stitch guides

The San Bernadino Chapter of ANG is huge, welcoming members from both near (east of LA) and far. Several of my friends belong to this chapter as long-distance members. The chapter is wonderful at having many exiting projects and at making it is easy for members who aren’t close to participate.

They have recently put up a wonderful slide show of work from their members. You can view it on their site or on Picusa if you are a member there.

It’s full of wonderful stuff.

If you’ve never viewed this kind of slide show before, you may be wondering how to see more pictures. Under each picture there is a hidden navigation bar that pops up when you slide your cursor over it. If you don’t see it, slide your cursor down the picture.

For each lovely piece, you’ll see the stitched needlepoint and the names of both the stitcher and the designer.

Thanks and a big tip of the hat to Jane in Chilly Hollow, who let me know about this. And congrats to her for having a piece in the gallery!

See the original post here:
Needlepoint Eye Candy from ANG Chapter

Exploring the Painted Stitch Canvas

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

painted stitches tree needlepoint, stitched by needlepoint expert janet m perry, vintage canvas by kris

I was so excited when I found the vintage canvas on eBay awhile ago. I like it because the stitches are already painted on, much as the wonderful designs of Barbara Bergsten are.

This type of needlepoint has the pattern of the stitch already there on the canvas, you pick your threads and follow along.

In the bottom left corner, you can see a patch I’ve already stitched, in Jacquard. The green line was painted on the canvas, I stitched that first and then filled in the cream.

The patch above will be Framed Scotch, I’m stitching the Scotch Stitches now and the white lines that frame the squares will be in Continental.

For some of the patches here, the stitch to use is quite clear, for others I’ll need to make some choices.

But if you are a beginner, or just want to expand your repertoire of stitches, look at Barbara’s great designs. She’s endlessly inventive and her painted stitches are just perfect and a joy to stitch.

With Painted Stitch canvases and a good stitch dictionary, you’ll learn tons of new stitches quickly.

P.S. In future posts, you’ll see this piece again because I’m using it to test three new threads.

Excerpt from:
Exploring the Painted Stitch Canvas

Barbara Bergsten Designs Sneak Peek

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Barbara’s colorful stitch painted canvases are so pouplar with stitchers and it’s easy to see why.

Being carefully stitch-painted, some with the stitch patterns actually painted on, even a brand-new stitcher can make something great.

Her bright Lily Pulitzer-inspired colors are so fresh and fun.

Finally her designs are whimsical but work well with traditional items, so they play beautifully with others.

On her site you can get a peek at what’s new for January. It includes more of her delightful “kisses,” news belts and brick covers, two summery beach houses, the lovely summer sampler, and a whole ton of design in pink, green, and magenta (some Christmas-themed, most not), that have a wonderful fresh look.

I’m excited to see them next weekend.

See more here:
Barbara Bergsten Designs Sneak Peek

Free Stitch Guides from Associated Talents

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Associated Talents now has free PDF guides for a number of their canvases now available on their site.

The guides have color pictures of the stitched canvas, a supply list, color charts of the stitches, and explanations of any specialized techniques used. These include their inventive techniques for both beads and sequins.

Currently more than 20 guides are available and can be seen on their site. Click on any picture and the guide opens in a new window.

This is such a great idea!

Follow this link:
Free Stitch Guides from Associated Talents

What Does Custom Really Mean?

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

In the UK they have a wonderful term they use for items made specifically for you — bespoke. YWhen you get a bespoken suit, it will be made just for you, to your measurements, to fit your body, in your choice of style, and in your choice of fabric.

There is nothing like bespoke, you know from the moment you get that suit that it will be perfect. Not that I can afford bespoke suits, but my grandmother was a superb seamstress so I grew up wearing bespoke clothing. She could make anything.

When you commission a stitch guide from me, that’s what you get a bespoke guide, custom fitted exactly to you. This means I take into account not just the canvas, but you, your stash, and even the threads at the shops you use.

I don’t put things into the guide you don’t want (if you hate floss, I’ll have you use other things). I don’t make you buy full skeins for small amounts of thread but help you use your stash. If you like bling, I give you bling, if you want to finish a canvas partially started, I’ll help you with that.

Creating stitch guides for individual clients is my joy. Knowing that the guide will make stitching the canvas fin for you is my goal.

But bespoke doesn’t have to be outrageously expensive. When you request a guide, I give you a quote, based on the complexity of the canvas. It’s not an open-ended by the hour fee, but a flat fee for the complete guide, delivered as a PDF.

Right now I have openings for new stitch guide clients. If you want one, fill out the stitch guide request form (at the bottom of the linked page).

Read more here:
What Does Custom Really Mean?

Pat Thode Santa Last in Series

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Many of you collect the limited edition Santas done each year by Pat Thode of Heartstrings for The Artist’s Collection.

These include a painted canvas and detailed stitch guide along with embellishments.

The 20 year run of these Santas is coming to an end this year with her new canvas “And to All a Goodnight.” It’s pictured here.

They also made some of the older pieces in the series available for a short time, so, while the period to order is over, you might find some in your local shop.

Go here to see the original:
Pat Thode Santa Last in Series

Happy Spring!

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2007-04-09 07:50:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Isn’t this bunny just too cute?

This is my latest stitch guide for this charming canvas from Happy Heart Designs.

Perfect for the season (and we should celebrate until Pentecost).

Lots of different fiber and stitches add texture to this whimsical piece. There are silk ribbon tulips,whipped backstitch for letters and stems, fuzzy thread for the bunny, beaded eyes and nose, and cool background and border threads.

I just love the way that Rainbow Gallery’s Fuzzy Stuff makes the bunny look like a stuffed animal and how the thread picks up the light even in the pale dawn.

Combining all these threads and techniques into one piece of needlepoint has been so much fun and this piece turns into both a great learning experience for seasoned stitchers as well as a wonderful learning piece for newer stitchers looking for a challenge.

And of course, the sentiment is perfect.

Go here to see the original:
Happy Spring!

Learn Binding Stitch with this Video

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in accessories,Nuts About Needlepoint

Binding Stitch is a tremendously useful needlepoint stitch.

It allows you to join together two pieces of canvas or to create a clean finished edge on your needlepoint.

M’s Canvashouse has put together a helpful You Tube video on How to Make the Binding Stitch.

Read more from the original source:
Learn Binding Stitch with this Video

The Prince & the Lady – Sneak Peek

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2008-08-08 07:17:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Needlepoint version of Jane Cather drawing.

Don’t you just love it!

I finished this yesterday and I’m crazy about this Cooper Oak‘s canvas of the Jane Cather drawing.

I love all the texture which comes from a combination of textured stitches and great threads. The Prince’s shirt looks like pique fabric by using pearl cotton and Staggered Cross. The Lady’s hair is really textured because I used a simple stitch, Whipped Backstitch, using two threads, one solid and one overdyed. More texture was added because I deliberately stitched messy, so that the hair would have more texture.

The fringe on the pillow is done in a simple beading technique.

Everything combines to make a piece which is fun to stitch and easy for the advanced beginner or intermediate stitcher.

The guide will be available with the purchase of the canvas from Copper Oaks.

Go here to read the rest:
The Prince & the Lady – Sneak Peek

Finding the Perfect Background

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2008-07-23 10:11:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Picking backgrounds can be one of the most challenging aspects of needlepoint. I’ve been doing needlepoint so long (almost 40 years) that I can usually see the background early on in planning the piece.

But I ran into a wall over the weekend on the Cooper Oaks piece “It’s so Nice When the Prince Remembers.” As you can see from the pictures, I’m making nice progress on it.

From the beginning I had the idea to make the background look kind of like wallpaper. One of my favorite techniques for doing this is Needlepoint Damask, a tent stitch technique which uses two threads of the same color & different textures to make something which looks like damask fabric.

It’s always worked beautifully in the past, but it isn’t working here. You can hardly see the metallic fleur de lis. I think I know what happened. The metallic I used (from Kreinik’s Gourmet Collection) is rather flat for a metallic. The other thread, Silk & Ivory, has a lot of life to it because of the silk. There just isn’t enough texture to make it work.

So I’m ripping it out and looking for a new background. Often a more textured stitch will work. But not here, a real contrast between the foreground and background is needed. And the foreground has lots of texture.

So what about a larger stitch? That might work, but it has to be easy to compensate because of the lettering and hair. I am doing Basketweave around the hair, but I want it to fit in.

In those considerations, the wallpaper idea has been lost. But it’s still a good one. So I need a background which will look like wallpaper, not have too much texture, and have longer stitches (but not too long).

Stripes!

Stripes of all kinds make outstanding backgrounds. They can be subtle or bold, scale easily, and work well in the background because we often see stripes in real life, so the brain accepts this as a background.

Lots of stitches can work as stripes and I’ve got two in mind, Diagonal Beaty and Diaper. I like the Beaty idea best because it’s a bit larger and, I think, will work better with the scale. Also Diaper has Mosaic Stitches in it and I’m already using those on the chair.

You can see a bit of the Beaty along the bottom.

I’ll keep you posted.

Originally posted here:
Finding the Perfect Background

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