Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Pointing It Out and Rachel Barri Designs

The Pointing it Out podcast interviews Rachel Barri Rosenthal of Rachel Barri Designs.

Learn how Rachel got into the needlepoint business.  You can see her designs here.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 31, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Candy Tree Mystery

Ruth Schmuff has announced Bedecked and Beadazzled's Holiday Mystery--Eleanor Grosch's "Candy Tree."  As always I'll update this article with photos as Ruth and the mystery students stitch away on it.

Ruth is having fun with beads and Flair and sparkly Jessicas.

And it is done!  It's turned into a beading sampler.  What fun!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 14, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Monday, November 28, 2022

Melita Goes Shopping

Melita Glavin is in Upstate New York, visiting Expressions in Needle Art.

She bought fun books, saw some nice models and looked at a new overdyed thread.  Fun day!  

You can explore Fiber on a Whim's threads here.

Expressions in Needle Art doesn't have a website but they do have a Facebook page to explore.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 11, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Challenges from Red Devil

Red Devil, by Melissa Shirley

The above canvas is "Red Devil," a discontinued Halloween design by Melissa Shirley.  I started working on him last spring and just finished.  This is a 5 inch diameter circle, painted on 18 count canvas. It presented a lot of challenges, such as how to stitch the leaves, deciding what the orange area around his feet was, how to differentiate the black boots from his black gloves, and how to stitch his horns so they stood out against the orange pumpkin in the wreath.  Luckily I love challenges like this!

Of course every challenge you solve immediately causes more challenges.  For example, I decided I would applique Ultrasuede on the leaves.  I have a canvas I want to use a lot of applique on, so this was a practice run of a sort for me.  Of course, then I had to decide how to create the veins, if I was going to ignore the oak leaves' shading, and what to do about Red Devil's trident which is on top of a leaf and a small pumpkin?  Finally I decided to ignore the shading on the leaves, use a sharp needle to create the veins with stem stitches and to work the trident in tent stitch through the Ultrasuede leaf using that same sharp needle.  

I also decided to make the circle a rectangle so I tent stitched a rectangular area as well as the blue painted background.  Of course the join between the areas shows, so I had to create a second "twisted grapevine" style wreath outside the first wreath to hide the slight difference in color.  

To make the gloves different than the boots, I choose different threads.  The boots are all brick stitch in perle cotton while the gloves are also brick stitch using a blend of Wisper and Petite Silk Lame Braid.  The gloves were lightly brushed after stitching to make them even fuzzier.

The orange area I decided was the lining of Red Devil's cloak.  I had to use light coverage stitches there because his clothes were done with light coverage stitches or using only one ply of silk.  The clothing had to be the same depth although I did make his cloak collar stand out with the use of couched metallic around bullions.  

To make the large pumpkin stand out, I beaded it.  The smaller pumpkins in the wreath were done in Double Stitch using beads for the second step so that they looked a bit like the big pumpkin but were not as prominent as the large one, which is the focal point of the design.


Red Devil's Done!


Bringing Red Devil to life has been a fun journey.  Now to figure out how to finish him!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 7, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Saturday, November 26, 2022

Three Ways to Stitch Needlepoint Letters

Poppy Monk Needlepoint has an article on their blog explaining three ways to stitch letters on needlepoint canvases

You can also bead the letters, use skip tent with beads in the empty spaces for a less solid look, couch a thicker thread down over the letters, or use stem stitch.  I can probably think of more but I'm running out of time this morning!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 5, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, November 25, 2022

Accessories for Strawberries UPDATED

If you have succombed to the fun of stitching the strawberry shaped canvases that Barbara's Needlepoint has pioneered, you are not alone.  In fact, there are so many strawberry stitchers that Michele Ink Designs now sells metal strawberry tops.

These can also be purchased through the Michele Ink Designs Etsy store.

UPDATE:  The strawberry caps are now available in three sizes.

If you haven't heard of needlepoint strawberries, here is a link to some of Barbara's Needlepoint's designs made up.

Here are what the canvsaes look like before they are stitched and finished.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 5, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, November 24, 2022

The Annual Tony Minieri Stitch Guide Sale Starts Tomorrow~

It's that time of year, folks!  Tony Minieri will start his annual sale tomorrow, Nov. 25.  The sale ends December 9.  His guides will be 25 percent off if you use the password Kringle.

Here's Tony's website.  Go browse.  There's bound to be something there you really really want!  And everything's on sale, not just Tony's stitch guides.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 2, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, November 20, 2022

A Beautiful Store

Sometimes we just need to browse a beautiful website.  Hillside Needlepoint is very inspirational.  Just check all the sections and enjoy.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 13, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Saturday, November 19, 2022

A New Brand of Clip On Lights

Janis really likes this cheap clip on light.

There appear to be a variety of sizes of this, but this seems to be the closest to what Janis has.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 13, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, November 18, 2022

Free Swirly Tree from DebBee's Designs

Once again, Debbie Rowley has released a free chart for Christmas.  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=586421866620268&set=a.536079218321200

You can head straight to her website to download this sweet little Christmas tree design.  There was a kit available when I wrote this but they sell out fast.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 13, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, November 17, 2022

A Shop Visit, A Celebrity and More

BLG Mom has been in the San Francisco Bay Area to visit family recently.  She managed a trip to the new shop, Stitched Up Needleworks, met a celebrity, went on a field trip to Needlepoint, Inc., and a visit to the San Francisco School of Needlework and design.  In other words, she generally had a blast.


Here's the shop website, still a work in progress.

Here is Margaret Bendig's website.

Needlepoint, Inc.'s website.  They have an in-house artist who designs pieces you can't get anywhere else plus they have their own line of silk flosses that are lovely.

Finally, here is the website for the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design.  All of the above is a real treat and we thank BLG Mom for sharing her trip with us.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 1, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Ada's Tinsel Tree: A Free Design UPDATED

Ada of Eye Candy has released another free tree design, just in time for Christmas.

You'll find all her free designs on her website. Thanks, Ada!  You are a sweetheart!

UPDATE:  Laura did Ada's tinsel trees in miniature and blinged them out.  Wonderful!

UPDATE #2:  This is Ada's Crystal Christmas Tree, made into cards.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 2, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Holiday Gift Ideas

Needlepoint.com has a special section of gift ideas for Christmas, Hannukah, Thanksgiving, New Year's, or any other reason!  There are five pages of kits, tools, books and magnets for the stitching fiend in your life.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 1, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

The Frisco Market Review

Megan and Melissa of the Pointing It Out podcast have posted a video about what they saw at the trade show in Frisco.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 31, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Monday, November 14, 2022

Patterns Galore from Margaret Bendig Underway UPDATED

Jan has decided to work Margaret Bendig's "Patterns Galore."  

Jan is particularly good with color so I am anxious to see how this develops once she gets the outlines done and starts raiding her stash for color.  I'll update this as she works.

UPDATE:  Jan has the first four blocks done.  It's interesting she started at the bottom.  I'd have started at the top and worked down.  Of course the instructions probably specified the working order and I don't know if this is just upside down to reach easier....





And it's finished!  Lovely work.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 16, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

More about Melita's Books

Melita reviews two more books in her collection--Father B's and SharonG's.

Father B's book comes in various editions.  Suzanne Howren (you know her as one of the authors of the Stitches for Effects series) has taken some of his best stitches and rediagrammed them for modern stitchers.

SharonG's one of my stitching heroes.  Her SENSE book is small but fabulous and full of good information.

Neither book is large but both are worth having.

UPDATE:  Melita picks up Ruth Dilts' Needlepoint 101 and 202.  Both are good books, especially for a beginner at embellishing canvases.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 29, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Needle Books for Christmas

Sue Trevor's Folksy shop has some stunning machine embroidered items you might want to browse.

The needle cases are beautiful!  Just remember Sue's in the UK so allow a little extra shipping time.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 24, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Hanging Out with Laura Z.

The funny thing about the Internet is you meet people online that you likely never would meet in person.  It's a great way to broaden your horizons.  That's how I met Laura Zickus, who is funny and a wonderful stitcher as well as a computer website builder.  Want to make a new friend?  You can visit with Laura on her website which I just stumbled across.  She's using it to show off her stitching, motivate herself to finish those pesky works-in-progress, and just share the love of needlepoint.  Start browsing here--

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 24, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, November 11, 2022

Clothing Patches Tutorial

Stitched AF on Instagram has a four part video tutorial on how to turn a small needlepoint piece into a patch for clothing.  This is the first.  Use the side arrows to see the others.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 23, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, November 10, 2022

Shop News, Classes and a Beading Thread Tip

NJNA's latest ANG chapter newsletter is full of shop fun.

And there's more!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 23, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Sip and Snip

Twisted Stitches Needlepoint in Albuquerque, New Mexico has a gadget I've not seen before--a holder for both coffee and orts that clamps to a table.  Very clever!  

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 21, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Ann's Patriotic Ornament

Lucky Brenda had a class from Ann Strite-Kurz on Ann's Patriotic Ornament.


Ann Strike-Kurz is a fabulous designer, particularly of ornate backgrounds.  The Patriotic Ornament doens't seem to be on her website yet but there's plenty of other charts and classes to browse.  And then there are Ann's books...!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 18, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Monday, November 7, 2022

Exhibit Featuring Needlepoint Art by Willeta Billye Schley

Thanks to Janet Perry,  I learned about the exhibit of needlepoint done by Billye Schley.  You can see the video interview and get a look at some of her stitching here, and also listen to Dionne Warwick talk about needlepoint in her life.

The exhibit has ended but hopefully more of her stitching will be showed at local venues like Woodlawn in the coming year as it is very inspirational to have someone with her skills promoting our art.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 14, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, November 6, 2022

Women's Work Exhibit: The Movie

Tarrytown, NY had an exhibit called "Women's Work" at Lyndhurst Mansion to showcase art from women.  The local CBS news affiliate has posted a video about the exhibit (now closed) features one of Martha Washington's shell pattern needlepoint chair cushions.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 8, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Tips for Adding Texture

Needlepoint.com has three tips for adding texture to your stitching.

The tips are obvious but sometimes we really overlook the obvious when we sit down to stitch.  

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright Octoberl 8, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, November 4, 2022

Juli Poitras in Person!

On November 5 (that's tomorrow!) Juli Poitras of JP Needlepoint will make a personal appearance at Stitched Up Needleworks in Morgan Hill, California, starting at 1 p.m.  Juli will show off brand new items, there will be a trunk show, and if you buy a canvas Juli will autograph it for you.  

Juli will have to leave at 3:30 p.m. so make sure you arrive in plenty of time to admire her designs and talk to her.  Stitched Up Needleworks is at 18525 Sutter Boulevard, Suite 120, Morgan Hill, CA, 95037, phone 669.258.5027.

Everyone have a good time and hug Juli for me.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 26, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, November 3, 2022

Holiday Delights: Birthday

Jan's got a new family member, so naturally she's stitching something for him.  Her project is one of Kathy Rees' "Holiday Delights" charts.  Jan modified it somewhat to suit her.  It's really cute, just like its new owner.

If you aren't familiar with Kathy Rees' designs, here is her website.  The link is to her series of Holiday Delights.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 7, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Lois Kershener's "Circles"

Melita's ANG Chapter is stitching the 2008 Stitch of the Month project from the ANG website.

This is a Lois Kershener design and Melita's blog has plenty of tips for stitching it if you want to do it yourself.

Melita's done and made up as a basket lid. Note she is using different colors and threads than the alternatives Lois Kershener listed.  

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 7, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Another Needlepoint Put Down

Brenda has found another article trashing needlepoint as home decor.

You can click on the title Brenda posted to read the whole ridiculous thing, or just go straight here.

Personally, I think you should decorate your house with whatever makes you happy.  Who cares if you are trendy or not?

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 5, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.