It ain't knitting, people!

I've been wondering what to write about for my next blog stitching entry.  Today, I came up with the answer.   One of my sisters sent me a link to a very funny blog....

   This one:  http://thebloggess.com/2011/06/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/

I laughed my head off, and then posted it to my Facebook page.  Got several comments from my friends who also found it to be hilarious!  One friend even said I should design a needlepoint chicken.  Well, I have designed a chicken...in fact, several of them. 

Another Facebook entry today, posted by my famous friend, Sharon G, also gave me pause and ideas to expound upon.  She reported taking her needlepoint stitching along when she took her husband to his physical therapy appointments, which are quite lengthy in time frames spent away from home.  Unfortunately, she was not able to get much stitching done because of the high interest her work was generating amongst other people in the room.  "Is that knitting?" they would ask.   "Why aren't you using a hoop?"  or my favorite:  "Do  you sell those at flea markets?"

Gotta love it!  Plus, gotta educate people as to what needlepoint is all about in this fine day and age!  Certainly, as my other famous friend, Ruth Schmuff says, "It's Not Your Grandmother's Needlepoint!"  And indeed it is not!

But back to the chickens....
Here is my stitched chicken design which was released a number of years ago.  Whoops!  I guess I should clarify..this is a rooster chicken, not a hen chicken, just in case you didn't know.  He's titled:

                                                                 The Happy Rooster
                               

                                             

As you can see, he has some pretty fine feathers.  I used some non traditional fibers in stitching him, amongst them, three kinds of knitting yarns, some silk ribbons, and a needlepointer's favorite: Flair, which for those in the know, is really panty hose.  Yes..the same stuff that panty hose (does anyone actually wear those anymore?  I haven't for YEARS!  and hope I don't anytime soon, either!, but I digress...) the same stuff that panty hose is made from.  Flair, however, comes in a huge range of beautiful colors, and is so versatile for creating many beautiful effects in a stitched piece.  It has been around for years, and IS a traditional needlepoint fiber, at least, in my opinion.  

Another tidbit of information to be inserted right about now, is the fact that all needlepoint yarns and specialty fibers being used today ARE actually knitting yarns.  For instance, the tail feathers on Mr. Happy Rooster are a fine, whispy eyelash knitting yarn, repackaged (at the time) as a needlepoint fiber.  Sadly, that company is no longer doing business.  But, I'm certain there are similar ones to be found in a specialty knitting shop.  So many fibers...so many projects...never enough time!

"Knitting", it turns out, is a term that most human people who do not stitch ascribe to any kind of needlework.  Even educated ones, such as the surgeon who operated on Sharon G's husband not long ago.  Again, she had her stitching with her, and when he asked what she was 'knitting', she "tried to explain but ended up telling him, 'Look, Dr. Bob, it is like this:  We are both in the sewing business.  You sew people.  I sew needlepoint." 

Which leads me to my funny story and how my rooster got his name.  I may have written about this before, come to think of it.  But never mind, it bears repeating!

I would often take my stitched pieces to a wonderful photo copy store where they were proficient in scanning art work and capturing all the fine detail.  As I was waiting in line that day, my piece also generated lots of interest from other customers.  As I explained it was needlepoint, one elderly sweet man said he knew right where I could sell it!  "Oh? I replied.  "Where would that be?"  

"Right down the road a few miles to The Happy Rooster breakfast diner", he said. "I was just there and I know they would love it!"  

It struck my fancy that day and my piece had a title!  He is indeed a happy rooster!   I'm still laughing when I think on the innocence of the non stitching humans we encounter, whether they be surgeons or that cute little man who just came from having his coffee and most delicious eggs!

Everything Old is ....

You know that old saying...."Everything Old is New Again?"  Well, it just isn't true!  I'm sorry, Old is Old.  I'm old so where are my old, new knees?  Where are my old, new youthful cheeks?  My old, new slim waistline?  Gone.  All gone, and they aren't coming back! 

Sigh.  I suppose whomever said that, wasn't thinking of me.  I think they might have been thinking about fashion, or literature, or furniture, or maybe even....needlepoint designs?  You see, I'm currently painting an 'old' design for a customer.  This is a design that I created in 1993, and I have not painted it for at least 13 years..maybe longer.  But, here I am, painting what I hope is a timeless design that appeals to those who love nostalgia and the softer side of life.

Oh oh!  There I go again!  I'm definitely enjoying the softer side of life right now, and it ain't so pretty.  But this young lady is pretty, and I love painting her again. 

The canvas is quite large, as canvases go.  28"X36".  I'm painting it on 14mesh canvas.  You might say, why not #13?  Well, in my humble opinion, you just cannot get the fine detail when you produce a design like this on #13.  The original is on #18, but #14 is working out just fine. 

Do you remember when you were a child (particularly if you were a girl), of dressing your cat in doll clothes?  (The poor little things!)  What little girl didn't do that?  Oh yes...those were the good 'ol days.  In the good 'ol days, I never had hair like this little girl, but I can sure paint it.  That's the beauty of being an artist.  You can create anything you like!

I hope the stitcher will love bringing this nostalgic scene to life with wonderful threads, ribbons, and interesting stitches.  And I hope the stitcher will get busy on it right away, before I'm too old to remember that I designed and painted it!

New Levels....

Yesterday, while I was wiling away some hours in two airports, I perused the internet on my iPad and the June issue of Elle Decor that I purchased in an airport kiosk.  I did not have my stitching because I packed it into my checked luggage.  The piece I took to work on is a bit large so I just packed it for the return trip home, and prayed for no lost luggage!  

The magazine had a very interesting article about an amazing artist;  Lucy Williams, a British woman whose work boggles the mind.  She is a mixed media artist, specializing in collage.  What caught my eye particularly, was this photograph of her piece entitled Diving Pool:

I hope you can see it clearly, but look closely.  The sky is all needlepointed in tent stitches!  The rest of the composition is layered and pasted cut bits of paper!  Stunning, isn't it!  And I find it exciting to see an artist incorporating stitching into a gallery piece.  I don't know what her work sells for, as each time I saw one of her works posted on the internet, (because I had to see more!) instructions were to contact the featured gallery for prices.  Wow!  That makes me think gazillions of dollars!

The Elle Decor article quoted her describing how she 'farmed' out the needlepointed sky to friends to do for her, while she concentrated on the other collage details.  She remarked how quickly each friend would return it to her, unfinished, saying how boring the stitching was, time consuming, and not something they were interested in doing.  I had to laugh, because a few years ago, Sundance 'farmed' out a piece of mine to a woman who had stitched models for them on occasion.  She also returned it rather quickly, saying the tent stitching was driving her crazy and that she hated it!

Hmmmmm.  Maybe it is because I do so many other techniques when stitching, that I find tent stitching or basketweave a 'relief' of sorts.  The mindless stitching is soothing and relaxing when one is compelled to stitch, but too tired to think.  In any case, I studied that sky for quite a while and the stitching is beautifully done.  I wonder if the artist had to rip out her friends' work, and just do it herself?  You know...if you want something done, then just do it yourself, (said the little red hen)?  And I would add,  "if you want it done right!"

My internet searches led me to another British artist, Inge Jacobsen, who takes the covers of Vogue magazines, and stitches directly onto the paper.   While she does this with cross stitches, the resulting work is rather amazing as well.  It transforms a slick glossy image into a tactile, dimensional piece of art.  Not that the photography isn't, but see what a little cotton floss and the repetition of stitches can do:

This work sort of reminds me of my own experiments with stitching paper images, that I blogged about not that long ago.  (March 21, 2011, Something New...Something Springy)  I urge you all to try it because it is really fun.

On that note, let me also urge you to take your needlework to the next level, whatever that level might be for you.  Perhaps you have not tried silk ribbon yet in your stitching, or perhaps you have yet to incorporate beads into your pieces.  Have you tried open stitches with complementary thread colors on a painted canvas rather than matching thread to paint?  Try it for some beautiful artistic effects!

 

Whatever you do, do not be afraid.  Some of the best things happen as a result of unintended occurrences  that we call "mistakes." 

IN HONOR OF....

Today I was in a mood! After speaking briefly with Wendy of Aristeia, and she told me she was going to be watching The Wedding long distance with her good girlfriend back east, and also, because I had just subscribed to a wonderful new emag from Great Britian, I found myself 'in the mood' to celebrate too!

The magazine is called Bustle and Sew, and is truly a delightful little publication. Thank you De Selby of Spool magazine for alerting me to it! Here is a the web address to the Bustle and Sew blog. From there you can preview the magazine.

http://bustleandsew.blogspot.com

Here is a web address for the website of Spool magazine.

www.spoolmag.com

I highly recommend this publication to anyone who enjoys any type of needlework...from crochet, knitting, quilting, cross stitch, needlepoint...to name but a few! (Plus I am featured in the latest Spring issue! she modestly says...)

But I digress. On with IN HONOR OF.....
So, I printed and made a penant banner of paper flags, courtesy of Helen of Bustle and Sew mag. I hung them up on the frame of the wrought iron canopy bed in our guest room. My husband watches tv in that room, and I did this to lovingly annoy him! He is SO not interested in The Wedding!

But, to get back into his good graces, I made a batch of scones for His Grace. I don't bake often, so this was a big deal at our house. Boy, did the house smell divine! I made Butterscotch chip and walnut scones. He was very happy this afternoon when he had some for an afternoon snack! And he was reading Dickens, his favorite author in all the world, as he enjoyed his snack. He was dying to find out what happened to Little Emily!

Finally, this blogpost would not be complete unless I posted (again!) my most Princessy of Princess canvas designs ...My Princess Chandelier. One of these days, I will stitch it with all the glorious threads available to us stitchers, and embellish it with all the equally glorious beads, sequins and jewels (think Sundance Designs for your embellishing needs!). Perhaps you might decide to do so also before I can get around to it! It would certainly be a royal effort..and priceless, don't you think?

Something new...Something Springy!

Yesterday was the First Day of Spring!  That's what my calendar said anyway.  It was a cool, blustery day..and yes, it is still March, so why should I have been worrying about the wind?  This has been the strangest winter...the coldest on record for us here in Southern Arizona.  And then, last week, our temps were in the high 80's...the earliest highs on record!  Very strange indeed!  What kind of summer will we have?   Today, the forecast says there is even a possibility for rain, but our clear blue skies belie that fact!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some springtime cheer!  I'm ready to get outside and smell the flowers, hear the birds, dig in the dirt, and eat some new asparagus!  I'm also ready for a new stitching project!

I am working on a proposal now for the San Diego chapter of ANG, but I can't show it, of course.  Rather, I thought I would share a stitching project of a different sort.  You might find this project strange too, but if you want some fun...and diversion...here you go!

Go through your magazines and pull out images that appeal to you.  I  particularly like flora and fauna, but other images like that dress form or the  little cakes sparked my imagination.

Next,  place the chosen images (or image) on one sticky side of a piece of double sided fusible webbing.  Steam a Seam2 is one I am familiar with, but there are many such products on the market.  (remove the protective paper from one side of the webbing and lay the images on that...follow manufacturer's directions for the product you use.)  Cut around your images,  leaving the back side of the webbing paper in place.  After the images are cut out, remove the remaining paper backing on the webbing and place the images face side up on the right side of a piece of coordinating cotton fabric.  Put a pressing cloth over the entire thing, and fuse the images to the fabric with a hot steam iron.  Choosing the fabric that compliments the image is part of the fun for me!  I love, love, love fabric!

Next, select your sharpest embroidery needles to accommodate different sized threads and fibers from your stash.  You need a sharp needle, not a tapestry needle, because you will be piercing through the  paper and fabric layers.   With a finger on top of the spot where you want to stitch,  place the needle underneath the image with your other hand, and begin to slowly poke through to the top, feeling your upper finger for placement.  (Wow..does that make sense?  I hope so!)  If you make a mistake in placement, no worries...it will leave a little hole, but who cares? Just keep stitching!

You can see what I have done in the following images.  I used silk ribbons, floss, boucle, and any thread that looked interesting. I even added seed beads for extra embellishment.  Often, only one ply of floss was needed and was very effective.   After all the stitching has been completed, (you can add as much or as little as you like..no rules here!) trim the piece to the desired finished size.   Frame it and enjoy.  Enjoy too, all the comments you will receive from amazed and duly impressed viewers!

                                                         Have a HAPPY SPRING!
 

REPEAT: The "Pattern of Repetition"

When I first began my blog, I was doing it on iWeb...a fantastic program, other than the fact that it was difficult for people to find me.  So, eventually, I switched to blogspot.com where I have been posting ever since.  Blogging has been fun for me.  I enjoy sharing my thoughts, ideas, inspirations with 'the world', whatever 'that world' might be;  readers who stitch, I am supposing.

Recently, I was featured on another blog, which was a real honor.  Cheryl Fall of needlepoint/about.com did an article on me as the featured designer.  See it here:

needlepoint.about.com/od/needlepointdesigners/a/BarbaraElmore.htm

After it was published, I mentioned on my facebook wall that I couldn't believe I was even mentioned on the same page as Kaffe Fassett, who had also been a featured designer on the about.com site.  Again, What an Honor!

I could also not help but remember the blog entry I did two years ago, before I moved over to blogger.com, where I wrote about my grandson, who was 4 yrs. old at the time,  and Kaffe Fassett.  So, I thought it was time to re-post that entry here.  The title then was "The Pattern of Repetition", and here I am again, repeating it!  Hope you enjoy!

           The Pattern of Repetition..........posted Wed. Aug. 26, 2009

Recently on the ANG list, someone posted a link to a video interview with Kaffe Fassett, one of my favorite designers/artists of all time!  He was speaking about his love of color and how we should not be afraid of color in our lives, in our work, in our creativity.  Yes, his use of color is exemplary, jolting, surprising, and inspirational!  I could bask in his color combinations and have found myself purchasing his fabrics for no other reason than to own them.  (Well, ok..I do think to myself that I will make something beautiful out of them, someday, when I have time!  HA!)

Looking at Kaffe’s fabrics, his needlepoint designs, knitware, and paintings is sheer pleasure.  I very much enjoyed his interview and encourage any serious stitcher to view it.  You may access it through this link:
http://www.kaffefassett.com/Newsletters.html      It does take about 45 minutes to watch, and the video tends to hang up a bit, but I thought it was well worth it. 

Watching that interview prompted an AHA moment for me!  I saw similarities in this very talented man and my 4 yr. old grandson!  Now, lest you just say, “oh yeah, that’s a grandma talking”, I’d agree, and I’d also say, take a look:


                                                 Aran's "Mixed Media" Collage

                                                     Kaffe's fabric design

                                                 Aran's Play Doh Creations

 
                                                   Kaffe's Quilt

                        Aran loves to arrange anything!  These are little shells.

                                               Kaffe's painting of arranged rocks

   
                                                           A favorite activity!

                                                       His mother is a Saint!

                 Maybe someday, it will lead to this!  (Kaffe's ceramic tea cups and tea pots.)

          
                    In the meantime, he is my budding little textile artist!
        

                             

Behind The Scenes.....

I'm in the midst of a new experiment this week.  I've had thoughts about doing this, swirling in my head for several months, not knowing if I really wanted to tackle it or not.  But, this week, I finally decided to take the plunge and delve in.  After all, I would never know if it would work or not until I tried, right?

Painting a needlepoint canvas is not an easy endeavor.  Among many factors, one has to make sure the paint consistency is right...thin, but still thick and on the creamy side.  One has to have the right brushes...my most useful ones are worn out, short haired, with stiff stubby bristles, good for scrubbing the paint into the canvas.  'Scrubbing' is a technical term, in case you didn't realize!  Of course, nice pointy round brushes of various sizes are equally important, and the type of bristle is key on those too. They can't be too soft or too stiff.  And usually, my brushes have all the enamel paint chipped off the wood handles from sitting in my jar of rinse water a tad too long.  That said, I think that the deteriorated condition of the paint handles is also an important component as well!

The experiment I took upon this week was to create paper masks for all the design motifs in my  composition.  My normal way of painting this piece, (and the way I did the original) is to paint the design elements, and then paint in the background, carefully painting around each element.  This is painstakingly labor intensive, but necessary.  The idea of using paper masks and then painting in the background over the masks is something I learned about from the quilting world.  Quilt artists who paint fabric often use this technique, making masks out of freezer paper.  I have long wondered if it would work on needlepoint canvas.

First, I had to trace the components onto tracing paper and rough cut them out.  Next, I pinned them onto the matte side of freezer paper with tiny stainless quilting pins used for applique.  Then came the cutting out of the shapes with scissors and an exacto knife for the more detailed and delicate parts.  I spent several days tracing and cutting, tracing and cutting.  It was a nice change of pace, actually.

Today, I laid out my canvas on top of a sheet, on my bedroom carpet.  Then, I began to lay out all the masks in the proper positions.  As I would lay a few down, I took my steam iron on a hot setting, and ironed the paper to the canvas.  It adhered quite nicely, although I did have to go back over some of the pieces several times throughout the process.  Finally, after I got all the pieces ironed down, I took the canvas to my easel and hung it up.

I added additional paper to the sides to make sure all the canvas that I didn't want painted was covered and protected.  Next, I mixed my paint color for the background and attached a little bottle of it to my airbrush.  A note here about my airbrush:  A few years ago, we were having some remodeling done in our home.  Our carpenter was extremely interested in seeing me work on my needlepoint canvas painting, but he felt very sorry for me.   He was always trying to come up with ways to make the work easier and faster.  One day, he presented me with a cheap little airbrush he had bought at the hardware store.  I didn't have a compressor though, and couldn't use it or try it out.  He encouraged me to get one.


The carpenter's gift to me got me to thinking about purchasing a good airbrush system, and one day, I did!  It was expensive for sure, but I can't tell you how thrilled I have been to use it in many instances.  What previously would take me hours and hours can be accomplished in mere minutes.  That doesn't take into account the prep time it takes for these 'mere minutes' to occur, but I will say again, that I have been utterly thrilled with the time saving it has afforded me.

The above photo of cut out masks represents about 3 days of cutting...that is, working on it for 3 days, but not the whole days.  I think I can narrow it down to 2 if I stick to task.  But back to the next step of my experiment....

Today, as I mentioned, I ironed on all the paper masks.  By the time I finished, it was 5:00pm...the time I normally wind up my work and think about preparing supper for my husband and myself.  But, I was at a crucial point...I wanted to get the painting done while the masks were adhered to the canvas.  I was unsure how long they would stay put!  So...I flipped the switch on my compressor, and pushed the trigger on my airbrush.  By darn, I had the background painted by 5:03pm!  Wahoo!  I knew it would be fast, but not that fast!  What a thrill indeed! 

There were a few glitches, but this was a learning curve for me.  When I removed the masks, guess what!  The paint went through each tiny pin hole that occurred when I pinned the tracing to the freezer paper.  I really didn't think that would happen but it did. 

That's ok though, because I know how to fix it.  I also know how to avoid this problem next time.  For me, my experiment was a total success.   I'm free'd up to paint all the details without worrying about filling in the fussy background.  Just thought I'd share!