coasters

Stitch Guide Classic – Raymond Crawford’s Chinese Letters

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Classes,Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2008-02-12 06:30:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

 

Chinese Letter
 

I’ve stitched an awful lot of canvases in my time, but the Chinese Letter canvases from Raymond Crawford remain among my favorites.

Why?

They come in two sizes of canvas (14 and 18), they have a huge variety of background colors, and there are lots of different characters form which to choose.

So, literally, there is something for everyone here. I’ve made nine of them and eight of those are collected into two classic stitch guides, both available to shops from either Raymond or me.

I also love these because stitching them is such a wonderful way to learn more stitches and learn about needlepoint. And I’ve put that into the guides.Chinese Letters I covers stitches in four families, box (pictured), cross, diagonal, and straight. These families are the basis for the majority of needlepoint stitches. Each of the four samplers has four stitches, one for each quadrant, so a beginner has plenty of time to master the stitch.

Chinese Letters II uses a single stitch for each of the samplers and has four variations of the stitch. The book begins with discussion of how a stitch can be varied and explains how each variation came about. Although this book is slightly more advanced, beginners can still use it. Experienced stitchers will love all the ideas it sparks. I was rereading it earlier this week and got so many good ideas for my current projects.But wait, as the commercials say, there’s more!

I’ve also packed the books with lots of extra reference material about needlepoint.

In Chinese Letters there are short articles about scale in needlepoint (and how to scale a pattern or stitch), compensation, using a stitch dictionary, and using thread with directional light.

In Chinese Letters II besides the introductory essay on stitch variations, there are essays about stripes in needlepoint (with lots of stitch diagrams). a long discussion of borders, and a in-depth discussion of how to “read” a needlepoint canvas and pick appropriate stitches.

These two are among my favorites and I wanted to share them with you. 


Social Bookmarking

Related posts:

  1. Raymond Crawford Coasters
  2. Sip! Gulp! Coaster from Raymond Crawford
  3. Custom Stitch Guide Service Now Available
  4. Don’t Forget my Customized Stitch Guide Service
  5. Free Stitch Guide

Read more from the original source:
Stitch Guide Classic – Raymond Crawford’s Chinese Letters

Clever & Useful Idea for Mastering Basketweave (or Trying Thread)

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

needlepoint squares coaster in easter and spring colors, designed by janet perry

I was reading The Ups & Downs of Needlepoint, which I got from New Needlepoint, a couple of days ago and she had a clever idea for learning Basketweave.

I’ve taken this idea and modified it a bit to give you a charming and practical project you can adapt to your style. The idea is to make coaster, united by background color, edging and theme. You can choose any colors you like. I’ve put in some drawings of possible ideas.

needlepoint squares coaster in stained glass colors, designed by janet perry

Begin with a square of canvas 6″ square in you choice of mesh. With a permanent, or dye-based marker, like Pigma Microns, mark a square 3.5″ on it. Now inside that square make more 1″ squares, scattered throughout the space. They can be partial, along the edges, or overlap. Make as many as you like. All your coasters will follow this plan, although the placement of the smaller squares can differ from coaster to coaster.

For the coasters you will need a background thread and a metallic to edge the squares. Your metallic can be bold to make the squares stand out, or subtle, to make the colors inside the squares more apparent.If you want it to look like batik, use gold for the metallic and bold bright colors. For stained glass, pick a dark gray metallic against a stone color. A sophisticated look would be all neutrals with brown metallic and a brown background.

needlepoint squares coaster in valentine colors, designed by janet perry

Stitch the outline, or partial outline of each square. If you like, stitch the background in Basketweave or another subtle stitch.

Now the fun begins. If you want practice in Basketweave, pick several colors of one thread, such as pearl cotton and fill the sqaures. If you want to learn how overdyes behave, pick several brands and use those, with Continental, to fill the sqaures.

needlepoint squares coaster in bright colors, designed by janet perry

Other ideas would include trying different stitches in a limited palette of colors. You could also use this idea to fill each square with a different thread.

Whatever your goals, at the end you will have a simple and unique sampler that is also a practical bit of needlepoint.


Social Bookmarking

Related posts:

  1. My Basketweave Problem I’m a lefty. If you think this shouldn’t make much…
  2. Thread Stash Credits — A Great Idea I’m figuring your stash is not nearly as out of…
  3. Great Background Idea! NCPat over on her blog, Needleartnut, has been working on…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Read more:
Clever & Useful Idea for Mastering Basketweave (or Trying Thread)

Next Entries →