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Posts tagged ‘needlepoint’

Customer Spotlight – Surfing and Nautical Needlepoint

Our customers do some amazing work, and helping them create custom needlepoint belt designs is what makes this job fun!

Attached are a few projects recently finished.

Jenny in CA has stitched the Surfer’s Healing Belts and Key Fob which are going out for a great cause.  She also needlepointed the nautcial designs shown at the bottom of the post.

Allie in NY has finished another surfboard needlepoint belt!

I love working on these projects and thanks to Jenny and Allie for sharing the photos!  Jenny has recommend hilltop leather as they did the finishing on Red and Khaki belts.

Surfing Needlepoint Belts

Surfing Needlepoint Belts

Nautical Needlepoint

Nautical Needlepoint

 

Celtic Knot Paisley Needlepoint Pillow

Check out our new Celtic Knot Paisley Needlepoint Pillow!

Light blue background with paisley to compliment the celtic knot.

This is a customizable needlepoint pillow, so the background color and the color inside the paisley pattern are able to be changed according to the stitcher’s needs.  Initials or words can also be added.

This design is now available on our website.

celtic knot pillow webshot

 

Three Colorful Birds Needlepoint Pillow

Our new Three Birds Needlepoint Pillow is perfect to brighten up any room in your home.

This design was inspired by many different tropical birds and tropical flowers, so there is definitely no lack of colors in this needlepoint pillow.  This is a great project for any age and makes a great gift, no matter what the occasion.

This pillow is now available on our website!

3 Birds Pillow

Bargello Pillows

Who knew this funky popular 60’s design originated in Italy with a line of chairs.  The Bargello castle in Florence, Italy housed these beautiful patterns first designed by Hungarian stitchers in the 17th century.  The long lines work perfectly for needlepoint pillows and prove to be a challenging stitch.

examples of Bargello patterns

Pillows work as a perfect canvas to express these Bargello designs and beautiful colors.    The needlepoint patterns often mimics a wave or flame but of course more geometrically in needle point.  I have been working on designs that utilize colors that will work in a modern home but pay homage to the beautiful art form.

The image  below shows the antique version of Bargello in a wall covering.

wallcovering from the Bargello Palace, Florence, Italy

Add some spice to your room and get stitching with these designs.  These pillow designs can be found on Needle Paint.  They work well alone or paired together. The colors can be changed out to accomodate your room or season.  The color pallette I chose for this pairing is a fall medley.

Barapur and Puebla Needle Paint designs.

Stay tuned for new designs from Needle Paint!  We have been at the drawing board and will have something new for you each week!

Bling for Needlepoint

I had a chance to work next to June McKnight a few weeks ago and listen in on some interesting needlepoint discussions.  One of the fun things that needlepointers have been doing more of lately is embellishing their needlepoint designs with “Bling”.

June is once again trying to help needlepointers by showing them how easy it is to spice up new projects in her new book titled (what else but…)  Bling – Glitz & Glamor for Needlepoint.  You can buy this book from your local needlepoint shop, or online at: BeStitched Needlepoint

This not only shows you how to use beads and drops with stitches, it also tells you where to get them.  Blinging works well on all types of needlepoint kits, including christmas!

You can see Peggy’s bling on her last needlepoint christmas stocking.

Peggy added some Needlepoint Bling to Christmas!

Needlepoint Napkin Rings – For the Eco-Conscious

I have to admit that I am addicted to cloth napkins. It is so bad that when we travel I take my own cloth napkins to our vacation rentals. This winter as usual my husband and I rented a house on the beach in Molokai, Hawaii, and we had several couples visiting. I got tired of trying to remember whose napkin was whose. It was time for custom needlepoint napkin rings with a Hawaiian theme.

Each ring measures 1.5 X 6.0 inches and I placed them on the needlepoint canvases an inch apart. I used 16 different traditional Hawaiian quilt blocks in bold primary colors. Each ring measures 1.5 X 6.0 inches and I placed them on the canvas an inch apart. I used 16 different traditional Hawaiian quilt blocks in bold primary colors. The background is a rusty-orange, probably influenced by the red soils of Molokai.

After I finished needlepointing the canvas, I cut the rings apart and did loop stitch over the 2 stitches on each edge as shown here. I used the background color along the length of each ring and a different color for the edges — that was so all my guest had to remember was the edge color of their ring in order to claim the correct napkin at each meal. If your canvas needs block, I recommend that you block it before cutting the rings apart. After edging the length, I found that I needed to reblock them again.

I lined each ring with 1 1/2-in gross grain ribbon which I purchased from JoAnn’s,

I slip-stitched the lining together to form the ring and then using the appropriate color overcast the edges.  Voila! My contribution to the ecosystem — no more paper napkins and everyone can remember their color so I save on water by not having to wash napkins so often. These would make a great needlepoint Christmas, wedding, or house warming gift.

 

Horse Needlepoint Canvases

Needlepaint Picture of the Week

Last week, we made a really beautiful custom horse needlepoint canvas.  
The horse is really beautiful, and I'm looking forward to seeing it finished!

A Custom Horse Needlepoint Canvas

Tiger Needlepoint Canvases and Needlepoint Kits

I was inspired by an order for a tiger needlepoint canvas a few months ago.  It was such an amazing photo that I had to put something together for the rest of the needlepointing world!  The customer is busy finishing their project, and will email us photo’s when it is done 🙂

Tiger Needlepoint Canvas 8 x 6 inches on 18 mesh canvas

Tiger Needlepoint Canvas 8 x 6 inches on 18 mesh canvas

You can buy this canvas at our ETSY needlepoint shop.

More animal needlepoint canvases are at our shop, but check out the Leopard!

leopard needlepoint canvas

Leopard Needlepoint Canvas 10 x 7.5 inches on 18 mesh canvas

 

Social Websites for Needlepoint

Do you like to share your needlepoint works of art with others?  Then the internet is the perfect place for you.  There are lots of websites now were stitchers can share their projects, needlepoint photos, and discuss new needlepoint ideas!

We’ve been looking and sharing and discussing and have come up with a list of a few of our favorites:  If your favorite site is not listed, please list it in the comments section or contact us.

Our list is broken into 2 parts, one is for Sharing, one is for Learning and Looking.

 

Sharing:  

stitcherie.ning.com  – This website has about 650 group members only focused on Needlepoint.  It is great because it allows people to easily add their own photos and talk about them.

handembroidery.ning.com – this network is based out of the UK but has over 3000 very active members

Craftser.org – with over 200,000 members, look for the needlework portion of this group – http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=356.0

 

Learning and Looking:

needlepoint.about.com – Cheryl Fall keeps her eyes open for great needlepoint as well as offering free stitch charts every week!

nuts-about-needlepoint.com – Janet Perry has been keeping the most up to date website covering topics that will keep beginners and experts busy for months.

CraftGossip.com/needlework – Denise Felton keeps readers coming back by posting beautiful needlework every day.

 

Facebook:

The biggest social network in the world is a great place to connect and share your passion for stitching!

Many of the sites above also have Facebook pages including NeedlePaint.

 

More: 

There are so many needlepoint blogs, if you look at the links on right side of nuts-about-needlepoint.com

Custom Needlepont Dog Collar

We’ve been thinking of what other projects are great for custom needlepoint, and realized that the answer is laying at our feet!

A custom needlepoint dog collar can be beautiful and make a great gift for your furry friends.

Peggy is currently working on a project for her son who asked for a ‘tough looking’ collar for his male dog, Jack.

I worked on designing this and created a simple design that looks great!  And is very tough 🙂

1.25" x 17" Needlepoint Design for Jack

Now, look again, and see how ‘tough’ becomes girly when I change the colors!

1.25" x 17" Custom Pink Needlepoint Design for a Dog Collar

This project is just underway, we hope to have lots of designs and complete needlepoint dog collar kits on our Etsy needlepoint shop soon.  All designs are customizable, please contact us if you would like us to design your dog’s needlepoint collar!

Some ideas worth considering:  Stitch in a phone number, extra wide collars