Needlepoint Inspiration

I don’t know about you, but there is a part of me that stands in awe of artists. Although I long ago got over my awe of their technical skill, I continue to be amazed at their creativity. In fact, it’s that ability to think of something original that separates, in many ways, the artist from the craftsman.

It also seems to me that for many of us, myself included, it’s our reluctance to be inspired consistently that often holds us back from creating our own original needlepoint designs.

From time to time we get what I call a ‘needlepoint fit’ and we get inspired to make something now. RIGHT NOW. It could be a color scheme that fuels a Bargello, above, or it could be a quilt that cries out to become needlepoint, below. But for me, this has often been a sometime thing, and that bothers me.

Recently I discovered the Slow Stitch Movement and started to be more mindful in my approach to needlepoint. On their blog I saw a suggestion that you cultivate inspiration by taking 3 pictures each day. I decided to interpret this as finding on Pinterest 3 things to inspire me every day.

They could be color schemes, fiber art, illustrations, outlines, clothing, just about anything. To be inspiring it needs to follow three rules:

1. It cannot be something I’ve pinned before.
2. It cannot be needlepoint (I already pin these).
3. It cannot be a recipe (they are also already pinned).

I have been doing this for a few weeks and something magical has happened. Because I am looking for inspiration I’m finding it. And I’m finding it in more places.

Take the picture at the top of this article, which I pinned yesterday. It’s a late 60’s-early 70’s illustration by John Alcock. How might it inspire our needlepoint?

• We could adapt it as is to a needlepoint (but being under copyright it could only be for personal use).
• We could use that curvy ornament, or parts of it, as a background for another design.
• What if you stitched the ornament in ecru Pearl Cotton against a background on ecru wool? It would look modern not mod but still be inspired by this.
• What if you used the pink, orange and yellow as your color scheme and added black as an accent? The illustration is the base of your color scheme.
• What if you took the outline of the umbrella turned it many ways and made a needlepoint pillow of just umbrellas in many colors?
• Alcorn’s illustration all have that rough woodblock look that was popular at the time. It has a rough, hand-made feel. What if you took that idea and a word to make an affirmation needlepoint?

These are six ideas for needlepoint pieces from this one illustration alone. When I clicked on the picture, it went to the source, a blog post about Alcorn with even more wonderful illustrations.

If you want to branch out in your needlepoint life, even if you never design original projects, look for inspiration — it’s all aound you.