Amy Sale

If you read Amy Bunger's March 2012 newsletter, you know she's decided to change her monthly sale from three days only to the entire month.  She will have a dedicated sale page with everything listed there.  However, quantities are very limited so it pays to pick up your bargain early if you can.
http://www.amybunger.com/sale.html

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

17th Century Colors

When I think about Jacobean and Elizabethean embroidery, I think of a limited palette of colors. After all, this was the 1600s-1700s. Surely we have many more colors available to us in these days of chemical dyeing! Tricia Nguyen just exploded that little assumption.
http://thistle-threads.com.mytempweb.com/blog/index.php/2012/02/17th-century-historic-color-pallet/

I count ten shades of blue and almost that many in the red-pink range.
http://thistle-threads.com.mytempweb.com/blog/index.php/2012/02/glued-or-not/

I know folks who had trouble finding seven shades of a color to work designs like Twister.
http://lizartblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/twister-is-finished.html

Living 400 years ago would have advantages if you had the money and leisure time to embroider.

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

Crewel Embellishment

I suppose it was certain to happen one day, but I was still surprised to read Mary Corbet's latest book review. She posted a peek inside Crewel Twist, a new book on crewel embroidery by Hazel Blomkamp just published in the UK. (It'll be available in other countries soon.)  What's unique about a book about crewel?  The designs are done in cotton floss and use beads.  It's not just a wool on linen technique any more!
http://www.needlenthread.com/2012/02/crewel-twists-book-review.html

It even looks to me as if the cover page design includes paillettes.  Mary includes enough photographs from the book to show off how well beads replace French knots and tie down stitches, and how elegant crewel is in shades of gray.  I am happy to see someone take traditional crewel in a new direction while keeping true to its history and spirit.


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