the long forgotten needlepoint project

Reached waaay back in the unfinished projects pile the other day and pulled out one that's been around for at least 6 years.  It started with this little painting by Tim Biskup, which I loved and thought would make a swell pillow:

I blew up the image and transferred it to needlepoint canvas, and stitched and stitched for many months.  Then I ran out of yarn for the background, and at that point I was so tired of it that it went in a bag and was not seen again until the other day.  btw, I moved that bag of unfinished crafts to at least 4 apartments in that time.  Lame!  Here's how it looked when I pulled it out:

it wasn't that far from being done, just needed some finishing around the outer edges and details on the birds.  Found some yarn in the stash that wasn't a bad match, and after a couple of days it was a pillow!

.... looks swanky on the plycraft chair, no?

that's a whole lot of tiny stitches, each one by hand.  No wonder this took 6 years to finish!  I love it though, it makes me smile whenever I see it.  And I can cross one more unfinished project off the list!

Yarn...

is soooo yummy. At least, this yarn is. It's all vintage Persian wool, in perfect condition, with tags dating from 1968-1977. Now that I've totally cleaned them out, I can reveal my source, Kit Kraft in Studio City. The guy who runs Kit Kraft told me it was brought in by the daughter of a woman who collected it for years, and when she died no one in her family wanted it.

Buying this yarn started as an impulse but has resulted in a incredible creative burst that has energized and inspired me. I've already used a lot of it up for my Bargello designs, but there is enough left to keep me busy for quite a while. I feel like the woman who collected it would be happy that another needle crafter has been able to put it to use. I plan on using it until every bit is gone. Then hopefully, I'll find another hidden treasure trove to inspire me!

New Bargello

I've been doing so much crafting for work that I haven't had a second to do anything for myself! It's good though, I'm happy as a clam coming up with new craft ideas every day. Anyway, here's the latest needlepoint pillow I finished a couple weeks ago. I bought several old books on bargello recently and this design is from one of them. I liked the result of leaving the top and bottom white, I think it keeps it more modern. Soon the house is going to be filled with these pillows, but they are so satisfying to work that I can't stop!