Monday, November 11, 2013

Tantalizing Glimpses




Yesterday in the tantalizing way all us stitch guide writers have of showing off just a bit of our work, I posted two photos on Needlepoint Nation (the Facebook group of needlepoint fanatics) showing some of my two latest stitch guides.   Both are from Leigh Designs.   Can you guess what these two photos are?

The top photograph shows the maple tree from Leigh's Japanese Tea House.  This design was originally intended to be used in Lee's nylon tote bags but I think Leigh Designs plans to frame the model when it reaches them later this week.  Here's the original canvas.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Sgl7610.html

By the way, the little geisha magnet was from Mag Friends and I think they are sold out, but you might find one in a shop if you look around. I bought it nearly two years ago.


Leigh's Japanese Tea House Finished
Here is the finished tea house.  I used a layering technique to make the maple leaves more realistic and adapted Or Nue' for the painted and gilded eaves of the tea house itself.  The sage green background is unstitched to help provide contest with the Japanese maple leaves, but I listed the perfect thread to use in case you hate unstitched areas on your designs.  This piece was stitched with the new Silken Straw in three places, but I listed substitutes that will give a similar look for each area if you want to shop your stash instead of ordering a completely new thread.  

The second photo is a close up of one of Leigh's Water Babies.  This is Fantine, who has peacock eyes on her mermaid's tail.  (I've also written guides for Alta and Mimsy but there are no photos of them yet.)
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp441x.html

Everyone asks about the curls.  These were Sue Parson's idea.  They are made of ribbon floss.   Sue had seen this used somewhere and asked me how to create curls from this thread and with a little experimentation I was able to figure out the technique.   Sue did a lovely job creating the model.  Here is her finished and framed piece.  If your shop is going to the January TNNA show, I think they'll be able to see this in person at the Leigh Designs booth.  Sue is very kindly loaning it to Leigh.


Fantine All Stitched But Not Framed Yet

Your shop can order the guide and canvas of either of these for you directly from Leigh Deisgns, but you can visit the CH Stitch Guides blog and order the stitch guide only straight from me if you happen to have the canvas already.
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/p/want-to-buy-chilly-hollow-stitch-guides.html

Hope you enjoyed the full disclosure!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

8 comments:

Sara Leigh said...

What is this Silken Straw of which you speak? I searched for it online and found one by Alchemy that looks like it's usually used for knitting. Is this it? I must know! And who's the enabler now?

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

So it's MY turn to enable? Ok, here goes----Alchemy is the distributor of Silken Straw, which is a silk thread for knitting that resembles Thread Gatherer's Sea Grass except it is a bit wider and has the silk sheen so when you stitch with it, it doesn't look like paper raffia the way Sea Grass does. The Needlepointer in Washington State is packaging it in smaller skeins for needlepoint. You can see photos on their home page. I used it for the bush in the lower right hand corner, the bottom layer of the maple leaves, and the tree trunk and branches in the Japanese tea house piece. I think it works really well for 13 count and in long stitches that showcase the unusual texture of the thread. It makes wonderful Rhodes stitches, for example. http://theneedlepointer.com

NCPat said...

These are both fabulous! Love all different stiches and threads

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Thanks, Pat. They were great fun, even if I didn't stitch the Water Baby myself, only did the guide and ran the sidelines cheering section.

Sara Leigh said...

I may have to get some to try it out on 18-ct., which is what I usually use. It might be just the thing for certain stitches. Plus new thread! Yay! Yes, you're officially an enabler. But you knew that. Hahahaha.

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

New thread is good. I think I'd probably use it on 13 count more than 18 but it does depend. It will make gorgeous padded items. I saw a little purse carried by a witch canvas on NP Nation that was wonderful. It used Silken Straw over padding in satin stitches and had beads on top of that.

Sheena said...

Hi Jane, love your teahouse, it is stunning! You have made me want to stitch it :)

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Hi, Sheena. I see you have guessed my Evil Plan. LOL