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
  

Stitch of the Week : Long Armed Cross

The Stitch-of-the-Week long-armed cross was met with a decidedly lukewarm reception this week. I had chosen to introduce the group to the "giant" version of the stitch (8 threads forward, four threads back) which leaves some of the canvas exposed. I thought that this looked fine -- very lattice-y and rope-like; a look that would make a fine border. Some of the class was turned off by the exposed canvas and very much relieved when we progressed to the smaller version of the stitch (ahead four, back two). I was surprised at how different this version of the stitch looked from the larger version. No more open canvas, this smaller version was dense and braided looking. The rows alternated directions alternated directions which gave a ridged effect that I found appealing but which did not appeal to some of the class.

We also experimented with different fibers. Neon Rays gave a braided ribbon effect that I found quite appealing. Sparkle Rays was a bit less refined and showier. Kreinik Braid looked like a mess on my piece but that was mostly because I had the wrong size fr my outsized canvas (I am always stitching with either super small or super large canvas because I tend to save the "good stuff" (i.e., 13 or 14 mesh) for students. I should re-stitch my Kreinik braid sample with #32 and see how it looks.

As for potential uses for this stitch Howren & Robertson are quite specific: "braided Santa's bag handles, reindeer reins, horse reins, dog leashes, fence posts, and twisted looking fences." I don't know how many times one might need the perfect epaulet stitch but the group concluded that this would make for a fine one. I think that the stitch would make a handsome border between stitched areas or in the larger version a border around an entire piece. I also think that it would make a fine rug or a filling-in stitch. Perhaps too it might make a fine stitch for the pages of a book which interestingly enough brings me to my next subject ...

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.