Melitastitches4fun's Blog

These two books are grouped together simply because the author’s name is identified in the title.

Father B’s 21st Century Book of Stitches is by The Reverend Robert E Blackburn, Jr. I have the Sixth Edition from 2000. He passed away in 2000 but I didn’t know that and thought I was meeting him at a class held by Orna Willis at her studio. It turned out to be a different Father B! An excellent stitcher, a fellow Duquesne alumni, and we still keep in touch. What are the odds of two Father B stitchers?

Back to the book. There are 353 stitches some of which Father B created himself. So, many are unique to this book and interesting. He had a needlepoint shop in the basement of his church with threads, canvases, and books. He published articles Needle Pointers, Needlepoint Today (I don’t know that one), and Needlepoint Now. He also designed – many published through Rainbow Gallery and some can still be found online at eBay or Etsy (google Father B needlepoint designs).

The organization of the book is a bit odd. There are chapters but the headings are difficult to find (all uppercase letters as are the stitch names in the same font size). They are as follows: The Outline Stitches-pg 1, The Gobelin Stitches-pg 12, The Slanted Gobelin-pg 47, The Brick Stitches-pg 88, The Hungarian Stitches-pg 115, The Scotch Stitches-pg 135, The Cross Stitches-pg 150, The Star Stitches-pg 203, The Eyelet Stitches-pg 208, Miscellaneous Stitches-pg 239 including what he calls Filler Stitches-pg 268 (mostly open background stitches), The Border Stitches-pg 300, Oriental Diaper Patterns-pg 331, and Miscellaneous Stitches II-pg 344.

Within each chapter, stitches are usually listed alphabetically and the Index at the end has all stitches listed alphabetically. But so many are names that I do not recognize that I have to go through them. I am hoping that by identifying the type of stitches in each chapter that will make it easier to find a stitch type. He talks about each stitch sometimes suggesting a thread type or how many colors to use. Most stitch paths are not numbered but he often discusses how to work the stitch.

I have not seen the new Father B book by Suzanne Howren but Janet Perry reviews it (https://nuts-about-needlepoint.com/a-father-b-sampler-book-review/) and it sounds good.

Sharon G’s Simply Essential Needlepoint Stitch Explanations  (SENSE) was published in 2010 and was intended to be the first in a series but I have not seen more. It is interesting that the organization is totally different from many stitch books. “SENSE” has 3 sections: Stitches with very low texture and minimal pattern, Stitches with medium texture and no diagonal flow, and Stitches with a well-defined diagonal flow.

Sharon G was a painter of needlepoint canvases and probably enjoyed and encouraged the use of lighter coverage so the artist’s paint could shine through. That’s actually one of the reasons why I haven’t done a lot of painted canvases. Why spend that much money for a beautiful canvas just to cover it completely with thread!?! So, I was happy that I had the opportunity to take a class with Sharon G for her canvas, 5 Vases with Curly Bamboo. She suggested some wonderful stitches and threads. I’m also happy that Linda and Beth stitched up the canvas a couple of years ago using other stitch guides. It was great to have the comradery of others stitching the same piece and see the variety of stitches in the 3 approaches. It was the subject of an article in Needle Pointers (Jan/Feb 2021) and all 3 were included during our virtual online exhibit (https://youtu.be/Ley3vbrjE4s). This piece now has center stage in my living room.

Sharon G also has a small paragraph discussing the stitch. I do like non-directional background stitches and just learned that the T-Stitch was named after Tish Holland who was one of two original partners in Sundance Designs. Did you know that T stitch which is worked on the vertical or horizontal intersections will change the texture due to the weave? One will be heavier and one lighter. The vertical intersections are higher and will be a heavier texture and horizontal stitches lie lower and will be slightly less texture.

Both books are small 5.5″ x 8.5″ but Sharon’s only has 68 stitches. I created my own index when I read through the book once before by writing down what stitches were recommended for different types of areas. She has stitches for backgrounds, buildings, Christmas, clothes, faces, feathers, fish, fur, grass, moon, quilt, roof, sky, snow, street, sun, upholstery, and a wall.