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The Needlework Nutshell—July 1, 2007 Volume 3, Issue 7 July 1, 2007 <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> THE NEEDLEWORK NUTSHELL Needlework news, musings, tips, contests, and what’s happening now at FUNK & WEBER DESIGNS <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> Editor: Jen Funk Weber Mail to: mailto:mail@funkandweber.com Web site: http://www.funkandweber.com Your privacy is important to us. Our subscriber list is NOT made available to others. *********************************************************** IN THIS ISSUE *********************************************************** 1. Needlework Musings 2. Tips and Tricks and Brilliant Ideas 3. What’s New at Funk & Weber Designs 4. Readers Ask 5. Reader Commitments 6. Puzzle Contest 7. Contact/Subscribe/Unsubscribe *********************************************************** 1. NEEDLEWORK MUSINGS *********************************************************** I recently read Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park. (It's a middle grade novel, so if you want to find it, check the juvenile section of your library or bookstore.) It's a story about a girl and her friend raising silkworms for a club project--the club seems a lot like 4-H, but it's not 4-H. After raising the silkworms, the main character plans to embroider something with the silk and enter it into the state fair. Embroidery! In a kids' book! Fun! Clearly Ms. Park is an embroiderer. This is how I know: ====quote==== At the beginning I'd ask my mom to check my work. She thought I was doing pretty well, but she always pointed out little mistakes--my stitches weren't exactly the same size, or I hadn't lined them up perfectly. "Anyone can stick a needle in and out," she said. "If you want to get really good at embroidery, it's the little things that count..." ====end quote==== Yes, yes, yes! The little things, the details, make all the difference. The little white stitch in an animal's eye, backstitching, the subtle color changes of overdyed fibers, the sheen of silk. Ms. Park understands. What's more, she's a stitcher after my own heart. This is how I know: ====quote==== Embroidering for me was mostly un-embroidering. I'd take five stitches, look at my work, turn it over, and look at the other side--and I'd have to pick out the last two and do them over. But the funny thing was, I didn't really mind...I got so it would bug me when a stitch wasn't just right, and I was glad to take it out and fix it. ====end quote==== Sigh. I was a Linda Sue Park-the-author fan before. Now I'm also a Linda-Sue-Park-the-embroiderer fan. Two things I encourage stitchers to do are stitch in public and model your stitched work, be it on clothes or as tags, cards, bracelets, etc. Exposure, exposure, exposure. Stimulate awareness, curiosity, and appreciation. Share the joy of needlework. By including embroidery in her novel, Ms. Park is doing that, tooting our collective horn. She's modeling her embroidery. I love that! So now I've created a new challenge for myself. I've decided to try to weave embroidery into as many of my stories as I can. It doesn't have to be a part of the plot--even a casual mention counts. I just want to show needlework as a normal and wonderful part of everyday life. How else can you shine some light on needlework? If you have an answer to that question, I want to hear about it. *********************************************************** 2. TIPS AND TRICKS AND BRILLIANT IDEAS *********************************************************** Make this a FOBulous summer, DAHling! Scissor fobs. If you're a stitcher, chances are you've made one or forty-two. You may consider "naked scissors" gauche. (But you're far too polite to point out that my own scissors are without adornment.) As I pulled the chain on my ceiling fan to adjust the speed, I decided it needed a fob. A fan fob. It got me thinking about all the ways we might use the dozens or hundreds of fobs we stitch, alternatives to buying another pair of scissors. I have a fob on my insulated cup. The cord attaches the lid to the cup so the two are never separated. Since I take my cup Everywhere, this is important. Because I've had the cup for--wow!--eighteen years, there's no hint of the Outward Bound logo that used to identify it, so the fob is handy in that way. (I don't know about you, but all my friends have insulated cups, too.) Are you wondering if the cup ever gets washed? Having seen some blackened mugs myself, I think that's a valid question. Yes, the cup gets washed. No, the fob does not. You see, it clips onto the cord with a hook. Snap on. Snap off. That means we can put fobs on Everything. For instance: Phones, iPods, ceiling fans and pull-string lights, cups, kitchen utensils (great for a picnic, but be prepared to wash your fob if it gets splattered or dunked in the edibles), tools, spiral notebooks, purses, packs, pull-down shades, key rings. You can ID soda cans at a party by looping or snapping fobs onto the pop-top tabs. Party favors fobs! Serving bottles instead of cans? Snap the fob to a ring that fits over the top of the bottle. Stemmed glasses? You know what to do. Getting some ideas for FOBulous summer projects? Great! Not sure how to finish a fob? Let's take care of that right now. There are, of course, a gazillion ways to finish fobs. We'll go over one. Fobs are essentially tiny pillows. They have a front and back side. I like to stitch both sides, but it's not strictly required. Generally speaking, the front and back fabric/design measurements are equal, but again, this is not strictly required. You know what, to save us all some time, let's just say that each and every "rule" that follows is not strictly required. By all means, bend and twist them to suit your needs and interests. Want some images along with the instructions? Click the link below. http://www.funkandweber.com/fw/fob.html 1: Stitch designs on front and back of FOBulous fabric. I grabbed these stitched squares from my doodle stash. I was testing different Rainbow Gallery fibers with the crescent pattern from the December issue of The Needlework Nutshell. The squares don't lay well for magnets, so now they'll become a fob. 2: Backstitch around the perimeter of each. I like to use pearl cotton for this, size 12 or 8 depending on the fabric, and I sometimes backstitch over 4 threads instead of 2, pulling the stitches somewhat tightly. You can backstitch over 3 or 5 or ? threads, just do the math so you can center the design. Draw the outline on graph paper if necessary. 3: Trim the fabric to 1/2-inch beyond backstitching (I'm shy of that here, but these are *doodles*) and press toward the back. If you've used a pulled backstitch, it's probably enough to finger press the fabric. A hot iron works, too. 4: Align the front and back fabrics, wrong sides together. Think sandwich: the backstitches are the crust. 5: Begin in one corner, match the backstitches from the two fabrics, and whip them together. Not sure what a whip stitch is? Slip your needle upward, under the bottom backstitch, then under the top backstitch, being sure not to catch any fabric. You're picking up the backstitches only. Leave a 4- to 6-inch tail to secure later. You have 2 backstitches looped onto your working thread. Now bring your needle up through the next 2 backstitches, and on and on and on. How simple is that?! Your working thread will look a bit like a rope as it spirals around the backstitches. 6: If you're attaching a cord or ribbon to your fob, sandwich the ends between the front and back layers and take a few extra stitches around, over, or through them to secure them in place. Continue whipping until you have 3 sides stitched. Stop. 7: Fill your fob with batting, fiberfill, plastic pellets, rice, beans, lavender, or something else. Some people add a penny or nickel to weight the fob. You could add a magnet. 8: Finish whipping the backstitches, then secure and hide the tails. For a fancier fob, add beads to each or select whip stitches. Or charms. Or both. Or go back and whip in the opposite direction with a different color fiber. Work some needle lace around the edges. Sooooo many FOBulous possibilities! Send me pics of your FOBulous adventures, and I'll revive the Make It Yours section. *********************************************************** 3. WHAT’S NEW AT FUNK & WEBER? *********************************************************** The Needle and ThREAD blog. Okay, the blog's not new, but it's been updated a number of times and is becoming more of a home for the *Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy* campaign. The landing page is no longer the blog, but a static page explaining the program. There's a link to the blog in the menu on the right. You can also comment on the blog without registering. I think. I'm pretty sure. Would somebody please try it and tell me? ~~~~~~~~~~ "Bearly" Night is now on the website. ~~~~~~~~~~ Needle and ThREAD bookmarks 2 and 3 are designed and being stitched. Bookmark #2 is the second half of my tribute to librarians. Bookmark #3 is an asymmetrical ambigram. That's all I'm saying. ~~~~~~~~~~ I'm also back to work on the new puzzle pattern. It's the same "new" pattern that I started in February (or sometime) and will remain "new" until it's published and has been for sale for at least 6 months. What can I say? Needlework progress is slow. ~~~~~~~~~~ The Nancy Drew activity books are out. Yay! It took me ages to finally see them, but when I did I wasn't disappointed. I think Simon Scribbles did a great job. I revealed a couple of secrets about them on my writing blog: http://tinyurl.com/yt2sxe ~~~~~~~~~~ We're blogging! I have a Team Blog with my online critique group. There are 6 of us, from CT to AK, who have been reading and critiquing each other's work for about 3 years. Pairs of us have met in person a few times, but never have we met face-to-face, all together. We hope to meet in Ohio in April 2007. Our focus, of course, is children's writing. http://6writers1story.blogspot.com/ I have *another* blog on my own. Think I can't possibly have that much to say? Remember, I live in rural Alaska and hate to travel in winter. I go for days and weeks without seeing anyone but Mike. I can pretty much talk anyone's ear off! The question is whether or not I have anything worthwhile to say, but I'm not touching that one. http://JenFunkWeber.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~ Due to exceptional busy-ness next summer, we have decided that the next Alaska Stitch-N-Safari will be scheduled for the summer of 2008. Information about these special stitching tours is available on our web site http://www.funkandweber.com/fw/tour.html *********************************************************** 4. READERS ASK *********************************************************** Please e-mail me with questions for this section. mail@funkandweber.com I was in Arctic Needle in Anchorage this week, and met Bev from Sitka, AK. She was in to inquire about the black-and-white frames used on the Let There Be Night Stitchlings. Oh my. Those were created for us by John and Annette at Wood 'N Needle Crafts when we first started the series. About two years ago I got a letter saying they were closing their business. I had six damaged frames (trunk show shipping problem--ugh!) that we repaired with wood putty and paint because I love, love, LOVE those frames with these pieces. The frames are all identical. One frame fits any of the patterns. You can stitch four designs, buy one frame, and swap the designs out during the year. How simple and fun is that?! Or, you can do what I do: frame each one and display a collection together. They're kind of stunning as a group, if I do say so myself. But Wood 'N Needle Crafts went out of business. Sigh. For whatever reason, I searched for their old web site and great googly-moogly there it was! Lori Nice, it turns out, bought the business and continues to provide some of the frames Wood 'N Needle Crafts made. I e-mailed to see if our frames could be made available. The answer: Yes. YIPPEE! So if you're looking for frames for the Let There Be Night Stitchlings, here they are. Your local needlework shop can order them from Lori at Nice Frames: http://www.wncframes.com/index2.html If you don't have a local needlework shop, contact Karen at Arctic Needle in Anchorage. If she's going to order some for Bev, she can order some for you, too! http://arcticneedle.com/ Now I can order some, too! *********************************************************** 5. READER COMMITMENTS *********************************************************** We, the daring and determined, commit ourselves to making progress NOW on projects we wish to complete before the end of the year. This is what I call "throwing our hats over the fence." Once we do that, we have no choice but to go get them; we have to follow through. Gail: "Finish THE GREAT OUTDOORS that I got in Alaska 2 summers ago." She says she's done the border and that's it. Rayna: "Make 8 Christmas ornaments, one for each of my granddaughters." Holy kangaroos! Eight grandchildren and ALL GIRLS?! **Update: In the past month since Rayna announced her commitment, she's completed one ornament. But she didn't send me a picture. Yay, Rayna! Linda: "Finish SILENT NIGHT. Start and finish a design made from a photo of best friend's cabin in Alaska. Start and finish THE TRAIL HOME." Jen: I want to finish the new puzzle pattern and make crazy quilted ornaments for my nephews and niece. I've been meaning to make those ornaments for *years!* Let's go, team! *********************************************************** 6. PUZZLE CONTEST *********************************************************** Play with me! Solve this puzzle, and be entered to win a free Funk & Weber Designs pattern! Winners will be randomly selected from all correct entries. E-mail your answer, with “PUZZLE CONTEST” in the subject line. The deadline for this month’s puzzle is midnight (Alaska time, of course) July 7, 2007. The winner will be selected on July 8, 2007 (or shortly thereafter), notified by e-mail, and announced on our web site and in the next NEEDLEWORK NUTSHELL. To avoid sending e-mail attachments, contest puzzles will be uploaded to our web site. I will provide a link to the puzzle in THE NEEDLEWORK NUTSHELL. To the puzzle! http://www.funkandweber.com/fw/nutshell/sort707.pdf ~~~~~~~~~~ June PUZZLE CONTEST WINNER: Kathryn, from Chattanooga, TN. Answer: A chrysanthemum by any other name would be a lot easier to spell. *********************************************************** 7. CONTACT FUNK & WEBER DESIGNS *********************************************************** SUBSCRIBE: 57410-subscribe@zinester.com UNSUBSCRIBE: 57410-unsubscribe@zinester.com ARCHIVES: http://archives.zinester.com/57410 Jen Funk Weber mail@funkandweber.com http://www.funkandweber.com Copyright 2007, Funk & Weber Designs |
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