Punch Needle Embroidery

How lucky that you ran into Gail!!! She was my original teacher, and she
knows punchneedle better than anybody!

--
Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA
"lula" wrote in message
...
Jacqueline......

A sewing enthusiast mentioned a Sewing Expo in Chantilly, VA, (55 miles
away).......since Roger had taken the week off, we drove down to visit.

What a surprise!!! At the show I met the GAIL BIRD, the originator of
the Russian Punch Needle "movement" in the USA for the past 35 years.
Gail wasn't supposed to be at the show but due to a personnel emergency
she had to hop on the "red eye" from CA and arrived early this morning
to set up the show.

Amazing, meeting Gail was as if the two of us had known each other
forever even though we were total strangers at first......it was instant
rapport.....we spent quite a bit of time chatting about all sorts of
topics about the punch needle and the needlework world in general. Gail
is a very friendly lady with a hearty laugh and full of humor.

As an aside......she absolutely LOVED QUEENIE!! Said I ought to consider
giving future characters punch needle hairdos! To which I said that was
one of the reasons why I purchased her needle set.

Interesting Facts:

The man pictured on Gail's Punch Needle booklet is her husband who HAND
MAKES every single punch needle they sell! Talk about labor intensive!

Gail's two children earned their way through private colleges by working
for her.......said the sales of the needles paid their tuition!

Then said her needles were the original authentic ones and the best made
in the business......of course one could say she's a little "biased" but
after 35 years promoting and making countless thousands of needles,
she's doing something right!

The "brass" handle of the needles are actually gold plated and these
were the only needles in the industry with a five year
guarantee.....comes with a little color booklet and five extra threader
components.

Two reasons why we bonded so quickly.......Gail's favorite Grandmother
was also named Lula, (Lula Cook) who lived to be 102.....I laughed and
said we even had the same initials......said she knew we'd get together
as I also happened to be wearing her most favorite color.....I was
wearing a purple linen shirt with my favorite brooch on the neckline, a
vintage oval of carved sterling silver roses enclosing a large carved
oval amethyst.

I told Gail about our discussion on RCTN........she laughed.....said
using the hoop was indeed important as it pulled the fabric taut on all
sides.

Several other people came into her exhibit booth while we were talking
so Gail gave us all lessons on using the punch needles......was a
pleasure to listen and watch her demonstrations.

Jacqueline you'll appreciate this......Gail laughed over what I told her
about our discussion over the use of the hoops and my experimenting with
the scroll frame......she then even gave me a 6" Susan Bates hoop to try
out with the punch needles!!

Gail gave me the reason why she felt the hoop would work better.....said
the fabric had to be taut in order for the needle to properly pierce the
weave of the taut fabric in order for the loops to lie and anchor
smoothly without puckering. She felt the Susan Bates hoops with the lip
was the best thing for punch needle......except if one was using a
delicate fabric, then one would have to use another hoop and wrap the
sides with protective fabric bands......said to use one of the good,
well made thicker European hoops with the long screw so the outer hoop
size could be adjusted for the extra thickness.
She cautioned against using some silk fabrics because they'd end up
fading......she recommended using silk noil fabric, the silk fabric with
the thick and thin slubs.

But, Gail admitted she had never tried using the scroll frame and said I
should experiment with my ideas and to let her know how it worked out.
Said as long as I could pull the fabric taut on all sides, it might work
out well for me.

In Gail's opinion......said punch needle technique was simple and
relatively ordinary....what set this technique apart was the use of
color. She then mentioned several artists whose punch needle textile art
sold for many thousands of dollars! Including one piece she wanted to
buy that sold for over $9000.00!!

I purchased a booklet titled: Missy Stevens - Thread Paintings featuring
a punch needle artist's gallery work.....real eye candy and total
inspiration.
These thread paintings are truly amazing works of textile art made from
silk, cotton and rayon sewing threads!
Gail said Missy has a web site along with several other punch needle
artists.

In Gail's booth were many design "charts"......mostly in the colonial,
primitive folk art style.......I asked how come there weren't other
style designs? Said, the primitive folk art style was very popular
especially on the east coast but she'd like to see someone design more
contemporary designs.

Also told me about the Japanese following that loved doing punch needle,
especially the designs of one famous Japanese designer......Gail said
the odd thing was how the Japanese loved the American style designs but
made very little or no use of their own artistic heritage of beautiful
designs.

Gail's next trip will be to the Houston Quilt Festival in early
Nov......I was going to be at the International Quilt Market trade show
a few days earlier and leaving before the Quilt Festival.....Gail
invited me to stay with her but my plans were already made.

Then Gail said I should take her a brand new class on the business of
Punch Needle Embroidery that she'll be teaching at the TNNA show in Long
Beach, Jan 2005.....so I might sign up for that.

Overall.....I had a lovely time with Gail and we'll both be keeping in
touch with each other......Gail wants to see Queenie and the rest of the
over the top crowd......especially sporting a few punch needle
embroidered hairdos among other touches!
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

Jacqueline wrote:

Lula, I'm very interested to see how you end up using punchneedle,
especially with those two infamous ladies! Keep us posted - I love to
see
the non-traditional and experimental in embroidery. It stretches the
imagination and often spurns creativity in others.

Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA

Anne,

Here is Gail Bird's website......I haven't looked at this yet but
there's probably interesting info all about the punch needle on it.

On the topic of patterns......geez....that's what Gail hinted at too!

http://www.gailbird.com
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

anne wrote:

What Lula said snipped

Serendipity? Cosmic wheels in motion after 'our' discussions??? You be the
judge ;-)

I'm hoping that the meeting might inspire you to translate some of your designs
hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge

Does Gail have a web site or does another web site feature her work and tools?
--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

Hi Jacqueline,

I thought it was absolutely amazing to meet Gail in person after our
discussion here! The first thing I thought about was you and being able
to let you know I had asked Gail on the subject of using the scroll
frame!
Boy, this is cool that she was your first teacher and now me meeting her
too.

Gail says she's interested in finding more teachers, maybe you might
consider teaching?
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

Jacqueline wrote:

How lucky that you ran into Gail!!! She was my original teacher, and she
knows punchneedle better than anybody!

--
Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA

"lula" wrote in message
...

Jacqueline......

What a surprise!!! At the show I met the GAIL BIRD, the originator of
the Russian Punch Needle "movement" in the USA for the past 35 years.
Gail wasn't supposed to be at the show but due to a personnel emergency
she had to hop on the "red eye" from CA and arrived early this morning
to set up the show.


Amazing, meeting Gail was as if the two of us had known each other
forever even though we were total strangers at first......it was instant
rapport.....we spent quite a bit of time chatting about all sorts of
topics about the punch needle and the needlework world in general. Gail
is a very friendly lady with a hearty laugh and full of humor.

As an aside......she absolutely LOVED QUEENIE!! Said I ought to consider
giving future characters punch needle hairdos! To which I said that was
one of the reasons why I purchased her needle set.


said her needles were the original authentic ones and the best made
in the business......of course one could say she's a little "biased" but
after 35 years promoting and making countless thousands of needles,
she's doing something right!

The "brass" handle of the needles are actually gold plated and these
were the only needles in the industry with a five year
guarantee.....comes with a little color booklet and five extra threader
components.


I told Gail about our discussion on RCTN........she laughed.....said
using the hoop was indeed important as it pulled the fabric taut on all
sides.

Several other people came into her exhibit booth while we were talking
so Gail gave us all lessons on using the punch needles......was a
pleasure to listen and watch her demonstrations.


Jacqueline you'll appreciate this......Gail laughed over what I told her
about our discussion over the use of the hoops and my experimenting with
the scroll frame......she then even gave me a 6" Susan Bates hoop to try
out with the punch needles!!


Gail gave me the reason why she felt the hoop would work better.....said
the fabric had to be taut in order for the needle to properly pierce the
weave of the taut fabric in order for the loops to lie and anchor
smoothly without puckering. She felt the Susan Bates hoops with the lip
was the best thing for punch needle......except if one was using a
delicate fabric, then one would have to use another hoop and wrap the
sides with protective fabric bands......said to use one of the good,
well made thicker European hoops with the long screw so the outer hoop
size could be adjusted for the extra thickness.

She cautioned against using some silk fabrics because they'd end up
fading......she recommended using silk noil fabric, the silk fabric with
the thick and thin slubs.

But, Gail admitted she had never tried using the scroll frame and said I
should experiment with my ideas and to let her know how it worked out.
Said as long as I could pull the fabric taut on all sides, it might work
out well for me.


In Gail's opinion......said punch needle technique was simple and
relatively ordinary....what set this technique apart was the use of
color.
In Gail's booth were many design "charts"......mostly in the colonial,
primitive folk art style.......I asked how come there weren't other
style designs? Said, the primitive folk art style was very popular
especially on the east coast but she'd like to see someone design more
contemporary designs.


Also told me about the Japanese following that loved doing punch needle,
especially the designs of one famous Japanese designer......Gail said
the odd thing was how the Japanese loved the American style designs but
made very little or no use of their own artistic heritage of beautiful
designs.


Overall.....I had a lovely time with Gail and we'll both be keeping in
touch with each other......Gail wants to see Queenie and the rest of the
over the top crowd......especially sporting a few punch needle
embroidered hairdos among other touches!
---
Lula


Jacqueline wrote:

Lula, I'm very interested to see how you end up using punchneedle,
especially with those two infamous ladies! Keep us posted - I love to
see
the non-traditional and experimental in embroidery. It stretches the
imagination and often spurns creativity in others.

Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA

lula said
Here is Gail Bird's website......I haven't looked at this yet but
there's probably interesting info all about the punch needle on it.

Thanks for the link. I'm sorely tempted to buy the packages that has the three
needles, hoops, and threaders.

On the topic of patterns......geez....that's what Gail hinted at too!

GMTA ;-)

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

Lula, I would LOVE to teach, but I'm not sure I have the time, and I
really don't know where to start. I actually talked to Gail about it
briefly a few years ago, although I doubt she'd remember. I'm going
to CATS Hershey in a few weeks, so if she's there this year, maybe
I'll bring it up again.

So what did she say about the scroll frame?


On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 12:05:10 -0400, lula
wrote:

Hi Jacqueline,

I thought it was absolutely amazing to meet Gail in person after our
discussion here! The first thing I thought about was you and being able
to let you know I had asked Gail on the subject of using the scroll
frame!
Boy, this is cool that she was your first teacher and now me meeting her
too.

Gail says she's interested in finding more teachers, maybe you might
consider teaching?
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

Jacqueline wrote:

How lucky that you ran into Gail!!! She was my original teacher, and she
knows punchneedle better than anybody!

--
Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA

"lula" wrote in message
...

Jacqueline......

What a surprise!!! At the show I met the GAIL BIRD, the originator of
the Russian Punch Needle "movement" in the USA for the past 35 years.
Gail wasn't supposed to be at the show but due to a personnel emergency
she had to hop on the "red eye" from CA and arrived early this morning
to set up the show.


Amazing, meeting Gail was as if the two of us had known each other
forever even though we were total strangers at first......it was instant
rapport.....we spent quite a bit of time chatting about all sorts of
topics about the punch needle and the needlework world in general. Gail
is a very friendly lady with a hearty laugh and full of humor.

As an aside......she absolutely LOVED QUEENIE!! Said I ought to consider
giving future characters punch needle hairdos! To which I said that was
one of the reasons why I purchased her needle set.


said her needles were the original authentic ones and the best made
in the business......of course one could say she's a little "biased" but
after 35 years promoting and making countless thousands of needles,
she's doing something right!

The "brass" handle of the needles are actually gold plated and these
were the only needles in the industry with a five year
guarantee.....comes with a little color booklet and five extra threader
components.


I told Gail about our discussion on RCTN........she laughed.....said
using the hoop was indeed important as it pulled the fabric taut on all
sides.

Several other people came into her exhibit booth while we were talking
so Gail gave us all lessons on using the punch needles......was a
pleasure to listen and watch her demonstrations.


Jacqueline you'll appreciate this......Gail laughed over what I told her
about our discussion over the use of the hoops and my experimenting with
the scroll frame......she then even gave me a 6" Susan Bates hoop to try
out with the punch needles!!


Gail gave me the reason why she felt the hoop would work better.....said
the fabric had to be taut in order for the needle to properly pierce the
weave of the taut fabric in order for the loops to lie and anchor
smoothly without puckering. She felt the Susan Bates hoops with the lip
was the best thing for punch needle......except if one was using a
delicate fabric, then one would have to use another hoop and wrap the
sides with protective fabric bands......said to use one of the good,
well made thicker European hoops with the long screw so the outer hoop
size could be adjusted for the extra thickness.

She cautioned against using some silk fabrics because they'd end up
fading......she recommended using silk noil fabric, the silk fabric with
the thick and thin slubs.

But, Gail admitted she had never tried using the scroll frame and said I
should experiment with my ideas and to let her know how it worked out.
Said as long as I could pull the fabric taut on all sides, it might work
out well for me.


In Gail's opinion......said punch needle technique was simple and
relatively ordinary....what set this technique apart was the use of
color.
In Gail's booth were many design "charts"......mostly in the colonial,
primitive folk art style.......I asked how come there weren't other
style designs? Said, the primitive folk art style was very popular
especially on the east coast but she'd like to see someone design more
contemporary designs.


Also told me about the Japanese following that loved doing punch needle,
especially the designs of one famous Japanese designer......Gail said
the odd thing was how the Japanese loved the American style designs but
made very little or no use of their own artistic heritage of beautiful
designs.


Overall.....I had a lovely time with Gail and we'll both be keeping in
touch with each other......Gail wants to see Queenie and the rest of the
over the top crowd......especially sporting a few punch needle
embroidered hairdos among other touches!
---
Lula


Jacqueline wrote:

Lula, I'm very interested to see how you end up using punchneedle,
especially with those two infamous ladies! Keep us posted - I love to
see
the non-traditional and experimental in embroidery. It stretches the
imagination and often spurns creativity in others.

Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA

Hi Jacqueline,

Gail said she is looking for qualified teachers......said one would be
eligible for teaching her punch needle techniques after taking several
classes with her.....think she mentioned three classes.

I know she'll be glad to hear from you on the subject of teaching,
here's her e-mail addy -

On the subject of the scroll frame......Gail said she hadn't tried using
such a frame herself and said I should go ahead and try and to let her
know how it works out for me.

The important fact is making sure to stretch the fabric taut on all four
sides of the fabric.
By stretching the fabric so taut, the weave or structure of the fabric
could then be easily pierced into by the punch needle. This allows the
thread loop to anchor properly into the weave of the fabric.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

Jacqueline wrote:

Lula, I would LOVE to teach, but I'm not sure I have the time, and I
really don't know where to start. I actually talked to Gail about it
briefly a few years ago, although I doubt she'd remember. I'm going
to CATS Hershey in a few weeks, so if she's there this year, maybe
I'll bring it up again.

So what did she say about the scroll frame?

Siesta frames are good for holing fabric taut. You fasten the fabric on
all four sides with thumb tacks.
Shirley





In message , lula
writes
Hi Jacqueline,

Gail said she is looking for qualified teachers......said one would be
eligible for teaching her punch needle techniques after taking several
classes with her.....think she mentioned three classes.

I know she'll be glad to hear from you on the subject of teaching,
here's her e-mail addy -

On the subject of the scroll frame......Gail said she hadn't tried using
such a frame herself and said I should go ahead and try and to let her
know how it works out for me.

The important fact is making sure to stretch the fabric taut on all four
sides of the fabric.
By stretching the fabric so taut, the weave or structure of the fabric
could then be easily pierced into by the punch needle. This allows the
thread loop to anchor properly into the weave of the fabric.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

Jacqueline wrote:

Lula, I would LOVE to teach, but I'm not sure I have the time, and I
really don't know where to start. I actually talked to Gail about it
briefly a few years ago, although I doubt she'd remember. I'm going
to CATS Hershey in a few weeks, so if she's there this year, maybe
I'll bring it up again.

So what did she say about the scroll frame?

--
Shirley Shone

Sorry for following up my own post but I did mean holding and not
holing.

I had my flu jab yesterday and I feel a bit off colour.
Shirley





In message , Shirley Shone
writes
Siesta frames are good for holing fabric taut. You fasten the fabric on
all four sides with thumb tacks.
Shirley





In message , lula
writes
Hi Jacqueline,

Gail said she is looking for qualified teachers......said one would be
eligible for teaching her punch needle techniques after taking several
classes with her.....think she mentioned three classes.

I know she'll be glad to hear from you on the subject of teaching,
here's her e-mail addy -

On the subject of the scroll frame......Gail said she hadn't tried using
such a frame herself and said I should go ahead and try and to let her
know how it works out for me.

The important fact is making sure to stretch the fabric taut on all four
sides of the fabric.
By stretching the fabric so taut, the weave or structure of the fabric
could then be easily pierced into by the punch needle. This allows the
thread loop to anchor properly into the weave of the fabric.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

Jacqueline wrote:

Lula, I would LOVE to teach, but I'm not sure I have the time, and I
really don't know where to start. I actually talked to Gail about it
briefly a few years ago, although I doubt she'd remember. I'm going
to CATS Hershey in a few weeks, so if she's there this year, maybe
I'll bring it up again.

So what did she say about the scroll frame?


--
Shirley Shone

Shirley Shone said
Sorry for following up my own post but I did mean holding and not
holing.

I thought 'holing the fabric' was right on target ;-)

Note to all: Dover Publications has several books by Gail Bird

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply