Microsoft Office 2010 and Needlepoint

Microsoft Office 2010 will undoubtedly increase productivity in offices worldwide. Apparently, Microsoft is keen on getting consumers to recognize that Microsoft Office is useful for everyday at-home tasks, too. According to blogger Mary Jo Foley, quoting David Webster, the chief strategy officer in Microsoft’s central marketing group:

People are defining work pretty broadly these days, Webster said during a meeting I had with him this week, to include everything from volunteering at events, to creating needlepoint pattern designs, to preparing a PowerPoint toast for a friend’s wedding.

(Emphasis mine). I assume she’s referring to Visio, which is a tool I use myself to chart out needlepoint stitches.

I’m happy to see needlepoint design figuring prominently in conversations regarding productivity in the home. Who knows, maybe Microsoft will come out with a photo-to-needlepoint-chart conversion tool. Microsoft Stitch 2010?

Presidential Needlepoint

Needlepoint portrait of Abraham Lincoln
Needlepoint portrait of Abraham Lincoln

Shirley Kerstetter has stitched dozens of portraits of American presidents. They are meticulous, 24-count, multihued masterpieces. She put them all together on a massive quilt, pictured in the article about her monumental work.

Among other ideas, she mentions this:

“I collected fabric for the presidential quilt for years,” Kerstetter said. “Every time I saw a patriotic fabric, I bought it. I stashed it.”

Takeaway: always be on the lookout for stuff you can use in your stitching.

While on this topic, I’d like to call your attention to Pointseller.com’s Famous People category, where needlepoint canvases depicting Abraham Lincoln, and Barack Obama can be purchased for your future quilt project.

Needlepoint canvas of Barack Obama
Needlepoint canvas of Barack Obama

Truckers Working The Needle Route


Kevin Abraham-Banks, a Sioux Falls, S.D., trucker, likes to knit while passing the time on the road. Here he makes a sweater for his wife.
Kevin Abraham-Banks, a Sioux Falls, S.D., trucker, likes to knit while passing the time on the road. Here he makes a sweater for his wife.

Truckers, too, need something with which to spend time while waiting for a job. And apparently, for many truckers, needlework fits the bill nicely. It’s relaxing, and productive, and convenient.

Great quote:

“The fact that you can take strands of thread and basically make something out of it, that’s awesome I think,” he said. “It’s pretty cool stuff, man.”

OK, so it’s not macho. No need to share your secret hobby with the gang:

“In the truck stops, it’s usually a bunch of guys watching football,” he said. “If I sat down with my knitting, I think there would be some funny remarks.”

Go on and read the whole article.

Needlepoint is Steadily Trending Up

Encouragingly, the news is carrying stories that contain leading indicators of an upwards trend in needlepoint. Here is a story about Ten Home Trends for 2010 that says needlework is getting preppy again:

We’ve heard “This ain’t your grandma’s…” A new buzz phrase just might be “That’s so granny.”

Patricia Shackelford of Kansas City, author of the design blog Mrs. Blandings, thinks we’ll see more patchwork quilts, hooked rugs, needlepoint and chintz.

“On ‘Top Design,’ a contestant (Ondine Karady) was criticized for being too ‘grandma’ for using a crocheted throw,” Shackelford said. “Actually, she was on to the next trend.”

We’ve heard “This ain’t your grandma’s…” A new buzz phrase just might be “That’s so granny.”
Patricia Shackelford of Kansas City, author of the design blog Mrs. Blandings, thinks we’ll see more patchwork quilts, hooked rugs, needlepoint and chintz.
“On ‘Top Design,’ a contestant (Ondine Karady) was criticized for being too ‘grandma’ for using a crocheted throw,” Shackelford said. “Actually, she was on to the next trend.”

See more of Karady’s stuff at her website.

For another example, see the extraordinary Needlepoint Trophies (pictured above this post) featured on Fashion Week Daily‘s blog.

The Coolest Way for a Guy to Wear Needlepoint

I started working on Yarmulka canvases. These are 6.5 inch skullcaps (that seems to be a popular size) and they can be enlarged to 7 inches or reduced to 6 inches, by request.

Here is the first one, a flowery sort of bluey thing:

Oh, and with a Star of David right in the center.

Here’s another one, which I called “Burst“:

And indeed it is bursting with color.

The next one, “Spiral“, is designed with exactly that:

http://www.pepitaneedlepoint.com/product-yarmulka-spiral-380.aspx

Don’t stare, you’ll get dizzy.

Finally, we have “Stripe“, “Starry“, and “Wild“:

I’m interested to see if there is any interest in Yarmulkas. I’ve never stitched or finished one myself. Perhaps I’ll give it a try. Express your interest by visiting the Yarmulka category at Pepita Needlepoint. And to buy one, go to Judaica Needlepoint’s Skullcaps category.

Do you have any original ideas for a Yarmulka design? I was once asked to design one with a beach theme. To match someone’s bathing suit, I suppose.

Needlepoint Supports New Schools In War-Torn Pakistan

Pakistani women in Punjab province have learned to embrioder — and are selling their needlework in western Nevada County to support schools where they learn to read, write and figure.
Pakistani women in Punjab province have learned to embrioder and are selling their needlework in western Nevada County to support schools where they learn to read, write and figure.

Poor families in Pakistan are supporting education initiatives by creating needlepoint pieces and sending them over to the U.S.A. for sale.

“To make the schools self-supporting, the women also have been learning for the first time to create needlepoint and embroidered pieces that they could sell profitably in the United States, with its higher currency value.”

I should note that in addition to the fine goal of increasing education in that country, the initiative also advances the noble cause of spreading needlepoint joy throughout the world.

New Website Dedicated to Threadbands

Screenshot of the Threadbands.com Home Page
Screenshot of the Threadbands.com Home Page

I put together a website that is dedicated to the new product I discussed in a previous post about Needlepoint Headband Kits. It’s called Threadbands.com, appropriately enough, and it serves to introduce the product to the world, and to help with working on the project.

It will also direct you to the best place to buy threadbands, and where to send your questions.

New Tefillin Bag Designs

I recently uploaded 3 new Tefillin Bag designs to the site, and I wanted to call them out here on the blog.

The first of these is a tad on the traditional side, with all the flowery silvery flourishes and stuff:

Flourish Tefillin Bag
Flourish Tefillin Bag

Lots of room for a name on that one. I chose to depict it with the names of the famous Chida, since he’s got four of ’em.

Next is the tefillin bag with a familiar-looking tartan design:

Tefillin Bag Camel Tartan
Tefillin Bag Camel Tartan

I dare not call it what it is *cough* Burberry *cough* or those lawyers will be after me in no time flat. Finally, here is the Argyle Tefillin Bag:

Tefillin Bag Argyle
Tefillin Bag Argyle

Now that’s what I call an original design. Remember that all of these canvases can be customized with the name of the bar-mitzva boy, in either English or Hebrew or both.

Click on any of the images to be escorted safely to the product page of each of these. To purchase them, saunter on over to Judaica Needlepoint’s Tefillin Bag Category page.