The plan was for me to finish one pet guardian angel ornament each evening but I'm only half way through stitching the front and back of the Tudor Dog together. Things never go to plan in Chilly Hollow and yesterday was no exception. Instead of taking my husband to his regular checkup, I stayed home to let the plumber in to deal with no hot water, and ended up learning a lot more about hot water heaters and brands of faucets that I would have believed possible. (Tip from Joe the Plumber: buy Delta faucets. They are sturdy but easy to fix. The expensive Kohler ones the hardware stores push are very nice to look at but difficult to repair.)
The end result was I was too tired from cleaning up before and after the plumber arrived to get poor Holi put together all the way last night. Sorry! How about I distract you with things other folks are working on? I hate for you to be disappointed after you came all this way to visit!
Terry Dryden's Tropical Jazz piece is coming together. I can't wait to see how she finishes stitching this and then what beads and sequins she chooses to add on top! Wouldn't you like to explore her embellishment stash?!
I don't know when she plans to teach this but two years ago Carole Lake told me Terry Dryden was a teacher to watch and I have to say, Carole, you hit the nail on the head with that prediction.
http://www.terrydryden.com/-blog/2009/6/3/tropical-jazz-update.html
By the way, Terry sells handmade scissor fob/threader sets that look wonderful. I found them when I was looking at her retired teaching kits which are for sale. (By the way, Whirlygig is one of the ones you can buy. I used it to illustrate this piece because it makes a gorgeous tote bag emblem.)
http://www.terrydryden.com/handmade-stitching-accessories/
Madonna is stitching a very pretty pink bargello pattern from Toni Gerdes called Pink Orchids. I might have to reconsider not liking bargello much as I love flowers and I love pink. It's coming together very nicely, too.
http://frontrangestitches.blogspot.com/2009/05/pink-orchid-bargello.html
Judy Harper has posted a little article about silk ribbon embroidery (SRE) on her blog. If you thought the wisteria teapot looked nice and you want to explore SRE a bit, read what Judy has to say about books and crazy quilting. I didn't know crazy quilters used a lot of silk ribbon embroidery but Judy finds their work very inspiring and uses it to choose color schemes for her original needlepoint designs. The next time you are trying to come up with colors that go well together, you might want to visit the sites Judy finds inspiring.
http://fairy-crafts.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-color-and-inspiration.html
UPDATE: Judy's added another posting about SRE and her crazy quilt style needlepoint pieces. She talks about what stitches and size ribbon she used for the various flowers which I found fascinating. Thanks for sharing, Judy!
http://fairy-crafts.blogspot.com/2009/06/more-silk-ribbon-and-color.html
Michele has some new sign canvases from Elizabeth Turner in her shop in Michigan. Her favorite is "Drink Coffee -- Do Stupid Things Faster." LOL
http://bristlythistle.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/new-needlepoint-signs/
And on that note, I'll go top up my coffee cup and try to finish Holi right now before the day begins officially! (Wish me luck....)
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
