San Antonio Painted Canvas Updated 4/22/15

April 22, 2015--San Antonio is now framed and I love how the dark blue mat draws your attention to the needlepoint.

March 28, 2015--Done stitching and ready for the framer.  This will look great in my craft/sewing room and will be a delightful reminder of the wonderful trips I've made to San Antonio.  BTW, this is the second of the three ANG chapter challenges to have done by December, 2015.

San Antonio Completed

March 21, 2015--Rounding the corner to the finish line.  The tree and yellow roses are done and am currently stitching the lacy sky.

San Antonio Tree and Roses

February 24, 2015--River is done.  It was stitched with two strands of DMC Satin Floss made of 100% rayon fibers using long and short random stitches.  Because it is such a slippery thread, I cut longer strands and doubled it once it was passed through the needle.  This made it very manageable. I like the results.  The canvas had various colors reflecting the gondola and tree painted in the river. This now shows a little through the stitching.  I like it.

San Antonio - River Done

February 18, 2015--Accomplished a bit more stitching on this project--completed the tower and gondola.  I like how the "life ring" came out.  As suggested by Sundance Designs who wrote the stitch guide, I found a perfectly sized stainless steel washer to cover with perle (or I should say my DH found it for me).  Now to stitch the river, tree and large yellow silk ribbon flowers.  The beautiful lacy pattern for the sky will be done last.

San Antonio--Gondola and Tower Completed

February 1, 2015--More progress.  The Alamo and umbrellas and table are stitched.  The tower looks like it'll be fun to work on.

Alamo and Umbrellas

San Antonio through Alamo and Umbrellas

January 21, 2015--Moving along nicely on this project.  The grassy areas and the large lone star heart flag are now stitched.  Next posting--the Alamo.

Flag and Grass Done Closeup

Closeup of Flag and Grass

January 4, 2015--This is the second of three projects I'm stitching as part of my ANG chapter's 2015 challenge to complete three WIPs by December, 2015.

I'm making a little bit of progress beyond what I wrote about in 2013 (old blog is below), having stitched the papal picado-paper banners (will do the black outlining later) and stitched the grass using the Medieval Mosaic stitch.  I found it very difficult to maintain the pattern of this stitch around the umbrellas so I did something desperate--I basted the full pattern in place, through the umbrellas, to where the pattern would be continued (see picture below).  Now I can see where I need to place the needle without any counting whatsoever.  Wanting to get the design perfect on a canvas like this may be a bit annal, but that's how I roll (insert smiley face here).

Basted Medieval Mosaic Stitch

Papal Picado-Paper Banners Done

July 25, 2013--Completed stitching the sign and love how the beads look like little light bulbs.  The instructions called for stitching the beads using the "brick" method, but due to the narrow width of the spaces upon which to place the beads, the results have a more random effect.  The lattice work was stitched with an overdyed navy blue causing the sign to look a little weather beaten--like it.

These beads and many others were given to me by my mother's housemate.  She crafts beaded jewelry and her son is always on the lookout for bead sources at flea markets, etc.  On one of those shopping expeditions, he purchased a box of generic glass beads, all in vials, of many different colors. However, the beads were too small for jewelry making purposes, so I was the happy recipient of this box. The beads come in multiple sizes in each vial, so I must sort them prior to stitching to find the size I want.  But I'm not complaining, and the variety of sizes can look good on the same project.  The beads I used for the San Antonio sign were red with a yellow glaze.

July 18, 2013--While at the 2011 ANG Seminar in San Antonio, TX, I purchased the below canvas as a souvenir of my visit.  Actually, I've visited San Antonio many times and thought this piece would make a nice momento.  So far I've stitched the bridge and a portion of the blue over the sign.  I only pull this out when I need to relax and take a break from all of the counted stitch projects I do.   This canvas and its accompanying stitch guide is an exclusive design created for the Yarn Barn in San Antonio by Sundance Designs, Tucson, AZ.

HanDBase Applets Now Available FREE 3/24/15

March 24, 2015--I have now made available, for FREE, to owners of DDH Software's HanDBase app, the databases or “applets” that I developed to manage my thread inventory, needlepoint projects, etc.

To use these databases, you must first own DDH Software’s HanDBase app.   I have written about these databases in prior blogs (see below for links to these posts) and have since received many requests to make them available. So here they are and if you’re interested, go to the DDH Software Gallery page.

Scroll down to Keyword Search and type in the word "needlepoint".  You will then see the six applets and their download links.  The databases are:

Needlepoint Beads Inventory

Needlepoint Color Tool

Needlepoint Projects

Needlepoint Sources

Needlepoint Thread Brands

Needlepoint Threads Inventory

Once downloaded and saved to your HanDBase Database File, you can open each applet and begin entering your own data.

My blog postings titled HanDBase Projects and HanDBase Threads Inventory will have lots of information on how I use these databases:

Please feel free to ask questions and have fun personalizing these databases with your own records.

PS  I have no financial interest in DDH Software--am just a very satisfied customer.

Woodlawn 52nd Annual Needlework Exhibition, Alexandria, VA 3/18/15

March 18, 2015--Four of us from our local ANG Delaware's Seashore Chapter took a road trip today to visit Woodlawn's 52nd Annual Needlework Exhibition in Alexandria, VA.

Woodlawn

After a delightful lunch in the Underwood Room operated by Nelly's Needlers, we leisurely strolled through the many rooms displaying the most wonderful needlework.  This year I entered five pieces, being the first time I've exhibited at Woodlawn, and was greatly surprised and pleased to learn that I won the following ribbons:

Ribbons Awarded at Woodlawn 2015

First Place for Canvaswork-Multi:  Folding Ort Box (Black and Red)

Second Place for Canvaswork-Multi:  Rose Swirls 

Third Place for Canvaswork-Multi:  City Walk

All in all it was a fun day with the requisite stop at In Stitches located less than a mile from the exhibit.  Lots of goodies to tempt you. 

Pandas Painted Canvas Updated 3/12/15

March 12, 2015--Just had this framed at Michael's Arts & Crafts and am very, very pleased with the results.  Also saved lots of money.  The way this large piece (15.75" x 15.75") is framed (black mat, gold insert, white mat, extra fancy frame), it would have cost me a lot more than the $121 that I paid (after coupons).    Happy indeed.

Panda Bears Framed

December 31, 2014--Here is my last completion for 2014.  Love these little pandas and think they'll look adorable in my home office on a bookshelf.  Envisioning a black lacquer frame, or maybe inserting this piece into a box top.   I must admit, even though I'm not used to painted canvases and chose the stitches myself, am very pleased with the background stitch called "Little Wavy Stitch" found in my iStitches v3 app.   The use of the brick stitch for the white fur--well I'm not so sure about that.

In the original post about this canvas (below), I wrote about how it was purchased for my DGD.  Well as things go, she has gotten involved in many other activities and lost interest in needlepoint, so I stitched it myself.  Hopefully she'll pick up a needle again some day and when she does, I'll be glad to help her.

PS:  There is no designer's name on the canvas except for the number G-674.  Does anyone know what that means?

Panda Bears

August 10, 2013--Visiting family in Ohio and at the recommendation of another ANG Yahoo Group List member, my DGD and I spent a delightful hour or so at A Stitch Above Needlepoint in Madeira (Cincinnati).  We were given wonderful assistance by the proprietor to find something suitable for a beginning stitcher. Then she helped me decide on which colorway to chose for an upcoming project by pulling threads for both colorways and letting me decide which one I preferred.  She is an angel!

A Stitch Above

DGD settled on a wonderful painted canvas panda with only 7 colors and using perle cotton (no laying tool required).  Hope we have lots of stitching time tomorrow to cover some details on how to properly execute the basketweave stitch.  She understands the diagonal direction the stitch takes and recognizes when she makes an error, but hasn't yet grasped the zig-zag pattern flow of moving from one "row" to another.  Until then, playdates come first and she's off being an 8 year old girl and all the fun that entails.

Kiss 3/11/15

March 11, 2015--Completed the stitching of this little piece and will now finish it by turning it into a "candy kiss".  I decided to bead the lips instead of using a tent stitch--like how they came out.

Kiss Completed Side View

Kiss Completed

March 7, 2015--My local ANG chapter, Delaware's Seashore Chapter, is stitching Kisses by Barbara Bergsten Designs, led by one of our talented stitchers at the March meeting.   There were so many to choose from and I decided to work on the one called "Kiss".   They are all so adorable and very easy to stitch.  When sewn together, it will be shaped like a Hershey Candy Kiss.  Here's mine so far:

Center Completed

Delmarvanow Writes about the Rehoboth Beach Museum's Needlework Exhibit 2-28-15

February 28, 2015--My local ANG chapter, Delaware's Seashore Chapter, was interviewed earlier this month by Rae Tyson who writes for Delmarvanow.  He appeared to be genuinely interested in needlepoint and we enjoyed showing him some of our projects.  I think the article covers the subject quite nicely.

Rehoboth Beach Museum's 5th Annual Needlework Exhibit 2015

February 12, 2015--Rehoboth Beach Museum has announced its 5th Annual Needlework Exhibit for 2015.  It runs from March 14 through May 10, 2015.

Come to the beach early and catch the exhibit at the same time.

Floor Stand Clamp Repair 2/3/15

February 3, 2015--I really do love my floor stand from K's Creations but had a problem with the clamp.  Discovered I had totally stripped the clamp's screw and it would no longer hold stretcher bars in place.  You can see this in the first picture.  Frantically I contacted the fine folks at K's using the contact tab on their web site and Brett Schulle immediately responded, requesting I mail the clamp to him for repair, after which he would mail it back to me.  

Clamp with Stripped Screw

So off to the post office to mail the clamp, which by the way, was very easy to remove from the stand's long horizontal arm.    And in no time at all, I received the fully repaired clamp in the mail. Easily got it screwed back onto the arm and am in business again, happily stitching.

Newly Repaired Clamp

You may notice there is a piece of leather on the clamp's bottom plate.  I put this in place using "glue dots" and find it really helps to hold stretcher bars with less tightening of the screw.  This is because I stitch in the well, tacking the canvas unto the back of my stretcher bars.  All too often the tacks would slide and slip in the clamp, causing me to overtighten the screw.  Now those tacks settle into the soft leather with no slippage.   Easy solution and hope it may help someone who may have this problem.

NeedleTravel App 1/6/15

January 6, 2015--Have added a new app to my page on the right titled "Favorite Apps and Tools".   I just learned about this app called NeedleTravel while reading FaceBook's Needlepoint Nation posts .  It's a free app (iPhone only) published by Syntress, LLC and just recently updated on November 3, 2014.

NeedleTravel App Photo

It's a great tool when looking for needlework shops which carry items for needlepoint, cross stitch, embroidery, quilting, yarn, etc.  You can also get the full address and telephone number of a shop as well as directions from your "current location".  Cool.

I only hope the designers keep the app current since shops come and go with an alarming frequency.

Framing--Undressed and Exposed Updated 12/29/14

December 29, 2014—Continuing with my quest to find the perfect framer, I must now talk about Michael’s Arts & Crafts framing. 

A few months ago I took two finished needlepoint pieces to my local Michael’s in Rehoboth Beach, DE for framing, using a discount coupon.  They have this wonderful tool called Michaels Custom Frame Visualizer which I am very excited about since I have a hard time imagining what the finished framing will look like.

So with coupon in hand, I met with an employee who had been working in Michael’s framing department for a few years and told me he “stitched” canvases to a mounting board instead of using glue.  I liked the sound of that.  He seemed to understand what it was that I wanted, so I then chose mats and frames using their Visualizer tool.  Really had lots of fun with that.  Once a decision was made, they were easily able to calculate the cost and, with the discount coupon, the price was about half what I would normally have paid at a regular frame shop.   They were even able to print a copy of what my framed piece would look like along with a detail cost calculation.  So far, so good.

Then I picked up my two items.  To my horror, both were crooked inside the matting and some of the unstitched canvas showed.  Also, one of my pieces was badly buckled.  Spoke with the same gentleman who I met earlier and he assured me there was no problem in redoing the mats and frames at no extra cost.  OK, I let him have at it.  Then, weeks later, I had to keep calling to find out when they would be ready for pickup.  It took almost a month for them to “remount, remat and reframe” my pieces.   When they were finally ready though, they were perfect!  

So yes, they can frame needlepoint, but patience is required and they need to learn.

Below are pictures of what they did.

Two of my ANG co-chapter members also tried Michael’s framing and both had similar problems, requiring their pieces to be redone.  We did learn a few additional things to take into consideration.  The first is probably why Michael’s frames are so inexpensive—many are very shallow and anything requiring a thick mounting board and multiple mats will stick out and cause a “bump” in the back under the dust cover.   Now, when choosing frames, I will look for those that have more depth on the inside. 

Another lesson is that they will not cut canvas to fit inside the frame, but instead, will fold it over the mounting board.   Not a good idea.  If you want the canvas to lie flat between the matting and mounting board, you will have to cut the canvas yourself to fit the frame—not the end of the world; just something you need to know in advance.

I would love to hear from others who have used Michael’s framing and what has been learned in the process.

Back of Mounting Board showing Stitching Threads taped for security

Picture of Canvas Stitched to Mounting Board

October 22, 2014--Have opened the back of another project--this time done by my new framer in Salisbury, MD who told me they use stainless steel pins.  Below is a pictorial of what they've done.   I must give them credit, though, for the fine job they did in stretching this piece over the mounting board.  It was a large pulled thread project, and even though stitched while on stretcher bars, once I removed the canvas from the bars, it began to "shrivel up".  Now it's nice and flat and you can see the stitches perfectly.

Note:  This project was a pilot stitch program and I'm unable to blog about it until much later this year--stay tuned--it's a beauty.

Back of piece.  Canvas was first pinned to a board, then tape applied to cover the pins.  Additional tape is used to secure the canvas to the back of the board.  More tape then applied to the edges and attached to the matting.  Lots of tape for sure!

Closeup of all the taping 

Side view of taping

Here you can see the pins used for mounting and how the last layer of tape secures everything to the mat.

September 23, 2014--Sometime ago I did some research on how to best mount and frame needlepoint and blogged about it here

http://brendasneedlepointstudio.blogspot.com/2014/02/framing-lacing-pinning-or-glue-updated.html

Since that time, I've wanted to take a peak at some of my framed pieces to see what was actually done, knowing I'll have to pay to have the item reframed and the paper dust backing replaced.

So I'm starting with a piece framed at an Alexandria, VA shop in January, 2010, where I was told the needlepoint was mounted on foam board using stainless steel pins.  First I removed the paper dust backing, then took out the little "points" used to hold everything inside the frame.  Then out came the "whole shebang" which looked to be all glued together as one--the canvas glued to the mounting board and the mat glued to the canvas.   OMG!!   This was a nasty surprise.  Upon further inspection and a little careful pulling apart of the layers, I could see the canvas was stapled onto the mounting board, so no glue was on the back, but glue was used on the front canvas edge to attach the mat.   Even though I no longer live in Virginia, I'm going to give that frame shop a call to get an explanation about this.

Next month I'll take apart another piece that was framed at a local shop I recently found out about who also told me they use stainless steel pins for mounting.   Crossing my fingers.

Back of Framed Piece with Paper Dust Cover in Place

Paper Dust Backing Removed Exposing Mounting Board

"Points" removed from sides of frame 

Layers appear to be glued together

Some of the layers are beginning to separate

Stitches for Effect Classes - Baskets Galore, Christmas Stitches I, Under Construction Updated 12/7/14

December 7, 2014--Just completed the third and final set of Stitches for Effect Classes.  This one was called Christmas Stitches I.

I have taken a total of 16 of these Stitches for Effect classes and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one, learning how to correctly do the various stitches, many of which I still have yet to use in a project.  The additional instructions on how and when to use the stitches was invaluable as was the utilization of a wide variety of threads to stitch the examples.

It is unknown if Suzanne Howren will continue to make these classes available through the Shining Needle Society, but I hope she will.

Below is an example of a stitch that can be used for beards and hair which was fun to do.

Class Christmas Stitches I Example

July 29, 2014--Finished the second of three Stitches for Effects Classes called Under Construction. Enjoyed stitching the samples except for one.  It's called Random Cashmere and the instructions stated to randomly place blocks of cashmere stitches within the sample stitching area.  My problem is with the word "random".  I had to first draw the stitch placements on graph paper before transferring the design onto canvas.  The result is a mishmash of blocks, and it most certainly is random.  Below is a picture of the results (ran out of thread, but you can see how I did).

Random Cashmere

June 3, 2014--Finished one of Beth Robertson and Suzanne Howren's stitch classes called Baskets Galore (taken through the Shining Needle Society).  This series will definitely come in handy.  I especially loved the stitch below called Battlement Couching.   Two classes to complete and I'll be ready for another series.  Can't get enough.

Class Baskets of Galore Battlement Couching

January 17, 2014--Beth Robertson and Suzanne Howren have done it again.  Their new batch of Stitches for Effect classes are now available at Shining Needle Society (SNS) and I've signed up for all three shown below.  The online lessons begin March 15 and run through May 15, 2014.

Baskets Galore

Christmas Stitches I

Under Construction

Lone Star Heart Updated 12/1/14

December 1, 2014--Finally got around to making something of this wonderful Nancy Cucci project and decided to make it into a simple ornament (no tassel--didn't have enough thread) :-(

This is a continuation of learning how to finish my own needlepoint.  I learn something new each time I do this.  For example, this time I learned to be sure to center the back correctly, to cut a narrower allowance for folding over (don't need more than 1/2 inch), clip into that allowance, but not to close to the edge, etc.

I'm developing a keen appreciation of the work done by professional finishers.

Lone Star Heart Finished Front

Lone Star Heart Finished Back

December, 2011--Finished stitching a project begun at ANG's 2011 Seminar in San Antonio, TX class taught by Nancy Cucci.   Still not sure how to finish it--maybe as a door knob hanger or draw pull.  It's too big to think of as an ornament, but definitely needs a special tassel.

Top of the Hill Updated 11/1/14

November 1, 2014--Made this little project into an ornament and will use it as one of the examples in a class I'm leading at my local ANG chapter on how to finish your own ornaments.   Even though I am very inexperienced at doing this, it didn't come out badly.  A common thread that's repeated in everything I've read about putting your own ornaments together--practice, practice, practice.  After I turn my completed projects into "finished" ornaments (really don't have that many), I may ask fellow chapter members if they would be willing to let me finish their ornaments to get that necessary practice in.  Of course, it would have to be something that's not cherished in case I make a mess of it :-)

PS  Making the tri-colored cording was also a lot of fun.

Top of the Hill Finished as an Ornament (Front)

Top of the Hill Finished as an Ornament (Back)

May, 2013--This is a class I led at our May Seashore Chapter meeting.  This lovely project consisting of mostly Jean Hilton stitches comes from ANG Needlepointers Magazine, March, 2010.  Much of the class was spent demystifying Double Fan Doubled and the Waffle Stitch.   Think it'll make a cute ornament, book cover, or something similarly sized.