Create Needlepoint!

Needlepoint Shop Hop!

Yesterday Mom & I visited another great needlepoint shop.

 

Needlepoint In Paradise

Needlepoint In Paradise

975 Imperial Golf Course Blvd.

Naples, FL 34110

239-591-0654

More ...Needlepoint Shop Hop

Mom and I visited more great needlepoint shops on our way to Florida. If you are nearby sure to stop in and visit!

 

Bristly Thistle

 

 
Bristly Thistle

15 N 4th Street

Amelia Island, FL 32034

Get Directions

(904) 729-4020

 

 

Needle Orts

 
Needle Orts

1002 West SR436 Suite 1024

Altamonte Springs, FL 32714

(407)869-0078

 

 

The Black Sheep

 
The Black Sheep

1322 N. Mills Ave.

Orlando, FL 32803

407.894.0444

 

 

Eye of the Needle

 
Eye of the Needle

1806 S Osprey Ave.

Sarasota, FL 34239

(941) 955-0458

 

 

Needlepoint Ivy

 
Needlepoint Ivy

101 W Venice Avenue, Ste 1   

Venice, FL 34285

 

 

Geez Leweez

 
Geez Leweez   

2330 Palm Ridge Road

Sanibel, FL 33957

239-395-2900

Needlepoint Shop Hop

Yesterday Mom and I visited two more great needlepoint shops.

 

Po's Point

 

 

Po's Point

4705 Savings Place, Charlotte, NC 28210

704-553-8777

Two's Company Needlepoint

 
Two's Company Needlepoint

351 E Main St., Rock Hill, SC 29730

803-327-2967

"Painted Stitches" Sampler Needlepoint Class

Yesterday I taught "Painted Stitches" Sampler Class at Simply Needlepoint. This is the needlepoint canvas owner Carolyn Fuller stitched.

 
It was a wonderful group of stitchers and so fun to meet everyone.

 
Here's a little "shop hop" tour of Carolyn's adorable shop. If you are near Winston Salem be sure to stop in and visit!

 
 
 

Simply Needlepoint

www.simplyneedlepointws.com

(336) 727-4058

117-B Reynolda Village

Winston Salem, NC 27106

Gingerbread Farmhouse Needlepoint Class

I taught the Gingerbread Farmhouse class today at Wool & Willow. It was a great group! Part of the class was spent learning decorative stitches and the part of the class was a "thread finder", where each stitcher selected specialty threads to create their own interpretation of the Gingerbread Farmhouse. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. I can't wait to see a whole village of finished gingerbread houses!

Needlepoint Trunk Shows

Barbara Bergsten Designs is going on the road with Needlepoint Trunk Shows. Hope you find one near you!

Needlepoint.com Class

On September 23rd Jen at Needlepoint.com taught my "Painted Stitches Sampler". I developed this canvas so shops could teach it without having to bring in a special teacher.

Jen sent me an email, " The class went great!! All the comments were that the canvas really helped to learn the new stitches in a “fun” way & from a teaching perspective, it was very easy because between the stitch diagrams and the painted canvases, the stitches almost teach themselves."

If you are looking for a fun easy class try a "Painted Stitches" canvas!

Where I've been?!?!

I'm here. I have had many technical problems with all things needlepoint! I'm trying to update my stitch guide page on the website and it has messed up many times. Don't go there yet...nothing will stick. I'm not sure what the problem is but it is very frustrating. I haven't been stitching because I poked a big hole in my finger and I'm waiting for it to heal. I want to be writing some good stuff for my blog but nothing is working right now. Getting ready for the St. Charles Show. I'll be back when things get organized. Hopefully this weekend!

Getting ready!

I'm getting ready for the TNNA St. Charles Show. I put together this 2' x 4' banner of finished needlepoint to take to the show. I'll have some finished samples too, but the cost of extra bags is so expensive on the airlines now, I had to come up with another idea. This banner could also travel to trunk shows.

Many thanks to all that have stitched one of my designs!

Hope to see you in St. Charles. This will be my first Cash & Carry Show!

Trunk Show at Wool & Willow Needlepoint Shop

I'm packing up canvases for a trunk show at Wool & Willow Needlepoint Shop!

Needlepoint Photo Area con't...2...

This is what I came up with for my photo studio!

Needlepoint Photo Area con't...

It amazes me how I can have a thought in my head and I can't clearly express myself! Thanks to the comments from Jane & Pat I can see how confusing my question was to all! What I want to do is set up a photo area where I can take good, steady photos of my needlepoint, either in progress or finished. My sister gave me an old tripod to help with the blurry photo problem. What color is it best to photograph against? Do I need a window or flash? I'd really like to set up this space and leave it set up. Then maybe I would photo my progress more. Any ideas? Does anyone else have this type of space? Thanks so much for any tips and advice!!

Needlepoint Photo Area

I want to set up a dedicated needlepoint photo area in my house. I'm hoping to do a better job with my photos. Has anyone done this? If so, how did you do it...what is your set up? Thank you for any advice!

I don't knit

I don't knit. I have knitted in the past and I would love to knit big, chunky, amazing sweaters or adorable patterned socks. The problem is I don't understand what happens around the needles so I can't fix any mistakes and my dear friend Jean isn't always around to fix things. Today I went to a knitting workshop for Knitscape for Heights Arts. I couldn't follow the pattern so Jean & I traded needles and she did all the patterned rows and I did all the straight knit rows. I can't purl either. I feel strongly about supporting needlearts in our communities. Could we ever do a public arts project using needlepoint? Any ideas let me know!

"Knitscape is a temporary community public art project under the creative oversight of artist Carol Hummel in residence at Heights Arts Gallery August, 2009.

Knitscape will create a visual line of color and pattern in the Cedar Lee and Larchmere business districts with parking meter poles and selected trees being covered by colorful knitted and crocheted sheathes.

The purpose of the project is three-fold:

• to demonstrate on a temporary basis how art can visually unify the streetscape
• to create a community around an art project
• to make people smile as they encounter unexpected art in their daily lives

Knitscape will be created by the collective action of anyone who wants to knit or crochet parts of the project."

Our workshop was at Wool & Willow Needlepoint. We were knitting for trees on Larchmere Blvd. Here's the link for Heights Arts Knitscape page. http://www.heightsarts.org/publicart/

Teaching needlepoint on the road!

I so excited to be teaching needlepoint on the road!

My first class is Sat. Oct. 3, 1-3 at What's the Point?

What's The Point

614) 717-9008

126 S High St. Dublin, OH 43017

The class canvas is: NPC17 Tropical Bamboo

 

My second class is Tues. Oct. 13, 10:30 to 12:30 at Simply Needlepoint

Simply Needlepoint

(336) 727-4058

117-B Reynolda Village Winston Salem, NC 27106

The class canvas is: PS02 Painted Stitches 6"x6

 

Call the shops directly if you would like to sign up. Hope to see you there!

More from Erin

This is my last week of my internship.  Today was my last day of coming to Barbara's Studio to work on my painting.

I continued working on my collection of Fashionable Ladies.  I found a great picture of a lady from 1910s.  As soon as I saw this picture I knew I wanted to do it.  I want there to be one item on the dresses of my ladies that sticks out.  The 1920s lady has sparkle on her dress.  The 1930s ladies dress was stitched with a ribbon thread.  But this one will have something fuzzy on her collar and wrists of her coat.

When I first started to paint I wanted to make the coat black and cream.  But as soon as I started to paint, it came to be that it had to be brown and cream.  As I was painting and it all was coming together I thought that the change was for the best.  The browns and blues together look perfect!

After I finished the Fuzzy Coat I wanted to do something totally different.  I cut a piece of canvas for a 8x8 pillow.  I picked out two of my favorite colors black and cream.  I just picked a spot and started to paint whatever came to my head.  After a few minutes it was really becoming a design.  I think that it kind of looks like fabric. Once I had a chunk of the design done.  I added a black border three lines thick.

I am so glad that I did the PIPN internship!  I learned so much! I want to continue painting canvas and see where it goes.  I think it would be great it by next June I would have enough canvases to go to the TNNA trade show. That would be in my wildest dreams.  So far I have 3 and a half canvases done and I will need a whole lot more if I want to go to a show!

If anyone is interested in an of my canvases or have any ideas for me please contact me at capurrocustoms@yahoo.com !!

Erin S. Scheiner

Stitching a Gift

Everything is on halt here @ bbd. My son asked me to needlepoint a present for his girlfriend's birthday.

She picked out this belt canvas and it will be made into Eliza B flip flops.

There is really no way I can get it finished by her birthday, but I'm going to try. Belts to flip flops are one of my favorite things. My belts are on #14 mesh which makes for faster stitching. I have 2 pairs and wear them almost every day. Voila! does the finishing for Eliza B flip flops. I am using Vineyard Merino and Kreinik gold. I love the contrast between the wool and metallic!

More from Erin

Erin S. Scheiner

I finally finished stitching My Lady in Black.  She looks so good! I am very pleased with how she came out!

   Lady Number Two! The Lady in Pink.  Today when I came to Barbara's I wanted to do something new and different.  I wanted to continue with my series with Fashionable Ladies from different decades.  I want to bring them all together with the bright red lips and the black hair.  I like having them simple so you can do whatever kind of stitches you would want to do.

I choose to do a 1920's lady.  She is a traditional flapper from the roaring twenties.  I choose to do her in lighter colors because the 1920s were very carefree.  So I picked two pinks and a light lime green for the background.  Her flappers dress wraps around her legs which brings a little bit of movement to the picture.

When I go to stitch her I want to add along pearl necklace that wraps around her neck and I want it long enough so she can hold it in her hand.  I want to do some of the same stitches that I used in The Black Lady.  I am excited to see how the two finished will look next to each other.

More News from Erin...

     

Today I worked on painting my 1st orders.  I am very excited that someone liked my design.  I started off today by cutting my canvas.  Barbara told me that the right way to do it is have at least two inches all the way around the canvas.  She told me to do this because if the customer would like to use a frame or stretcher bars it you need that little bit of extra canvas to make it work.  After I got the canvases cut out I worked on making a box in the middle for the actual picture.  The first area that I started to paint was the main focus of the picture, the long black dress.  This did not go as easy as I thought it would.  I had to count everything out to make sure it was just like the first one.  Once the black dress was done it was smooth sailing.  I next did the arms, hair, and lips last.  The background colors came out great.  I am really glad that I picked such a bright red it really makes the dress pop!

After I was done I thought about my whole experience with being a PIPN intern.  Working with Anne at Wool and Willow Needlepoint, I pretty much learned how to own your own store.  I learned how to help customers make decisions on what type of fibers to use for their projects, to help customers with colors that work with their canvas, and what they would like to make their needlepoint into.  I also learned how to do all of the behind the scenes things such as when you should order more threads or what to do when a customer is not happy with something.  Also I have been working with Anne's new daughter in-law on putting items on the Wool and Willow website to sell.  I also learned something that is very important.  You should always do something that you love! Both Anne and Barbara have found their happiness.  Anne loves seeing how people are doing on their projects and she gets so excited when the finisher comes with finished items like belts and wonderful pillows! And the on the other hand Barbara showed me how to take one idea and make it into a beautiful needlepoint.  She showed me how different stitches on a simple background can make the world of a difference! 

I am so happy with how amazing my first needlepoint canvas came out!  I had no idea that the 'Lady in Black' would have sold in less than a week! 

 

My internship has gone so fast this is the end of sixth week only two more to go.  When I picked to do a PIPN internship I was not too sure what I was going to do.  Now that I know doing the PIPN internship was the best choice for me.  Not only was it a much better experience for me rather than working in a store in the mall.  But it has opened up a whole new creative outlet for me! I cannot wait to come up with more ideas for needlepoint!  If anyone has any questions about the PIPN internship or about any of my designs please feel free to contact me!!

Capurrocustoms@yahoo.com

Flower Plant Stands

This is what I have been working on!

Erin's Lady in Black

 

Thank you for the great comments on Erin's first hand-painted needlepoint canvas! She did the thread pull yesterday and then changed some threads after I took the picture. The hair is going to be black Edmar Boucle, the dress shiny black Neon Rays, the background is Vineyard Silk Holiday (red), stitched in the T-stitch. It gives the background a lacey look that isn't showing up in the picture. The Lady's lips are going to be shiny red Kreinik. I love the idea of one earring from Jane of Chilly Hollow. Margaret emailed me, "something silky and shiny on the dress". That was Erin's thought too. I won't see her progress until Tues. I'll keep you posted!

TNNA PiPN Intern

Erin S. Scheiner our TNNA PiPN intern spent the day with me yesterday.

She designed and painted her own needlepoint design. I asked her, "what do you want to paint?" Erin answered, "I go to school for fashion, so my first thought was to do something that had to do with fashion for my first project.  I ended up picking a lady from the 1930's, in a black dress and a very fashionable pose.  My next thought was what colors to use?  I didn't want to do her whole face.  I wanted to make her red lips stand out.  I picked black, two skin tones, and two reds." I asked Erin what size would you like your hand-painted canvas to be? Then we scanned and resize sized her image.

I had Erin do some practice painting before she started on her canvas.

 

Next we taped it to a board and she started painting and making design decisions.

 

 

 

Erin is an excellent canvas painter!

I can't wait to see her Fashionable Lady finished!

A Little Housekeeping

I just updated blog sites on the left hand side of my blog and Retail Shops onBarbara Bergsten Designs website. Hope this makes it easier to find things! Please let me know if anything is outdated. Thank You! B

TNNA PiPN Program

Anne from Wool & Willow and I are sharing a PiPN intern. Yesterday was Erin's first day. We're very excited to have her helping us this summer! The following article talks about the program and here's the PiPN link too!

http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/48750357.html

http://www.tnna.org/Outreach/College/tabid/154/Default.aspx

Needlepoint Premiere & Silent Auction

Friday night of the TNNA show was the Needlepoint Premiere & Silent Auction, Sponsored by The Needlepoint Group. "Join the needleart enthusiasts at the new Premiere and Silent Auction and bid on the latest handpainted canvases and products donated by our great exhibitors as well as a chance to take home one of these fabulous designs. Also, view some of the finished product on display." It was great fun!

Booth 1601

 

I'm getting all packed up for the TNNA Show in Columbus, OH June 13-15. Hope to see you at Barbara Bergsten Designs Booth 1601!

TNNA Class

I'm getting everything ready to teach my first TNNA needlepoint class. I'm so excited! Karen from Vineyard Silk donated all the threads and the canvas is my PS02 Painted Stitches Sampler 6" x 6".

Needlepoint Stitch Guides

Organization!!! I'm trying so hard to get everything together and in a usable fashion. Threads organized√ needlepoint projects completed√ Canvases to the finisher√ Organization of my computer information?!?!? I just switched computers, my old one was heating up to the point you could fry an egg on it. Switching computers is a terrible job but the up side is time to see what's hiding in the folders. I spent my weekend trying to get my needlepoint Stitch Guides and Stitch Sheets together. I have a long way to go but made some progress. Judy Harper was a huge help with getting them into .PDF form so they are easy to print. Thank you Judy! Please check out the Stitch Guides for Barbara Bergsten Designs. More will be added soon, I'm on a roll!

Butterfly Finished!

 

 

 

I wanted to show PS03 Painted Stitches Butterfly canvas and then a close up of the finished needlepoint. PS03 Painted Stitches Butterfly is a great way to learn to use a variety of threads and stitches on the painted canvas. The 11 blocks are stitch painted, two-step decorative stitches. Painted Stitches Butterfly design helps the stitcher learn how to compensate stitches because the compensation is painted on the canvas.

Shop Hop

Yesterday I went on a short road trip to the west side and visited Stitches ETC. 624 Dover Center Rd. Bay Village, OH 44140 PH: 440-892-8606. I had a great time with Beth, owner of Stitches ETC. and needlepoint designer of Beth Gantz Designs and her mother Carol designer of Associated Talents. Beth’s shop is adorable and a must visit! “Stitches carries a full line of cross stitch and needlepoint supplies, including fabric, books, threads and painted canvases. We also carry jewelry and accessories. Our store is located 20 minutes west of downtown Cleveland, in Bay Village, OH on Dover Center Road.” Also visit Beth's blog. It was fun to talk needlepoint all afternoon!