Stretcher Bars Organized - 1/27/19

January 27, 2019--After reading multiple blogs and Needlepoint Nation entries on FB about organizing stuff, I decided to do something about a messy drawer filled with various lengths and widths of stretcher bars.  I can't take credit for the idea of using a liquor box and its dividers to sort the bars, but decided to give it a try.

I had to tape the ends of all the dividers to the inside of the box to keep the bars from slipping into surrounding slots, but once I did that, the bars are now perfectly organized from the smallest to the largest.   I also wrote the size of each bar on the top and bottom for easy viewing.

The box, as ugly as it looks, fits perfectly in my craft room closet and is readily accessible.  Wish I had done this years ago.

Liquor Box filled with Organized Stretcher Bars

Liquor Box with Bottle Dividers Taped to Sides of Box for Stability and Slot Separation

Coy Koi Purse - 1/25/19

January 25, 2019--At the 2018 ANG Seminar, I took a class from Janet Zickler Casey called Coy Koi Purse (click here for more information).  Finally picked it up again and completed the stitching of the back panel.  The front panel, also pictured below, has some stitching done, but there's a lot more to do.    I'm glad I took pictures of the finished model while in class to use as guides for the various decorative stitches.  Now to just jump in and work on the front...….

Coy Koi Purse Back Panel Completed

Coy Koi Purse Front Panel Class Work

Click on the In Process Projects Page on the right to see what the finished purse will look like.  It really is pretty.

Holiday Ornaments by Susan Portra - Updated 1/23/19

January 23, 2019--After a long wait, another of Susan Portra's Holiday Ornaments has been published and can be found in the January, 2019 issue of Needlepoint Now magazine.  This is the 16th in the series.  Here it is:

Holiday Light Green - NPN 2019 Vol XXI, 1

March 28, 2017--Here's another Holiday Ornament in the collection by Susan Portra called Pink Holiday Gift.  It's found in the March, 2017 issue of Needlepoint Now Magazine and is number 15 in the series.  Here's a photo of the project.

Holiday Gift Pink - NPN 2017 Vol XIX, 2

January 20, 2016--The January, 2017 issue of Needlepoint Now Magazine has another new ornament by Susan Portra, number 14 in the Holiday Ornaments collection.  This one is called Yellow Holiday Light.  Below is the project photo.

Holiday Light Yellow - NPN 2017 Vol XIX, 1

November 9, 2016--The December, 2016 issue of Needlepoint Now Magazine has a new ornament by Susan Portra, number 13 in the Holiday Ornaments collection called Fuchsia Holiday Bell.

Holiday Bell Fuchsia - NPN 2016 Vol XVIII, 6

July 20, 2015--Ever since I first read about Susan Portra's holiday ornaments in the Needlepoint Now magazine beginning with the November, 2013 issue, I decided I would stitch them all.  There will be a total of 24 ornaments altogether and so far 12 have been published in the magazine through July, 2015:  3 bells, 5 gifts, and 4 lights (pictures below *).  Today I sat down to determine what threads need to be purchased and what can be used out of my stash and am planning a shopping trip to my closest LNS, a 3 hour drive from my home.  The trip will include an overnight stay at a dear friend's home and, of course, I'll bring wine.  Life is sooo good!

Holiday Bell Blue - NPN 2015 Vol XVII, 1

Holiday Bell Brass Antique - NPN 2013 Vol XV, 6

Holiday Bell Green - NPN 2014 Vol XVI, 6

Holiday Gift  Copper- NPN 2013 Vol XV, 6

Holiday Gift Blue - NPN 2014 Vol XVI, 3

Holiday Gift Green - NPN 2014 Vol XVI, 6

Holiday Gift Red - NPN 2014 Vol XVI, 4

Holiday Gift White  - NPN 2015 Vol XVII, 4

Holiday Light  Copper- NPN 2014 Vol XVI,  2

Holiday Light Red - NPN 2014 Vol XVI, 6

Holiday Light Turquoise - NPN 2014 Vol XVI, 3

Holiday Light White - NPN 2014 Vol XVI, 4

*  I received permission from the editor of Needlepoint Now magazine to publish these pictures in this blog post.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Santa - 1/9/19

January 9, 2019--Here's another Janet Zickler Casey Santa--Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, for which the stitching is complete--my first for 2019.  This is the eighth of Janet's santas I've stitched so far.

The copyright date on the instructions is 1999, so I believe this is the first santa out of 23 designed to date.  

The only change I made was to use one less layer of stitching on the beard (instructions called for three--I stitched two) because I believe the replacement thread to RG/Designer's Dream white (now discontinued), Bella Lusso white, is just a bit loftier, so you can use less (hope this makes sense).

PS:  I kept the eyebrows different since most people have slight differences in their brows from one to the other.  Don't know why the threads on the nose look like they aren't laid smoothly in the picture--looks much better in person.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Santa Completed

2018 Year in Review

December 31, 2018--It's been a busy year, but I still managed to complete the stitching on 16 needlepoint projects.  Here they are from oldest (January) to most recent (December).

Many have not yet been finished into ornaments, etc.--I'm waiting to stitch all the projects in the collections before working them up into ornaments (e.g., Janet Zickler Casey's santa collection, Susan Portra's holiday ornament collection).  I hope to sew up the purses next year (Let the Good Times Roll and Golden Gala Evening).

Also included in this list are the projects stitched in prior years and finished into ornaments, etc. in 2018.

Hope you enjoy looking at these pictures and walking down memory lane with me.  Click on the photo's caption to see more information about each project.

Pine Cone Santa

Hardanger Bookmark

Rozashi Ornament East Meets West

Sapphires and Sparkles Ornaments

Holiday Blue Bell Ornament

Nashville, TN Ornament

Golden Friends

Holiday Turquoise Light Ornament

Let the Good Times Roll Purse

Scissor Fobs for ANG 2018 Seminar

Florentine Heart

ANG Seminar 2018 Ribbon Buttons

ANG Seminar Ribbon Buttons

Holiday Red Gift Ornament

Golden Gala Evening Purse

Candy Swirl Santa

SOTM 2018

Here are nine previously stitched projects completed in years past and finally "finished" into something in 2018:

Gardeners Alphabet Letter N Nasturtium

Shades of Christmas Poinsettia Ornament

Checkerspot Stitchers Name Tag

Rozashi Petite Imari Sampler Ornament

Rozashi Baby Iris Ornament

Theo Faberge's Jeweled Spiral Coil Egg Ornament

Imperial Rubies Heart

Floral Ribbons

Pinwheel Christmas Stocking

That's it for 2018.  Thank you for viewing.  

Wishing everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

SOTM 2018 - Updated 12/14/18

December 12, 2018--Fini!  Even placed the finished project in a small wooden box.  It does need a glass however, so will take care of that next week.

This month's section was large, so it took a little more time to stitch than that of prior months.  Also, the outlining of each section, part of December's instructions, took quite a bit of time as well.  Love the results.

I originally planned on placing the project between two pieces of glass so that the backside could be seen when the box is opened.  Decided not to do that--don't like how the outlining looks from the back (you can see this in the photo below).

Thank you Toni Gerdes for this Darned Good Sampler SOTM 2018.

SOTM 2018 Finished Side View

SOTM 2018 Finished as a Wood Box Insert

SOTM 2018-12 Front

SOTM 2018-12 Back

November 2, 2018--Went on the ANG website yesterday morning--very early--and was surprised to find the November lesson for the Stitch of the Month (SOTM) project already loaded--way to go Linda!!  Stitched it up in no time last night and here it is.....

SOTM 2018-11 Front

SOTM 2018-11 Back

October 2, 2018--Just finished the Stitch of the Month installment for October.  This ribbon pattern may be my favorite and can imagine using it for the background of certain canvases.   I felt compelled to get this done yesterday since DH and I will be towing our 22' Cobia Center Console today down to Cape Charles, VA for a week of fishing.    The weather looks like it's going to be spectacular and I look forward to fishing again on the Chesapeake Bay after nearly 9 years away.

I'm not bringing any needlepoint with me since I keep losing the little bits in the car--things like threaders, needles, laying tools, etc.  Instead, I'll knit.  Recently I learned how to do Portuguese Knitting and love it.  It's the best method I've learned to date for controlling tension, IMHO.

Happy October.

SOTM 2018-10 Front

SOTM 2018-10 Back

September 10, 2018--The September darning pattern has 3 acorns and was stitched in no time.  Just noticed the back side has a little glitch in the upper right thread.  Will fix that when I do the outlining in December (this will also cover up all my "turning" threads within the border area).

SOTM 2018-09 Front

SOTM 2018-09 Back

August 2, 2018--Yes, if this is the 2nd of the month, it means that I've stitched the 8th installment of ANG's Stitch of the Month for 2018.  This section reminds me of argyle socks.  Love how the backside looks--like a photo negative.

Note:  I'm using different colors of blue and the variations show in the pictures.  These are threads given to me by my mother back in the 1960's.  So happy to use them.

SOTM 2018-08 Front

SOTM 2018-08 Back

July 4, 2018--Aren't the dancing ladies fun?  Enjoyed stitching July's darning pattern.  The back looks great too.

Happy Independence Day to all.

SOTM 2018-07 Front

SOTM 2018-07 Back

June 3, 2018--Half way there.  Loved these butterflies, but they took longer to stitch than the lessons from earlier months.  We are binge watching Homeland, so I suppose that had something to do with it.

SOTM 2018-06 Front

SOTM 2018-06 Back

SOTM 2018-06 Closeup

May 2, 2018--A month later and the fifth lesson is done for May.  Another fast section with only 3 motifs.  It'll look so much better once the borders are stitched, hiding the "turning" threads.

SOTM 2018-05 Front

SOTM 2018-05 Back

SOTM 2018-05 Close Up

April 2, 2018--The April instructions are up on the ANG website, and like last month, the stitching of this easy diagonal darning pattern took about a half hour to finish (looks like a herringbone pattern to me).  Looking forward to the more complicated lessons coming up.

SOTM 2018-04 Front

SOTM 2018-04 Back

March 2, 2018--The stitching for March's portion of this cute project took about 30 minutes to do.  Am ready for the next installment, but must wait until April 1st.

PS.  If the color for March's section looks darker...it is.  I'm using some old cotton perle threads given to me by my mother and will place the different dye lots around the canvas.

SOTM 2018-03 Front

SOTM 2018-03 Front Closeup

SOTM 2018-03 Back

SOTM 2018-03 Back Closeup

February 2, 2018--The February instructions for this darning project are so easy and quick--was able to get the stitching done in about an hour.  This is going to be so cute as a box cover.  In fact, I'm going to try and enclose the back with glass so that the reverse or negative side will shown when the box top is opened.

SOTM 2018-02 Completed

SOTM 2018-02 Front

Add caption Back

January 11, 2018--The section for the month of  January is stitched.  I love how the back looks like a negative of the front.  Cool.

SOTM 2018 - through January

SOTM 2018 January Closeup Front

SOTM 2018 January Closeup Back

January 2, 2018--Yay!  The January installment of ANG's 2018 Stitch of the Month project called Darned Good Sampler by Toni Gerdes is now up on their website (click here).   This is a year long project featuring darning patterns and it's right up my alley.  I've already picked out my color (true blue) on white 24 count Congress Cloth.  This will produce a final size of 5" x 5" which will fit perfectly in a box I already own.  Below is a picture of this year's project.

ANG Stitch of the Month 2018 Project Photo