TIF Challenge: "Name Art"

I have been too busy tending to business (painting, for a change) to apply myself to the November Challenge. However, I'm not good at that sort of thing - making art with letters, so thought I would pass this along. A friend of my daughter-in-law made the most beautiful frameable art for both my granddaughters a few years ago, just using their names - so I asked her to design covers in the same style for the books I had in progress - and here is the result. She uses words to create art and a "feeling." Do visit her web page (here), and click on "name art" to see these incredible things, as well as lots of other beautiful works.

I also found a blog she's doing, so I willl need to make a bigger pot of coffee now for my morning "cruising," as I don't have to travel to the other side of Austin to see her work!

Check in on Sharon Zeugin, and enjoy. This is a rare and true talent.

TIF Challenge and October mess

October seems to be almost over, as I see my daughter busy decorating with pumpkins and ghosts, etc. I am never able to live just in the present, as I have to be working and planning ahead for deadlines and seasons - chaos. I intended, when I first saw the colors for this month and the subject, to do a post right away, but have hesitated, as my "orderly chaos" has descended into the realm of chaotic clutter. Actually, it's pretty disgusting right now.

I have blamed this situation on my children, who sold my house and moved me to my daughter's guest quarters, supposedly for a few months until we found a suitable duplex or something of that sort. That was over a year ago. Oh well. I really can't use moving from a three bedroom house into this space as an excuse, because in reality, I had all three bedrooms and all the closets and the sun porch pretty well trashed as well. The only thing missing here is my pottery equipment - no place for it. The work table isn't really too bad - you can see the necessities - the graham crackers and Reese's pieces - and of course the TV remote, my calculator, and two rolls of masking tape. (Cheez-its and Sprite in the background) No painting going on today, as I have the two stitching projects to finish before Monday.






The books are lined up on the floor so I can see them clearly and grab one when I need it. There are multiple things going on here - my passion for the Pueblo Pottery I'm studying, and also designing from. The old classic Elsa Williams bargello is a study for development of some more "Freebie" ornaments. Not seen is my "new" old book of Maggie Lane's gorgeous Rugs and Wall Hangings from the 70's - I got lucky and found it on e-bay.

This is the worst of it - I can't put these things away, as I would just have to dig them out again, as they have to be where I can put my hands on them right away. I am working right now on the magazine deadline in a few days for January publication, and have already started on the March/April project. I have my design projects going on too, as well as intense study in the realm of the Pueblo pottery - and then there is the blog thing to play with and keep up. It's good to be busy.



As for the colors, as always with the Challenge, I immediately saw something beautiful in the images I keep tucked away in my brain computer - the African Textiles. I thought perhaps I would finally get around to designing something from them, but haven't had time.

I purchased this book several years ago from the Chicago Art Institute, and get it out to study from time to time. The variety of weaves, dyes, prints, and other techniques used on that vast continent is truly amazing - and quite beautiful.

I can't take time and space to comment on the pictures, but they are different weaves or embroideries from different regions, and are inspired by the various cultures that migrated into Africa over the millenia. This first picture is of some woven shawls in a technique called "pit weaving." Interesting study! The second picture is an embroidered bed cover - gorgeous colors!

I am going to be unhappy when this Challenge of Sharon B's ends in two more months - as I have really enjoyed it as a creative endeavor and as a thought provoking exercise - it has been a great pleasure, although this month I just couldn't find a space of time for creating something from this book as I have wanted - maybe in January!!

I just clicked to enlarge the last "work space" picture. Damn that's an awful mess. But my thread stash is now in those clear plastic boxes where I can see what is where most of the time.

November CQ moving along, and June is beginning

I wanted to show again how great the color palette for September is for my latest "birthday CQ in needlepoint." The piece is actually representative of November - with the topaz - but I had been doing battle with my stash over colors until this was chosen for us this month. (TIF Challenge) The actual colors on my stitched piece are like the illustration - but on the screen, the blue turns almost turquoise. Oh well. This is the heart with the stitching finished and ready for the silk ribbon embellishment - I will, of course, add more colors and accents beginning with the seam treatments tomorrow. The chrysanthemums are not going to be easy, so I stalled a bit today and started work on June - as the colors are pretty, and pearls and roses are easy.

On November, in the dark blue patch, the white spots showing are the stitches left bare for insertion of beads. I wanted some subtle pattern here, so chose to use, once again, my favorite combo of the Sundance #250 clear beads, and this time a light blue floss to stitch them in. I usually don't put the beads on until the SRE is finished - but I had to see what it would look like, so I cheated - you can see them (enlarged) on the upper right curve of the heart.

Already thinking ahead - or back - to August, which is my younger dd's birthday, I sent Jean Krynicki at River Silks a picture of gladiolas, and asked her to choose some ribbon for me - and this is what she sent. Gorgeous! I just wish I could stitch in "double time" or something - like those old Charlie Chaplin silent movies. The images in my head start coming so fast, I have to make quick sketches - as I will forget them in a few hours. I just hope it keeps up before I suffer burn out on the project.

CQ for October Finished!! (and November on it's way)

This one gave me a few difficulties, but after adding the beads and subduing the marigolds, it will do, I think. I studied the flowers closely on the internet - photographs of calendulas - and then reproduced them with stitches in silk ribbon. (the flowers are 4mm, and the leaves are 7mm). One of my errors was on the left side - the bead pattern. I was trying to be clever, and won't go into the mathematics of the thing, but the motif I was trying to do is scattered looking. I won't do that again. I know why I counted it the way I did - but will have to admit, it didn't work. Oh well.


The flowers were a bit labor intensive, as I did the centers using one ply of Soy Luster in two-wrap French knots. I tried doing two ply with one wrap knots, but for some reason, these looked too fat. For the darker outline on the yellow flowers, I used two ply of Soie Cristale - as that is what I had in my stash for the correct color. With two-wrap French knots, it worked fine.
The soft, muted colors were a bit difficult - but seemed appropriate for the month, and work well with the Opals. In Texas, October is kind of the end of summer and (hopefully) the beginning of cooler weather. Symbolically, the Opals are for "Hope" and according to Victorian reasoning, the marigold/calendulas say "My thoughts are with you." Apparently, verbalizing feelings were tabu in polite society, so they spoke with gifts of flowers.

Now for an update on November! I am using the TIF colors for September, as they are absolutely perfect for this - even including the Topaz. The first thing I do before beginning the stitching, is to start with a color/fiber that is suitable - and add one patch at a time, as building this way seems to work best. As I add each, I also plan the appropriate texture for the patch, keeping in mind on these birthday hearts that the flowers and jewels are the main focus - I don't want any patch to be overwhelming in pattern or color.

I used one of my favorite stitches - created in desparation some time ago. I usually work this straight down in rows from top to bottom. However, in this case, I am using the "shimmer" version of the YLI Ribbon Floss in Smokey Blue for the tiny areas of basketweave between the long, satin stitches. I have found it best to work the long checkers from lower right to upper left when doing it this way - on the diagonal. It is less likely to pull the canvas than doing it from upper left to lower right. Then, the basketweave checks are filled in going on the diagonal again, but from upper right to lower left. It's just common sense and logic. After my frantic/begging/desparate e-mail to Jean K. of River Silks, she "Googled" chrysanthemums and looked at colors - and sent me these. Gorgeous, and softer than what I had. I'm looking forward to the experience - but it won't be easy. I'm rusty with the SRE!

September TIF Colors and November Birthday CQ

The September colors appeared, and solved a dilemma I've had with the colors for my November "Crazy for Birthdays" ornament - The Topaz is right there, as are the colors so compatible with it and suitable for a fall theme. I like the brighter intensities of the artwork, though, so brightened my thread selections accordingly. The blue Mandarin floss in the picture with the heart looks almost turquoise on my screen, but in real life it is a lovely, soft greyed blue.

I have had to approach this series a bit differently from my other crazy quilt pieces, as the jewels and flowers are the main features, and must be considered when choosing the other colors. I had already decided to use gold beads to make the "topaz" bracelet, as there were no threads that really looked right - so here they are! I used YLI Honey gold ribbon floss for the warp stitches, and Sundance #4 gold beads for the weft - and they give the effect I wanted.

I had already gone through my stash and pulled out lots of fibers in the colors above, and will make the final choices as I go. The gold settings for the jewels were stitched with Kreinik 002V braid, as the soft gleam is so pretty with the sparkle of the beads - sparkling gold braid would have been too much. These designs are only divided into five or six sections, as the flowers and jewels are the focus, so I wanted to not have them quite as busy as some of the others I've done.

The next step was to pull out my silk ribbon - this from River Silks, but I had to send Jean an emergency S.O.S., as the colors are a bit too bright, in my opinion, for the chrysanthemums I will make - after a lot of practice, of course, and a lot of searching for flower images on the internet. I had no idea so many sizes and shapes existed! I'm thinking about lists now, as that is the "thought" part of the challenge for this month - and already am examining my own habits. I have enjoyed so much these Challenges, as a lot of introspection has resulted, and I have examined different aspects of my life, habits, and way of thinking and working (and taking a few breaks!)

Now I have to get back to "October," which is almost ready for flowers and seam treatments. This could get confusing.

Crazy for September is finished!!

While getting toward the end of finishing this piece, I realized what a great part of the creative process "balancing" must be. The design elements must be in good balance according to size, shape, and color, in order to hold the eye in a pleasing manner - whether the artist means to evoke excitement , serenity, or other feelings that might be. I also realized, as I was quite tired of this particular crazy quilt rendition, that I had worked too long and too hard in order to meet my own deadline, and lost the pleasure in it. I need to work on balance in my art and my needlework - between what I do for my business, and what I do just for relaxation and enjoyment.


Designing has been my life's work, and I do enjoy it - but it still requires a self discipline and occassionally long and strange hours to meet deadlines. Needlework and pottery are also very therapeutic for me - and I don't do nearly enough lately "just for myself." I must work on that - and throw in a bit of gardening and walking when the weather cools down. A good balance in these aspects of my life!


As for the September Crazy Quilt - it's done, and I'm pleased with it (at least for now.) The first step in the embellishment, after the seam treatments, was to stitch in the background leaves, following the curve. This was done with 4mm ribbon from RiverSilks, which is beautiful stuff, and it holds up well in the stitching. The little asters were begun by just placing them one at a time wherever my eye landed - using 2mm silk ribbon from Thread Arts of Houston. It's great ribbon, and the only 2mm I've been able to find - it works well and doesn't fray at all. I chose the 2mm, as the asters have tiny petals and this gave the best effect. The close-up illustrates the beginning of an aster, and how to manage to make it round - I just place five petals in the size and shape I need, and then go around the flower filling in with more petals until it looks right. The centers were done when the flowers were finished, and are French knots made with Splendor silk. Beads were added when everything else was finished.

TIFChallenge - Juggling vs. Balance?

But first the colors! I have pulled out, over the past week, everything I came across in my stash, as I raked through drawers and boxes looking for other things, (juggling projects in work) that are compatible with the beautiful colors this month. Actually, I have two more bags full of threads and beads and silk ribbons in these colors, as they are perennial favorites of mine. No room on my work table for them all right now - so here are a few for starters.


In my mind, I am beginning to see maybe a needlepoint crazy quilt purse front with these - adding a bit of Vintage metallic gold, of course. The usual M.O. for me is to sketch a design format first, and then pull out a few of the most compatible colors - (have to eliminate a bunch.) As I have said before, pre-planning doesn't always work.

As for "balance" - When I finished my education and set out to join the big circus called life, I found there are two separate acts - one is called "juggling" and one is called "balancing." The juggling, I believe, is getting everything done in a day that is required for maintaining home, children, husband, work, - all that goes along with necessary daily activities. It's quite a feat keeping all the balls in the air and turning smoothly and evenly. I see the "balancing" as walking along the high wire with a long pole held in both hands to keep us from tilting to one side and crashing down into oblivion. On one side, there is the juggling of necessity of the things of life. On the other side, there are the activities that give us respite and rest from these, which we do need on occassion. We need these in equal parts for good balance in our lives. This has been difficult for me, as I am a working artist - and a bit driven, so resting and taking a break usually involves some other artistic pursuit.


I joined this Take It Further Challenge "just because" to give myself that wonderful break that is creative, but yet has nothing to do with income producing activity or things expected of me by family and work. A walk on the beach is also a form of relief and release for me, as the wind blows away the cobwebs in my head - and I really need to do these things to achieve balance in my life between work and family on one side and rest and play on the other, ideally in equal parts. Sometimes it's hard to know the difference! I just found this in my pictures file - I also knit, which gives me a splendid break from needlepoint design - kind of shifts my gears and gives me a rest. This is from my "knitting with fabric strips" phase about two years ago - Yin and Yang!! Great illustration for "balance"

TIF Challenge August - and Imari!

Beautiful colors for this month! Although it isn't yet August here. (tomorrow!) My first thought immediately was the Imari colors from the Japanese porcelains from which I designed my needlepoint canvases for so many years long ago. The colors will be glorious also in my new obsession - the embellished crazy quilt in needlepoint. As these colors are some of my favorites, although I favor the burgundy showing on my screen rather than the "rust" on the Imari, so I have lots and lots in my stash. I have shown this piece before - "Nellie's Imari" but will show it again, to illustrate. This is my favorite of all the Oriental porcelains I painted, and is the only one I have a copy of. If I ever achieve some semblance of "balance" in my life and work, (the August theme) maybe I'll take time to stitch it. My children assure me this won't happen - the balance part, anyway.

The Challenge - "Halfway" to Where??

So far the colors for this month haven't stirred my imagination, and I'll probably just opt not to stitch anything new with them, as we are approaching the halfway mark of July anyway. My children decided last year to "temporarily" move me into my daughter's guest quarters until they could find me a suitable smaller residence than the house I was in - I had been quite ill, but apparently didn't fool them, as here I still am. I have told friends I think I'm in a Halfway House - that is, halfway to the nursing home (which looms just up the road.) My phone number is one digit different from the lovely assisted living for Alzheimer's home where I had my aunt staying for several years before her death - and people misdial and call here fairly often. However, lately, I have wondered if I am there and just don't know it. Anyway, this past six months have definitely been a landmark of some kind - not halfway through my life, as I would live to be 136 if that were so. ( I do not want to live so long that I can't dance the tango, play in the ocean, or see to do fine needlework.) The death of my beloved little granddaughter in May has brought me to the realization that this year is a sort of landmark for me - in plain words, I'm not as young as I used to be, and have moved on to the next phase - whatever that is. Granny doesn't watch soap operas and crochet in a rocking chair.!!

On a brighter note - I decided, after using up a great deal of my stash - at least what is not packed away in boxes, that I needed to go shopping for a new color scheme to inspire me. This is what I found at the LNS. I have no restraint where pretty colors are displayed. This is a big batch of the gorgeous Caron Soie Cristale that I enjoy using on my crazy quilt renditions in needlepoint. I selected a few, intending to use them on one piece - and also added some ribbon floss in the same color ranges that I had in my "leftovers."

These fibers and colors are super for the part of the CQ I enjoy most - replicating the background fabrics! Allie's new quilt has zillions of silk tie things in it, and I have studied them closely (my new colors also were inspired by this). I made an enlargement of one little patch to show how it was then translated to needlepoint - Hungarian Criss-Cross in the two colors, with little pearl beads for the white spots. Too often I see designers making patches with very colorful and busy textured stitches - but this isn't conducive to the embellishment, and is a different thing altogether. My pieces are small, so the background patches must be subdued but interesting. I do use the textured stitches, but as a means to an end and not the total focus.This is what I will do for the first one!

I have made the little dots with a pen on the weft stitches, and intend to insert beads where the same pattern is showing on the sample swatch (also an enlargement from one of Allison's ties that I saw on her quilt.) If by any chance anyone hasn't seen this gorgeous thing - look at this link.

The squarish markings at the top are to indicate placement of tone on tone stripes from another patch. The rest of the piece will be stitched with just beautiful fibers in pretty colors - textured stitches, but subtle - as background for the silk ribbon flowers and other intended embellishment. I'm never quite sure what will happen, as I don't dare plan these things in the beginning - just build as I go with the selected threads.

A Stash in Progress (tutoring Marilyn)

The colors belong to Marilyn - another of her custom projects she asked me to do. This is an example of how a fine stash comes about, as these gorgeous silks will only be slightly used. There are a few more, numbering a total of 18 skeins in all, for a small book cover only 5 1/2" x 7 1/2". There will be lots and lots left over, and I'm sure they will suggest future works. As I was dumping them out of the bag, the way the colors came together already gave me some ideas, so I jotted down the numbers and intend to buy a few myself. I'll just put them away in the "silk bag," until I'm ready to use them. The pinkish orange, two pinks, and yellow have already triggered an idea or two - that 's how this seems to work for me. I will also keep an eye out in the LNS for maybe something that sparkles, and of course some beads, so I'll have a good supply when the designing urge hits. (great excuse, Huh?) Anyway, I taught her a while back to work my freehand plaid, so I think her dog Humphrey will have some fine and colorful plaid collars in the future - and maybe a belt or two for her daughters in these colors.

My "crazy quilt" heart is coming along nicely - so I pulled out this fine silk ribbon I bought a while back to try, and it's perfect with the "stash" threads I'm using! The ribbon is from River Silks, and is new to me. It has a lovely sheen, and comes in the 7mm width that I enjoy using for flowers. I also bought the 4mm width in the same colors so I'll have choices when the work is begun for embellishing.

A Wealth of Stash!

Back in the "olden days" of stitching on painted needlepoint canvas, we only had Persian wool, and it was usually sold by either the strand, oz., or sometimes a little hank of ten strands - so there was seldom much leftover to "stash."

Now, with the enormous number of novelty fibers available to us, we seem to accumulate a lot of leftovers, as sometimes one must purchase a whole skein of thread just to stitch one square inch of design. I actually have one large plastic bag labeled "sparkly green stuff," and another, "sparkly red stuff." Then there is "shiny white stuff" and of course BEADS! Most of this is left over from my "jeweled" cross phase, as well as Christmas ornaments. At the present time, I am grateful to have already this supply of threads to choose from for my latest madness, the charted "laces and trims," which are sparkling and jeweled when made into tree ornaments.

Anyway, a plentiful stash is, indeed, as Sharon B. suggests, wealth - as it provides a certain security and convenience, as well as a source of inspiration for new designs. It's also a great challenge to see if I can work with what I already have, rather than buying more. Also - don't forget the "eye candy effect"!! It's good for the spirit.

I have begun recently a new series of small CQ designs in needlepoint, so have dumped out my leftovers, as well as some recent impulse purchases, to see what is available. Amazing combinations can fall together by doing this!. A well stocked stash is, indeed, full of possibilities for special effects in contrasts in texture and color. A useful thing, I think, with a feeling of luxury as well.

Morning Glories and Crazy Quilts

Looking for something else this morning in my picture files (as usual) I found this I had forgotten about - as I remember, my friend Nina in N.C. sent it last year. She knows I love morning glories. Anyway, my beautiful 7mm silk ribbon from River Silks arrived several days ago - beautiful texture and color it has! I decided, along with Allie's new pictures of the current crazy quilt project, to go ahead and do morning glories first. This is how it begins: (with her permission and encouragement, of course). I printed out images from her blog and have studied them closely for color and embellishment - the colors are so right for the May TIF Challenge! Also, I look at the fabrics used, as part of the enjoyment for me is "replicating" the look of the fabrics in needlepoint - quite a challenge in itself. The next step was to dump out the fibers - and silk ribbon. I know better now than to pre-think what to use on each patch, as I always change my mind - it really works better in this genre to just kind of build it as I go with a basic color scheme in mind, of course. I forgot to show also the little vial of beads I pulled out - they look like pearls. (Sundance, as always). Somehow they just seemed right for these colors and threads. I drew on canvas two sizes of heart shapes on 18 mesh, and now will fool around with patches and shapes on tracing paper to see what happens. I have been determined to continue with the "heart shaped thing" with the crazy quilts in needlepoint, but I keep going back to one section of the quilt, and just don't think I can pull it off as a heart - we'll see! Anyway, it will be a most enjoyable and creative activity for me - and the motivation for finishing the morning glories will be wanting to start on the "Evening Primrose" version. I will have to play around with the 7mm ribbon, as the morning glory shape isn't going to be easy to do in silk ribbon - and I'm not quite sure of the scale yet. But it wouldn't be fun if it were totally easy and without challenge!! I won't put morning glories on this block, but aren't the colors and embroidered embellishments wonderful?!! I already know what I will do with that little pink and purple patch in the upper right corner.

TIF May: The Colors and Inspiration

Once again, I am calling myself "a grateful artist" - to Allison Aller for being my mentor in this crazy quilt thing - I have been motivated and inspired by her work for way over a year - and have done some of my best needlepoint design in the attempt to "replicate" her art crazies. I've been involved in other designwork in the last few months, but have really missed playing around with the CQ - so this one started with the colors for May, which remind me of morning glories and other spring flowers - and then I saw her little picture of what we call in Texas the "Evening Primrose" - an indigenous wildflower, which a few weeks ago looked like a pink blanket all over every yard and field around Austin. I took the picture this afternoon in my daughter's back yard - but the flowers are fading, besides having been hit last night with quite an unusual storm - even hail! Anyway - to start such a project, I was able to make an excursion to the local needlpoint shop to pick out threads (which I never mind doing) - but also had a few in my stash. I have ordered some 7mm silk ribbon in both the morning glory color and the primrose pink - but meanwhile, this is what I have for starters - both new and from my formidable stash. Incidentally, if you haven't seen this gorgeous ribbon - look at the Riversilks site! To start, I drew the heart on canvas, but haven't yet marked off the "patches," as I have to play around with drawings on paper first to get the best arrangement of the elements. I'm thinking, at this point, that it will have to be larger than the heart I drew, as I want to include many of the charming elements of this crazy quilt patch - with it's leaves included! - so stay tuned! Hopefully this will be a good one. I'm sure I will thoroughly enjoy the stitching of it, and am grateful once again to the "crazy quilt" community for the eye candy I see each morning as I cruise the blogs to get my brain primed for design in needlepoint. BTW - I did, of course, buy some new beads, but didn't include them in the picture. They are little "pearl" seed beads, which just seemed right for this. I really really like the orange leaves, and will most likely include them, as I believe they are necessary for the color scheme - but am not sure at this point how that will be handled - or what thread or stitch will be used.