Blogs are great places to post your opinions and receive feedback from others who care about the same things you do. These blog entries from other stitch-bloggers have important topics for us to read and ponder. First, here is what one new shop owner says about needlepoint magazines.
http://rittenhouseneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-issue-of-needlepoint-now.html
My new Needlepoint Now magazine just arrived. The new format is becoming clear. There are new columnists, a new emphasis on publishing stitch guides for painted canvases which one can buy in the local shop and then stitch via the printed guide, and guides to new products and books as usual. I am a bit wary of totally abandoning line drawn designs in favor of charted pieces (although the Carole Lake/Tony Gerdes design is very clever!) and stitch guides for painted canvases which folks have to buy, however beautiful (and that Melissa Shirley flower purse is to die for!). I like the free-form line drawings one can fill with any color or stitch as I think that encourages creativity.
Speaking of any stitch, here is a new designer's take on where the emphasis on fancy stitches is taking us.
http://needlepoint.storeblogs.com/2009/07/13/the-fancy-stitch-monster
UPDATE: Marianne explains herself more here.
http://needlepoint.storeblogs.com/2009/07/14/iconoclast-me
I love fancy stitches myself, although I did do a piece entirely in tent stitches last summer. Remember that? It is surprisingly hard to do an all basketweave piece with even tension if you are constantly changing colors and thread types. I think the fancy stitches are easier for novices to execute well, but maybe I'm wrong. When you are looking at NP from the perspective of 21 years' stitch experience, you are not really understanding the beginner's problems.
Does anyone else think that what Marianne and Stephen are talking about is a return to the basics in needlepoint? I do know that what we online needlepointers do often has no relationship to the bulk of needlepointers who haven't discovered the online world we live in. There are even shops which discourage the use of stretcher bars, using anything except plastic canvas for a beginning project, only sell Paternayan wool, etc. Of course there are stitchers who deliberately only tent stitch designs but that is their preference, not something imposed on them because they and their shop don't know anything else!
It dawned on me after reading Ruth Schmuff's blog entry (link below) that although I use a lot of tent stitches on projects, I also use a great many fancy (and expensive!) threads. A personal challenge may be for me to blog-stitch something entirely in DMC cotton, something that isn't expensive for a beginner to try. Something along the lines of the outlined Sundance lady in a shawl project I did three summers ago to show how to fake expensive overdyes using DMC cotton....
http://www.tistheseason.org/blog/2009/07/new-stitchers.html
Now, something we all can agree on--
http://needleprint.blogspot.com/2009/07/support-your-needlework-store.html
I'd love to hear your thoughts on any or all of the above!Jane, sending hugs to all stitchers everywhere from CH
UPDATE #2: The designer Barbara Bergsten adds her thoughts on her blog.
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/create_needlepoint/2009/07/decorative-needlepoint-stitches.html
UPDATE #3: Margaret adds her own thoughts to the discussion. Anyone else?
http://cranecottage.com/stitchingblog/?p=1136
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
14 comments:
Hi Jane,
There are so many comments I want to make I don't know where to begin! I haven't yet received my Needlepoint Now, so I will need to wait & see if I see what you see. Personally, though, I am not a fan of counted stitching, and more of a fan of painted canvas, with line drawings coming in second. So, I think I like the idea of the stitch guides in the magazine, although I think there is a risk there in making the audience smaller & smaller; if there are a few issues with stitch guides that you don't care for, in succession, will you continue to renew your subscription? Hopefully, the "what's new" sections readily fill in the blanks.
On the other hand, I don't need a guide for every piece I stitch....in fact I find that a little boring, wanting to dive into picking threads & stitches myself sometimes.
In doing so, though, I believe it was Janet Perry that suggests that every canvas have a little bit of tent stitch to "rest the eye," & that's an adage I try to follow myself when making up my own stitch guides. I agree with you that tent stitch is not as easy as it looks, as I am working on my "switch off" canvas now, & I put in a wide swath of white silk tent stitches. Perhaps it's Tony Minieri's voice in my ear, whispering about the laying tool, but tent stitches are not as easy as they look, and I find myself looking at them much more critically than I have in the past.
I think this is quite an elitist hobby. When I see a stitcher working a painted canvas "in hand," I cringe. Snobbish on my part, I agree. On the other hand I cringe when I see a stitch guide with a 5 or 6 step stitch. Others will say, "and she thinks she's an intermediate stitcher?" Too many steps for me (ADD, you know!). I think that I, like you, love the threads, and I know that I love the threads more than the complex stitch.
There needs to be room for all of the above. There are some stitchers that want the guide and threads handed to them, relishing the challenge of those multi-step stitches. I prefer to surround myself with my books & stare at my canvas, making my list of possible choices....other times, I want to follow a tried and true recipe. I have sometimes described needlepoint as stitching by numbers, just like the paint by numbers kits we had as kids. It's all about what makes us happy. I don't think there's only ONE way to do this--we have to support all the ways to do it, so that our craft continues.
Ok, down off the soapbox now....perhaps I should save the rants for my blog ;)
Denise
I've not commented before but I think that whatever works for someone is good for them. Personally, I don't buy stitch guides because I enjoy picking out the stitches myself. And yes, I do 'fancy' stitches as well as basket weave. It all depends on the canvas itself. I usually keep multiple projects going and one is usually basket weave or something fairly simple. But I also love the more complicated pieces where I can utilize what I've learned over the years from my many needlepoint classes. I started off with a sale canvas, simple wool threads and doing basketweave but have progressed over the years so that now I look for the different texture threads to get the look I want and also pick my own stitches. I think you should start someone off with something that is going to be fairly quick to finish (not some epic lifelong project) so they can get fast results. Then they can progress to the more expensive threads and canvas pieces once they have fallen in love with the process!
Denise, rants are welcome here. Haven't you noticed me rambling on? LOL
You've made some good points. Certainly not everyone stitches the same thing all the time, but of course we are all longtime stitchers whose needs and desires changed since we started.
Thank you, Carol. It's nice to hear from someone new on such important topics as these.
Jane, you've given all of us needlepointers lots to think about. I have been stitching since 1970 and continue to learn from stitching, reading, and talking with other stitchers.
I think stitch guides are great, especially for the beginning needlepointer. How many times have I seen stitchers totally confused by a painted canvas? As much as I say that's the fun part, to choose the stitches that give you the texture of what you're stitching, that doesn't help to dispel the discomfort.
The number of threads that are available is another area that challenges beginners. When you selected the thread for the window of your current project, it was perfect. But new stitchers don't know all the available threads and can't always visualize what will work. Again, I tell stitchers who are fortunate enough to have a brick and mortar shop to try to spend some time there, familiarizing themselves with what is available. To outline stitches and recommend threads makes stitch guides great resources.
As far as buying threads for a segment of a canvas, what about dye lots? Even DMC has huge dye lot changes.
I wish designers recommended threads that were readily available. I'm fortunate to live in an area that has many good shops within an hour or two, but many people don't.
I love your blog and read it every day. You really are a teacher, in that you explain why you make the choices that you do, and why it works or doesn't work.
Carol Toll
Carol T., thanks for your kind words and your thoughtful comments!
Blog has two goals--give me a reason to stitch each night and show folks painted canvases aren't that hard. It looks like I am sort of succeeding in my goals!
I have not commented here before and am definitely a novice stitcher (2 years?). I also have a career and a busy life so unfortunately my stitching time is limited right now! Painted canvases and all of the different beautiful threads call to me and fortunately I have a lovely needlepoint store very close by so I can indulge and try new things. I still do a lot of basketweave, but try with each new canvas to incorporate new stitches - albeit simple ones. Stitch encyclopedias have helped me a lot - I haven't taken any classes, but what I really struggle with is what stitch to put where. Though I think it will come in time, I still don't have a knack for that. I wish I could find books that offer suggestions for different types of stitches that work well for certain elements like grass, sky, etc... Experimenting with a blank canvas certainly helps and is fun, but that cuts in to my limited stitching time!
Hi Jane,
I thought I would weigh in. My blog entry did was not intended to exculde anyone or any stitch. I was just sticking up for people like me, who prefer *plain* stitching in gorgeous color and amazing threads.
Which is not to say I do not do quite a bit of decorative *filler* stitching on backgrounds and I am very fond of slanted Gobelin stitch for narrow borders etc.
I was just my regularly scheduled rant about all the focus on just one area of our wonder art of needlepoint ( a blog enrty to follow..you have been warned). marianne
Hello, Susan. Welcome to the World of Comments, populated by smart, articulate people (except for me, of course).
You need to see if your shop will get you Stitches for Effects by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson.
http://www.a-z-needlepoint.com/search/sitesearch.cgi?pagenum=3&cat=51&usefile=
This book is the first in a series (More Stitches for Effects, Even More Stitches for Effects) which organize stitches by the effect they make. There's a listing in the back for the effect (snow, stars, clothing, hair, etc.) that directs you to the right page. The stitch is diagrammed and usually the authors tell you which type of threads to use to stitch it.
The books run $34-35 each, I think. You don't need them all but if you buy them all, they don't repeat stitches so it's not a waste.
Note that Stitches to Go by the same ladies is a book with all the stitch diagrams but nothing else. It is for the folks who want a book to travel with.
This series helps in the area you want help in and will save you time.
Marianne, point taken! Stick up for the plain stitching folks all you like. Actually, judging by what I've seen at the Woodlawn Plantation exhibit the last two years, you are on the leading edge of what stitchers are doing--tent stitching designs with a mixture of thread types.
I am behind in reading all the posts and have not received the NN but will add my two cents as we should all stitch whatever and however we want. I run from charted to painted and tent to fancy with floss to silk ribbon. Maybe I am just too flighty! LOL
Flighty is good. Folks who know how to stumpwork or lace or XS or whatever can add it to their other type of needlework and make something astounding!
I have been needlepointing for several years now - I love decorative stitches and absolutely hate basketweave! But I know it has its purposes and I so use it, but a whole piece of it will never happen in my house - that is why I quit cross stich and came to needlepoint, I like the variety of both stitches and fibers. When I started needlepoint I did mostly charted designs and ventured into painted canvases only when I could get a stitch guide or a class with a teacher to help. I think its only been the last couple of years that I really have gotten enough confidence in what I know and can do to tackle projects on my own. I don't have the luxury of a LNS I like - most of my purchases are times with a trip to visit my in-laws (2 times a year) or done online. I think we just need to be careful with any generalizations about our hobby - either with stitches, fibers or even age of the stitchers. I am still often the youngest stitcher in many classes and its not always easy.....my teenage daughter agrees when she comes - people make assumptions when she walks into the room which are invariably false! We need to continue to grow our hobby and will only do so if we remain flexible all around and embrace all the different options.
Amen! Flexibility and a welcome attitude to all stitchers of every race, sex, economic strata and style will keep Needlepoint vibrant and alive.
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