Melitastitches4fun's Blog


Finished Scissor Sheath
January 31, 2011, 9:48 pm
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Scissors Sheath Band Sampler

All done! It turned out nicely. The buttonhole stitch creates a wonderful edging. This did work up quickly but not as quickly as I expected. I had thought it was something we could stitch & finish at 2 of our 2-hour meetings. But, that’s not happening – which is fine! So glad I tested the waters.

And, I realize I didn’t read the instructions on finishing completely before I proceeded. The fabric lining was meant to extend out to the far edge of the scalloped sides so that they can be stitched into place when stitching the 2 sides together. Although with the bonding I used, even mine should be fine. If I hurriedly put the scissors into mine, over time, I’ll probably have issues. So, I’ll give the chapter members a bigger piece of lining.

Come join us at 7:15 pm on the 2nd Mon of each month just 30 minutes from Center City Philadelphia & 10 minutes from King of Prussia. Or contact us at: MainLineStitchersChapter@needlepoint.org for more information.



Flower Side of Scissors Sheath
January 30, 2011, 12:16 am
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Scissors Sheath Band Sampler

The scissors sheath is coming along nicely. This is the pattern as it appeared in Sampler & Antique Needlework magazine (Summer 2009) for Plimoth Scissors Sheath, except that I changed the date to 2011.

At AC Moore, I found Peel n Stick which are sheets of double-sided adhesive film. It cut to size, created an instant bond just by pressing, should add some support to the perforated paper, & will be easy to place in everyone’s kit. Then, I cut the lining which is Fabric Palette’s Craft Fabric in lime green that has a little glitter to it. You won’t be seeing the lining really but white seemed so boring & this looked spring-like to me. The last step will be to sew both sides together. Well, really, the last step will be putting kits together for everyone.

Neither I nor Main Line Stitchers have any financial interest in any of the companies mentioned.

Come join us at 7:15 pm on the 2nd Mon of each month just 30 minutes from Center City Philadelphia & 10 minutes from King of Prussia. Or contact us at:MainLineStitchersChapter@needlepoint.org for more information.



Scissors Sheath Band Sampler Side
January 26, 2011, 10:16 pm
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Scissors Sheath Band Sampler

After I picked out my colors, I decided for the cost of DMC floss, I’d get 2 of the 4 colors I was missing! The green is just as good. It stitched up quickly. But, it took me longer than I could do in one 2-hour meeting. They should be able to finish both sides in a month. Then, at the 2nd meeting, we can glue backing onto each half & begin stitching the sides together.

Again, the stitches from the top band down are: Four-sided, Algerian-Eyelet, Diagonal Satin, Queen, Montenegrin, Cross for letters, Marking, Long & Short, Four-sided, & Surface Satin.

Next, you’ll see the back as diagrammed in the Sampler & Antique Needlework magazine (Summer 2009) for Plimoth Scissors Sheath. It is a pretty pattern too & I didn’t want the back & the front the same.

Come join us at 7:15 pm on the 2nd Mon of each month just 30 minutes from Center City Philadelphia & 10 minutes from King of Prussia. Or contact us at: MainLineStitchersChapter@needlepoint.org for more information.



Scissors Sheath
January 20, 2011, 11:32 pm
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Scissors Sheath Band Sampler

For our ANG Main Line Stitchers meeting in November, we gave each attending member a copy of Sampler & Antique Needlework magazine (Summer 2009) that I chose specifically because of the nice variety of items discussed. For one, there was a late 17th/early 18th century band sampler which discussed the European influence with the introduction of particular motifs and stitches.  And, there was a Plimoth Scissors Sheath pattern which I thought would be great for a small spring project using stitches identified in the 17th/18th century sampler.

The scissors sheath is made on 20-count Confection Perforated Sewing Cards from Tokens and Trifles. However, they were out of stock until at least February. But rather than wait & find myself in a difficult position of having to scramble with little time, I started contacting retailers identified on the Tokens & Trifles website as being retailers. Well, I ended up contacting 3 stores still in operation who had a few packages in stock. So, I’d like to thank Lavinia from Counted Embroidery in Califon, NJ, Sue from The Log House in New Castle, PA, and Judy from Judy’s Stitchery Nook in Harlingen, TX all of whom were generous to give a discount on the packages. In addition, Sue sent along patterns for other ornaments in case our chapter members would be interested in doing any of them. So nice!! I also want to mention that Nordic Needle, who was selling back issues of the magazine, referred us to the publisher, Hoffman Media LLC, because we wanted 20 copies & we got a 40% discount when we told them we were an ANG Chapter!

Neither I nor Main Line Stitchers have any financial interest in any of the companies mentioned except to thank those retailers that gave us a discount. We appreciate it!

So, I last night I used stitches diagrammed in the 17th/18th century sampler to design a banded scissors sheath! I hope the chapter members like it. But, they can stitch the design provided (mostly back stitching) or design their own if they prefer. The stitches from the top band down are: Four-sided, Algerian-Eyelet, Diagonal Satin, Queen, Montenegrin, Cross for letters, Marking, Long & Short, Four-sided, & Surface Satin. Tonight, I picked out my colors. Of all the DMC floss I have, I only had 2 of the 5 colors. I can’t get more stash for a small project like this. So, I found others that are just as good. I’ll stitch at least one side to show in our next newsletter.

Come join us at 7:15 pm on the 2nd Mon of each month just 30 minutes from Center City Philadelphia & 10 minutes from King of Prussia. Or contact us at: MainLineStitchersChapter@needlepoint.org for more information.



“Four Corners” from Pieces of Eight is the first finish of my pending projects!

Looking again at my works in progress pile, it doesn’t look as big as I thought it would. Yet, there is work to do in everything you see. Since I like immediate gratification, I decided to work first on the 4 southwestern-colored octagons (top picture, middle left) from the Pieces of Eight  project we did last year at our ANG Chapter. 

And, it’s first because I want to give it (bottom picture) to my framer (Dan at The Framers Workshop in Philadelphia) who I’ll be seeing this weekend to drop off the 2010 SOTM for framing. I got lucky finding a 5″x5″ matte in the brown frame. I just added a few stitches along the edge & into the unstitched corners (a Byzantine filler).

I can’t remember who gave me the suggestion of “Four Corners” but thanks. That is the only place in America where 4 states touch. And, they are Utah, Colorado, New Mexicao, & Arizona.

Come join us at 7:15 pm on the 2nd Mon of each month just 30 minutes from Center City Philadelphia & 10 minutes from King of Prussia. Or contact us at: MainLineStitchersChapter@needlepoint.org for more information.



December SOTM finished
December 27, 2010, 10:07 am
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010

Thanks to the Dec 26th snowstorm, I finished this in 2010! I love the finishing touch with the beads & how they bevel up just a tad.

There has been great discussions lately about what part of the piece folks prefer: starting, middle, or end. Each has good & bad points but I lean towards preferring starting. I love the designing & planning of threads. Many times I’m so anxious to get to the next piece that I don’t get the just completed piece finished (put in a frame, etc). Hopefully, we’ll be able to shovel out soon & go purchase a frame – don’t know where to put it yet!



Merry Christmas
December 25, 2010, 2:38 pm
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter

This was a Christmas present to my brother, John in 2007. It is Judy Dubrow’s Octagon Square Creation & was a project in Sept 2006 for our Mainline Stitchers ANG Chapter. I added the outer wide border to fill in the opening of the box. It looked manly enough for my brother & functional. It can hold whatever he wanted!

And, our Christmas Tree for 2010. This year I’ve got my needlepoint ornaments on it that I’ve blogged about over the last few days. Each year I select different ornaments. Merry Christmas everyone!!



November SOTM finished
December 19, 2010, 4:19 pm
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010, Needlework in Progress

Faced with 2010 running out of days, I decided to use straight stitches on the inner portion of the border. Initially, I stitched them at an angle like the outer border but it was too heavy-looking compared to the open black area (you’ll have to take my word for it because the picture really didn’t show it well enough to post). So, I slept on it, ripped it out, & switched directions to minimize the effect of stitching in that area. The threads kind of fill in the shaft between the canvas threads making the white stitches less prominent. And, it worked up quickly so I can get to the last border!!



November SOTM, partially completed
December 17, 2010, 3:39 pm
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010, Needlework in Progress

Quite by several accidents, I find myself really liking this variation on the SOTM. I used a different color family for this portion of the outer border by accident than I think the directions called for. And, instead of stitching both inner & outer portions, I completed the outer portion first.  The outer portion used even less couching than called for by alternating every other row – worked out perfectly: 4 in the longest thread, 3 in the next smaller, then 2, leaving 1 small cross stitch in the corners. I like how it looks in the darker thread with white showing through.



October SOTM
November 20, 2010, 11:48 am
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010

October had a lot of couching which I found quite time-consuming. And, I think I got my Family A, B, & C out of order for this month but it looks fine. I see November has more couching as well. But, we are coming to the end soon!