My Personal Favorites from TNNA Winter 2015 Part Three

From Elizabeth Turner Collection's Vintage Fashion Series

As promised, I have a few more favorites from the TNNA Market that just ended.  I promise not to add any more owl canvases to the list, but I did notice another new trend at Market--dress forms showing off vintage fashions.  The red Chinese cheongsam above is from Elizabeth Turner.  It is one of quite a few fashion pieces, all displayed on a dress form with a plain background.

Lani's Fashion

Lani has also created similar pieces, most of which seem to be in a 1950s style. Many have a similar purse canvas, too, in case you want a framed set.  Lani's dresses are also on dress forms but she has patterned backgrounds and a border around hers.  Same theme--different interpretation.

Melissa Prince also does Fashion

When I think of fashion, I think of classic movie stars like Audrey Hepburn.    If you are movie-mad, this smaller and simpler piece is from Melissa Prince.  Small and simple doesn't mean unsophisticated, though.  Breakfast at Tiffany's, anyone?

Elizabeth Turner's Geisha

If you like fashion from the Japanese perspective, this Elizabeth Turner canvas spotted by Vicky DeAngelis might be right up your alley.

Lynne Andrew's Wild Animal Santa (Painted Pony)

If you love stitching Santas, this new one from Lynne Andrew/Painted Pony might catch your eye like it did mine.  Painted Pony has at least five other Santas in various colors and styles from Lynne's talented paintbrush but this one was my favorite with its woodland animal theme.  Lynne also does some wonderful primitive farm scenes that fans of Cooper Oaks and Ewe and Eye will enjoy.

DJ Designs in the Mayan Jungle

When it comes to wild animals, my favorite canvas is from DJ Designs.  The real leopard is echoed by a Mayan-style one in the background.

Elizabeth Turner's Foo Dog

I'm going to close with one more stylized animal--a Chinese foo dog.  This canvas is from Elizabeth Turner.  I love the colors and the lines.  This is the sort of thing I'd love to stitch, assuming I could give up sleeping!

This brings to a close my review of the canvases I particularly liked from the many, many new ones that have premiered at the TNNA Winter show in Phoenix.  You'll notice I didn't include links to any websites.  That's because these are so new that they aren't readily available yet.  Even the designer websites aren't updated with photos of them yet in many cases.  Many shops will have placed orders that will start appearing this spring, so stay tuned at a shop near you.

Thanks for patiently letting me show off my favorites.  Now, what were yours?

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 13, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Prym's Needle Twister

Santa brought me one of the needle twisters from Needlepoint Tool Time this year. When I opened the package and discovered how it works, I laughed out loud. It is the very clever product of legendary German engineering.   As you'll see in the video below, the tactile rubberish cover pulls off (pull straight up), then you unscrew the base as if you were using a tube of lipstick.  The bottom which holds the magnet, rises, allowing any needles inside to come up and then fan out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho8xwTmSuKk

The entire twister is around 4 inches long, with 3 inches of space to hold needles, so you can keep quite long needles inside.  Of course they will become magnetized which might be a problem for you, and you won't know what size a needle you are choosing unless you have a needle sizer of some sort to compare them to.  This may or may not matter to you but if you are gifting a Twister to a friend, I suggest you give a Needle Index book to them as well.  This is a nifty little book sold by the Quail Valley Chapter of EGA in California as a fund raiser.  It stores and identifies needles by size and gives guidelines for what thread they work well with.  (Last I heard Needle Works in Austin, Texas might have copies.)
http://www.needlenthread.com/2011/10/which-needle.html

As far as I know, the Twister is only available from Needlepoint Tool Time (although some folks say Amazon has them).  The instructions are in German, French, Italian, etc., not English, so be prepared to demonstrate how it works if this is a gift for a friend.
http://www.needlepointtooltime.com/product/Twister

By the way, there are a ton of ways to store your needles.  Here's Mary's Pincushion of Despair.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2014/12/embroidery-needle-organization.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 25, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.