Another Halloween finish
Topic: Needlepoint

As promised here is my final "Dallas" finish. It is canvas by Heartstrings (Pat Thode) and I loved stitching it. I had so much fun sorting out the threads and when I got started, I could hardly put it away.

And this is a cross stitch finish, to prove that cross stitch is still my first love. I stitched it a while back and forgot to post it here. It's a complimentary graph by Milady's Needle and comes with 2 skeins of Belle Soie if you order those this month. I stitched mine with Rouge and absolutely love the thread and the color.

Right now I am stitching on a new design for a workshop in Nashville 2008. I won't be able to show it here until a) it is finished (quite obviously ) and b) all the information for shopowners has been published. But I may throw in a picture of my thread toss.

And of course I am still knitting away on my little pinball. It is slowly progressing and I love how it is coming along. It takes a while before you have one row done, but it is definitely worth the effort. Over the weekend I'll share a picture. 

Another Halloween finish
Topic: Needlepoint

I got the chance to spend quite some time needlepointing away in Dallas. What a treat, several hours of uninterrupted stitching time. It made me realize that finishing something is a lot easier if you can stitch for 4-6 per day.

This is another Halloween canvas by Melissa Shirley. They are called Halloween Candy and when finished, are a little box styled candy. My friend had stitched one herself and since I didn't have time to stitch something for her before I left, I decided to do it in Dallas. This was a very quick stitch, I think it will only take 6-8 hours to do it. Lots of fun too, you can do a few specialty stitches and the rest is basket weave. 

Thankfully my friend has a finisher who will take care of the details of putting this together. I don't think it is that hard compared to other needlepoint finishes, but I am too scared to do it.

And this is another canvas I picked up in Dallas. Mind you, I didn't start it, it has just been added to my growing pile of needlepoint canvases:

This is from my all time favorite designer Pat Thode for Heartstrings. It is her limited edition 2007 santa. I just love him. Pat includes a stitch guide with the canvas as well as thread suggestions. Contrary to cross stitch designs, most canvases come with no guide at all. It is up to the stitcher to decide what threads to use and which stitches. It can be daunting when you just start and believe me even after 10 or so canvases, I am still uncertain half the time.

If you were ever to start with needlepoint, I can truly recommend a Heartstrings canvas. It is so nice to have a stitch guide and a general idea of what threads to use. 

I finished another cross stitch piece yesterday but haven't taken a picture of it yet. Lots of finishes for me these weeks but most of them were 90% done already.

Stay tuned for another needlepoint update tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

Back from vacation
Topic: Needlepoint

The reason for my lack of new blog entries is really simple, I have been away on vacation. I got to spend 12 days with my second family in Dallas and had a great time. It was wonderful to see the family again and to spend time in the needleworkshop my friend co-owns. They do a lot of needlepoint and had a Melissa Shirley trunkshow, so I spent most of my time doing needlepoint.

It took me a while to get the fun part of needlepoint. At first I was a bit appalled that I had to work on something that was pre-painted. Then I worried about compensating stitches. Finally, after my second canvas was completed, I realized how much fun this was, and have been gradually adding to my stash. 

One of the things I like most is that you can use a wide variety of threads. And believe me, there are quite a few lines of threads out there. Though it is possible to use cross stitch threads, the temptation to buy needlepoint threads is very high. Vineyard Silk is definitely one of my favorite threads to work with. It is silk and gives a wonderful touch to the canvas.

Anyway, here are two of my completed works during my vacation. I started the cat quite a while ago, it might have been two years back. It went into the drawer and hardly saw daylight again. While agonizing over what to bring on my trip, I found this little guy and decided he needed a finish. And voila, here he is completely stitched.

Since I liked him so much, I decided on stitching another canvas from this series. After all, my little kitten needs somebody else to go trick or treating with, doesn't he.  This pumpkin was done in mostly basketweave and a few specialty stitches.

They stayed in Dallas to get finished into little standups. I mastered the art with cross stitch pieces, but am not brave enough to try canvas. Next year I will be able to have them out for my Halloween decorating.

There is more to share from my trip, but I'll save that for another blog entry. 

Halloween needlepoint
Topic: Needlepoint

While trying to organize my studyroom, I came across these two Halloween needlepoint canvases. They are finished as a kind of matrass cushion. I still need to make the inner cushion but my mom offered to help me out on that part. Bless my mom.

These are Melissa Shirley canvases and I fell in love with them when I saw how Denise had stitched up hers. It's done mostly in Burmilana wool with some metallics and some beads. I decided to stitch two of the same series and have them finished the same. Now that I have seen how to finish them, I think the next time I'll try it myself. After all, as long as it is all straight lines I should be able to get it done.

 

Ever since Denise introduced me to Melissa Shirley, I have steadily added to my wishlist (as well as my canvas stash I might add). She really has some very neat designs. I love the little birds that are quite at the top of the page. The rest of the new stuff is not very much my style, but check out her Christmas and Halloween stuff. Some serious fun stuff there.

 

PS Don't forget you can still sign up for the Card of the Month.