stash Archive

Scrappy Squares Needlepoint Quilt is a quilt portrait needlepoint. I love patchwork and quilts but don’t have the sewing ability to make them. Therefore, using quilts as my inspiration I turn them into needlepoint. Many of my free projects on this blog, as well as ebooks and club projects draw on this rich store of boldly graphic designs. This design is based on squares that are multiples of each other. That’s easy to do in needlepoint with Box Stitches. A Mosaic Stitch is twice the size of a Tent Stitch. A Scotch Stitch over 4 threads is twice the size if a Mosaic Stitch. A bigger Scotch (or in this case a Mosaic in a Diagonal Gobelin border) is twice the size of the first Scotch. Knowing this you can mix and match squares to create a lively design. This quilt uses all solid colors. If you chose to use

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Originally posted 2010-04-14 07:26:34. Republished by Blog Post PromoterToday we have a guest post from my friend Jen Funk-Webber. She puts out a delightful email newsletter, The Needlework Nutshell. She also runs the Stitching for Literacy Bookmark Challenge and designs wonderful needlework which you can see on her site, Funk & Weber Designs (http://funkandweber.com/fw/index.html). In her most recent newsletter she mused about experimenting in needlework. I loved it, and she gave her permission to reprint it here. ************** I had an interesting e-conversation with Amy recently. I do a lot of preaching about experimenting with new embroidery techniques, materials, and ideas. I’m a huge fan of doodles and am undeterred by disasters. I am willing to leap before I look, and failure is (almost) as welcome in my house as success. Truth be told, failure comes around more often than success, but he can be quite entertaining, a lover of

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Today’s guest post is from Theresa Swiecicki, owner of Homestead Needle Arts in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Yes, it’s that dirty word. How many of you have tossed that “F” word around in your mind? “I can’t start another project,” you whine to yourself. “I have to FINISH some!” I recently read an enlightening article on Knitting Daily where the author enjoined us to NOT feel guilty about having tons of projects going. When I change the word knitting to needlepoint, she essentially said just what I feel. Don’t feel guilty about starting a new project! Keep yourself going creatively with new ideas, new experiences, new threads and new stitches! You’ll be re-energized and continue to love your hobby. Don’t let it become a chore AND don’t feel guilty if you no longer love an older project. If it sits for a few years and no longer calls to you, consider

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Originally posted 2009-09-05 07:55:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Over at the Craft Magazine blog, there is a wonderful illustrated tutorial on how to make a simple tassel using leftover yarn. Tassels are lots of fun to make using a scrap of cardboard, leftover thread (at least 2 yards), and scissors. They make a wonderfully thrifty craft. Two things will make your tassels much better looking. The yarn should be in a continuous length, so try to use packages you haven’t cut. Also if you are going to use more than one tassel make sure you have enough thread or yarn for all. The thread you choose has a huge effect on the final look of the tassel. Use a think thread or knitting yarn and you will get chunky, rough tassels. If you want something more delicate and smooth use a fine or pliable thread such as blending filament

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Originally posted 2009-03-12 07:24:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Three more cats stitched on our stash project. One thing which is so fun about this project is that Patt slightly changes the colors from square to square. so this can really reflect what’s in your stash. For the dark violet, you could use the same thread throughout, or you could change it with every patch, either will look great. Since I really want to mix things up, I’m using different threads right now, but I’m sure most of them will reappear for other cats. The first cat is an unusual uneven check pattern of Mosaics (sxometime Cashmeres) and Tent Stitch. It;s not Mosaic Checker because the Tent Stitch areas are only one thread wide. The Mosaics line up in columns, as do the Tent Stitches, switching between the two colors. Every third row uses Cashmere instead of Mosaic. This patch

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Originally posted 2011-01-26 07:52:10. Republished by Blog Post PromoterMy initial plan for the Learn-a-Stitch mini socks was to use a different color combination for each one, trying different shades of Watercolours and challenging myself to find threads that matched. Then two things happened. First, I stitched February’s mini-sock (you’ll see it next week) and found the Watercolours I’d picked, plum, didn’t go with much in my stash and I ended up not liking the result as much as I thought I would. This could be a product of our recent gray days, or aging eyes, or just changing tastes, but I’m longing for bright cheery colors. The second thing was that someone asked me if the series could be done in one set of threads. I hadn’t thought about it this way, but yes, it could. But I would get bored with only one set of threads for all twelve

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One thing about needlepointers, they are collectors. One thing they collect is threads, although we call it “stash.” Stash is more than a collection, it’s the tools of making needlepoint. One of those tools is thread. Essential needlepoint threads are the ones always to keep on hand. Think about it, artists have favorite colors of paint and brushes they like best. Quilters prefer certain fabrics or brands of thread. Cooks will always keep on hand some ingredients. Why shouldn’t we have essentials as well? Today here’s a guide to thread types and colors you should keep on hand. My strategy is to buy another package of these colors when I’m near running out. That way I have them for new pieces. Metallics I have three metallics I always keep on hand: gold, silver, and pale yellow. Because I mostly stitch on 18 mesh these are in Tapestry weight, #12. But

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Originally posted 2009-09-22 07:43:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Looking for a way to learn some new stitches and to use up threads from your stash? My new ebook, Heart Sampler, is now available here and in my ebook store. Throughout the article you will see three of the hearts I’ve stitched using this plan. The book is $3 and can be ordered through PayPal. You will be sent the download link via email. The design is based on a classic quilt block. Working from an overdyed thread (I used silks), pick additional threads in those colors. Then mix and match the stitches for your own unique design. Each stitch is diagrammed and the ones that work best for the triangular blocks are noted. I’m planning some additional books of stitches using the same plan, probably late in

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Originally posted 2009-10-15 07:21:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Sometimes the background really is the focal point of the needlepoint as it was in this vintage canvas from Beau Geste I made several years ago. But how do you make it really special? This technique is adapted from a knitting technique from Philosopher’s Wool in Canada. Being by picking out the color you want to use, dark blue in this case. Find six different threads in this color. You can pick more than six but group them into six piles. At least one should be an overdye. Make a list of them and number them. find your self a die. Star the background and roll the die. The number that comes up is the number of the thread you use. If you’ve made piles of thread, roll the die again and this is the thread within that pile. Roll the

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Originally posted 2009-09-04 06:47:01. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI’m figuring your stash is not nearly as out of control as mine. If it isn’t, here’s a wonderful idea on how to figure out if your thread stash is getting bigger or smaller. Jane, of Chilly Hollow, talked about it in her blog last week. Debi, from Temari Train, came up with a wonderful idea for figuring out how well she was doing in using up the stash: thread stash credits. Basically you give your self points for buying new thread and take away points for using thread from your stash. If you are a hockey fan,m it’s your thread Over/Under number. Unlike hockey though, the lower the number the better. What a totally cool idea. If your number is growing, it’s time to do a stash project. If it’s getting smaller — good work. My problem is that my stash

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My big problem with most needlepoint clubs is that they are just too expensive. Once you buy the canvas and the threads and the instruction each month, you’ve spent lots of money. For me to do that I have to love the project. Really love it. I wanted to create needlepoint clubs that were different. They had to: Be economical, so you could use your stash as much as possible Teach more than just the project, so you’ll learn about color, design, threads, or Bargello. Often with information based on extensive research outside needlepoint. Give you the tools you need to create your own unique projects. The clubs are suitable for stitchers of all levels and they have resulted in many wonderful projects from club members. You can join any one of them and energize your needlepoint. The clubs currently in process are Mittens & Mini-socks Bargello Club – Bargello

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You might be well-rounded, knowledgeable about the world and able to converse with people on many topics, but is your stash well-rounded? Can you find threads there to stitch many kinds of canvases? If you have a canvas stash do you have a canvas you can use to make a quick gift? If you do charted needlepoint or design your own projects, do you have enough blank canvas to start a new project when inspiration strikes? No matter how small or large your stitching space may be, planning and buying for your stash strategically creates a stash that is like a well-rounded guest at a party — able to fit in anywhere and do a variety of things. So what goes into a well-rounded stash? Basic metallics – In your preferred metallic thread (or threads) have a gold and silver you like. Most lines have several shades of these so

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Don’t let this be you! Organizing your stash can be an enormous source of happiness. By shopping your stash first, my rule for over 20 years, you become happy because you can spend your money on new threads, instead of buying the same thread over and over again. This makes you happy because you are buying new stuff and using what you have. But just like a shop doesn’t jumble all threads in all colors together, organizing a stash makes you happy because you can find things more easily. Your threads and canvases are where you can find them, organized in the way that makes sense to you (by color or by thread type). There are lots of containers that can hold your stash and when you are doing this look for ones that look beautiful, use your space, and make you happy. I have a huge variety of containers

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The most challenging (and also the most fun) part of creating a Scrap Bag Needlepoint project is deciding what colors to use. Throughout this post you’ll see examples of some of my projects that used specific color themes. If everything in your project is random, you’ll get chaos. In every project there has to be one or more things that create unity. It might be a color or two. It might be a background color, or it might be an outlining color, but it has to be there. Pick a color The easiest method for creating a project is to use threads of all one color. In the case of Winter Stars, pictured here, I picked blue. I got out blue threads, blue scraps, and light-bluish gray threads. I added a little bit of white. But not every thread was absolutely blue, I had a few that were blue-green. Having

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My biggest problem when it comes to doing a Scrap Bag Needlepoint project is my Scrap Bag itself. It’s a mess. In fact it’s three of them. First there is my “wad” of silk (thanks to Sharon G for this wonderful description). It’s all my unlabeled silks. It’s in a box on a high shelf. Supposedly it’s there if I need just a bit of a color, but in reality I haven’t used it in over 3 years. Second there is my “current” scrap bag. It’s a small box that lives on my desk. Leftovers go in it. I sometimes use it for projects. But it’s completely unsorted. Third there is my “old” scrap bag. It’s a much bigger box, packed with threads. It’s so full I can’t find anything in it. So it mostly lives in the garage. Mostly, when doing a scrap project I pull threads from my

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