What I learned in needlepoint school

Once again I had the pleasure of taking classes from Joan Lohr and Ruth Dilts, who I refer to as “The Rainbow Girls” because of their connection with Rainbow Gallery. No matter how old you are or how many classes you have taken, there’s always something to learn.

Starting and stopping threads could be a class in itself. In the Valentine House class (canvas provided by Susan Roberts, threads provided by Rainbow Gallery) we used pin knots under Rhodes hearts and away knots with tails long enough that the knot can be cut, the tail threaded in a needle and then woven under the just-stitched area. This keeps dark threads from showing through under lighter adjacent areas, especially if the neighboring area is stitched with a light coverage stitch.

Thread ideas included using Very Velvet or the petite version as the under layer for a padded stitch. It will give good height and grips really well. A favorite combination for a night sky uses Petite Treasure Braid and Impressions in combination. I loved the use of Fyre Werks Soft Sheen FT53 (espresso) for the chocolate kisses—you could almost taste the Hershey’s milk chocolate.

From the Hearts and Clouds class (canvas by Alice Peterson, threads by Rainbow Gallery) I was reminded to go up a needle size when using Flair or Frosty Rays—the needle paves the way for the thread and the canvas will go back where it belongs after the stitch is done.

I had never thought about which direction to stitch with threads like Arctic Rays, Fuzzy Stuff and the like, but it makes total sense to come up in a full hole and go down in an empty hole. This fluffs up the thread and maximizes the effect. Afterwards, tease the threads with the eye of the needle or a soft toothbrush to make things very fuzzy. I was surprised to hear Joan recommend against using a bunka brush on Angora, preferring a soft toothbrush to bring up the nap. I am working on a large nutcracker, King Richard, and I have used Angora for his ermine cape and cuff trim. Since I am a stubborn sort, I will be stitching in the margins and comparing the effect of a nap brush vs. a toothbrush.

Here’s a great idea for finishing a nursery canvas if no pillow or wall hanging is needed. Set the stitched canvas in a glass-topped tray or have your framer make one for you. This can rest on top of nursery furniture and hold powder, wipes and other baby paraphernalia.

Finally, I was reminded that you can change the colors of baby/children canvases to suit either a boy or girl if you love the design and it doesn’t have an appropriate combination. So as long as you can get full coverage from the thread and the stitch combination, you can make any design work for you.

Happy stitching!

Personalized needlepoint canvases

Before I start almost all of my projects, I make a color copy of the canvas. If the canvas is too large for my desktop copier, I take it to a professional copy shop. The copy is useful for making notes about threads and stitches used and for placement of embellishments when the stitching is finished.

In this case. I am painting out the candy canes. I intend to attach JAB candy cane buttons when the piece is finally stitched, having stitched over the original images.

I use Liquitex Acrylic Artist Color paints because they are very true to color and dry well. They can be mixed to create custom colors and thinned with water for the appropriate coverage. I use either a straw to blow the excess paint out of the holes in the canvas, or an aerosol duster.

Painting out images you do not want or intend to cover with an embellishment is just another way to make a canvas your very own.

Halloween March needlepoint back from finisher

The Halloween March canvas is on order and headed to the Bristly Thistle.

Here’s my finished pillow—I had so much fun stitching it and our pillow finisher did an incredible job matching the fabric and trim to make the canvas truly outstanding.

Grand Hotel needlepoint complete

And here it is finished! Check out the personalized lid - this can be added to any Limoges box. If you can see it, I found a small American flag that fits perfectly on the design.

This canvas from Julia's Needleworks is available only at the Bristly Thistle.

Halloween needlepoint finishing

These spooky Halloween ornaments were a gift from a stitching friend / fiend. I love the charms that the finisher added at the top—can you see the dancing skeleton at the top of the black candy cane? The Arctic Rays used for the cording adds a further frightening touch.

Grand Hotel needlepoint finished!

This week brought over 6” of snow to Good Hart. Putting the final touches on this canvas kept me from losing my sanity. It will be May before the trillium appear and the lilacs bloom, but I could imagine the beauty of Michigan summer while I stitched.

The detail on the Grand Hotel is such that most of the building was stitched in basketweave. I used Splendor for the gray areas. In classes this January I learned that I have been using too many ply of Splendor on 18 mesh canvas. I went down to three strands for all the gray areas except the small windows, where I used two strands. And yes, you do have to use a laying tool when you use more than one strand—it was especially important for full coverage with two strands. The flowers around the hotel were done in tent and French knots using Grandeur, Perle cotton #5, Burmilana (for the perfect mauve) and Pure and Simple. The horse bodies were stitched in interlocking Gobelin. I added manes to the horses’ necks.

The sky is stitched using one strand of Impressions in a darning stitch. When you stitch darning stitches, it’s very important to anchor your thread at the beginning and the end of each row. The last thing you want is for the threads to come loose after the piece is finished. For the clouds, I first tried stitching the blue outline with Trebizond, planning to fill in with more Trebizond. I didn’t like the heavy look and ripped out all the outlines using my favorite curved scissors with the very sharp points. I then satin-stitched the clouds using white Flair. Much better.

The grass is one of my favorite sections--I turned the Parisian stitch on its side and used Boucle’ for the thread. It gave a different texture and depth to the “front” of the canvas.

The top of the Limoges box is stitched with a basketweave background and overdyed silk for the leaves. For the lilac blooms I played around with Splendor silk ribbon, using lazy daisy and padded satin with beaded centers. I will be stitching another one of these canvases and I am going to try French knots and variegated silk ribbon for the petals.

This canvas is a gift and will be embroidered inside to really personalize it.

With thoughts of Spring….Michele

Darning stitch

Cowgirl needlepoint finished

I am so pleased with the finishing on my girls’ 2009 Christmas ornaments. The difficult corners were stitched perfectly and I love the embroidery on the back. Each ornament has the recipient’s name and the year on the back. Now it’s time to start my 2010 ornaments!