threads

mondrian, piet amaryllis needlepoint beginner class from needlepoint expert janet m. perry

I just fell in love with this striking amaryllis by Piet Mondrian. Its simplicity and bold color make it a perfect palette for trying needlepoint techniques.

Even of you are a new stitcher, you’ll love the way this class gives you “just a taste” of so many thing, including:

four different threads
open canvas techniques such as shadow stitching and laidwork
simple ways to make areas stand out
textured stitches

You’ll love the way this piece becomes so much more than a sampler. Yes, you’ll learn techniques, and yes, you’ll want to put them to use in your very next project. But it’s so much more, this amaryllis is a lovely work of art.

Like all my classes with Art Needlepoint, the class is completely free with the purchase of the kit. Class begins February 15, 2012, so don’t delay in getting started. Just contact Art Needlepoint to order.

Order the kit here: http://www.artneedlepoint.com/kits/amaryllis-kit-by-piet-mondrian

Since this class is held entirely via email, you can stitch at your own pace!

I hope you’ll join me.

First Look at an Exciting New Thread

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Sweetie Pie by Barbara Elmore

The hair in the delightful piece by Barbara Elmore is made with Sparkles, am exciting new thread from Sundance. (Sundance also distributes the canvas.) It’s a sparkly, wide mesh tube that is available in 12 colors.

Sparkles needlepoint tube from Sundance

As you can see from this picture, it looks as if you would NEVER be able to stitch with it, but it’s like a miracle thread. Barbara is right in her post when she says using it is “addictive.” In it she shows pictures of it left whole and full (also the picture of Sweetie Pie above), flattened and couched down, used in variable thickness couching, and teased apart to make a realistic fire.

That’s not all, you could also make thick or thin spirals from it or flatten it down squeeze it and wrap it to make something that look like a solid piece of metal. You could put small beads in it and then wrap thread between the beads to make a necklace. You could run Sundance’s new Neon tubing through it and make it glow.

There are so many possibilities. I”m excited to try it and as you find ways to use it, let me know and we’ll share them.

More here:
First Look at an Exciting New Thread

Threads Days at Nuts about Needlepoint

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Being laid up with a cold last week and having lots of new threads to play with, I did a whole bunch of stitching. That means this week,tomorrow through Friday and next week, Tuesday through Friday, I’ll be reviewing these threads.

My thread reviews are more than just descriptions of the threads. I use the threads in my own stitching and let you know, and see, just how the behave.

Some of the threads we’ll review include a mohair from The Thread Gatherers, new silks from Gloriana and Planet Earth, a new fiber from Dream House, and a great post from Barbara Elmore on a new thread from Sundance.

I’m so excited to share these with you.

More:
Threads Days at Nuts about Needlepoint

How Do I Find a Neutral Gray Thread?

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Grays can be a real problem in threads. You think you have found the perfect one, you get it home and UGH, it looks horrible with your other threads.

This is because there are three types of grays, warm, cool, and neutral. Warm grays have gray plus a bit of a warm color. Cool grays have gray with a bit of a cool color. Neutral grays are just mixtures of black and white.

If you pick a grey for an all-cool color piece and it’s a warm grey, you get that UGH feeling. A neutral, or even better, a cool gray will look great.

But often it’s hard to tell.

Here’s what to do at a shop or when shopping your stash.

Take a skein of red thread and with a skein of blue thread. Put one next to a possible gray thread. Then do the same wit the other thread. If it is a neutral gray, it will look warm next to the blue thread and cool next to the red thread.

If it doesn’t do both, it isn’t a neutral gray.

I get home from Phoenix late tonight or early tomorrow, so my TNNA reports will start on Wednesday.

Read the rest here:
How Do I Find a Neutral Gray Thread?

Color through the Ages Sneak Peek

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

needlepoint twinchie (2 inch square) using colors of ancient egypt, designed and stitched by needlepoint expert janet m.perry

Many of you have asked to see what the Twinchie projects for Color through the Ages will look like. This year’s needlepoint club is going to go beyond the traditional color schemes to look at color combinations that refer to a specific time, place, or object.

Through charted Twinchies (2″square needlepoint) based on quilt designs, club members will explore color schemes typical not just of ancient times, but of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Twentieth Century, along with others.

colors of ancient greece needlepoint twinchie designed and stitched by needlepoint expert janet m. perry

Pictured here are two of the completed Twinchies, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. I’ll post a couple more sneaks late this month. Both societies used similar color palettes based on minerals. In these packets you’ll learn about mineral colors, why “dirt” isn’t just one color, why blue is so prized, and more.

In each month’s packet you will get:

Extensive information about color and this color scheme
Information about the quilt block or setting
Charted Twinchie with thread list
Information, including stitching tips for three different threads

The club begins March 1, 2012 and registrations are open now. There are a number of different pricing options, depending on what you want.

Basic Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program. It is $7.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register.

Basic Subscription

Deluxe Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program as well as canvas and three thread samples of about 2 yards per month. It is $12.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register.

Deluxe Subscription

In addition if you make a single payment for either option (using the buttons below or pay via check (contact me for the address) you will receive a10% discount..

Annual Basic

Annual Deluxe

Please note that the Deluxe Package prices are for shipment to US addresses only. If you want this option and live outside the US, please contact me. All sales to California are subject to sales tax. If you are in California and choose the subscription, you will be invoiced for the sales tax separately.

Come join me on this journey of exploration.

Follow this link:
Color through the Ages Sneak Peek

Upcoming Products from Kreinik

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

With the Winter Needlework Market happening in a couple of weeks, designers and thread manufacturers are giving sneak peeks at the new products that will be appearing at the show.

Today we’ll look at what Kreinik is introducing for stitchers

Their lovely bead-like Facets and Petite Facets are getting two new colors: copper and pearl. Think about using the pearl for a necklace.

New Stitch-a-pen Kits will be introduced.

There will be new metallic colors, although how many is uncertain.

I am so excited about the dyed silk gauze. I’ve done this myself and it makes for glorious backgrounds. I’m not sure which sizes of gauze will be available this way, but I can’t wait.

Finally, Signature Series Assortments will be available in most silks & metallics. They are 4-packs with the top-selling colors in each color family.

Originally posted here:
Upcoming Products from Kreinik

Update for May 8

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2006-05-08 14:50:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Although I didn’t add to my blog for the last several days, I have been stitching up a storm.

I finished the Leaf Mask on Saturday.

I worked on a cool quilt pillow from Susan Roberts on Sunday.
On Friday I bought the thread for the background. I decided with lots of background, I’d try a knitting yarn. I bought Cotton Classic from Tahki/Stacy Charles. It’s a mercerized cotton, less shiny than pearl cotton, in a five-ply strand. I cut the skein once at the knot to have great stitching lengths. I’m using three-ply for basketweave on 14 mesh. The thread is great, MUCH cheaper than any alternative and looks perfect, an inky black which really sets of the bright colors of the star pattern.
It’s big, on 14 mesh and I only work on it on Sundays. It will probably take me all year to do. Adding in the background color added so much to the design it was hard to put it away Sunday night.

Original post:
Update for May 8

Shop for Threads, Kits, and Projects at Orna’s Clearance

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Jewelry,Nuts About Needlepoint

Orna Willis has just opened a Clearance section in her on-line shop. There you wikll find project packs, some rare or discontinued,kits, a few painted canvases, and lots of stunning thread packs such as the one pictured here.

Plenty of Sales Right this Instant

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Jewelry,Nuts About Needlepoint,tools

Still looking for stitchy goodness on sale?

Here are three sales to take advantage of right now.

Fireside Stitchery (one of my favorite shops) is having a 20% off sale through tomorrow. They have an amazing selection of threads, books, charted canvas, painted canvas, and tons more. Many things don’t often go on sale, so this is a great chance to stock up. They also have free shipping on orders over $35.

Ehrman Tapestry is also having a sale on over 80 of their kits. The link takes you to the full list. There is tons there, too many to list, but there are many Candace Bahouth kits (including several colors of her Klimt series), some Kaffe Fasset kits, most of the wonderful Seven Days of Creation series, and lots more. I have promised myself to finish at least one of the Ehrman kits before I buy more or I’d have my credit card out this instant.

Nordic Needle also has a sale (through the end of the month) on selected items from their catalog. There are some great gadgets and tools, some wonderful charted canvas, and selected colors of blank canvas.

See the rest here:
Plenty of Sales Right this Instant

Picking the Right Background Color

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

petei needlepoint alice in wonderland cheshire cat, stitched by needlepoint expert janet m perry

Can you think of a better background color for this cat? But green was not my first choice.

Recently I completed stitching this Cheshire Cat from Petei. I just adore the design, but finding the right color for the background was a real challenge. In finding it, I worked through some questions that can help you find the perfect background color for your designs.

With more and more needlepoint being painted with no background at all, deciding on a background color becomes more difficult.

Remember that the background is supposed to set off and highlight the focal point, directing your attention to it. You want something that sits apart from the focal point, otherwise you lose bits of the design into the background. If the background does not do this, it isn’t the right one.

First, ask what are the value ranges in the focal point. If they are a narrow range of values, you can pick something lighter or darker than the focal point. With this black and white design, I had too broad a spread to use that solution.

Second, ask if an overdyed thread will work. Sometimes, the design can be set off beautifully by a lovely thread of this kind. Here, unhappily, that won’t work. Once again it’s the wide value range that killed this solution as well, but I did think about it.

Third, look at where the item would in nature, often background colors based on this work well. An animal can often look great on a background of some kind of green. This was my initial motivation in picking green, but it ended up fitting another consideration as well.

Fourth, look at accent colors in the design. Background colors will also work that pick up one of these colors. Here, in choosing primary green for the background, I also picked up the sparkly green of the eyes.

By asking yourself these questions you will be able to find several possibilities for background colors. Hold each up to the needlepoint to see which “sings.”

Then stitch away. If it doesn’t work, you know how to find other possibilities.

Here is the original post:
Picking the Right Background Color

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