Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010
Last month when the heart-shaped stitch was so bulky, I should have really stopped to double & triple check. I just couldn’t see it then but now realize I used Vineyard Silk instead of the DMC floche that I’d planned on using. Oh well. I’m just glad I had enough to do this month’s stitch with the Vineyard Silk. Now, I’m back on track.
Filed under: Early Needlepoint
I can’t believe that I found the kit for the Pansies I did as a young girl on eBay!! And, I must have been at least 15 years old when I did it. A little older that I thought. It is a vintage “Pink Pansy Barrel” needlepoint kit by Needlepointers Sunset Designs dated 1975. It was designed by Randall Elwood. Kit includes printed design on 100% cotton canvas, 100% wool yarns, needle, mounting board, full color print and complete instructions Fits standard 5″ x 5″ frame. The kit has never been used. Bottom of bag has been opened but all contents are intact.
Filed under: Flower Basket
This Flower Basket is a “Pinsations” original design & stitch selection. The pin is added to the piece so that the pin can be removed, worn, & replaced. I never developed this into a series even though I have more flower pins – I must have started going into a different direction after I got done with it.
I have no idea what stitch I did for the flowers. The basket is Criss-Cross Hungarian (same as Basket 1 & 4). Obviously, I really like that stitch for the weave & shading (mix of DMC floche). The background green is a leaf stitch.
Books used:
- Stitches To Go by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson.
- The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen.
Filed under: A Basket of Flowers for Good Wishes
Our ANG chapter selected this David McCaskill design for a project in 2008. David supplied the handout & we supplied our own threads. So, we had the option to use his colors or our own. I went pretty much with his colors but may have used different thread selections. The yellow flowers manipulated Neon Rays. A very interesting technique.
It is a lovely basket & flowers. There is a nice variety of flowers both in color & type. So, your eye roams around the piece & is entertained. Yet, there is balance. And, if I didn’t know before doing David’s basket, I sure knew afterwards that I had better keep my day job! However, I am sure I learned from the project & so will continue to attempt my own designs. I just have too many things on my plate to attempt another basket right now – but someday I will.
This is one of a series (not all flower baskets) from “The Brides Tree Ornament Series”.

Filed under: Pooh Doing Nothing
“I wonder what Piglet is doing,” thought Pooh. “I wish I were there to be doing it too.”
I see so many nice many pieces by others & have designs in my head, I wish I could do half of all of them! But, this project officially moves to the ‘completed’ list. Bianca at Rittenhouse Needlepoint did a lovely job of finishing the eye glass case. I especially like that bit of stiffness at the opening because my glasses won’t fall out on their own. I’m going to enjoy this for a long time!
Wow, May 1 already. I love vases & so I stuck pretty much with this design.
I used:
- Diagonal Leaf & Leaf # 3 for tree trunk
- Woven Spider Web for flowers
- cross stitch for lower portion of vase & 3×3 cross on upper portion
- darning pattern for background (which you might not be able to see b/c it is a light colored thread – it is a simple diamond pattern)
- 6-trip herringbone for outer border
Stitch books used:
- The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen
- Stitches To Go by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010
We’re only 4 months into the project & there is so much done already. This month’s stitch doesn’t come across as much as a heart as the diagram showed it to be – maybe because my thread is black & too thick. But, it still looks nice.
Filed under: Butterfly Baskets
This is the sixth & last of the Butterfly Basket series & is a “Pinsations” original design & stitch selection. The pin is added to the piece so that the pin can be removed, worn, & replaced.
The flowers are a combination of Colonial Knot + Lazy Daisy + Straight Stitch + French Knots + Stem Stitch. The basket is probably something I made up to be like the Spider Web stitch only with vertical spokes for the basket & a circular portion for the rim. And, I do not go back under one rather I did an over under & pushed tight together. It used a lot of thread.
This basket was modeled after a basket that was my grandmothers, Mae (yes, that’s her in the picture). It is a woven wicker basket with a glass insert to hold flowers (I took them out so you could see the basket). I didn’t quite get the slope to the rim that I wanted. But, I haven’t figured out what would work better – perhaps someday I’ll try again. I’m not sure why I switched off the brown except that I liked that overdyed thread with the flowers.
Books used:
- Stitches To Go by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson.
- The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen.
- from Elegant Stitches by Judith Baker Montano (a dozen pages are dedicated to combination stitches).
Filed under: Butterfly Baskets
This is the fifth of the Butterfly Basket series & is a “Pinsations” original design & stitch selection. The pin is added to the piece so that the pin can be removed, worn, & replaced.
The darker yellow flowers are Rambler Rose and the lighter yellow flowers are a combination of Lazy Daisy + French Knots. The basket is Tied Gobelin. The stem is Fern with variations in length for curves. I still used several shades of brown DMC floche to get some depth to the basket. For the edging around the basket, I used 2 rows of Wheat Stitch.
Books used:
- Stitches To Go by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson.
- The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen.
- from Elegant Stitches by Judith Baker Montano (a dozen pages are dedicated to combination stitches).
Filed under: Butterfly Baskets
This is the fourth of the Butterfly Basket series & is a “Pinsations” original design & stitch selection. The pin is added to the piece so that the pin can be removed, worn, & replaced.
The flowers may be double layered cross. The basket is Criss-Cross Hungarian (same as Basket 1). I really like that stitch for the weave you expect to see in a basket & for shading although I used different threads (mix of DMC floche & a Vineyard Silk). Not sure about the stem.
Books used:
- Stitches To Go by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson.
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