SharonG Art Stitching

Regular Blog readers will know one of my favorite designers is SharonG.  I love realistically shaded canvases and she does some of the very best.  Some of Sharon's Italian landscapes were inspired by a series of photographs Denise took around her place in Ponza, Italy.  Denise kindly has posted the framed original photos and her stitched interpretations on her blog.  Click on the photos for a better look. Isn't it interesting how SharonG changed the elements in the photos to make the design her own?  Denise did a fabulous job stitching the canvases.
http://nystitchingsisters.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-need-bigger-house.html

You can see good photographs of the plain canvases on SharonG's website.
http://www.sharong.com/catalog/new.html

Speaking of SharonG and fabulous stitchers, wait'll you see what Belle did with the SharonG dragonfly sampler....
http://sharongneedlepointdesigner.blogspot.com/2011/03/belle-sprague-needlepointed-masterpiece.html

Amazing designs interpreted by amazing stitchers!

By coincidence, Rittenhouse has published a bit about stumpwork kits and the beginner's class they have planned. If you are interested in learning more about using stumpwork in your stitching, you will want to give this a read.
http://rittenhouseneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2011/03/stumpwork.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Counted Canvas Workers Head to Las Vegas

No, it's not a field trip. They are all headed to Liz Morrow's website to pick up her newest design, Vegas Nights.
http://www.lizartneedlepoint.com/Bargello_Designs.php

Actually, the first four patterns on the page above are new, so if red hot jazz doesn't appeal to you, there's a soothing white monochromatic pattern available.  Or you can combine bargello with counted in the charming Hen and Chicks or go straight bargello in the Pricky Pear design.

This is modern bargello at its best.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Beads and Sequins UPDATED AGAIN

I lucked out several years back when the local counted thread shop up and moved 400 miles away.  They had a nice little sale to clear out stock before the move and I picked up several packets of silver crystal sequins at a very good price.  They came from Sweetheart Tree. I just found their webpage which shows a great many sterling silver charms, beads and sequins/paillettes created for their designs which will be useful for needlepointers.
http://www.sweethearttree.com/cgi-bin/charm.pl

Along the same lines, Pocket Full of Stitches has bead assortment packs in stock.  I find these particularly useful for beaded edge trims but they have many uses.
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2011/03/cocktail-mix.html

You may not need such things for your stitching but it's nice to know where they can be found, just in case.

UPDATE:  By coincidence Unbroken Thread just posted a photo tutorial on how to attach sequins and beads to your stitching.  She is  doing blackwork on linen but the principal is the same for NP canvas.  This isn't the only way, of course, but this will work very well for scattered sequins and beads.
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2011/03/18/how-to-attach-paillettes-and-beads/

UPDATE #2:  Pocket Full of Stitches has posted photographs of the new shapes of sequins they have in stock.  The article doesn't say the source so I don't know if these sequins are from Sundance Designs or from another manufacturer.
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-sequin-shapes.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com