Tuesday, January 18, 2011

What is Needlepoint? 2010 Version

ANG has updated the What is Needlepoint? page on their site with information from the 2010 exhibit.  You can see and read about award winning stitching there.  I'm including the link to all the series in case you haven't seen them.  Choose the year you are interested and click.
http://www.needlepoint.org/whatis.php

I am hoping 2009 will be posted one day but it sounds like that is not going to happen.  However, I am very glad the ugly ANG logo isn't plastered all over these photos.  I found it very distracting in previous years where it always seemed to cover an area I wanted to look at.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Jelly Beans and Men at Work UPDATED

Jelly Bean Stock's Delightful Devil
Ridgewood Needlepoint has a little more TNNA to share with us:  photos of Dale (DJ Designs) and Raymond (Raymond Crawford) chatting when the mad rush of the trade show is over.  I love seeing our favorite designers in person!
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2011/01/more-from-tnna.html

My spies have alerted me to a new NP company that was at the trade show--Jelly Bean Stock.  Here is their website.  You'll love the old fashioned movie poster-like Halloween designs, the devil masks among the Venetian Masks (see above photo), and the peacocks and the Let It Snow sign in chilly blues and icy whites.  They have some other nice things, too, but those are the ones that caught my eye.  What's your favorite? Is it like the flavors of jelly beans, you have too many favorites to decide on just one?
http://jellybeanstock.com/index.html

Thanks for the tip, Pat, and the extra photos, Elaine!

UPDATE:  Pat came through again with the Jelly Bean Stock artist's blog which has many nice photos of the original art designed for NP canvas.
http://anniescurrentpaintings.blogspot.com/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Back to the Turkey's Borders UPDATED

Original Borders for Mary Lake Thompson Turkey
Nancy's been working on the borders that surround her turkey canvas.  Here is what she's testing, UPDATED with photos:

"This is a followup to my last e-mail about my test stitching on the borders.  Since that work I have refined and adjusted what I'd done to that point.  I know this is all hard to picture without a photo, but my camera is still not playing nice with my computer.  I hope to have some help with that tomorrow.  Cross your fingers.  Here's the latest border thought, from the inside to the outside:


Nancy's Expanded Border
1) As before and as painted, a single row of tent stitches, but in a slightly lighter brown.  The very dark brown as painted seemed pretty stark.
2)  As before and as painted, a single row of tent stitches in the sage green.
3)  As before a four thread wide border of the Overture in satin stitch.
4)  A two thread wide border of the medium brown, changing to three threads wide at the corners, also in satin stitch.  [Note:  Nancy has added this to the outside of the design.]
5)  A four thread wide border, satin stitch, of the rust Impressions, which downshifts to three threads at the corners to compensate for the wider brown at the corners.  [Note:  Nancy has added this to the outside of the design.]
6)  A twelve thread wide satin stitch border of the sage green with open squares at the corners in which I hope to put the Chilly Hollow stitch.  [Note:  Nancy has added this to the outside of the design.]


Nancy's Test Stitching, Including Two Test Borders

All the threads are Silk and Ivory except for the Overture and the rust Impressions.  I sample stitched the Chilly Hollow stitch tonight - what a great stitch it is.  I've heard about it off and on for quite a while - now I've done one!  I tried the Rhodes, but think I will prefer the Chilly Hollow.  I'm not sure I understand how to put bullions in the center.  Maybe that's because I made the center smaller since this square is just 12 threads square, not 16.


I've used the satin stitch instead of the Gobelin because it covers better on the white canvas."


Nancy's Background Stitch with Random Metallic Row
This all sounds marvelous, Nancy. I like the way you are keeping the border widths consistent and gradually increasing them. This makes a simple border more complex without making it so fancy it competes with the bird.

Filling a Chilly Hollow stitch's center with bullions is easy. You just stick them inside going any which way to cover so that no canvas shows. But if you are making your CH stitch smaller, you might want to consider using beads instead of bullions. That would give a touch of glitz to the corners that should echo the turkey feathers gleam.  For those who are unfamiliar with the CH stitch, here is a diagram.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2002/Mar.php

Are you using the same sage green thread for the CH stitches as are in the last outside border?  You can also use French knots to fill the center, although I have heard of folks putting a shisha mirror in the center of a CH stitch variation.  Another way to go is to add a big Smyrna cross in metallic thread in the center.  You may want to wait until later to decide what to put in the center of the corner stitches, however.  

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow