OT - First "class" at my new local needlepoint shop:

Attended my first class today at our LNS. We learned ho to do punchneedle.
It looks a LOT harder than it is - at least to me, anyway. At least I
caught on fairly quickly. I had most of the background finished before the
class was over! The class was taught by a local woman who makes her own
designs (and sells them via the LNS, and a few other places), she even does
little pieces that she make into 'rugs' for dollhouses! They were so cute -
even had fringe on the edges and everything!

I thought it would be tacky to take my camera to the class, so I waited
until I got home to take pictures of my project. They are posted in my
webshots "stitchery" album (link in my sig), or you can follow this link and
go directly to the first pic in the series

The finished size of this project is about 3 inches square.

Takayuki...

It's very good! It looks like Van Gogh's "Pumpkin-y Night".

I could really get into this kind of project, even though the needles are
expensive!

Karen...

Wow. Looking at your other stuff, you don't need a class! I used to
love cross stitch. The punch work is neat though!

Magic Mood Jeep©...

Stuff I've done is all from "kits" - preassembled and mass-marketed. I do
have some flyers and booklets that have patterns and listing of the fibers
and fabrics you can use, but I've done very few of them.

I also have some other projects I've completed that I've not photographed,
mainly because they are at other relatives houses and I always forget to
take my camera :(

Punchneedle I'd heard of, and it is a *very* old type of 'embroidery', but
what with modern technology, the needles are much smaller now and you can
get more detail than before. I'd never done it, and couldn't actually
understand what keeps it from all unraveling, until now! The fabric is a
very fine weave, and kind of stretchy, and pulled tight over a 'locking'
embroidery hoop, so when released it 'grabs' onto the stitching.

I really want to do more of this, and maybe even 'design' a few of my own
projects.