Have a Happy......

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Poster Girl

While I was in Albuquerque and Santa Fe last weekend, look who I ran into!  Un Pocito was this year's poster for the Dia De Los Muertos celebration at the plaza in Old Town.

I was also fortunate enough to FINALLY meet Manuel Salas in person after almost 2 years of phone calls and emails.  Aside from being wildly talented he is also a very gracious and charming man - really a nice guy.  Sooo.....more of his skeletons to come!

A Different Look for Un Pocito

Jeri G. decided to cover the green and use a navy blue background for Un Pocito De Color. She used all 6 ply of Planet Earth silk and did basketweave to get good coverage.

Check out her matching shirt....and yes, she can stitch , even with those nails!

New Canvas From Manuel Salas

Here is a new canvas entitled Con Sus Favoritos - With Her Favorites.  The Talavera animals  look like they would be fun to stitch.  The canvas is #M-5, approximately 11x14, and is painted on #18 mesh.
The next one will be a companion piece involving turtles.

Time to Rip?

I had visions of whipped spider stitches on the wings of these little bats, but after experimenting a few times this is the  best I could do (left side).  I'm not sure if it was the size of the wings (very small), or the curve, or just my lack of stitching ability, but it looks a little sloppy.  So, I think I will opt for the easy way (right side) by using slanted satin stitches and Hot Wire couched.

If anyone thinks the whipped spider can be done, please let me know and I can include it in the stitch guide as an option.  Meanwhile, time to get out the scissors.....

#636 Painted Elephant Class

Choose your colors, raid your jewelry box for bling, and join Linda Corirossi for a series of classes to "paint" your own elephant.

The class includes a line drawn canvas, stitch planning "map", and a stitch guide including picture graphs to decorate your elephant.  With Linda's guidance each elephant will be exotic and original.

The first elephant class will be held on October 19th, 20th, and 21st at Family Arts Needlework in Phoenix, Arizona.

To contact Linda about giving this class at your shop call (847) 942-2120 .

Have a Fun Fourth

Lizard Toes and A New Needle

The toes on these little guys are all bullion stitches, some of them requiring over 30 wraps!  I wanted to stitch them with one continuous stitch, but it was really awkward to do these long bullions with a regular tapestry needle.


Thanks to a random phone request, I discovered Sashiko needles, made by Clover.  Has anyone ever heard of these?

Sashiko is a form of Japanese  folk embroidery ,using a basic running stitch through several layers of fabric, to create a patterned background.  The needles are very long (over 2") and have a large oval eye.  They have a sharp point, but a few stabs are a small price to pay for being able to make these bullions long enough to curve into toes.

Lizard Stitching

While finishing the painting on a new dimensional ,I've been stitching this years Tony Minieri class project.  Lizard #1 is finished and several other lizards are filled in and waiting for background before I can add the couched outlining and finishing touches,

Changing the direction of the stitch midstream in order to "bend" with the shape seems to be Tony's lesson on this piece.  This is a technique I've never tried before and it's been a challenge, but with a little bit of creative compensating.....IT WORKS.

What can I say - Tony is a genius!!!  The stitch guide for Leapin' Lizards is available directly from Tony.

Back From the Framer for Cinco De Mayo

Just in time for a Cinco De Mayo celebration!  This is MS-2, Lupe, and the stitch guide is available from Tony Minieri.

Bathtime

                                                              EW-23

For those of you who like large Oriental designs, another canvas by Edith is now available.  "Bathtime" measures 20"x27" and is painted on #18 canvas.  A larger version, EW-19, is painted on #13 mesh and measures 27"x30".

Happy Easter

Talavera Class

Barb Starman will be teaching our #1048 Talavera Tile #1 at Family Arts Needlework on Saturday, March 31st.  This canvas measures 8x8" and is painted on #18 canvas , and can be finished as a framed pillow as shown or will fit into a Stirling tote.

Barb is an excellent stitcher, and this promises to be a fun class.  The stitch guide is a collaboration of stitches by Barb, Paulette Paquette, and the late MaryLu Leger, and will be available from Tapestry Fair after the class.

"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.

Tony Minieri Class at Family Arts - Day 2

LUPE is finally FINISHED!!!!  This is the canvas that I started in last year's Tony class, and I had everything finished except for the final big rose in the lower right hand corner.  I probably should have paid more attention to the demo last year, but thankfully Tony was kind enough to repeat his instructions so that I could add the final flower (which took me the entire morning to complete). 

Stitching this canvas was a big "stretch" for me technically, but well worth the effort.  Lupe will go to the framer next week, and then I can focus on Leapin' Lizards, this year's class project.

Tony Minieri Class - Day One - PM

                                          Detail of AJ-26 - Leapin' Lizards (Anne Jerlow)

After lunch it was time to get back to business.  This is a detail of one of the more exotic stitches Tony planned for the canvas I chose to stitch.  The lizard's gullet is Venetian Cloth Stitch using Balger #12 braid.  It is a detached stitch, and when the stitched area was completed I stuffed it with 1/2" pieces of the braid before tacking down the bottom.  Leave it to Tony to come up with something like this!

More fun and more photos tomorrow.

Lunchtime at the Tony Minieri Class

After a morning of intense stitching everyone was ready for this great lunch - selection of sandwiches, chips, fruit salad, Valentine cookies AND fantastic chocolate fudge.

Tony Minieri Class - First Day AM

What a great way to spend Valentine's Day!  Class at Family Arts started promptly at 9:30 AM. First, Tony gave his critique of all the canvases we were going to be stitching.  As usual, he was brilliant - how he can remember all the stitches and fibers he planned for these canvases is amazing!!! The canvas pictured above is #1063, Fantasy Flowers, which will be stitched by Sylvia Yoder.Then everyone proceded to look at their stitch guides to determine which stitches they knew , or needed Tony to demonstrate.  There were some really exotic stitches planned for some of the canvases, so everyone learned a lot from Tony's demo.

After a few hours of concentrated stitching and demos - time for lunch.

Meet "Maria" and Kelly

"Maria" is the first of a new series of six Talavera angels that will be introduced at Sample It.  She is stitched in a combination of fibers and comes packaged with a full-color stitch guide and a beaded red chili pepper embellishment from One World Buttons.

The stitch guide was written by Kelly Doyle, who picked up and finished this project after MaryLu Leger's untimely death.  She has included stitches such as Diagonal Burden, Amadeus, and a Hedabo Ring.

Kelly has taught needlepoint embellishment for A Needlework Place in Mesa, Arizona and Phoenix Needlepoint Co. before relocating to Houston. She has also taught classes at previous TNNA markets for Anne Jerlow's geisha series and Garden Cat Square.  Kelly stitched several ornaments for the White House Christmas tree during the Clinton reign, and her Sandy Jenkins Sunflower Girl appears in the revised edition of Jo Christensen's The Needlepoint Book.  She is available to travel and teach classes.

Kelly will be helping me at the Sample It table and is bringing along "Consuela", the next angel in the series, so please stop by and say hi!

Happy New Year!

                                                 New Years Eve - From our Perpetual Calendar

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2012.