Skip to main content

Needlepoint over the years

Saturday's here and it's a fine, bright morning.  Decidedly chilly, but then it's January so I'd be daft to expect anything else.  It's the sort of day when I think I ought to traipse down to the allotment and potter about, pull up some weeds, tidy up generally.  But - but - the radiators are on, I've the remains of yesterday's quiche to scoff for lunch and frankly I don't feel like shifting my well padded backside.  So, instead I've been looking through what's saved on an old SD card I found in the bureau, among the stacks of to-be-sorted paperwork, receipts, biros, greetings cards and other clutter.  There are lots of photos on the SD card that I'd forgotten I'd taken, including ones from the Knitting & Stitching Show in Harrrogate that I went to a couple of years ago.  (Will definitely book that for this year.  Such a terrific show and always so much to see.)  Anyway, I thought I'd show you some of the pictures I'd saved.  Not of Harrogate - maybe those will be tomorrow - but of needlepoint I've done over the years.  
I got into needlepoint ages ago, as a result of seeing Kaffe Fassett's work.  I loved his vivid use of colour, the layering of patterns, his inventiveness with a craft that'd up to then had seemed very staid and boring to me.  You didn't need a lot of specialist equipment, which was appealing.  Canvas, a blunt large-eyed needle and a good selection of tapestry wool.  I could happily spend hours stitching, trying out colour combination and coming up with my own patterns. 
You can incorporate embroidery threads into your needlepoint, also metallic threads like the silver I used in this red stripy mini-cushion.  
I came up with this fish pattern, and have reproduced it time and again in cushions, table mats and spectacle cases.  
I worked this grid pattern out on graph paper before starting to sew it.  I like the bold, modern look the design has.  
Finally, my Klimt inspired design.  Taking elements from his work and putting them together in this slightly mad cushion cover.  I think the red background brings all the different elements together, so they're not just a scattering of random shapes and colours but part of a unified whole.  

I hope you found something of interest there.  I'll have another trawl through the SD card and see what else I can find.  Bye, and I hope you enjoy your weekend, whatever you're up to.  



  

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fabric bowls & electrical cables ...

To add to my seemingly never ending list of works-in-progress, I've started making a fabric bowl.  Or should I call it a fabric basket?  I'm not sure.  Anyway, I've made the odd bowl or two before, like this blue & white one that I keep cotton perle in.   I decided to use upholstery material, which has both advantages & disadvantages.  On the good side, it has a certain stiffness, which helps the bowl stay in shape.  On the irritating side, the kind of material I'm using frays like mad, and I'm forever picking up threads off the carpet.  The bowl's a simple construction, and I've used a circle of cardboard covered with brown felt for the base.   It'll look much better when I've embroidered and stitched into it.  I've made a start on that, and appliqued on a rectangle of plum coloured velvet for extra interest. When not stitching, I've been catching up on my reading.  I finished C J Sansom's 'Dark Fire'.   Real...

Threads of Freedom and charity shop bargains

  It's Saturday afternoon, and I haven't done half the things I'd meant to.  Partly because I spent most of this morning messing about with paints, stencils and the gell plate.  Never mind, everything on today's 'To Do' list will join tomorrow's 'To Do' list ... it's hardly life or death if I don't haul the hoover around the room or pull up weeds in the front garden.   I thought I'd show you what I made on Wednesday.  I'd gone to my monthly StitchArt group, and this time we did something a little different.  There's a project called 'Threads of Freedom' which is working with various community groups across the city.  It's about creating little stitched pieces, some of which will be included in a textile panel to go on display at Leeds art gallery.  There was lots of fabric we could choose from to sew with, and I picked this vintage tray cloth with the roses embroidery.   My own embroidery's not a patch on those flo...

Another fabric bowl & what's starting to look like a craft room ...

  Hello on what's been a beautiful autumn day.  Bright blue clear sky, a chilly start but warming up in the afternoon.  I've been on a long walk around a local nature reserve, not wanting to stay inside when it's so lovely outdoors.   In the last week or so, I've been finishing this fabric bowl, and have started making another.   But mainly I've been having a bit of a change-around in my house.  I've hauled furniture from one room to another, clutter-cleared cupboards and bagged up things for the charity shop, and generally hoovered and cleaned all those dusty corners.   I'd finally made a decision about turning the dumping ground of the front bedroom into a craft room.  It's taking shape, though it really has taken some effort.   Larger pieces of material are stacked on shelves, grouped into colours.  Lower down is my Sissix machine and die cuts, and at the base of the shelving are beads and jewellery making supplies...