Mystery of the Missing Bear UPDATED

Have you seen this bear? Susan was traveling and tired and let the final piece of twelve slip out of her bag on an airplane. She's had no luck in finding her lost canvas or in tracking down a replacement canvas as this is an older piece from TS Designs that is a Bar Mitzvah Bear. It came with fringe to put on the tallis and is 14 count. She also lost the photo of the finished piece and the instructions, so even those are better than nothing if you stitched this bear and have them buried in the bottom of your closet.

The piece she lost was the bottom section in the above photo. So rummage through your stash, search the local shop's inventory, and rack your brains. If you have seen this bear anyplace email me at chillyhollowat hot maildot com and I'll forward your message to Susan.

Thanks! You all are The Best!

UPDATE: We now have a lead on where to contact the former owner of TS Designs and know where the bear was painted so we can contact them for a copy of the piece pattern. You guys are amazing!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Three Women and a Peach

My next painted canvas is from Squiggee. As you might expect, this is an Asian design showing three women, one of whom is looking down at the peach in her hand. The canvas itself is the brown (not ecru) canvas in 18 count and the women wear rather muted colors. The circle surrounding the women is 7 inches in diameter. The official name of this canvas is "Three Geishas and a Peach." Here it is on Squiggee's website.
http://www.squiggeedesigns.com/

Despite the theme of this canvas, it is my first Japanese geisha piece. I normally choose more realistic and Western interpretations. To see what I mean, check out this Susan Treglown design of three young women.
http://www.elainemagnin.com/threegeishas.html


Or this Michelene Love Snow Princess.
http://elainemagninneedlepoint.stores.yahoo.net/snowgeisha.html

Contrast these more Western versions of Asian women with the first four HP Designs ladies on this page which are more in tune with how women are depicted in Japanese art.
http://www.hpneedlepoint.com/ASIAN5X5.html

My Westernized views of geishas turned out to be the biggest stumbling block with this design. Next time I'll explain why my views of what a typical geisha is had to be put aside to stitch this piece successfully.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Buttonhole At the Base

I have the wizard's base half stitched now. I ran out of steam last night after almost two hours of using buttonhole stitch around the base to attach it to the back of the standup figure. I'll attempt to get the bulk of the hand sewing done tonight. I am using buttonhole stitch using sewing thread and putting each stitch very close together in the hopes this will wear well. After all, the rocks in the base will put a lot of pressure on the seam.

This is taking longer than I thought but then my schedule is sometimes unpredictable and I can't always count on as much stitching time as I'd like. Know the feeling? :)

To keep you entertained, how about I tell you about my next two projects, my new painted canvas and what I plan to stitch for the ANG Auction in Milwaukee next September?

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow