smaller than 10″, this is a HUGE departure.

But I’m hoping by the end of the year to have conquered my fear of charted needlepoint, made two more lovely pillows for my studio, and increased my knowledge of color and stitches.

Plus use up even more of my stash.

What are your stitchy resolutions?

Related posts:

1. Needlepoint Resolutions as a Way to Conquer your Stash
2. My Needlepoint Resolutions
3. Needlepoint Resolutions
4. Are You Making any Needlepoint Resolutions?
5. Needlepoint & Moving

The violets scissors case from Whimsey & grace (http://www.whimsyandgrace.com/scissorcases.htm) is almost finished, only three patches left to go. I’m hoping to finish today sometime, if my cold doesn’t keep me from working.

I really like the combination of threads and stitches, there is lots of texture but none of the stitches are too hard. The two different sizes of gingham (on the right) are really fun. The smaller one just uses Tent Stitches in three colors (white, lavender and violet). The larger one uses Scotch Stitches in the same colors.

The fun thing about gingham is that the fabric comes in different sizes, so any stitch which is a box could be used to make gingham. I would call these tiny and medium. And remember that if you have three values of a color, or two plus white, you can make a gingham. It also can make a great, unusual background.

Related posts:

1. Still Raining Violets
2. Picnic Basket – LAS Mini-sock
3. Another Way to Make Gingham
4. Roses Are Red Needlecase
5. Blog Stitching – Making the Initial Decisions

One of the happiest things I know about traveling is visiting needlepoint stores. Today I want to salute a few stores that I visited for the wonderful things I found there.

– In Ann Arbor, on a business trip, I saw Watercolours for the first time. Amazingly enough I only bought one skein, got the free pattern and some canvas and stitched it on the way home.

– On another trip, I was wokring on a Jane Greenoff Sampler and was running out of silk. On a whim I went into Rose Cottage in El Segundo, CA (now whole sale only, in Ohio, and called Potpourri, Etc.) and found the thread (which they gave me), more Jane Greenoff charts, and great friends. Whenever I went to LA, I made time to visit them.

– In 2001, we were in New Hampshire on Sept 11, and were renting a truck to drive back to California. The folks at BF Goodstitch in Salem (a wonderful shop) fixed me up with canvas, thread, and comfort, to make a lovely pillow, Stars of Sorrow, which still sits on my day bed.

– Vicki, the wonderful owner of Needle Nook of La Jolla, came through with thread, when I got short shipped material for a class.

But there are so many more, so many wonderful shops. Explore yours!

Related posts:

1. Crewel World – Past LNS
2. Use your Stash & Shop at your LNS
3. Needlepoint & Tours
4. Twelve Step Program for Stitchers
5. Thread Stash Credits — A Great Idea