Needle Me offered a summer stitching contest and while I was there getting a piece framed, Marcie had one canvas left (the line drawn unstitched canvas is in the upper left corner of the image from her newsletter).
Please go to Needle Me (12 E Eagle Road in Havertown, PA) to vote for your favorites by September 28. I’m not going to tell which is mine until the results are announced.
Edward Scissorfish ran into a snag. Before I realized it, he had 7 belly scales on one side and 8 on the other. I slept on it for 2 nights and finally decided that Linda’s birthday gifts arrived to help me just when I needed them! The tiny little scissors, Rainbow Thread Cutters, helped me snip in the tiniest of spaces around the beads. And, the tweezers, Uncle Bill’s, helped me clean up the loose threads and pull off the beads. It took some work but am happy to say that Edward is once again symmetrical. Thanks again Linda!
Edward is ready for tomorrow, our second class with Cleo. A good number of my EGA Brandywine chapter members are working on this too.
Filed under: General comments, Other People's Designs, Stitch N' Zip, Threads
Having a small, easy piece to stitch and carry with me is great for trips. And, Stitch & Zip pieces fulfill both requirements. I found this eyeglass case in a corner of a gift store called Wonderful Things in Great Barrington, MA in May 2018. The only needlepoint in the store was a few of these. So, I had to pick it up! It’s called Watercolor Poppies.
I found a few threads appropriate for 14 count canvas in my stash including Vineyard Merino a violet M-1042 Dark Earth, 2 greens M-1065 Martini and M-1067 Foliage and 2 roses Silk & Ivory 161 Lida Rose, 162 Rosie O’Grady.
But, I still needed lots of colors so I found more Silk & Ivory in August 2018 while stopping at Point of It All (before ANG Seminar) including yellow 241 Maize, 2 shades of orange 213 Banana and 215 Clementine, 2 shades of pink 185 Cosmopolitan and 119 Grenadine, a red 199 Tamale, and 3 blues 198 ahoy, 36 Admiral Blue, and 69 Forgot-Me-Not.
Apparently, Silk & Ivory pills more depending on which end is threaded! If you thread Silk & Ivory one way, it pills. If you thread it the other way, it doesn’t. So, if you find which end splays more, you should always thread that end into the needle’s eye. I didn’t find any pilling issues but these are small areas and the canvas is 14 count. Good tip!
I found this tip in an earlier blog posting and it’s worth repeating: In order to get the top edge to angle like the rest, turn the canvas upside down and stitch left to right with the needle moving straight up, the thread ends up angled correctly (like basketweave).
I was surprised to see how the colors in the photo of the stitched example differ from the canvas colors.
I stitched more closely to the canvas colors.
Filed under: General comments
A member of the Apple Needlepointers chapter of ANG (American Needlepoint Guild) in central Pennsylvania wants to spread the word: One of our longtime members needs to liquidate his massive stash and we are helping him sell it. This sale includes embroidery floss, many types of threads, tapestry and Persian yarn, canvases, kits, patterns, and magazines, as well as finished pieces. Items are priced to sell and there are incredible bargains. The sale is at 10AM on July 27 at the
Monaghan Presbyterian Church
1185 Gettysburg Pike
Dillsburg, PA.
Please help spread the word to anyone you know who does embroidery and needlepoint. Thank you.
Filed under: General comments
A few more people are needed to bring Gail Stafford back to Pennsylvania (Buck County between Doylestown and New Hope) to teach her Arrival of Spring – the lovely companion to A Dusting of Snow.
Location:
Buckingham Township Bldg, 4613 Hughesian Drive, Rt 413
Filed under: General comments
A couple of sites link to stores listed by state & Canada and/or Australia. However, all addresses are not current. Some may not exist anymore. But, it’s a good place to check.
At CBKneedlepoint.com and
At Sudberry.com
At needletravel.com, they list all types of fiber and fabric stores. A little tougher to distinguish needlepoint from others but nice for people with interest across various crafts. And, I can usually find something of interest to look at. Love the colors of fabrics for quilting.
Lorraine of Colour Complements gave everyone at ANG Seminar in 2018 a sample of her lovely hand dyed threads. I got a dyed green/gold DMC #5 Perle Cotton (my favorite fall colors). In the package was also DMC #5 Perle 500 solid green and Anchor Floss 392 solid beige grey. I’d already been getting her newsletter and love seeing her combinations of colors in all the threads she dyes. So, I was very happy to see it in person.
I came across her package of threads recently and just after seeing a stitch pattern in Painted Canvas Embellishment: An Idea Book by Carole Lake and Michael Boren called Budapest Stitch. The sample of the hand dyed thread was only 5.47 yards. So, I stitched the over 3 straight stitches until I ran low on thread and made a symmetrical shape (4 units × 4 units of the Budapest Stitch to form an inner square). Each unit looks like a mini 4-way star bargello pattern. The 5.47 yards got used up faster than what I expected. I wanted something bigger. So, I made an outer square with the solid green perle cotton which turned out to be a nice contrast.
At that point, I was still considering a round (4″) ornament or a square (3 & 1/2″) coaster. But, adding compensation stitches of the Budapest Stitch seemed perfect for a circle.
That left small areas for the Hungarian Stitch with just enough of the hand dyed thread to fill in 4 Hungarian Stitches on each corner creating some movement of color towards the edge. For the rest, I used 4 strands of the beige grey floss.
For the squares, I went to Sandra Arthur’s Shapes of Needlepoint, Series I for 4 x 4 square stitches. That size would allow some canvas to show thereby framing the fill-in stitches. I selected stitches that would allow me to use the solid green perle cotton and 2 strands of the beige grey floss. These three patterns seemed to be enough variety for a small ornament: Leviathan Stitch, V Stitch, and Padded Scotch Stitch.
Thanks Lorraine for the threads! This ornament was a lot of fun from a design point of view too. And, it’ll be fun to watch out for other stitch patterns that would work up with just a few threads.
Discontinued Kreinik colors and suggested substitutions (NM means no close match)
It didn’t take too long to find discontinued threads: 051C, 032C, 086C, 088C, 034, 042, 664, and 2094 (not all are pictured). I marked them so I know they can’t be replaced.
Filed under: Beading and Ribbon-Sandy Arthur, General comments, Needlepoint Shops, Other People's Designs, Rittenhouse Needlepoint, Threads
What a great 2 days I had with Sandy Arthur at Rittenhouse Needlepoint. We worked with beads the first day and ribbons the second day. These are the first classes that I have taken since Rittenhouse moved. The classroom is well lit, seats were cushioned, and overhead projector was useful. Very nice room. And, Russell’s homemade breads are delicious!
We covered quite a few of techniques which Sandy Arthur has perfected. So, when you look at my samples, don’t look too close and remember that I haven’t done a lot of bead or ribbon work before and time was limited (5 hours each of 2 days). Using beads was easier for me.
We learned multiple ways to attach single beads and multiple beads. Basketweave beading was tricky – really had to focus. We covered a felted ball with beads and a wooden bead with thread.
There wasn’t enough time in class to try everything in Sandy’s handouts. So, I played with the leftover beads and made a butterfly. And, the flower on the lower left corner allowed me to practice Line stitching with the green beads and Lazy Daisy stitches.
We learned the Japanese Ribbon Stitch, Ribbon Roses, Wrapped Stitch, Lazy Daisy Stitch, Gathering with Running Stitch, Ruching, and other techniques with no particular name.
I learned a lot in both classes. Sandy knows her stuff and teaches it well. As with anything, it needs practice to show improvement. That’s why a doodle canvas or the 2″ border of a canvas is good for practicing.
Melitastitches4fun's Blog 
Filed under: General comments, Needle Me Canvas Contest
Needle Me offered a summer stitching contest and while I was there getting a piece framed, Marcie had one canvas left. It looked enticing, wasn’t too big, and looked fun.
Here’s my entry. All I could think of was how many of the patterns from Sandy Arthur’s Shapes of Needlepoint books would I be able to incorporate. There are 4 ovals, 13 triangles, 20 rectangles, 5 circles, and 47 squares. The background is the woven stitch creating small diamonds. That makes 90 patterns in the 8 & 1/8″ x 2 & 1/8″ design area.
Having that much going on with stitches, I decided to use one color but with 5 values and intensities. The silk threads are Au Ver a Soie hand-dyed by Chameleon called Shades of Africa, Two Oceans. You can’t tell in the smaller shapes that all 5 values are overdyed threads. It’s not until I stitched the larger background did the overdyed effect show.
When I picked up my framed piece, I saw all the entries and there were some great entries. Well, the results are in and I came in tied for Third Place overall and First Place for Stitch Category. It was quite amazing to see all the interpretations of the small and simple canvas. Congratulations to Marcie on her 30th Anniversary and thanks for hosting the contest.