Happy New Year

These are actually pieces from our perpetual calendar, but could also be finished as ornaments.

         HAPPY NEW YEAR

Merry Christmas

                                              #1025

Merry Christmas.......have a great holiday season!

Happy Chanukah

                                                       #823

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

Gobbler Finished - Happy Thanksgiving

The last feather (lower left) was stitched in a modification of Double Stitch Variation.  On the large turkey, this stitch was very difficult to compensate. Since this is an intermediate canvas we changed the stitch slightly to an easier version and still got the same effect.

I added a little backstitching between the feathers to give him a more "quilted" look, but this is optional.
And....just to give him a little more "pop" I did one row of Turkey Work around the feather fan using Threadgatherer's ribbon.  Hopefully we'll have the stitch guide completed soon.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

P.S. Did you know that only the male (tom) turkey makes a gobbling sound?  The female makes a clicking noise. Thanks to the video on the gas pump at the Shell station for this interesting bit of trivia.

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.

Needlepoint for Halloween or Dia de los Muertos

One of our new licensed artists is Manuel Salas, Jr., who has designed  two lovely ladies .  MS-1 is Rosa (pictured above) and MS-2 is Lupe ( on our website, http://www.tapestryfair.com/).  Both are painted on #18 canvas.

Manuel was born in San Antonio, Texas and now resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Initially a self taught artist, Manuel later majored in fine arts for nearly four years. He earned a BA in art education and an  MA in Special Education, and then retired after twenty six years with the New Mexico Public Schools.  Throughout his lifetime Manuel never stopped producing artworks in a variety of mediums and styles, exploring his own skills and creativity.  In recent years he has focused his talents on creating his own mode of art influenced by Mexican culture and traditions.  His scrylic paintings have won him numerous awards and are now in homes around the world.  He currently exhibits his art in group shows and is represented by The Santisima Art Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is where I first saw his artwork.

Day of the Dead - Dia de los Muertes - is a celebration in which Mexicans remember and honor their deceased loved ones.  It is celebrated between October 31st and November 2nd.  Though it may sound gloomy, it is really a festive and colorful family holiday.  Mexicans visit cemetaries, decorate the graves and spend time there in the presence of their deceased friends and family members.

Another Needlepoint Cowboy

Thomaso Mixo is the second Dino cowbly canvas in the series.  Shown is D10-bl, but he is also available on white canvas - either 13 or 18 mesh.  Thomaso is a great companion to Buffalo Bijio or one of the Kachinos.

Paulette is now stitching Thomaso and he is really coming to life.  (The color on these photos don't do them justice - the shirts are really a screaming lime green)  Perhaps when he is completed she will let us use her stitches for a stitch guide.

Needlepoint Gobbler Quilt Class

The first design in our quilt series, #1056 Quilted Gobbler, will be offered as a class at Family Arts Needlework (http://www.familyartsneedlework.com/) on Saturday, September 25th.

This canvas comes fully painted with "painted stitches" and also as an outline only for teachers and students who want to create their own stitches and colors. Both versions are on #18 canvas.

Arvida Hatch, from Family Arts, is doing the stitch charts for us, and from the preview I've seen so far she is doing a fabulous job.  The complete guide will be available from us by September 25th in either full color or black and white.

New Needlepoint Cowboy Canvases

We've added two new canvases to the Dino Paul collection. Dino calls them "Spaghetti Westerns" and here is the first one entitled Buffalo Bijio. Our model is almost completely stitched and ready for framing, and is available on number 13 or 18 canvas with either a black or white background.

The cowboys make great companion pieces  to Dino's Kachinos.