New needlepoint project

I stopped at a local needlepoint shop, Needle Pointe in Palatine, on Friday and bought a new needlepoint canvas. The idea of working on a Christmas piece appealed to me on one of the first warm days of summer. The canvas is shown on its own and with the threads I pulled.

Next Banner Sections

Here are the four sections of the banner on the right side, from top to bottom. Starting with Friends. Some of Perry’s friends are pictured here. At school, Perry and her friends have created their own holiday, “Cupcake Day”. This year she missed it to go to Boston with the Affirmation class, but although they are very hard to see in the photograph, there cupcake ribbon on her banner.




Interests. Perry loves entertainment. Some of her favorite music, books, movies and television shows are represented in this section of the banner along with her favorite places to shop and her favorite clothing designer, Betsy Johnson. Her life would not be complete without Starbucks, her cell phone and ice cream. The tv shows reflect her varied interests ranging from CSI and the Secret Life of an American Teenager to American Idol and Pimp my Ride.






Travel. Perry loves to travel. The patches represent some of the places that she has been including Florida, Arizona, New Orleans, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Boston.










Animals. This area includes animals that we have (two dogs, two cats), animals that have lived at our house (a rabbit), a pig (Perry collects pigs and was born in the Year of the Pig), and a lizard (the pet she wants but that I would not let her have). I found patches of a blond shar pei and a black lab to represent our two mixed breed dogs, but could not find a black and calico cat. Instead I settled for two cats that are shaped like ours.

Banner details

Here are more detailed pictures of the individual sections of the banner with descriptions. I am starting in the upper right and proceeding clockwise around the banner. The first three are in this post, the next four will be in tomorrow's post.

Family. This section includes pictures of Perry and different family members along with charms that spell out the word "love" and jewelry from different family members. The coral and gold pin is very old and came from my Great Grandmother, Grammy Baugh. the piece of Zuni inlay and the cat pin belonged to Perry's Grandmother Berman. The Celtic tree and the silver and citrine piece are mine. The ceramic mask was made by one of my father's friends.

Church. North Shore Unitarian Church is represented by the sanctuary windows, two pictures of Perry’s Affirmation Class (one at the beginning of the year and one in Boston), and a picture of Perry delivering the clothing she collected during her service project. The word "faith" spelled out in charms and some pieces of jewelry that belonged to her affirmation mentor finish out this section.

Sports. Perry is quite the athlete. She tried gymnastics and ice skating before discovering karate. She was a cheerleader for several years and has played soccer since she was 5. She also plays basketball. This year, she ran cross country for her middle school. The tiger is her middle school mascot.

Banner finished and presented

I have neglected this blog for a couple of months. It has been lost in the normal, and sometimes unusual events associated with a family of active teenagers and adults who work and travel. I have not been neglecting my needlework. I recently completed a banner for my daughter, Perry.

The 8th graders, and a few older 7th graders who like my daughter slip through the system, participate in a coming of age program at our church. The young people are paired with an adult mentor for the year, participate in a number of activities, complete a service project, and go on a trip to Boston. In the spring, they are honored by the men and women as well as their families and have a chance to speak in Church on Sunday morning.

The girl's receive a banner or gift of some kind from their mothers and mentors. I have made or helped make banners for other girls and over the years Perry has told me what she liked and did not like. Here is her banner:

The basic design on the banner is a stylized chalice, the symbol of Unitarian Universalism. The chalice is surrounded by 7 areas containing things that are important to Perry: family, our church, sports, pets and animals, travel, popular culture, and friends. I designed the quilt using EQ6 software. It is machine pieced, hand and machine appliqued, and machine quilted. The pictures were printed using an ink jet printer on satin and sheer fabric. The beading and embroidery were done by hand. I bought some of the beads for her banner; others came from old pieces of jewelry. The tin letters that form her name were purchased on a trip to New Orleans in 2004. I will post more about the individual areas over the next couple of days.