Here’s an update to a program that we introduced to my ANG Main Line Stitchers group for a coffee cup canvas that we will all stitch and give to Starbucks as a thank you for letting us use their conference room for free. Come join us any second Monday of the month at 7 pm at 218 Lancaster Ave.
I’ve just stitched 3 more cups including the bottom right green cup. I wanted a full coverage because the canvas wasn’t painted correctly. So, I used alternating mosaic. I like adding a sparkle with Kreinik to that green. It’s odd that the handle is one of only 2 cups with a red handle. I stitched the other cup with the red handle in the upper right corner. For this cup and saucer and the white cup with red saucer near the bottom center, I tried 3 different wavy stitches that I found in Desert Island Stitches, Vol 1. These can be done vertically or horizontally. The wavy stitch in the grey cup was a little tricky but I like the look. Only 8 cups left to go and nearby backgrounds. This is a fun canvas to stitch!
Back at November’s Time for Needlepoint Retreat, Pam from Edwardian Needle gave us a line-drawn canvas, a stitch guide, and 2 skeins of Presencia in peach 1468 and light lavender 2687 (other colors were also offered) as a thank you gift for attending. She told us it could be used as a base for a crazy quilt/ribbon class she’d be offering in 2018 (smart marketing idea). I didn’t recognize the name of the teacher and googled her name, Betty Pillsbury. She’s written a book about crazy quilts and has taught beading and ribbon embroidery. She offers stitching how to videos on her website (greenspiralherbs.com). So, I am looking forward to this 2-day class this weekend.
As I was stitching my canvas in the week before the class, I realized that I was running out of the lavender after stitching 2 areas (upper 2 left areas) and nobody sells Presencia around here as far as I know. So, I decided to switch to DMC 210, a slightly darker lavender for the right 2 areas. And, DMC 209, an even darker lavender for the bottom and center areas. I was very surprised by the difference in appearance of the 2 right-sided areas stitched with the same DMC 210 and Presencia 1468. Both use just 2 threads but the top area is so much lighter than the lower area. Switching from a straight stitch to a diagonal stitch really affects the outcome. I’m glad that I ran out of the lavender because it will be a more interesting base now with some variety.
Because of the direction of the stitches, the final result does make the large bottom area (stitched with the darker 209) look more like the upper right (stitched with 210) than the center (stitched with 209). Interesting exercise.
I’ve progressed through Part 4 of Metalforms. These areas, the center 3 interconnecting areas, went along easier. The hardest part is establishing the correction place to start for an interrupted area. But, I counted around the shapes and double checked when TV was off and there were no distractions.
Just an FYI and I did share this with Needle Pointers in case they want to issue a correction to Metalforms: The image Element J in Part 4, pg 24, is inverted like a mirror image. You can’t just rotate it to the correct orientation. But, the instructions and other pictures are enough to figure it out.
Just one more part to go but I’m taking a break from it.
Filed under: ANG Keystone Garden Chapter, ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, ANG Stitch of the Month, 2016, General comments, Woodlawn Needlework Exhibition, Zentangle
Another cold March but the nor’easters decided to give us a couple of sunny, nice days. So, Bill & I did get to Woodlawn this year. We also stopped at a huge magic store outside Baltimore and saw Tony Kornheiser record his sport talk pod cast in Washington (2 of my husband’s favorite things, magic and watching/listening to sports).
Woodlawn had fewer judged pieces this year (407 listed in the handout; numbering starts at 100 and ends at 660 but large blocks of numbers were skipped in between). However, there are 2 special display rooms. One is Japanese Needlework from students of Antonia Evans. Other businesses shown below were also sponsors of the exhibit. They do beautiful work. Oops, there was a sign saying no photography in the Japanese room (so, I removed them from my blog).
And, there were a variety of wonderful pieces from the family of Mary Duckworth, once a longstanding member of Nelly’s Needler’s.
As usual, there were some great entries from all over the country. Winners of ribbons are listed on the website now too at: http://www.woodlawnpopeleighey.org/annualneedleworkshow/ . And, that brings me to my review of select pieces. I will comment mostly in order by entry number (in parens). And, if the entrant is a designer that I know has his/her first & last name on the web or is listed as an award winner on Woodlawn’s website, I’ll cite both; otherwise, I cite full first name and last name initial letter only. I didn’t get photos of other people’s pieces. Docents there today said just photograph your own piece. But, I didn’t think that included the special exhibits as no docents were in those rooms.
Catherine Hicks had amazing original embroidery with stumpwork pieces including a likeness of Diego Rivera’s Frida and Salvadore Dali with a handlebar moustache done in stumpwork (100-103; multiple awards including a Judges Choice Award).
I do like seeing pieces from designers I know like Jennifer Reifenberg’s Colorplay done by Patricia Tector (112; HonorableMention), Catherine Jordan’s original map of Florida celebrating 500 years since Ponce de Leon landed there (135; 3rd place), Long Dog’s ‘Death By Cross’ with 363 x 447 cross stitches over 1 thread on 52/60 count linen done by John Kazmaier (157; Pope-Leighey Award, 1st Place) in a reddish brown color, Deborah Merrick-Wilson displayed 10 stunning pieces either goldwork or canvaswork original designs (227-236; multiple awards including 1sr, 2nd, 3rd, Honorable Mention, and Eleanor Custis Lewis Award for Best in Show), a large version of Drawn Threads Forest designed by Catherine Jordan and stitched beautifully by Margareta MacGregor (305; Judges Award, 2nd Place), Imari Collage designed by Debbie Stiehler stitched by Rosie Lunde (418; 3rd Place) and by Donna LaBranche (507; 3rd Place), and Come Dance With Me designed by Orna Willis and stitched by Maria B (469; no ribbon but well done and this a piece that I stitched too).
Some other pieces that really caught my eye because they were stunning or amazing or both: Susan Baldassano’s fish on gauze (237; Honorable Mention), 2 large coy fish with 32,000 beads stitched by Katherine Ludlow Callahan (489; 2nd Place), Shirley Hutton’s large ribbon embroidery piece won 4 awards including
,
,
, and
(503; she’s a member of my new EGA chapter and was at Woodlawn the same day as Bill and I); 9 fuchsia ribbon flowers on a muted background of stitches reminding me of a trellis stitched by Shirley Mucha (554; 2nd Place), Mary Vantyne used 324,025 cross stitches to depict Napoleon Bonaparte sitting on top of a horse that looked like a photograph (565; Honorable Mention), and an original design with lots of flowers using surface/Brazilian embroidery stitches by Karen Maier (Woodlawn award and 1st Place).
My red pillow designed by Susan Hoekstra for ANG’s Stitch of the Month in 2016 was in the Christmas room (415; no ribbon but a docent said she heard people complimenting it). And, there were 5 other framed SOTM pieces in various colors including yellow, gold, blue, and 2 greens. The centers were different in at least 2 of them including a beautiful beaded flower (600; Mary V) and another with a stumpwork flower (602; Mary W). It would have been nice to see them in the same room.
And, my original design is a Zentangle piece that I drew first and then interpreted in threads (416; Honorable Mention).
Drawing:
Another inspiring exhibit! Thanks to everyone who contributed.
Stitched:
Filed under: Dare to Design With Orna Willis
I won’t go through all my iterations of stitches that I selected or color combinations I tried for this painted design. But, the key pieces ended up being a frame outlining the triangles (Knitting stitch and Mosaic stitches in light and dark purple) and connecting them. The center diamonds have 2 or 3 shared components (Wavy, Smyrna, and Nobuko stitches). The colors help tie them together. The base that the diamonds fit into are same except the color of the crescents and half Waffles differ. Little changes made a big difference. Oddly enough, a small Smyrna in place of the 4 red straight stitches in the center diamond looked awful. The other thing that allowed me some freedom was remembering the lessons from Orna Willis‘ class Color Inspirations. I didn’t need to replicate the exact design but I did need the balance of colors. So, I am done and very happy! I just hope the threads work with the stitches. On to her next lesson which is playing with variations of Jessicas!
Members of my ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter made an outing to Rittenhouse Needlepoint’s new store on Arch St near the Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market. Incredible store. Tons of space. Russell gave us a tour. We saw the finishers hard at work making ornaments, boxes, and a backpack prototype! You can take a tour too at https://youtu.be/TxrR8j855AE
As Russell talks about in the video, we discussed his plans for classes, retreats, and charitable opportunities.
I took some stitching and was going to sit and stitch but I helped my chapter members spend their money by helping find threads for their projects. With 150 lines of thread (and more coming), it was fun.
He was so sweet to make us fruitcake (& not like any other – this was actually delicious). And, he gave us this ort box with external pockets! Then, we headed to Reading Terminal Market for a late lunch. Great day!
Filed under: Bellpull - Gunner P
I realize now I never shared the bellpull my mother stitched in Feb 1991. Maybe because I didn’t know anything about it other than I liked it!
Well, I found it when I was googling Gunner P Design kits because a woman on Facebook found an old kit. I found the image of the bellpull in an old listing and this info about Gunner Pedersen, a Norwegian embroidery business. Fascinating history at
Filed under: Dare to Design With Orna Willis
We have been painting triangles filled with smaller shapes using watercolors. These triangles were to be filled with smaller shapes. I’ve been going bold with color selections. Then, we tessellated, turned, flipped, and manipulated them. The results are amazing!
I designed my initials into this one. See how different the effect is when you combine them differently!
More of other classmate’s pieces on Orna’s blog at
https://ornadesign.blogspot.com/
Filed under: Dare to Design With Orna Willis, General comments, Needlepoint Junction, Needlepoint Shops
Michele has a lovely store, Needlepoint Junction, on Hilton Head Island. So many threads and so well stocked. It’d be a joy to kit a project there. However, I have too many now to start another one. I didn’t even take a picture of the painted canvases (displayed on easy to flip through swinging big boards). But, you can get the idea of what a wonderful selection she has from these pictures. It looks like a wide variety of gorgeous supplies for knitters too. Worth a stop in person or online at needlepointjunctionhhi.com & enjoy!
Instead of another project, I added to my book collection. I got my second book in the Sandra Arthur Shapes of Needlepoint (Series III with corners, hexagons, ovals, and parallelograms). These shapes should help immensely with my ‘Dare to Design’ class with Orna Willis. By the way, right now, we are water painting to get a mix of shapes and colors involved to see changing focal points.
Melitastitches4fun's Blog 
Filed under: Crazy Quilt/Ribbon Embroidery, General comments
Betty Pillsbury is giving us a great class on using ribbons, sequins, and beads. Learning a lot and got a lot done. Pam, from Edwardian Needle, provided a generous kit and Betty brought some more stuff for us to try. I’m the only one that stitched a base and Betty is accommodating me without any problem.
Pam also provided a lovely lunch of salad, eggplant parmesan, sausage/red peppers, roll, and 3 desserts!
Some stitching I did on a practice canvas but most stitching was right on my stitched canvas. Many of the kit’s contents I can use but I am using some of the threads and beads that I brought with me.