Filed under: ANG Needle Pointer's Article, ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Festival of Trees
After joining the Central Jersey Chapter today (or hanging out at the library), Bill and I enjoyed the 47th Annual Festival of Trees. They have some great trees decorated by community groups and individuals that are on display through December 29. Check days/hours open at
https://www.somersetcountyparks.org/environmental-education-center . It’s at 190 Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge, NJ.
The New Jersey Needle Artists (NJNA) tree theme this year is “Stitched with Love”. Lots of lovely ornaments!
I was thrilled to see the 6th of Susan Portra’s Cabochon series, Faith. I do have the instructions but haven’t gotten to stitch it yet and am curious to see which member did.
There are some silly trees.
And, elegant ones.
There are some wonderful crafts on display.
A very enjoyable day!
By the time I got to this point, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Once I filled in along the top right, I went back and added pink and darker aqua highlights. Then, the outline of the large swirl was accomplished using La Lame #14 Braid Rainbow to nicely pick up the various colors in a sparkly metallic thread.
On to the jewel embellishment phase with lots of beads!!
Filed under: ANG Central Jersey Chapter, ANG Seminar 2025, Christmas Ball Canvas
The ANG Streetcar Chapter had at table at Expo this summer and I picked up this little ornament. It’s marked CB6 (maybe CBK Needlepoint Collections). I have to work ‘in the well’ because the canvas measures 4.5″x5″. I could lace it to larger size bars but this should be fine.
Needing a small piece to work on at the ANG Central Jersey Chapter meeting on Saturday, I pulled threads from my stash including 2 sparkly threads and 2 non-sparkly threads for contrast. I’ll pull a gold for outling later.
Then, I went to my Sandy Arthur book for a parallelogram stitch that would work. Most were for larger areas but Nobuko should work in all the areas and will compensate easily.
Looks like a good project for Saturday!
Filed under: ANG Needle Pointer's Timeless Treasures From the Archives, ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Festival of Trees
The 47th Annual Festival of Trees has been going on since the beginning of the month and continues through December 29. It is an indoor exhibit of decorated trees by various community groups and individuals. New Jersey Needle Artists (NJNA) tree theme this year is “Stitched with Love”. Check days/hours open at
https://www.somersetcountyparks.org/environmental-education-center . It’s at 190 Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge, NJ.
These are the heart ornaments that I contributed to the NJNA tree and shown unfinished in the September/October 2025 issue of Needle Pointers talking about hearts from past issues published originally in the early 2000s. They were designed by Michele Roberts. See also https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/09/16/hearts-from-the-2000s-in-timeless-treasures-from-the-archives-in-the-september-october-2025-issue-of-needle-pointers-magazine/
I did the finishing which wasn’t easy because they were done on 10 count canvas.
Bill and are visiting the display after attending the ANG Central Jersey Chapter (CJC) Christmas luncheon on Saturday (Bill will hang at the nearby library). Then, dinner at a favorite NJ restaurant.
Filed under: ANG Needle Pointer's Article, Sunflower Heart by Judyann Designs
For the flower and stem in Sunflower Heart by Judyann Needle Art Canvas Design, I had Treenway Silks 7 mm Yellow 201, River Silks 7 mm yellow variegated 260, and River Silks 7 mm green variegated 265 in my stash (different but similar from what Ginny Stapleton used in her stitch guide from the July/August 2025 issue).
I found Splendor Lite Golden Brown S902 and used 6 strands for the French Knots and beads of 2 sizes of the same color (unmarked) but only used the large ones for the loft.
I couldn’t be happier!
So, “finishing” this may actually be a reward for stitching the next 6 pairs of strands onto Nautilus. I wouldn’t have said that a year ago!
Here’s an update on Nautilus by Kay Stanis.
Thanks to Mary Corbet’s post on handling silk threads, I can say using a larger eye needle to open the holes is helping alot. Also, even though my hands didn’t feel rough, Gloves in a Bottle helps too. I’ve had this bottle almost 10 years. I haven’t used it much because my hands aren’t a problem, generally! Just like my spool of invisible thread, this bottle will last my lifetime. I got it at Stitch by Stitch in Cape May, NJ in April 2016.
The other strategies that I am employing are starting in the smallest areas to see visible progress, using 2 strands to cover more, and staying with Trebizond (not using Silk Serica). After cutting 2 lengths of white and 2 lengths of light Turquoise Trebizond, I separate and iron them. That gives me 6 strands of each color. Once I finish stitching them using 2 strands, I have to take a break. It helps. Some.
It’s time for a break!
The ironweed flowers were fun to put in. And, as I was adding the green leaves, I noticed that I had missed 2 pods and one whole ironweed flower. I wasn’t and am still not sure if I have enough leaves but I ran out of the 7 mm green fill in ribbon. So, I am done!
Deborah Mitek really explored the Japanese Ribbon Stitch in this piece.
I’ll have to make a trip to the framer soon. Since I’ve been doing my own finishing lately including 4 framed pieces, he might not remember me!
I pulled out my Beeswax following a suggestion to possibly use it to prevent the silk thread from snagging while working on Nautilus.
The first thing I noticed is how much red thread got left in the wax from a previous project. So, I cleaned it up by scraping off the top layer. I also see in the photo that this only cost $4.40. So, getting a new one wouldn’t break the bank but I like the heart shape! This looks better.
Before I did use it though, I decided to research the issue on Mary Corbett’s website (On Thread Conditioning & Beeswax for Embroidery – NeedlenThread.com https://share.google/oEKTD6N6ppVkR75pm).
She says in part: If you coat your threads with beeswax (or anything, really) it changes the look (darkens) and performance of the thread (won’t spread or reflect light as well).
So, I searched her website again and found her post with lots of great suggestions in Working with Soie de Paris (& Other Filament Silk) at NeedlenThread.com https://share.google/8Z1Z6onu77qKHBRZ1 .
Thanks to Mary, I’m less afraid of starting back on Nautilus now! Mary is on vacation and taking a well-deserved break from posting. Her website is such a great resource. If you haven’t checked it out you’re missing out!
Filed under: ANG Needle Pointer's Article, Sunflower Heart by Judyann Designs
Sunflower Heart by Judyann Needle Art Canvas Design was one of six painted canvases featured by Needle Pointers, ANG’s magazine. The stitch guides were created by Ginny Stapleton.
Since I knew which six were being featured, I ordered my favorite one early (in time for Christmas last year) but hadn’t gotten to it.
Needing a break from Nautilus, I decided to work on this heart from the July/August 2025 issue of NeedlePointers.
My stash had different threads that worked out well including Watercolours Golden Grains 176, Silk Lame Braid Petite Dark Avocado SP37, and Wildflowers Elderberry Wine 192 (just enough left in the skein without using the purple parts except on the top edges that will not be seen anyway). Here’s Ginny’s stitches with my threads.
Adding the flower will be a reward for working on Nautilus for awhile!
Well, the next part of Nautilus by Kay Stanis involves more separating of Trebizond or Silk Serica. I like using stranded Silk Serica less than Trebizond and I didn’t think that would be possible.
Generally, I try to find something positive to blog about. As a kid, I remember being told, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” But, I have to warn you not to strand especially when it involves this much silk thread. I had to stitch all the spirals first and will fill in the chamber with 1 or 2 strands in the Outline Stitch battling snags. None have been worse than this one but all are annoying. I’m not using too long lengths either.
The only positive is that the final piece will be lovely if I can ever fill in the chamber. It feels like I’ll be doing this for days. Two strands cover more but snags more too. I really want to get this stitched in 2025. Fingers crossed!
I have to give it a break to give me time to forget how much I dislike stitching with this thread.
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