Official blog of www.NeedlePaint.com
where you can design your own Needlepoint!

NeedlePoint Kits and Canvas Designs | Design your own Needlepoint Kit!

Archive for the ‘Quilt Inspired’ Category

Four Calling Birds and Three French Hens Needlepoint Guides

Stitched and written By:  Peggy Bond

Day 3, Three French Hens Needlepoint Kit

French Hen Needlepoint Kit with Stitch Chart

The French hens were just too plump to put all three on the block so we only have one, sitting fat and happy on her flowering nest. No eggs in view!

All but one of the stitches for this and the next block can be found in The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen. However, some are worked in different directions than shown in the book.

The head of our lonesome hen is stitched in Continental as are her comb and beak. Her eye is a French Knot. Her breast and tail are Kennan and the wing tips are alternation rows of Slanted Gobelin 2 x 2 and Continetal worked slanted from top left to right.

Flowers are Continental with their centers done is varying numbers of French Knots to fill the canvas. The branches are Continental as well, and the leaves are done in variations of the leaf stitch.

French Hen Needlepoint Stitch Guide

French Hen Needlepoint Stitch Guide

Victoria and Albert Herringbone

V and A Herringbone

The hen’s wing is done in Victoria and Albert Herringbone, show below. It is a variation of the standard Herringbone was adapted from a Victory and Albert Museum Handbook of embroidery stitches by Sherlee Lanz.

Background is Woven Plait which is similar to and simpler than the Victoria Albert Herringbone. The Woven Plait is a quick background stitch that has texture.

 

 

 

 

Day 4, Four Calling Birds Needlepoint

Four Calling Birds Needlepoint Canvas fully Stitched

Four Calling Birds Needlepoint Kit

The Four Calling Birds block is the other symmetrically designed block.

The yellow of the birds is done in Lazy Knitting, worked left to right on the left half and right to left on the right. The same is true for the Slanted Gobelin 2×2 of the tails and the green Slanted Gobelin 2×2 of the wing. Lazy Knitting is one of the more tedious stitches, but contrasting texture to the Slanted Gobelin makes it worth the effort.

Four Calling Birds Needlepoint Guide

Four Calling Birds Needlepoint Guide

The flower is done with 4 Scotch squares on each petal. It is edged in Satin to round out each petal. The flower center can be stitched in white Continental, or yellow French Knots or maybe some beads? There are possibilities on all or the blocks to add some flare with beads and/or sequins. Flower centers and eyes are obvious choices for these types of embellishments.

The leaves are variations of the Leaf stitch and branches are vertical or horizontal Gobelin. (The traditional Gobelin is a straight stitch over 2 threads of the canvas. It can be stitched horizontally or vertically. And, as used for the birds, it can be stitch on diagonally, i.e. over 2 strands horizontally and vertically making it twice the size one of the Tent stitches – Continental, Half Cross, or Basketweave.)

The background is the Diagonal Mosaic, not to be confused with the Mosaic stitched diagonally. Unlike the background of the Two Turtle symmetrical block, this background is worked continuously across the entire block. That is not stitched in opposite directions on each half.

Coming up a break from birds…. Five Golden Rings, the most complex of the 12 blocks!

Partridge and Turtle Doves – 1st and 2nd Days of Christmas Needlepoint

As I explained in my previous blog, I used at least 20 different stitches on the 12 Days of Christmas. Most are simple and many are quick-cover. They are only suggestions and we would love to get your recommendations for different ones.

Day 1, the Partridge in a Pear Tree

Partridge in Pear Tree Christmas Needlepoint

Partridge in Pear Tree Christmas Needlepoint

I tried to choose stitches to add textures that would mimic feathers and tree trunk textures. The partridge’s green feathers are done is 2 different stitches. The head and small portion of green near the tail are stitched in Continental to give smoothness, while the breast is done in an Austrian V.

The Continental stitch is used for the pears, tree limbs, partridge’s top knot, gold stripes, gold tail feathers, red wing, and background to fill the small areas around the image. Tree trunk is the Knitting stitch and red tail feathers are varying lengths of Elongated Cashmere. The leaves are variation of the Leaf stitch, some longer and other at different angles than the traditional stitch. Leaves can also be done with a satin stitch.

Partridge in Pear Tree Stitch Chart

Partridge in Pear Tree Stitch Chart

(NOTE: The stitches, which are not diagramed, can be found in The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen which is available from online book sellers and your local book store as a print book or eBook as well as in several needlepoint webpages.)

Austrian V Needlepoint Stitch

Figure 1 Austrian V

The Austrian V is 19th -century pattern taken from an Austrian Sampler of 1859. Typically, it is used is a vertical strip but it has been adapted here to repeat to fill the bird’s breast.

 

 

 

 

Medieval Mosaic Needlepoint Stitch

Figure 2 Medieval Ground

The gold portion of the wing is done in medieval mosaic stitch which was adapted from an ancient geometric pattern.

 

The background is the Diagonal Mosaic. An easy stitch to do which covers well and quickly, but not so quickly as some I will describe in the later blogs.

 

 

Day 2, Two Turtle Doves

Turtle Doves Christmas Needlepoint

Two Turtle Doves Christmas Needlepoint

This is one of two designs that are vertically symmetrical. Vertical line of the oblong cross separated the two halves. Stitches are worked right to left on the left half of the canvas and left to right on the right half so that each side is mirror of the other.

The bright yellow of the bird is done in four different stitches: Kalem for the outer wing, Continental for the head, Hungarian Ground for the breast, and Slanted Gobelin 2×2 for the tail feathers. The eyes are Continental and the beak, Satin stitch. The gold inner wing is Diagonal Stem (the stitch that I found the most tedious to execute) and the gold tail feathers are the Slanted Govelin 2×2. Leaves are worked as described above. Flowers are Continental. On this block, I used the Continental for the centers of the flower but in other blocks I used French Knots. (Flower centers and bird eyes can also be enhanced with beads and/or sequins.)

Turtle Doves Needlepoint Stitches

Turtle Doves Needlepoint Chart

Needlepoint Heart

Figure 3 Heart Detail

The heart is worked from the center line out. Start with the Oblique Cross and alternate vertical lines of the Continental stitch and Slanted Gobelin 2 x 2. To the left of the center line, stitches slant from left to right and to the right they slant right to left. As shown in the photo, the point of the heart forms a prefect “v” which fits smoothly with the Straight Diagonal.

The Straight Diagonal is worked over 3 canvas threads from top of canvas down. The stitch diagram shows in running from the top right down to the left. It would be reversed for the opposite half.

 

Slanted diagonal Needlepoint Stitch

Figure 4 Slanted Diagonal

Where the continuity large Straight Diagonal is difficult maintain, the background areas around the center line are worked in the Continental stitch, slanted left to right or right to left depending on side. Likewise, flowers are done the same way.

 

 

 

 

Coming next: Day 3 and Day 4 with more feathered friends and the second symmetrical design.