Anna Pearson's Needlepoint Blog

I believe that the vast majority of needle pointers have an ever growing stash of threads; at least that is what I am told by all my students. Sometimes it is small quantities left over from a project, sometimes it is a thread that inspired them to buy it but they have never found a place to use it. For this reason I have designed a number of projects where these threads can be used to great advantage.   Just the other day one of my students told me that she was working the painted rug, The Scented Garden (34 x 46 inches) without buying a single thread. One point I should make is the background, on a large project such as this it is important to have sufficient thread of the same dye lot to complete the work – this stitcher has calculated that she does have sufficient. So, what are the other projects that lend themselves to this halo burnishing exercise?   There are really small projects such as spec cases, one kit we do is Kaleidoscope.   Lots have been ...

Our trip to Tuscany was fabulous, just as much fun stitching as our previous visit and interest in wonderful places that they had organised for us to go. However, before I tell you, and hopefully tempt you to join us next year (we are working on dates around the end of April 2018) I must refer back to my last blog with tips for travel and mention some important items I forgot – When taking a floor frame (the Lowery is my favourite) do take the Allen key to help re-assemble it on arrival.    Before leaving home it is also a good moment to put a little Vaseline on all the screws; (this is recommended and makes swivelling to get to the back for finishing off much easier) When taking any magnification be sure to have some cover for the lens.   Some models have a ‘bag’ or metal disc but these strong magnifiers can easily cause a fire – even for short periods like a quick lunch! So, I do hope you found all these tips useful and I am sure that you have some of your ...

January and February are miserable months in England; all the excitement is over, all the rushing around should be done and I hate the cold, damp, grey days. So for a long time I have always hoped to spend at least a month somewhere warm, with sun, swimming and of course stitching and this year, for the first time we managed it and had a great month in Tortola, the British Virgin Islands (the BVIs) However I have always stressed the importance of planning well in advance for any trip but for a whole month it is even more important. Unfortunately planning seemed to go array this time, both my and my daughter’s birthdays to celebrate in December, Christmas and New Year and to finish off a rather nasty chesty cold that laid me low and lingered well into the holiday So, while it is still fresh in my mind I have made this list of needlepoint tools that I took and found really helpful that I managed to throw into my suitcase. First of all my design(s) to work on;   originally ...

I have had the most wonderful, exciting and action packed year with the 45 anniversary of my needlepoint design and teaching and just at the beginning of the month my 80 birthday! The anniversary was so special in many ways, first with an extensive exhibition of work, needlepoint done by some very talented students, an opportunity to be inspired by ingenious adaptions of standard designs into upholstered pieces as well as a preview of all the new designs with their gorgeous threads and exciting stitchery     The other result was many, many people whom I had not seen for a very long time contacted me and some managed to attend the exhibition and assure us that they were still enjoying their stitching.   This reconnection meant an enormous amount to me and I must thank every one of you who responded. Another pleasure was our 9 th visit to Calabria, way down in southern Italy and a first, a visit to a beautiful estate in Tuscany which was an equal success and bot...

Tomorrow December – how the year has gone so incredibly fast.   The 45 anniversary of my needlepoint with all the events and special trips to celebrate –especially the two stitching retreats in Italy; the ninth in Calabria and the first in Tuscany – both of these are to be repeated in 2017 and there are just two places left for Tuscany – Calabria is full. The truly lovely aspect of the anniversary was that I was able to reconnect with so many people that I had met and to hear that in almost every case they were still enjoying their needlepoint! On it's way to the Framer.. However, my excuse for not blogging recently is that I have been finishing a pair of Rhino and Elephant canvases.   I have illustrated the Rhino in a previous blog but here shown as a pair is fun.   You may remember that the animals are painted and then all the borders are diagrammed for the stitcher to select their own threads and colour schemes.    Deciding on my next project...

On my return from stitching with the group in Italy I was excited about writing to you all with details of what has proved to be a busy but lovely summer.   However another adventure happened just last week which I thought you might like to hear about! Robert and I took a short break to Bermuda (we have both be travelling in different directions most of the summer so a holiday together was a great idea.   However, unbeknown to us (and it would appear too many others) there was a tropic storm following in the path of Hurricane Matthew which we knew was not going to approach Bermuda. The tropical storm didn’t seem to know which course to take and in the meantime grew in strength. By the time it was directly over Bermuda it had reached Hurricane Force 4.   (There have only been seven Hurricanes of this force since records began in the mid 18 hundreds!) We arrived just two days before it hit; so the beginning of or stay was involved with giving us all clear instruct...

Every time I promise myself to write a blog at least every 2 to 3 weeks and this time is no exception.   I truly longed to share both the photographs and lovely stories about our Italian retreat with you but on my return things caught up with me. Italian Sampler First I had my second eye operated on for a cataract (great success thank goodness, I can see much better) then there was the Autumn class programme to plan (now available with a generous discount for multiple bookings and payment before the end of August) – let me know if you would like a copy. But the project that I have been spending a deal of time on is the planning and stitching of the gorgeous piece for the project on our first trip to Tuscany at the end of September.   I have shown it before in my last blog . However, as promised, news of this year’s trip to Calabria.   We were 10, two from Belgium, 2 girls joining us for the first time and 5 others who have been often before.    Whi...