Gina writes how she purchased a Victorian-esque bench (costed $6.25 back in 1881), and wants to redo the upholstery in needlepoint. A resourceful woman who isn’t afraid to try new things, she purchased a pre-worked project off eBay, had a friend teach her how to needlepoint the background, acquired some great shades of wool, and off she goes! Read about her unfolding experience at her blog.

Moho Beach

Did you guess that the image above this post was done in needlepoint? You guessed wrong. It is an oil on canvas rendering of Moho Beach by emerging Canadian artist Caroline Larsen. “Over several years she has developed a unique technique for applying paint,” states her bio. Navigate over there and check out her gallery of work.

New stuff from all over the  web:

• Needlepoint is going glamorous: appearing on fashion runways.
• Flickr: a pretty oriental crewel needlepoint work.
• Memories of my great-grandmother: starring her needlepoint pieces.
• More work by Mary Smull (we wrote about her here last week).
• Gay Ann Rogers writes how sometimes needlepoint saves her.
• Tisha writes a story about Needlepoint Inc. in San Francisco.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Just in time for Passover, our Regal Matzo Cover and Afikoman Bag canvas set was written up in the March/April issue of Needlepoint Now. These were finished expertly and photographed for the article, which presents various stitching techniques for completing the project.

These pieces require a greater investment of time but are very worthwhile; the resulting matching set will be a treasured feature of the annual Passover Seder – for generations.

By the way, this is the second time an Afikoman Bag of ours has been featured in Needlepoint Now magazine. The first time was way back in the 2010 January/February Issue and represented our first appearance in print. The Afikoman bag of that issue continues to be a best seller.

Also known as SPUN, the Society for the Prevention of Unfinished Needlepoints aims to locate all the unfinished works of needlepoint scattered across the world and bring them closure. I read about this fine organization in this article at NewsWorks:

Many people buy needlepoint kits to stitch a image out of colored yarn, and sometimes never finish it. Strange as it may sound, many of those unfinished stitching projects are for sale. Mary Smull buys them.

She then finishes them using plain white thread. Check out her gallery of before-and-after projects. Here is one example, a “before” and “after” formerly unfinished needlepoint of a ship:

While I was adding a caption to the image above the post, it occurred to me that “Mary Smull and the Unfinished Poodle Needlepoint” would make a great title for a cheap mystery novel.

Don’t just enclose your commercial property with a plain old chain link fence. Use a Lace Fence:

It combines the ancient craft of lace making with the industrial chainlink fence. Every fence is unique in its design by its craft and assembled patterns, which come in a variety of themes. From antique lace floral to contemporary designs and custom art patterns.

Some examples of their amazing products:

Check out more astonishing images at their website.

This is a really pretty purse, straight out of a 1970 catalog. Easy instructions. (Matching dress and shoes not included).

Needlepoint in all forms can be very inspiring. Witness the source of Whitman’s Sampler candy box design, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

A hundred years ago, Walter P. Sharp, president of Whitman’s candies, was looking for a name for a new sample box of assorted chocolates when — voila! — he looked on his living room wall and saw a framed needlepoint sampler created by his great-aunt. He thought the cross-stitch design of birds, animals and flowers on the linen backing was so delightful that he borrowed the name and design idea for the sample box.

We once wrote about a valuable needlepoint work that was appraised for $2,500, and then about another fine work that was appraised at a whopping $50,000.

Now try and top this: a needlepoint creation made by a lass back in 1807 was just sold at auction for more than a million dollars! Here is the Art Newspaper with the story:

The top lot was a Burlington County sampler, 1807, by Mary Antrim of a home with farmyard animals selling for $1.1m

And here is Jamie Frevele:

Back in 1807, when a young New Jersey resident named Mary Antrim embroidered the farm scene pictured above, the thought of something like this — a children’s needlepoint sampler — being sold at a fancy auction for just over a million dollars would have been preposterous…But that is exactly what happened — someone bid on and won this 19th century farm house scene, shelling out $1.07 million to own a piece of folk art a kid made to pass the time 200 years ago.

This is some serious needlepoint appreciation, folks. How much will your needlepoint masterpiece sell for, 200 years hence?

Dr. Lisa Dana bought a bunch of gifts for her siblings’ kids, but was surprised which of them was the favorite. In her words:

The gifts we thought would be favorites were ignored after the first 5 minutes. [The top favorite gift was] a needlepoint kit for our 8 year old niece. The needlepoint was of a horse, and before the other kids had finished unwrapping, she was fireside asking our youngest for directions on how to get started.

It is a charming little design – see photo – and I could have predicted that it would be the winner. Easily.