The Loretta Spears Design Archive: 2019

Thursday, December 19, 2019

A New Patchwork Heart Pattern? UPDATED

I just stumbled across this unknown Loretta design on Pinterest. It appears to be a patchwork pattern made into a heart ornament. The person who uploaded the photo says it is a Loretta design stitched as an Apple Blossom Chapter (of the American Needlepoint Guild) project.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/83035186857019305/

Thanks to the sharp eyes on Facebook's Needlepoint Nation group, I now know that this ornament is Loretta's "Victorian Heart," published in the January-February 1991 issue of Needlepoint Plus magazine. Appreciate your help, Terry! It's amazing how different it looks in different colors. Or maybe it is just different cameras.
https://lorettaspears.blogspot.com/2012/01/victorian-heart.html

Saturday, June 1, 2019

July 1992 Square Ornament (Needle Adventures)

July 1992 Needle Adventures Ornament

A recent eBay auction appears to have a July 1992 Loretta Spears chart published under the Needle Adventures name among the items for sale. The seller calls it hanging ornament. This is one of a lot of charts and kits.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-21-sealed-embroidery-craft-kits-plus-4-tools/352670273871?hash=item521cc9514f:g:4k8AAOSwh0Rc5DSj:sc:USPSPriority!22611!US!-1

The ornament is a square made up to hang from one corner in dark blue and purples. I've copied and enhanced the photos from the auction as best as I can.

*****************************************

Materials List and Canvas, Threads

Materials List:

7x7 inch piece of 18 count Levantine Blue needlepoint canvas
four colors of (purple?) Anchor cotton floss
Fyre Werks
Lacquered Jewels (green?)

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Bargello Fantasy (Needlepoint Plus)

Bargello Fantasy was original published in the July August 1991 issue of Needlepoint Plus. In 1994 Needle Adventures republished this design as a chart with a photo of the finished model on the back cover. The chart version of Bargello Fantasy is discussed separately.

Needleartnut's Bargello Fantasy from NP Plus

The two designs are almost, but not quite, identical. The "ribbon" across the top of the design is shorter in this version and the lower left bargello pattern is different as you can see in this photo of the finished magazine version, courtesy of Needleartnut. The bottom triangles may also differ. I can't be sure of that based on the images I've seen. The scans of the Needlepoint Plus model and magazine cover are courtesy of Ann in Baton Rouge.

Needlepoint Plus July Aug 1991

Corrections to the magazine chart are posted in the Errata tab above.
https://lorettaspears.blogspot.com/p/errata.html

The delicate version stitched by Sue. H.

And this is Sue H.'s version on congress cloth. It isn't framed yet. Thanks, Sue!

*****************************************

Materials List:

Welcome to the Loretta Spears Design Archive

This site is a record of the designs published by Loretta Spears between roughly 1986-1996. After her death, Loretta Spears' family honored her wishes by not republishing any of her mystery designs or ornament charts and have refused multiple offers to license her designs. The only places you can find them now are on eBay or through stash sales.

I plan to list all the magazine articles and charts that include her designs, and describe them to help her fans know what is available. This is a collaborative effort and I wish to thank everyone who helped develop this site to honor and document Loretta Spears' work. By the way, the header photograph shows part of Fascination (Mystery #10) stitched by Needleartnut with the title created by lara hartley.

If you have further information about Loretta Spears' work or would like to share photographs, please email me at LorettaSpearsDesigns@gmail.com

About Loretta's Mysteries

There were fourteen mystery pieces total. Though the kindness of DH, I have the descriptions of each mystery as Loretta posted them on her old website (now gone). I also have a separate article about each mystery in blog postings which you can find by searching "Mystery #1," etc. Each mystery article has Loretta's description, a list of threads, photos of the threads she specified if I have them and finally photos of finished pieces and links to websites showing them. If the finished piece shown isn't in Loretta's colors, I'll tell you. If you don't want to see photographs of the mystery pieces, click on the Mystery Designs Checklist tab at the top of the blog under the header photo. That lists only the designs with Loretta's own description of them.

Not For Sale

Please note that this site does not have any Loretta Spears' designs for sale. In fact, I don't own any of her designs, and the kind folks who helped me with photographs and information do not wish to be asked to sell their charts. Your best source for her designs is eBay where currently mysteries go for $20-250. The small ornament charts seem to sell for around $5-50 although these don't turn up that often, making a price prediction hard. Needle Adventure charts for pieces such as Florentine Fantasy and Bargello Fantasy are common and usually sell for $5-10 although you can get bargains occasionally. (Currently the ornament charts aren't selling well so you can probably get some good bargains.) The old Needlepoint Now and Needlepoint News magazines with Loretta's charts also turn up on eBay periodically and go for $2-4 but they can be pricey due to shipping charges if you must buy a group of magazines to get the one you want.

Pages