Rosalyn Cherry-Soleil on Needlepoint as Art

Don't miss this interview with Rosalyn Cherry-Soleil talking about her needlepoint art.
http://www.stitchamaze.com/about.aspx

Her website is full of photographs and more details about pieces she has stitched or which are in progress. Explore and enjoy. Of course people who subscribe to Needlepoint Now magazine will have read her articles about her work and inspirations over the past year.

Thanks for doing this, Rosalyn. You don't know how inspiring it is to see an artist at work using our own needlepoint canvas!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Finishing Made Easy: Cut It Out

The first thing I did when I had all my supplies together ready to assemble the ornaments was make a black and white xerox copy of both designs. I cut out the paper copies so that they were the same size as my icons. (The photo above shows the pet guardian angel paper copies lying on one sheet of finishing foam. The second photo below shows a paper copy being cut.) Using a loop of Scotch tape, I stuck these paper templates onto my finishing foam and cut out the foam to the correct size. I did that twice as I need two piece of finishing foam for each ornament. The needlepoint goes over one piece of finishing foam and the black felt backing goes over the other.

So for the Red Madonna I had: one NP canvas, one paper copy, and two pieces of finishing foam. Ditto the Blue Angel: one NP canvas, one paper copy, and two more pieces of finishing foam.

Because I bought self-stick finishing foam, I peeled off the backing and stuck two foam pieces to the black felt, then cut out the felt with a little margin all around the edges. These two pieces of black felt will make the back side of my ornaments.

After than, I took the two remaining pieces of finishing foam, peeled off the paper backing and stuck them to the gold lame fabric. This time when I cut out the gold lame, I didn't leave any margin sticking out. These gold lame covered finishing foam sheets go behind my needlepoint with the gold lame facing out so that you can sort of see it in the empty holes of the gold background I didn't stitch. This adds sparkle to the Christmas ornaments and also hides the innards of the ornament from view.


The next step now that the finishing foam pieces are cut and glued to the fabrics, is to cut out your needlepoint, leaving a margin of about a half inch all the way around. (For my 14 count canvas I cut to within 7-8 threads of the stitched area.) With rectangles, this is really easy, unlike the pet guardian angel shapes which you see above. Those have curves which have to be clipped, etc. For your first project, I'd recommend a square or rectangle ornament as those are very easy shapes to cut out and then turn under. MAKE SURE you do not use your good embroidery scissors to cut the needlepoint canvas. That will dull the blades very quickly.

Once you have trimmed your needlepoint canvas, using your fingers press the raw edges under. The edges will stay sort of turned under on their own once you mash them. At the corners it is often easier to mitre the corners. That just means you turn under the corner so it looks like a triangle on the back side, then fold the top and side edges together. This website shows you how in Figures 1 and 2.
http://books.google.com/books?id=mgivU2XxDvUC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=embroidery+how+to+mitre+corners+in+finishing&source=bl&ots=asqEzVSBwf&sig=gqQ0nlckzThFfhSWhNmT3bQe7AQ&hl=en&ei=qeY4SpmmMYOHtgfDqZ3jDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2

Or Tiny URL
http://tinyurl.com/lny3rv

That's enough for today. I estimate all the above takes about 60-90 minutes for two ornaments but I've done this many times. Your first attempt will take you longer, particularly if you are constantly interrupted as I usually am or if you have to pull together all your supplies from all over the house.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Finishing Made Easy: The Ingredients

As I assembled the two small Byzantine Icons into ornaments, I took careful notes and photographs so that I could explain how I finished them. It's not a hard process, just tedious and time-consuming. Let me start by listing all the stuff I needed to finish the ornaments. Things that are optional are noted.

________________________________________________________

• Stitched needlepoint pieces
• Black and white xerox copy of my stitched icons
• Scissors (both good scissors for threads and fabric, and not-so-good ones to cut paper, NP canvas and finishing foam)
• 2 sheets of finishing foam, one for each ornament (may substitute 2-4 pieces of plastic canvas, you’ll need extra to put inside to stiffen the final ornament, or a piece of matte board)
• Tape (either Scotch tape or masking tape)
• Fabric glue if your finishing foam isn't self-stick (I generally use Aleene’s Easy Flow Tacky Glue)
• Felt (in a color that coordinates with your stitching)
• Sewing thread in a color that matches felt (may substitute one ply of DMC cotton floss)
• Sharp sewing needle (and thimble if you like)Trim or beads to cover edges of ornaments
• OPTIONAL: 6-10 Banker’s clips or clothes pins or straight pins to clamp ornament parts together
• OPTIONAL: Gold lame (to put behind the ornament)*
• OPTIONAL: Waxed paper to protect your working surface from glue

________________________________________________________

*Since I didn't stitch the gold background of my two icons, my gold lame fabric isn't really optional since I have to hide the innards of the ornaments with it. However, you may not need this to cover up or add sparkle to your design. Lame comes in many colors--I mostly use gold but I have some silver and some variagated blue that I use occasionally when gold's not the right color. Pick the color that works for your project.

Before I end for the day, I need to explain what finishing foam is. It is a slightly rubbery sheet used in kids' crafts that you can easily cut with scissors. Lightweight but rigid, I love using it in finishing. You can buy it at the big crafts stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby or at Joann's Fabrics. Look for something called "foam sheets." It comes in various colors and also in metallic sparkled sheets, you can buy it in archival quality, you can buy it with a peel off back that will self-stick to your fabric. It also comes in various thicknesses: Be sure you buy sheets of the same thicknesses if you plan to use it in finishing.

Here are some photos to help you find it. You can buy single sheets or a package of a dozen or more. I usually buy a big package with a 40% off coupon every other year. There are a lot of brands. As far as I can tell, they are all the same thing.
http://www.craftsetc.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=41880&dep=50&cat=4&subcat=5&Search=Y

http://www.craftsetc.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=44260&dep=50&cat=4&subcat=5&Search=Y

http://www.craftsetc.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=41884&dep=50&cat=4&subcat=5&Search=Y

My local stores carry a huge variety of this stuff in kits of cut out letters and shapes to be glued to plain sheets in contrasting colors for signs or to be glued to foam hats to personalize them. If you find packages like this one in the link below, that area will also have the plain sheets nearby.
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc1394

Note that many folks like using matte board inside their ornaments. I personally find it hard to cut to anything but the most simple shapes in matte board but that's just me--not to be trusted with an Exacto knife! I've also used plastic canvas inside my ornaments. I find plastic canvas sometimes isn't rigid enough and I have to add an extra piece sandwiched in the middle of my ornament. I also sometimes think one can see the grid underneath the fabric backing so I have to put quilt batting around it. Also, plastic canvas is not as easy for me to cut with scissors as finishing foam. However, whatever material you use to make your ornaments rigid is up to you and depends on personal preference and what materials you can easily get in your area.

Tomorrow I'll start explaining how the Byzantine icons were assembled.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

More New Trade Show Items

Designers and shops are starting to update their websites with the latest new items. Needle Works in Austin has added a PDF file with photos of new Mindy painted designs and their What's New page has photos of some of the large Leigh Designs Guadalajara pieces. Nothing on the small Guadlajara ornaments yet. Click on What's New to browse painted canvases or on Mindy to open the PDF file with photos of her work.
https://www.theneedleworks.com/new.html#new

BetsyB Originals has a small slide show up of their new pieces. Although BetsyB is known for their sorority and fraternity designs, I think you'll really enjoy the new Twelve Days of Christmas series which resembles painted French porcelein.
http://www.betsyboriginals.com/Betsy_B._Originals/Whats_New!.html

There are a few more new canvases up on the Melissa Shirley website but it just went down (probably either crushed under the weight of fan visits or to add more items). Check it out and return if it is still not available now. She's always worth the wait!
http://www.melissashirleydesigns.com/

Right now everyone who went to the trade show is doing laundry, answering their emails and taking naps, but new items will start showing up in the shops over the summer and early fall.

Until then, how about NP cumberbunds? Which are spelled c-u-m-m-e-r-b-u-n-d also. My way is a regional variant. So now go wonder about my accent....LOL
http://www.needlepoint.com/blog/?p=114

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

June 2009 Chilly Hollow Newsletter Article

It's tool time on the Internet! I've found a number of interesting items to make our stitching easier in some way for you to explore. First of all, have you been intrigued by Japanese needles and wondered why they are so expensive and how they differ from the needles you can buy locally? Tricia of Thistle Threads (and the person spearheading the 17th Century reproduction embroidered jacket project at Plimoth Plantation) explains on her website.
http://thistle-threads.com/shop/accessories/japaneseneedles.html

Jennifer Ashley Taylor also sells Japanese needles and you can buy them through the Japanese Embroidery Center as well. But thanks to Tricia, now you understand exactly what you are getting when you buy one.
http://www.needleartworks.com/dsgnr/jat/order/jat56.htm

http://www.jecstore.com/Needles.php

Cyn has been busy organizing her stash and found a nice set of boxes here and there to use.
http://cyns-stitches.blogspot.com/2009/04/after-many-months-of-effort-ive-reached.html

Then her buddy Kelly got them.
http://kellysorts.blogspot.com/2009/05/it-is-all-cynthias-fault.html

And Jeanne did, too! I've included all three postings so you can get a good look at the storage boxes and see the range of threads that fit within.
http://juststring.blogspot.com/2009/04/organizing-metallics.html

They cost from $19-27 dollars depending on your store and whether you have a coupon.

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat273848&PRODID=prd17165

Speaking of storage, Madonna found Ziploc brand bags she can use for project storage in an emergency.
http://kmack-backtothefuture.blogspot.com/2009/05/xxl-zip-loc-bags.html

Leigh Designs is distributing Ashland Sky Bags for project storage and travel which are nicer and probably more durable and which come in several sizes and styles. Your shop can order for you from Leigh.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/GrpA10x.html

DMC has two new threads coming out. One is called Satin Floss and the other Memory Threads. Judy Harper is working a project with both to demonstrate how to use them. She's also using their Luminers "Light Effects" threads, which are new to me, but not really new. If you are curious, check out her project on her
blog.
http://fairy-crafts.blogspot.com/2009/05/patchwork-with-dmc-showing-new-threads.html

Barbara Bergsten has been working on a design that uses Rainbow Gallery's Gold Rush, a chainette thread that is giving her trouble but she's found Thread Straighteners to help. Here's how they work.
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/create_needlepoint/2009/05/thread-straighteners.html

You can buy a set of thread straighteners for yourself in your favorite color from Flying Needles if your shop doesn't carry them.
http://www.flyingneedlestx.com/threadstraightener.htm

Finally, we come back to Tricia who explains how to attach gold spangles on her blog with information about where to buy them.
http://thistle-threads.com.mytempweb.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/getting-the-goods/

Hopefully there is a tool or thread here to tempt you.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow