Does anyone do Quick Point anymore? I do, only when my niece asked me to stitch a stocking for her new daughter-in-law. (Keep in mind, I seldom do quick-point and even less often do I do Christmas stockings. But this was a tradition stared by her mother-in –law and I do do traditions…plus I’m a pushover when a niece asks for something…remember me, only child Mother of three sons and six grandsons…I live in a male world. Okay, I have three lovely daughter-in-laws and three granddaughters but we are still a minority! I digress…)
My niece and I decided that all the in-laws would have the same sex appropriate stocking with their names…boy or girl snow people. We had a boy, left over from 
the 1st set…I just could not bring myself to stitch a snowman for my niece and so I had a ballerina with red hair painted for her. But of course we needed a girl snowperson, and as my luck would have it, none had been painted, but it was a good idea and one could be done. Great! So late last spring our new girl arrived… only now Paternayan yarns were out of production and it was unknown if they would ever produce again. Even the tapestry yarn was limited and I tried to stitch with other threads but did not like the look. I finally decided to bite the bullet and head for a yarn shop, but that did not seem to work either. The thick yarns seemed to fray easily or they did not have the bright colors to blend with the other stockings. Dismayed I fretted through the summer and had about decided a trip to Lawrence Kansas and the Yarn Barn (www.yarnbarn–ks.com/) was in order…maybe they could $pin and dye the color$ I needed. I figured I would have to get enough to do at least the background color for all five possible future stockings. Before I headed to Lawrence I happen to stop by JoAnn’s Fabric and craft and came across a couple yarns I thought might work if they would hold up and not fray. Their Chenille (http://www.lionbrand.com/yarns/newchenille.html) would have been great for the snow people but it did not stitch well, frayed. Hometown USA
(http://www.lionbrand.com/yarns/hometownUSA.html?categoryKey=1694622&start=0&pageLength=15) seemed the best choice for my needs. The colors were mostly clear and crisp, it did not fray or pill while stitching. The white stitched well but would the dark blue do as well without painting? Quick try of the dark blue and I was off to buy yarns.
I wanted to do some decorative stitches and so I experimented in the margins. I always like to have extra space around the canvas to play…a doodle place of sorts. I tried plying the strand; there are 4 ply to each strand. I stitched with 2 ply successfully and used this method on the apron and hat. The top of the hat is stitched using 2 ply light blue in a reversing continental, the bottom is 1 strand light blue in an
Encroaching Gobelin. The area is separated with 2 ply green stitched in an outline stitch.
The eyes are 2 ply black Rice Stitches and the mouth is 2 ply French knots
The Apron is three colors of yarn: light blue, green and bright blue. The edgings are
overlapping cross stitches and the plaid at the bottem is filled with cross stitches in green and light blue . All used a full strand except cross stitches, they were 2 ply.
The arms are wrapped fly stitches using a full strand of yarn and pulled snugly. The candy cane is a full strand of yarn stitched over a padding thread used to raise the candy cane to appear as high as the arms. 
The wreath was going to be 2 stands of green French Knots filled with a strand of the yellow French Knots but it looked skimpy so I redid using a full strand of the green yarn. The bow was tied on after all French knots are in place and I anchored the knot wit two over stitches and also anchored the ends with French knots.
Snow girls is embellished with a store bought button for the hat and twisted DMC Memory Thread for her nose.
Finished and hanging by Christmas is not going to happen but it is stitched. I safety pined it to a bag so it can hang and have a present added…after Christmas will send to finisher. I have a friend who stitches pieces and gives to someone for one occasion and then has it finished for another occasion…pretty smart idea considering the cost of some needlepoint…maybe she could stretch it to three occasion gift by giving canvas and threads first, then stitched, then finished…Humm, I wonder if I could try that?
This is the end of my Christmas stitching for this year with one exception, I’ll show you that Christmas day. It’s a surprise! I hope this little project helps anyone with a quick point piece in their stash to find the yarn to stitch their piece. My biggest hope is that the company that has purchased the Paternayan rights will also produce Quick point yarn too. I can dream, but if not I hope Lion brand does not discontinue their bulky line.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have time to stitch today!
ttfn…sue
sudukc's needleart & other musings 