Madeira's Cotton Floss: A Review

Mary Corbet has been stitching with Madeira's cotton floss and has posted a review on her website.  Threadaholics, take note!  By the way, Madeira's silk floss is packaged the same way as the cotton embroidery floss.  I don't like the stiff feel of their silk but the packaging is genius!
https://www.needlenthread.com/2019/02/thread-talk-madeira-cotton-embroidery-floss.html#comment-908370

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 1, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

For the Book Lovers

Sarah at A Field Guide to Needlework has been creating artwork paying tribute to books.
https://www.afieldguidetoneedlework.com/blog/bookish-thoughts?fbclid=IwAR25becbI9oY4yHLqm3njeQrKjGX8fjupjLmRjFxWcz763QJVMOlZi8Ml-E

Some of her "books" are woven, some are drawings, some are needlepoint.   All are fun to look at.  If you were going to create a needlepoint tribute to your favorite book, which one would you choose?

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 13, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The End for the 2018 Stitch-A-Long at NJNA

The New Jersey Needle Artists (NJNA) chapter of ANG did a stitch-a-long last year based on Lorene Salt's "Autumn Kaleidoscope."  Not everyone participated but they all had a lovely time.  You can see the various color ways on the chapter's website.  And if you are going to Woodlawn's exhibit this year, check out Barbara's "Stars for a New Millennium."
https://blog.njneedleartists.org/2019/01/29/2018-sotm-wrap-up/

The chart for Stars and for Autumn Kaleidoscope are available at many shops.  These are just the top search results I got.
http://store.apneedlearts.com/stofnewmi.html

https://www.stitchingshop.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=12236

The same shop that has Kaleidoscope also has a kit using the custom threads for this color set, just in case you are interested.  Any shop can kit out one of the many color ways Tony has listed in Stars.
https://www.stitchingshop.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=12235

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 30, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Look What Libby Did UPDATED

Fans of Libby Sturdy's Just Libby canvases will be interested to hear what she designed for the Governor's Mansion in Springfield, Illinois.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/hinsdale/news/ct-dhd-column-clarkson-tl-0131-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1gr5sCVsmQQdWHCU-YcAIJWGSw_IZgfDMUWhKOKIXRITJVGSvAFTRc8N8

UPDATE:  Just realized I forgot to add a link to Libby's website so folks who are new to her designs can have fun browsing.  Some of Libby's designs are painted, some are line drawings with instructions on how to fill in each section with stitches.  A few designs are available either way.  All are fun and fabulous!
http://www.justlibbydesigns.com

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 28, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Cherry Blossom Rule

Threads Across the Web just posted some of the Japanese Embroidery designs she's stitched with cherry blossom motifs on them. I had no idea that you always stitch the foreground items first in Japanese Embroidery, or that the cherry blossoms are also stitched in a specific order.
https://threadsacrosstheweb.blogspot.com/2019/01/sake-boxes-cherry-blossoms.html

Thanks for this interesting and thought-provoking article, Carol-Anne!  I almost always stitch my background first—and I have never stitched flower petals in any specific order—so this gives me food for thought.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 30, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.