Custom Painting

If you're a longtime follower of our blog, you may have seen past entries about some of our custom paint jobs. We are very proud of our custom painters, and love being able to create one of a kind special pieces for customers, as well as being able to have specially designed pieces exclusive for our shop. Our custom painter, Jia, has been very busy creating beautiful needlepoint canvases, for customers, and for our shop. She has done baby samplers (the adorable example being one of them!), book covers, wedding samplers, stockings, whimsical phrase canvases, belts, and much more! One of the pieces she finished recently is this beautiful piece of art. It was custom made for one of our customers whose son is getting married. The piece is dedicated to her son and her new daughter in law and represents symbols that are special to each of them and symbolize their new life together. It is gorgeous, and having been there for the thread pulling, I'm sure that it will look gorgeous once it has been stitched up! Another fun piece that Jia painted is this lovely version of our Philadelphia Christmas stocking. Our other painter, Jim, had painted a gorgeous version a couple years ago that has turned into one of our shop masters. This customer loved it so much that she wanted to create a similar stocking for her granddaughter. I think it came out very well and love all the different colors. There are definitely lots of opportunities to use specialty threads and stitches. Another fun piece that Jia has had the opportunity to paint was the fun cummerbund above. It really came out well, and I'm sure that it will look great once it's been finished! If you're interested in having a piece custom painting for you or a loved one, get in touch with Jia at painting@rittenhouseneedlepoint.com. You can send her a picture of something you'd like made into needlepoint, or you can give her a description. You should also consider if you'd like it to be stitch painted, partially stitch painted, or just painted. Stitch painting is a much more labor intensive process on her part, which ads up to more hours and cost, but it really creates the best effect if you like to have everything exact. All of the stitches will be painted, and you won't have to decide where to start shading or blending. Her fee is only $25 an hour, so depending on how big and detailed your piece is, and if you want it stitch painted or not, you will really be able to control how much you would like to spend. She'll do a sketch after giving you an estimate of how long it will take to paint it, and then your piece will get started!

Neon Colors

NEON

If you've been following this years fashion trends you already know - Neon Colors are back in style! These colors can brighten any needlepoint canvas and bring some more life into it. We offer a variety of these colors here in our shop! Try replacing a basic orange and green with something like tangerine or chartreuse.

Pantone's Color of the Year - Tangerine Tango

 Here are just a few of the items we have in the shop that follow this color trend. 

From Left to Right: Birds Nest Needle Rest in Green, River Silks in Greenery, Silken Ribbons in Pond Scum, DMC in Moss Green, Soie D'Alger in 2142, Splendor in Lite Neon Green, Sparkle Rays in Apple Green, Sparkle Rays in Citron, Gloriana in Halloween Green Pastel, Waverly Wool in Yellow, Kreinik in Lemon, Zecca Tape Measure, Silken Ribbons in Phoenix Rising, Soie D'Alger in 646, Sparkle Rays in Tangerine, Splendor in Brown Orange Red, Silk and Ivory in Big Orange, DMC in Pansy Orange, DMC in Sunset Orange, Sparkle Rays in Mango, Appleton Crewel in 446, Planet Earth in Sparks, Splendor in Brite Coral, Kreinik Silk Mori in 1112, Burmilana in Dp Carnation, Soie D'Alger in 1034, Silk and Ivory in Red Hot, Boucle' in Red 154, and Whisper in Shocking Pink.

 The Asparagus Brick Cover and The Sushi Platter canvases that we have in the shop would really benefit from using neon colors. These would both add a nice touch to any room.

  These two canvases are from the Leigh Designs trunk show we have in right now. They are wonderfully painted designs. The dark backgrounds really make the colors pop. Call the shop if you would like to place an order!

  Coming Soon! How to create needlepoint ring from start to finish. 

See also - Gone Finishing
  

Returning to Basketweave after a long day of "Decorative Stitching"

I'm here on my sofa and I've got a choice of projects to work on and I've reached once again for the basketweave one. There is nothing like a good, old-fashioned, scrunch-it-up-in-your-hand, all-basketweave-all-the-time project to relax me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy so-called decorative stitches (as if basketweave isn't a decorative stitch) but it is like a rich diet -- a little goes a long way. One needs some commonplace, no frills, everyday nutrition too and that's what basketweave is to me -- relaxing, comforting, and nearly mindless.

Having said that, let me also say that I've been working Dena's boathouse row project, putting in a portion of the sky using one full strand of Paternayan and the jacquard stitch. It looks nice and has drawn lots of positive comments. I 've enjoyed working on that piece too especially not that I've learned to alternate my stitching from bottom right/upper left to upper left/bottom right thus negating the need for turning the canvas. Turning such a bulky canvas can be tiresome. Occasionally I loose concentration and will mess up the pattern (exactly the sort of thing that no longer happens to me while basketweaving). Generally I've had to rip out only a few stitches at a time but I did have to rip out more than that the other day.

The jacquard stitch is a fun and attractive stitch though. It looks especially handsome when done in two different fibers of the same color (such as wool and embroidery floss) or when done in two shades of the same fiber. It's a stitch that has a lot going for it. It makes a fine background or, as I mentioned, sky or even grass (as in the fairway of a golf course). It's not the fastest stitch to work up though its not the slowest either. It's not the fastest stitch to work up though it's not the slowest either. It's completely scale-able so it's very versatile (you can vary the number and length of the stitches in either the Byzantine portion of the stitch or in the continental portion). It covers the back of the canvas well and if you choose not to make the stitches too long it's fairly snag-proof and durable.

I just love it and will definitely use it again. Just not tonight. I'm too tired.

Where are my scissors, laying tool, needle threader, etc.?

Have you ever noticed that when you are stitching stuff just disappears? I have had a couple of instances recently where my stitching accessories/thread have just up and left me. On Friday during Happy Hour at the shop I had several people helping me look for my -- product plug alert -- easy to use trolley needle (item 2820, $6.99). We could not find it anywhere. I looked under the chair, behind the curtains, under the cushions, in my pockets, under the coffee table, even under the carpet (a highly unlikey spot but hey I was desperate). Finally I just gave up. It was frustrating though because a.) I had already misplaced and then found my scissors earlier in the stitching session and b.) because both Dena and I had heard them land SOMEWHERE. When I went to clean up and put my stuff away I discovered that the trolley needle had fallen into the drawer of the table to my right -- don't ask me how, I guess that the drawer must have been open and maybe I wasn't looking where I put it. Who knows? That's not the point anyway. The point is that stitching stuff disappears.

It happened to me again on Saturday night. I was stitching on the water lily/koi fish project (more about that later) when I needed more of the pale mauve metallic thread and I could not find it anywhere. I had just been stitching with it and I looked and looked but could not find it. I tore apart the sofa/sleeper, tried everywhere I could think of (except strangely the drawer on the sofa table). I still didn't find it and as it was getting late I just wrote it off to sleepiness and took the dog out with Russell.

The next morning I found the mauve thread down in the store, right next to the cash register -- don't ask me why. Near as I can figure, I must have had some of the metallic thread in one of my needles already and then I used it up. Now as to why the thread was next to the cash register I have no idea.

Needless to say last night when I sat down to stitch I was extra careful to remember to put everything in the "right" spot. But of course then I forgot and placed the scissors next to me on the sofa and then I shifted my position and well, before you know it, the scissors had fallen between the cushions and ... you know the drill -- cushions everywhere, lots of cussing, sweat pouring down my brow, so on and so forth. Can you say frustration?

Now -- let's talk about that koi/lily project. I discovered while I was working on the previous blog entry that I have been looking at/working on my canvas UPSIDE DOWN. Can you believe that? How dumb can you get? Once I saw the canvas right side up you know it made a lot more sense. No longer are the lilies face down and the fish are now swimming upstream instead of downstream. So there you have it. The hazards of working on a canvas that is an abstracted version of reality. I am still going to work on it upside down -- I can't really turn it around because I am working the canvas in my hand and if I turn it around then I will be grasping the worked area of the canvas in my left hand -- not good. So, I'll keep going as I am and when I am done I will turn it around and be surprised.

In other news, we had a busy day at the shop on Sunday but not too busy for me to start another project! And this one is a big one. Dena, who works at the shop, brought in a huge canvas that she had custom-painted of Boat House Row and the Philadelphia skyline. It's a great canvas and she has all the thread (Patternayan) for it. She wants me to do all different stitches so I thought it would be fun for us to do it together though somehow I have a sneaky suspicion that I am going to be doing most of the work. When I will fit it in I have no idea but I told you I have multiple project personality.