New Things On the Way

TNNA's trade show in Columbus, Ohio starts next week, so folks are beginning to post messages about the new things that will be available for shops to purchase then.  Here is the class Barbara Bergsten will be teaching at the trade show.  Barbara is a master at choosing stitching "sisters" so that the different parts of her designs are stitched differently but harmoniously.  By the way, if you click on the "New, New, New!" title above this article, you'll go to links showing Barbara's catalogue of designs and her stitch guides.  She's unique in that each canvas she designs comes with a free stitch guide that you download from her website if you want to use it.  It's a great way of distributing guides to students who have computer access.
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/create_needlepoint/2010/06/needlepoint-class.html

Are you a fan of Mindy's painted canvases like me?  Check these new designs out!
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-pieces-from-mindy.html

How about Julie Mar?  Do you love her designs from nature?  This shop has new designs in stock.
http://bristlythistle.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/new-julie-mar-needlepoint-at-the-bristly-thistle/

Janet Perry has written a summary of new products she's heard about on her blog.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/new-in-needlepoint-june-2010

Ruth Schmuff has a stitched sample of one of her new canvases on her blog.  I used it to illustrate this article.  Isn't the Queen a scream?!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2010/05/queen-speaks.html

Finally, I have three thread reviews I thought you'd like to see, even if these threads aren't brand new on the market.  They still may be new to stitchers and shops who haven't stocked them yet.  Robin King shows off an original project she designed for a charity auction and explains how she used DMC's memory thread on it.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2010/06/m-and-dmc-memory-thread.html

Want to try something not widely available here in the United States?  Stef Francis' Silk Impressions is a lovely thread.  If you want to buy some, there are links in the review to a shop in Massachusetts that sells it.
http://bargelloneedlepoint.com/thread-spotlight-silk-impressions-by-steph-francis/

Were you curious about the Silk Lame Braid I used on the little mermaid?  Here's a brief review.
http://bristlythistle.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/new-needlepoint-thread-silk-lame/

Everyone who is going to the TNNA show, travel safe and have fun. Come home with great things for your shops for us, ok?

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

Stars: Stitching Eva Marie Saint

After stitching my brains out on the little Melissa Shirley mermaid and also finishing two purses this week, I'm not ready to work on assembling the little Nordic snowman into a Christmas stocking, so it's back to Stars for the New Millennium for me.  I've started the second block in row two, which is called Eva Marie Saint.

There are nine steps in this block.  As in all of the blocks so far, each section repeats either four or eight times, which means I finally master a section after the second or third try.  This can get tedious but fortunately most of the sections are small.

In the photo above I've done steps one and two, which are Burden stitches on the horizontal in an upright cross shape and then Burden stitches on the diagonal.  The same threads are used and in the same pattern of couching but the side "petals" look darker because they are on the diagonal. Interesting effect!   I didn't expect this to happen.

In this photo I've started step three, which is adding chevrons around the center.  There will be three more chevrons, which took more time than I expected for something that looks simple in the diagram.  I am not wildly experienced in working from charts, though, so perhaps I don't recognize what is going to be hard and what isn't yet.

As always, my colors are violet (A), black (B), terracotta (C) and metallic copper (D).

If you'd like to see other Stars projects underway, Sara Leigh has posted progress photos from her stitching group of the various colorways they've chosen.  I love seeing the various colors folks have chosen.  Each one is different and beautiful!
http://remedialstitcher.blogspot.com/2010/05/sunday-was-stars-day.html

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