Three little mittens

I designed these three little mittens for a great Squiggee customer, Margaret Travis
...she wanted three mittens for her children, to be the same but different...so I used the same pattern for each and range of colors, just changed the position of the colors ..... how different they seem but the same...matching and not...lol...
Margaret does wonderful things with her needlepoint , a great stitcher and always thinking of her next project....she took a Squiggee boys flip flop and made it into a bag for her little boy to keep his treasures......

Just for Fun

It seems that Summer is coming to an end...our house has been besieged with catalogs, filled with pumpkins and ghosties and all sorts of Halloweenie decorations...my favorite holiday....

when my two sisters and baby brother were kids...the tension would start to build the minute school started...Halloween was coming...my mother had a big trunk in the basement , and it was loaded with all kinds of things... we would start to rummage through this trunk early, with thoughts of what we would be for Halloween...a gypsy ,a hobo, or something only we would recognize...lol....we would then make a trip to the five and dime with my mother, to top off our outfit ..... a special cheap pair of clip gold earrings to complete your gypsy get-up or scarf......we never, ever in all our trick or treat years, thought of buying a costume...... the trunk held a wealth of things...old hats, an old jacket of my fathers, old ruffled petticoats, shoes.... gloves.....my mother would add to the trunk all year....

the one new thing, we would all have ,was those silly masks that you never wore ...like Zorro..the eye holes would never match up to your actual eye, and the elastic band would invariably brake, the minute you were out the door...

our grade school had a parade Halloween day and that night my mother would always prepare a special dinner...a hamburger and milkshake...something we associated with a festive kids party...after dinner we would dress again...sometimes in a different costume than we had worn that day in school .... we would grasp our paper bag and gather at the front window, waiting for it to be completely dark...that was the cardinal rule ...we would then, hit the streets...madly running from house to house , in an effort to get as much candy as we could carry...never worrying about the danger that children face in today's complicated world...and no adults..forget it .....they would just slow you down... being the oldest... I was to look out for the other three, making sure, no one got lost in the ma lay.....just thinking about it makes me smile... here in the country , the children don't trick or treat...they have a parade in town one evening, on the weekend that is closet to the 31st, all dressed in the appropriate store costumes from Wal-Mart or some other place like that..many repeats of the same popular costume.....but it is not the same......it makes me sad what children miss...the 31st was sacred to us ...a set day that we would start to look forward to again come November 1st....

we were truly lucky as kids...my parents lived in Bethesda ,Maryland just over the DC line and never even locked their door ,when I was a kid..........I still love Halloween and all it's trappings... since I am too old to trick or treat...I just have to be content with designing some special Halloween stuff...Did you know that it is ........................................................................??????

only 64 more days till Halloween...I still keep track....... my husband never forgets to give me a candy that day....

New Squiggee Rollie

I was up looking for tums the other night and this just popped into my head....I am trying to keep the Squiggee rollie series
unique.....this sweet French miss , Mademoiselle Fifi....will have her bow... Monsieur Bon Bon...soon......he will be very French also....did you know that Can Can in french meant scandal at one time.......oi la la

The Painted Egg

Eggs seem to be rage these days...all textured and counted , with patterns in different stitches....Quited and patchwork... and very nice some of these eggs are....but there is also place for the painted egg.....this gives a stitcher the option of working the egg in basketweave and getting the same effect of texture......

The painted canvas seems to be forgotten sometimes, but still plays an important roll to many needlepointers...than...some days I feel like a dinosaur.... lol...

Thomas the Tank

You can't help but smile at this pillow ...there is something about trains that is just so appealing...
and a train that has a face ...well could resist...
This pillow was a custom piece for a little boy, on 13st and 14" sq.
Fun to paint , and I imagine fun to work...... thinking about the pleasure it gave a little boy, just makes my day !

A little note

Silly me I forgot to give you bloggers a link to the Caron Collection magazine...

here it is

http://www.caron-net.com/

if you click on Designer Spotlights...then scroll down till you see

the Tile pictured...and my name Gail Hendrix...click and you can have the pattern and instructions free....the magazine did an article on me in 1997 and I designed this

canvas and did instructions , so that the magazine could offer it free....so you can print them out...

and there you go ...freeeeeeeeeeeee.....

Quilts ands Tiles

My friend and fellow artist, Judy Harper has been dividing the canvas into basic squares and shapes , and looking at her blog, was thinking how this kind of design at one point in my long painting life , was really hot... now with the craze for stitches and fibers..texture has become a big part of the needlepoint world....they are a perfect blend.
Quilts and tiles have always been a great source that transfers well to needlepoint , if you look at the canvas as this large graph....it can be divided and cut diagonally , vertically, horizontally..in the round ..any geometric shape can be a source of inspiration to design on the canvas.....
sometimes , it is nice to take a look at the basics , and what is old can be revived, spruced up and can be a new source of pleasure , with the addition of a great stitch and a wonderful new fiber...

Little Squiggee Mittens

Tale Of A Tapestry

Since I spend most of my time in a studio, painting miles of custom canvases and Squiggee

Designs...sometime I lose track of what I have painted from year to year...lets be real ,sometimes I can't tell you what I painted last week....it is not because a lack of interest, but I have been doing this for more than 36 years and the canvas count does build up....

The projects that come to mind , are pieces that have something unusual that tweaks the brain...

sometimes not positive...sometimes the customer is hard to work with, or the project had problems..enough said...or I so enjoyed the project ,that it sticks in your mind and gives you great pleasure....

I have done a mountain of church work...kneelers, stolas, wall hangings...they all are unique but follow a traditional vein of symbolism and having the piece blend with the architecture of the church......

So months ago when I was contacted about a past project, I was not surprised that I remembered exactly what it was....

twin pieces for a Christian Church and a Jewish Temple.....two tapestries that stitch per stitch were identical...painting one of anything of this size and scope is no problem ...and yes stitch counting my things are a no brainier, since I paint exactly on the stitch...but this was a project that I found half enjoyable...the first piece...but the copy...I thought I would go insane....

picky...picky...picky...the two medallions...yikess ...what an absolute pain...but...when they were done and I got my life back,as I always feel after finishing something of that scope...like you have given birth...lol... I quickly forgot and moved on to the next project...

It is rare that an artist gets to see a large project finished, and to read about the working of such a large piece...

the ANG current issue of Needle Pointers magazine ,has an article written by on of the stitchers that worked one of the Tapestries...it is interesting to get the other side of the coin...but I was not surprised...when painting a difficult , large piece that seems to go on and on forever, my one consolation ...is I won't have to stitch it...lol...

the article is called

Tale Of A Tapestry...by BJ Scharath...

above are my pictures of the painted pieces.....BJ , besides being a very sweet woman did an absolute beautiful job of stitching...all in basketweave....and let me tell you that was an undertaking...no fancy stitches to hurry the boring spots of big color or background ...just plan basic old world work...

Tapestry in it's purest form...the tapestries were 39" x 21.75" on 13st....and if that doesn't

impress you..each piece had 143,354.25 stitches of painted design...makes me tired just reading this...lol

A favorite book

This was a custom piece from a very old book...I think a Golden Book from the 50's or 60's...
A very special gift from one teacher to another.....it reminds me of my first books in school...the look Jane look books, as I use to call them...with Spot ...the dog...lol...even as a child I loved the illustrations , but thought the story was silly and too wordy...but then I had been read Pooh, all the classic fairy tales and fables ,and Beatrix Potter from the cradle, so my taste was a little broader when I started school.. My mother taught us all to read, before we started school.....I remember telling my first grade teacher, that the books were boring and for babies... as I stood there in my pink smocked dress, Mary Janes with laced trim ankle socks and my hair in pigtails with big pink satin ribbons.......
...my first grade year was long, with a teacher that did not find me charming......oh lets be real !she really truly couldn't stand me......lol...she was also the same teacher, that told my parents , I held my pencil the wrong way, a cramped hand and would never be able to letter properly.....my mother had also taught me to write the alphabet and tell time, my numbers and a little adding and subtracting....not good...teachers , at least in my experience, hated that... they liked a clean slate... today they would have put me in an advanced class...but in 1956, I was stuck in a boring class with a mean teacher...OK, it was probably not that bad, but to this day, that is the way I remember it...... I still hold my pencil, pen or paintbrush the same way.....the callous that most artists have on their middle finger, on me, is on the finger next to my pinkie ...my teacher would constantly come up behind me, and rearrange my pencil , then would hoover while I wrote...

today my parents would have put me in therapy, because I was traumatized... at the time, my parents just said... it is only a year...just wait... next year will be better... it sure was.... my second grade teacher was so sweet and found me totally charming ... by this time I was already showing talent in art..... and she was having me work on murals , and special projects... she loved art and I was her prized pupil, erasing all of the first grade trauma...lol.. funny enough, I never had a teacher after the first grade correct the way I held anything....life should be so easy when you are an adult...sadly at my age i am lucky to remember where my shoes are...but I remember my second grade teacher...Mrs. Perry....and of course my first garde teacher..Miss Bamler..isn't that just like life...the good and the bad...lol

Something for everybody...even Big Daddy

As a designer I have found that the custom stocking is really just that custom...there are tons of needlepoint companies that specialize in Christmas , and they have a wealth of stockings...every type of Santa packed with every toy stuffed animal , live animals sleds, skates drums...what I call Santa with the works.....but that is not enough for the avid needlepointers out there...they crave the unusual and I think they also enjoy being part of the designing/suggestion part of a custom stocking...these stockings are so specific ,that they clearly will belong to one person and family...
When I was young and first designing , I use to question why and what does it mean...but after painting going on 36 years, I rarely give it a second thought, my task to create something using all the elements the customer requests, and come up with the best arrangement......
so when this stocking is worked and finished and presented, Big Daddy is secure that his is a one of a kind stocking...... if big Daddy is happy, Squiggee is happy...

New slide show

I have added a new item to the bottom of my page that will have worked Squiggee Designs...adding new pieces all the time as stitchers send me photos....
so scroll down to the bottom of this page....

A classic frame

A customer requested a classic frame to present to a new baby girl.....something that she can use from babyhood to adulthood...a nice thought...and who doesn't love pink...Squiggee loves the pink!!!truly...the frame was on 13st( because the customer says it is easier on her eyes)...and the opening was 4" x 6"......the roses are fimo beads and glass bead leaves...soft against the counted frett work......i really like the special touch embellishments make ...like an explanation mark at the end of the sentence...you don't have to have it, but it seems to complete.......you just have to be careful not to overdue...i am always leaving off things ,that i thought would be great, but they are just tooo much...like too much jewelry...you don't have to wear everything at once...there will always be another time...lol....less is more!...exception...chocolate!!! dah

Squiggee News...

Squigge has returned to her roots...Squiggee Designs got it's start on ebay, and now has opened a ebay store that will have goodies for all....new..on sale ... a one of a kind designs occasionally... a constant variety...you never know !!

the official link is http://Stores.ebay.com/Squiggeeland-Needlepoint

the link is on this page ....

Gardening

A pair of little pillows or framed I painted for a garden lover......can be displayed horizontal or vertical....

would look great on white wicker settee on a big porch or sun room....

Just one single Rose

Sometimes it is enough to have just a single flower.......simple in design, rich in content...