Ring-Topped Dragon

Ch'ing has a metal ornament hanger top now! Last night I choose two other golds that look good with the vintage gold-colored Treasure Ribbon I used to outline the scales of our Chinese red dragon, then used long tent stitches to do vertical lines of various colors on the hanger top. I worked top down on row one, then bottom up on row two, etc., starting with a regular tent stitch followed by a row of elongated tent stitches over two threads instead of the normal one. The last stitch in each row was a regular tent stitch. Each row is a different shade of gold.

For the golds I used Treasure Braid TR83 for the regular gold (in 8 strand size--this thread comes in 4 strands, 8 strands or 16 strands so you can put it on any canvas count from congress cloth to 13-14 count); Treasure Braid TR81 (8 strand size) for the yellow gold; and Petite Treasure Ribbon in PR30 for the dark vintage gold. I left the ends of each gold thread on top of the canvas so you could compare the various shades of gold. The vintage gold and the yellow gold are on the left side and the regular gold on the right.

In the photo you see the finished ornament top and the ring that goes on top in its little package that came with the canvas. I think you are supposed to put the looped end on the back side of your canvas and thread the open end through a hole to the front, then come back down on the other side of the metal ornament top, go back through a hole there and then fasten the open end into the loop to close it. If you then tied down the top of the loop with a couched stitch, it would stay in position. I was a bit too tired to tackle this last night, so I put the canvas away and added a little more red lettering to the endless boring border of Cape Cod Dogs instead. I am close to half done with the border. Hopefully I will finish it before Ch'ing is completely done.

Tonight I'll attach the ring and continue work on the dragon's head. I've started the head but decided it would be better to talk about the dragon's head and fins in logical order, not in the order I stitched them.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Head of a Dragon, Body of a Snake

Last night was spent basketweaving the black border around Cape Cod Dogs but I finished the body of Ch'ing the red dragon from Leigh before starting Even More Basketweave and want to show this part of the design off.

The sinuous snake-like body of the dragon has red, orange and yellow scales outlined with gold. Some of the gold areas widen to become gold scales. I didn't want to lose the lovely shading and I didn't want to tent stitch the whole body, either, so it took me some time to come up with an idea that would give me the slightly wet look of snakeskin. Here in CH we get to inpect snakes fairly often (mostly the very small and very pretty tree snakes who live around us and who sport a gold ring around their necks) and all their bodies look shiny and wet. I wanted this look for Ch'ing.

I first stitched the gold lines in tent stitches using Petite Treasure Ribbon from Rainbow Gallery. This is a shiny metallic ribbon, thinner and narrower than ribbon floss, that is easy to use. Like all ribbon threads, it does twist and turn as you stitch with it but since the twists expose the vintage gold-with-black color of PR30, I didn't use a laying tool as I stitched. Please note that Treasure Ribbon comes in two widths--Petite and plain Treasure Ribbon. I used the Petite as this is an 18 count canvas. If you are curious about Petite and regular Treasure Ribbon, look at the Rainbow Gallery website.
http://www.rainbowgallery.com/colorcards.cfm

Remember I said that some of the gold lines widened to produce gold scales? When I got to these areas, I only stitched the outside edge. I left the centers unstitched. When all the gold outlines and the red or orange or yellow scales were stitched completely, I added tiny gold faceted beads from Sundance Designs to the center of the gold scales. My tube isn't labeled, but the gold shade of the beads and of the Petite Treasure Braid is similar. Matching the color is more important than using the same brand of beads.

Adding the beads were the last step. The next to last step is filing in the orange and red and yellow scales with long diagonal stitches using three colors of Water N Ice--red WT5, orange WT4 and yellow WT3. Water N Ice is a slightly transparent ribbon thread. It looks like strips of heavy Saran wrap. To see more colors, go to the Rainbow Gallery page listed above. The smaller photo on the right shows some gold outlining, a few of the red scales stitched and a cluster of gold beads in the center of a gold scale.

In most cases I used slanting diagonal stitches to fill in. I worked the two sides of each mostly oval shape first, then put a long stitch in the middle overlapping the sides slightly. In this case, I did use a laying tool to keep the thread from twisting. The look is wet and slick, just like a real reptile.

I did lose some of the beautiful shading by topping it with this thread but I did see changes in some of the orange scales especially depening on how dark the orange paint underneath was. In a few cases I mixed orange and yellow thread in one scale where the paint clearly used both colors. I am happy with the look which gives Ch'ing the Manchu dragon a solid body that stands out from the checkerboard background.

The next challenge will be to heavily pad the dragon's head so that is even more prominent but before I work on that area I'm going to stitch the metallic hanger on top of the ornament.


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Pet Guardian Angels Start to Appear in Chilly Hollow

As you know, I stitched all six of Kandace Merric's pet guardian angels from the 1996-1997 Needle Pointers magazines for the ANG Auction. I am only one stitcher of many, however. Other angels are being stitched so a set of 15-20 of them will be sold in Milwaukee at ANG's auction night during the annual seminar. I very cleverly volunteered to coordinate the project so that all the angels would fly to Chilly Hollow for collection and packaging and a photo shoot so that all participants and Kandace herself have a document showing the set before they fly away to their new home with some lucky bidder. If you are going to the Milwaukee Seminar, I hope you'll visit the pet guardian angels on display just before the auction and that'll you'll bid for them.

Here are the five that arrived last week so everyone can enjoy them, too. The photo above is Marita's fantastic red and gold Dalmation, straight from a firehouse! Marita told me a bit about her pet guardian angel's backstory. "Dorothea Barker Winks (Dottie to her friends) is a retired firehouse dog. Her middle name is not any type of statement about her personality. Since she is a good Southern girl from Virginia, her mother chose a family name (actually Grandmother's maiden name) for her middle name. As you can guess, red is her favorite color. She is not one for lots of adornments because after all she worked at the firehouse (also her stitcher really hates to mess with beads). She really does appreciate the bright and shiny colors (red and gold) because they remind her of the fire engines that she so loved to ride on."



The next pet guardian angels are from Carole. The details on these two are amazing.I wish you could see the cunning buttons on the Medieval Cat

















or the perfect stitches on the Tudor Dog's autumn colors and braided trim! I don't want to part with these two at all.
















The final two angels are from Pat who dressed her Tudor Dog in the same white, royal blue and gold of the original model using delicate stitches and a very pretty wing pattern.














Her Georgian Rabbit's lovely blue eye and graceful head caught my eye first, then I realized how beautiful the lace trim, the bows and the floral trim are on this piece.


It is going to be very difficult to mail these away to the Auction Chairman!

I'll post more photos as more angels arrive.



Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Most Boring Border and a Question

I'm trying a canvas rotation as I stitch Ch'ing, the Leigh Chinese Dynasty ornament. I'm also working on Needlepoint of Back Bay's interpretation of Cape Cod Dogs by Elizabeth Mumford. I decided I would work on the border of Cape Cod Dogs as it is done mostly in basketweave. As you can see, I am almost half finished basketweaving the border background. I'm using Impressions, a silk/wood blend from Caron in the color 0020 which is black. It's a lovely thread, one strand of which covers on 18 count nicely. It's dull and mindless work, but rather soothing to do at night when I'm tired or while I'm thinking about the next fancy stitch for Ch'ing.

To liven things up a bit for myself, I am also tent stitching the red lettering in the border, using my red Hi-Lights #H614, the same thread I used for the metallic Scotch Stitches in the background of Ch'ing. (Good thing I didn't use it all up doing Ch'ing's whole background!) It is perfect for the words around Cape Cod Dogs. It is sparkly but not too shiny. I want the letters to be visible but not so loud as to take attention away from the dogs and mermaids at the bar. Once a person looks around and spots the details (the view out the window, the fact that the women at the bar have tails, the little liquor bottles and the glasses, etc.) then I want them to find the lettering and laugh.

One thing to consider when doing lettering that wraps around a border is that you have to keep the tent stitches oriented toward the right side of the canvas. No turning the canvas to have the letters readable and tent stitch them in that orientation!

To liven things up here a bit more, I took photos yesterday of the day lilies that line the driveway to the house as they are really looking great this year. We've had a cool and wet spring and summer up until last week (and rain is predicted for today) and they are very very happy. Hope you enjoy the slide show I made on the left side of the page right under the "Prayer for Stress Free Travel" icon from Sundance that's the canvas of the day.

Which reminds me--do you like the Canvas of the Day feature? Or does it just clutter up Blog? I have to admit with a canvas of the day, a slide show, the ANG Auction slide show of the pet guardian angels and my two current projects shown, the lefthand side of the page is getting cluttered! What do you think? Should I drop anything that I have there now?

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Dragon's Grid

Now that all the background Scotch Stitches are in place, it is time to deal with the grid lines that separate each square in the checkerboard. I used one ply of the very dark red/brown Soie d’Alger #2925 to lay long stitches along the grid lines. I did all the vertical stitches first. Note that each grid line was painted on top of a ridge, not in a ditch, but my thread lies in a ditch. Because I used just one ply of my very dark reddish brown silk, some of the paint will show. This gives extra dimension to the grid. I just had to make sure I always used the hole to the right (or left--doesn’t matter, just be consistent) of the painted line.

Once the vertical lines were covered, I did the horizontal ones. Again, I had to make sure I always used the hole above or below the painted line. Once both vertical and horizontal lines were laid, I couch them down at the corners of each grid using one strand of red metallic Bijoux #414 in a tiny cross stitch. (Bijoux is a thin metallic thread similar to but less shiny than Accentuate.) This adds a bit more subtle sparkle and keeps the long lengths of thread from sticking up and snagging something.

I thought about using the red Hi-Lights for the tie down XSs but decided that it might be a little too heavy a thread. Besides, the Bijoux gives an even subtler shine than the Hi-Lights and I think it looks nice in the background.

The dragon's body is next on the list. I've already pulled out my stash of Water N Ice....

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Anne Jerlow's Kimono 4 UPDATED

Another Anne Jerlow kimono has turned up on eBay. This one is labeled "Kimono 4" and is on 13 count. The design itself is 14 inches square according to the eBay seller. Keeping with my practice of capturing images of this dead artist's designs, I am posting a photo here. Her six geishas which I stitched for the ANG Auction in 2007 are an iconic image that I use periodically here on Blog.

Let's hope this one finds a good home!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Needlepoint-Canvas-Anne-Jerlow-Kimono_W0QQitemZ170349375127QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27a99d2e97&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

or Tiny URL
http://tinyurl.com/mnrhmn

UPDATE: This eBay sale ended early because "this canvas is no longer available for sale." Makes me wonder what happened. I've never seen a canvas pulled like this unless it was of something someone objected to, like class instructions which a teacher didn't want sold because the instructions wouldn't be enough to stitch a piece without the teacher's comments in class. Very odd! Well, I'm glad we at least got to see this Anne Jerlow. By the way, the seller of this canvas has a Princely design that he/she says is also by Anne Jerlow. Here's the photo. The eBay sale link is under the photo.


http://tinyurl.com/ol82vw

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Ch'ing Dynasty Ornament

I've always liked Asian-themed painted canvases and Leigh Designs is one of my favorites so her Ch'ing dragon ornament was a Must Buy for me. A little research showed me that the Ch'ing are the dynasty of emperors we in the West call the Manchu. The dragon was their symbol. The emperor was the son of a red dragon, after all! You can read a bit more about the Ch'ing dragon robe symbolism here.
http://www.artsmia.org/world-myths/viewallart/dragon_background.html

As I said yesterday, this piece is roughly 4 inches in diameter on 18 count red canvas. The dragon, who has red, yellow and orange scales edged in gold, has black fins and whiskers. He breathes fire on a background of red squares separated by a reddish brown grid. He has white on his eyes and mouth as an accent against all the red and black which dominate this canvas.

As is my practice, my first step was to make a color xerox of the design. Then I put the canvas away where I couldn't see it and sketched what I remembered of the pattern. That's also something I regularly do. A sketch tells me what I remember about a design. What I remember is what is important to me and what I want to emphasize in a design. I sketched the dragon's bending body, the black fins and whiskers around the open mouth and staring eyes, the stream of fire he's breathing and the checkerboard background. (And no, I'm not posting a photo of my sketch--no need to have everyone laughing at my art skills!) This is a pretty simple canvas and I remembered most of it, so I had to go to my fallback position to decide what to stitch and how and in what order. The dragon is against a background of a grid. This might be a decorative pattern in clothing if the dragon is embroidered, or perhaps a screen on a wall if the dragon is roaming the emperor's palace. At any rate, the background is definitely behind the dragon. So that's the place to start stitching! I prefer working from the background towards the front when possible. It just seems logical to me. However, there are times when you want to do the background last. It all depends on the canvas and the stitches and colors and threads you are using. As SharonG says, the only rule is that the thread goes through the eye of the needle!

In the photo above you see I've stitched some of the background squares. I decided to use a simple Scotch Stitch for each of them. Scotch Stitches are a perfect fit for the space and leave the grid lines uncovered.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/98-06.php

I chose a deep red Hi-Lights (H614 Dark Red) for these stitches. Hi-Lights is a synthetic metallic thread wound around a shiny nylon perle type thread. My H614 is a red metallic wound around the red nylon core. It is a bit like blending filament but more rounded and heavier. Here's Rainbow Gallery's tips for working with Hi-Lights.
http://www.rainbowgallery.com/JaysTips.html#15C

Here are all the colors available in Hi-Lights.
http://www.rainbowgallery.com/detail.cfm?ID=669

In my experience you need to use a short length of Hi-Lights because the canvas holes fray it slightly each time you take a stitch. It is very thin and when I did a few Scotch Stitches, I realized that one strand wasn't covering. So I simply went back and did a second Scotch Stitch right on top of the first, but oriented the other way. Look back at the diagram of the Scotch Stitch and you'll see that the slants can run from the Southwest to the Northeast or they can be oriented from the NW to the SE. I ended up with my Scotch Stitches going SW to NE in the bottom layer and then running NW to SE on the top layer. You do have to be careful with your Scotch Stitches that they are all slanting the same direction. One that is going the wrong way will stand out!

I was happy how the little cluster of Scotch Stitches looked, but I was working from a partial card of Hi-Lights. I started to worry that I wouldn't have enough thread to cover the entire background and that all that glitter was Too Much. Dither, dither, dither.... Then the light bulb went off over my head.

See how the Scotch Stitches I've done above are in a rough C shape? That's deliberate. My solution to the double issue of Too Much Glitter and Not Enough Thread was to use the red Hi-Lights #H614 for just highlights, not the entire background. I'd pulled two skeins of Soie d'Alger silk out of my stash because they were the right reds and decided I would use the lighter shade (2925) for the rest of my background Scotch Stitches. Soie d'Alger is a silk floss and I know how silk shines and catches the light. If I carefully laid my Scotch Stitches done in this thread and alternated the direction of how they were oriented on each diagonal row, I'd add more shine and light direction interest to the piece without overwhelming it with metallics. This is the background, after all. One doesn't want the background fancier than the foreground, just like one doesn't want a bridesmaid in a prettier gown than the bride's!

So I spent a lot of time laying two plies of my deep red Soie d'Alger in Scotch Stitches, working diagonally a row at a time to make sure that each square was oriented correctly in relation to its neighbors. Here you see the canvas with all the Scotch Stitches finished.


The moral of all my problems I listed above is that figuring out what to do when your thread doesn't cover or when you think you'll run out of thread will lead you to interesting and creative ways of dealing with your current canvas. In my experience, problems make me the most creative with my needlepoint and that's when things turn out best. Next time I'll talk about the final two steps for stitching the background.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

More Summer Fun Canvases

Old School gamers will laugh with delight at the needlepointed plastic canvas Space Invaders magnet set. This would be a fun and simple project for a large group of kids (although there would be squabbling over whose house it got to live in next week). Check the links for smaller video game project ideas. The pixel art of these 1980s games transfer well to the grid of needlepoint canvas.
http://technabob.com/blog/2009/06/21/space-invaders-needlepoint-fridge-magnet/

Barbi let slip in an email conversation that her newest designs, a set of twelve heart pattern canvases called Postcards from the Heart, are available at Quail Run. These little canvases come with a stitch guide and are perfect beach stitching! They'll look pretty durn cute framed, too.
http://www.quailrun-inc.com/whatsnew.htm

Quail Run has a great looking series of classes this summer, too. That's an idea! If you aren't going on vacation this year, treat yourself to a mini-vacation at your local shop!
http://www.quailrun-inc.com/qrteachers.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Ok, Pull Up Your Chairs--I'm Starting Something New

I've been stitching on two new projects for a week now but there has been so much else to talk about (new items from the Columbus trade show, helping MNS decide about the Nutcracker Santa, pet guardian angels arriving in the mail, etc.) that I haven't mentioned them yet. Now's the time.

My friend Pat has been doing a project rotation on her Needleartnut blog and it has worked splendidly. I decided I would rotate projects, too, and see how I like it. Normally I have a large and a small project going and switch between them occasionally but I've found that I tend to concentrate on one and finish it, then go back to the other. This time I'm really going to try to rotate projects. I'm going to start out with a small project and a large one and when the little one is done, I'm switching to a second large project. Enough of the ornaments for now! After the Byzantine icons, the wisteria teapot and six pet guardian angels, I am burned out on small projects. And stitching two large ones means I won't have to do any finishing--HURRAH!

You've already seen the photos of the new bare naked canvases on the left side of Blog. I'm stitching a red dragon ornament from Leigh Designs' Chinese Dynasty series. This is on 18 count red canvas and is around 4 inches in diameter (although it is a bit more than 4 inches tall) if you don't count the metallic ornament hanger on top. Leigh has a lot of Dynasty ornaments, all named after various kings or royal families from various cultures. Here are the other Chinese Dynasty designs. If you are curious about other Dynasty designs from other countries, click on Image Library and browse.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp821x.html


My other canvas in the current rotation is a reproduction of an Elizabeth Mumford oil painting called Cape Cod Dogs. My canvas is 8 inches square on 18 count canvas. It is not an exact match to the original painting in that there is no ferry visible next to the lighthouse in the window view. This design is licensed by Needlepoint of Back Bay. I know they reproduce other Elizabeth Mumford paintings but I am not sure which ones since they are not shown on the NP of Back Bay website.
http://www.needlepointofbackbay.com/canvas-lines.htm

The original Cape Cod Dogs canvas can be seen here. Look at the window and you'll see my NP version doesn't have the boat.
http://www.elizabethmumford.com/images/portfolio/20.jpg

The plan --subject to change at any time according to my whims-- is to stitch Ch'ing the dragon ornament alternately with tent stitching the black background border on Cape Cod Dogs. There's a lot of border to do, perfect for stitching when I am tired at night. Once Ch'ing is done, I am going to start working on other parts of Cape Cod Dogs and add another large, unnammed project to my rotation.

Two large projects at once?! Tell me I'm not insane!

I'll leave you by reciting the saying on the Cape Cod Dogs border in case you can't read it--

Cape Cod Dogs
they don't chase cars
they like to pick up
girls in bars!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

How To Stitch the Nutcracker Santa

Yesterday, MNStitcher asked in the comments how to stitch something like the Nutcracker Santa in anything except all tent stitches. She is interested in the 18 inch size but doesn't want to have to basketweave everything except the main Santa. So I posted the photo again for us all to look at and to brainstorm about.

The first thing that occurred to me is that the tent stitch family is perfect for the tiny details, not the big stuff like Santa's robe. I am not sure I understood MNS to be planning to tent stitch Santa but I would save tent stitches for the tiny areas like the musical notes or the highlight in Santa's green eyes. Use the fancy stitches for the larger areas like the red robe, the purple underrobe, Santa's beard and fur trim, etc.

Usually the first thing I do when I pull a painted cavnas out of the pile to stitch it is make a color copy to use as reference later. Often I stitch right over something with a background stitch and have to top-stitch that area later. I use the color copy to know where I should put the little things back in. In this case, I'd probably use a fuzzy thread for Santa's fur trim and then put the musical notes on top of the fur collar later.

My next step is to look at the design and try to understand what the theme is. Sometimes that helps me choose threads and stitches. In this case, it looks like Santa has arrived to decorate a tree in a Nutcracker ballet theme as he carries candy canes and other sweets, ornaments and snowflakes, the nutcracker and the Clara doll with her toy nutcracker, and the Sugarplum Fairy doll ballerina, etc. The Mouse King and his minions are assisting Santa in my opinion.

Back to stitches. When I plan a canvas I look at the big areas first and decipher their shape. The plain areas of Santa's robe are the place for a very pretty decorative stitch. I might use Petite Very Velvet for the robe and the creases in his arms if I could match the colors. If the colors weren't available in that thread, I might use a pretty silk/wool thread like Vineyards Silk and choose a vertical pattern of some sort. Most of the plain red Santa's robe areas are vertical so you probably want a stitch that runs | | this way to make Santa taller.

I like interlocking Goblein and in this case, I might be tempted to use a red slightly darker than the red of the robe in only 1 ply so that a lot of the paint showed through. You could also alternate threads in the interlocking Goblein stitch, using a ply of silk and then a ply of thin red metallic like Accentuate to add even more texture. A lot of what you choose depends on what threads and colors you can get. There are a ton of choices available but no shop can carry them all so you have to be flexible. If you can't get Accentuate, try blending filamant or Bijoux or Sulky machine sewing thread from the fabric store, etc.

A darning pattern of snowflakes on the red robe would be gorgeous and go with the theme of the snowflake ornaments Santa holds but you will need to choose just the right shape to fit in small areas like the top of Santa's hat. I've found you can put darning patterns on top of a tent stitched area but it is sometimes hard to get the count right. If you want to try this, follow Joan Thommasson's lead--she uses fewer plies than usual for her base layer of tent stitches as that makes it easier to sew through them when you are putting the darning stitches on top.

I know I've been confusing but depending on the threads MNS can get, I might use a wool/silk blend in interlocking goblein stitch, or use a lighter coverage in silks and a metallic, or maybe just use a darning stitch, either right on top of the paint or on top of a layer of tent stitches. If you use a darning stitch, don't match the red of the paint exactly, You want the red on red to stand out.

I'd probably use a fuzzy thread for the fur trim on Santa's hat, collar, cuffs and the robe's bottom edge--Something like Alpaca which is very soft and which can be stitched in stem stitch to indicate the flow of real fur. I'd be tempted to mix in a strand of silver or white Accentuate in the needle occasionaly as well, just to go with the theme of the metallic in the red robe's darning stitches or light coverage interlocking goblein.

This is too big a canvas for me to tackle every item here, but the Mouse King and his minions would look great in a wool thread in a tiny stitch like tent stitches. Their tiny pink ears could be in a silk and their tails a couched or stem stitched line of the same thread as their bodies. I'd make their button eyes and noses out of a black metallic in satin stitch for the noses and a cross stitch (or a bead) for the eye. Beads work for simple eyes, but not Santa's eyes which are complex. Those need to be tent stitched carefully in the dark green color of the bag's shading or the darker part of the holly leaf on his hat.

Do the clock in couched and stem stitches for everything except the color face which needs to be tent stitches. You can go wild with the threads, though. Use a metallic thread to resemble wrought iron for the Roman numerals and a gold metallic for the center of the clock face. Be aware that diagonally to the lower right Santa holds an ornament in the same colors. Use the same metallics for both the ornament and the clock. This gives balance to the design.

Santa's face needs to be tent stitched very carefully in silks. Then do wisps of bangs and eyebrows again in stem stitches right on top of the face. This is when your color copy comes in handy so you know where to place the bangs and eyebrows. You can have a lot of fun with the beard. I love long and short stitches for these areas. I like to use a very thin thread like Burmilana that looks wooly but which can be layered using several shades. Be creative picking the colors. Toss in a little blue-ish gray as well as while and light and dark gray. Since I probably am putting metallic in among the fur trim I won't add it to Santa's beard and hair but I have done this for Santas who don't have fur trim next to their faces.

Use beads or a very high shine metallic like Coronet Braid for the snowflakes and the buttons on Santa's coat. Also use beads and metallics for the trim on the large nutcracker. His sleeves might look very good in an interlocking stitch like Braided Knitting. I think I'd almost certainly use Petite Very Velvet for his uniform and hat. The fancy white front of his uniform could be done in random large and small cross stitches in something very shiny like FyreWerks. I think I'd look for a spiky synthetic for his hair like Charleston. His face and mouth need to be tent stitched but his mustache and eyebrows can be stem stitches right on top of the tent.

The bag of sweets will be fun to do. Use a matte thread like another wool/silk blend for the bag and use a stitch that is more __ horizontal to emphasize the shape. Couch the new Kreinik 3/8 inch braided metallic trim over the bag for the tasseled cord. The sweets and cakes should be in things like cotton floss topped with Flair. I think I'd couch two Kreinik metallics for the spiral sucker. Mix the matte thread with the shiny to make icing. If you can find a button to use as the cupcake cherry, that would look good. Otherwise, use padded satin stitch in Flair for the cherry.

The purple blue under robe that you see should be in a dense silk/wool blend, probably in a totally different pattern than the red robe. If I went with light coverage darning stitches for the red robe, I would look for a diamond shapped pattern here I think.

The Mouse King and the two dolls are wonderful. I'd use tent stitches for most of their bodies but give them packed stem stitch hair, a metallic crown in stem stitch topped with beads, a ruffed Flair ballerina skirt, etc. You might be able to use French knots on the ballerina's crown.

Use a nice suede looking thread for Santa's gloves and use tent stitches. This is an area where you want plain so the fancy things he holds stand out.

To summarize, I'd use a lot of tent and stem stitches and quite a bit of couching and beads on this design, with some darning stitches. The threads you choose are going to give you texture, especially in the small areas. So it won't look like this is an all-tent stitch piece, but you are going to need to have to use a lot of tent to get the details. Trust me, you will be having so much fun with the fancy threads and metallics and beads that you won't feel like you sat down and tent stitched an 18 inch Santa from top to bottom!

I could go on and on but I'm running short of time. If anyone has other ideas, please add them to the Comments. This will really help MNS decide if she can choose the 18 inch version of this design and still have the variety she wants in the threads and stitches.

If you want to see another Amanda Lawford Santa being stitched, visit Summer's blog where she is working the Royal Santa. He's gorgeous and will give anyone tackling a large Santa great ideas! Here are the blog entries so far--
http://www.summerlouise.com/2008/11/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-1.html

http://www.summerlouise.com/2008/11/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-2.html

http://www.summerlouise.com/2008/12/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-3.html

http://www.summerlouise.com/2008/12/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-4.html

http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/01/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-5.html

http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/01/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-6.html

http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/02/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-7.html

http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/02/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-8.html

http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/02/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-9.html

Summer's not posted progress in a while, but school's out and like most moms with kids underfoot in the summer, she won't be stitching a lot until the fall.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Summertime is Time for Learning NP

School's out and a lot of parents are trying to entertain their kids this summer with things that are not wildly expensive but fun. How about teaching someone young to needlepoint?

You can rummage in your stash and come up with a whole range of colors in a variety of thread textures, then sketch a simple design from a coloring book onto a small piece of canvas and let them go to town. That's pretty much what Needleartnut did with a cupcake canvas she is stitching as a present for a bride who is a baker and who loves cupcakes. Didn't it turn out great? And it wouldn't be too hard for a beginner. If you want to see this develop as it was stitched, click on Cupcake in the right hand column list of keywords.
http://needleartnut.blogspot.com/2009/06/final-touch.html

Another way to go would be with a simple painted canvas. How about Fish Your Stash from Finger Step Designs? The canvas comes with a booklet full of ideas and photos of various examples to unlock your creativity as you stitch this with a young friend.
http://store.apneedlearts.com/fish8.html

Whatever route you take, don't forget to pass our love of hand work along to someone this summer!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Your Canvas Is In the Mail

What with pet guardian angels arriving from the other folks stitching them for the ANG Auction, Judie's surprise little hospitality stocking she sent me, and the canvas you see on the left arriving in my mailbox, well, it is pretty exciting to see the mail lady pull up the driveway in Chilly Hollow!

This is an Amanda Lawford design, the new Nutcracker Santa for 2009 which arrived about two weeks ago. Each year Amanda comes up with a new Santa theme for that year. There are a lot of them, one for every taste, on her website. Just click on the link below and browse.
http://www.amandalawford.com/products/santas1.html

They come in several heights (30", 15" and 9" tall). My Nutcracker Santa is the 15 inch one and is on 18 count canvas. He is really lovely! Here's another photo from the Needle Works blog. (If you get the annoying authentication window, just click Cancel to make it go away.)
http://theneedleworks.typepad.com/the_needle_works/2009/01/cant-sleep-1.html

I saw one of the larger sizes stitched at the ANG Seminar Exhibit in Baltimore in 2007. It won a ribbon, too! They work up beautifully, as you will see if you look about halfway down the page for Nancy Demko's Maroon Santa with Deer.
http://www.needlepoint.org/WhatIs/2007/index.php

I'd never seen an unpainted Amanda Lawford canvas in person before. I can report these are beautifully stitch painted in beautiful colors. If you have the time to tackle a large Christmas project, there just might be a Santa for you in her line.

If you don't, I'm happy to report that her son Derek is starting his own line of small, simple and affordable canvases. I got his e-newsletter with photos of his first designs and if you email me at chilly hollowat hot maildotcom I will forward it on to you to see.

By the way, I weighed down the canvas with a heavy coaster to take the photo but didn't cut that out of the picture so that you could see the canvas number and Amanda's lovely stylized signature. The coaster is what you see on the bottom. Sorry!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

More New Things

Some new items are showing up in the shops already. Amy Bunger's on-line store has started posting photos of new floral canvases here. The newest things are at the top of the page.
http://www.amybunger.com/flowers_fruits_vegs.html

Janet Perry clued me into a new strong magnet that is unusual in that it has a metal heart design on top. If you ever wished those decorative magnets were stronger or that the top didn't block the magnetic forces, this might be the set for you. A photo is on the left side of this article.
http://store.puffinco.com/servlet/-strse-33/Puffin-and-Company-Needle/Detail

Finally, Old World Designs has started to post photographs of their new club, The Twelve Days of California. Instead of a Christmas theme, the round ornaments all showcase California icons. Three designs are on their website now. You'll have to bookmark the site and check later to see them all.
http://www.oldworlddesigns.com/california.html

They also have a neat purse kit based on a Zecca canvas (a little more than halfway down this page) that is a sort of Country Style Goes Crazy. It looks like a really fun thing to stitch.
http://www.oldworlddesigns.com/classprojects.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Rearranging the Furniture

I'm rearranging the furniture here at Blog this morning. I get bored with the same old look and when you open a surprise package you get in the mail and find the little Kathy Schenkel stocking shown on the right, well, it's time for a new header to welcome visitors to The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure!

This darling treat, customized for me, was a present from Judie Solomon of Thistle Needleworks in Connecticut. You may remember that I interviewed Judie here a few weeks back. Judie graciously sent me photos of some of her stitching, including little KS Designs mini stockings she'd stitched for her kids. I jokingly asked to be adopted and Judie took me up on it!

There are many more little KS Designs mini stocks that come with felt animals and other things like my hospitality pineapple. You can see some of them on Judie's needlepoint site--
http://store.apneedlearts.com/miwdo.html

Thank you again, Judie. It was a special treat and it is beautifully stitched. Wish you guys could see the tiny details. I stitch a lot for other folks but rarely receive a needlepoint piece made just for me. I appreciate it!

And many thanks to Kathy Schenkel for allowing me to use her hospitality stocking as a header to welcome folks to Blog.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Bee from SharonG

I've had this fabulous little canvas from SharonG in my stash for a while. There are two versions of it. The larger piece has the bee hovering over a rose, I think, but I can't find it online. My piece is of the little bee by itself and I just love it! This canvas is 18 count and is about 5 inches square. The bee itself is maybe 2 inches high and a little less wide.

I always knew how I was going to stitch this--I planned to add a silk ribbon embroidery (SRE) flower under the bee and frame it in a shadow box to make room for a dimensional flower yet protect the piece with glass. I live along a dirt road and don't have air conditioning so there is constant dust coming into the house through open windows. Therefore, I always put glass over framed pieces to protect them. I've kept my eyes open for the perfect shadow box frame and finally found a white one with a cream mat. The mat opening was 4 inches square, perfect for this canvas.



However, to squeeze in a SRE flower was going to take some doing! I decided I needed to put the mat over the canvas in several positions and decide exactly what area I would need to stitch before I did anything else. What you see on the right is the position I decided on. I thought it would give me enough room to add a flower in the lower left hand corner to make it seem as if the bee was coming in for a landing on the flower center. I carefully marked the area I would need to fill with background.


I already knew how I planned to stitch the little jewel of a bee (metallics, mostly tent stitches) but the background was a puzzle. SharonG suggested I use something that indicated it was raining. I thought about that for a while as I browsed my stitch books. As usual, I settled on a stitch from one of Brenda Hart's books-Diagonal Brick (from her Favorite Stitches, page 49). This stitch resembles two parallel slanted lines // and is done horizontally. Below you see the background underway and the bee's body stitched (tent stitches) using black and two shades of gold Kreinik with some overdyed Kreink in the grayish-white area.

To do Diagonal Brick you stitch a pair of long slanted stitches over four thread intersections, then skip over an area that could hold two more stitches, then do another pair of stitches, repeat for the entire row. The second row is the same as the first except that you put your pair of slanted stitches in the empty areas of the first row, skipping down two thread intersections to start the new pair of Diagonal Brick over the third intersection. Repeat endlessly. You will notice I used a pretty variegated blue silk floss (two plies, so I was carefully laying the silk with my laying tool the whole background) from Thread Gatherer called Delphinium. To me it looks just like blue sky with a little white mist of clouds here and there. Doesn't look like rain, does it?

Not to worry! I had A Plan to add rain later. Once the background was finished, I carefully over-stitched a few pairs of Diagonal Brick with a strand of light blue Accentuate #032. Since I scattered the Accentuate at random over the background, there is a little "wet" sparkle here and there as if it was just starting to sprinkle. You probably can't see the metallic thread on the piece but in person it is a really great effect. Thanks for the idea, SharonG!

The wings of the bee were beautifully painted with copper and black but some areas were unpainted to show white. I stitched the wings in layers. The first layer was more Accentuate (clear #300) in long stitches laid on the diagonal from one wing edge to the other. This adds sparkle but allows the paint colors to show. Layer #2 was stitching the veins, either in black or copper Kreinik using #4 braid in stem stitches). I used a small, sharp needle which went right though the first layer of Accentuate. Layer #3 outlined the wings with more black Kreinik in more stem stitches. The veins and outlines stand out while the Accentuate shows off the lovely painted detail through a slight film of sparkle. Not all the black veins are top-stitched, by the way. The smallest ones I left alone to make them less prominent. You can still see the lines through the clear Accentuate.


This photo shows the bee wings stitched and the background done. I stitched right over the painted antenna and wings with my background stitches, then looking at the copy of the canvas I made before I started, I stem-stitched the antenna (more black Kreinik #4 braid) back on top of the Diagonal Brick stitches. In the photo above the antenna are done but the legs haven't been added back in yet.

The next step once the background and bee were stitched was to add the flower. I consulted Helen Ericksson's Ribbon Renaissance: Artistry in Silk, which has the most beautiful silk ribbon flowers you'd ever want to see. I decided on her peony rose, and started to search for peony photos to help me plan where the flower petals should go.
http://www.heleneriksson.com/

My favorite place to look for inspiration photos online is Flickr. Head over to their main page and search the public photos and you'll find lots of ideas, shapes and sizes of flowers.
http://www.flickr.com/




Search on your favorite flower and you'll see what I mean. Look for a photo that shows you the shape you need, then pick out another that shows the stem and leaves of your flower species well and a third that shows how the center where the pistils are well. Print them out, then cut out the shape and see how it looks on top of your stitched piece. This is what I came up with.





Now it's time to test ribbon. I had 9mm, 7mm and 4mm ribbon in various shades of pink and variated pink in my stash and decided I would mix colors and types to achieve a realistic flower.


I knew most of my peony would be done in Japanese ribbon stitch (called ribbon stitch in Helen's book) so I practiced some stitches in various brands of silk ribbon so see how they looked before I started actually stitching my flower. This is what I came up with. The pale pink ribbon is YLI's Spark Organdy ribbon in pink 002. This ribbon is 9mm wide. The variagated pink ribbon is River Silk's V No. 106 (the V stands for variagated). This ribbon is smaller, only 4 mm wide. I ended up using it and the solid medium pink River Silk S19 as well as a hand dyed 7mm ribbon called Petals in Rainbow Sherbet (pinks with a touch of peach) from Sweet Child of Mine.



Following Helen's instructions, I worked the flower in layers, back to front, stitching some petals on top of back petals with a sharp crewel needle and leaving room in the center for the pistils of the flower center. I had some frosted yellow long bugle beads from Blue Moon Beads that I added for the center as the last step in stitching this piece. One long thread of silk perle Grandeur #G848 in wrapped stem stitch added the stem. I decided I didn't have enough room to do a leaf. I think that I should have used wider ribbons than I had for the flower to make it look like a peony (it is more like a chrysanthemum) but this was an experiment. Scale is very important in stitching realistic pieces and my flower is really too small for the bee but this was a learning experience. And it certainly is charming.


Here is SharonG's bee finished, then framed in its little shadow box.


This tiny design was a very fast stitch as SRE and the Diagaonal Brick are fast to do. Most of my designs are larger and I break down how they were stitched into multiple blog entries, but since this was small I decided to experiment and just describe everything in one long essay. I hope you enjoyed watching this as much as I enjoyed stitching it!

Anyone who wants to pick up this canvas and try stitching a flower of their own? It's available here and many other shops, too.
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/designers/sharon/index.html

UPDATE: If you are at all hesitant about trying silk ribbon embroidery on your needlepoint, check out what Judy Harper is doing with one of her birthday crazy quilt pattern hearts. Isn't that pretty/!
http://fairy-crafts.blogspot.com/2009/06/august-cq-sword-lily-in-silk-ribbon.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

New Threads from Ruth and Fabulous Stitching from Ruth

Ruth Dilts, enabler of the week here in Virginia, sent me a list of the new threads she saw at market from Rainbow Gallery. They, along with Kreinik, are one of the largest thread manufacturers here in the U.S. so many of us will see the following in the shops soon. Here are the colors and their names. The link is to the What's New part of the Rainbow Gallery website so you can look at photos. Just click on the hyperlinks to go to the sections that intrique you.
http://www.rainbowgallery.com/whatsnew.cfm

Silk Lame 13 CT.
LB04 antique Rose
LB 05 Avocado
LB 13 Sky Blue
LB26 Raspberry
LB28 Burgundy
LB30 Orange
LB 31 Copper
LB50 Fuchsia
LB57 Christmas Green
LB58 Dk Christmas Green
LB659 Liliac
LB60 Camel
LB62 Dark Sand Gold

Silk Lame 18 CT.
SL 57 Christmas Green
SL 58 Dark Christmas Green
SL 59 Liliac
Sl 60 Camel
SL 61 Sand Gold
SL62 Dark Sand Gold
SL 63 Emerald
Sl64 Deep Avocado

Fyre Werks Soft Sheen
FT 57 Meriot
FT 58 Gold
FT59 Tawny Gold
FT 60 Melon
FT 61 Wisteria
FT 62 Granite

Neon Rays Plus
NP 133 Iris
Neon Rays
N 131 Pale Iris
N132 Lite Iris
N133 Iris

Treasure Braid Petite
PB73 Black Hill Gold
PH08 Royal Blue
PH09 Purple
PH11 Pink
PH12 Dark Turquoise
PH13 Copper

Very Velvet and Petite Very Velvet Same colors
Powder Blue
Medium Violet
Cream
Lite Pearl Gray
Pearl Gray

Water & Ice
WT 12 Pearl Ice [note that Ruth says this one was a big hit at Market]
WT 13 Aqua
WT 14 Ocean
WT 15 Rain Gray
WT 17 Barely Rose

Petite Frosty Rays
PY410 Lite Periwinkle
PYT411 Dark Periwinkle
Crystal Braid
CR 17 Aquamarine
CR18 Brite Red

Ruth Schmuff, another enabler of the highest order, is tempting me with photos of two designs from the Columbus trade show. The first design isn't finished. It's from her line of canvases and a stitch guide is promised so you can stitch your own carrot walking her brocoli dogs. Really. You have to see this to believe it!

The second photo is from Leigh Designs and is my favorite of the new large Guadalajara canvases. I just love that pink flower....

Both pieces were stitched by master embroiders and are works of art. Enjoy!
http://www.tistheseason.org/blog/2009/06/were-home.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

What I saw at Market, by the Booth Bimbo

This morning I have a report straight from the TNNA show from Joanne C., who graciously agreed to tell us what she saw there as a guest blogger. Now, here's Joanne--

********************************************
In the interest of full disclosure, I had always, always, always (you get the picture) wanted to go to Market. Or for at least 20 years when the summer market used to be in Chicago, where I live, and the shop owners always said, we’ll take you, and I never got to go. So when my very good friend Elizabeth bought “Needlepoint Now” six months ago and asked if I’d help her staff her booth during her first-ever Market, I spent about 10 seconds thinking about it and then said, “are you KIDDING? I’d love to go!” The only bad part was that the Booth Queen called me the Booth Bimbo, even though I referred to myself as the Booth Minion J.

I can’t judge how much space this trade show takes up, but it’s a lot. Hundreds of thousands of square feet – the aisles started their numbering at 100 and ended at 1700. I’m not going to say much about the knitting people except they have better sweaters than we do. Knitting is very much an international industry and there were vendors there from Britain, Australia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, the US, Canada, Japan, etc, ranging from vendors with 15 booths to those who are more “cottage industry” with one. I really didn’t go over to the knitting side because I was afraid I’d be sucked in again and my hand surgeon would refuse me another cortisone injection to fix an acute tendonitis attack caused by knitting.

Besides, I was too busy looking at needlepoint, cause it was all over. I had more than enough time to walk around when I wasn’t in the booth, but I kept gravitating back to the same few booths. Melissa Shirley is my favorite painted canvas designer and I couldn’t stop going to look at the beautiful things she had displayed. I’m sorry that I didn’t get to meet her and act all “fan girlish” but she wasn’t there due to a family commitment. Her work was unbelievable and it was a privilege to see it all in one place to see her range. A lot of her new things are on her website, including some great new flower purses (the 1306 series) that could also be pillows, and a big gorgeous black crane (number 1288) that was partially stitched, and a HUGE Santa that must have been 4 feet tall, he had a really cute face. The ladies in the Melissa Shirley booth were wonderful to talk with and I’m sure I drove them nuts with my “visits.”
http://www.melissashirleydesigns.com//gallery/?bsn=1

Jane had asked me to look at three particular designers – Leigh, Mindy, and SharonG. I am not a huge fan of Asian pieces so I didn’t really know what to look for, but there were some gorgeous, gorgeous geishas, showgirls, great pumpkins, and my favorites, the Guadalajara flowers. These were big, abstract, boldly colored flowers on contrasting brightly colored canvases.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/ImgIdx01.html

The beautiful things on Sharon G’s website looked even more beautiful in person – the “horses behinds” she’s got in Christmas, abstract, and floral themes are adorable, I’m looking forward to seeing these stitched. She’s also got some new florals with abstract flowers and striped backgrounds that taper down from being three threads wide, then two, then one, then scattered, just dying to have a big fancy embellished flower.
http://sharongneedlepointdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/06/ct35-is-newer-canvas-that-now-has.html

I loved Mindy’s canvases. My friend Elizabeth lives in Eugene, Oregon, so I’ve been in Mindy’s shop several times and seen a lot of her work, but she had a lot that I hadn’t seen since my last trip there in April, including her signature beautifully painted canvases designed to go in Stirling bags. She showed a lot of canvases with mixed media trims – resin buttons with contrasting faces, wooden buttons, lace trims, ribbon trims, funky spherical balls on funkier stockings, buttons as tree toppers on great Halloween and Christmas trees, and a great collection of Halloween canvases that I don’t remember seeing before – she’s painted a lot of plaid and it was fabulous. Oh, and the purses! Mindy’s done great purses for years but she had some new shapes. I think I have to have the round one….
http://www.mindysneedlepoint.com/new_default.htm

[Jane adds, "Here is the Stirling leather goods website. If you click on Designer Links you'll see two Mindy abstracts that fit the purses."]
http://www.stirlingcases.com/products.php

The trend I picked up on was PINK – everyone had something pink. Lani had some gorgeous, gorgeous pink canvases – abstract patterns with sea shells in the center dying for light stitches, Ruth Schmuff had great pink ornaments, there was a beautiful pink stitched and beaded Melissa Shirley purse in her booth, Mindy had pink, Julia had pink, you get the picture. I love pink, so maybe I was just attuned to it. Purses were also really popular, everyone is showing purses.

[Here is Lani's pink rose pillow and a new Melissa Shirley animal canvas--a chameleon. The second link below is the pink purse Joanne loved.]
http://www.tistheseason.org/blog/2009/06/columbus-market-day-1.html

http://www.melissashirleydesigns.com/galcol/index.cgi?index=1245457247_13532&col=4

[Ruth Schmuff's pink ornaments are here, about the middle of the page.]
http://www.bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/whatsNew.php

[Lani's model page shows off glorious stitched examples of her work.]
http://www.lanienterprises.com/finished_models_imgs.html

This experience made me realize how hard our shop owners work for us – they spend money on travel, lodging, food, and registration to walk around for three days, looking at everything, talking to designers, taking notes, deciding how to best spend their allocated funds on things they think will please us. They have to buy for a whole range of customers whose tastes range from the funkiest new painted canvas to little Christmas ornaments to canvases with pre-stitched centers and canvases that zip into eye glass cases. In talking to them, I realized they can’t just buy what they like, cause if you don’t have what your customers want, they’ll go elsewhere.

I met or was reintroduced to a bunch of fascinating people, all of whom loved to talk about needlepoint as much as I do. Including Amy Bunger and Robin and Jill from her shop, and Kelly Clark (who is just as nice as you’d think she is – she remembered my name when I went back to talk to her the day after I met her, and this was after she must have met 15 million people, and her work was spectacular – the new barnyard animals were adorable!! ), and Anne who is the genius behind Gloriana (who invited us for a road trip!), and Liz from DMC who came over to show us the new “Memory Thread”, very cool, and Ada, who is the designer behind Eye Candy (distributed by Ruth Schmuff), Ada uses color soooo well, and Cathe Ray who owns Needle in a Haystack, and Wendy Harwood who owns Aristeia in California, and Cynthia Thomas from Houston who does extraordinary stitch guides and had the best job at Market cause she got to go from booth to booth, talking to designers about doing stitch guides for them.

[Here are the Kelly Clark barnyard animal canvases along with her other new pieces.]
http://www.kellyclarkneedlepoint.com/new

[Here is the DMC Memory Thread.]
http://www.dmc.com/majic/pageServer/0t010001kd/en_GB/Desire.html

I also got to take off my “Needlepoint Now” hat and put on my “Seminar Faculty Committee for ANG” hat – I talked to a lot of people about plans for Columbus in 2010 and San Antonio in 2011. All in all, I had a great weekend, and if you ever get the chance to go to Market, all I can say is, GO! Thanks for inviting me, Elizabeth – I’m ready to be the Booth Minion again anytime!

********************************************
Thanks, Joanne. You are the ideal booth babe reporter and we do appreciate hearing all about the newest needlepoint items that will tempt us in the months to come.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Byzantine Icon Ornaments Are Done

Here are the Byzantine icon ornaments, all done!

The Blue Angel has a single line of the beads I also used on her halo all around the edge to hide the join.

The Red Madonna's corners--I used the same red beads as on the halos--gave me fits. The painted 13 count canvas was really stiff and the corners didn't quite meet the felt backing in the way I wanted. No problem, add a second line of beads just at the corners.

Beads hide a multitude of sins....

I'm sorry you can't see the gold lame, gold paint, metallics and beads shining on these two pieces. They are little gems in person but don't photograph well.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Finishing Made Easy: Front to Back to Edge

Now that the needlepoint covers the finishing foam that has gold lame on one side, let me explain something I didn't make clear when I was stitching the two little Byzantine icons. These designs are on 14 count canvas that has been covered with gold paint, then the figures and borders were painted on top of the gold. All that gold paint makes the canvas a bit stiffer than normal and when I ripped out stitches on the border, I discovered that this dulled the paint. If you purchase such a canvas, be very careful ripping out in areas that won't be covered by thread.

However, when you don't stitch an area at all (like the gold background behind the angel and the Madonna and Child figures), the gold paint looks great, especially with a piece of gold lame underneath it. I showed off the two finished pieces at Scarlet Thread yesterday and folks asked about the gold background. It is bare naked NP canvas, but it doesn't look like it. The gold lame definitely adds to the paint and make the background interesting-looking enough that the people in the shop commented on it and asked what made it look the way it does. Definitely consider trying this on any piece that could use some sparkle, particularly if you have light coverage stitches or no stitches at all in areas.

Ok, back to finishing. It's time to stitch the needlepoint and gold lame piece with its hanger to the back piece of finishing foam. To do this, all you need is a sharp sewing needle and thread that matches the color of your felt. I use a thimble but this isn't necessary. You can substitute DMC cotton floss for sewing thread if necessary but I prefer regular sewing thread as I feel it is stronger and more suited to finishing chores.

First, put the NP piece on top of the felt finishing foam and compare how well they fit. You probably will have to trim the finishing foam a bit but leave the felt alone. Right now it is fine that it is bigger all around than your needlepoint canvas front. Since my finishing foam was self-stick, I had to pull the felt back off the foam a little around the edges but if you are careful you can easily do this. Just don't yank. If I had glued the felt to the finishing foam, my glue would be applied about an inch from the edge so that I didn't have to pull the felt away there. You will need to remove just a sliver from the edges of the foam, just enough that it is very slightly smaller than the front NP piece. Now use your banker's clamps (or clothes pens or straight pins) to attach the front and back. Once things are just the way you want them, you can trim the felt edge so it is a tad more than even with the NP on the front. This gives you a bit of felt to overlap the edge a little. Now start sewing the front to the back. Pinch the front and back together hard with one hand as you go and be careful not to put stitches very far into the front of the piece. Because your sewing thread matches the felt on the back, stitches there will be invisible but they will show on the front if you aren't careful. If you need to trim the finishing foam on the back or the felt a bit, you can easily do so as you work. Remove the clamps and put them elsewhere as you work.

You will end up with an ornament ready to hang but with a slightly rough edge where you will see the stitches that attach the front to the back. This is why ornaments have trim or beads around the edges. They hide this edging.

The last step in finishing the ornament is to cover the edges. I use gold braid trim or beads or both to do this, depending on what the ornament looks like. You can also use ribbon. Beading an edge is tedious work but it seemed to enhance the Byzantine Icons so that is what I did. If I'd attached trim instead, I probably would not have sewn the front to the back completely before sewing on the trim. I normally cut a length of trim and then put one end inside the ornament at the top near the hanger, then sew the trim all the way around to the top again, where I tuck the other end of the trim inside the ornament, complete attaching the front to the back, and then finish sewing the trim. Note that you can also use glue but due to several unfortunate accidents, I prefer sewing. It takes a lot longer but for me it looks better in the end.

Now, if someone will help me remove pieces of self stick finishing foam from my pants, we will be done!
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Meanings of Original Needlepoint

Things sweep across the Internet in waves, just as if God had turned on the neon light that said, "Discuss Color" and we all obeyed. This week I noticed a lot of postings about original needlepoint and its very personal meaning.

This artist is needlepointing book covers with motifs from the Jane Austen books. It is a very personal way to treat her favorite books. It looks as if the stitching is photographed, then turned into a paper jacket for the book. This is actually a great idea for a special gift to your family. Stitch a family portrait and make book jackets from the finished piece for each sibling or child.
http://www.lmullock.com/janeaustenprideandprejudice.html

This fashion writer is amused by and a bit jealous of a needlepoint belt a friend owns that his sister stitched to memorialize various important things in his life.
http://guestofaguest.com/things-we-love/the-case-for-th-needlepoint-belt/

Finally, I think you'll be as touched as I was by Althea's story of the Frank Lloyd Wright piece she stitched for a friend.
http://bargelloneedlepoint.com/stitching-frank-lloyd-wright-in-bargello-needlepoint/

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

More Pet Guardian Angels UPDATED

Margaret and Pat have just finished their pet guardian angels for the ANG Auction. You can see photos of their beautiful stitching on their blogs.
http://cranecottage.com/stitchingblog/?p=1075

http://needleartnut.blogspot.com/2009/06/guardian-angels-are-finished.html

UPDATE: I've received photos of Carole's fabulous Autumn Tudor Dog and her beautiful springtime pastels Medieval Cat. These are in the slide show, too.

Remember, you can see Kandace Merric's original angels as well as the ones being stitched for ANG's Auction in the fall in Milwaukee by clicking on the magazine cover that showcased them on the left side of this page.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Back from Market and Reporting In

More shops are back from the TNNA trade show in Columbus, Ohio and reporting in about what they saw and what they've ordered. Here are the most recent reports in alphabetical order. First is Chandail Needlepoint in Texas.
http://blog.chandailneedlework.com/2009/06/18/oh-the-canvases-i-saw-at-market.aspx?ref=rss

Key Stitches, also in Texas, reports in.
http://www.keystitches.com/Key_Stitches/Blog_%40_the_Key/Entries/2009/6/16_Just_back_from_market!.html

Now from Pennsylvania, Rittenhouse Needlepoint.
http://rittenhouseneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2009/06/back-from-columbus.html

My final blog entry is a report from Bristly Thistle in Michigan about the classes Michelle took. The trade show isn't just to buy--TNNA offers classes to introduce shop owners to new products and ideas. There are a lot of fascinating ideas here, and they don't cost a cent!
http://bristlythistle.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-i-learned-in-needlepoint-school.html

Many thanks to everyone for posting about what we all missed.
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Finishing Made Easy: Sew Those Corners Down

The next step in finishing the Byzantine icons into ornaments is to sew the corners together so the raw edges stay turned under. Take a piece of finishing foam that has gold lame stuck on one side and put it, gold side facing out so it can been seen through the holes of the NP, under the turned down raw edges. [You may have to trim the edges of the lame covered finishing foam with your scissors--not the good embroidery ones!--so it fits well inside the needlepoint cover. Trim a little at a time, an edge at a time, until the finishing foam fits snugly without bending the NP front.] Bend the raw edges down again over the finishing foam, but this time once they are just where you want them, use banker's clips (or straight pins or clothes pens) to hold the corners shut over the finishing foam. The photo above shows my banker's clips in action. Because the Byzantine icons are small pieces I didn't need quite so many clips for them.

What I do next is sew the corners closed so they stay put. After all, I can't leave the banker's clips in place!

You might want to use glue here instead of hand sewing, but I find glue messy and I think it isn't as strong as regular sewing thread. However, my friend Pat who does magnificent finishing uses glue a lot for her ornaments, and of course ornaments don't get the wear that a pillow would. Note that instead of sewing thread you can use a ply or two of DMC cotton floss. It doesn't matter what color you use, what matters is that the corners are neat and tightly sewn in place. You might want to use a thimble to push the needle through the layers of NP canvas. I aim for the holes but occasionally miss, especially since there are layers and they don't always line up their holes.

The photo shows the two icons with their corners turned under and sewn together. You also see a loop of Kreinik gold metallic which is how the ornaments will hang. Once you get the corners of the front turned and sewn, make a loop and stitch it securely to the top of your ornament at the back. The felt covered pieces of finishing foam which will be the rear of each ornament are at the top of the photo. You don't need to do anything with them right now. Just get the fronts ready for the next step which I'll describe tomorrow.

It took me almost an hour to sew the corners down for the two sets of fronts and then attach the hanging loops. I am a slow stitcher and I am interrupted as I work, so you may not need as much time. Remember, finishing is a slow process. Turtles do better finishing than racing rabbits!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Rosalyn Cherry-Soleil on Needlepoint as Art

Don't miss this interview with Rosalyn Cherry-Soleil talking about her needlepoint art.
http://www.stitchamaze.com/about.aspx

Her website is full of photographs and more details about pieces she has stitched or which are in progress. Explore and enjoy. Of course people who subscribe to Needlepoint Now magazine will have read her articles about her work and inspirations over the past year.

Thanks for doing this, Rosalyn. You don't know how inspiring it is to see an artist at work using our own needlepoint canvas!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Finishing Made Easy: Cut It Out

The first thing I did when I had all my supplies together ready to assemble the ornaments was make a black and white xerox copy of both designs. I cut out the paper copies so that they were the same size as my icons. (The photo above shows the pet guardian angel paper copies lying on one sheet of finishing foam. The second photo below shows a paper copy being cut.) Using a loop of Scotch tape, I stuck these paper templates onto my finishing foam and cut out the foam to the correct size. I did that twice as I need two piece of finishing foam for each ornament. The needlepoint goes over one piece of finishing foam and the black felt backing goes over the other.

So for the Red Madonna I had: one NP canvas, one paper copy, and two pieces of finishing foam. Ditto the Blue Angel: one NP canvas, one paper copy, and two more pieces of finishing foam.

Because I bought self-stick finishing foam, I peeled off the backing and stuck two foam pieces to the black felt, then cut out the felt with a little margin all around the edges. These two pieces of black felt will make the back side of my ornaments.

After than, I took the two remaining pieces of finishing foam, peeled off the paper backing and stuck them to the gold lame fabric. This time when I cut out the gold lame, I didn't leave any margin sticking out. These gold lame covered finishing foam sheets go behind my needlepoint with the gold lame facing out so that you can sort of see it in the empty holes of the gold background I didn't stitch. This adds sparkle to the Christmas ornaments and also hides the innards of the ornament from view.


The next step now that the finishing foam pieces are cut and glued to the fabrics, is to cut out your needlepoint, leaving a margin of about a half inch all the way around. (For my 14 count canvas I cut to within 7-8 threads of the stitched area.) With rectangles, this is really easy, unlike the pet guardian angel shapes which you see above. Those have curves which have to be clipped, etc. For your first project, I'd recommend a square or rectangle ornament as those are very easy shapes to cut out and then turn under. MAKE SURE you do not use your good embroidery scissors to cut the needlepoint canvas. That will dull the blades very quickly.

Once you have trimmed your needlepoint canvas, using your fingers press the raw edges under. The edges will stay sort of turned under on their own once you mash them. At the corners it is often easier to mitre the corners. That just means you turn under the corner so it looks like a triangle on the back side, then fold the top and side edges together. This website shows you how in Figures 1 and 2.
http://books.google.com/books?id=mgivU2XxDvUC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=embroidery+how+to+mitre+corners+in+finishing&source=bl&ots=asqEzVSBwf&sig=gqQ0nlckzThFfhSWhNmT3bQe7AQ&hl=en&ei=qeY4SpmmMYOHtgfDqZ3jDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2

Or Tiny URL
http://tinyurl.com/lny3rv

That's enough for today. I estimate all the above takes about 60-90 minutes for two ornaments but I've done this many times. Your first attempt will take you longer, particularly if you are constantly interrupted as I usually am or if you have to pull together all your supplies from all over the house.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow