Filed under: ANG CyberPointer's Chapter, Bargello Project, Hearts of Gold by Michele Roberts
The second turned out the same as the first. I used Silk & Ivory threads maize 241 for the Palestrina stitch on the edge. The whole process seemed easier. Less angst anyway. It took about 2 hours to get to the edge and 3 hours to stitch it. Still slow going with pliers to pull the thread through on the edge. I’ll probably switch to cording which should be easier and faster to attach. I have too many more to spend that much time on each one. Based on ornaments that I have had finished professionally, it looks like they must have used something thinner which would decrease the area between the front and back sides making cording work better. What do you use for the solid backing?
Filed under: ANG CyberPointer's Chapter, ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Bargello Project, Finishing, General comments, Hearts of Gold by Michele Roberts
Practice is supposed to make perfect. We’ll find out. This one is by no means perfect but I’m happy with my first attempt. “Finishers” really earn their money. Since I have about 8 ornaments and an eyeglass case to finish, I will not be sending them out!
I have multiple sets of finishing instructions from various sources. So, I have used some techniques from each.
I sewed the edges down on the left and Sewline stick glue to attach the ultrasuede to the foam board on the right.
They lined up adequately.
There was a pretty decent gap between the front and back. I had just seen Mary Corbet’s post on finishing an edge with a Palestrina stitch. I am not adding any beads. But, the stitch was perfect for covering the gap. However, I had stitched 2 rows around the design because one finisher said that having long stitches on the edge would make finishing more difficult. Bargello is long stitches. Well, stitching through basketweave, folded back canvas, and ultrasuede was not easy. I pulled out my jewelry pliers. That helped pull the needle through. This first one took much, much longer than I had hoped. I did take breaks but it had to be around 6 hours.
Part of my break during the day included a stop at Michael’s to use my 40% off coupons. Two of them! With one, I got a cutting mat. Self-healing! I’ll be testing that. Hope it can survive.
The Wonder Clips are working wonderfully.
So, I am going in the edge between the two rows of basketweave and canvas. Picking up a little of the ultrasuede for the decorative edging using the same Silk & Ivory 86 Shamrock that was used on the design.
Once is was done, I was happy with it and really felt a sense of accomplishment. So, I encourage you to give it try – if you have plenty of time and want to save money. Otherwise, send it to a professional!
These samples are from a package with 25 colors that I bought from Fireside Stitchery (3 x 3 swatches) years ago. I have posted them before but not spread out like this before. They come in handy especially when starting new projects.
Rows from top to bottom (1-5) and left to right:
1: Brown, Eggshell, Sandstone, Rose Blush, Victorian Red
2: Victorian Green, Leventeen Blue, Lavender/Lilac, French Blue, Aquamarine
3: Santa Fe Sage, Black, Pewter, Antique Blue, Black/White Tweed
4: Butter, Pumpkin, White Opalescent metallic, White/Silver metallic, Eggshell/Gold metallic
5: Black Opalescent metallic; vintage colors including Sandstone/Brown, Eggshell/Brown, Blue/Blue, Sage Green/Green
Filed under: Needlework and Textile Guild of Media
Thanks to a demo last month at The Needlework and Fiber Guild of Media at the Media Arts Council in Media, PA, I decided to give English Paper Piecing a try. This will be a coaster. It was going to be a pair of coasters but I don’t think so now. More on that later.
I picked up a few supplies after watching Tula Pink’s instructional videos (thanks to Linda for telling me about her).
Joann Fabrics didn’t have any micro serrated scissors so I stopped at Early Girl Quilt Company in Audubon, NJ and they recommended Karen Kay Bradley. The 6″ felt more comfortable than the 4″. The serrated edge prevents frayed edges. It comes with a plastic shield for the pointed end which allows me to store them safely. Very nice! Early Girl Quilts also had Aurifil 50 weight cotton thread (orange top) and a Sewline glue pen. I found out after I bought them that I’ll need the scissors for my fabric applique needlepoint class at the ANG Seminar. That was fortuitous.
I didn’t find Hiroshima Tulip Applique #10 Big Eye Needle but the Fons & Porter Hand Quilting Needles with assorted sizes 7, 9, and 10) appear to have a big enough eye. Plenty big enough to thread the needle without licking the thread. Tula is against that practice because the thread end expands as it dries. Make sense. But, you could also moisten, thread the needle, pull extra through and cut that end off. But, the eye of the needle is big enough to not moisten it anyway.
I got the needles at JoAnn’s along with some fabric with a simple pattern. I didn’t want to waste good fabric practicing but why I picked such light colors for coasters is beyond me! That is why this is now a single coaster turned doily for some knickknack around the house.
All the supplies fits in my Bargello Bag from Woodlawn! Well, not the fabric. I found out a week after this post that the purse was designed by Pat Mazu for her journeyman level Master Teacher Program and named it Flowers on a Trailing Vine. Pat taught it 3 times, once in the Potomac/Washington DC area. No wonder I fell in love with it. Pat’s designs are amazing!
I “fussy cut” the fabric which means selecting a specific part of the design from the fabric. I needed 6 hexagons to go around a center white hexagon. Now that I lay them out, I see they aren’t exactly the same all around the edge. Of the 8, you should be able to spot the really odd one of the group. You don’t have to iron them even though you might have cut on a fabric fold line which I did on one to see for myself that you’ll never see the fold after you glue it to the paper. Yes, glue. That’s what Tula recommends. I thought it would be hard to get the paper out after you stitch them together but it wasn’t. That seems faster than basting the fabric in place and allows for a crisper corner.
Answer: The swirl is moving counterclockwise on the upper left hexagon. I need 6 alike to make this pattern with the swirl moving clockwise.
However, I did not succeed at my first attempt. I sewed the wrong edges to the center and my corners are not lined up great. Unlike most needlepoint mistakes, these are not something that I will unstitch because the edges probably will be weakened. This gets tossed. Plus, I have way more fabric than I need.
With attempt number 2, I took more care about where I cut my 6 pieces. They are aligned and sewn the way I wanted. See how the swirl starts in the same place now. This is much better.
The center white hexagon allows the background to show. So, I cut another small hexagon and placed it inside the center without sewing – just pushed it into place. Then, I pulled out my fusible fabric and ultrasuede. I cut the fusible fabric slightly smaller than the shape, and basted it in place. I am not getting that stuff on my iron again!! Placed that on top of the ultrasuede and ironed for 15 seconds. Lastly, I cut away the edges just slightly smaller than the shape. I will not take the time to sew the edges. That fusible fabric works and I have other things to get to!!
Having a variety of colors would be fun to play with. But, I didn’t see a particular project that called to me. It boggles my mind to think of doing a quilt with 5,000+ pieces like Mary Corbet is doing (google mary corbet paper piecing). I’m glad I tried it though. And, I would not be adverse to doing more of it (especially with Linda’s scraps – hint hint – she has beautiful fabrics). For now, I would prefer to do another weaving piece over English Paper Piecing.
So, judge Melita scores Darning 2, English Paper Piecing 7, Tapestry Weaving 8, and the winner and still undisputed top preferred craft, Needlepoint!
This will be my Show & Tell item along with my finished tapestry at Tuesday’s 7 pm meeting of the Needlework & Fiber Guild of Media at the Media Arts Council (11 E State Street) in Media, PA. I’ll also demo needle felting on canvas and walk people through the Orna Willis and ANG Main Line Stitchers needlepoint exhibit. Join us if you are in the area.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Cards and Needles by Orna Willis, Media Arts Council Exhibit
We had the Media Arts Council exhibit opening last night. There was a good turnout. There were also 2 other artists displaying paintings. So it was a nice mix of people. I had some very interesting conversations with other artists and people interested in our needlepoint. Six other members of the Main Line Stitchers attended as did my husband, another member’s husband, a member’s sister, and friends of mine from Delaware. My husband had to remind me to tell people I was wearing Orna’s earrings – they were a hit!! Orna Willis spoke first, I spoke next, and then the other 2 artists. I relayed Patrick’s comments which summarized were: “Orna’s color choices and the way she combines threads and layers them is simply genius. Her designs speak for themselves. Orna is an excellent instructor, generous with her ideas and just fun to be around. You can’t ask for much more than that in Life.” Then, I discussed 3 classes from Orna in which she explained how she selects colors during the Color Inspirations class, how she designs in the Come Dance with Me class, and finally walks us through how to find a design within ourselves through drawing and painting in her Dare to Design class. There are only a handful of teachers who make the effort to share how they design which really contributes to the growth of our art form.
This is the other Cards and Needles piece I stitched which was designed by Orna and is one of 13 pieces on display from our chapter members. Each design is 2″ x 1.25″ that is stitched three times in 2 colorways (orange/fuchia-shown previously and purple/green-shown here) although colors repeat within a colorway and across each colorway. These could easily be created in a variety of colorways. The frame measures 9″ x 15″. The other colorway will be raffled to raise money for Media Arts Council as my way of thanking them for letting us join the exhibit. Raffle tickets for the orange/fuchia piece will be on sale all month long at the gallery. Be sure to visit the MAC gallery (11 E State Street in Media, PA; open Wed – Sat from 10 am – 2 pm and Sunday 12 – 4 pm) in July.
FYI: The talks were recorded and available on You Tube at CLICK HERE.
Gifted to cousin Steve and wife Fran Ivester on March 3, 2025.
Well, I will truly be “Adorned by Orna” (which you can Google to find her) for our Friday night (5 pm) opening at the Media Arts Council (MAC) needlepoint exhibit featuring designs by Orna Willis. MAC is in Media at 11 E State St and our exhibit will run until the 31st. These earrings are her Corinthian Earrings that I bought as a kit when she opened up her new studio (December 2018). Great motivation to finish them! Six members from ANG Main Line Stitchers are exhibiting 14 pieces designed by Orna including 6 different Color Inspirations. And, Orna has at least 50 pieces, bracelets, and other small finishes. An amazing collection.
It took me 2 days at New Jersey Needle Fest to stitch these earrings on Congress Cloth though I should have been done in a day (I had to redo some because I counted incorrectly). And, it took a day to attach the ultrasuede backing, apply the beads along the bottom and top edges, and add the hardware. The beads took several attempts and rethinking because I wasn’t happy with adding the large (4 mm) round beads into the bottom edge. So, I pulled out her instructions from her Flower Cuff piece for adding a Picot bead edging (2 layers) and I switched from gold beads to a purple iridescent 11/0 seed beads. I tightened them up which is creating the buckling effect which I thought was more interesting than a very uniform appearance. All ready for Friday!!
I heard about Greystone Needlepoint not too long ago and more recently saw there were 10 stores on the Canvas Crawl going on around the area (NY, NJ, PA, and more) in June including Greystone Needlepoint. So, I made an appointment for 6-8 of us for Saturday before our Stitch-in.
Shannon welcomed us and we explored the canvases. It worked out very nicely for our small group. Any purchase came with a small project bag and Shannon provides a Beginner’s Guide with Do’s and Don’t along with diagrams for Basketweave and Continental.
I managed to find a cute canvas with stitch guide. It’s more interesting to me now to read stitch guides to find out how succinctly they can be written particularly now because I am helping with articles in Needle Pointers magazine.
About a week and a half ago, I took an introductory class on Tapestry weaving from Bobbie from At Home Modern in Philadelphia. And, I finished it yesterday. I enjoyed the process. I see tension issues but perhaps that was because the top part was done in class, the middle one night, and the bottom another night. I didn’t expect a masterpiece on the first attempt anyway.
You can’t see it in the picture but the yarn sheds and I don’t like that. It seems messy. And, it was stretchy which probably led to tension differencestoo. So, I will try a different yarn and there are lots of yarns to try!
It’s nice to see something finished relatively quickly unlike needlepoint which is a much slower process. The reasons it worked up quickly is because the fiber was so bulky and that won’t happen with thinner threads and warp thread was on every other tooth and I want to try it on every tooth.
Filed under: ANG CyberPointer's Chapter, ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Bargello Project, Hearts of Gold by Michele Roberts
Hearts of Gold is an excellent ANG Correspondence Course that includes 20 Heart-Shaped Bargello Ornaments by Michele Roberts and is available under Distance Learning on ANG ‘s website. Michele’s are all done using only 4 gold threads while mine are all different colorways for different seasons.
This Swirl Burden work ornament has horizontal laid threads or trame lines with burden work showing exposed thread. Boy is this stitch named appropriately. What a pain it was. I wanted to try it and I am not likely to stitch anything with it again. Although it was getting easier the more I did it, it was too tedious. Turned out pretty but I didn’t find it enjoyable. What’s your experience with it?
This ornament is red and white to join our Phillies sports and Valentine’s Day decorations. The laid thread is Snow 00 White. The bargello pattern includes YLI Ribbon Floss 142 Red, YLI Shimmer Blend Ribbon Floss 023 White/Opal, Flair F502, and Fyre Werks F38.
Filed under: ANG CyberPointer's Chapter, ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Bargello Project, Hearts of Gold by Michele Roberts
Hearts of Gold is an excellent ANG Correspondence Course that includes 20 Heart-Shaped Bargello Ornaments by Michele Roberts. It’s available under Distance Learning on ANG ‘s website. Michele’s are all done using only 4 gold threads so they are all color coordinated. Mine are all different colorways for seasonal display.
This Diamond and Stars Bargello ornament adds non-Bargello stitches inside each diamond. I thought magenta would be good for a fall flower color but adding pink makes me think Spring and Valentine’s Day decorations. I have plenty more of the 20 heart designs left to try. So, I will probably do another heart for fall. I’m sure that I have enough threads!
These threads are Vineyard Merino M1014 Grape Wine, Silk & Ivory 185 Cosmopolitan, Silk Lame Braid for 18 Ct SL26, and Kreinik 1/16″ Ribbon 024. The diamond Bargello pattern seems like an easy pattern but the over 6 canvas thread stitches were tough to remember. I would get into the over 4 repetition and forget the over 6 (too often).
Melitastitches4fun's Blog 