Family needlepoint patterns

Family designs, among them figures young and old, the family dog and cat, houses and their keys, trees, flowers and things from home and work.

The figures include a teenager and a grandfather, each standing and facing front; a woman lies on a chaise in profile, reading a book, with a white cat on the floor in front of her. The trees are trees of life and weeping willows, and the flowers are forget-me-nots. Gold watches and piggy banks are here as well, with a dog and a cat each drawn with wings and a halo, and a hand making the I love you sign. There are also things that mark a new home: keys to the new house, mailboxes, moving boxes and moving trucks, as well as bungalows with a front porch and steps. The things from home life include a black sewing machine with a red spool on top, crochet squares with a hook and a ball of yarn, and a pair of striped pajamas; the things from working life include a briefcase, a toolbox, a stethoscope and a hard hat. All are four inches square on 18 mesh, and many can be made as a round ornament. Finishing, the making up of a stitched piece into an ornament, a pillow or a framed picture, takes time on top of the stitching, so if you plan a set, one piece for each member of a family, settle how each will be finished before you start the first.