Spring Cleaning

No, I'm not spring cleaning, silly. I'm stitching, or I will be once I post this. The spring cleaning is being done by two online shops: Needles and Threads of Ruxton in Maryland and Old World Designs in California.

Both are favorite online destinations of mine and both have recently redone their websites slightly with new fun things you will enjoy (in case you need something to do besides cleaning out that closet and washing windows).

Needles and Threads of Ruxton is back with a revamped website. They still have the very nice stitch dictionary with lovely diagrams of some unusual and lovely stitches, but they've added Comments so you can interact with news stories. Sadly, most of the postings are spam right now, which is why the comments on my Blogspot blog are moderated and the comments on my Yahoo 360 blog are closed except to those with a Yahoo relationship of some kind. So ignore the comments until Needles and Threads has time to solve the spamming problem.

Instead, have a gander at these! They have thirteen pages of canvases to browse. I'm sure there is something there to catch your eye.

http://www.needlesandthreadsofruxton.com/f_product_display.php?s=4&id=4

Old World Designs has tweeked their website. They have added photos of the threads that they carry, especially helpful if you have no local shop and want to see before you mail order something. They have added one item you'll want to bookmark, or at least print out and put on your bulletin board--a chart of how many strands or plies you'll need on 13 count and 18 count canvas. They also are doing a Melissa Shirley Noah's Ark set as a monthly club with two canvases a month until September when you will have the ark to stitch together. By the way, don't miss the Terian Crafts section on their design list. Terian Crafts does lovely oriental rug and pillow patterns with wool from Chile on large count canvas. Their work is superb.

http://www.oldworlddesigns.com/

http://www.oldworlddesigns.com/ply.html

http://www.oldworlddesigns.com/artists/terian.html

Finally, Old World Designs is having a Julie Pischke trunk show. Julie has a shop in Key West and many of her designs reflect the laid-back lifestyle of the southern-most part of the continental United States. The canvas above is one of my favorites from her collection, "Island Gossip."

Yes, it's in my stash. Now put down that dust rag, shove the vacuum cleaner into the corner, put away the garden tools and sit down and choose a Julie canvas for yourself!

http://www.islandneedlepoint.com/


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

Kauni Nametag Finished UPDATED

Yesterday I put the Kauni nametag together. In the photo below you see all the parts that went into the finished piece--the wool felt backing (cut with pinking shears to give that distinctive toothed edge), the cardboard backside which was glued to the middle of the felt, the plastic canvas backside that was put inside the nametag itself, and the front with some beads attached to the bottom. I had to finish attaching the beads at the bottom and then put the beaded name on the front middle before I could put it all together. I also turned the raw canvas edges around the nametag under and stitched them in place with sewing thread.



I cut out the cardboard and the plastic canvas slightly smaller than the nametag and the wool felt about 1/4 inch larger all the way around. I glued the cardboard to the felt and let it dry for several days under a pile of heavy books. Once dry, I made a sandwich with the nametag on top, then the plastic canvas to stiffen it, then the cardboard that is glued to the felt with the felt facing out and the cardboard facing in.

Before I forget, the nametag has a pin on the back. Most folks like to hang their nametag around their necks so that they don't have to stick a pin through clothes but I prefer nametags that have pins. You can find these self stick pin sets at crafts stores.



Now the hard part--hand stitching the backing to the nametag's front. I used a thimble, a regular sewing needle and sewing thread to match the back. I didn't turn under the felt as you might since I wanted a sort of ruffled edge to set off the nametag which is intended for a lady who needlepoints and knits. I thought this edging brought ruffled pillows to mind. Most of us have a needlepoint pillow or two on our couches.

I am happy with how it turned out. Wear it in good health, Marj!

NOTE: I don't know why the second and third photo aren't showing up here. They show up fine on the Yahoo 360 blog and both blogs upload from the same place. I'm giving up after my third attempt. For now, visit Blog at Yahoo 360. UPDATE: Looks like the place where my images are stored has changed how photos there are put into Blog. And the change makes it more difficult to post multiple photos. In fact, it looks impossible at this point. So I am going to have to change how I upload multiple images to Blogspot. Stay tuned as I try to figure this out. (Don't hold your breath.) UPDATE #2: Finally got the photos up. Blogspot does NOT make this easy!

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