John Waddell Stitches My ANG Tree

John Waddell, a wonderful needlework teacher, stitched several versions of my ANG tree and sent me the pictures.  He gave me permission to post them here.  

The colors are wonderful and he added borders.  Love them!  Thanks John.

The guide for this tree is in the 2015 November/December issue of the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) magazine.  If you are not a member of ANG and wish to join, the website is www.needlepoint.org  I don't know if there are any back issues of the magazine still available, you will have to contact them.

I am working on some new trees and other counted pieces.  Stay tuned.

John Waddell's Trees

The original tree colors

Mini Checked Pine -SCR 2016 Seminar Project

This is my 2016 SCR Seminar project, "Mini Checked Pine."  

This example was finished by one of our chapter members as a flat stand up.

NeedleDeeva Haunted Firs - Finished and Fabulous!

Witch, Vlad, Skeleton

Devil, Cat, Witch Hats

Spider, Pumpkins, Ghost

Here are NeedleDeeva's Haunted Firs, direct from the finisher.  

I did a stitch guide for each canvas. 

If you are interested, please contact your local needlework shop and ask them to sign up. Point of contact:  chris.needledeeva@gmail.com.

This is an exclusive, shop-only club for 2016.  Individual canvases will not be available for purchase until next year.

Firs on Tree

Green and Blue Colorways for Elegant Holiday Tree

Original Colorway

To teach this piece at the recent EGA South Central Region (SCR) meeting in Dallas, I selected two additional colorways.  They both use the original Kreinik #12 202HL.  

They are:

Blue:     Watercolours 160 Night Sky, Neon Rays 106, and Impressions 7072.  
Green:  Watercolours 065 Emerald, Neon Rays 30 or 31, and Impressions 5142.

Additional suggestions:

1.  Use gold beads instead of Kreinik (except the trunk and star).   

2.  Stitch it in blue or green, but instead of gold Kreinik use a blue or green metallic, or complementary beads.

3.  Attach a gold star instead of stitching one.

4.  Stitch it with silver metallic on silver flecked canvas.

5.  Experiment with other Watercolours and threads.  This is a Carole Lake basic method that I really love - pick a Watercolours and a metallic, and go from there.

The tree is a universal symbol and the possibilities are endless.  

I appreciate everyone's interest in this design.

    

  

When Threads Are Discontinued

So you're working on a project, you run out of a thread, and your local needlework store says it's discontinued.  What do you do?

1.  The first thing I would do is ask them to call the supplier and see if there is any stock left. I recently ran into this issue with certain beads - although they were not listed on the supplier's website, when I called I found out they had a large stock and could supply them to my local shop if I asked for them to be ordered.  It doesn't hurt to ask your shop to call the supplier - if a thread has been recently discontinued the supplier may still have some on hand.

2.  Ask your stitching friends if they have it in their stash.  

3.  If you are on Facebook and in any needlework-related groups, post a request for the thread in the appropriate group.  I've seen this work many times - either someone has it, or a shop will chime in that they have it in stock.

4.  Even if your shop doesn't have it and the supplier is out, other shops may still have some.  I try to give my business to local shops when I can - but in an emergency I would not hesitate to call around to find thread I needed to finish a project.

5.  Sometimes there is a substitute.   If you haven't started the areas on your project that require a discontinued thread, you may be able to find something else that is a close match in color and/or texture.  Even if you've already stitched some areas, if they are not that close to unstitched areas needing the discontinued thread, a close match may work.

When all else fails, you may have to "unstitch" and find another thread to finish the project. This is very sad and frustrating - but if you really like the project it may be your only choice.

Be sure to purchase more than enough thread for your project, if it is available and you can afford it.  I would rather have threads left over than not have enough.  Be sure you understand your shop's thread return policy if you hope to be able to return unused threads for shop credit or a refund.  This is a difficult area for shops because of dye lot changes, unknowns about where the threads have been kept (smoking home, pets?), age of threads being returned, and price changes.  In my opinion, shops that allow thread returns, even if it's just for credit, are very generous - and those who choose not to do so have valid business reasons and should not be criticized for their policies.  

If you have a stitch guide that calls for a discontinued thread, please have mercy on the stitch guide writer.  None of the ones I know would deliberately call for a discontinued thread.  We try to keep up and it is impossible to predict when a thread might be discontinued in the future.  I also know at least two guild teachers who have encountered this on large projects they designed and planned to teach for a number of years, and they have gone to great lengths to find substitute threads and adjust their designs accordingly.  

Related to this topic - Kreinik recently announced they were discontinuing a number of colors and have provided recommended substitutes.  You can see the list on Janet Perry's blog here: 

http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/substitutions-for-discontinued-kreinik-threads/

Patricia Sone's Needlepoint Social: TNNA Winter Market 2016

I highly recommend following my friend Patricia Sone's blog.  She is a great teacher and a very nice person.  This is her latest post, about the TNNA market that I unfortunately was not able to attend:



Patricia Sone's Needlepoint Social: TNNA Winter Market 2016: 

Pocket Full of Stitches: NeedleDeeva's Haunted Firs

Pocket Full of Stitches: NeedleDeeva's Haunted Firs



Stitch guides by Owl Stitchery.