Beginning on May 2 for 5 days, I am leading the Cyberpointers meeting program, A Stash Sampler. Read all about it at https://www.cyberpointers.org/?p=9555
I finished the Ocean Breeze Sampler into a bookmark.
If you’re not a member of ANG, go to needlepoint.org and join National. Then, join a local chapter (find one listed by state under Chapters), Cyberpointers (Cyberpointers.org), or both.
Hope you join Cyberpointers for the program, discussions, or both.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, ANG Needle Pointer's Article, Five Vases with Curly Bamboo, Vases, Sharon G
I can’t find what should have been my final post about Vases with Curly Bamboo by Sharon G showing mine framed and letting you know that Linda M, Beth T, and I from ANG Main Line Stitchers submitted our canvases to Needle Pointers for The Tale of Two Stitchers (in this case three) series of articles.
The article discusses the roundness and light reflection. During our meeting discussions, we focused more on the degree of coverage based on a stitch guide and threads from Sharon G (my canvas) and Amy Bunger (Linda). Beth used a combination of those stitches or selected her own stitches after hearing and seeing the discussion.
From class notes and Sharon G’s stitch guide, it was clear that Sharon wanted the canvas to show through. In fact, Sharon G gave 2 Diamond Ray options for the Green vase. I did not use the alternative option with an even more open lacy look. The Burgundy and Blue vases both used single strands of silk floss in between the canvas threads which allows the coloring of the canvas to show through. The Gold vase has the fullest coverage and is the only one of the 5 vases to use 2 colors of thread to enhance the shading. The Cinnamon vase uses the most multi-step composite stitch pattern of the five vases.
When Linda asked Amy Bunger about her approach to this canvas, said, “My approach to designing a stitch guide for any canvas is to attempt to keep the mood, depth and flow of the original design. This design shows a more formal mood in the vases and border with just a touch of whimsy in the curly bamboo. It was easy to determine which areas of design should come forward versus recede and where I should keep a balanced upright appearance versus a slanted or diamond pattern.” Amy’s stitch guide allowed even more of the shading of the vases to show through especially on three of the vases (Green, Burgundy, and Gold). The composite stitch used on the Blue vase was more open than the Cinnamon vase composite stitch which has the fullest coverage.
From the unstitched canvas, you see the light source coming from the upper left corner. The T stitch and the very light blue silk floss for the background selected by Sharon G reinforces the issue of the light source. She said, “I chose a very delicate almost invisible stitch for the background. I thought of a few others, but did not want to detract from the vases. In my mind, simple equals elegant. I think the very light blue can represent the vases resting on a window ledge.”
For the border, Sharon G introduced black within her multiple rows. From the ANG Stitch of the Month 2005 – October, we know Sharon G’s view on borders, “I love to contain my designs in an elegant border made up of a combination of stitches. This allows a bit of containment for the design. For framed pieces, a border allows the eye to be drawn to the needlework, rather than to the frame.” Beth and Linda followed the coloring of the painting. However, Beth selected a more textured look with all threads and while Linda used beads and thread to complete the border.
If you are a member of ANG, you can see the other 2 canvases in the article published in the Needle Pointers Jan/Feb 2021 issue. Better late than never – right!
If you’re not a member of ANG, you should be – go to needlepoint.org and join. Then, join a local chapter (find one listed by state under Chapters), Cyberpointers (Cyberpointers.org), or both.
Beginning on May 2 for 5 days, I am leading the Cyberpointers meeting program, A Stash Sampler. Hope you join us for the program, discussions, or both.
Filed under: ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Embroidery Guild of America, General comments, Ruby Razzle Dazzle by Ann Strite-Kurz, Seminar 2023 - Boston, Threads, Understanding Color Relationships: Luster and Luminosity with Patricia Goaley
I’ve got a lot of small stuff to finish. I decided to get back into the swing of it with new coasters for us.
For Bill’s coaster (on the left), I folded over along the edges and tacked them into place with invisible thread. Details on how I stitched the 4 corners differently are at: https://melitastitches4fun.com/2024/03/02/manipulating-overdyed-threads/
For mine (on the right), I folded over along the edges and practiced the buttonhole stitch. I used black DMC Perle #8 and could have used #5 because some canvas is showing through. The design is from a class on Color and Luminosity with Pat Goaley during the EGA Seminar in Boston (more on that at https://melitastitches4fun.com/2023/09/03/ega-seminar-class-2-understanding-color-relationships-luster-and-luminosity-with-patricia-goaley/).
For both, I glued black ultrasuede on the bottom using Aleene’s Fabric Adhesive.
Next up is a blue sample from Razzle Dazzle by Ann Strite-Kurz that I made into a bookmark. More on this at: https://melitastitches4fun.com/2024/02/16/ruby-razzle-dazzle-by-ann-strite-kurz/
I used black DMC Perle #5 this time to make the buttonhole edging across 3 canvas threads. It has less white showing. I didn’t fold back the edges to make it a thinner, lighter finished piece (compared to the coasters that have the edges folded over). Then, I cut very slowly, carefully, and close to the stitching without cutting the threads. Here’s the back before covering it with a dark blue ultrasuede.
Again, I glued a piece of ultrasuede to the back (Aleene’s). I placed the glue all along the edges so that the glue touched only the DMC Perle buttonhole stitching. The width of three canvas threads accommodated a nice amount of glue.
It’s thin enough for a bookmark. A pretty one too!
Filed under: ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Tumbling Stripes by Marilyn Owen
In March, Jacqui from New Jersey Needle Artists continued Tumbling Stripes by Marilyn Owen by going over Stripes 5-7 (counting from the center out).
Initially, in Stripe 5, I thought I would use Kreinik #4 Braid on the smaller count Congress Cloth, but it was too thin. Luckily, I had the same color light blue 194 in #8 Braid. I did cut back on the number of strands from 3 to 2 for the dark blue floss (820). Working 2 needles, as Marilyn suggested, went well.
I stayed with the number of strands recommended for 18 count for Stripe 6.
Stripe 7 has Smyrna stitches using Kreinik #4 Braid in the same color as the surrounding floss (back to 194). So, the inner and outer stripes are solid, with the middle stripes containing all the tumbling movement.
All caught up for Wednesday night’s meeting!
Filed under: Cardinal Ornament - Liz Kisielewski, Embroidery Guild of America, Mid-Atlantic Region
The EGA Mid-Atlantic Regional Spring Meeting occurred this past weekend in King of Prussia sponsored by the Philadelphia Chapter (no, I am not a member!). They did a lovely job. Teacup pincushion favors (one per table) were awarded to half of the class participants (two per table but not me). There were about 24-26 students. There were table favors, one per table of 6 people, at lunch (again not me). They handed out large carry bags and a snap tray to everyone.
The Cardinal Ornament class was designed and led by Liz Kisielewski. It is 6.5″ x 4″ and made from wool felt (6 colors), floss (3 colors), and stuffing. You know how sometimes you just need the right person to show you how to do something. Well, I finally understand how to do the buttonhole stitch. I was always trying to work it left to right but on the top edge. Liz showed me working it left to right on the bottom edge. It works so much better for me!
This was a Take Home a Project (THaP) class which means most of the students are going back to their chapters as teachers for this project. Instructions are free to chapters to use. The kit materials are supposed to be $10 or less so it is an affordable price. My EGA Brandywine Chapter has a Board meeting on Tuesday (I am a co-VP for projects) and I wanted to have it done. I will teach it if they decide to do it.
The branch was done during class. I almost forgot to add the hanger but thanks to my neighbor for reminding me to add it and thanks to tweezers (and Linda for giving them to me), I was able to get it through an opening between 2 stitches. Phew!
The Cardinal worked up quickly during a Phillies game later that day. Because there are only a few red stitches on the black felt, she didn’t have us switch threads. I used a black marker on those couple of stitches.
Sunday basketball allowed me to complete the ornament. I found a perfect bead for the eye. I couldn’t see the French knot that was on the demo bird because it was black on black. But, the bead has just a tad of light reflecting off it to be seen. It really wasn’t a difficult project. Needlepoint pieces take so long that doing something with more immediate gratification was fun. And, the 3D effect is much more apparent on this than on needlepoint. I won’t seek felt projects out, but it’s always fun to try something new.
I bet the gang on Tuesday night at the Needlework and Fiber Guild of Media will enjoy seeing this! The group meets at the Media Arts Council in Media, PA at 7 pm on the second Tuesday of the month.
I never posted the finished Patti Mann’s Nov Mums (9110), which I got at Rita’s Needlepoint. The stitch guide was from Betsy at Fireside Stitchery. It was finished through Fireside Stitchery, too – back in 2017. I gave it as a thank you to a friend and her husband, Ann and Ross, for letting us use their summer house in Texas for a week. I never posted the finished piece because I didn’t want her to see it before I gave it to them. Since spring is in the air as are April showers, I thought I’d post it now.
Bill and I visited the Woodlawn & Pope Leighey House for the 61st Annual Needlework Show. It was a sunny day yesterday. It was great for driving, but it caused glare issues with the photos. Glass on pieces is allowed at Woodlawn.
If I knew the designers or if they were mentioned in the docent’s notes, I will provide that information.
I already discussed several pieces in my previous post (https://melitastitches4fun.com/2024/03/07/fireside-sampler-at-woodlawns-61st-annual-needlework-exhibit-2024/), and they did not disappoint, especially Deborah Merrick-Wilson’s goldwork (original designs, so I won’t show photos).
It was nice to see my piece framed! I’d forgotten I had selected one with gold and silver to go with the mirror and candles. Mine was slightly below eye level, and you could get a good look at it.
Many of the canvaswork pieces I enjoyed seeing were either from New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter members or Colonial West Jersey EGA members. I don’t want to leave anyone out, but in August, NJNA will be reviewing all the pieces, and I don’t want to spoil the meeting by showing them all here. I will share 2 photos here.
Diane Burgess knocked it out of the park with her choices for Razzle Dazzle by Ann Strite-Kurz. Ann visited the exhibit, and she enjoyed seeing it in person. I learned that Ann chose the original stained glass colors because the original design was adapted from a scarf pattern in the Smithsonian Christmas catalogue that was inspired by cathedrals.
Bill and I both voted for Ellen Briggs’ (also from NJNA) Swan Song as our People’s Choice. Pam Miller of Edwardian Needle gave stitch suggestions and lace from her own wedding gown. It’s so beautiful and interesting.
Pam also helped Amy Bretan with a Bride and Groom, but the lace came from a dear friend of Amy’s. She akso went very colorful with Pyramids of the Oasis by Wendy Moore.
Too many pieces were up to high. All of Sue Chadwick’s especially Raffie, the adorable giraffe, by Kurdy Biggs were way too high to appreciate the complicated stitches. But, it’s a stunning piece and nicely framed.
Rosy Lunde’s Africana by Lorene Salt and Confetti by Ann-Marie Anderson-Mayes are great and the framing is too. Very colorful designs with deep colored mats and wood would allow displaying these together possible without overwhelming each other.
Barbara Levy (NJNA) has to have stitched the largest kimono I have ever seen! It’s a counted design called Kimono Revisted by John Wadell. Amazing!
Cathryn Curia’s colorway for Northern Lights would look wonderful in our bedroom!
Linda Mosch has a couple of lovely samplers as well as a crewel embroidery piece, Jacobean Fantasy.
Linda Pleyer’s Designer Handbags and Black Party Dress are stunning.
The EGA Colonial West Jersey (CWJ) members had a variety of pieces on display. There were quite a few impressive cross stitch pieces, including Nancyanne Carkeek’s Sunflower Bee.
Here’s a close-up. The shading is amazing.
Louise Wilson is a prolific stitcher also from CWJ. She had 8 pieces, including 3 versions of an EGA Petite Project, Landscape Series by Karen Wojahn. I got photos of her fall and spring version, but not winter. Love them.
Patti Tidemann, current President of CWJ, stitched a wonderful piece by Carole Lake, Anasazi Dream. Carole passed away earlier this year, and it’s wonderful to see one of her lovely pieces here.
There were several other large cross stitch pieces worth mentioning including Barb Meier’s Bathtime (designed by Heaven and Earth), Meghan Benson’s Autumn Trails (designed by Charles White), Kim Smith’s Seashell Wreath designed by Janlynn/Nancy Rossi), Elizabeth ONeal’s Cross Stitch Tiles, and Ronald Walker’s Portrait of a Horse which could have jumped off the canvas. The shading on each piece was incredible.
Several people I run into at the EGA Mid-Atlantic Regional meetings (hopefully, I’ll see them April 6 in King of Prussia), including Judy Herrick and Donna LaBranch who exhibited too. Here is Desert Strands by Judy. That is pulled work. She also did a lovely Ukrainian whitework tray.
Donna always has great pieces on exhibit. My favorites were her Little Red Rooster that was a heavily beaded surface embroidery and original design (so I won’t show a photo). Her Loudoun Sampler Guild Mystery Sampler has lots of interesting motifs.
Christin Louden stitched a lovely Kurdy Biggs Rescent Angel. It makes a perfect stand-up figure.
It looks like the eastcoast stitchers are quite taken with Ann-Marie Anderson-Mayes of Beautiful Stitches (several designs were shown). Here’s Versailles, which will be one of the pieces Ann-Marie will be offering to NJNA members after the ANG 2024 KC Seminar. Sherri Gordon with the EGA Mollies chapter (who have stitched my Overdyed Spools and A Spring Sampler) exhibited hers.
I was really taken by the head of cauliflower done by Marian Smith! It was stitched in shaded wool on cotton homespun and uses wire to hold the shapes of leaves.
My ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter is going to be doing Fibonacci Swirls by Olivia Hartshorn from the ANG Needle Pointers magazine (March-April 2022 issue). Beth Peternell’s color choice is fantastic and beautifully framed.
I saw Pat Mazu’s purse/jewelry roll that she designed for her journeyman level Master Teacher Program and named it Flowers on a Trailing Vine. Pat taught it 3 times, once in the Potomac/Washington DC area. I bought one a couple of years ago and use it for my paper piecing project (that I need to get back to doing). Lovely design! Pat remembers Sandra Erb from several of her classes and is delighted to see another one finished.
A few people in our area have been doing the needle felting projects by Brenda Stofft. Elizabeth Dietz made a great Splendora the Witch. The detail and finishing is mind-boggling on these 3D characters. Cleo of Busy Lizzy helped with the finishing.
An always amazing category is the miniatures (32 count or less). Besides Norma Campbell’s The Majesty which you can see got a Director’s Award and is posted on Woodlawn’s website, there were other notable miniatures including Arlene Cohen’s Summer Rose, Sharon Fullerton’s Cardinal Crystal Jar, and Alison Kearney’s Rose Window (designed by Mary Hickmott).
Haystacks of Giverny by Katheine Diuguid was an online EGA class. It is interesting that Julianne Otto’s is more yellow (top photo) and Regina Thek incorporated more red tones in the Haystack (bottom photo).
This year, Norma Hiller stitched Safari by Terry Dryden and one of Gail Stafford’s lovely landscapes, Fog in the Mountains. I am looking forward to an online landscape class in May with Gail offered through ANG Cyberpointers.
In the non-judged areas, the EGA Washington DC chapter displayed some lovely pieces of all types.
There were antique tools collected by Nelly’s Needlers displayed as well. They did a wonderful job with the displays. All the birds were in the Hall. I like the theme approach. And, they serve as docents keeping a watchful eye and offering comments about some pieces from the notes they have on all the pieces.
Most of the beadwork and mixed media embroidery pieces are original designs and so I won’t show them. There were some really great pieces.
Another nice exhibit, although I wish they had opened one of the two unused rooms upstairs in order to lower many of the pieces. It’s especially great seeing pieces from people I know. There are still a few days to get there!
Filed under: ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Tumbling Stripes by Marilyn Owen
Last month, Jacqui from New Jersey Needle Artists continued Tumbling Stripes by Marilyn Owen by going over Stripes 1-4 (working from the center out).
Stripe 1 in blue floss (DMC 797) worked fine with 3 strands of floss. Two strands looked skimpy with just enough speckles of white showing through to make me go to 3 strands. Apparently, coverage on 24 count isn’t that much different from 18 count.
Then, I thought I would use the darker blue floss shown (DMC 820) and the Petite Sparkle Rays in Stripe 2. The dark blue 820 looks a lot darker in the photo but sure didn’t when I stitched with 2 and 3 strands up against 797 (no photos). I tried both because 3 was way too heavy, and 2 was still heavy. Then, the Petite Sparkle Rays was way too wide for the stitch on Congress Cloth.
So, I pulled my old favorite Bijoux MMT437 Sapphire (same value) and decided to use 2 strands and go even thinner. And, the Petite Silk Lame Braid SP11 was thin enough to work. So, this stripe may not have the same color contrast as the original, but it definitely contrasts with Stripe 1. I was hopeful that it would work with Stripe 3, and it did.
For Stripe 3, the blue Silk Lame Braid was the right color but was too heavy (For 13 count). So, I pulled out 2 silk and 1 rayon fibers (the same as what Petite Silk Lame Braid comes as). I can’t remember the teacher who told us you can thin down Silk Lame Braid, but it works. I decided that combining them together would too, and it did. I wouldn’t recommend this for larger pieces, though. Also, since I had to repeat the first and third rows in the same DMC floss and Herringbone is worked left to right, I used half of the long floss on the top row while the rest of the thread was parked out of the way.
For the 4th stripe, I stayed with 3 strands of floss and my makeshift Petite Silk Lame Braid.
I’m ready for our next session tonight!
I heard about Adjustable Stretcher Bars by Frank A Edmunds and found a set of 12″ and 16″ online and had to try them – because they exist!
They are easier to put together than Evertite bars (no hammer needed) and square up better. But, some of the bars hang off. With the first arrangement, I could attach my lap stand along the upper left extended bar which which would be good but the lower right extended bar would be cumbersome because I am right handed.
So, I switched orientation.
I can’t make the canvas more taut by shifting the bars because they interlock. Evertites are easy to stretch taut with the turn of a screw.
Once I get stitching on this project, I’ll see what it feels like.
Does anyone else use these?
Filed under: ANG Needle Pointer's Article, Timeless Treasures From the Archives
It’s rare for me to have worked on the diagrams for a piece in the ANG Needle Pointers magazine and still have the stitched model (unless it’s my design). But, my Needle Pointers magazine arrived today, and I still have it.
At some point, the stitched piece went from Ginny, the stitch guide writer and stitcher, to Maureen, the editor in Maine, who took it to Seminar in Atlanta, gave it to Kristen who I know flew with it back north to the Philadelphia area, and finally gave it to me. I am waiting for the shipping address to return it to Ginny. I wonder home many miles this has traveled! Hopefully, it will go home before the next Seminar!
As you can see, there is usually plenty of time to get photos, diagram, and put the stitch guide writer’s text into the format for the magazine. Consider:
- volunteering your time to help with articles. Staff does need to rotate periodically.
- offering your painted canvas stitch guide for an upcoming magazine. Keep track of threads and stitches used, and we can turn it into a lovely stitching project like this one.
And, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Timeless Treasures From the Archives. I love reading the old issues. This month takes us all over the internet and back to various alphabet diagrams that never go out of style.
Past and present issues are available online to all ANG members (needlepoint.org).
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