No, you’re not crazy
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Yes, my Bargello categories have disappeared. This is temporary. Until I have some samples I am happy with I have closed it down. I need to step back and think through how I want to present the Bargello, what people want to stitch and want to buy.
I clearly have not got it right yet. I was going to replace it, re-do it one design at a time but I think maybe not.
I am feeling pressure to stitch, stitch, stitch Bargello samples. I stitched for almost 6 hours today, it’s getting worse. I am neglecting the rest of my life. That is not good.
Enough! NewNeedlepoint Bargello Needlepoint will re-open, I just do not know when.
So, if you went to my web site and the Bargello Categories weren’t there and you thought maybe you imagined them or something. No, you are not crazy but I may be…..who’s to say?
Starting From Scratch, Again.
The changes I have been planning for NewNeedlepoint.com are happening.
I am stitching away at the new Bargello samples, I am more or less doing them from scratch.
There are a few that I was planning to adapt, turn the small samples I stitched last winter into full size samples, but as I look at them and consider the size limitations of the samples, I am leaning towards replacing them all with new, better ones.
I am spending a huge amount of my time on these, I suspect I am a little obsessed.
I received the first shipment from Danji Designs today. They sent everything I ordered that they had in stock. The rest of it will be 4-6 weeks. They are, as they reminded me, hand painted, and that takes time.
As it is, I received 26 canvases today. They are dazzling, they are more beautiful then I imagined.
When I ordered them, all I saw was small pictures of the designs on line. They were not thumbnails but they not huge either. The reality of the canvases, in person, is so much more.
These represent the work of 10 different needlepoint designers including Danji Designs.
There are a number of beginner level pieces, I have hopes that those will do well. I really want to interest beginners in needlepoint by offering kits with directions that can be easily understood and followed. The beginner canvas are only offered as kits.
The rest of the new canvases are quite a mixture of styles but I do not yet have a detailed overview of what is here and what is not.
As I hem them tomorrow and begin to kit them, I will have a better idea what I have here. I will be offering them for sale as canvas alone or kits. I think I will anyway. Probably not both for all, we shall see.
Yes, this is overwhelming but very exciting. It all feels new but I am impatient. I want it to happen faster. I always want things to happen faster but as we all know, when there is stitching involved, faster does not exist.
Tonights blog does not have any pictures, once I get some pictures taken there will be lots of them, but not tonight.
Keith had a phone conference interview for the new job we both want him to get late this afternoon. He thinks it went well but who can say for sure.
Now we wait. It feels like everything is happening at once and at the same time, it is all standing still. I know that’s illogical but there it is.
I also know this is not a very satisfying blog, I will do better next time.
Mixed Bag
Fair Warning, tonight blog title is a pun (I hate puns). I could not resist.
The guys who host my web site also host this blog utility. It has been increasingly cranky and difficult to use so they decided to upgrade it.
Well, they fixed it real good. Now the screens are so garbled they are unreadable and the links don’t work.
Now, Zac The Tech drummed into me how important this blog was to my store and how very important links were. Very important.
I think you all know I don’t just do this blog to market my web store, I do it to blabb and blather and go on and on…you know. Still, marketing NewNeedlepoint.com http://www.newneedlepoint.com (see what I am reduced to?) is a part of it and it matters.
I am been going full speed ahead getting full size Bargello samples ready to re-design the whole Bargello section of nn.com. My plan is to offer the Bargellos exactly as shown, in the colors shown. Each pattern will have a unique color combination (which I hope, hope, hope people love) and show a finishing suggestion.
I was planning to have the completed Bargellos made into pillows or pictures but the time lag to do it and the serious added expense have changed my mind. Again, I hope a finished and blocked canvas will do the trick.
This is a big change. Clearly my Color-Choice Bargellos have not worked. I have not had an order for a single one and I know people are looking for Bargello so…..
Below is the Florentine Waves Pattern Bargello I finished this evening (while we watched Will Smith in I, Robot, not my first or even second choice for a movie). This is not a Florentine Embroidery Pattern but that is it’s name, anyway.
The pattern is bordered by 2 rows of Slanted Gobelin Stitch, which is a good choice to border a bargello. It stitches up under the long thread edges of the bargello on the sides, finishing it nicely.
You can do as many rows of this as you like. 2 rows is all I had room for on this small canvas. The colors used can be any colors in the design you like. I liked the white and then the pink.
Then I began *finishing * the Spires Pattern Florentine Embroidery Bargello.
As you can see, I am filling in at the top, to square the piece. Then I will do the bottom, then add the border. My Margaret Boyles book calls this pattern *advanced*. I did not find it to be difficult at all. It took a little while to get used to the pattern of the stitches but once I did, this zooms along.
Once again I am limited on how much border I add, the canvas is wide but not very long. I am working with previously stitched samples now, so there are size issues.
Once I began the new ones, I will use bigger canvases.
I have postponed my re-reading of all my Jane Austen books until tomorrow. it turns out that my nice Jane Austen Mass Market size paperbacks from Penguin Classics has teeny weeny, tiny little type.
It is hard to read even with my reading glasses on and I usually do not need “reading glasses* for reading, just for stitching.
Life is too short to struggle with this, so I ordered new paperback copies of the books from good old amazon.com. Now the reading will be a pleasure, not a struggle and I will give my tiny type copies to the Library in the next town
(Apollo Beach has no Library, it does have many bars, 3 supermarkets and 7 nail salons however)
The Library sells them in the little book store the Friends of the Library run. This is a win-win for me.
I really love amazon.com. I have been a customer almost from the beginning, I am a reader and I was so upset at the very limited and narrow choices at all the local bookstores where we used to live (and this was Massachusetts). amazon.com has it all, I really like the depth of the used books available. Almost my whole Needlepoint and Bargllo book collection comes from amazon.com book re-sellers.
Ok, enough digression. Today I marked down all of the Claire Sanchez bags I have from last year. This includes the biggest tote bags, the ones that will hold a needlepoint canvas on stretcher bars plus all your junk too. Another wonderful feature is the shoulder straps are long enough to really wear over your shoulder, even with a coat on.
I also marked down Claire’s amazing smaller Silk Dupioni HandBags with real copper leaf decoration on them.
I still do not have the links thing working but I can show you the bags. You can find them all on http://www.newneedlepoint.com in the Claire Sanchez Category
I have marked down the Faye Carpet Bag. This bag is a Hand Bag size:
The Black Silk Dupioni with Copper Leaf Hand Bag:
The Gold Metallic Fully Reversible Mini-Dot Large Tote Bag:
The Turquoise Silk Dupioni with Copper Leaf Hand Bag:
The Georgia Large Tote Bag, with all over flocked dots:
The Beverly Hand Bag, I love these colors:
The Green Silk Dupioni with Copper Leaf Hand Bag:
The Pink Silk Dupioni with Copper Leaf Hand Bag:
I have made substantial cuts in prices, from a minimum of $10 off to a maximum of $20.00 off.
Just in case I have to move again, there will be less to move.
Yes, I said we might move again. I know, this is insane. Keith is up for a new job and a big promotion within his company. If he gets the job we want, we can move home. I want to go live in our own house again on the East Coast of Florida instead of here on the west coast of Florida in a rented house.
I will have my pool back and my closets (I miss my closets) and Jack The Cat will have his screened pool enclosure to hunt in, nap in and sunbathe in.
Please, wish us luck with this. BTW, does everybody get the pun now? Mixed Bag?
Last Night’s Blog
I know, I should have done this blog last night. I didn’t. I even have a handy excuse.
I am working hard to get enough of the larger, finished looking Bargello canvases done for the NewNeedlepoint.com Bargello categories (YIKES, the link thingie does not work). So, yesterday I stitched all day. I watched the Oceans 11,12,13 trilogy backwards. It really was fun. I watched 13, 12 then 11. It made some kind of strange sense to me, I have no idea why.
I got an enormous amount of stitching done, look:
I want to make a few important points about Bargello using my quite nice but obviously slightly flawed Bargello as an example. We are all human beings. Stitching something like this on a 5/3 count, row after row, is not as easy as it looks.
Neither is it as hard as you think. The thing is, you will make small mistakes. I can see one in this photograph of the canvas, there is one spot where I missed 1 stitch of blue. I can see the white space where it should have been peeking out.
Also, as you can see, my counts are not perfect. At the top of the canvas, the counts are slightly different on the left than on the right. This is just the difference of 1 (maybe 2 but I think 1) thread but you can see it.
The point I am trying to make is that this is ok. It is to be expected when stitching anything but here it is not easy to fudge it, hide your small error.
Someone once told me that they way you can tell a really hand tied Oriental rug from a machine woven one, no matter how nice it may be, is by the mistakes. I was told that any hand tied rug with have one or more small (or not so small) mistakes in the weave and that is how you know.
This made and still makes perfect sense to me. Yes, I tore the whole left side of this canvas out before for a really massive error. A big pattern mistake. I would not ever tear out for this small boo boo. Besides, how on earth are you supposed to know where in the stitching the 1 thread mistake occured?
Moving on. My other excuse for missing last night blog writing (I really want to write these no less than every other night. I was writing them every night but I found that I, blabbermouth me, did not have enough to say for every night) was a literary reason. No, I am not kidding.
OK, like so many of you I am a huge fan of Jane Austen. I have, of course, read all her books and 2 biographies of her life. Park Honan’s Jane Austen, Her Life and Jane Austen by Marghanita Laski which is notable for it’s many pictures of everything and anything relating to Jane Austen’s life.
Then last week I read the *Literary Biography* of Jane Austen by the late Pulizter Prize winning author Carol Shields (the Stone Dairies & more). It was fascinating, it discussed what she wrote and how and tied it to her life and circumstances.
I realized that I had not actually read the major Jane Austen novels in many years. Since the excellent movie adaptations of them has been released and I owned them all on DVD, I had stopped reading the books.
I decided I would re-read them all, in the order they had been written (which is not the order they were published in). I have begun with Sense & Sensibility. I started last night and I kept on reading until I fell asleep. Then I woke up at 4 am and continued to read for another hour until I fell back asleep.
So, blame my late blog on Jane Austen.
Keith painted 2 more practice canvases this weekend. he is clearly getting better.
The first is a Kanji variation. I am not positive but I think this is the Kanji for Karma. He painting is good but he is not happy with the colors. he used them straight from the bottles and thinks they need to be mixed and altered some. He is very dissatisfied with the purple in the black outline. It just all looks dark.
The next one is a practice painting of a Kanji canvas I have in the to-do pile. This is not bad. The stitch painting is good but we are not happy with the uneven color coverage. We are going to try pre-treating the canvas or maybe it needs to have more “flow medium” added to the paint. Keith will figure this out eventually. This canvas, when done for sale will have the Kanji for *Nirvava* on it to the right of the picture of the trees & the hills in the distance. I think the final colors will be different. Keith is not happy with these browns.
Ok, now I feel all caught up. I do not like feeling like important things are not done or done well. I am one of those people who can’t relax until all my *ducks* are squeeky clean and all lined up nicely.
Yes, one of those.
The All Bargello Blog
Tonight’s blog is wall to wall Bargello. I would like to start with what Dr. Denise wrote about her experience stitching her very first Bargello (after I begged her to).
This is what she wrote:
Barging Though Bargello!
In between the time Marianne, asked me to do a bargello sample for her and the time that it came in the mail…I totally panicked! I had never done any bargello and even though I think of myself as a fairly strong stitcher, I did not know a thing about this stitch. After checking out a few website Marianne suggested and a review the technique in several stitching books, plus bargello charts and history sent to me…I was fairly confident that I could pull this off.
When I sat down with the mounted canvas, threads and instructions, my DH said, “What are you doing?’ I said, “I have absolutely no idea!” With that, I set to work.
A few items of interest about this stitching journey:
<Reading and studying about the history and genesis of a new stitching method is always interesting and motivating. Information about bargello was plentiful.
<Colors…the possibilities seemed to be endless. When stitching I thought about gathering other color ways to make this small sample. The colors provided were beautiful, but even thinking about different combos made the stitching more lively.
<Accuracy of the pattern and accuracy of the stitcher…both important. I found that after I found the rhythm of the pattern, the stitching went smoothly. However, I really did need to concentrate on this…mostly because I wanted it to look great for Marianne and also, I wanted the satisfaction of doing a new stitch to the best of my ability.
<Hard Part—the miters! It just took me a few minutes to get the feel of the mitering. I wanted everything to match up! I think that when doing this a few more times, it will become second nature.
<End Notes…this was a great introduction for a newbie bargello stitcher! Good instructions, fun colors, two distinct patterns and the challenge of the miters.
Many thanks to Marianne for her guidance and faith!
Dr. Denise
This is what the amazing Dr. D. stitched.
I did not intend for the coners of the Zig -Zag pattern border to have the colors match perfectly at the mitre, to be honest, not only was that beyond Dr Denise as a first time Bargelloer (is that a word?) but it was beyond me too. My own biggest problem with the 4-way bargellos so far has been matching the corner mitres. I have not mastered this yet.
As you see on the pattern above it was not an issue for the Cubes pattern center. I have an idea for a variation on cubes, call it 4-way Bargello for idiots (I bet they have copyrighted that title already).
When I finish what I am working on now, I will stitch up what is on my mind.
I listed a simple needlepoint kit this week with a lot of background area on it. Now I know from my own *stitch for pleasure* (I do remember that) and from what my wonderful little circle of “experts and stitchers smarter then I am” have advised me. The consensus is needlepointers get turned off by too much background.
I listed Kissing Fish as a kit only but I would be willing to sell it as a canvas alone (if asked) I came up with an idea for the design’s background
My solution is a 3 color Ripple pattern Bargello in watery colors
With the fish done in darker greens and outlined and highlighted in black with Kreinik Copper Metallic on the tail and the fins, this will be a spectacular background (if I don’t say so myself).
Now I have a puzzle for you. You remember the Bargello I showed you in my last blog?
I am expanding one of my small Bargello samples into a full size piece as part of the changes I plan to make in how I offer my Bargello patterns for sale (This will begin to happen when I have a few more full size *finished* samples finished.
There is a serious mistake in this canvas. I hope the picture is large enough for you to see it (I have picture size limitations in this blog program). It is a major error in the pattern going down the whole left side of the design. This is not a minor missed count, which happens to (most) everyone a few times in (almost) every Bargello (which I nicely fudge over) I tell myself this happens to everyone unless they are a perfect and careful stitcher and always get their counts right, which I do not. (Think I have enough qualifiers in that last paragraph?)
I ripped out the whole left side of the Bargello and re-did it. Ripping out Bargello is, thankfully, much easier then ripping out tent stitch or the worst, basketweave stitch or even fancy stitches but it is still awful to do.
Now it is correct and I hope looks no *worse for wear*
When the Bargello is completed, in another few rows down, I am adding 2 or maybe 3 rows of Gobelin stitch border, then the 2 extra rows for finishing.
(that does seem to be something of a slow-down for me. I said I would do that for Dr. Denise’s canvas too and I haven’t yet. I will, I promise)
The kicker here, and it is quite a kicker, is that in my last blog I repeatedly called this pattern *Twin Peaks*. I even made a (pitiful) joke about the old TV show of that name.
It turns out I messed that up too. This pattern is called *Florentine Wave*, as I well know and should have remembered. It is not Florentine Embroidery but that is it’s name.
That’s about it for me, enough mistakes for one day and one blog.
101 Blog Posts
True to form, I missed the fact that my last (carping & complaining, as usual) blog post was my 100th. That, of course, makes this my 101th post. I promise I will not make a habit of counting them (until my next milestone).
I have all kinds of stuff going on right now, huge changes happening to NewNeedlepoint.com. I have removed a number of my own design canvases & kits. They are in line to be Hand Painted when Keith thinks he is ready. He is making progress learning, this is a practice one he did over the last weekend. He used my Holiday Poinsetta Stitch & Frame canvas. Except for a small error painting the 2nd A in the text, I think it is perfect.
I told him the text does not have to be painted in the future, the Stitch Drawn Text he already does so well is fine.
I got a much better picture of my Pointed Curves Bargello in the daylight.
This is the new one I am working on, making the small sample into a full size sample with finished outer edges to better show how these can look. This pattern is called Twin Peaks (wasn’t there a TV show called that once?) I think these colors are fabulous (if I don’t say so myself)
I am about to make a big change to my Patt & Lee Designs category. It seems that I am the only INTERNET STORE that sells Patt’s & Lee’s Designs. I did not realize that, so I am going to list Patt’s canvases alone as well as made up into my (wonderful) kits.
To do this in some sort of order, I have to take all the P & L Kits off my web site and re-list them all in the order I want them to be (kit, canvas, kit canvas, of course) otherwise all the canvases will be first in the category, the kits below. I have no control over placement in a category. Last one in is on top.
I have quite a few new needlepoint kits and canvases on my web site, with many more to come in the next few months. These are all Hand Painted, for beginners, intermediate or advanced stitchers. I have listed a few very interesting new tools, as well.
For beginners I have added this Chicken sitting on her Eggs. I was told this is a Susan Treglown Design but I have no proof of that, however it is nicely stitch painted on 14 mesh canvas.
And this small American Flag Apple, this too is supposed to be a Susan Treglown Design. Again, I have no proof but this too is nicely stitch painted on 14 mesh canvas.
This pretty Wreath of Flowers from Wee Needle can be a simple beginner’s project or a nice design for someone more experienced to use some decorative stitches on. This is a nicely Hand Painted design on 18 mesh canvas. I am listing this as both a kit and the canvas alone.
This is a wonderful and unusual needlepoint design. It is the word *love* in Hebrew by S. Roberts. The letters are done in gold & silver and I have added a 1/2 inch border of rich plum stitching to the design. This is sold as a kit using Kreinik Gold & Silver Metallic threads to stitch with. This too is Hand painted on 14 mesh canvas. You can never have too much love.
I have 2 new bags from Claire Sanchez from her fall 2009 collection. The Rita Studio bag is available in both the larger tote size (big enough to hold all your stuff, your current needlepoint project on stretcher bars and your lunch) and the Shoulder Bag size, a smaller version of the tote or great casual everyday bags. A big plus to both bags in these sizes is that the leather strap on either is long enough to fit over your shoulder even with a coat on (I often wonder what some of these idiot handbag designers think with these ridiculously short shoulder straps)
I love this colorful print. Below is the Shoulder Bag.
Claire’s Alice Tote and Shoulder Bag have both already sold out everywhere else. These are terrific bags with a surprising design. The top of a deer’s head and his antlers with a very pretty stylized floral in rusty red, taupe and cream with a touch of Agean blue. Below is the tote bag.
Whew, there is more. I have a number of new canvases and kits for other than beginner stitchers.
This lovely daffodil ornament uses 17 colors, again I am told this a Susan Treglown Design, again I am not sure but it is beautifully stitch painted on 14 mesh canvas. This is available as a kit or the canvas alone.
A gorgeous Graphic Needlepoint Design by Rosalie done is shades of blue, mauve or cream. This canvas has been in my to-stitch collection for a few years. While I do love it it is not really my colors, I hope someone else will love it too. It is nicely hand painted on 14 mesh canvas.
I am trying something new with this Kissing Fish Needlepoint. It is a fairly large design on 14 mesh with quite a bit of background.
So I designed a water effect Ripple Bargello for the background and I stitched a small sample of it on the outer margin (the white area outside the design) for you to see. I think it will work wonderfully.
This finish up this ultra long blog I have 3 new items in the Needlepoint Tools Category (or it will be the needlepoint tools category when my web tech finally get around to re-naming a few of the category buttons for me. It has been a week since I asked, last time it took 2 weeks)
I have a Gold Plated Bent Tip Thread Laying Needle
A Trolley Needle Thread Controller and
(TA DA) a Kreinik Metallic Thread sample book. This has actual pieces of all the Kreinik Metallics, in all the wonderful colors.
Dr. Denise has written a wonderful overview of her experience stitching her first ever Bargello for me. I was going to post it tonight but I got carried away (as usual). I will post it next blog. It does not deserve to be buried in all of tonight’s blather.
I have now seen it all
I had such a nice blog planned for this evening. Dr Denise wrote a small history of stitching her first every Bargello. We know how well that turned out
And I had some new listings to show you and a pretty good handpainted canvas by Keith, his best so far but I have been derailed by Needlepointers, the ANG magazine.
It arrived today and I was thumbing through it while I made supper (I am such a good do-bee sometimes). I was looking at the projects in this issue, no time yet to read any articles or get into anything in depth.
The cover did not thrill me, but I suspended judgement. It mentioned BlackWork and I am curious and interested in that, never having done it (yet).
OK, I like the graphic on the title page, this is a good start.
The same old tedious dull ads (anyone else sick of the stupid Owls on The Needle Works ad: HOOT)?
So, I don’t get the point of hanging sparkly, dangly things off your scissors, seems to me they would just get in your way. Then again I am the only adult woman I know (or anyone knows) who does not have pierced ears. Moving on.
The Stitching Friendships stuff was pretty dull, but who am I to judge (me, that’s who). Yes, I can see that it might create a bond, if you could stay awake long enough.
Then a bunch of the same old ads……..
Jacob’s Coat. Interesting stuff there, a real example of how color alters a design. I fold the page back, this one I will read later.
The there is the Blackwork article I was looking forward to. I was let down by this. I had hoped to see some striking, gorgeous dramatic blackwork, not this washed out blah stuff and I have to say (stop me before I offend again) the lady’s head design, from the cover, is close to the bottom of my list of things I will ever stitch.
Then more ads, *Holiday Handbags* and all these twee little sock/stocking things, so cute (AWK). These ads could serve as a list of what I am not going to sell on NewNeedlepoint.com.
Ah ha, good ad, my friend Patt of Patt & Lee Designs’ ad, tasteful, great colors. (as I scribble a new order for canvases from Patt)
The Stars & Hearts, sigh. Need I say more?
The *Fetch-A-Pail of Needle Art* ad from A Stitch In Time Needlework. They are little stitched thingies with beaded stems in a cute little painted pail. It is sort of a *book of the month club* series, you get one a month.
AND THEN I TURN THE PAGE
There it is, the full page ad for ANG JEWLERY. No, I am not kidding. I could never make this up. The ANG is selling needlepoint jewelry and it is not cheap.
Now, this is bad timing and bad taste on their part. The #1 complaint I hear is how expensive Needlepoint can be.
Does anyone remember my blog entry of June 22, 2009. There was an article in Atlantic Magazine singling out needlepoint as very expensive, too expensive and unnecessary.
The article was by Megan Mc Ardle and I disputed it in my blog, the link above is to that blog.
Somehow Ms McArdle saw my blog and wrote to me, she said she did not really say what she said. I understood and appreciated her effort, but indeed she said what she said.
Now, here is OUR National Needlepoint Association selling Needlepoint Jewelry in a free (to them) full page ad in our monthly magazine.
This stuff is not cheap. A small gold plated logo charm is $20. In sterling silver it is $40. The large one is $40 for plated gold and $50 for silver
A Sewing Bird Charm is is $20 for the fake gold and $30 for the silver. A medium Logo pin is $38 and $50 (you got the formula now, the low price is gold plate, the higher is sterling silver)
a Presidents pin/pendant is only gold plate $35. A Life Patron pin/pendant is gold plate only for $45. (you would think the Life Patrons would rate silver)
here’s beaut. A medium Tie tack is $30 in gold plate, $40 in sterling. When was the last time you saw a fashionably dressed man wear a tie tack?
Other Items
Cyber Stitcher tie tack $5.
Group Correspondence tie tack $6
Seminar Pins $3.
And Gift Certificates in varying amounts.
To buy the Presidents Pin/Pendant or the Group Correspondence Course Tie tack you must include a copy of the teacher’s certificate and order forms (what ever those are)
WOW!
Then at the bottom it says prices are subject to change without notice. (I bet they are). Then if this is not enough there are shipping fees.
Oh my, I have to say, this stuff is just awful.
Well, there you have it. I have now *seen it all*
Dr Denise Amazes Me
Tonight’s blog is a Bargello Blog. I have 2 finished Bargello samples, all ready to go off and be made into pillows.
I will use these as samples to show how fine Bargello can be. I have not, until now, had any finished Bargellos to show.
Dr Denise is a reader of my poor little blog (thereby showing her intelligence and discrimination). She emailed me a while ago offering to stitch a sample for me. She, like everyone else, chose one of the simple Kanji Stitch & Frames to stitch.
I begged her to do a Bargello for me (begged!). She said she had never done Bargello before. I told her it was easier then she thinks, that I would walk her through it.
She agreed, I asked her what colors she would like. She said they love to vacation in Key West, would I give her *Key West* colors? We love Key West too, I knew just what colors to assemble.
I started out to just stitch the *establishing line* for her but realized it would not be enough to show her the pattern I intended. I kept in mind she, while she is an experienced stitcher, has never stitched Bargello before and it is different to stitch.
I ended up doing a 1/4 section for her and one section of the border.
I sent it off to Dr Denise, along with very complete directions and a few web site addresses for more Bargello instruction.
She did a terrific job, the only trouble she had was the mitred corners of the border. I talked her through it (it was easier than she thought, she was making it more complicated then it was).
This is the finished canvas. It has not been blocked yet, she stitched it on a frame, so it needs little.
When she sent this back to me, I opened the padded envelope and just stood there, with my mouth open. Stunned, it is spectacular.
And this from someone who never stitched Bargello before.
At the same time I finished my *Pointed Curves* Bargello. It came out nicely, I think. It needs some blocking (I do not work on a frame, I like to roll and stitch).
Now, this is odd. The solid purple fill in areas at the top and bottom of the design are done exactly the same. I am sitting here looking at them right now, the canvas is right next to me on my desk.
They are the same, given the natural variations of stitching (never perfect, ever) but in my picture it looks like the top part of the filler stitch is done slightly differently than the bottom part.
This is probably going to drive me crazy(er) and I will end up ripping out the *offending* section (huge job) and restitching it. I am fighting this urge, I look at the piece and it looks fine.
Maybe this is something with the lights (I took the picture at night). I think before I undo all this work on one whole side of the filler stitching, I will try another picture tomorrow, see if I am nuts or what. (ok, so I am nuts but I am seeing things, too?)
All in all, this is excellent stuff and I am excited.
This leads me into the unspecified changes I am making to my Bargello offerings on NewNeedlepoint.com. Currently I show a sample of the pattern being offered and you are supposed to order it and either choose your own colors or use one of my color combinations on my on-line color choice catalog.
This has no exactly been a success (understatement alert). I am slowly, as I finish these full size Bargello samples, going to offer the Bargello pattern in a finished design format and in the colors shown, with maybe 1 other color variation.
I say in the Bargello listings that mostly, borders are not needed. I am wrong about that. Many patterns need a border, even the Pointed Curves pattern (the purple one) needs the filler stitch areas, to complete it.
This is a big change and will be made at my usual snail’s pace since I am also making such huge changes to the rest of my web store too.
As it is, I have 10 Hand Painted Canvases and the Kits I have made from them waiting to get listed. I am expecting more deliveries in the next few weeks and months, as the Hand Painted Canvases I have ordered arrive.
I will get there, what is that expression? “All In Good Time”. Hmmmm. I think I could have come up with a better quote than that one. (as I dig out my ancient copy of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, in case you were wondering, none of my needlepoint canvas quotes came out of this book)
They have 1 Mae West quote in here *come up and see me sometime* from Diamond Lil 1939, how do you like that?
Here’s a good one. From The poet John Keats (1793-1821) “and still they were the same bright, patient stars”.
Nice isn’t it?
Newer New Stuff
I don’t know if I am energized by the new Hand Painted Needlepoint Canvases I have just ordered, I just know I am.
I think I have done well, I hope I have. The designs I have bought/ordered range from really nice to fabulous (of course, this is my own opinion).
It might be that I am jazzed over this new direction I am taking with NewNeedlepoint.com. It no longer feels like “I have to do this”. Now it feels like “this will be great”.
Or maybe it is just the *juice* from shopping. Buying a whole lot of Hand Painted Canvases is still shopping, when you get down to it. I do love to shop but the current economy has taken the wind of my *shopping sails*, so to speak (I like that phrase, I think I will try to remember it).
I will begin to take delivery on the new canvases as soon as the end of next week. They will send me the ones that they have in stock right away.
Unfortunately, the others will take 4-6 weeks (they are hand painted, after all, is what I tell myself)
I can show you a few pictures of what I have bought. This is just a random sampling, I have begun with 40 canvases. I am still looking for more wholesalers.
This is the absolutely most expensive canvas I bought. I had little choice, Keith tells me he is THE fisherman, he assures me most men will beg their wives, mothers, sisters and girlfriends (maybe daughters too) to stitch this. This canvas and the next one are Eileen R. Best Designs
I love this graphic design
It’s raining Cats & Dogs. A Jane Wheeler Design
I have bought a few of the wonderful Laurel Burch canvases
Look at this gorgeous spring flowers design by Danji Design
The Emperor & Empress. I might snag these myself. By Jackie Richey Designs
This is just a few of them (aren’t I a tease?). I have no way of knowing if I will get these next week or in December. We shall see.
One of the (many) advantages of my friendship with Patt of Patt & Lee Designs is that we cook up design ideas, toss them around.
Patt & I are planning to do a line of Beginner Needlepoint Canvases which I will make into Kits. Many of them will have Stitch Guides and be appropriate for a beginner or novice level needlepointer.
I just placed an order with her for more (MORE!) of her canvases. Patt & I are doing a slightly different version of her very popular Geisha Cats needlepoint design.
We are substituting the Kanji in the upper right hand corner of the canvas (which neither of us knowns the meaning of) for the Kanji for Geisha. This is a 2 character Kanji, one symbol is above the other in sequence. It will be kept on the right side of the design.
Patt is doing a modified version of her Cats Spooning On The Roof canvas. the upper portion of the sky will be empty and I hope it will be a fade-out to lighter blue (we have talked about this but not finalized this detail yet). We will be adding that wonderful and unexpected quote from Lenny Bruce “there are never enough I love you’s”.
We have a few more ideas for quotes or Kanjis to add to some of her designs. Patt has done 4 handsome Bonsai trees.
This picture is one Patt stitched for a sample (she is a very good stitcher). I am buying 2 of these canvases. I am not changing the design on the one above. We are leaving off the butterfly and adding the Kanji for Bonsai to the one below
These will both come with Stitch Guides.
These changes are happening fast, for now. I can accomplish quite a bit when when I am jazzed and motivated. I am having fun.
It won’t last. Soon enough I will be back to my usual bumbling, shuffling self, wanting a nice nap and blathering away endlessly here on my blog.
That is fun too, when you think about it.
metamorphosis
I am making changes at NewNeedlepoint.com (again, still). I know I have been droning on about what I think is happening on my needlepoint web store and why I think it is happening but I have not been just sitting around complaining (yes, I do that quite a bit but not all the time).
I have been busy looking for wholesale suppliers of Hand Painted Needlepoint Canvases for me to sell.
Here is the reality, in a nutshell (Nutsell? from loquacious blatherer me?). My own designs line Drawn Needlepoint canvases are not selling. Other things are selling on my web site but…my site traffic is down.
Even if K & I can produce a sellable and (I hope) somewhat popular line of Hand Painted Canvases using my designs, it will take many (many) months before I have even a minimum number of them to sell.
Keith is working hard (every night after he does his full-time job all day) trying to learn how to Stitch Paint on canvas (current problem, the paints seeps & creeps into the adjoining canvas as he paints).
Even when he masters this, he still has to Stitch Draw my designs, to be painted or not.
I have to accept reality *REALITY..OH NO*. We will never be able to produce many of these canvases ourselves.
Meanwhile, I have a good web site where people go.
So, my solution is to buy Hand Painted Needlepoint Canvases done by other designers. There are surprisingly few wholesalers on-line. Most seem to be doing Cross Stitch.
I went to that dismal on-line Wholesale Needlework Show and mostly saw cross stitch and awful printed needlepoint canvases & kits. If that is what a novice to needlepoint sees and thinks that is what this is all about, we are all in trouble.
I found 3 needlepoint wholesalers on line.
I called the first, she was very nice. She told me her computers were down and she could not take my information right then, it would be too much writing. She said the computer tech person was on their way to her right now. She told me to email her. (yes, even I know a brush off when I hear one).
The second seems to have some interesting canvases, but the web site does not tell you who the designers are and what the prices are. The only way to contact them is email.
My first email was returned as undeliverable. My second went through (I hope) but there has been no response yet.
I opened an account to buy a larger range of Needlepoint Accessories but that is not really what I need.
I need great needlepoint canvases so people who visit my web site see excellent stuff to buy and at a not too ridiculous price.
I need this before my web site “dries up and blows away*. There is a certain momentum to this, if I loose it it will be harder to get it back.
I can’t wait for the January TNNA show and then wait for delivery from that. I need stock NOW.
The major search engines look for active web sites, and one important area of activity is frequently adding stock.
I found the Danji Design wholesale web site. They were receptive, professional and I took a deep breath of relief.
Of course, most of us know the name Danji Designs, but I was surprised at how many of their designs I was familiar with (I even have a few in stock already) without knowing they were Danji.
I bought a good number of The Danji Designs designs, I bought 1 Art Ventures Design. 2 ornaments by Christine Saunders “Eye of the Needle”, 4 Eileen R. Best Designs (terrific graphics), 6 Gail Lang Designs, 2 Jackie Richey Designs (a pair, Chinese Emperor & Empress), 5 Jane Wheeler Designs, 2 Joey Heiburg Dolly Mamas, 5 Laurel Burch Designs, 2 samplers from Mary Margaret Waldock and 1 canvas from The Station Designs
This will allow me to keep Newneedlepoint.com fresh, vibrant and active while we do this long slow upgrade to my own designs. (big wish, this)
I still have faith in my designs ( most of them, anyway) but I can see now they need color.
Today’s trip through hundreds (maybe thousands) of good full color, handpainted needlepoint canvases has taught me something (usually it takes a large hammer repeatedly banging my hard head to teach me anything).
I do have 3 new designs to list this week.
This is the larger, upgraded “Save the World with a Tiara” kit. It is Stitch Drawn using colored pens. In this version I have done her cuffs in Kreinik High Lustre Gold Metallic (Wonder Woman and her Magic Power Cuffs?)
The next one is the Kanji for Harmony done beside a boxed Oriental Influenced Flowering Tree Branch. This is done on 14 mesh Zweigart canvas, the color is a cross between a very pale yellow and a cream. I have included a background color floss very close to the canvas color. There are all kinds of interesting ways to do this background, including not at all.
I also have a new Serenity Kanji for Beginners (or anyone, for that matter). It is done on my brand new Lilac Zweigart 18 mesh canvas. I do not have a picture of it yet.
These are pretty much the end of my own canvases, for now. There is one more but I am holding it for painting, it will be spectacular in color.
The Peace Kanji stitched by my friend margaret in Oklahoma is finally all matted and framed.
I had the matting done at Michaels (yes, another sad Michaels story) and I know the measurements were right since Keith did them, not me. The matting fits both the canvas and the frame badly but still it does more or less work.
Margaret did extraordinary plain stitching on this design and I am grateful to her.
Sorry to do such a long, verbose blog entry (and with hardly any pictures, I don’t know about you but I love pictures in the blog).
Remember a while ago I did a blog titled *CCCHanges* to be sung along to that old song?
