Needlepoint Pillows

Some of the needlepoint pillows I’ve made were designed with quilt patchwork motifs.  I have used design charts from 2 books:

Needlepoint: Designs From Amish Quilts by Laura Gilberg and Barbara Buchholz 

More Needlepoint From America’s Great Quilt Designs by Mary Kay Davis and Helen Giammattei.

One of the needlepoint pillows (see above) is made from a patchwork design called Courthouse Steps. This design is about 18″ x 20″ including the borders, and the stitches used were Parisian, large brick, Gobelin, continental, and diamond satin.

The pillow design on the right is Sunshine and Shadow (also known as Many Trips Around The World). The pillow was made with my stash of Persian yarns and it measures about 14″ square. This was a gift for my grandmother and after her death, the pillow passed to my mother.

 

Another Trip Around The World pillow was created and this one uses corderoy for backing, with a corderoy-covered cord.  This pillow measures about 12-inches square.

I have forgotten the design for this pillow but due to the stitch format, it worked up quickly. This pillow measures 12″ x 14″ and has been backed with matching rust-colored velour fabric.

All of the designs were made with Persian yarns on mono canvas using design charts. The needlepoint stitches I used for these pillows were Gobelin, Brick, Scotch, Continental, and Diamond Satin stitches.

Tropical Fish and Elephants

 

I love to oogle over other talented artist’s work. This joyful needlepoint, Tropical Fish, is such a beauty, worth admiring over and over again. The piece was designed and made by Roberta Frauwirth.

Tropical Fish was a winner in the  Embroiderer’s Guild Exhibit many years ago. I love the colors and the variety of stitches in this piece!

  

Elephant Needlepoint Panel This morning I have several hours to devote to my Elephant needlepoint panel. I would like to finish the thigh and leg area today but this is a large area and I doubt I can complete it in the time I have to spare today.

The elephant is about 2 feet across on this design but it’s coming along. The elephant’s body is being worked in an off-white. Boring but against the background (not yet worked), the off-white will work nicely.  Working with the off-white I’ll be compensating myself  — I’ll stitch with off-white while glancing elsewhere, wherever there is color. 

Elephant Needlepoint Panel

The Elephant panel is a design that was adapted from a Chinese embroidery held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The elephant design was worked with Persian wool using all 3 strands. The piece has a thread count of 301 x 301 and is worked on #10 mono canvas measuring 36″ wide. I purchased a canvas piece measuring over 80″, unsure of how long I would make this Elephant panel.

The needlepoint Elephant panel shows that little remains to be worked within the elephant itself. Some ornamentation on the headdress still needs to be worked and when the headdress has been completed, gold filament threads will be incorporated for that glistening look that only gold can provide.

Top and bottom of the Elephant panel will include large clouds, similar to those seen worked within the rug found on the elephant’s body.