A New Month already!! (again)

I cannot believe another month has gone, and I have produced so little for this blog - another very stressful change of address was in the middle of this one, but as soon as I find my drawing equipment and paint brushes, I'll be back working.

Anyway, this is "December" from my Birthday Crazy Quilt series - and probably my favorite besides April and August. It has lots of symbolism in the mistletoe, holly, narcissus, and the birthstone turquoise. (Tanzanite or blue zircon is the alternative used now, I think). I also like the effect of the blue patch with "rain drops," and the white with glittery snow.

I started these almost three years ago, but still haven't produced January, February, or July. Incidentally, these are now available as e-patterns on my web page, Elegant Whimsies, so you can put your own onto canvas.

Stitching the Shamrocks

I have started the stitching on the Shamrock cookies on Possibilities, etc., so you can take a look and follow along if you wish - and do something creative and original of your own!! Experiment!

Also, I'm offering for the duration of the cookies, my E-booklet (at half price) with lots of different cookie cutter shapes that I have used for many years for playing with new threads, stitches, and techniques - and have also added a mini-stocking. Lots of stitches diagrammed, and color pictures as guidance and inspiration.

More "Paint Your Own Canvas": A Floral Cross

I found this photograph, as I have found so many long forgotten, while cleaning out boxes after a major move of residence. This one is a scan of a photograph, as I painted it long before I had a digital camera and computer - a VERY long time ago.

As I remember, I drew and painted this for a class I was teaching in trying out different techniques and canvas preparation. I think this is the one which led to my deciding to start using silk ribbon embroidery for flowers on crosses and then, later, crazy quilt adaptations.

Anyway, over the next week or so, I intend to give you here the instructions, starting with cutting the canvas, in detail for drawing it onto canvas yourself - and then suggestions for stitching.

There are plenty of tutorials on canvas preparation now here and on my other blog, Possibilities, etc., to help you know which pens and which paint to use, and how to use the paint brushes, etc. etc.

This is a more advanced Freebie, and I hope you put it to good use and enjoy it!! Just please remember that it's for your own entertainment and for giving as gifts either as a painted canvas for stitching friends or as a stitched and finished piece - but NOT for sale as a painted canvas.

For more detailed instructions for Painting Your Own Canvas, I have the book in two chapters now as an E-booklet on my web page, Elegant Whimsies. Under "our designs" just click on E-Books.

I think this has confused some people who have only seen the coil bound version. This is the downloadable, much less expensive version, as you receive it almost immediately upon purchase, and may download and print it out yourself. I revised it and added a lot more color, newer materials and techniques.

Stitching Gingham/Plaid/Tartan on a Circle (How to)

I used all three names applied to this textile - stripes intersecting at right angles to form a delightful pattern (I explained the origin of the terms in a previous post back a while.)

This one is what we in this country call "Gingham," a woven fabric (replicated in needlepoint here) with even stripes on both warp and weft - and just one color plus white, creating a lighter shade of the color where it crosses.

The arrow is pointing to a place where one has to be careful when stitching on a rounded outline. It's necessary to pay attention!!

Feeling rather lazy the day I needed to start this, instead of cutting a new square of canvas, I Ipicked up a small piece of canvas that already had a 3 3/4" circle drawn on it, and decided it would be a great exercise anyway in stitching needlepoint plaid.
The circle is drawn on an odd count, which meant I couldn't make stripes of 4 threads. Three were too small for the scale of this piece, and 7 were too wide.

There is a lot more to using plaid for needlepoint than just "setting it up." One has to consider the intended use for a particular project, and make sure the scale is also attractive. The 5 threads I settled on look right for the circle.

The next consideration was where to start. On a rectangle, I would have started stitching the warp on the right side - however, on this circle, I began in the center, as I am a perfectionist about symmetry. (The circle is stich drawn for this reason) From the center, I simply worked out toward the right side.

The arrow pointing to the center shows where one could draw a well centered letter or monogram if desired (before stitching). Next, I started stitching the weft - again centering it. The arrows point to the center thread.

After this, it had to be marked for guidance, so I used the Sharpie extra fine Permanent MARKER - never the paint pen, as it's not really safe for needlepoint canvas. I counted backward from the center to reach the top where I began the stitching. The marks on this circle didn't go into the circle itself as I do on squares - it would have made the outline difficult to discern.

The arrows point to a place that looks rather strange - but it's just the white stitches making the "gap." This won't show when it's finished.
The last picture shows the progress toward looking like gingham!! Again, the arrows point to places where it appears that a little bite has been take out of the circle. The tendency would be to want to complete the blue square - but then it wouldn't be correct according to the circle drawing. A round piece this small could be a box top insert - but I think I would have started with a monogram before beginning the stitching!

ADDENDUM: I have several tutorials on the subject of stitching plaid in needlepoint, but for anyone who has missed it; the WARP (vertical) stripes are stitched first, and in basketweave, on every other row. Use the warp threads of the canvas - the thread is on top, forming a slight "bump." Then the weft is worked horizontally on the weft threads of the canvas - where the spaces are left. This is extremely simple, and there is minimal distortion of the canvas.

A Tartan Tutorial

First an explanation of the header. Again I have not designed and stitched the Birthday Crazy Quilt heart for May - haven't had time, but maybe next year. If I start now, I can probably at least get "July" worked. For now, the roses are blooming beautifully in the yard, so I opted for June for the header for the next two months at least.

Next, I have begun a tutorial on setting up plaid ribbons (we in this country call tartans "plaid.") This will be on the other blog, from time to time - so tune in there if it's of interest to you. I'll do more traceable DIY type things here on Freebies.

This is showing the "set-up" I devised yesterday for stitching the Millenium Ribbon from Scotland.

Stitching Talavera: A Basketweave Mini-Tutorial

I've shown this cross on the other blog, as an example of what a difference using Kreinik blending filament can make - and now that I'm stitching it, thought it might be a good one to show a bit of basketweave that seems to confuse people who aren't totally familiar with it yet.

This piece is also the subject of my tutorial on "Creative Needling" a design, as I made a much smaller cross from a big one in my file. Getting started, I rarely paint canvases I'm going to stitch for myself - and especially working on this one with the navy background! Hard on the eyes, it is.


Anyway, the vertical arrow is pointing to where I have the needle inserted, ready to take the next stitch traveling "up the stairs" to the end of the row - worked on the WEFT stitches, which are dips.

The upper arrow demonstrates where I stopped at the angle where the arm of the cross starts, as I couldn't continue downward at that point. I had started stitching in the corner of the arm - the upper right corner, so after traveling up and down for a few rows, it will meet the spot where I stopped stitching.

This way, the row going UP will be one smooth, long row. This is another of the reasons one should ALWAYS adhere to stitching up on the weft, and down on the warp - as two rows going the same direction will look really awful on the surface of the work. You can see this more clearly on the close-up - the cross itself is outlined first with navy Kreinik #12 braid in the 018HL. It looks great against the almost matte finish of the cotton floss (DMC)


I also outlined the design elements with the metallic braid, and then stitched the floss around them - it shows up well!! I didn't do that around the green things, though, as it would have been too busy. Perle cotton (DMC) is used on the red flower, and if you look closely, you can see the Kreinik blending filament twinkling on a few stitches on the yellow and green parts.

I've worked a lot more on this one, and tomorrow, if there's a bit of time, I'll show the result on the other blog - and show what a wonderful thing the blending filament is! Great effects.

Halloween Napkin Rings Finished!!

The napkin rings arrived finished - my good friend and great stitcher Pat Miller worked them for me, as I hadn't a clue how to do it myself - I just draw and paint them. Anyway - here they are, and now they are on their way to Oklahoma City for my grandchildren there to enjoy - and their father, who is a child, himself, on Halloween.

The patterns for these, as well as the witch and the bat that I didn't finish painting, are in earlier posts on this blog - for printing and doing them yourself for next year. Actually, the Jolly Roger would do for any little pirate year 'round.

Pat used a lot of Kreinik braid on these, and there are beads on the spider web to look like dew drops - I love the furry scary spider! Her stitching descriptive may be seen on her blog: Needleartnut

The Velvet Pumpkin continues

I'm having a hard time staying indoors working a bit today, as it's one of those very rare days in Austin that we call "Santa Fe" weather - cool, sunny, dry, and beautiful.

Anyway, I've worked a little bit on this pumpkin, but for some reason couldn't get a clear picture of it today.

The first photo is from yesterday, where you can see by the lower arrow where I stopped going up on the weft threads in order to meet the line going down the warp when I get there.

The arrow on the left at the line of stitching shows the basketweave progressing down to that point. When it comes on down to where I stopped - it will make a smooth line without a break to distract the surface. Easy to do if one is always conscious of going DOWN on the warp, and UP on the weft. It becomes second nature, and also won't warp the canvas.

The second picture is blurry - but I tried it twice, and don't want to spend any more time today taking pictures - there is sunshine outside, and I have a lot of work to do inside. However, this one shows more clearly how nice the blending filament looks on his features - looks like flickering candle, I think.

The background has just a hint of shimmer, as I used the YLI ribbon floss shimmer blend in basketweave - only basketweave, as a textured stitch here would overshadow and distract from the central design.

I've just played around with this from time to time, and originally thought to make it a ball to sit on a table or shelf at the "season" - but just left it square, as I'm too lazy to plot the larger circle on the outside - should have done that before doing the smaller inner circle.

I decided a bit of bargello would be in order, as I purchased a card of Rainbow Gallery Petite Frosty Rays in black with a gold filament running through it - so had to find an excuse to use it. I do hope Liz Morrow isn't watching me and having a heart attack, as I made a really bad error in judgment and counting where the arrow is - bad job!! Oh well. I'm not the expert she is.

A Very Velvet Pumpkin with Blending Filament Sparkle!

I really haven't gotten very far along with this, as it took me a while to decide what to do with it. It's a good one to demonstrate the simple beauty of blending filament - and I always enjoy using petite Very Velvet. This orange is great!!

The orange outline is plain DMC floss in a darker orange. The features are yellow floss with the addition of the blending filament, as supposedly there is a candle inside.

I'll do the background in YLI Ribbon Floss in black - but outside the circle, I'm not sure what, but probably bargello of some sort. Mitered, I'm sure. I had bought a while back, some Petite Frosty Rays in black with a gold thread through it - so will HAVE to use that. Good excuse!!

The close-up shows clearly the beauty of using the blending filament with floss for just a very subtle sparkle, randomly showing. The "how to" and "why" of doing this is posted on the other blog - Possibilities, Etc. I like to outline the shape before using a textured background - and this one is done by changing direction each quarter section so that there will be no "sawtooth" edges. You can see by just looking at the arrows.

I started at center top, and then at center side, just turned the canvas and kept going - thereby eliminating that sawtooth. Very neat and smooth for a small piece - and also, it makes it easier to stitch bargello around it.

The stem is also Petite Very Velvet, and the vines and leaves are DMC cotton floss.

The pattern for this piece is somewhere on the blog - probably under "napkin rings" - but this one is destined for a table ornament, or maybe a "kissing ball."

New Tutorials!

No picture this morning, as I haven't had enough coffee yet. I have been thinking recently about doing some tutorials in designing your own projects and "how to's" rather than just patterns to copy - it might be of more use.

Several things prompted this move: One is the questions I get via comments, as I have no way to reply to them. These come to my e-mail via "no-reply" mail, so I can't answer them. (My e-mail address is clearly seen on my profile - just go to "About Me" on the side bar and click on "my profile" down at the bottom.) I truly enjoy answering questions and helping any way I can - sharing my 40 years of experience in designing and marketing hand painted needlepoint canvases, along with teaching and writing about it.

Another prompt is an article I have seen in the last few days about drawing pens in a nationally distributed needlepoint publication - (I get an advance copy of this.) The information is misleading, and almost ludicrous, and it frightens me that someone would be put off from an otherwise enjoyable hobby by faulty information leading to a bad experience.

This also holds true in several different books, articles and blogs on drawing and painting needlepoint canvases. Often the people who write these apparently have little or no knowledge in this arena. Nothing works so well as years of trial and error, experience, and plain old common sense!! As Michaelangelo said in his old age: "I am still learning." It needn't be as complicated or mysterious as people are telling., and is actually a simple and inexpensive way to create your own needlepoint projects. (and thereby saving money to buy wonderful threads and beads, etc.)

Anyway, I received a question about belts - but I have no idea what kind of belt, for whom, what style, male or female, child or adult - what? Sooooo I decided the best thing to do is to start with a mini-tutorial on painting your own canvas as a "point of departure." Later, though, as it will take a little while to get it together.

As for the belts - these are lots of fun, and I have taught a number of people to do their own, as it's more creative and fun to do one's own, and also saves the price of a commercial designer. I have one friend who has done plaids, camouflage, Pucci patterns, Nautical flags, monograms and names, - all kinds of things. She even did collars for all the family dogs.

For a beginning tip, there is a tutorial on an edge stitch (long-armed cross stitch) for belts and other small things under "stitching" on the side bar - down at the bottom of the page. Also, the canvas preparation for the napkin rings is basically the same - the belt just needs to be long, in the required measurement. One must consult a finisher for this, as I don't know how much has to be allowed for that. The 1 1/2" wide is pretty standard for belts, as they must fit inside belt loops on the garment.

An Ornament with Beads

This is a piece that is offered in a previous post under "Ornaments" on the side bar. I wanted to show how very different the same design can look when stitched with entirely different materials.

The progress in stitching is being presented on the other blog, so do go see it: Possibilities, Etc.

Tree With Tutorial (or "a tree for all seasons")

These trees are from about 12 years ago when I was practicing new stitches and trying out new threads, etc. I couldn't stand to waste the effort, so devised this tree - and had little stands made for them so they could either be hanging ornaments or placed on the mantel or a table. On 18 mesh canvas, they are only 4 1/2" high - nice size.

The one on the left is worked with beads on the background and swags of silk ribbon flowers. This, I think, could also be done on counted X-stitch fabric with great effect.

The green tree on the right is made with stitches I found in an old, out of print book from the 70's - I think it was "A New Look at Needlepoint" by Carole Chaney and Georgia Devlin Rome - I had found an ancient used copy and grabbed it. Except for the red upright Hungarian stitches, it is entirely upright stitches, as bargello, over two or three threads in a zig-zag pattern. Simple. I used various threads for interest in texture.
The red and green tree is made with a fascinating stitch, again from an old book. I have no idea what name it had - but that doesn't matter. It is kind of "woven" looking. The star I'm showing simply to illustrate it's effectiveness in other colors. Threads used were Petite Frosty Rays and Kreinik metallic (for the woven element).
By the way - do notice that these are all OUTLINED first in simple tent stitches so that the decorative stitches end cleanly and neatly with no ragged edges.The first chart shows the sequence of the vertical stitches for beginning this stitch.

The entire shape should have the verticals done first, and then turn the canvas and do the horizontals. The last chart shows the horizontals in orange - and also the metallic braid being woven through - first vertically, and then horizontally. For some reason, this was more effective. The braid stays ON TOP of the canvas- only goes to the back at the end of an entire row, and then back up again to start back across.










The tree drawing on canvas is easy to do - plenty of instructions on this blog - probably under "canvas preparation." This outline could easily be done in counted X-stitch on fabric, and decorated any way you wish. Even for other seasons!!

Incidentally, this tree is one shape from my downloadable e-pattern collection on Elegant Whimsies (my web store), as "shapes for all seasons."

Basketweave Around Shapes: A Free Tutorial

Having seen a number of people having trouble stitching basketweave around shaped ornaments, I have begun a tutorial on the other blog (Possibilities, etc.) to show step by step how really simple it is.

By doing basketweave, the ornament canvas won't warp, and as always, is much smoother and prettier - it becomes second nature when you understand the correct method of stitching.

A Heart for Independence (in Needlepoint)

I've been digging in the old boxes again, and found this piece - made a number of years ago for a shop here as a practice piece for using beads and textured stitches.

As I remember, the inspiration for the design was a little enameled pin I saw in a catalog. It looks lopsided only because it has been wadded up under a pile of other things for at least 8 years. Oh dear.

















I had not finished the stars yet, but decided to show it this way so as to make the method simpler to understand. Stars, at best, are not easy in needlepoint, and I wanted the effect of the misshapen and irregular look anyway - so worked this out for the stitching.

I used YLI Ribbon Floss because it is perfectly flat (and shiny) so it easily cover the canvas. The background stitching needs to be done first, (I used #5 pearl cotton in a bright navy) right up to the edge of the drawing of the stars. Then it's a simple matter to just "draw" with needle and ribbon floss as we did as children, the five pointed star. Follow the diagrams, and just continue making the star "motion" until the area is covered. You can see one in progress where the black line ends.

To draw your own, simply start with the counted outline as described on previous posts. This piece is 5" x 5" on 18 mesh canvas, so you will need to center it on an 8" square of mono-canvas.

The second scan of the drawing on canvas is the actual size, so you can simply trace the stars onto your drawing. (It might be easier if you first outline them with black ink so they show up better through the canvas.)

The red stripes are 9 stitches wide, and the white ones are 7. You can see the correct placement of the dots for the beads, which also make the Hungarian criss-cross stitch easier to do in this narrow space.

The little bracelet is outlined with Kreinik metallic gold 002 #12 braid, and the bump stitch "silver beads" are made with Kreinik metallic silver #12 braid.




The red stripes are worked with a stitch I thoroughly enjoy using, but have no idea what the name is or where I found it - I've been using it for many years, and something shiny could be inserted instead of beads if you wish. I'm showing it in two colors simply to illustrate the construction. This post is a bit of a mess - I have no idea where all that blank space at the bottom came from or how to get rid of it.

Oh well - Enjoy!! I was thinking earlier, that the stripes might be worked in bargello instead of with these stitches.

DOTS!! Polka and Swiss

When I was in college, I had a year of rather intense study of textiles, in preparation for the degree in interior design. At that time - 150 years ago, the only synthetics we had were nylon, orlon, and rayon. (rayon is actually a vegetable fiber composite), so the emphasis was on fiber content and weaving techniques, with a bit of dye methods and chemicals thrown in.

This sort of thing really opens the eyes and gives one an appreciation of fabrics - and recognition when we see them. Very early in my needlepoint design activities, I decided that to alleviate the visual boredom of a plain background, I could dress it up a bit with woven fabric replicas, and dotted swiss was my first. (My mother loved it, so I wore a lot of it in my early childhood - mostly white.)

Dotted swiss was first made in the mid 18th century in Switzerland, where it was a beautiful, lightweight woven white cotton batiste with small dots woven in. Of course now it is also woven with synthetics, and the dots may be larger and applied - and lots of different colors are used. The dots, however, remain white.

I'm showing my needlepoint version in color in order to show the effect of the raised dots. I use this pattern on things like stocking cuffs and patchwork patterns to give a bit of visual interest. To begin, simply mark dots with your drawing pen on the WARP threads as you see them on the stitched model, and also on the chart.

When working in white, just basketweave the whole thing, but as you come to a "dot" you will make a cross, so that it appears as a raised bump. When using a colored background, leave the dots bare, and then make X's over them with white thread. The chart with the arrow is showing basketweave with the cross stitch creating the raised bump of the dotted swiss. The dots, of course, can be more widely spaced for a different effect.

While I was doing this, I couldn't resist going ahead and including one of my favorite effects - "bump" polka dots. These are just marked with little squares instead of a single dot - and worked with Smyrna cross. They could also be stitched in a variety of different colors and placed randomly for a "confetti" effect.

You can see by studying the scan of the marked canvas, that the squares are placed with two stitches between the dots on the diagonal - I have found this to be the easiest and least confusing way to do it - kind of automatic without having to count.

These very simple textured patterns are useful for things like plain background on ornaments - like a sprig of holly on a background that has no other pattern. Also, a little frame around a name or monogram works well. Lots of uses if you think about it!!

Color Change

In case anyone is wondering about my monthly header changes, I am using parts of my "Crazy for Birthdays" series of CQ hearts in needlepoint. A great excuse to play with new skills on the blog thing, as getting the size just right and then choosing the colors from the little chart that pops up is high entertainment, and rather time consuming for this computer dummy. Anyway - this is from the November heart, which is now on my web page (Elegant Whimsies). The flowers are chrysanthemums, and the birthstone is Topaz. I was rather pleased with it, but the flowers were a struggle. I was cheered on and encouraged by Jean at RiverSilks, whose gorgeous ribbon I use.

Hopefully I will get another 4-way Florentine ornament posted tonight, as I have it ready. However, it is Halloween, and I might be busy stealing and eating candy from my grandchildren's buckets after they go out trick or treating.

A Great Border Stitch!

Sometimes a stitched piece of needlepoint needs a little bit extra as a defining element - maybe just on two threads around it. Basketweave can be boring for this, both the stitching and the look. The one I have enjoyed most for many years is Long-Armed cross stitch. It's extremely easy to do, goes fast, and looks great! It also has the characteristic that the excess canvas rolls back easily from it, and makes the edges of belts, coasters, etc. look great. I have also used it at top and bottom of "rollies." (as on Gail Hendrix's peacock!)

The little green patchwork piece really needed this accent - so I added it easily last night. You can see in the detail how neat it is, and also I left the dots on the warp threads showing so you can see how the "dotted swiss" background is constructed.

The long-armed cross stitch works from left to right, so I started at the upper left corner of this, and just turned the canvas when I reached the corners and continued on around the design. It really gives it a bit of zing it didn't have before - and will make it finish nicely for insertion into a box top or whatever. I made smaller ones (not stitched yet) for coasters. For belt finishing - and dog collars, etc. - this stitch is wonderful, as the canvas just kind of rolls back and leaves a neat, defining edge. .


It is also a very attractive way to surround a name or monogram - or any simple design motif- as I did "Julia" here to separate the name plaque from the checked border.

P.S. The canvas isn't warped in the detail - it looks buckled because of the needle I left at the top.

The Next Bargello

This is to be my next bargello offering, but first I will have an extensive tutorial on my other blog by this evening on why NEVER to use Continental stitch on mono canvas - it's a thing only intended in our grandmothers' time for use on penelope canvas with the pre-worked design. Please don't miss it, if you have been taught to use it. We "outlawed" this in the early 70's, and I am appalled to discover it has re-surfaced and is being taught to new needlepointers.