The national president of the American Needlepoint Guild, Pat Rogers, is pitching in to help restore faded needlepoint chair upholstery at the Blair House, the president’s guest house.
Among the home’s extensive furnishings is a wingback chair with needlepoint upholstery that originally was made by Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter-in-law. In time, the threads faded and became worn by use, and house conservators approached the American Needlepoint Guild in August 2010 about recreating the upholstery.
The Franks, an Orthodox Jewish family of whom I am a proud member, reside at an intersection of country roads named “Wiener” and “Synagogue.” This was a curious enough coincidence to attract the attention of Oscar Meyer, the well-known purveyor of kosher hotdogs. They even offered a large sum of money to feature us in one of their marketing projects (we declined).
I’ve heard of similar fortuitous street names, such as the dentist who grew up on a street named Colgate, the brewery that opened in Brewster Court (an old carriage house built in 1894), and the man named Downing who opened an oyster place on a street already conveniently named Downing Street.
I was wondering the other day whether an avid needlepointer could be the subject of such a fortunate geographic placement, and after researching a bit I came up with the following:
Needle Point, Tahoe National Forest, California, a mountain peak. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia in an article about the forest. Deep snow persists through April.
Needle Point, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, an island cape. Photo is of a tourist attraction on the island.
Needle Point Drive, Guyton, Georgia, a small road.
Needle Point Drive, Cheboygan, Michigan, another small road off Mullet Lake. Above is a home for sale on the road.
Needle Point Court, Columbus, OH, an enclave in a busy neighborhood.
Needle Point Road, Evans City, Pennsylvania, a street in a green area of PA. Above 2-bedroom, single-family home on this street is selling for $159,000.
Yet more evidence of a strong correlation between math and needlepoint, as I have previously posted. In an article about the scarcity of females in the gaming development community, iPhone developer Quinn Dunki claims it is caused by peer pressure to conform to traditional female roles. Saith Dunki:
“The only difference between me and my maths-inclined, game-loving friend – who does advanced needlepoint instead of engineering – is that she succumbed to the peer pressure.”
All ye maths-inclined, game-loving engineering prospects out there: take a moment and explore Advanced Needlepoint. You will likely experience a life-altering epiphany that will set you on a new and fresh course of wondrous discovery for the rest of your life. You can thank me afterwards.
To reinforce the idea that engineering and needlepoint work well together, take a look at these works of art needlepointed by Michelle Ann Matthews (one of which appears at the top of this post), all of which use architecture and construction as the central theme. (Hat tip: Design Milk).
A dynamic duo of designers, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, have teamed up with Tucker Blair, the needlepoint belt manufacturer extraordinaire. From the blog post at the New York Times:
Aiming to have you in stitches this summer, Opening Ceremony releases its first collection of needlepoint belts with Tucker Blair, the Washington-based purveyor of the classic preppy pant cinchers.
I apologize to all our subscribers for the unfortunate hacking incidents that have taken place over the last month at this blog.
In the first instance, my attackers gained access to my WordPress installation and defaced it with unpleasant anti-Israel propaganda and disturbing imagery. I was able to regain control by accessing the MySql database directly and I cleaned everything up. I was unable to clean the theme I was using, so I just switched to a different theme temporarily. I changed all the passwords and was hoping that was the end of it.
Unfortunately, last week another attacker retook the site and posted his Arabic rantings on my home page. I’m guessing that I didn’t clean up sufficiently and left over a backdoor that allowed another attack to penetrate. This time I had my provider reset the account and I restored everything from backup. I didn’t have my theme backed up though, so I’m still using a different one until I can put everything back together. Guys, make sure your blog is completely and regularly backed up!
I also subscribed to the free monitoring service Montastic to check my blog every hour. This way I will be notified immediately if I am subjected to yet another incident. I sure hope it doesn’t happen again – I just don’t have the time. God, please afflict all hackers with something really nasty. Something that will keep them busy and away from my blog. Thank you.
Cake sculptures are getting more popular. Here is a sampling of delectable pastry creations perfect for a needlecrafter’s birthday or other cake-appropriate event:
Mommy's Cake by bobbykm
Sewing Kit by bunchofpants
Tailor Made by Artisan Cakes by e.t.
Sewing Kit Cake by Let There Be Cake
Sewing Cake by Simply Chocolate
If you guessed a needlepoint, well, duh. Byron Nelson was one of the world’s most famous professional golfers. Peggy Nelson, Byron’s widow, invited fellow golfers to their ranch to look around, and here is something they saw:
The most noticeable item in the den hangs above the mantel. It’s a large needlepoint of the scorecard from Nelson’s 1937 Masters. Joan and Jake Keever, friends of Nelson’s, played golf with Byron many times and, during one round, Nelson decided he was tired of seeing Joan struggle in the bunker.
“After the round was over, he told her, ‘You’re going to go in this bunker and you’re not coming out until you’re doing what I tell you to do,’” Peggy Nelson said. “Byron worked with her for 45 minutes, but she got it. The next year, she won the ladies championship at her club. To thank Byron, she did the needlepoint. It was one of Byron’s favorite things.”
Peggy said it took four months and 377,000 stitches to do it.
An inspiring article in the Charlotte Observer describes friendships that were started and nourished by the love of needlepoint:
Needlecrafters are a tight-knit bunch. Travel to any embroidery club, like the Lake Norman Needlepoint Guild, where Archie and Helms first met, and you’ll find a strong bond among mostly women sharing threads, ideas and close friendships.
“I’ve never met a stitcher I didn’t like,” said Laura Smith, a member of Golden Needles, an embroidery club in Concord, where Archie is president and Helms is a member. “There’s a bond that crosses cultures, economic backgrounds, young, old.”
It is always good news to hear about a resurgence of interest in the needlework arena. Here is a good article in the Daily Herald describing how needlepoint is making a comeback:
It wasn’t long ago that the word “needlepoint” conjured up thoughts of dusty cushions with fusty florals. But in recent years, thanks to a handful of retailers, designers and enthusiasts, the craft has become cool again.
What is responsible for pumping up the cool factor?
The resurgence of needlepoint is due in part to big names in the design world embracing it. Designer and potter Jonathan Adler and clothing and textile designer Trina Turk both sell pre-made needlepoint items in their shops, helping to introduce the craft to new demographics.
And also because of classy new designs by Pepita Needlepoint. Naturally.
Hebrew Alphabet Stitch Charts
Judaica Needlepoint has made available a selection of my Hebrew Alphabet Stitch Charts at their website. There are twelve different typefaces to choose from, and each one comes in a range of sizes. Everyone should be able to find a font that works for their design. Best of all, these come in downloadable PDF files, which you can print on your home printer on regular letter paper. Even better than that: all of the charts are absolutely free.
You can click on the thumbnail images at the Judaica Needlepoint page to see a full preview of one page of the chart.
Each file includes a cover page with brief instructions for how to use the chart. This blog post expands on those instructions in detail.
Cross Stitch Charts for Needlepoint People
Cross stitch practitioners are the usual consumers of stitching charts. Needlepoint artists generally use pre-painted canvas, so counting stitches isn’t needed. However, once the needlepointer deviates from the painted design, for example when customizing a canvas with one’s own text, stitch counting becomes necessary to fit the lettering into the available space. Using an alphabet chart may seem a bit daunting at first, but it is easier than you think.
Choosing a Typeface
Personal taste is the main factor when choosing a typeface for stitching into your canvas. Nevertheless, there are some other considerations as well.
If the text you are stitching dominates the design, you will aim for boldness. Decorative fonts will work well, such as those used in headlines or call-outs. Outlining and shading also will add appeal in this scenario.
If your text is subordinate to the main design, select a lighter, more delicate typeface which doesn’t distract attention.
If your text is an important element of the design, and is intended to be read, use a clear, delineated typeface that is easy to read. Also select colors for the typeface and the background that contrast with each other.
If your text is short, and not important to the design, such as the artist’s signature or a date, you needn’t worry about readability.
With Hebrew, you do not need to concern yourself with upper-case vs. lower-case. All letters are the same case.
Choosing a Size
Once you’ve settled on a typeface, you now need to select a font within that typeface. Every typeface comes with several sizes to choose from.
Larger font sizes allow for stitching more detail and the letters look much better. However, you need to choose a font your design can accommodate. If you choose a size too large, your message will be cut off.
Measure Twice, Stitch Once
Here’s where stitch counting comes in. You need to prepare a worksheet to assist you with measuring your text within your design. Graph paper is very good for this purpose. If you don’t have any, search the Internet for PDF files you can use to print graph paper onto regular blank printer paper (example).
Locate the blank area in your design where you’ll be stitching your message. Count the number of stitches in width and in length. Now use a pencil to trace that area out onto the graph paper. Note that this might not be a perfect rectangle, the sides of the area may be irregular due to the surrounding imagery.
Start with a font that seems likely to fit. Trace out the letters on the graph paper, leaving one or two stitches between letters, and a little more between words. This can be adjusted later if you need to trim it down a bit. You may want to leave a stitch or two along the sides as a margin to set off the text from the rest of the design.
If your text occupies more than one line, you need to ensure that it fits vertically, too. The space between lines depends on the position of the ascenders and descenders of the letters (the letters that extrude higher or lower than the rest of the alphabet). You need to make sure that these letters don’t interfere with one another. The only way to work this out is to trace the letters out onto your worksheet and see what happens.
The main thing is to be consistent. Make sure there are an equal number of squares between the baselines of each line of text. The baseline is the row of squares which most letters rest upon.
Stitch Away!
Once you’ve successfully plotted out how you will fit your letters onto your canvas, you’re ready to stitch them in. You can simply stitch the canvas directly from the chart, but to make things easier, you might choose to first mark out the stitching using a cloth marker. This allows for corrections that do not involve ripping thread.
After you’ve stitched the letters, fill in the background with any contrasting stitch. Stay away from overly-complex stitches, you’ll be doing a lot of compensation due to the irregular edges of the letter forms. Make sure you use a background color that contrasts well with the color you used for the lettering; otherwise, it will be difficult to read.