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.
We had our first session with Orna Willis who is teaching us how to design. We start out placing shapes in triangles.
Put them together and we have the start of a design!
And, combining them makes even more.
I stitched the upper left block of Golden Friends by Toni Gerdes during the Superbowl game last night. What a game! Eagles won!! The woven ribbons was easy enough to allow me to watch the game until the last minute. Then, I just kept my fingers crossed.
This design is offered to ANG friends who donate to the Golden Needle Society of The American Needlepoint Guild. Toni introduced it at the 2017 Seminar in Anaheim, CA. It’ll be my work in progress travel piece. Great instructions and I love working with Silk Lame Braid.
On another adventure with Orna. This is a 6-month class where we design our own geometric piece! I’m sure that Orna will make the process fascinating and fun. We have own own private Facebook group.
I picked up the kit yesterday and it includes:
- 45 threads (Soie Perlee, Trebizond, Kreinik 1/16 ribbon, Kreinik #8 & #12 braid, Planet Earth 6-ply silk, Silk Mori, Neon Rays, Gumnut Yarns, Needlepoint Inc Silk, Silk ‘N Colors, Waterlilies, and Watercolours) in wonderful colors. There were 3 or 4 options to choose from. They came in a 2-sided hard plastic box. Orna packages are always lovely. But, I wanted to spread them out to easily see them all.
- 11 packets of beads in various sizes and colors
- 3 pieces of canvas
- 24 watercolor pens and 3 brush tips (again, I wanted to spread them out to easily see them all)
- Desert Island Stitches, Vol 1 for small spaces (which I didn’t have and from skimming it today, it’s a great reference)
- Grid paper, a notebook, packet of blank stock paper, and a ruler
I’ve enjoyed looking over everything and am excited for class to start soon! It all fits in 5 of the plastic, stackable trays except for the grid paper (from the Container Store). And, I have made room in a cabinet so I can get to it easily.
Three more sections done in the upper left corner. I established the pattern for the block of diagonal rectangles and bars before stitching the band that goes across the whole piece. It made it easier to establish the proper pattern. I wish I would have done that for the other 2 sections that pass behind the band. Oh well!! That diagonal pattern was so tough to see that I diagrammed it on my computer before stitching. I finally got the rhythm as I stitched it. The other 2 sections were easy especially the 9 columns of Fern Stitch.
Just remembered that I can add some backstitch outline. Then, I’ll switch to Embracing Horses for awhile.
The upper right area around the Jessica circles is Encroaching Gobelin. It took forever (up 2 over 1) which made it perfect for doing as I watched football including our Eagles win twice (albeit not overly impressively last weekend but much better yesterday)!
The new lower left area is Rhodes Half Stitch stitched with Vineyard Silk Shimmer. That thread was surprisingly difficult to work with and felt awful. It’s 100% silk but it doesn’t feel like silky – it feels wiry. It twists up into knots and the ends keep coming apart. Using a shorter length helps. However, not everyone has the same experience – some do and some don’t. Odd!
I hope our Eagles experience the same type of playing in 2 weeks as they did yesterday!!
