Folk Art and Needlepoint

Needlepoint and Folk Art lend themselves well to each other. I think this is because needlepoint has been an art form that is rooted in the home. Women (and men) have needlepointed for thousands of years, starting as a way to stitch up their canvas tents* and evolving into a domestic craft that illustrated the times and people's cultures worldwide.

Folk Art has been characterized by its ability to reveal the lives of common people. It is/was not primarily created by trained artists but mostly by untrained artists who wanted to create images of their daily lives. Folk art is an excellent way to study different cultures and the values they treasure.

Grandma Moses is a very familiar American Folk Artist.

Her paintings illustrate rural towns and the people who live in them. Many of her paintings were inspired by different holidays and seasons, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Fourth of July, and etc. It's important to note while looking at her paintings that community was important to her. Everyone is interacting and seems to be enjoying themselves.

Even if the painting depicts people performing manual labor, they are not unhappy. They are working together to enhance their community.

The canvas on the left, "Summer Homes on Pond" by Maggie & Co. reminds me of Grandma Moses' type of paintings because there is a celebration of rural life and Americana. The landscape is lush and beautiful, and it looks like a pleasing place to be! Maggie & Co's canvases are all fun, and many have a similar Folk Art appeal.

This canvas, called "The Pecking Order" is a great example of another of their adorable pieces!

Another artist who embraced his people and culture is Diego Rivera. He was a Mexican painter who is celebrated for his mural paintings from the 1920s through the 1950s. He is also well known for his

tumultuous marriage to Frida Kahlo. His paintings are narrative. They tell the stories* of his fellow people and depict the changes Mexico was going through at that time.

One of our favorite designers is Sundance Designs. We recently had the pleasure of hosting their trunk show at the ANG Seminar here in Philadelphia. Their line is full of beautiful designs that depict Native American and Mexican designs,

Tis the Season!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is right around the corner!

Here at Rittenhouse Needlepoint we love getting in the holiday spirit. We have a tree in shop that we decorate with our finished needlepoint ornaments and when customers' projects are finished, we hang them up for display until they're picked up. It's a great way to show everyone how beautiful a Christmas tree can look when filled with beautiful needlepoint projects!

One of our favorite ornaments, and one that is stitched often in our shop are these Santa Ornaments.

Here is a photo to see how they look finished. They're just darling! I love the fluffy beard and the candy cane custom cording!

Another of my favorites is this colorful Elf ornament by Ruth Schmuff. This series is a lot

of fun. You would finish it in this diamond shape with some custom cording and a little ribbon hanger, perfect for displaying on your tree or mantel!

We have many beautiful Christmas stockings in stock, but this snowman Christmas stocking by Treglown is one of my favorites, partially because it really lends itself to using special threads and stitches. Of course if you're a fan of the Basketweave stitch, you can use that stitch as

well, and the piece will look great too! This has been proven here a number of times. We recently had two customers finish a Liz stocking. They are known for their exquisite scenes. Many times people will use special stitches to enhance all the different areas of the canvas, but it's also true that often people like to stick to the tent stitch and stitch exactly what is painted. We had this situation happen when two ladies bought the canvas in the link above. One lady stitched it in basketweave with Pearl Cotton, and one of the ladies stitched it with lots of special stitches and threads. They both came out beautifully, and it was great to see the different ways you can finish one canvas!

This Santa Flip Flop by Shelly Tribbey is so cute! I really like her

whole series of flip flops. They are the perfect small project that can be finished into mini flip flops and hung from a little ribbon. She has many different flip flops for many different seasons, so it's possible to do a whole series of them as well!

Whether you are doing a Christmas stocking, ornament, pillow, or scene, we hope you enjoy your holiday stitching! Check out our finishing website to see some examples of past Christmas projects we have finished for customers. We hope you have a great holiday, and look forward to seeing all the lovely projects you have been stitching!