A Couple of Updates...

To update last week's post about my Patriotic Cracker ornament, I wanted to share with you this picture of the stitched piece flat, before finishing.  This should be helpful to you during the stitching process:

I also had some recent questions on the finishing of my Humbug-type pincushion designs, specifically my Halloween Humbug:

You can search my blog for the word Humbug to see other designs, and here's a link to the post where I talked about the finishing process: http://eyecandyneedleart.blogspot.com/search?q=humbug

More Summer Wonderful!

Here are a few more detailed pictures of my new Humbug design "Summer Wonderful" that I will be teaching for CyberPointers ANG in September!

You can find out more about CyberPointers here.

Summertime!

I have yet another upcoming class to tell you about this week, this one is also coming up in September, and everyone will be able to attend this one, as it is an online class given by Cyberpointers, ANG's online chapter.  My "Summer Wonderful" Humbug will be the chapter program for the September meeting.  This is the largest of my humbug designs to date, large enough that it can be used as a frame weight if you wish.  It's loaded with fun stitches that are transformed into summer-themed motifs using color and has tons of embellishments too.  

Photographing a humbug is always challenge as it's funny shape has so many sides!  This is the topmost side:

And this is the view from the side:

Hope you can join us in September!  Please click here if you would like more information about Cyberpointers. It's a perfect way to join ANG if you don't have a chapter nearby and if you are already a member of ANG, adding a Cyberpointers membership is very easy to do!

Biscornus and Humbugs, Oh My!

You might recall my series of needlework accessories that were published in Needlepoint Now, the Spring Garden Biscornu, Humbug and Floss Tag.  Here's the biscornu:

Recently, Barbara Evans of the Maryland chapter of ANG sent me photos of finished Humbugs and Biscornus they did as a chapter project:

Aren't these just terrific?  I love seeing different colorways for my designs!

Speaking of different colors, here's another version of the biscornu that I posted a few months back, by Jana Bendawald:

And here is a variation on the floss tag by Elaine Flood, also from a while ago:

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Spring Garden Humbug, Plus a Decision Has Been Made!

The January/February 2013 issue of Needlepoint Now should be arriving in your mailboxes and at your LNS too, so I thought it was high time to share some extra photos of my latest project to be found in this issue.  Spring Garden Humbug pincushion is the companion piece to the Biscornu pincushion from the previous issue.  You will be pleased to see that the Humbug uses all the same materials as the Biscornu, plus just a couple of additional threads and buttons that I think you will like.

Here is the finished Humbug, viewed from the side:

To better orient you as to how this piece is stitched and assembled, here is the piece stitched and flat, prior to finishing:

A Humbug gets its shape from being stitched together along its shorter edge, making a tube, then having each of its ends closed in different directions:

The photo above shows the whip-stitch technique I use for assembly-- the needle is slid cleanly under each pair of chain stitches and the edges are pulled firmly together.  The edge at the bottom of the photo has already been closed, with the far corners folded inwards to meet the center.

In the photo below, the stuffing has been added, and the edge is being closed, this time in a simple fold right down the middle, with the far corners meeting each other:

Here is that same edge from the photo above, closed and finished:

Here is the finished Humbug, viewed from the backside:

And finally, the bottom side:

I hope you will enjoy stitching this piece, and as always, if you have any questions, please do email me here at the blog.  And please do share photos with me of your finished pieces, as this is a very adaptable design and I would love to see how it would look on different canvas, with different threads and buttons too!

Additionally, if you read my last post, you will recall I was trying to decide among five canvases to work on for the Stitching Games over on Stitcherie.  I did finally choose one, after much deliberation-- I'm going with the Patti Paints witch design.  Her corset seems to be the obvious starting point, since January's clue is "shape up", now I just need to get to work.  Meanwhile, we have had loads of stitchers joining in on the fun, with 22 official entries thus far and quite a few of those participants are stitching celebrities in their own right-- Kelly Clark, Sandy Arthur, Sheena James, Janet Perry, Sharon Crescent (of Crescent Colors fame) and Ruth Schmuff-- quite a distinguished group, right?  There is still plenty of room, come on and join us, or just cheer on your favorites-- it's all good!  Hope to see you there! 

Biscornus and Humbugs, Oh My!

Needlework accessories have been all the rage in cross stitch for quite a while now and they have finally began to make their way into needlepoint, specifically these oddly shaped pincushions called Biscornus.  The seemingly complex shape is deceptively simple-- it is really two ordinary squares that are sewn together with the corners in the centers, rather than corner to corner as usual.  After making a few of these in cross stitch I decided the design possibilities and the techniques were perfect for needlepoint.  As an added bonus, those who would like to try to self-finish a small project will find these pretty easy!  

I made this Halloween-themed Biscornu for the Summer 2010 Columbus TNNA show.  It was my first effort to introduce these little goodies to the painted canvas enthusiast.  This one is a painted canvas on top and a coordinating fabric on the the bottom:

Here's the view from the top:

For last summer's TNNA show, I added a Humbug style cushion to the line, also in a Halloween theme.  A Humbug is also an odd-shaped pincushion that could also be weighted to become a frame weight to make it even more useful for needlepointers. (I like to use mine to hold my threaded needles.)  The Humbug shape is also deceptively simple-- it is a one-piece design in a rectangle shape.  The short edges are stitched together, making a tube, then the ends are stitched together, but each is folded in opposite directions, creating the oblong shape.  

Here is the stitched but unconstructed Humbug:

This is mid-construction-- I like to make a chain stitch border around the whole outer edge in perle cotton, then use a simple whip stitch to pull the edges together:

The completed Humbug, as seen from the side:

Here it the view from the back to the front:

The same whip-stitch edging technique can be used to make a more traditional accessory, such as the scissor case I made to coordinate with my Humbug:

This is the back side, I worked Caesar Stitch in an overdyed thread over a smoke blue canvas to create this section: 

Hope you all will catch my enthusiasm for these fun little projects-- I know of several upcoming new Biscornu and Humbug designs that will be appearing over the next few months (including a new matched set by yours truly, to be released later this year!)

Until next time, Happy Stitching!