You know those GIGANTIC glasses cases that come with glasses – the cases that are the size of a small evening clutch? Well, those thingsare metal – and magnets stick to them..and they make fantastic travel tool cases for traveling with needlework, beadwork, etc! All you need is a glasses case/box, some magnets and of course your tools and supplies!

Link to Instagram Video

Anytime you see a mosaic made from square tiles laid out in a grid, you are looking at a charted Needlepoint design just waiting to happen – follow the steps below to stitch mosaics into needlepoint on any iPhone/iPad. This little ornament was made with embroidery floss, wool and 14# plastic canvas. A link to buy the plastic canvas is at the end.

How MOSAIC NEEDLEPOINT came about…..

My child recently spent a gap year in NYC….as a result I spent a lot of time in NYC “Checking In”….and a lot of time in LaGuardia airport.

LaGuardia airport has enchanting mosaics ALL over the airport…when I see mosaics, I see charted needlepoint designs…so I took lots of pictures.

When the time came to move said child out of their NYC digs, it was a bit of a “project” shall we say…the apartment was a sea of clothing, various collected “treasures”, Cheetos, luggage, boxes and needlepoint supplies scattered ALL over the apartment – I found thread in kitchen drawers…why one would keep embroidery floss with spoons and forks is not for me to know…I posted a 5 part Instagram series called “NEEDLEPOINT STONE SOUP – A Cautionary Travel Tale” detailing this expedition here

As we cleaned and packed, I scavenged thread, needles and canvas from all over the apartment and amassed quite a cache of supplies. Upon returning to my hotel room, I realized I could use some of the thread to rework part of a canvas I had brought on my trip.

What to do with the rest? Since I had gone as far as possible on my reworked canvas, I decided to give the LaGuardia Airport Mosaic photos a go…just to see what would happen…this sweet little ice cream sundae Needlepoint ornament is what “happened”.

Mosaics can be stumbled upon while out and about, but they can also be found online by searching phrases like “square tile mosaics” “square mosaic patterns”, etc. Pinterest is a wealth of inspiration as are tile manufacturers websites.

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The photos below are the companion “textbook” for the video on YouTube. Be sure to watch the video so that these photos will make sense to you! I have included a “Table of Contents” – the video is 1hr 45 min so I thought it really needed a table of contents! This video covers every stitch step-by-step with all sorts of info about thread, stitches, etc. If you are a beginner, this may be of interest to you…it is intended as a quick sampler to learn all sorts of stitches and end up with a sweet little self finishing coaster. The Stitch Charts below are listed in the order they are stitched on the coaster and the order in which they appear in the video. The center colored bar that runs through the middle of the charts refers to the color of that stitch on the Master Chart.

I read about this technique of using a ROUX to make scrambled eggs – I tried it because it sounded “weird” & interesting – I mean really, who ever heard of using a roux? That was about 10 years ago and I have used it ever since…it is amazing and about as close to fool proof as you will ever find.

I wish I could give credit where credit is due, and tell you where I learned this but I can no longer find any reference to this technique online. This technique is so wonderful that it really needs to be passed down through generations – try it – remember it – teach it to your children & grand children so that it will live on….

I love my 1st generation Apple Pencil but the little “Lightning-to-Lightning adapter” sleeve that fits over the lightning charger is insanely small (about 1/2 the size of a postage stamp). This little sleeve allows you to charge the pencil with a regular charging cord – without this sleeve, you must charge your iPad, then plug the pencil into your iPad and use the battery from the iPad to charge the pencil – with the pencil sticking out of the iPad…the only way I would feel safe doing this is if I put the whole thing in the middle of my dining room table because it’s a disaster waiting to happen if anything jostles it – with the pencil charging, it measures 16” long! The paranoid side of me wonders if Apple intentionally designed it this way so that they could sell more of these little sleeves…I mean really, who could ever keep track of something this size?

I use this GearTie “Cordable”. I prefer it to the cords they sell specifically for this purpose because the side loop profile is smaller. I applied velcro to the interior spine of my iPad case (my case looks almost like a book with a 1” spine) and to my pencil – the low profile of the Cordable allows me to attach the pen to the Velcro and close the front cover flat! Yay!!!

*GearTie Cordables are available on Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc.

Sources for supplies:

3”x4” Bags from Amazon

4”x6” Bags from Amazon

Freezer Bin from Amazon

No affiliated links or compensation to review these products- I just love them and thought you might too!