Criss Cross Crazy!!

What is your favorite stitch?  Mine is Criss Cross Hungarian.  I love it because of it's tremendous versatility-- it can be used on any canvas and in any size area from big to tiny.  For a composite stitch consisting of only two elements it is amazing how many combinations you can come up with, making the stitch look completely different each time.  It's like the Tex-Mex of stitching, where just a few ingredients make up a whole tableful of different foods, LOL! 

I'll show you here some of my favorite versions I've collected in my stitch notebook. 

Consider the basic form of the stitch below.  You can stitch it in a solid color thread or variegated. The accent stitch, which is diagrammed here as a bead, can be a contrasting thread, a coordinating thread, a metallic, a bulky or fuzzy thread, all to great effect.  Or not a thread at all but a bead, a sequin, a crystal or rhinestone. I am sure I have still yet to stitch all the possible variations!

Here's an example I stitched using a variegated silk and a contrasting color bead:

Aside from what you stitch it with, this stitch also has a lot of variations both in size and in construction.  You can stitch it in an inverted form, with the longer stitches on the outside.  Note that in this formation, your accent stitch or bead would be oriented vertically rather than diagonally:

And both of the above stitches can be stitched in giant size as well:

There are some other stitches that are variations of Criss Cross Hungarian that I also love.  Caswell is a large and wide version of the stitch:

And it can be inverted as well:

This stitch is called Collapsed Star Octogon and it is like a mini-Caswell:

Also in my CCH collection are a couple of Nobuko variations, Double and Triple Alternating Nobuko:

Here's a look at the Triple Alternating version that I stitched in variegated green silk, with another bright multi-color thread and a dark green metallic for an effect of a field of flowers: 

So many combos of Criss Cross Hungarian here and that's not even all that I have in my CCH notebook!   I'll post again later with the rest of them, in the meantime I hope you will enjoy trying out some of these!

More Fun Stitching and a Sneaky Peeky!

This sparkly beaded EyeCandy heart is a cute little kit-class offered by The Enriched Stitch!  You can visit their website here!

This week is Part 2 of Fun Stitches for Small Areas featuring my Tropic Colors geometric canvas at Ridgewood Needlepoint.  Click here to go their fun blog!

Finally, here's a peek at one of my upcoming New Releases, a colorful quail for fun Spring stitching! 

New Stitch Monday With Ridgewood Needlepoint!

Ridgewood Needlepoint has one of the very best Needlepoint blogs on the web today, showcasing new canvases, great finishing and each Monday a new Needlepoint stitch!  I am so thrilled to have one of my geometric canvas designs, "Tropical Maze" featured for the latest "New Stitch Monday" series.  

I'm also really happy they are using this design to showcase small but fun stitches.  I am always a little stumped for a small stitch that is also interesting and dynamic.  I can seldom even think of more than a handful of small stitches, so I think this series will become a great reference for those of us who want to add to our library of smaller stitches.  

Here is the link to the blog: https://ridgewoodneedlepoint.com/2021/03/new-stitch-monday-fun-stitches-for-small-areas/     Add their great blog to your reading list so you can follow it regularly, they have a fun new post nearly every day!  

 

Foxy!!

 Loving the extraordinary Turkeywork on my Fox Star by Lee Anne!!  He's so fuzzy and cute!!! 

 

Fun Little Kit Class From Suzie at Enriched Stitch!

Stitch-master Suzie at Enriched Stitch recently featured my Floating Hearts box top in one of her fun ZOOM stitch sessions.  It is 3 x 3 and will fit into a self-finishing box, plus there are 8 different stitches to learn.  The shop has kits in stock and ready to ship, click HERE to go to Enriched Stitch to shop! 

 

And the Winner Is...

The winner for possibly the best background stitch EVER is Donna F. with this great heart pattern adorning my "No Place Like Home" canvas:

And this one wins the "best background in a needlepointing photo" award!  This is my favorite picture ever!  If Polly V. did not take home a prize from the fair for either her pig or her needlepoint I hope she'll take mine as a consolation prize!  The canvas is my Pink Punkin Halloween Cottage, available with kit and stitch guide from Chandail. 

A Needlepoint Love Story Chapter Three Starts Today!

This year's needlepoint exhibit at Thistle Hill in Fort Worth officially kicks off today with a champagne reception at the mansion! I'm hoping that all of the needlepoint angels who bring this event to life will be there sipping bubbly and receiving many, many accolades for all the hard work they have done already and all they still have left to do.  They will be presiding over the show all weekend, and come Monday, they have to carefully re-pack all those treasures and get them safely back to their homes again.

Here's a look at the commemorative ornaments available for sale this year. All proceeds go to Historic Fort Worth to help with the preservation of these beautiful properties.  

This ornament commemorates last year's snowstorm that nearly cancelled the show:

 

This year's ornament shows the beautiful front gates:

The inaugural year's ornament showcases the front doors of the house:

Hope you can make it to this year's show, it's the biggest one yet with almost 800 pieces on display!  See you there!

Camp Allen Stitching at Christmastime!

I was lucky to spend a couple of days at Camp Allen this week, stitching at their December Needlepoint camp along with a great bunch of friends.   I wanted to share a few pictures of the great holiday decor on display and some stitching too!

Here are a couple of new things I was working on, both will be available soon I hope! 

December's Camp features tons of fantastic gift baskets, all up for silent auction, with the proceeds being donated to charity.  This is part of one of the tables loaded with goodies!

The thing I like best about Camp Allen is the beautiful woodland setting-- look at that view! Our stitching room has a whole wall of windows (more than pictured here), treating us to the beautiful fall colors outside.

In the hallway outside our stitching room, the Camp Allen decorator elves have put together holiday table-scapes along with gorgeous quilt displays, these are just two of many!

Gorgeous Christmas trees everywhere, this is the big one in the lobby:

Wish I was a better photographer, these pictures don't do it justice, and I forgot to take pictures of the outdoor decorations which were also many and great!  I will be back next year to try again! 

Hey, It's a Little Early for Christmas in July, Isn't It?

It is early to mention Christmas and holiday stuff, but since it's a class I thought probably earlier is better!   I will be teaching "Mod Merry" on September 12th at Fancy Stitches.  Ghosts are welcome if you can't make it there!  If you love bling and fun stitches, this is the class for you!

The Kringle Belles Stitched!

Linda S. has stitched all three of my Kringle Belle elves and they are SOOOO cute!!  Enjoy!

Package Delivery Elf 

Tree Decorator Elf

Candy Gathering Elf

Spooky Saturday!

More cutie than spooky really!  I wanted to share two great stitched Halloween designs, the first being from Mary at the Owl Stitchery blog.  She had the fantastic idea of adding a checked border to my Halloween Night Collage.  I love it!  Really sets off the design nicely, I'm kind of wishing I had actually painted a border on the original canvas now!  Great work Mary!  Read more about it on her blog here.

This is my Halloween Sampler Cone stitched by Jennifer T.  Can't wait to see it again when it comes back from finishing rolled up into its cone shape and loaded with goodies and embellishments!

It's needlepoint, so it's never too early to be stitching for Halloween or for Christmas either!  I'm working on a series of ornaments right now.  Happy Stitching! 

A Little Bit of Finishing

I haven't shared finishing photos with you for a while, here's a few I received from Pat W. recently.  She stitched my Harvest Puzzle and found the best Vera Bradley tote to attach it to:

The color match to the bag is just perfect, I love it!

These two Atomic ornaments are stitched and now currently at the finishers, I'll show them off again when they come back.  In the meantime, you can get a good look at Pat's lovely stitching:

Great work Pat & thanks for sharing your photos with us!

Home Again (For a Little While Anyway!)

I had a fantastic time in Glen Rose, Texas at the annual Fancy Stitches Retreat (which has been going on since the late 1980's, making it one of the most long-running retreats of it's kind in the country!) I even finished two things, but I can't show them off here yet, sorry!  Great company, great food and great stitching, what could be better?  Thanks so much to both Fancy Stitches and my retreat buddies for all the gifts and goodies that they showered us with all weekend too!

Here is a photo of the 300+ year old Live Oak outside our stitching room:

I do have some stitching to show off though, since I haven't had time to stitch on Mod Ornaments lately, I have a couple of photos from Mary Ann who has done a great job stitching two of her ornaments:

I'm off to Charleston, SC this weekend for a little trip with my hubby, (who I have barely seen this month), but I'll have some new finishing pictures to share next week!

A Week of Retreats!

I went to two needlepoint retreats in one week and now I need a vacation! Needlepoint Nation Austin 2015 overlapped with a trip to Memphis to Rent Amy, so what was I to do?  I managed to do a bit of both.  Wednesday and Thursday was spent in Austin visiting with that great group of gals, who I did not get nearly enough time with.  Here is a couple of shots of the host shop, The Needle Works--  not great pictures but you sure can tell how big and well stocked it is!

Friday through Monday found me in Memphis with the gang from Needlepoint Now, taking a weekend of classes with Amy Bunger.  Amy's shop is fabulous too, both inside and out.

First of all, what could be better than a needlepoint shop with a Sonic next door?

The neon "Amy's" sign is pretty spiffy too, I think.  Amy's is actually a small compound of buildings consisting of the store, classroom and the wholesale business.  Amy's very sweet husband, Bob, has decorated the inner courtyard with his collection of farm antiques and signs:

I think Bob's courtyard may be the best classroom view of any shop, any where!

And yes, Amy's has tons of threads and models too:

As I said, now that I'm back, I'm pooped!  Even so, I've got one more retreat left, this weekend I take off towards north Texas to Glen Rose for the Fancy Stitches retreat.  Stay tuned for those photos next week! 

Hot Off the Press!

I was so surprised and happy when I received an advance preview copy of the new edition of Jo Ippolito Christensen's The Needlepoint Book direct from the publisher, Simon & Schuster!  It's called the Needlepoint Bible for a reason, as this is one big and seriously heavy book, printed on beautiful paper in hardcover.  This new edition has a much larger section of color photos than ever before, plus is fully updated to cover all the new advances in needlepoint (including an app, of course!) since the last edition.  It could not have come out at a better time either, as it seems that needlepoint is on the cusp of a serious revival.

  

This book has made me even more enthused to see what excitement this year will bring the needlepoint world!