Lessons From Nerdlepoint

Finished Nerdlepoint Tote Bag

As regular Blog readers know, I like to talk about the lessons I learn from each piece I stitch.  Nerdlepoint was an unusual piece for me.  Not only was I stitching a technological marvel that a smart phone with the right app could scan, then be sent to this blog, I set myself the challenge of seeing if I could tart it up a bit and still have the scan work.

I also wanted to demonstrate how layering simple borders could really add a lot to a plain canvas. I wanted to use some fancy threads that I don't usually play around with because I stick mostly to 18 count canvas and plyable threads.  Nerdlepoint is on 13 count, making it a bit of a departure for me.

Inside Pocket

Once the canvas itself was stitched and whip-stitched onto the front of my tote bag, I had the problem of the rear of the canvas showing.  Above is the pocket I assembled from scraps of Ultrasuede.  I used some rough decorative embroidery through 2-3 layers to stitch everything together before actually sewing it to the inside of the tote bag to make a usable pocket for sunglasses and such that hides the raw back side of the canvas on the front.  Even though three layers stitching isn't too hard, but I used a sharp sewing needle and thread, a thimble and the Ultrasuede is the light weight type, not upholstery weight.

I think stretching yourself as a stitcher is a very good thing and it also presents you, Dear Reader, more than the same old thing to watch. I hope it has inspired you to tackle something plain yourself and see what you can make of it.

Thanks, John.  I hope you come up with other technological marvels for your fellow needlepointers to play with.

Now, what coffee shop full of smart phones should I invade carrying my Nerdlepoint tote?

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

Nerdlepoint Finished! (Or is it?)

John Young's Nerdlepoint

Yesterday I hand stitched Nerdlepoint to the front of the pink and orange mesh tote bag.  I love it!

There's one slight problem, however.  If you look at the photo above, you can see the coin purse and the little maker's tag inside the tote bag. Yes, the mesh is see-through.  That means the back side and turned under raw edges of Nerdlepoint is visible from the inside  What to do!?!

I have A Plan.

The plan involves the above.  I have 4 inch squares of both pink and orange Ultrasuede.  Nerdlepoint is larger than 4 inches but if I combine both colors, I can sew together an inside pocket that will hide the back of Nerdlepoint and add a useful little item to the tote bag to boot.  I put the tote bag face down on the copy machine and made a copy of the canvas which I then cut out to use as a paper pattern.

The flaw of the plan is that it involves more hand sewing.  I do not like hand sewing.  Yes, go ahead and laugh--a needlepointer who doesn't like hand sewing.

By the way, the scissors tips above are not broken. These are pinking shears.  Stay tuned to see what I do next (or hide under your bed if you don't like all the swear words about to come out of my mouth).

By the way, if you want to see a real tote bag made from scratch, check out Summer Louise's last blog post.  Summer made my Rabbit Geisha tote in pretty much the same way.  By the way, I have a question into her to ask if making this style tote is in her finishing book. She's been gone on vacation recently so I'm just now able to ask.  I'll post the answer here when I have one.
http://summerlouise.blogspot.com/2010/09/needlepoint-tote-bag-finishing.html

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

Basic Black or Hot Pink and Orange?

Last night I started to finish my Nerdlepoint canvas.  I trimmed the unstitched canvas all the way around the design about 8 threads from the stitched edge, then turned each raw edge under and pressed it with my fingers.  (Once you have a crease set in the edges, it is easier to hem the raw edges to the back side.)  I clip the corners off, then refold the edges back and start to stitch the corner folds together with sewing thread.  In the photo above you see my thread and regular sewing needle in the left corner.  The background is one of the tote bags I'm considering attaching this to.

Here are the two tote bag choices:  a black and white sturdy canvas one from the bookstore in the nearest town and a hot pink mesh bag with orange handle lining and base I picked up cheap from a chain store last fall suitable for the farmer's market or for carrying beach essentials.

I think the black tote looks best with Nerdlepoint but I'll decide later today after I've had time to think over the choices.  Then I hope to have time to whip stitch it to the front of my chosen bag.  I'll need a sharp, sturdy needle and my thimble, though!

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

Nerdlepoint Final Touches

Raspberry & Cream Nerdlepoint

Nerdlepoint is done!  I have enhanced my nerd credibility and done it fabulously, if I say so myself!

Ok, I don't actually own a smart phone but the next time I visit my brother (who has a Blackberry permanently attached to his belt--minus the time he ran over it with the lawnmower but we won't talk about that) he is going to be AMAZED.

In the photo above you see why I put another outside row of white tent stitches after the two fancy borders--I wanted some space between the earlier borders and the final one so that the latter wouldn't overshadow the former.

The thread I used for the final border is now called Legacy.  It was called Charleston when Needle Necessities made it but now that ThreadworX is open and reproducing many of the old NN threads, you can buy it under the new name.
http://www.threadworx.com/product.php?catid=5&catName=The%20Legacy%20Collection%20-%2010%20yards&pg_num=1

This is a manmade fiber that is fuzzy like a plastic feather boa.  If you use the pre-cut 18 inch length, the last 2 inches become stretched out and thin in the needle's eye, so I used 9 inch lengths to stitch long stitches all around the perimeter, each overlapping the last a bit.  When I was finished, I ran my thumb over the threads, up and down and then side to side, to make the fuzzy parts stand out.  They are trapped by the stitching but a gentle brushing is enough to make them pop out all over.

I absolutely love the effect!  It is the perfect final touch.  John and I were very curious about whether my use of color instead of the original black and white, or my adding borders would mean smart phones equipped with QR Code readers would be able to scan the code and be sent right to this site.  I sent him the photo above and he scanned it with his phone and -- IT WORKS!  His phone was sent right to http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com as planned.

Now I'm wondering whether I could have used fancy stitches for the big squares of the design.  I guess I'll leave discovering whether that scans up to another explorer to discover.

I am so happy!  Even the fact that now I have to put this on the front of a great pink tote bag I own can't make it any less fun--and you know I hate finishing.

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

Introducing Nerdlepoint

Nerdlepoint

Next to Chilly Hollow (naturally), West Chester, PA is the coolest place on earth. I know this because John Young lives there. This alone makes it a place worthy of a field trip* but John’s hobbies (which range from setting up guerilla drive-in theatre showings, making nerd patches for programmers and Girl Scout troops, showing off the most expensive and beautiful fly tying case I’ve ever seen that is perfect for storing project threads, discovering the underground disco car wash at Longwood Gardens, posting a video collection of Charles Bronson Japanese commercials, customizing his bike side car to roast coffee on the go, and of course needlepointing) means there is always something fascinating going on there. John specializes in a) finding interesting things and b) creating interesting things.

Don’t believe me? Visit John’s website.
http://www.tikaro.com/2009/08/the-guerilla-drive-in-on-the-c.html

Did I mention John needlepoints? John being John, he likes to create original pieces based on advertising art and QR codes. QR codes? You know, that’s the latest version of bar codes. Read a QR code with your smart phone (assuming it has a QR reader app downloaded) and the phone will go straight to the website address encoded in the pattern. John sent me the QR canvas shown above to try out. (I sent him The Needlepoint Doctor in return so he could try his own finishing.) The code on my canvas is set to send smart phones to the Chillyhollow Needlepoint Adventure blog. How cool is that?
http://makersmarket.com/products/466-nerdlepoint-qrcode-needlepoint-kits 

John’s canvases are on 10 or 13 count white Zweigart mono canvas with the code printed in black. (He can do 18 count but you have to ask.) They are meant to be stitched in black and white wool but heck, I have John’s rep to live up to. Surely I can find colors with enough contrast that are still machine-readable. Let’s run wild with this!

By the way, non-needlepointers can get their own nerd patches with QR codes. I feel sorry for them. Nothing is going to be better than my stitched version!!!
http://www.p8tch.com/ 

Now I just have to get the nerdlepoint canvas on stretcher bars and start rummaging in my stash.

*Or perhaps an archaeological dig if the Viking ship S’mores maker John is creating blows up.

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

2009 Woodlawn Plantation Needlework Exhibit

The 2009 Woodlawn Plantation needlework show is in its 46th year. It looks good for something nearly as old as me! This year there was lots of NP and not much XS or beading (although the winner for a miniature piece was the Lavender and Lace Designs "Angel of Winter" on at least 32 count fabric with tiny little crystal beads clustered around the angel's neckline meticulously stitched by Kennth Toon).
http://www.tiag.com/images/designs/LL-33.jpg

Several lovely original pieces were exhibited, such as the two Adam and Eve clocks by Marie Driskill that won a blue ribbon and a Judge's Choice award.

UPDATE: These pieces are charted as counted thread designs and available from the designer at this website--
http://blackberrylanedesigns.bigcartel.com/

The smaller rectangle clock features Adam and Eve and the tempting apple tree with the snake coiled around the trunk as the clock face; the other clock is a long rectangle of a clock face with a full scene of A&E under the tree (still with snake around the trunk) but this larger design has blue skies with clouds and birds flying, a little creek, a peacock, a deer, a fox, and down in the foreground, the lion & lamb resting together. It was surface embroidery and in a somewhat primitive style. A docent and I talked about it, me claiming A&E motifs aren't popular these days and asking why this choice, and the docent saying look at all the animals-it's an excuse to stitch wonderful animals. She was right, of course.

I saw many more pillows than usual (the number have been increasing the last 2-3 years) and a lot of flower designs, often framed. I particularly remember two lovely framed single thistle flowers in an Arts and Crafts style, each with curved and symmetrical leaves. Both were by the same stitcher (Anna Garris Goiser) and beautifully framed. Classical design in crewel wool doesn't get any better than this. One thistle won a very deserved blue ribbon. Crewel is coming back, by the way. I saw several crewel pieces in the traditional wool (a chair seat and a long wool coat covered in a crewel landscape of flowers and birds) and several more pieces in NP with crewel-style patterns.

I only noticed one Japanese Embroidery piece that showed a swallow flying among the plum or cherry blossoms on trailing tree limbs. But there were lots of mermaids! I've seen many mermaid motifs in samplers (this area is a hot bed of the repo sampler movement) but these were NP. It always amazes me to see stitchers simultaneously and independently decide to stitch the same subject matter. This year there were no Easter canvases at all, but last year there were 15-20 rabbits, Easter eggs, ducks, Fabrege eggs, etc. The Halloween designs were not as frequent as in the past but Christmas designs are holding steady. How on earth do we all decide to stitch (or not) the same themes at the same time? I can understand why some years there are many Japanese Embroidery pieces and other years there aren't many. These are large piece done for the various stages in JE study, and the people who showed last year might not have finished the next stage in time to show their work.

Speaking of Christmas pieces, there were two artificial trees full of cute ornaments on display and almost 10 large Christmas stockings, all lovely. But my favorite Christmas piece didn't win any awards. It was just charming, a cat with a crown on its head and a flying scarf out on the snow with a mouse friend (also with a scarf) examining the wrapped presents stacked on the ground, each with a bow and its own cat paw marked name tag. The snowflakes in the sky, the expression on the cat's greedy face, the little pointy nose of the mouse, they all combined to make me smile. The piece was very nicely stitched by Marla Frazier and I enjoyed seeing it a lot.

UPDATE:  This is a canvas by Lee which turned up in 2010 on the Destaashing Blog.  I decided to update the 2009 Woodlawn report with the photo of the unstitched canvas above. You'll have to imagine the finished design!
http://stitchingdestashing.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-kat.html

Geometric designs in NP had lots of wonderful representative pieces. My favorite was probably Cheyenne Dyarman's original bargello piece, full of lots of color and many patterns. She won the Emma Mathison ribbon which is for the outstanding "junior" stitcher's piece. Young AND talented? Nothing makes me happier (or more jealous).

I saw Carole Lake's In a Purple Passion in peach,
http://www.carolelake.com/TeachingPieces/PurplePassion.htm

three versions of Laura Perin's Amathyst Dreams hung together (a black and silver version; a red, green and gold one; and a blue and green colorways) as well as a blue and green piece that I think is her Amber Waves. You can see both of Ms. Perin's designs here. Click on the thumbnail photos for a better look.
http://www.theneedlepointer.com/needlepoint-canvases_artist.asp?ArtistID=159

For once, the geometric stitchers showed none of Susan Portra's designs. This is the first year I've been to Woodlawn that I have not seen a Susan Portra piece on display but these are out of print long ago and with her website closing, they are probably going to continue being scarce. This U.K. shop has a nice selection, however. Bring Your Canvas To Life will be open until the end of this month and also has some of her charts. If you ever wanted to stitch one of Susan's pieces, I think you'd better buy your chart soon.
http://www.westendembroidery.com/s_portra.html

http://www.bringyourcanvastolife.com/page/page/3354979.htm

I forgot to mention the samplers. The large room where you enter the plantation is always full of samplers. I did notice this year how many large samplers there were and how many were the monochromatic all-over patterned type. The two big winners in samplers were a blackwork band sampler by Melissa Nichols that alternated bands in red, blue and green on what seemed to be 40 count linen (each stitch perfect, by the way, and the docents claim also perfect on the back side!) and a red one by John Kazmaier with slightly oriental motifs arranged as if it was a rug. Here are two links to explore. The first has lots of reproducation samplers. These are big at Woodlawn.
http://www.samplersrevisited.com/reproduction.cfm

The second shows typical one-color samplers. The ones on display at Woodlawn come from a variety of designers but I know Long Dog Samplers are highly esteemed by counted thread folk.
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/longdog/catalogue.html

Medieval knot gardens appeared in several forms--my favorite was the book cover on small count linen by Catherine Jordan which is an original piece. The garden there was walled with a large front gate and a small back one. Wisteria spilled over the front in exquisite tiny French knots while the four little green gardens, divided by crossed paths with symetrical patterns of green. They must be herbs and trimmed shrubs. It was lovely! Luckily, I found a photo on her website although when the photo was taken, the design was not mounted on the book cover yet. I am very tempted to give this piece my I'd Take It Home If I Could Award.
http://www.catherinesdesigns.net/samplers1.htm

Catherine also entered a second piece, one of her hand dyed linen boxes. It had a high rounded oval lid heavily padded and custom fabric dyed by Catherine to be clouds in a blue sky. The sides of the box had trees in autumn colors along the edges of meadows and fields. I wish I could have seen all the sides! I know there was a rising sun and suspect there were other wonderful things to see! Here is Catherine's website. This box isn't the one I saw but this will give you the idea. Her stitching is exquisite and the hand dyeing very subtle and beautiful.
http://www.catherinesdesigns.net/Painting_and_color.htm

A second garden you won't want to miss if you actually get to the show is the bird's eye view garden rug stitched by Diane Mitchell. It is an original design, laid out like one of those architectural plans of a garden with a brick patio, a terrace with the cat snoozing, and lots and lots of plants, all seen from above. The stitcher carefully matched plant colors in her garden to a tray of threads, according to the docent. The garden is very elaborate and the rug quite large, probably 2 feet wide by at least four long and it was a tremendous amount of work to stitch, all in tent stitches, on 18 count. The stitcher obviously put a lot of work into designing the rug, stitching it and of course maintaining the large garden it memorializes!

Until I saw this blog entry, I wasn't sure I'd mention the stitched chair I saw. It was turned to show the side so I am not sure if it was this one but you get the idea. It would be a fun challenge for a counted thread/surface embroidery fan.
http://lovetostitch99.blogspot.com/2009/03/peacock-stitching-chair-by-cats.html

Dorothy Lesher's gold metallic dragon was on display in the formal parlor. I wish it hadn't been on the far wall to the left of the chimney. This piece needs a close examination to see the various textures of all the different gold thread types.
http://www.needlepoint.org/Seminar-08/classes/4day/40813.php

Elena Miagkova's surface embroidery white feather peacock was in the same room. This piece mixed white feathers with lace eyelet "eyes" and some crewel type flowers into something quite special. The folk art influence on this piece is obvious but it doesn't belong in any one category. Actually, a mix of influences was apparent in quite a few pices on exhibit. Lois Fisher showed a ribbon embroidery piece done on paper with a watercolor background which was lovely. Kathleen M. Olex stitched a mixed blackwork and tent stitch portrait of autumn leaves which was gorgeous enough to pick up a Judges Choice ribbon.

I don't want you to think that the traditional was overlooked. Kaffe Fassett's shells pillow was on display, charming me with its subtle coloration and perfect tent stitches.
http://www.resurgence.org/gallery/kaffe-fassett/kaffe-fassett.html

Two of Mindy's Asian quilt designs were also done in tent stitches, with texture provided by various thread types. Three pages of Mindy's Asian quilt patterns start at the link below. They are lovely and always popular at Woodlawn.
http://www.mindysneedlepoint.com/asian_default.htm

And there were slip on mules and sandals, pocketbooks (I particularly liked the golden elephants on coral red bagette purse), a stained glass window pillow, and many many more pieces which would not surprise anyone transported from 1973 to see the show. It's just that the threads are modern and the designs first rate. That brings traditional needlepoint to the 21st Century and is a hallmark of our times.

As usual there were many Asian inspired designs. I loved Lee's wisteria kimono, and
http://www.silk-road-needle.com/images/Website/Lee%27s%20Needle%20Arts%20006.jpg

Sophia's paper umbrellas fan and
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/products.php?cat=116

the lovely little turquoise "takeout" box purse with a geisha and double cherry blossom pattern (number 15 on the designer's website).
http://www.dirksdesigns.com/ddc/keeg/designs/des_handbg.htm

One of Tony Minieri's teapots (the Washington, D.C. one with cherry blossom sprays and an American flag hanging in the background) made a lovely showing, plus there were a great many animal canvases. In fact, if it hadn't been for all the flower canvases, I would have said animal canvases of all shapes, sizes, styles and colors were the coming thing in NP design. I saw The Cowardly Lion, Victorian kittens, a fat modern cat, colorful butterflies, a giant ladybug and even larger bee in the midest of a very stylish border, a dormouse at a picnic, dog portraits, chickens, fish, owls, circus monkeys, and much more. There was even a frog dressed to shop carrying her Shop Til You Drop tote bag. All those animals personify stitching today. They were in NP, XS, blackwork, were in all styles, sizes and made up into all sorts of pillows, framed works of art, even a doggy bag lunch bag sporting a dog, tongue hanging out over his sporty bandana.

Woodlawn this year is traditional but mixes styles and threads to show a great diversity and also a clear interest in the flowers and animals of our natural world. I hope you enjoyed a brief report on the exhibit and what I saw there.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Fairy Tales for Dark Days

If you have been watching the world-wide economic meltdown with trepidation the last week or so, you might find a bit of comfort in the posting our fellow NP blogger John Young made. I'm old enough to remember several economic disasters (the 1973 Oil Embargo, anyone?) and to be able to put them into perspective. Sometimes you have to look to the past to remember the present isn't forever.

http://www.tikaro.com/2008/10/from-fdrs-first-inaugural-addr.html

This is a good time to escape for a bit and relax, which is probably why needlepoint was invented. My favorite escape from the pressures of first through third grade when I was learning to read was a good fairy tale and I still love them. No one does lovelier fairy tale canvases than Edie and Ginger. Above is Sleeping Beauty. If you look out through the window you'll see the entrance with vines beginning to grow to block access to the enchanted castle with the princess deep in slumber inside.


This canvas is the Little Mermaid. Don't you love the swirl of the waters? It's a sad tale of love in the original but here you only see the beauty of the sea and the mermaid and her friends.

Edie and Ginger canvases are distributed by CBK Needle Collections. You can look for your favorite fairy tale here. Don't forget there are two pages of escapism just waiting for your needle!

http://cbkneedlepointcollections.com/ProdList.php?page=1&scId=9&cpId=6

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog with two more designs showcased at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Kudos to Scrim Discovery Needlepoint

This is my shop of the week-Scrim Discovery Needlepoint!

http://www.scrimdiscovery.com/

To find out why, you'll need to visit John Young's blog--

http://www.tikaro.com/2008/08/beach-report-matts-mc5-needlep.html

By the way, the poster above is from the State Library of Iowa. Down with all sterotypes of needlepointers! Or any needle artist. We come in many shapes, sizes, sexes and colors but we are all kin when it comes to our enjoyment of our stitching.

http://gslis.simmons.edu/blogs/panopticon/2008/08/hes_really_into_needlepoint.html

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Want to be a Commando Nerd Needlepoint Patch Beta Tester?

Do you have an iPhone? Better yet, know lots of folks who do? Then this NP patch is something you really need!

http://www.tikaro.com/2008/07/velcro-backed-qrcode-patches-t.html

I am not sure the patches themselves are needlepointed-John Young doesn't say. If you follow his blog, he does needlepoint designs that are machine readable and that can direct the machine (or in this case, the iPhone with the reader downloaded) to a website. Any website. You can send folks to the ANG website, to your home page, to your shop, etc.

This is exceedingly cool. Especially for NP nerds like us.

Jane, waving like mad from CH

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Other Needlepoint Blogs

My Blogspot blog allows me to both list needlepoint blogs I follow and show titles of updated entries made to them. I added that function a week or so ago and hope that someday I'll be able to use something similar on the more extensive blog list at my main Yahoo 360 blog (link below).

Blogs are a lot of fun to read, particularly on the days when I am too tired to stitch but still want some NP content in my life. They are a constant source of knowledge for me and I thought you might like to hear about some special things I've read on other blogs recently.

Do you love blackwork? Do you love mystery pieces where you start stitching and have no clue what the final design will look like? If so, do I have a blog for you! Laura Perin, whose beautiful and stylish blog I follow religiously, is going to do a mystery blackwork piece. You can read about this free (!!!) and fun project here. I am swamped with things to stitch with deadlines but you can bet I'll be watching Laura's mystery blackwork piece develop from the sidelines.

http://two-handedstitcher.blogspot.com/2008/07/stitch-with-me.html

Janet Perry and I have different tastes and styles of needlepointing but her blog is always worth keeping an eye on. She turns up fascinating gems like this one about the late Sol Kent and his elegant geometric NP on a style blog.

http://thepeakofchic.blogspot.com/2008/07/sol-kent-and-his-sophisticated.html

Are you tempted to try your own finishing of small ornaments? Then Pat in NC is going to be your new best friend! Pat explains in the link below how she finished a wonderful little Squiggee bird ornament and mounted it on a post. If you click on "Squiggee's Birds" in the Labels List column on the right you will see all Pat's blog entries about the birds. (Remember to click on Older Posts to continue reading.) Aren't they NEAT?! If you want to try this, visit Squiggee's website and pick out birds of your own (second link below).

http://needleartnut.blogspot.com/2008/07/details-on-peach-delight-and-squiggees.html

http://www.squiggeedesigns.com/

Are you sick of cutsey NP? Do all those Christmas designs make you want to throw up? Are you tired of fancy stitches and fancier threads? Are you looking for guy stuff to stitch? Meet John Young and his Nerdlepoint! His original designs are all inspired by his strong design sense. I enjoy visiting his blog very much to see his NP and read about other interests in his life. The second link below talks about why we do what we do and it's a great read to end this blog entry with.

http://www.tikaro.com/2008/07/boxcar-alligator-needlepoint-p.html

http://www.tikaro.com/2007/12/moments-of-grace-through-chick.html

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow