These two lovely needlepoint pillows were emailed to by Hala Alfi last week. The pillows are very well stitched and they are a great way to display your talent!
Marine Crest Needlepoint Pillow
Cute Dog Needlepoint Pillow
Lovely Needlepoint Pillows
November 23, 2011
The Four Hour Needlepoint Ornament
November 18, 2011
With less than a month to do to Christmas, I was getting challenged to finish my goal of 9 personalized needlepoint ornaments. I needed to cut dramatically the time it took to needlepoint the ornaments. Could I do one in 4 hours?
Looking at the needlepoint design choices, I selected the Snowflake Design — not too complex and only 3 colors, but there is a lot of background. If I were to meet my 4-hour goal, I had to come up with something even quicker than the open work I did on Santa in his sleigh .
To the dr
awing board — the custom needlepoint canvas has a rich dark green background so why cover it up? Add red running stitches in alternating columns of over 3 rows and under one. It looked great and added a new dimensions to the otherwise plain background.
And, canvas on stretcher, I headed off to my flight from Denver to Boston — 3.5 hours. When I landed in Boston, I had finished all but 2 square inches of the background. It only took me another 15 minutes to finish up when I got time at my destination and then another 20 minutes to sew it onto the green fabric stuff it and tie it up. Success!!!
As you can see, I used the same technique on the blue snowflake ornament with light blue on the dark blue background.
Thanksgiving is not here and I am done with the ornament!!
Christmas Needlepoint Cat Pillow Finishing
November 11, 2011
Hightail and Tagger Christmas Needlepoint Cat Pillow
We just got a pillow back from our needlepoint finisher, and I have to share the pictures of it!
Helen Dixon stitched this pillow using a custom needlepoint kit she purchased on NeedlePaint.com. She mailed us back the mostly finished canvas and requested the black velvet frame and backing, with red velvet piping, and it looks amazing!
Just in time, this needlepoint Christmas pillow still look sophisticated. The needlepoint pillow is 12 x 12 inches. If you are interested in having your needlepoint kit turned into a pillow, please feel free to contact us, our prices are great, and our pillow finisher has over 30 years of experience!
Close Up, the Needlepoint Cat Pillow, Just In Time for Christmas!
All NeedlePaint.com customers get a discounted rate, and if they let us know that they may want to have us finish the pillow for them, we will include a return label with their shipment so they can mail us back the canvas after they have done the stitching. (We do also offer needlework finishing if needed, in this case we finished the cats).
How to Design a Needlepoint Wedding Ring Bearer Pillow
November 4, 2011
Next summer’s weddings are fast approaching. While most “save the dates” and invitations have still not been created, the forward-looking needle pointer will want to consider getting ahead of the game and start a personalized needlepoint ring bearer pillow. An experienced needle pointer should find a wedding ring pillow to be a fun project since it is small enough to be finished in a few weeks, and it’s very affordable.
Some tips on where to start:
# Has the couple already created their wedding invitation? Often the invitation can be used as the inspiration for the design and colors that go onto the pillow. For example, if there is a flower on their invitation, that flower could go on the pillow. You can either try to draw it onto the canvas yourself, or you can email a picture of the invitation to the designers at NeedlePaint.com, and they will prepare a preview, free of charge.
# If there is no invitation to look at yet, consider looking at our personalized needlepoint shop at www.needlepaint.com. Most of our needlepoint kits include space for the bride’s and groom’s names and a date. The colors can be adjusted to match any color theme.
# Talking to the bride or her parents before selecting the colors can be very helpful. A well designed ring bearer pillow will be one of the best gifts the couple receives, as it will be used during the ceremony, and will always bring them back to their special day as a piece of decoration in their home.
Once you have decided on a design, you will need to select the type of thread. NeedlePaint.com currently stocks DMC cotton embroidery floss. They have hundreds of great colors and are very easy to work with. But if you prefer wool or pearl cotton, then you can also work your canvas with these.
After you have your needlepoint kit figured out, you can order it online, taking only 2-7 business days for your custom needlepoint canvas to be made. The next steps are simple enough for all level needle pointers, including those that are trying needlepoint for the first time!
There are a number of stitches when needlepointing, some being quicker than others. The classic stitch is the continental; but if you have some large areas to cover, you can really add to your design by picking out a fancy stitch. Often these stitches take less time, and will make the pillow sparkle. Please look at NeedlePaint’s blog to see some examples of all types of stitches.
Once the canvas has been finished, it is time to make your needlepoint canvas into a pillow. You’ll need some fabric for the background, and probably want to add a small bit of piping. A quick search on the internet for “make a pillow” will make this part easy, even for inexperienced crafters. Or, if you contact us, we can email you links to videos we like. If you decide you want somebody else to make your pillow, NeedlePaint does offer this service to its customers.
Almost done! Just one more detail. To attach the wedding rings to the ring bearer pillow, you will want to be sure you use something secure. Some suggestions are safety pins, ribbon, or even a piece of twine. Any method is OK, but be sure to test it before the wedding day, to be sure the rings can’t come off.
We hope you’ll share your needlepoint ring bearer pillows with everybody! You can upload your ideas to our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NeedlePaint
NeedlePaint October Newsletter
October 28, 2011
We just sent out our October needlepoint newsletter. A lot of fun custom needlepoint projects!
Please note, if you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, you can email us with your name and email address, and we will add your name to the list. Or click here, and select the Subscribe option.
If you would like to view the live version of the newsletter with links that actually work, click here.
How to Design a Photo Needlepoint Stocking
October 24, 2011
You can now stitch a great photo needlepoint stocking very easily. As part of our new personalized needlepoint shop, we added some stocking designs that have an area where your favorite photo can be added.
To view personalized needlepoint christmas stocking designs that you can add your photo to, just go to our personalized needlepoint shop. All you have to do is type in your name and place the order and then email us the photo you would like to include.
We will email you back a preview of your design for your approval. We won’t ship any personalized orders until we have approval, and all orders are 100% satisfaction guaranteed. See our post on customer satisfaction to learn more!
Add your own Name and Photo to this Needlepoint Stocking Canvas
Customer Service and Needlepoint Design service
October 21, 2011
The last few months have been going very well at NeedlePaint.com. As you may guess, creating custom needlepoint kits is not always a perfect process, but we always do our best to get it right the first time.
A few things you may not be aware of that we do.
#1. We love to help before you place your order! If the photo needlepoint preview does not look as good as your want or you want help cropping it, please email us the photo and we will work on it and help you with your project. Also, we develop designs from scratch and are happy to discuss ideas for a new project.
#2. We review your order to be sure there are no major errors and that it looks like something we would want to stitch. You will get an email asking for the photo if we think colors may not look right, or that the canvas needs to be improved.
#3. Sometimes colors on the computer look good, but when we proceed with the order, the colors we find are totally off! On animals and people we try to color match the floss by hand as computers don’t recognize dog breeds or skin tones. Most often, we’ll get purple and green tones, but alas, we will fix them!
#4. If you are not happy with your project, we will fix the design and replace the canvas! These projects take a lot of time and the needlepoint will probably be with your family for a very long time, sometimes generations, so we encourage all of our customers to speak up if they have any problems with an order.
The feedback we’ve been getting is really nice, and lets us know that going the extra mile is worth it!
“Thank you for the update. I am really impressed with your customer service. A+ with the proactive approach—it is refreshing.” Nancy, from AZ
“I am very excited about this…and THANK YOU so much again for you help & patience with getting this perfect!! It really means a lot!!” Erica, from NJ
“Got it today and it looks great. Thank you!” Holly, from NJ
“I received my shipment yesterday and the canvas is just beautiful!!!!” Deb, from MN
This week's orders
NeedlePoint Dog Canvases
October 9, 2011
One of our favorite projects we see almost every week is the dogs. Two weeks ago, we actually had 5 dog needlepoint canvas orders, along with two cat needlepoint canvases.
Some of the dogs are below. You can see that the close up images look great. Also, we’ve been working on finding more dog breeds to add to our Etsy shop. You can browse more dog needlepoint canvases there, or upload your own needlepoint photo to create a custom needlepoint kit at our website!
Personalized Needlepoint Christmas Stocking Shop
September 23, 2011
Today NeedlePaint.com announced today that we have launched a new personalized needlepoint shop! In this shop there are many pre-designed Christmas needlepoint canvases to which customers can add their own names and also have the shop modify the colors before printing. Some of the designs even allow for the customer to add their own photos into the canvas design!
We have already posted about a few of these projects in our blog, but now we have made it easy to order them at the NeedlePaint.com personalized needlepoint shop!
New Designs for Personalized Needlepoint Stockings and Ornaments
This month we are featuring Christmas stockings and needlepoint ornament designs. In the past, personalized needlepoint stocking kits have required the stitcher to actually use a stencil and draw in a name, with very plain letters. Customers buying from NeedlePaint.com have their choice of over 100 styles of letters and 400 colors. Customers will also be happy to know that their names will be printed onto the canvas, and that the needlepoint kits will include not only the canvas and thread, but they will also come with a counted stitch guide, counted color aid, and DMC matched color guide.
Our blogs explain how to make these so follow the links below:
Needlepoint Christmas Ornaments Using Quick Stitches
How to make Needlepoint Christmas Ornaments
Personalized Needelpoint Chrismas Stocking
Needlepoint Christmas Ornaments Using Quick Stitches
September 19, 2011
With December rapidly approaching, I realized that I was going to have to speed up if my goal of 12 personalized needlepoint ornaments for Christmas gifts was to be met. I have now completed 5 and my needle is flying.
The key to speed – quick backgrounds! Three fast background stitches came from The Needlepoint Book by Joe Ippolito Christensen.
On the Penguin Needlepoint Ornament, I used a variation on the Four-way Bargello for the sky, and n0t so quick was the diagonal mosaic for the ice bergs and snow. Still faster than the traditional continental stitch!
The background for the angel ornament is the Victorian Step which was even quicker.
But, the ultimate speed came with the open work on the Santa ornament. This is a modification of the Four-Sided Over Three stitch from A Pageant of Pattern for Needlepoint Canvas by Sherlee Lantz. It does not cover the canvas but lets the printed background show through.
Four-Sided Over Three Stitch
I also came up with some other ideas to dress them up quickly:
- Beads for stars or snowflakes on Santa and the Penguins.
- Beads on the Angels dress.
- Jingle bells hanging from the Penguins bottom ties (not shown in the picture above).
- Beads for eyes.
- Beads for Santa’s Christmas tree.
Yes, I got into beads. I never thought I would, but I did follow the advice of my quilting sister Mary Sue Suit “Don’t get carried away. Beads can be additive!” And, I could still be beading if other ornaments weren’t calling.
Next up is going to be Snowflake ornament on 14 pt with lots of open work and metallic threat. Stay tuned!
To read how easy it is to make these ornaments, please see our blog that explains how to make a needlepoint Christmas ornament.
Personalized needlepoint kits on 14 pt and 18 pt canvas will be available on NeedlePaint.com very soon!
Written by needlepaint
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