My Needlepoint Journey

From time to time, I am asked how I got started needlepointing, how did I start designing, etc.  So I have decided to write it all down and post it here on Blog.  It will be fun for me.  You will just have to suffer through it and/or skip it altogether!  It won’t be all at once, but in irregular installments.

INSTALLMENT ONE
To begin, my mother and both grandmothers did lots of needlework, but not needlepoint.  Mom sewed and tried many different crafts and needleworks, finally settling mostly on quilting.  Nana sewed, embroidered, crocheted and tatted.  Grandma sewed, knitted, crocheted and embroidered.  I was taught all of these but only sewing and knitting really “took”. 

One day on my lunch hour, approximately 1969-1970, I was browsing in the craft department of a Department Store In West L.A.  I saw a QuickPoint kit which was a geometric design in shades of brown.  I liked the look of it and decided to give it a try.  I started it that night and was instantly hooked!  I think that project was finished in a few days.

While working that very first kit, my mind was racing.  I could needlepoint anything!  Just draw something on a canvas and go!  Oh my!  About that same time McCalls published a new edition of “McCalls Needlepoint with step-by-step instructions for beginners”.  I was sunk.  Here I found out about different sizes of canvas, threads, stitches, and… wait for it… charting!!  (It was $1.25 and I still have it.)

I don’t remember what my second piece was, but my third piece was a lion.  A good friend was a Leo and had a nice decal of a Leo lion that we enlarged and drew onto canvas.  I then needlepointed it into a cover for the stool in his VW van.  Those were the days, huh?

So, I was off & running.  That first year or so I also stitched seats & backs for 2 folding chairs, one of which was a sampler of stitches.  The photo was taken years later when they were well worn!  The sampler didn’t wear well – I think I used knitting yarn that I had around.