Learning From the Masterful Sharon Garmize

I ran out of time this morning writing about stitching the wooden bar's top and the floor of Cape Cod Dogs before I was able to mention where I got the idea. I read the needlepoint magazines and my stitch books religiously, studying all the projects and photographs with an eye for great ideas I can use elsewhere. Now that there are so many blogs by stitchers, designers and shops, the places to rummage around for ideas on the Internet are endless. But some sources are much better than others, and no one is a better stitcher than the needlepoint designer SharonG.
http://www.sharong.com/

You've probably admired her canvases with their beautiful shading for years. She's one of my very favorite designers as I love realistic designs with beautiful shading, but her designs cover much more. Her art also includes abstract and funny canvases; she immortalizes anything from a fountain pen to a corset to a scarecrow to alley cats to the rear ends of horses. She is Talent Personified. I devour everything she says on her blog. Look at this entry.
http://sharongneedlepointdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/06/ct35-is-newer-canvas-that-now-has.html

Now look at the second photo, the one called Maria's Door (canvas D31). SharonG was stitching this to create a stitch guide for her design and posted a photo of the unfinished canvas. Click on the image to enlarge it and study it carefully. Look at the stone steps and how she changed direction of the darning stitches to show you the side of a step versus the flat top. Study the ruined wall and see how the direction of the stitches change on either side of the wrought iron gate. Notice how she uses different stitches on the sections of the wall to show different materials or a shadow. SharonG is a master of stitching painted canvases as well as designing them.

Looking carefully and critically at what she did with this piece showed me how important stitch direction is for darning and light coverage stitches. When I bought Cape Cod Dogs I knew I wanted to use light coverage stitches for the floor and the top of the bar; when I saw SharonG's canvas of the ruined wall, I knew I would have to take into consideration the flow of the stitches and which direction they were oriented in order to make the wooden planks look good. The bar top itself is on a slant, so I used slanted stitches. (Well, the stitches are horizontal but they run diagonally, giving the slanted effect of stairs seen from the side.) I tried running my stair step stitch on the bar's top with the canvas sitting upright but discovered that I needed to turn the canvas on its side with the window section at the top to make this stitch work.

The floor boards are oriented vertically | with a vanishing point in the back wall. So I stitched those horizontally with a thread that exactly matched the paint in the front section (which explains why you can see these stitches better in the back where the thread and the paint contrast).

You can call me a student of SharonG, as well as an admirer of her painted canvases.

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

Which Way Does Your Floor Board Lay?

It's been another hectic weekend in Chilly Hollow but luckily the stitching for the top of the old wooden bar and the floor in the Cape Cod Dogs bar went quickly. With just one ply of the darkest brown floss from the wooden shelves, I did an over 4/under 1 darning stitch for the floor. The top of the bar was a stair step like stitch over four threads done on the diagonal. After the stitches were in a few long stitches in a contrasting thread added the edges of the boards. Very easy stitches but the trick is to figure out the direction to lay them that will give you the best effect.

In the photo above you can see the floor darning stitch best in the background near the wall where the thread color doesn't match the painting underneath. This stitch was a _ stitch done horizontally like this ____ - ____. The little - is the thread of the needlepoint canvas the real thread goes under before coming up to cover another four threads of the canvas.

The bar darning stitches are best seen covering the white patch of sunlight reflected by one of the glasses. To do the stairstep stitch, I turned the canvas on its side so that the window area was at the top. As I said, these are easy stitches (it took me less than 2 hours to do both areas including the top stitches that are the edges of the boards) but I did spend some time experimenting to see which way the stitches should run and which side of the canvas should be facing the top while I stitched.

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

Interviewing Eileen and Elizabeth (Part One: Eileen)

Anyone who gets into an email conversation with me runs the risk of being interviewed for Blog. Last spring when I discovered the Door canvases Ridgewood Needlepoint offers I asked Eileen Aird the shop owner to let me know when all the models were stitched so I could update the information here. She was kind enough to send me photos of each of the seven doors and then submit to an interview about them, her shop and how she got into needlepoint.

At the same time I was busily pestering the Needlepoint Broad for an interview since I've fallen hard for her nostalgic state vacation postcard designs. Imagine my surprise when Elizabeth Hess the owner of Needlepoint Broad said she'd be happy to be interviewed but she had company right now--her twin sister Eileen of Ridgewood Needlepoint was visiting!

So we have two interviews in back-to-back weeks with the only identical twins I know of operating on the business side of needlepoint. Since Eileen's interview was further along, let's start with her and the story of Ridgewood Needlepoint and those Doors. You can see the website information about the Doors here. I will scatter the photos of each door throughout the interview so you can enjoy and compare them easily to pick out your favorite.

http://www.ridgewoodneedlepoint.com/index.php?p=dolls

Autumn Door

Eileen says the Doors were designed for her shop by Nancy Chapman who is her custom painter. Nancy also works for Needlepoint Broad occasionally, and the Doors will eventually be available through Needlepoint Broad although for the next year they are shop exclusives. I asked Eileen where the idea for seasonal doors of various architectural styles came from. She said, "One of my employees had a Christmas ornament of a door; in addition, I had several customers who wanted to do a small series of doors. Consequently, I decided to do a series based on the seasons. Actually, I love doing things with short and long stitches but that doesn't work as well for buildings. This series was more challenging for me but I enjoyed the challenge!"

Christmas Door

Here's the rest of my interview with Eileen whose words are blue so you can tell my questions from her answers.

First, the doors. I know they are a "club" at Ridgewood and that you taught one of the doors as a class for your customers. In fact, I will be teaching several other doors in the fall and winter depending on interest. Probably Christmas (again), the Patriotic Door, Autumn and Summer.

Patriotic Door

Otherwise folks get a door canvas with threads and instructions every other month? They get a canvas and instructions every other month. Since so many stitches could supply a needlepoint store with their stash, we made the thread kit optional. We also offered a choice of either six or three doors.

Hanukkah Door

Does one get a choice of a Christmas or Hanukkah door for the end of the year? Actually, we started with Christmas or Chanukah because there is such pressure to complete items for Christmas. But yes, they get a choice. Obviously, a "club member" could choose to do both Christmas and Chanukah and eliminate another door or just do all seven.

Valentine Day's Door

Is there a cutoff date for signing up? No, we can still add people; we just add them to the existing cycle I.e. new people would start with the Valentine's Door. Each door is $85 for the canvas and stitch guide.

Now, about the shop. How long has it been open? Ridgewood Needlepoint opened in April 2002. What possessed you to go into the business? I had always visited needlepoint shops when I traveled and thought that I would enjoy owning one. I have been very impressed with some in my travels. I lived in Wellesley, MA for almost two years and enjoyed going to Wellesley Needlepoint very much.

Spring Door

Was the fact that your twin sister is a designer a big influence you? Or were you the influence, getting her interested because you had the shop and needed her to do a few canvases for you? I opened the shop first and Elizabeth was a frequent visitor. She attended some shows with me and saw some designs that she thought would translate well into needlepoint.

Have you always been an entrepreneur or saw a need or did the local shop start to close and you bought it? There was no local shop but I do have a business background. I had decided that I didn't want to be in corporate America anymore. With my kids entering their teen-age years, a local business had distinct advantages.

What's the story behind your entering into selling threads and charts and canvases and the rest? It was just time to purse a lifelong dream. And because I love painted canvas, the shop deals primarily with painted canvases although we do some charted designs at Ridgewood Needlepoint. The things I stitch are usually whimsical in nature or animals. Owning a shop forced me to develop an eye for different types of canvases. And of course, for someone who loves color, what could be better than owning a needlepoint shop.

Summer Door

Do you and Elizabeth have a family history of needle arts and/or business that got you both started down this path? Although we had both dabbled in some needle arts as children, we then started needlepoint in our early 20's. I was a more consistent needlepointer. Elizabeth did some knitting and some other crafts. I was such a poor knitter that even my mother wouldn't wear the sweater I made! Although our mother didn't do any craft, our father's mother knitted.

Now that you are on the business side, what surprised you the most? I'm always amazed at how much inventory is needed! And how important it is to buy different types of canvases. There's a canvas for every taste.

What is the most fun about owning a NP store? Shopping! What plans do you have for the future? We plan to offer more classes. Right now, I'm working on a beginner's class.

Is the website going to expand, you plan more classes, you want to physically expand the shop, etc.? In the past year, I've been much more active with our blog. [Jane forgot to add a link so you could visit it so I've updated this.]

http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

I would like to offer some canvases through the web site. I have toyed with becoming more of an internet seller, but I enjoy the personal contact with customers and teaching them. I am a firm believer that it is very important to support the brick and mortar stores. They provide the local knowledge and teaching. And for me, needlepoint is about the colors, the colors and the threads. I need to touch and feel.

Has the economic downturn brought changes to the business that you can see in your customers' behaviors? Are folks splurging on a feel-good canvas, staying at home and stitching stockings for the grandkids instead of traveling in retirement, etc.? We are seeing as much as a downturn as I expected. Stitchers always need to stitch but I've been surprised that the finishing has stayed consistent. Or can you see a difference? The major difference I see in the business versus when I started, is that people often come in wanting a specific canvas. Internet browsing has made the customer much more familiar with the canvas designers.

Is there a local bias in what your customers want in turns of designers? There are regional differences. We sell a lot more Yankee and Mets Stadiums than we do Red Sox (Fenway Park). [Jane, whose husband is the largest Red Sox fan in captivity, faints at the mention of the hated Yankees.] In the rest of the country, I believe a much higher percentage of the needlepoint is Christmas related. We almost never sell nativities.

Do you carry a lot of designs that appeal to folks in the NY/NJ metropolitan

region? We certainly carry some designs that are geared for the NY/NJ metropolitan area. For example, a big seller is "Jersey Girls Don't Pump Gas [available from the Needlepoint Broad]. And another big seller for us has been the New York Midtown Stocking (we call it Rockefeller Center Stocking) by DJ Designs. We also sell lots of belts which I understand you couldn't give away in California.

http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2009/05/jersey-boys-dont-pump-gas.html

http://www.annieandco.com/designers/dj/images/dl501.jpg

Do you think your customers buy what folks in Texas, California, Florida and the Central States buy? Of course, some things have universal appeal. I bet "Good Night Moon" by Silver Needle sells all over.

http://www.silverneedlect.com/products.php?category=16

Has owning a shop made you a better stitcher? Owning a shop has definitely made me a better stitcher. In order to teach, I've taken many classes to increase my knowledge and my techniques. In addition to technique classes, I've taken classes on color and design. Owning a shop enables me to recommend stitches for far more canvases than I could every stitch. And I am also exposed to many wonderful stitchers, too. I've found that after I've finished a major project (The Doors, Summer Girl, The Paper Doll Club), my stitching bumps up a level. It's one of the great pleasures of needlepoint -- you can always continue to learn and improve.

Do you have time to do any stitching now except for store models? You are right and virtually everything I stitch goes into the store. But I do lots of stitching. I do most of my stitching at night watching TV. Right now, I'm hoping to finish my Rockefeller Center stocking. I am also taking Carole Lake's Straight Stitches (taught by an employee who took the class) and Construction Stitches by Beth Robertson and Susan Howren. I am also taking Tony Minieri's Back to Basic class on a monthly basis.

Do you have any advice for someone thinking about opening a NP store in their own home town? Although you don't need to be in the center of town, I have benefited from easy visibility from a major street. Knowledgeable and friendly employees are very important because they are the store.

Eileen, thank you so much for sending me the photos of the Doors, for answering all my questions and of course for being one of the fabulous needlepoint twins!

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

Christmas in July 2009

Yesterday was my annual road trip to the Xmas in July sale at Needlewoman East. Grab your beverage of choice, put up your feet and ride along with me.

I almost always arrive early since the trip to NW East can take me anywhere between 75 and 120 minutes one way. I have to assume that it's going to take forever with traffic so I got there before the 10 a.m. start. This is what I found outside the store--Liz the owner (standing) and the former owner Sue Jenning's sister Sally (seated) having their last minute cigarette before the madness begins. Sally holds a gorgeous Melissa Shirley dragonfly canvas that a fellow shopper --who ducked out of the photograph, gosh she is fast on her feet!--planned to kit out with threads during the bargains. I had my own canvas to pull threads for and we had a happy 15 minutes dodging each other at the Gloriana silk rack.

The lady on the right is the luckiest woman on the planet. I ran into her browsing the charts. She was on this side of town "running an errand for a friend" and decided on a whim to drop in the store to look at the counted thread instructions. She asked me what everyone was doing crowded into the shop and learned that she had decided to show up at the best sale of the year. Her eyes are closed because she is laughing uncontrollably as I told her what was up, dropped to my knees and took her photo for Blog. Lady, this is what happens when you do favors for your friends. Live right and a sale drops into your lap!

By the way, I found Ruth Dilts' Mystic among the charts on the bookshelves and bought it. I've been drooling over this piece for a while and finally overcame my fear of counted thread. It is stunning in green so I might have to try it in blues...

http://www.ruthdiltsdesign.com/newest.html

I wanted threads and beads for a project this fall so I rummaged around, picking out bargain silk perle, looking for Kreinik colors I hate to run out of, etc. Liz has the new #12 Kreinik (perfect for 13 count) overdyed metallics from ThreadworX, by the way. There were a lot of happy folks chatting, pulling threads, grabbing that expensive canvas they have lusted after since the last sale, and looking over the Evertites and floor stand and the catalogue for the shelving system of their dreams. I ran into a man whose current project has 95 different colors who is in great need of organization and we talked about the Container Store's and other versions of rolling thread carts. Hope something I said helps, guy!

I took a few moments to look at the current CBK Needle Collection truck show because they own rights to one of my favorite designers, Edie & Ginger. This photo shows the diversity of the designs they handle. An Edie & Ginger Three Wise Men stocking is below a Get the Point sugar skull canvas (it comes in pink, too!). I wish I had browsed longer since I discovered the geishas that Get the Point does on their website later. I would like to have seen these in person. To browse, click on the Canvas of the Day photo to go to the CBK website. Lots to see there! By the way, the geishas you see on the right are a long rectangle of three from Edie & Ginger. It's lovely but I couldn't get the whole thing into the photograph and still have enough detail for you to see what I did. {I decided I had better include the CBK website address here for those who don't read this blog entry today.]

http://www.cbkneedlepointcollections.com/ProdList.php?page=2&cId=8&cpId=11

My final fun NW East photo is from when I made it to the front of the checkout line. I found these in the glass case where one pays. They are called Needle Bling--tiny jewels set in a magnet to hold your needles. They come in single crystals (see link below) or

http://store.apneedlearts.com/needlebling.html

in tiny shapes like butterflies or strawberries set with sparkling jewels. The single jewels cost about $5 and the shapes with many crystals cost around $10. Click on the tiny photos for a better look at some of the choices. These are distributed by the Elizabeth Turner Collection but they are not on their website.

http://www.amybunger.com/accessories.html

My favorite was the tiny hand delicately holding blue diamonds that might be a flower. Very Victorian! Although the little crown was durn cute.... I did not buy, though. I have plenty of magnets already and I had a second stop in mind=Waste Knot! Since I live so far from shops and these two are within a ten mile radius of each other and since the shop owners have a Communist Plot going to completely empty my wallet (they carry very different stitching things) I drove over to see what Lori had in stock to tempt me.

Somehow I got through the Kathy Schenkel trunk show (those little mini stockings with stuffed animals are wonderful--for proof look at the header of Blog which features the hospitality stocking) without buying anything but I did have to buy a new book. Are you familiar with Julia Snyder's three little tall and narrow books of stitches? I've never seen them in person before but Lori had all three in stock. I took home "Backgrounds" and will do a book review when I've had time to read it. You can see the covers and pick up a copy for yourself online at Amy Bunger's store.

http://www.amybunger.com/books.html

There were new threads at Waste Knot and boy, did I have fun looking at them! The photoon the right is of EdMar's boucle, a twisted and kinky (not in that way, get your mind out of the gutter!) rayon thread used in Brazilian embroidery. Wouldn't the pastel overdyes make gorgeous flower beds or a hanging basket?! I love the shades of green available. This is a new thread to me. It is supposed to be couched mostly but I think long stitches and loose French knots would work also and one might even try bullions. It wouldn't matter that they were messy as the whole point of this thread is to give the effect of flowers or flower centers. Mother Nature is often not even and symmetrical. Here's a close up look at boucle.

http://www.edmar-co.com/catalog/threads/boucle.html

And here are some of the colors available.

http://www.nordicneedle.com/CTGY/I03-01-00.html

The other "new" thread at Waste Knot is an old favorite from GlissenGloss, Estaz. This is a fuzzy thread that is sort of like a feather boa made of thin cuts of nylon. It is perfect for couching and for long stitches as well. Got a witch who needs a bad hair day? Estaz is perfect! I was very glad to see it as they have new colors and only the counted thread place that closed carried it in the past. I took a photo of a range of colors but there are many more available, all loud and glittery and glitzy. Lori thinks the two sizes of packages contain the same amount of thread but the new large clear envelopes don't have a thread amount on the label. You can see more colors here.

http://www.juliesxstitch.com/oscart/index.php?cPath=22_329

The final photo isn't of a thread that I saw at either shop (although it is on order for Waste Knot) but since we talked about it there, I thought I would post photos of some samples I've received courtesy of a fellow threadaholic. This is Memory Thread from DMC.

It is a thread wrapped copper wire, a bit smaller than #5 cotton perle and a bit larger than #8 cotton perle. You can bend it into endless shapes. I think it is perfect for couching a name on a Christmas stocking, for bendable flower petals and leaves, for twisting grapevines, etc. The photo above shows some of the colors available. I hope you can see the silver and gold. I think from studying the DMC website that there are various diameters of this thread-wrapped wire but I can't be sure. It is marketed for jewelry and scrapbooking and other crafts. If you find it locally, study the package carefully to see what you are getting. I think the Desire line of memory thread has thicker wire inside. Some types of memory thread may be acid free. Sorry I can't be more exact about this but the DMC website doesn't make it easy to know exactly what the differences are in the various lines of "memory thread."

http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=4918538

Once I stitch with this I'll report back but you should read what Judy Harper said about it on her blog when she stitched with it.

http://fairy-crafts.blogspot.com/2009/05/patchwork-with-dmc-showing-new-threads.html

Well, this is about enough road trip for the day. I did finish stitching the square liquor bottle on the shelf in Cape Cod Dogs last night and I'd like to finish up the shelves themselves today so I'd better get started on that. Hope you had fun at the Christmas in July sales with me.

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

French Knot Newsletter and Clubs Galore

The French Knot in Texas has their summer newsletter available on their website now. What fun!

http://thefrenchknot.com/newsletter.html

Of course the big news are the photos of their Petei Santa club canvases for the year but there are other clubs such as their ornament of the month canvas (all with Western themes) and the monthly little boot club and their Raymond Crawford Noel series. I chose two Petei Santas for your viewing pleasure but do follow the links and explore a bit to see more of their offerings.

If through some miracle you don't find something to tickle your fancy, not to worry. There are other new monthly NP clubs available all over. How about a series of Kathy Schenkel Santas?

http://www.whatsthepoint.biz/clubs.php

Or consider this amazing nine Santa banner from 2 the Point.

http://www.topoint.com/canvasclub_banner.htm

I've told you about the monthly California canvases from Old World Designs but the photos of the finished round ornaments are finally on their website.

http://www.oldworlddesigns.com/california.html

Finslly, how about Pawley Island Needlepoint's Witches Circle or their Christmas ornament extravaganza?

See? Something for everyone! Have fun exploring.

http://pineedlepoint.com/?task=ornaments&id=1

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