"Oldies But Goodies"

Due to a lot of requests at the January TNNA market, I decided to dig into the archives for some of the older Tapestry Fair canvases that had been pulled out of the line.  Some of the pieces date back to the 1970's, and with a few color changes and/or border additions would still work today.

I also put in a call to Edith, who was one of the founding partners of Tapestry Fair, to see if she was willing yo re-release some of her older designs.  Edith agreed, so we've gotten her pieces to add back into the line over the next few months.

The canvas pictured above, EW-30 is one of a series of three. Each is 14x14" and painted on #18 mesh.  This series didn't need any updating at all.  With decorative stitches and all the new fibers, ribbon and bling available now, this would be a fun canvas to embellish.

Happy New Year!

                                                 New Years Eve - From our Perpetual Calendar

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2012.

A Use for Those *#!*** ORTS

This is what we did with all the ORTS we've saved this year from stitched models....with a few jewels glued on  and maybe a little work with a glitter pen they might actually be useful!

New for Halloween

The new skeleton is finally completed and should be ready for shipments near the end of October.
Manuel has named her Belleza De Halloween (Halloween Beauty).  A little violet eyeshadow, a touch of lipstick, and she's ready for her big night out on October 31st!

New Canvas From Manuel Salas

Manuel calls this piece "Un Pocito de Color" ( A Little Bit of Color).  Looks like she has  glamorized herself into the ultimate sugar skull for her appearance on Day of the Dead!

Manuel has agreed to collaborate on a HALLOWEEN version of this canvas and I'm really looking forward to painting it.  Hopefully we can get her finished before October 31st.

New Project-Christmas in July

Finished section #1 on #1062, Quilted Wreath yesterday.  This part of the wreath is pretty large (19x19") so it was a big reach to start on the first section.  The best way to handle this problem was to start the canvas upside down and stitch it in halves.

The first stitch is Cassique Stitch (one of Tony Minieri's creations) and I stitched it in a combination of Rainbow Tweed, Neon Rays, and Balger.  The Rainbow Tweed was the closest overdye I could find in Christmas colors, so even though it isn't very traditional it still has a Christmassy feeling.

Paulette will be stitching the companion piece, #1061 Partridge and Pears Quilt, so as soon as she returns from vacation I'll put this section aside and we will stitch our partridges together.

Lupe's Progress - Thanks Tony!

While waiting for the wreath, my next project, I decided to pick up Lupe again and completed her sombrero.  After getting dizzy from all the concentric circles of Van Dyke stitch - fini!  Tony was right - it really does have the feeling of a straw hat!

Next to tackle was the brim, which called for satin stitch and beads for the small decorative stitching accents.  These would actually be leather on a real sombrero, but I wanted to follow Tony's stitch guide as closely as possible and he suggested string beading.  In order to allow these little decorations to bend if necessary I used Sundance #14 beads and very fine beading wire.  After much cursing (#*^#!!!)  this is the final result. 
Right again, Tony.....this guy really IS a Master!

The Wreath

Just finished the wreath (#1062)! 
This canvas is painted on #13 using the same stitches as #1061 with one additional stitch for the bottom center segment.  The partridge insert that will go in the center is the same one used on the quilt square and is a separate canvas painted on #18.

Since this is such a large canvas (19x19") I also did a line drawn version - #1062-O - so it could also be stitched partially in Bargello to speed up the process.

As soon as both of the quilts return from the painters I'll be stitching this one for a display piece at the January show.

The Last Feather

Finally finished the last turkey feather ! There are a total of seven, each in a different stitch so I wouldn't get bored stitching or painting. Each feather is a "painted stitch" and I used "sister stitches" for the pairs in the same color combinations. All the feathers will now go to the finisher for backing, and when they are completed I'll tackle the crystal problem on four of them (hot-fix or glue).

In the meantime, moving on to the wings.

Fimo Pillow

                                          #461
This design was inspired by different pieces of Fimo clay arranged as a collage.  I loved the look of Fimo in jewelry and sculpture and wanted to see if it could be captured in needlepoint. 

The buttons were originally meant for a knitting project, but when I saw them next to the canvas it opened up all kinds of new possibilities.  Any of these Zecca buttons would be a great addition to this canvas if finished as a pillow or purse.

Happy Chanukah

                                                       #823

Or Happy Hanukkah....either way, have a great holiday!

Two More Feathers and A Face

The next two feathers were stitched in Criss Cross Hungarian using Silk n Colors with Very Velvet for the dots, and Mosaic Square Modified in four different colors to look like a flower pattern.

I finally finished his face with a modified Sprats Head beak topped with a Buttonhole Bar stitched with silk  over red Very Velvet.  The wattle is a Byzantine variation, also in silk,  lightly padded with red Very Velvet.

One more feather, another wing, and a little background to go!

A Little More Turkey

I started stitching the fan of feathers behibd his head by back-stitching the black and red single lines.  The remaining diamond shapes were filled with Squared Herringbone stitches, and then the rest of the back-stitches were filled in with the same color.

Little Gobbler - A Wing and More Feathers

Moving right along, the wing is stitched in Milanese Stitch using alternate rows of solid color and overdyed floss.

The second tail feather is stitched in Mosaic Stitches with Smyrna Crosses using DMC floss and Planet Earth silk

Feather number three is a Victorian Step Variation stitched horizontally.  The "white" areas are actually overdyed floss, but the color variation doesn't show up too well in the photo.  The colored lines are irregularly spaced, but it is easy to get the correct spacing because the stitches are painted on the canvas.

Little Gobbler Quilt Block

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it's time to bring out this little guy - new canvas #1059.

He is a smaller version of our #1056 turkey and would be suitable for an advanced beginner or imtermediate class.  Many of the stitches are the same ones used on the large gobbler quilt, so this should be easy, quick and fun to stitch.

I started with the head (all basketweave) and body, which is the same Chotti's Plaid used on #1056.  The eyes are Smyrna Cross stitches.

The first tail feather on the right will be Stardust Variation in three colors.  The background is Woven Stitch, and I've started it right above this feather.    I'll be stitching the rest of the feathers before finishing the face, which will be slightly different than our other turkey.

A Different Twist With DMC Memory Thread

We've used DMC Memory Thread on some of our models by couching it down with matching floss or silk, but sometimes a little more coverage or different texture was needed.  Rather than just using it double we tried twisting the Memory Thread and were very pleased with the results.

The Kachino's headress used twisted yellow Memory Thread branching off into two curves.   Then we used it in the traditional way for the smaller hoops. We also used the twisted technique on Thomaso Mix's lariate and the Ribbon Kachino's headress.

The interlocking circles on Buffalo Bijio's chaps were made by doing buttonhole stitch over the Memory Thread and forming it into circles before  sinking and couching it down. This technique was rather time consuming, but the result really gave the appearance of interlocking circles.

Since the twisting was such a success, we also tried braiding with 3 different colors.  We'll keep this in mind for a future canvas.