Nuts about Needlepoint

Keri Duke is a fantastic designer of Hawaiian quilts. I’m not a quilter but I love quilts. I especially love the bold and complex style of these quilts. I remember the first time I saw her lovely designs based on her own Hawaiian quilts I was so excited. The “sampler” quilt needlepoint pictured above is her newest design, distributed by Treglown Designs. Keri, who is also a talented needlepointer, stitched the model which is pictured. I’m particularly fond of the background which is stitched using overdyed threads and has a wonderful vintage feel. If you want to try something smaller she has individual quilt blocks which are the perfect size for ornaments She has developed designs for Quilting, Cross Stitch and Needlepoint based on Hawaiian Flora that fit within the style recently labeled Contemporary Hawaiian. In addition she has translated her Hawaiian Quilt designs into needlepoint. The sample above is

Read More...

I just wanted to give you a summary of stitch guides you’ve already seen on the blog which will be at TNNA: Wicked and Sip! Gulp! coasters will be available from Raymond M. Crawford – booths 1811, 1813, & 1815 Picture IT! I’m the Teacher will be at Sandy Grossman-Morris – booths 1759 & 1761 Mermaid & Happy Spring will be at Happy Heart Designs – booths 1854 & 1856 Whimsy & grace (booths 2109, 2111, 2113, & 2115) will have theSilk & Metal Evening Purse as well as many Glasses, Scissors & Needle Cases. You can also find guides of mine at Melissa Shirley Designs (booths 1825, 1827, 1829, & 1831), Kelly Clark Needlepoint ( booths 2038 & 2040), Dream House Ventures (booths 2007, 2009, 2011, 2106, 2108, & 2110), and CBK Needlepoint Collections (booths 939, 941, 1038, 1040, & 1042). My book will be available at Rainbow Gallery

Read More...

Judee of Needledeeva is one of my favorite designers and I was blown away by her new pieces which will be premiering at TNNA next week. I want so many of them I can hardly stand it. First off, there are the new Christmas stockings. If you like her small Christmas figures there are stocking to match many of them. If you’re looking for something elegant, look at the birds on black (my daughter’s favorite). And there are lots of others. Thoughfully for those with less time, they are done on 13 mesh. Then there is the new larger set of nativity figures. And more new Easter figures and houses. What a great collection to make and add to your existing ones. I’d love to make a village of the houses (now up to six) as the focus of my decorations. Also for Easter there are the new needlepoint baskets.

Read More...

One of my newest projects is Ghostly Treater, pictured above, a new Halloween Designs from Kelly Clark Needlepoint (booths 2038 & 2040). You’ll be able to see the model and purchaase the Stitch Guide there. I wrote about this piece in an earlier post but the pciture shows him all finished. I tried some new things with him. I really wanted to get the feeling of objects lit by the light of the flashlight. While I love Water n’Ice, I do think it can slightly obscure what’s behind it. To combat this, stitch the items OVER the translucent thread. If that seems difficult, stop and start Water n’Ice around the object you want highlighted. Just as in my other Halloween guides for Kelly, there is a spiderweb in the corner. This is done by cutting some organza and then securing it with stitching. There are times when only fabric will

Read More...

MAP Designs has a delightful and wide-ranging style of needlepoint canvases ranging from great designs on large-size meshes, perfect for beginners, to one of my favorites, needlepoint “smalls” — tiny canvases perfect for scissors fobs, ornaments or gifts. They have just added pictures of their new designs to premiere at TNNA in Long Beach to their site. There are lots of great designs here. If you like realistic pictures of cats, look at the four cat portraits at the top of the page. They are all pictures of real cats, available for adoption at Heaven on Earth Society for Pets. Just below it is series of great abstract/geometric designs based on English tiles. They will make wonderful places to try different stitches. My favorite new canvases are the day and night farms in the next section. On 13 mesh, they are suitable for beginning stichers. With the simple shapes and

Read More...

Hi Folks! To welcome in 2008, I have changed the overall look of Nuts about Needlepoint. I saw this charming bird yesterday and just fell in love with it. If I was able to design something for myself, it’s just what I would do. I love the clean lines, the pale blue and brown color combination and the mid-century modern look. You’ll notice that there are a couple of other changes. The list of categories has been replaced by a category “cloud” This is a more visual method of organizing categories. The more entries there are in a category, the bigger the word in the cloud. To go to the posts in a category, just click on the word, that hasn’t changed. The order of information in the sidebars has been rearranged somewhat as well. The static pages are now all listed in bolder type in the upper right corner.

Read More...

Judy of JR Designs is the creative designer of the popular Stiick and Chick stick figures for needlepoint. I first got to know Stick a few years ago when he premiered at the TNNA Market. His outdoors lifestyle (skiing, fishing, etc) fits well with Judy’s delightful style. Last year, Chick, his girlfriend, premiered. This year Stick and Chick are getting married and there is also a new Christmas stocking (picutred above). These, along with lots of new sayings and 3″ round Halloween ornaments, all by Judy, will be at GalVail’s TNNA booth (booths 1713 & 1715). But that’s not all. Judy also has great bookmark canvases, from Whimsy & grace, for readers of Westerns, history, SciFi, Romance & others. In addition there are also inserts for Lee Needle Arts bags which double as box tops. Whimsy & grace is distributed by Point of It All Designs (booths 2109, 2011, 2013,

Read More...

I’ve heard from several Thread manufacturers about new products appearing at TNNA. Custom House (booths 1608, 1610, & 1612) distributes the lovely Gumnuts Yarns from Australia. They will be showing a new range of colors in all the yarns. It’s a soft orange. Ity will be availabel in Stars (silk floss), Buds (silk perle), Poppies (silk/wool blend), Tulips (mohair), Daisies (fine wool), and Blossoms (wool). Some of these colors, but not all, had been available in some of the lines. Conjoined Creations (booths 953, 955, & 957) makes a lovely thread made from soy, called Soysilk. It’s hand-dyed in wonderful colors, in several almost solid and overdyed ranges. They are adding a fifth collection of colors to their stitchery threads, Shades & Tones. This line “provides deeper hues for shading.” Sixty color from their original line were chosen to deepen for this collection. They are also in the midst of

Read More...

Needledeeva has expanded their nativity set to include seven more figures. My stitch guide, O Holy Night, now includes the entire set of three angels, three kings, mary & Jesus, Joseph, a lamb, a goat, two camels and an elephant. And it includes a stable backdrop. The cover is reproduced above. I love nativities and I’ve wanted a needlepoint one for a long time, and I have (and am) having such fun stitching this one. Right now I’m working on the elephant (I started it last night) and the shepherd with geese. You’ll be able to see the first group, all finished, as well as the new figures I’m stitching at Needledeeva’s booth at TNNA. The stitch guide makes it so easy to stitch the entire group to make a lovely decoration. Thew backgrounds and borders are all the same. I use the same threads throughout so that there is

Read More...

Beginning January 11, 2008 and continuing through January 13, The National Needlework Association will be having their Winter Market in Long Beach, CA. And Nuts about Needlepoint will be the place to come to get a special sneak preview of what to expect at the show. There will be blog entries about new products from Napa Needlepoint and from other designers in all arreas of needlework. You’ll find out about classes, find links to other blogs and websites and get great ideas for stitching. If you’re a shopowner this will help you in your pre-show planning. If you are a stitcher, this is the place to see the newest and best. You can even call your shop to order some of these items. All the posts will be categorized under TNNA Preview

Read More...

I’ve been doing needlepoint longer than I’ve known my husband (and I’ve known him 34 years), so he is used to it and to the attendant stuff around my projects. But he rarely buys me a needlepoint-related gift. Over the summer, on our road trip, we stopped at Firside Stitchery in Eastern Pennsylvania. One of the things I got there was a back issue of Canvas Quarterly their magazine for painted canvas lovers. It’s a great magzine, with wonderful ideas for stitches, great information about threads, and tremendous profiles of needlepoint designers. Well he got me a subscription to it for Christmas. I’m so happy!

Read More...

Merry Christmas everyone! Now that she’s gotten the present, the secret can be told. You know those flame Bargello coasters? They were a Christmas present for my eldest daughter. I get so deighted with the joy when I give some needlepoint to someone who really loves it. Although she picked those colors of wool for a set of pillows, my workload intervened and she got coasters instead. Something both useful and beautiful instead of just beautiful. Hope you and yours are having a great day!

Read More...

I had to share with you my latest technical editing project, a stitch guide for ABS Designs. Not only is this a bright and fun design, it also uses simple stitches and easy-to-use threads, so it’s perfect for a beginner’s project. I also think it would be a great accent for a kid’s room. I love the Rainbow colors, it makes ther gloomy winter weather outside seem much brighter. You can read a profile of the designer, Anne Stradel, here

Read More...

I promised you guys I would provide you with some resources for finishing. While I’m not terribly good at finishing myself, there are lots of places with information you can use to complete your own projects. There are lots of instructions for finishing available on-line. Anna Marie Winter has just made available her instructions for finishing ornaments on foam core (PDF format). On her Tips & Tricks page she has many other articles about finishing. Sandy Higgins has one of the best finishing books out there, Sandy’s Finishing Touches. Another good one is by Summer Louise Truswell. This one is particularly good if you do other types of stitching as well as needlepoint. Marcia Brown of The Binding Stitch has videos, courses, and supplies for finishing. This site, while designed for cross stitchers, has a wealth of useful articles, inclduing how to make twisted cord and tassels. Do you have

Read More...

Yes indeed, we’re ready to hit the books tonight because I’m the Teacher got finished this morning. I just love the idea behind this piece. All you need to finish it off is a picture of the teacher’s face. You can personalize it as well. Maybe change the color of the hair, or of the sweater. Add some “tape” to the pictures, by putting diagonal stitches of Water n’Ice in the corners. So many things to make it special. And this doesn’t have to be a gift only for your child’s teacher. Why not make it as a graduation gift for someone going into teaching? What about a retirement gift for a friend or beloved teacher? I keep thinking of more reasons why you will want to stitch this delightful piece

Read More...