Gone but not forgotten!

Julia Key Snyder has gone back to Texas but she is not forgotten!!!!  Lots of canvases remain right here in Alabama with some kind of stitching!!  Between Julia’s talent for selecting threads with stitches and some very talented stitchers – the result is phenomenal!  Here are some photo to prove it!!!

 

Another fabulous piece!!

This piece is DJ Designs + Julia Snyder + Robin Blitz! and it equals something so precious…I wish I could show you all in person!!  Here are my photos – check out the plaid background, fuzzy little dog and some awesome beading along with Kreinik facets!!

Imagination!

In the last post I was discussing how a little creativity can go a long way on your needlework…Robin took a piece of tramme with cute puppies but just your standard background and she selected a somewhat less traditional background color and added a fabulous, interesting border!  I will get her to bring her fabric in and get a photo of the needlework and fabric together!

And now for a little imagination!  Peter Rabbit…he is going on the chair bottom of a very special chair.  Customer “Fredna” wanted something gender neutral so as to be appropriate for all the grandkids to come!!  She also wanted something decorative but durable…textured.   With a little imagination…imagine fabric behind it…a PLAID fabric.  We selected the “Birthday Plaid” out of one of Julia Key Snyder’s books!  WOW and to top it all off, the plaid was selected based on a special date and bible verse!!  The date dictates the number of lines!

CHECK IT OUT!!!  WOW!

Julia Key H. Snyder

Needlepoint Now article about Julia

Each issue of Needlepoint Now has an article contributed by  June Russell called “From the Bookshelf”.  In the  September/October 2009 issue June Russell featured “Julia Key H. Snyder” (see copy image above).  Why tell you all this?  Well Julia is coming to The Bug!!!  She will be at the shop in February 2011!   She will hopefully she said have her fifth if not her fifth and sixth books out by then.  We carry her first four at the shop…they are:

176 AMAZING STITCHES – BACKGROUNDS & SUCH – CATEGORIES FOR NEEDLEPOINT STITCHES – DARN FILLINGS

If you would like to order:

 BACKGROUNDS & SUCH…

176 AMAZING STITCHES

CATEGORIES FOR NEEDLEPOINT



DARN FILLINGS



Here is a copy of the original article featured in Needlepoint Now!

Need a stitch to shingle your haunted house? Or put a brim on your witches’ hat? Perhaps a spider web? Julia Key H. Snyder has a stitch for that.

You’ll find them – and more than 300 additional creative stitches – in the second edition of her book Categories for Needlepoint Stitches published in 2008.  Sized to fit easily in the lap or bag, Julia’s third book organizes decorative stitches in categories the way a needlepoint er in need of a particular effect would look for them.  In the “Animal section, for exampled, stitches are listed first by feathered, then furry appearance.

Julia’s user friendly approach comes from both a lifetime of stitching and more than fifteen years teaching needlepoint for TNNA and at Key Stitches, the shop she co-owns with her mother, Patsy Hardin, Dallas, Texas.  Her love of teaching is apparent throughout the book.  “I try to have good information to go along with the stitch, whether it is different uses or things not to do,” she explained.   She’s also proud of the simplicity of her stitch diagrams.  “I think ours are easy to follow whether you are a new or experienced stitcher.”

Julia’ own experience dates to when she was four years old and her mother worked in a needlepoint shop.  Now, in addition to co-owning a shop, teaching classes and writing her series of  stitch books, she also writes stitch guides for other companies.  And she does it all without being able to see in three dimensions.

When she was young, Julia saw double before her brain trained her eyes to focus only one eye at a time.  Farsighted in one eye and nearsighted in the other , the combination gives her 20-20 vision but no depth perception or peripheral vision.  “I’ve never known any different, so I just compensate,” Julia said.  “I don’t notice it as a handicap at all – I still drive and do everything.”

“My world is sort of like watching TV all the time.  It’s all flat,” she said.  “I don’t want needlepoint to be flat – there are so many different stitches and textures.  So a lot of my stitching is very dimensional.”

Ribbons, beading, even stitching on wire mesh – Julia finds the creative possibilities are endless.  “We love to embellish things and bead, and I even use some of (my husband’s) grandmother’s handkerchiefs.  I reuse things to create new memories,” she said.  “For one of the cupcakes designs from Raymond Crawford I actually used ribbon as icing.”

Collection and adapting stitches, then sharing them with others, is just part of her creative journey.  Many of the stitches in here books are variations of those used by her mother or found in old needlepoint books.  “My books are a collection of stitches that I’ve learned over the years,” Julia said.  “some stitches come from old stitch guides.  I come up with new uses for them.”……….

……….Julia wants other stitchers to use her books to think ourside the box on what they can do with needlepoint.  “Sometimes I use wire mesh or other materials to it dimension,” she said.  “There are so many great things to do and so many great threads – there’s no reason not to what you can do.”

What’s New?!

The Bug has in stock both of these new items!!  The book is fabulous and the skin cream is the best!  Stop in and get one of each!

DARN FILLINGS BOOK by Julia Key H. Snyder

“If you are looking for a multi-layer stitch for an open area, this is the book for you.  Julia Key H. Snyder adds this fourth book to her arsenal.  Darn Fillings covers base “Tramé” patterns as well as some really cool darning patterns.  Don’t let the words tramé and darning scare you away.  Julie makes these stitches fun and user-friendly.  In Chapter 10 she includes some tramé base templates for you and challenges you to create your own patterns on top. My favorite is the Snowflake Tramé which is perfect for the background of a Snowman or Santa.” — Peggy McGowan


“NEEDLEWORK HANDS?”  WaterBlocker Skin Cream

“Damaged, dry, cracked, bleeding hands are caused by what we touch, or touches us, on a daily basis.  Each touch takes away the oil and moisture necessary for healthy hands.  Using hypo-allergenic waterblocker skin cream – Whatever you touch is stopped, by a Water-Proof-Beeswax-Barrier, and can NO LONGER TAKE the oil and moisture from your hands and skin.  Using it twice-daily will give you completely new hands; protected all day from yarn, thread, fabric, etc.  Hands will be dry and NOT able to transfer WaterBlocker Skin Cream to any objects you handle.” –The Honey Guy