My first punchneedle

I'm glad everyone enjoyed my punchneedle yesterday. Even though it is not a quilt, it is fun to see something out of the ordinary. I've found these little punchneedles are great gifts and just different enough for people to be interested in them, but not so obscure that people look at it and say "what is that" or "why did you make that"? The above punchneedle was my first one I did and is only 3" x 3"!

Tonya asked what it was punched with. This one and the one from yesterday were punched with just 3 strands of plain old embroidery floss! To give it the most fluff you pull all three apart first and then put them back together. But I've heard there are some great wool floss/yarns out there that work up well - I just haven't looked for them yet! And I think some people have used perle cotton and other fibers.

Most punch needle is done with 3 strands (or equivilent thickness) of floss. But you can also do 1 strand and 6 strand - although I have not tried that (you need a different size punch for those). Above is how the punchneedle looked before I framed it.

Another person had wanted to try it but didn't have the tools yet and said their WalMart didn't carry them anymore. All I can say is - like anything, you get what you pay for. I bought a cheap punch for my girls to play with, and a nice punch. Boy you can tell the difference. But the difference in price wasn't too much different between the two, but the results are very different. And of course you can buy the "set" of 3 punches for a lot of money or one punch for just a slight bit more than the cheap punch. Well since most punchneedles are done with 3 strands I decided to go for the slightly more expensive punch and just buy 1. I'm happy with it. Not to say down the road that I might break down and buy the other sizes! And the one other thing I found out is how important the hoop is you use. You have to have a good non-slip hoop, not just a regular embroidery hoop. I was told this but didn't understand why until I started! Regular hoops or cheaper non-slip hoops loosen the fabric up as you punch. One of the key's to punching is a nice VERY TIGHT cloth. So tight that you slightly warp the shape of the hoop. Once again I have the good version for me and the slightly cheaper version for my daughter. I am forever tightening her hoop, and the tension just doesn't stay. With my hoop it stays tight and is easy to punch - plus I got one that sits up on my lap and has the 7" size on one side and the 10" on the other! So I learned my lesson!

On to other things! Boy it feels so good to have time to sit back and read the blogs again and just enjoy "the moment" after all the holiday rushing and activities. I'm actually kind of glad to be back to boring old life! I for sure am glad to be back at work with high speed internet!

I had guild last night and talked up Bonnie's and Tonya's work! Told everyone about all Bonnie's wonderful quilt instructions and the really cool things she is posting of Tonya's now on her site! I hope she gets some visitors!

Well, back to enjoying my morning reads!