Woven Stitch Background

The photo shows my progress on the little Halloween stocking. I first stitched the two black robed figures with black Krienik 1/16" ribbon in cross stitches. Then I stitched the middle figure in tent stitches using Rainbow Gallery's Soft Sheen Fire Werks (color FT8). This is another ribbon-like thread that is a variation on the original very shiny Fire Werks. It is less reflective although it is a metallized nylon.

Now that I've finished the background figures that will showcase the fancy buttons, I started on the background. I happened to have the perfect color and texture in my stash-a skein of Felicity's Garden in 049 Heather. Felicity's Garden is a crewel type thread that is half silk and half Australian Merino wool. It has a bit of sheen but when you contrast it with the very shiny metallic threads I've used in the figures, it looks very wool-like. I wanted a very neutral stitch to use with my Felicity's Garden and it took several tries before I hit on the right one, a woven stitch from one of Brenda Hart's stitch books. Basically it is a Burden Stitch variation. You lay a long length of thread in a channel between two NP canvas threads, then couch it down with a perpendicular thread that goes across the channel at a 90 degree angle. Skip a hole and do another perpendicular thread to countinue couching. When you do the next row, you put the little couching stitches in the holes you skipped while attaching the first row. In a thread like Felicity's Garden, the result is a woven pattern that's not too hard to compensate. In the photo above, I have done all the rows except for a bit at the bottom and around the figure with the green fright wig.

I'll finish those tonight and start on the striped stocking top.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Squigee's Trick or Treating Stocking

As you can tell from the little thumbnails I have posted in the right (Blogspot blog) or left (Yahoo 360 blog) columns of Blog and Mirror Blog, I've already chosen what I'm going to stitch next. It's Squiggee Time in Chilly Hollow! I'm going to stitch two of Gail Hendrix's small designs that she markets under the Squiggee name. You probably have seen lots of Gail's more traditional pieces that are sold by The Point of It All. Squiggee is her line of small pieces, many of which are fun quick items. I'll talk about the lovely koi when I get to it, but first I'm going to start with the cute Halloween stocking of trick or treating kids in full costume.

This is a design that is around three inches tall and three inches wide at the toe. It's painted on 13 count (not 18 count) canvas. It is very small and won't take very long, particularly on the larger 13 count canvas. As you can see, the background is plain purple, the top of the stocking is striped oranges and purple and the kids all wear black or purple. The three beads that are their masks come with the canvas. It also has a small packet of orange beads to put underneath the striped top and the purple background. You may not be able to tell each child's black robe is painted with sparkle paint, which tells me I should use a black metallic thread on the robes to add sparkle to them as the designer intended.

I've removed the beads and buttons and put them away in a tiny plastic bag with the threads I intend to use. The stocking is on stretcher bars and I've pulled a bunch of threads from my stash. My first step is going to be stitching the two black robes on either side of the central figure. They are going to be in cross stitches in Kreinik's black 1/15 inch ribbon. I thought about doing just tent stitches, but I think I want the black robes and the hat to be slightly raised. I am stitching them first so I can see how various background stitches work with them and decided I wanted them a bit more raised than tent stitch will do.

Given my new emphasis here on technique, I need to point out I am going to lay the cross stitch legs with a laying tool and make sure I remember always to have the same \ direction on top. I am also going to complete each cross stitch before starting the next. You can do a row of XS with just the first step / for each and then work back the other direction in the row to add the top \ but since I am constantly interrupted when I stitch and it's easy to forget where you are, especially when you are stitching with black threads on a black canvas, I'm going to be careful to complete each stitch before moving on to the next.

If you want to stitch along, feel free. It's always fun to have company here at Blog. These two canvases are available from Gail Hendrix on her Squiggee website. If you enjoy visiting there, make sure you check out Gail's two blogs. Unlike what I do, she often posts different things to each blog on the same day, so visiting everywhere is a must!

http://squiggeedesigns.com/

http://360.yahoo.com/squiggeebuns2

http://squiggeedesigns.blogspot.com

Mirror blog at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Lani's Autumn Leaves Is Done

Last night I finished the Lani "Autumn Leaves" design and this morning I checked it carefully for missed stitches. Do you like it? I am just as much in love with the mix of colors as when I started this piece, and it has taught me just how important technique is in stitching. I had no idea when we embarked on this "tent stitches only" piece just how much there would be to say about how to stitch it. We talked about starting and ending threads, about how to mix various types and brands of threads, and how to make every stitch look as perfect and as much like its neighbors as possible. Believe me, I'll be thinking about perfection on every stitch, no matter what it is, from here on out. It is a lot easier to be a sloppy stitcher on pieces with a mix of fancier stitches than it is on an all tent-piece. I appreciate more than ever before why ANG gives the Princess Grace Award at their annual exhibit to a piece done entirely in this stitch. This is not easy!

To recap, this is a Lani design on 18 count canvas. The rectangle is approximately 3 inches wide and 7 long and the design is the middle of a much larger pattern which she released in a large and a small version, I guess. I started this on May 7 and finished it June 28, and even though I worked on making up several small projects I finished this year and didn't stitch every night, it took a lot longer than I anticipated.

If you would like to see tent stitch perfection, check out ANG's "What is Needlepoint?" section of their webpage (it's hidden under Needlepoint Information). This area shows off award winning stitching from recent annual seminars. Look for the Princess Grace Award winners once you arrive. These folks did a fabulous job, all in tent.

http://www.needlepoint.org/whatis.php

My next move with Autumn Leaves is to see if I can find a red or ecru tote bag so I can applique the design to the front of it. I think this would look fabulous on a red bag and red's my mother's favorite color. AND she has a birthday in September....

Shush! Don't say a word to her!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Thoughts on The Finished Three Camels Stocking

The little three camels mini stocking is finally made up. Hope you like it!

To recap, this is a painted canvas from Liz (the precursor company of Tapestry Tent?) that I picked up cheaply to stitch for my neighbor who loves camels. It's on 18 count and is around 6 inches tall and about 3 inches wide at the widest point.

I learned several important things finishing this piece. As you remember, I decided to use foam core inside the piece and make it up as an ornament, not as a functioning stocking. I think it is really too small for me to successfully make it a Christmas stocking. Stockings are a bit tricky to finish and I know my limits! The thinnest foam core I could find was 1/4 inch thick. While it makes for a very light weight but rigid piece, it's a bit thicker than I like. Not much you can do about that--I doubt foam core comes much thinner than what I found. So I went with a broad wired piece of trim to cover the fat edge. I'm also not sure I would use wired trim again, either. It was very easy to mold into shape but it would not tie the fancy Chinese knot I wanted to put at the toe above the glass bead that hangs from the toe. I ended up using Kreinik's 002 gold in the #32 braid thickness for both the bead dangle and the loop to hang the stocking up instead. And that doesn't show the fancy knot well. Or maybe I just didn't tie it quite right since that was my first attempt!

The real moral of finishing this stocking is to not be intimidated by roadblocks in finishing. I just changed directions when things didn't work all that well and tried other things. Another example is the little bump of beads over the edges. (Squint and you'll see them in the photos.) When I got my trim attached at the edges, there were a few places where it didn't really cover the front and back join that well. I thought that over a minute and then rummaged through my beads and found half a box of Mill Hill gold seed beads. I just did another round of couching the trim to the stocking but this time I came up, threaded three gold beads on the needle, and then went down over the trim. This is couching with beads and it puts a cluster of beads around the trim periodically. I tried to space the beads evenly but where they would hide untidy spots. I think they look nice and they add a bit of interest to the plain gold trim. This piece is pretty busy, so a fancy gold trim wouldn't look good in my opinion but a plain one wasn't quite right either. I think I killed two birds with three beads, so to speak, by hiding problems and fancying up the trim with couched beads.



The last thing I'd like you to notice is how important it is to have the bead hanging from the stocking toe. Jane and I (yes, we have the same lovely name!) realized when we were looking at photos of finished Christmas stockings how important it is to consider how the stocking will be displayed. We saw a Santa with a long coat stitched in vertical rows that looked odd hanging because the very straight ||| stitches were slanted when the stocking hung off the mantelpiece. I was just starting to stitch this little mini sock when Jane and I made our discovery. This both influnced her choice of stitches for her Santa stocking and made me look at the design of mine. I photographed the finished piece laid flat and hanging at an angle so you could see what I mean. Go to the Yahoo 360 blog and look in the right column to see "The Wise Men's Stocking is Done" photographed straight to compare how the direction matters.

I realized that Liz designed the camels to be viewed from an angle. Look at any photos of this design on my Yahoo 360 blog and you'll see I stitched it in a frame with it upright but the camels look much more real hanging at an angle. That's why I added the heavy glass bead--the make sure the camels were always seen at their best angle. It's sort of like movie stars who always want to be photographed from their best angle only. When you stitch your stockings, think about how they will be displayed and choose stitches and finishing options that will make it look its very best.

Hope you enjoyed my stitching of the three little camels stocking.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Knotting

Check out the Chinese button knot in this link. I think I'm going to use one in finishing my three camels stocking.

http://www.chineseknotting.org/

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Asian Girls Purse for ANG Auction

Guess what came back from the finisher yesterday?

Yes, the lantern-shaped purse is finished and ready for the 2008 ANG Seminar Auction at Indian Wells, CA this fall. Isn't it lovely? You can't see how Summer Truswell finished the really well in these photos, sadly. She somehow found silk dupoini fabrics that matched the outer blue or pink borders very well and covered the back of each canvas with it, then attached each "pocket" to opposite outer sides of the purse. It's probably best if these aren't used as pockets for anything heavy or thick, but one could easily slip an airline ticket there.

Once again, the two canvases are from Melissa Shirley (the 1161 series, all of which are 5x5 inches) and the finishing was donated to ANG by Summer Truswell. The purse itself came from a company called Lantern Moon. Here are links:

http://www.melissashirleydesigns.com/gallery/?cat=28

http://www.needleworkfinishing.com/professionalfinishing.html

https://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=LAN1-1711/536.0

If you go to the Indian Wells Seminar and make it to the auction, please take photos of the winner with his or her Asian purse, ok?

And Summer, THANKS!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Newsletters and Update

To update you on where I am with projects, Autumn Leaves' basketweave is nearly done. I went shopping for trim on Monday and for beads on Tuesday, so I have most of what I need to finish the rock slab jewelry piece and the camels mini stocking. Hurrah! I will make another trip to the really big bead shop today to pick up some seed beads (hopefully) as I have an errand to run in that part of the suburbs.

I'm also getting fun information from various newsletters. Homestead Needlearts has a nice series of photos about finishing up. Isn't that ruby slippers pillow FAB?! Scroll down further and you'll see some of the new Prairie Schooler canvases. This is a XS company that is making their classic Santas available on canvas.

http://www.homesteadneedlearts.com/thelatest.html

Janet Perry's newsletter linked to the Stitch-Its website. This is the place distributing these Santas and they say you can talk to them about doing your favorite Prairie Schooler design on NP canvas. See the following for the current available canvases and a link to the PS website to drool over more.

http://www.stitch-its.com/prairie.htm

If you like the Kelly Clark Santas or the Melissa Shirley small ethnic ones, you'll want to check out the links.

Happy summer stitching, everyone!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

On the Airplane with George and what came of it....

Bet you didn't know the late George Carlin inspired needlepoint designs. Are you familiar with SharonG's funny bras? Want to hear where she got the idea?

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-38820

Here are more of the lingerie designs. Certainly this is not what grandma called NP! (The breakfast bra and matching tap pants are on page 5.)

http://www.sharong.com/catalog/bras/index.html

Artists finding each other funny and inspiring each other. I'd love to know what George took away from his meeting with SharonG! The moral is we don't know how we impact other people. I can only hope my impact is good and inspiring and try to learn from other folks' inspiration.

CNN picked up the story and is researching it a bit, maybe for their news or for Larry King or Anderson Cooper. All depends on whether they need something a bit quirky to remember George by.

Rest in peace, funny guy. And thanks.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Still Putting the Wise Men's Camels Together

As you can see from the photo, I've cut out the 1/4 inch margin all around the stitched NP canvas and snipped inwardly pointing lines into the curved areas. Those cuts, which only go in about halfway, help the turned under edge lie flat. And I laced the wool felt around the foam core, just like you lace a piece of needlework to foam core before framing it. Then I put the two sides together and stitched them, making sure that the hanging loop I made was attached to the back of the NP first. The lumpy upper left area stitched smooth once I started putting things together. I just turned under more/less of the needlepoint or the back felt to make the join smooth. When I cut my foam core I used my color copy of the plain unstitched Liz canvas as a pattern. I cut around it and used the cutout as a template on the foam core, but made the foam core 1/8 inch smaller than the NP. Next time I will make it 1/4 inch smaller all around. I think that will help with the joining of the front to the back. And next time maybe my lacing will be less lumpy! Practice makes perfect....

The final piece isn't shown yet because I need to find trim to hand stitch around the margins. Using 1/4 fat foam core means my ornament is light weight but 1/4 thick, so I need larger braid than I can make to put all around the edges. So I'll need to go shopping Monday and Tuesday to collect supplies.

As always, stay tuned!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Putting the Wise Men's Camels Together

Remember the Three Wise Men's Camels mini-stocking I finished last winter? (If you are at the Yahoo 360 blog, you can click on Wise Men's Camel Stocking in the right hand column to see a photo of the finished canvas.) I'm starting to assemble it into an ornament. I am using--for the first time--foam core for the middle part, sandwiched between the canvas and a nice piece of tan felt Abby Cat sent me from New Zealand a few years ago. I am not going to include any padding in the middle of the sandwich, just the foam core. If you haven't seen foam core before, it resembles two sheets of heavy, slick paper with a middle of foam. It's used in framing and is light weight and strong. You can buy it in acid-free for framing and it comes in various thicknesses. You can buy a big sheet or remnants and have to cut it to size. I trimmed my little 6x6 square remnant with an exacto knife, and never got it really rounded but I think it will be ok.

The photo above shows the felt laid out with the foam core on top. MAKE SURE that you know which side of the foam core will be facing your NP so you orient the fabic the right way before cutting. I wrote B for back on the correct side that will be the back before I cut my felt. The next step is to fold the margins over, roughly tack them into position by sewing them, and then put dots of glue under the felt to attach it in several places to the foam core middle.

Then I will turn under the edges of my NP canvas and trim them to about 3/8 inch, then start hand sewing the NP to the foam core & felt back. After that I'll need to add trim to hide the seam. Wish me luck!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Fur and Flowers and Amy

Amy Bunger's website has information on the two newest DVDs she has released. One is about stitching flowers and the other is about stitching fur. You can read about them (and about the earlier DVDs in the series) here.

http://www.amybunger.com/whatsnew.html

After you drool to your heart's content, click on the E-Newsletters link on the left side of the page and have fun reading the May and June 2008 newsletters. They are full of information about what is new in her shop, profiles of canvases she likes, and information about new threads. You also can see Tony Minieri's new fish canvases (complete with stitch guide) which have just been released.

What fun!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Who Are We and Other Topics UPDATED

UPDATE: When I emailed The Needlepointer to let them know I'd grabbed a photo from their newsletter to illustrate my blurb about their calendar frame, I got a nice note from Donnelle in their shop. She says:

"A little info on the calendar bar. We had it especially made for this monthly project here locally. The calendar bars fit in back of the upper white part. Then there are two hooks at the bottom of the
white frame that you hang a calendar on. It is not completely wood all the way down to the bottom of the calendar. These calendar bars can be purchased through us all at one time and threads for them at a

discounted price. Email shop@theneedlepointer for more information." Thanks for the further information, Donnelle, and thanks for permission to use your photograph.

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

I subscribe to the "Got Needlepoint?" newsletter the Needlepoint For Fun folks put out to promote the items they distribute. I particularly enjoyed May 9's issue #22 which reveals some TNNA survey results about needleworkers of all kinds. You can read that there are 71,000 folks in the United States who say NP is their favorite needle art and much more at the following link. You can also sign up for the newsletter there. Didn't know there were 70,998 other folks just like you and me, did you?

http://www.needlepoint-for-fun.com/Got_Needlepoint-backissues.html

The Needlepointer has sent out a newsletter with a photo of their new calender frame that goes with their calendar bar monthly club. Basically you insert a wall calender into the frame and then add your rectangular bar canvas for the month once you stitch it. This is totally different and an interesting new use of NP. The canvases are from Artist Collection/Heartstrings. The image you see above is the calendar frame. You can see the canvases that go with it and sign up for the club here.

http://www.theneedlepointer.com/needlepoint-clubs_CalendarBars.htm

While you are visiting The Needlepointer, you might want to check out their other clubs. This is the main club page. Email them for details about any club that catches your eye.

http://www.theneedlepointer.com/needlepoint-clubs.htm

Are you a fan of dede Odgen's designs? Needle Artworks has new treats from dede up on their website. Check out the elephant, or the Christmas Party Cat, or Mr. Duck in his sweater; I believe the seasonal suns are new, and the patriotic woman in her sunglasses is new to me as well. The little strawberries apparently come in two sizes, if you want something quick and colorful to stitch. Read about any canvas that catches your eye. Some are for beginners and come with an instructional booklet. There are new threads, too. I'm intriqued by Firefly and Miracle Bells myself! Sadly, there are no descriptions beyond colors so I'll just dream about what such threads might be. Anyone with information, email me, ok?

http://www.needleartworks.com/dsgnr/deo/deoimages.htm

http://www.needleartworks.com/thread/cmpnylist.htm

Silver Needle is running specials on overstocked items. You'll be interested in Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson's little "Stitches to Go" book that is small enough to go in a purse (especially the huge tote bag pocketbook I carry) and has nothing but diagrams of stitches from their Stitches for Effects books. No explanations, no tips on threads, just diagrams. Regular price is $26.95 but if you email or call Silver Needle and mention you heard this was on sale in their shop email newsletter, the sale price is $13.48. The sale price will last for 2-3 weeks or until they run out of copies. So if you are interested, move fast and don't forget to mention that you heard about the price in the e-newsletter.

http://www.thesilverneedle.net/books.php?Reloaded=True&osCsid=64ade2bf3e6d8a88ee2d0dcc4b43fabf#stitchestogo

I think that's enough to keep at least a few of us needlepoint obsessed busy for a while.

Hugs to all 70,999 of you from your Master Enabler!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Lee's Newest Leather Goods

I discovered through the Bristley Thistle's store blog that Lee has a new leather item, a CD or DVD case. You can see photos here (they come in colored leathers) and read more about them in these links. Note that the free monogram offer isn't likely to last long.

http://www.bristlythistle.com/lee42.html

http://bristlythistle.wordpress.com/2008/06/16/needlepoint-cd-dvd-case-by-lee/

Interesting, aren't they?

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Playing with Colors

Gay Ann Rogers' mystery piece called Mystery in a Corner is stimulating a lot of discussion about color. Visit her blog and scroll through all the thread packets to see a variety of choices for the design,


http://gayannrogers.blogspot.com/2008/06/mystery-in-corner-great-commentary-on.html


then visit Pierette's blog to read through all her color commentary. Remember, start at the bottom of the page and read up.


http://www.lovetostitch99.blogspot.com/


You can read more color commentary on Jeanne's blog, although it isn't as extensive.


http://juststring.blogspot.com/2008/05/more-purple-please.html


Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.



Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Dragon Rock Almost Done

I am adding bullions in various sizes and copper shades around the rock itself. I am also tossing in a few blue bullions. Bullions in metallics are hard because the thread is stiff but I really like how they look, particularly in the Needle Necessities' Kreinik overdyed metallic. I am not using the overdyed Kreinik here, but I have used it many other places to wonderful effect.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

How to Stitch a Dragon

The photo above shows my progress stitching my dragon rock jewelry piece.

To show you how I got there, here's a scan of my first step. I put my rock on the canvas scrap where I thought it would look ok, and drew around it with a blue quilting pen, then stitched all the way around my design area with tent stitches. This helps me in finishing later and shows me the margins to stop stitching as well as where the rock is. I don't want to put the rock on top of stitches so I'll avoid that round area. I want to nestle the rock down with stitches surrounding it and then decorate the edge with bullions.



Then I had to decide how to stitch a dragon theme around the rock. My first thought was the traditional dragon holding a pearl in one claw design, but when you combine such a small area with my drawing skills (less than a 4 year old's!), I decided that wouldn't work. Too bad, but how about an eye of a dragon? The rock could be the pupil....

Again, I decided I didn't have enough room to adequately convey what I was aiming for. I was going to have to settle for dragon scales. I thought about doing something random in all sizes of oval stitches to mimic dragon scales since Laura Perin's Pacific Tide Pool class piece that shows random sea creatures (look at the June 11 entry in the link below) turned out so well.

http://two-handedstitcher.blogspot.com/

But in the end I choose a trellis pattern (based loosely on Marnie Ritter's Composite Flat Pattern #2 from the March/April 1991 Needlepoint Plus magazine), laid out my grid, stitched the triangle shapes and then started filling in the empty areas with a variety of threads and textures. I used a peach/tan/cream overdyed Impressions #172 Almond, some #4 Kreinik braid in blue #329, my new Silk Lame Braid #SL03 which is cream silk and gold metallic, and of course the shades of Splendor and copper metallic I've already mentioned. I hope it looks a bit like dragon scales. I like how it's turning out. Once I finish laying the top grid of copper metallic (it's finished on the right side of the triangle in the photo but not the left) then I can attach by dragon rock at just the right angle, fold under the edge margins and finish it.



This has taken about 4 hours of stitching to date (we had a cloudburst yesterday so I stitched instead of doing yardwork) and I estimate it will take 6-8 hours from start to finishing. That's not a long period of time, especially for a piece of jewelry.

Odette writes she has a "cherry blossom" rock slab that she's going to play around with. Hopefully she'll be able to send us a photo when she is done!

Before I end, let me update you on the Internet connection problem. The phone company sent a repairman yesterday who managed to get all the static off the line for about two hours. Then we got a downpour and the static is back, worse than ever. I'm on a waiting list for a rush repair in the next 2-3 days since even Verizon agrees that phones should work in the rain. In other words, my posting is still going to be somewhat spotty for the next week or so at least. Sorry.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

June 2008 Chilly Hollow Newsletter Article

Like all of you, I love doing a little web surfing for inspiration and to enjoy the eye candy. Now that there are a lot of needlepoint blogs to read, the opportunities for ideas to enhance our stitching are even larger than before blogging was popular. One of my very favorite blogs is Laura Perin's Two Handed Stitcher, where she just finished stitching a gerber daisy based on a photograph her sister took. (To see it, look for the May 26 entry in the first link below.) Laura has been bragging about her sister's photographs for a while, so I finally visited her sister's blog and enjoyed the photos a lot. Here's Laura's blog.

http://two-handedstitcher.blogspot.com/

Here is her sister's.

http://www.goingtopieces.blogspot.com/

But the new fun thing I found on Laura's sister's blog is mention of this website--Big Huge Labs--which apparently has a ton of free Photoshop and photo tools. I love this one!

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/colors.php

You upload a digital photo and it analyzes the colors and gives you "swatches" that relate to Photoshop somehow. (Maybe a color correction tool? I don't know much about Photoshop.) You also get the HTML code for the colors. I'm using that code to match the ivory color of my Blog lady photo so I can make the background of my Blogspot blog the same ivory. HTML is the main computer code that makes blogs work. I'm told it's a bit outdated as programming languages go, but it is widely known and versatile so blog programming is usually based on it. I use HTML to make words bold, start a new paragraph, center a photo on the page or to the side, and to tell Blogspot what color I want my background on Blog to be.

I thought you'd have fun looking at the photo tools. The color analysis tool has flaws--I think there might be a limit to the number of colors it displays (I uploaded a photo of Virginia bluebells in bloom and got tons of shades of green for the leaves, almost as many browns for the ground and no blues at all for the bluebells!) and of course the photo quality really determines what the color analysis tool can do, but it was a fun browse. Later on I'll use the tool to pull out colors from designs when I am trying to choose threads. Sometimes I don't notice a color when I'm getting ready to stitch. Some painted canvas designers put little boxes of all the paint colors they used in the margin of the canvas but not all do this.

If you want to see the color tool in action, browse these two blogs. Color-Stripes is a graphic designer's blog but she uses the tool constantly to analyze photographs she likes. The second link is to Orna Willis' website. You probably have seen her geometrics on her website, so take a tour of her thoughts and see the color schemes she explores with this tool.

http://color-stripes.blogspot.com/

http://www.ornadesign.blogspot.com/

Hope you have fun with color through visiting the above.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
blogging at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow and
mirror blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

I've Got a Rock-Now What?

I've got hours of basketweave ahead of me still on Autumn Leaves, which I know must be as boring for you to watch as it is for me to stitch, so we'll take a little detour into rock slab jewelry land, shall we?

What you see above is the stuff I pulled out of my stash once I found the perfect rock at the local bead store. The threads are all Splendor silk, in the dark copper S850 and the lighter golden/tan of S839, plus the dark teal S1114. I also grabbed some Kreinik metallic in the copper 027 (size #16 medium braid) and a spool of Accentuate metallic in a similar copper 026. I may change my mind later (we are making this up as we go along, you know) but those are the colors I started with. They resemble the colors in my crazy lace agate.

Now, we have to come up with a design. My scrap of canvas looks to be 18 count and it is in the shape of a triangle, about 4 inches long on the short sides and probably 6 inches on the long side. So I have about a 2 inch by 2 inch space to fill with my rock and some pattern.

What to do, what to do? Well, when in doubt you know what I do--I cheat! This time cheating took the form of looking at my rock. I decided it would be easy to copy the shapes on my rock in stithes. I could plop the rock down on the canvas somewhere, either in the middle or off to either side, and surround it with patterns.

Let's look at my rock. The side I bought it for has a pretty agate swirl that has various layers of color, plus a few round or oval dots of various colors. The rock itself is roughly round with a hole drilled through the middle from one end to the other. I'll be able to attach it to the canvas with a thread quite easily. Neva glues hers but I was shopping at a bead shop, the closest thing I have to a rock shop anywhere near me. Then I turned the rock over and here's what I saw--





Doesn't that look like the head of a dragon to you?

I think we have our design motif!


Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Rock and Thread Jewelry

See this? This is a rock slab necklace modeled by Neva, a friend who is a very talented and inventive stitcher. Neva's made a lot of these using dollar rock slabs from rock shows or bead shops.

First, get a rock slice (or large bead or whatever you can scrounge from your local shops) and then raid your stash for matching or contrasting colors in various threads. Find a small piece of canvas in whatever shape you like. Glue the slab somewhere on your canvas, then stitch around it using whatever shapes you like. Design anything. Do a stitch you like, stitches you always wanted to try, stitches that are too big/little/fat/thin for your typical style of stitching. Run wild!

Then put bullions around the edge of the rock to sort of hide the edge. Finish your canvas with cording and wear your do-it-yourself rock and thread jewelry!

Neva says people in her local guild who never thought they could design anything have tried this and turned out lovely pieces. So today at lunch I headed to the bead shop and picked up a blue crazy lace agate and a white carved bead in the shape of Buddha. We'll see what I'm able to make of them. As always, stay tuned. This time the madness is rocks and scrap threads....

Neva, thanks for letting me use a photo of your necklace. Have fun in Africa!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The StitchIts Sweater Collection

My trip last week to Needlewoman East included a careful inspection of the current trunk show. No matter how good the pictures are you see online, nothing beats seeing painted canvases in person. So I look over all the NW East trunk shows carefully any time I get to visit. I don't want to miss anything!

This time the trunk show on display was by StitchIts, not a designer I know much about. They specialize in simple designs, not the realistic canvases I prefer. Not my cup of tea usually but I enjoyed their little sweater patterns. I photographed my favorites for you to see. Looks like they are on 18 count canvas, and all are in primary colors with contrasting polka dots in an all-over pattern. Each sweater comes with a series of 2-4 themed buttons in matching colors, and it is the buttons that set these designs apart. If you look closely you'll see the teal green wizard-castle-dragon buttons, the brown dog with a white bone, the three elfs on a blue sweater, and the tiny Nativity Mary, Jospeh and Baby Jesus. [NOTE: This image is on my main blog. The link is below.]

I've put a second image on my mirror blog (above) that shows the bright green cowboy boot, hat and cactus sweater; the one in blue decorated by the toy ship/airplane/truck; the red bowling pins and ball; and finally the brown trout and fish basket sweater. These are an easy and quick stitch with outstanding embellishments. There are a great many more of these (I saw at least 25 different sets of sweater canvases and of course their line has much more than sweaters), all very cute and all a perfect easy present to stitch for someone, or even for yourself.

By the way, if you love buttons with your canvases, Mindy and Squiggee also offer great buttons that match or enhance a painted canvas design.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Mighty Bright's Clip-on Light/Magnifier

I've been saving up for a Dazor light/magnifier for a while since my old light/magnifier died. They are expensive so I purchased a battery operated travel light/magnifier to stand in until my piggy bank is full again. The photo you see above is what I bought--a Vusion Craft Light by Mighty Bright.

It has a very bright LED light with a high and low setting controlled by the black button on the top of the light, a two inch magnifier that enlarged to twice the normal view through an "optical grade" acrylic lens, and a base where it stands upright until you need to clamp it on your frame. The clamp is large enough to handle my stretcher bars and ahoops, and the box says it will fit over Q-Snaps as well. The base has a large round magnet on the underside. You can put the light/magnifier in the base under a latch so it can sit on a table or hang sideways off the refrigerator when not in use. It takes three AAA batteries and is probably not meant for continuous use, just for travel. It seems to weigh about a pound and doesn't add substantially to the weight of any project I want to stitch holding the frame in my hand. The two necks bend separately in any direction--and stay there--to light or magnify your canvas (or both) as you stitch. You can buy an adaptor to plug into the wall and use like any electrical appliance but for me that would interfere with clamping this on my canvas. This AC adaptor costs extra and you have to buy it separately if you want it.

I've stitched a bit with my Vusion Craft Light and so far I like it very much. But I don't need a lot of light or much magnification and I don't mind the very small magnified area. I also don't need "true" illumination and don't mind a slight bluish ast from the LED lights. I am not sure it is wildly durable, however, since the clamp is plastic. I think a lot of clamping and unclamping might eventually break it.

Shop around on the Web before you buy something like this. I found it here on sale for $23.99 and no shipping charges. It came to me via UPS about four business days after I ordered it. I think it also might be available from Needle in a Haystack in California although I don't see it listed on their website now.

http://www.lampsplus.com/Products/desk-lamps/Type_Book-Lights/08118/


Here it sits on the base. Can you see how much the magnifier enlarges the base itself? I find it very useful and perhaps it'll meet some of your stitching needs also.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Anne Jerlow's Kite Kimono UPDATED

I found a kite kimono from the late Anne Jerlow up for sale on eBay today. Isn't it pretty? The design is around 14 inches square on 13 count canvas and comes with threads and a stitch guide. The price is already quite high, but I thought you'd like to see more from the late Ms.Jerlow than just the geishas canvases which decorate Blog now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kite-Kimono-BEST-THREAD-LOT-EVER-Hand-Painted-Canvas_W0QQitemZ330242118228QQihZ014QQcategoryZ3107QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemor%20Tiny%20URLor Tiny URL

http://tinyurl.com/53g98b

Enjoy!

UPDATE: This canvas (with threads and stitch guide) sold for $565.00 plus $8.60 shipping. WHEW!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Internet Still Down

My Internet connection is still mostly down at home, sadly. The phone company is due next Friday. I hope the problem is in the phone lines and they fix it then. The tornado caused some damage here (though not at my house) and since we have voice communication, I'm not a high priority. Sorry!

However, I managed to squeeze in a trip to my LNS Friday and saw several things you probably would enjoy hearing about.

First, are you familiar with ribbon floss? I saw large 100 yard spools of ribbon floss for sale, perfect if you are using a lot of it in one big project or over several smaller pieces. I like ribbon floss a lot and if you do also, see if your shop can order a larger quantity than usual for you. Needlewoman East had spools of white with metallic woven in, purple with metallic and shiny gold. If you are not familiar with ribbon floss, you can see it on the YLI website. Click on Needlework on the left, then on ribbon floss. The large spools don't seem to be on the website.

http://www.ylicorp.com/

I also saw two new Leigh round ornament canvases, the ones on 18 count that now come with round rings to hang them from once they are stitched. These were on the pretty aqua green canvas with part of the design realistic and part abstract pattern. They are called the South Seas Dynasty ornament series. You can see them on Leigh's website below. The two in stock at NW East were the palm tree on the beach/zebra stripes and the orchids/red floral fabric pattern. I liked them a lot and wish I'd seen the reclining women. I might have bought one of those! Maybe those were sold already. All of these are very tropical and look like a fun stitch.

http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp825x.html

DMC's Stitch-opology game was on display. NW East was taking signups to order sets, but I don't know the cost. Are you familiar with the board game Monopoly? Stitch-opology is based on Monopoly. It has aqua green houses and purple hotels, silver tokens based on stitching motifs, and squares with skeins of threads from DMC and stitch names on them. You can see more about the set on the DMC website.

http://www.dmc-usa.com/majic/pageServer/1l0100028r/en_US/Stitch-opoly.html

I took some photos of a trunk show from StitchIts for you to see but that has to wait until I can post photographs. These have to be seen to be admired!

More when I am able to post.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Internet Down

I'm sure you are wondering where I am, but things here are fine despite the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms we had Wednesday night. Except my home Internet connection isn't working. Things that don't work are changing each time I try to log on, too.

So you may not hear from me again until Monday if I can't fix the troubles myself. I'll be basketweaving my brains out, though! So you go stitch some, too, ok?

Hugs to all from Jane, still lurking in Chilly Hollow

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

SharonG Canvases from Ponza, Italy

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As you probably know, the latest TNNA trade show is this weekend. Needlepoint designers, thread manufacturers and many more folks who feed our addiction get together for a wholesale show for our shops. Through the courtesy of SharonG, I have four of her newest Italian landscapes to show you above. These designs came from photographs taken from Denise W. who visits Italy often and took these photographs in Ponza. Can't you just hear the sea gulls and smell the salty sea air? Lovely!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Brenda Stofft Trunk Show & Sale

Needle Nook of La Jolla has four pages of Brenda Stofft designs to admire in a trunk show (which means a 20% discount off the listed price). I'm a big fan of her work and the trunk show has things I've never seen on her website. Here's the trunk show.

http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/products.php?cat=206

Here's Brenda's website.

http://www.brendastofftdesigns.com/

By the way, the photo above is the Santa on a Panda canvas photo from page three of the NN of LJ trunk show. He's very Asian, isn't he? I put another photo up on my main blog (link below). The photo there is of the finished Summer Hare from Brenda's four canvas seasonal hare set. You can see it on her website under the Rabbit section. The seasonal rabbits aren't sold separately, so this is a particularly good time to buy if you are interested in the series.

I love a good sale!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

No Calorie Needlepoint

I got the latest little brochure from Pocket Full of Stitches in the mail last week. It announced their summer classes, retreats and of course the newest canvas of the month clubs planned for the summer into next winter. This information isn't up on their website yet but you can see some of the canvases for the newest monthly club on Raymond Crawford's website. Click on Finishing, then prepare to be amazed.

http://www.raymondcrawford.com/


Remember his NP cakes from a few years back? They were tiered like wedding cakes and full of fun. (If you haven't seen them, click on Designs and choose Cakes.) Now PFOS is going to be selling kits for Raymond's themed cupcakes, which have a round rop and curved sides, and which you can customize to your heart's content without worrying about your diet, healthy eating, or anything else except indulging your needlepoint sweet tooth.

Of course the Little Shoppe Canvas Company has carried NP pastries, cookies (including gingerbread men) and fruits for a while now. If you don't like cupcakes, you might find something equally fun and equally food at their website.

http://www.littleshoppecanvascompany.com/indexhome.html


A Collection of Designs has had decorated "sugar cookie" canvases for years. These are classics, with a very large selection of designs to choose from. The second link has cupcakes in a different style.


http://www.acollectionofdesigns.com/cookies%20page%201.htm

http://www.acollectionofdesigns.com/merry_christmas_6.htm

If small isn't what you like to stitch, how about stitching the cookie maker from Melissa Shirley?

http://melissashirleydesigns.com/gallery/?index=1247&cat=69



By the way, the photo illustrating this blog entry is Denise's Bitten Cookie, taken from the Elaine Magnin website, which is a durn good place to search on "cookie" or "baker" to browse for some non-fat delights.

http://elainemagninneedlepoint.stores.yahoo.net/bitcookor.html

Happy eating, uh, stitching.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Update on Autumn Leaves

I’ve nearly finished the right half of Autumn Leaves, working various areas as I jump around from leaf to background to another leaf. For the left half of the design, I plan to turn the canvas upside down (in relationship to Lani’s signature) and start working the whole thing in basketweave from the upper right hand corner (or what will be upper right once the canvas is standing on its head) down to the side that has been stitched. I will do the whole thing in one large section so we can compare working jumping around to simply starting in one place and working the whole design from that point. You can see in the photo above that I have worked most of the left and started in the lower left hand corner to basketweave the other half.

How am I going to do this? Big hint--magnets!

You’ll also see if you look carefully that there is a bit of a green leaf edge showing on the right bottom. This design is the center of a larger one that had green in it and that bit still shows. I will make it either brown or red as the spirit moves me by just choosing a thread for that small area. Can’t decide? Put your skein of red on the canvas there and step back. How does it look? Then switch to a skein of ivory or tan and again back away to give yourself some distance. Generally one color looks slightly better. If not, feel free to flip a coin because if you can’t see a preferred color, it doesn’t matter which one you make that little green leaf.

But for now I must say that everything looks pretty good, particularly since I stitched the finished part of Autumn Leaves in various sessions with a lot of types of threads. The goal has been to make each tent stitch look like all the rest--same size and tension. So far, so good. But occasionally I do loose concentration and some stitches are not pulled down as flat as the others. If this happens, I use a 4 inch length of Kreinik #8 metallic thread that I keep in my stitching toolbox. It’s just a piece of thread, a leftover from some project. It has no knot in the end, it is just a straight lenght of thread. When I have a tent stitch that doesn’t seem to be pulled down properly, I use my Kreinik to fix the problem.

First, thread up your needle and then figure out the down hole for your problem stitch. Once you know where to plunge the needle, just pull the metallic thread through. Kreinik is just rough enough that it will catch your thread and pull it towards the back.

This tip (My dear friend Mimi learned it on the ANG list some years back and told it to me-Thanks, Mimi!) often fixes a tent stitch that needs adjusting. It doesn’t always work, and some threads are tender enough (flat silk, for example) that a rough thread will make the situation worse, not better. But before you rip, try a little piece of metallic. After all, Kreinik is your friend!

Before I stop, I should say that since we’re half way through this all-tent stitch project, I’m already planning the next step in my stitching adventure. My Yahoo 360 blog allows me to post multiple photos in the left column header and there you will see two Squiggee canvases that will be the next stop in the Chilly Hollow NP adventure. I have finishing to do, so I thought I’d finish another small ornament myself, then start up one of the small ornaments I want to stitch. I also have three huge projects I’ve put aside while blog exploits took over I want to get back to. If everything works well, I will make up some of the small ornaments I finished last winter, start on the two little Squiggee canvases, and finish at least one of the Big Three.

Stay tuned!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow