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One of my favorite blogs is design seeds, a blog that puts together several color schemes each day from all kinds of sources. I’m alway getting neat ideas from it.

BUt not only is it inspirational but the Palette Search tool can help you to put together your own schemes.

There are three sections to the tool. The top section classifies all schemes by theme. There are thumbnails of one scheme in the theme as well as text links. Click on the subject and you find all schemes of that type.

The Allsorts scheme pictured here is from edible color and there are schemes from wine, cake, fruit, and lots else.

Below this is a section where schemes are classified according to season. THere are no text links here. I don’t know why some schemes are one season and some another but I felt as if the autumn schemes were all muted while spring schemes were bright and cheery overall.

The final section might be the most useful for putting together a specific scheme. It’s organized by color, with 12 color choices. Click on one and you’ll find the schemes with that color, even when used as an accent. The color choices are not the usual color wheel colors, but reflect a more sophisticated set.

Take the picture of the scheme you like and print it out. Then use the swatches to match thread. Use the picture as an idea of the proportions of each color and you’ll have a lovely needlepoint piece.

I love this tool. You’ll find so many good ideas here!

View post:
Inspiration for Creating a Color Palette

Nature’s Palette Canvas – Product Review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

How often have you thought to yourself that the standard colors of canvas just aren’t what you need? Of course, you could color the canvas yourself, but that’s lots of work and, like me, you might not be that good at it.

These canvases are painted so that the background is colored, so you are free to stitch them lightly or not at all. There are 30 colors available and they come in two standard cuts, 10 and 20 inch squares. Needlepoint designers can order other sizes, so you will find designers, such as Leigh using them for their designs, often in special colors.

There are four groups of colors: solid, custom, premium, and jewel.

The solid colors are an almost even color. You would almost think they were dyed, but turn the canvas over and you’ll see the white of unpainted canvas.

Custom colors are either a solid with flecks of a second color, or mottled shades if two or more colors (the picture above is on a custom canvas).

Premium canvases come in three colors; blue with sliver, red with gold, and harvest. The metal/color combinations are more edgy with the metallic looking as if it had bee splashed on.

There are twelve colors in the Jewel Collection, but I haven’t tried them yet.

In stitching these two ornaments, I found the canvas took a little getting used to. While the layer of paint is very thin, it is still there, making the canvas a bit stiff. You also need to think out, before you begin to stitch the placement of the design so that the canvas is used to its best advantage.

But I liked them and will be using them for some of the needlepoint club pieces coming in 2012.

You can see swatches of all the colors and order the canvas at Nature’s Palette website.

Read this article:
Nature’s Palette Canvas – Product Review

What Are Japan Threads?

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Japan Thread is a term for a type of metallic thread that is similar to the metals used in traditional metallic embroidery. Over the past several years Kreinik has greatly increased the number of colors of Japan Thread available (the picture is of the four newest) and the number of sizes.

Kreinik recently posted an article about Japan Threads and how to use them.
Japa Thread isn’t strong enough to go through needlepoint canvas much, but, as you can see by the picture in the article, it’s great for couching. There are lots of other great ideas in the post

Follow this link:
What Are Japan Threads?

Shadow Stitching example

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2006-08-22 06:58:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

SuZy Murphy has a book about it (SuZy’s Lite Stitching), dede Ogden teaches it, but I had never tried Shadow Stitching.

Shadow Stitching is a technique where extremely thin threads are used, often with open stitching to create needlepoint where the painting shows through.

This technique works extremely well on canvases which are heavily shaded or detailed.

And, I’m finding it can make pretty cool backgrounds.

I bought this HP Designs canvas because I’ve been wanting to do one of their canvases and I am challenged by the delicacy of their painting. I worry that stitching it will ruin the delicacy.

So I made some decisions at the outset. The background would be shadow stitched (more on this in a minute). And I’d use shading for the cherries (see the picture) and overstitching for the leaves and branch (still unstitched).

The background is stitched entirely in T Stitch using a single strand of floss. The background below the branch is done and above the branch partially done (one direction complete). You can see the lighter color next to the branch and leaves and the darker color around the moon through the stitching. In addition, shadow stitching is much lighter in feeling than the bird and cherries, which helps preserves the delicacy of the design

For most people the entire background, including the moon, would be stitched in the same color. But I can’t help but tinker, so while the moon will be the same stitch, it is going to be stitched using a color closer to the color of the moon. I want the moon to be accented, so I think this will emphasize it a bit more.

On a personal mote, we’ve been having MAJOR maintainance done on our roof. They come at 7 and stay until about 6, so it makes for plenty of time to work or stitch. They are starting to put the tiles back on today, so the end is almost in sight.

The rest is here:
Shadow Stitching example

December Twinchy Gallery

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2008-12-31 06:18:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

needlepoint and blackwork twinchy of christmas ornaments in a tree

This Twinchy is of ornaments hanging on a tree. I made a stocking of it with much larger ornaments, all in blackwork on dyed canvas, but I wanted something simpler, easier, and faster.

It uses another technique to make differently colored areas. I began by using a quarter to trace out the ornament shapes, making sure they overlapped. Then I stitched in background in Encroached Gobelin using Gumnuts Blossoms. The soft shading of this wool allows the ornaments to stand out.

blackwork fill pattern connected squares

Each ornament is stitched in a different Blackwork pattern (pictured above). You can click on the picture to get a full size chart for all four. All but the pink and blue one are stitched in Kreinik metallic. The remaining one is stitched in an Anchor peal with metallic from my scrap bag.

Once the ornaments were stitched I felt it looked a bit abstract. So, for a finishing touch I stitched some bunches of random Diagonal Gobelins to be the bunches of pine needles, covering the edges of the ornaments. This was the perfect touch, making the whole thing look life-like.

needlepoint blackwork twinchy of snowflakes

This first Twinchy is called Snowflakes and it uses an easy overstitching technique to do Blackwork on needlepoint canvas. I began by coloring the background blue (or you could use blue canvas but I didn’t have any). Then I stitched T Stitch over the entire area using one strand of Impressions.
Over this, using white (100HL) Kreinik metallic, I made snowflakes in Blackwork. None are centered and they overlap. The charts for the snowflakes will be available around Jan 12, once I get the manual I need unpacked.

Last, but not least, is this unassuming Twinchy. It will be finished with a wired ribbon bow and will look like a real package.

I divided the Twinchy into quadrants and stitched a ribbon down the center. Notice how the ribbon “overlaps” to look realistic. The rest of the Twinchy is stitched in Jacquard using Very Velvet for the Byzantine and metallic for the Tent Stitches.

This is a really simple Twinchy to do, just use any stitch and thread combination you like.

These three Twinchies give you lots of ways to exercise your creativity.

Link:
December Twinchy Gallery

Blog Link — Doodle Needlepoint

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2007-12-31 07:07:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I’m taking a short break from blogging about TNNA (back later today) to share with you a great project on another blog. It’s called Doodle Needlepointand is one the blog, Pins and Needles.

Click on the picture to see the project in more detail.

This stitcher just took a pile of floss, and made some doodles in Tent Stitch. It’s great — I love it!

Read more here:
Blog Link — Doodle Needlepoint

LAS Mini-sock Double Cross

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

This mini-sock features five cross stitches, all that have “double” in their names.

I tried something different with this sock, Tahiti is used in every patch, along with a red thread. I did that because I wanted some consistency. But I got too much consistency. If you look at the picture, it can be hard to see the border between adjacent blocks.

I will be fixing that by adding some ribbon or thread borders in another color. I think a better choice would have been to combine Tahiti with two different colors, alternating them in the patches.

Anyhow, onto the stitches. To make things easier, I’ve done a new outline, below (click for full-size) with numbered patches.

Patch #1 uses Double Dutch, an oblong cross stitch. The rows alternate vertical stitches between two stitches or in the center of the stitches. I used Tahiti with JL Walsh silk/wool for the ties.

This stitch looks kind of open until you get the ties in. I think it makes a nice subtle pattern.

Patch #2 uses Double Straight Cross, above, an amazingly versatile stitch. Upright Crosses, in Tahiti here, are made and then tied down with a diagonal cross, done in overdyed perle. You can vary the ties, the Upright CRosses, make checked patterns, lots of things. It’s also a fun stitch to do.

Patch #3 uses Double Rice, above. I used Tahiti for the Cross over four threads and Ty-Di Just Cotton for the ties. I like Rice but often find it a bit too open. By adding additional tying stitches, the stitch pattern becomes more dense.

Patch #4 uses another favorite stitch, Double, above. This stitch alternates a thin oblong cross with a tiny cross stitch over one thread. When I’ve done it in the past I thought it looked rough and rustic, but here, donee in Tahiti Waterlilies and Soy Luster, it’s very delicate.

Patch #5 uses Double Smyrna, above, using Tahiti for the diagonal cross and candy glass Kreinik for the horizontal and vertical stitches. You can make this stitch look less rigid by alternating the direction of the top stitches.

Not my best color choice all in all but fantastic stitches!

Eye Candy – Red & White Quilt Show

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

I looked at this picture and all I could say was “wow!”

Thanks to Susan Deshensky (who gave permission for this post), we have a lovely gallery of pictures from this red & white quilt show.

She took these pictures at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. The 560 (yes, you read that right_ quilts are all red & white with no other colors. These quilts have been collected by Joanna S. Rose and have been displayed by her husband as an 80th birthday present.

So why The Armory? It was the only place big enough to display them all.

Look through Sue’s gallery of photos and be inspired by how wonderful these quilts are. I’m sitting here thinking about doing a red & white needlepoint piece shortly.

The rest is here:
Eye Candy – Red & White Quilt Show

Superbowl Stitching

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2008-02-04 08:02:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Keri Designs Hibiscus Hawaiian Quilt ornament

Yesterday was the Super Bowl and it was a game I actually wanted to watch. Then there was House (great episode), then there was the Jane Austen biopic (not very accurate) on PBS. This made for a seven hour stitching binge.

The Gay Ann Rogers classroom on SNS (Shared Needle Society) is a free group of stitchers in a Yahoo group who work on Gay’s lovely projects. They had a Stitch-in for the Super Bowl, we were all encouraged to stitch. I decided to take the day and work on the charming Hawaiian Quilt ornament from Keri Designs.

Stressless stitching, it’s done in Basketweave with T Stitch for the background. I only used threads which I hadn’t put away, back into the stash. The blossoms are a great coral shade of Spring II and I used almost all of it. The yellow and green are Rainbow Gallery’s Mandarin Floss, the navy is thinned down DMC matter cotton (no longer made( and the background is Rainbow Gallery’s Nordic Gold in white, which is one of my favorite backgrounds.

As you can see from the picture above, it’s quie charming. I only need to finish the background and stitch the green border. It was a perfect project for a day of TV watching, not so big I needed to look around it to see the TV, not so challenging, I needed to think too much, and small enough I could feel like I made progress.

Good day all around! I’m making it the car project and should finish it later in the week, probably on Wednesday.

Read the original here:
Superbowl Stitching

Creating a Color Scheme for Learn-a-Stitch

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Threads pulled for Learn-a-Stitch program. All are based on Watercolours Tahiti, the multi-color seen in the middle of the picture.

My initial plan for the Learn-a-Stitch mini socks was to use a different color combination for each one, trying different shades of Watercolours and challenging myself to find threads that matched.

Then two things happened. First, I stitched February’s mini-sock (you’ll see it next week) and found the Watercolours I’d picked, plum, didn’t go with much in my stash and I ended up not liking the result as much as I thought I would.

This could be a product of our recent gray days, or aging eyes, or just changing tastes, but I’m longing for bright cheery colors.

The second thing was that someone asked me if the series could be done in one set of threads. I hadn’t thought about it this way, but yes, it could. But I would get bored with only one set of threads for all twelve stockings, so I decided I’d make a coordinated set, but with a difference. Although the Watercolour will be the same in all, the other threads will change. But they all will be picked from a set of threads picked ahead of time to go with that Watercolours.

The key to doing this is to pick a shade of Watercolours that has at least three, preferably more, different colors in it. There are lots of these. I picked Tahiti, which has all the colors of the rainbow in it. Not because of that but because it’s my favorite shade of Watercolours. (If you want some other “rainbow” Watercolours, try Autumn Frost, Rain Forest, or Woodlands, I can often find these as pastel or dark spectrums.)

Then, with your Watercolours in hand, look through your stash for any thread that has one of these colors in it, or makes the Watercolours “pop” and look brighter or more defined. Try to get a variety of textures and colors. Add a true metallic (silver or gold).

Put them into a box or bag. I only got through about half my stash and have a photo box full. The picture above is only the top layer of thread. I have wool blends, cottons, silks, and metallics. Some for each color in the thread and a couple that looked so cool against Tahiti I HAD to include them.

Each month, there will be five patches, so you will always need at least five threads. Sometimes, depending on the stitch, more will be needed. But you’ll know when you see the project each month.

Pull out your Watercolours and four other threads that will go with it. Put them with your outline in the project bag. Then you are ready to stitch.

More here:
Creating a Color Scheme for Learn-a-Stitch

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