Finishing Friday: It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

Nimble Needle's customers and finishers have been very busy. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in July!
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2014/06/customers-work.html

Suzanne has her Raymond Crawford S A N T A letter pieces done.  She's talking about finishing them as a hinged panel for a table display.  It is not back from the finisher yet but this is such a creative idea I wanted to post it here.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2014/07/s-n-t-a.html

Finally, Diane has her Carol Dupree Nativity set back. Love it!
http://www.dianestakingtimeouttoneedlepoint.com/2014/06/carol-dupree-nativity-set.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 21, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

I'm a Sucker

I'm a sucker for a good Nativity set, so I was thrilled to see Diane's Nativity progress on her Carol Dupree Creche set.  She's only got the angel to go, so pretty soon I hope we will have photos of the finished set made up into figures.
http://www.dianestakingtimeouttoneedlepoint.com/2014/03/my-nativity-is-almost-finished.html

Here's the link to the set offered by The French Knot in Fort Worth, which has sponsored this monthly club.
http://thefrenchknot.com/current-series.htm

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

College Needlepoint UPDATED

Once stitchers started blogs where they posted photographs of their work, I began to realize how popular college and Greek fraternity/sorority stitching is.  I've started to collect places to see examples of such canvases.  Kathy Schenkel has a nice selection of college mini socks and a baseball team sock, too.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2012/11/college-mini-socks-and-few-others-too.html

College football teams seem to have a lot of painted canvases for their fans to celebrate-stitch.  Here's a collection from a Texas shop.
http://theneedleworks.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_48_211

Here are more college-themed designs.
http://enrichedstitch.com/13-days-until-christmas/

A lot of the Carol Dupress candy canes have college themes.  (She's distributed by Susan Roberts if you are hunting online.)  Here are just a few examples.
http://theneedleworks.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=candy+cane+dupree&x=0&y=0

There are college stockings,  too!
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2012/12/college-days.html

UPDATE:  Just heard that Keep Your Pants On creates lots of college and sports-themed canvases.  They are distributed by CBK.
http://www.cbkneedlepoint.com

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

Great Ideas

Stitchers are constantly giving me great ideas that they generously share via their blogs.  I have a great collection of ideas this week, so pay attention class!  You'll need to take notes for the next time you want to use turkey work. Suzanne's blows me out of the water.  To see the finished Santa, click on her blog title to go to the Home page, then scroll down the page a bit.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2012/10/ut-longhorn-santa.html

Fingers are hard to stitch.  Lots of folks use bullions, but I think they make creepy fingers personally.  I usually fall back on tent stitches for my fingers, but no more!  Now I know to use beads to make realistic gloves, thanks to Amy Bunger and Jane.
http://janew1102.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/07/fun-trip-to-memphis.html

http://janew1102.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/10/cowgirl-update.html

Check out the wonderful mustache and sash that Mary Agnes is stitching!
http://needlenicely.blogspot.com/2012/10/standing-nutcracker-6.html

Need to stitch shoes?  Ruth has added ribbon, Swarkovski pearls, metallic threads of several kinds and beads to her heels.  Your shoes may not be so over-the-top, but even one of these ideas will dress up a pair.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2012/10/the-shoes-make-outfit.html

Suzanne knit her snowman's scarf.  If you know how to knit, this is a fun addition to any snowman canvas.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2012/10/hook-em-horns.html

I'm always struggling to come up with fur stitches for animals that are anything except long and short.  Don't get me wrong--I love long and short stitches--but a lot of people are afraid of them so when I write a stitch guide, I need something easy and fast that looks great that isn't long and short.  Not to worry, Brenda Hart has solved the problem!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2012/10/birdy-cat-hotel.html

Heard of any great ideas this week?  Post them in the comments section below this article or email me at chilly hollowat hotmail dotcom and I'll post for you.

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

The Candy Cane Addicts UPDATED

I have a friend who is addicted to the small Melissa Shirley cracker canvases (she stitches one a week during her long commute), and now it looks like there is another group of addicts: The Candy Cane Crew!  These are all from Carol Dupree.  I think her work is distributed by Susan Roberts.
http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2012/08/are-you-part-of-candy-cane-craze.html

http://dianestakingtimeouttoneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2012/08/they-are-addicting.html

http://bootsandbeads.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-about-this-one.html

http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-candy-cane-world.html

http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2012/09/stitching-like-gretchen.html

http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2012/09/mirror-mirror-on-wall.html

UPDATE:  Dale joins the Candy Cane Addicts.
http://www.canvasesbegone.com/blog/what-to-write-about/

And the Young Needlepointer is an addict, too.
http://theyoungneedlepointer.blogspot.com/2012/10/candy-cane-finish.html

I think some of these are Dupree custom designs but Needle Works carries them with various Texas college symbols.  Browse all her canvases to see what is in stock.
http://theneedleworks.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=19

I love the sweet faces of Carol Dupree's angels but I confess I never noticed the candy canes before.  Thanks for the tip, Candy Cane Crews!

P.S.  There is a tote bag ornament addict here, too!
http://bootsandbeads.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-break-from-leaves.html

The little beach bag totes are from Linda Lahm.  You can see the entire series here.
http://www.whatsthepoint.biz/exclusive.htm

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

Replacements for Petei?

Recently Stitcherie members started talking about designers who have small Santas similar to Petei's, in case the Petei canvases become unavailable with her retirement at the end of this year.  The first name that comes to mind is Designing Women. Start browsing with page 13 to see their Royals. The Santas are on the last two pages. I know some of them are on 13 count and others on 18 but the website doesn't always make clear which is which. http://www.canvasconnection.us/Needlepoint_by_Canvas_Connection/Angels.html 

NP Clubhouse has a darling series of Santas available from a local designer. My spies say that these are wonderful but at around 6x9, they are not as tiny as Petei's pieces.
http://theneedlepointclubhouse.com/Gallery.aspx 

Joan Thomasson is better known for her small angels but she has a wonderful Santa series.  These are usually sold as kits with the painted canvas, threads and stitch guide included.  Of course you can customize them to suit yourself by substituting threads and using any stitches you like.
http://www.stitchinstuff.com/ProductCategories.aspx

Needle Deeva also has quite a few small Santas among their small Nativity figures and snowmen, although some of them at 5x7 are larger than the Petei small figures.
http://www.needledeeva.com/christmas.html

I've also been reminded that Brenda Stofft has some small Santas on 22 count canvas.  Beth's Needlepoint Nook is offering seven of them as a monthly club this year.  I wish they were on Brenda's website so we could see the other designs as these are darling.
http://www.bethsneedlepoint.com/Dot_ClubsExec.asp?idClubCategory=8

Carol Dupree has some small Santas that look like great fun.  Here are a few of them, but you can see even more on the Susan Roberts website (second link) that distributes Carol's work.
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/products.php?cat=186

http://www.susanrobertsneedlepoint.com/files/PDFfiles_CmasOrnaments/CO15_2011_Santa_wo_SR.pdf

Needle House has some wonderful stitch guides for the six inch high Santas A Collection of Designs did for them a few years ago. Here are the models.
http://www.theneedlehouse.com/jm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96&Itemid=102

This link shows all the canvases ACOD created.
http://www.acollectionofdesigns.com/Christmas%20Collection%20Old%20World%20Santas.htm

Anyone who knows of a designer who does other small Santa canvases that we didn't mention, please add the name in the Comments or email me at chilly hollow athot mail dotcom and I'll add him or her for you.  Thanks!


If you are not familiar with Petei's canvases and are wondering what the fuss is about, here is her website.  Although we might find other small Santas that are easy and fun to stitch, no one will replace Petei in our hearts!
http://www.petei.com/line_list/line_contents.htm


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