Just Stick Beads Anywhere UPDATED

Beaded Berries

Mary Corbet did an interesting article about adding beads to almost any embroidery stitch I thought you might find interesting. 
http://www.needlenthread.com/2015/06/adding-beads-to-embroidery-stitches.html

Mary's right--Sundance's little book on bead embroidery makes the same point.  And I know it myself as I often add beads to any stitch to get unusual effects.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2009/03/book-review-sundance-beads-for.html

See the picture above?  Those little beaded berries (on Leigh's Imari Dragonflies) are round Rhodes stitches.  Come up, string on beads, go down.  Easy peasy, although you will need to use more beads as the hump gets bigger to reach from one side to the other.

It's a fact, beads and stitches go together like peanut butter and jelly.

(By the way, Tisha has Sundance's booklet for sale at a good price if you want one.)
http://www.needlepointtooltime.com/product/SB

UPDATE:  Pippa's adding beads everywhere in her beads with stitches sampler.  There are some terrific ideas here!
http://saves9embroidery.blogspot.com/2015/06/sampling.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 4, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Imari Dragonflies Is All About the Layers (and Beads)

The Naked Canvas!  How would you stitch it?

Whenever I start stitching a designer model, I discover that the hand painted canvas has a theme that strikes me as I try to figure out how to stitch it. Leigh Designs' Imari Divine Dragonflies is the perfect example of this.Above is the bare canvas which I stitched for Leigh.  (And yes, my stitch guide is available.)

Looking at the canvas with a critical eye, you'll see four quadrants separated by a teal and gold brocade ribbon.  There is a pink flower in the center and three dragonflies floating above it all.  The upper left and lower right quadrants have 3-4 background patterns while the quadrants with the larger pink flower and the thorns with berries have only one background.  That made this piece all about layers and their positions relative to each other. How do I make the central flower the most prominent one when the other flower is larger?  How do I make dragonflies look like they are on top of four busy patterns?  How do I stitch the various backgrounds so they work together along the edges where they meet?  What do I do with the four solid color corners so that they contain this mayhem without looking too plain?

My general rule when I need to make something more prominent is to slap beads on it.  

Two Pink Flowers

Therefore the central pink flower is solidly beaded.  The dragonflies each have very large beads along their bodies to draw attention to them, but there are only a few so that the beads don't distract from the beauty of the paint on their wings (done in light coverage stitches so it shows up).  The larger pink flower has a complex pattern and hex beads so the visual interest balances the thorn berries which are very prominent because they are totally beaded but in only one color against a rather plain background using round beads.

Thorn Berries Seen from the Side

It's all a balancing act, making the things you think should be prominent stand out while you use various tricks (my favorite is light coverage stitches) to make the various backgrounds recede.

Imari Dragonflies Finished

All of the Imari series is about layers fighting each other for attention.  Leigh really knows how to challenge a stitcher!
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp628x.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 27, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

More Fun with Beads: Introducting the Rizo

Rizos as Flower Petals

Recently as I browsed my local bead shop, I discovered a new shape (well, it was new to me) called the rizo. It looks a little like a petal or a grain of rice with a hole at one end.  Like all bead shapes, rizos come in a variety of finishes, colors and sizes.  Three are shown in the links below.  I particularly like the neon pink ones described in the third link as "rice droplets."
http://www.fusionbeads.com/2-5x6mm-Ruby-Apollo-Rizo-Seed-Bead

http://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/h20a1554sb

http://www.fusionbeads.com/3x6-5mm-Bright-Neon-Pink-Rice-Droplet-Seed-Beads

If you read the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog, you've seen orange rizos used in the border of Palma's Halloween cracker.
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-free-stitch-guide-from-palma.html

Above is a photo of how I've used mine on some of the Imari Tiger's flowers. I attached them with the same yellow thread used in the flower centers but you could use turquoise colored thread instead.

Now let's go find more places to use these!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 13, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Timeless Tiger is Traveling

Timeless Tiger from Leigh Designs' Imari Series

As you can probably tell from the change in the background, my Imari tiger piece is finished.  He is traveling to the Leigh Designs studio where he will be framed as a model. If you are a shop, you can visit him in Phoenix in January at the TNNA trade show if you stop by to tell Leigh and Robert hello.  I'm putting the finishing touches on the stitch guide right now, which is available from Leigh when your shop orders the canvas or you can get it directly from me if you aren't a shop.

He was a great deal of fun and at only six inches in diameter, he only took me about five weeks to finish, even though a lot of what I did in terms of needle felting was experimental.  I imagine if you stitch almost every day you could finish him in about a month.

Another View of The Tiger

Despite all the beading and the needle felting, the bulk of this classic design was done in basketweave, diagonal mosaic and brick stitches.    I wanted the tiger and flowers to look as if they were coming alive from a flat Japanese Imari plate so the majority of the design needed to be basic and flat to contrast well with the dimensional tiger and flowers.  Do you think I succeeded?

If tigers aren't your thing, check out the rest of the Imari series.  It comes in two sizes, both on 18 count canvas.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp629x.html

http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp628x.html

A rumor has reached me that Sandy Arthur will teach the Flaming Fowl at TNNA. If you aren't a shop owner going to the trade show, there are at least three other stitch guides available for these beauties.

Roar!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 17, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

How to Needle Felt a Tiger: Adding a Face

The final step to needle felting the Imari Timeless Tiger from Leigh Designs was working the face.   I dithered about what to do first but I finally decided to work the sections of the face separately.  You know from last time I needle felted the right side jaw first.

Eyes and Nose Done, Toupee In the Works

Then I put the wool roving and felting needle away and stitched his nose and eyes as I would have done if I wasn't needle felting the tiger.  The nose is padded satin stitches and the orange in the eyes is glow in the dark orange Neon Rays Plus.  Real tigers' eyes glow in the dark in the wild.  Doing the non-felted areas before felting around them seemed to work well.  After the eyes and nose were in, I started on the forehead, making sure it had more wool roving layers on top than the jaw did.  I thought that it would be natural for the forehead to be more prominent than the jaw because of the way the tiger was painted.  You are looking down on the top of his head, after all.  It looked like the tiger was wearing a toupee!  Not to worry, the more I needle felted the forehead, the better it looked.  (To see the tiger in his hairpiece, look down two photos.  They are out of order as I am talking about the logical way to proceed but took the photos as I experimented so I did things in ways I wouldn't recommend now that I have a little more experience.)

White Cheeks and Ears Added

I switched to the white wool roving and worked his cheeks next.  Ruth Schmuff says to work the light colors first, then the dark ones and finally the medium colors but doing the white last worked well even though I was worried I'd accidentally felt white onto the orange areas.  Using a single needle is key.  It keeps you from accidentally poking the tiger's stitched nose instead of the roving or from pushing white roving into orange areas.

The Needle Felted Ear and The First Layer of Wool Roving on Forehead

The next to last area is to add the ears.  If you watch YouTube videos of needle felted dimensional animals being made, you'll soon notice that features like arms and legs are made separately, then needle felted into place.  So I pinched an extra large bit of orange wool roving and worked it on my foam needle felting pad to create a dimensional oval with a wool roving "tail" sticking out at the base.  Once you have the right size, pinch the ear down the middle, felt the wool roving tail onto the forehead until it is secure, then poke down the ear crease to attach the main part of the ear.  In the photo above you see that I started my forehead with brown wool roving, then added orange on top.  Then the ear went in and more orange wool roving was added after I had the second ear in position.  You can use all orange wool roving, of course.  I wanted a color change between the forehead and the rest of the face, however.

The Timeless Tiger Finished

Finally, stem stitch the forehead stripes and whiskers through the layers of wool roving using thread and a sharp needle.  I will be finishing the rest of the design as a Leigh Designs model with stitch guide in the next few weeks and will write a complete How to Needle Felt on Needlepoint Canvas guide shortly.

But this should help anyone willing to experiment needle felt their own canvas.  Good luck!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 9, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

How to Needle Felt Backbones

Now that the Imari tiger has a tail, it's time to work on his back. This goes faster than the tail because it's not a narrow area. You can use the needle felting tools with multiple needles without fear of overshooting the area--with one exception.  Let's look at the bare canvas again.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Sgl6291.html

Back Without Stripes or Backbone

The tiger is seen from above,  If you look at the body you see that we are looking down on the tiger's back.  There are stripes running along either side of his backbone.  In order to give the backbone a little dent, you have to work the body in two sections.  One is narrow and one is broad, so I worked the narrow side first with a single felting needle.  Once it looked good, I worked the other side of the backbone, this time using my needle felting pen that has two needles instead of just one.  It looks something like this although mine's another brand.  You can take off the top and add or remove the needle felting needles so you can use one, two or three at a time.
http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/knitting/yarn/Clover/FeltingNeedleTool.asp?specPCVID=55046&advSourceID=9&gclid=CJCPgNGnh8ECFSkA7AodMyUACA

I ended up with two sections of body that almost touched. It's a little tricky to make sure that you have the same amount of wool roving on both sides of the backbone, but once I was certain that the sides were pretty similar, I added a thin layer of wool roving on top of the join, working it down the middle of the join, then poking either side of the backbone join to mat the wool roving on top of the layers already felted.  Then I went up and down the backbone with a single needle, denting the backbone to create a spine,  Then I stem stitched my stripes on either side of my spine dent.

Needle felting animals on needlepoint canvas means you often have areas that touch each other but are different.  Look at Ruth Schmuff's squirrel tail and how it meets the squirrel's hind quarters.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2014/07/fuzzy-fluffy-and-everything-in-between.html

Wendy Harwood's squirrel has a head separate from the neck and shoulders.  Wendy also used shading to differentiate the head from the rest of the animal.
http://stitcherie.ning.com/photo/img6683needle-felting?context=user

Brown Roving on Bottom, Rust Roving on Top

Which brings me to my last point today--using different colors of wool roving to create depth and shading on your animal.  Although I haven't mentioned it until now, my tiger was created from a bottom layer of brown wool roving and a top layer of rust wool roving.  That's why you see a brown shadow along the edge of the tail.  Once I finished the back of the tiger I pinched off some brown wool roving, rolled it between my fingers into a long line, and needle felted that along the back of the tiger's head to create a shadow line.  I could have done the tiger stripes this way but I thought stem stitches would be both faster and easier.

The next part of the tiger will be his face and ears.  As you see in the first photo above, I did his right jaw first.  Next time I'll explain how I worked the tiger's eyes, nose, whiskers, mouth, forehead, cheeks and ears.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 29, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

How to Needle Felt a Tiger's Tail

Things have been hectic in Chilly Hollow in August and September, what with Destination Dallas deadlines, a vacation, and more. So I am late talking about needle felting on needlepoint canvas. Sorry!

But I knew you'd wait patiently just to find out how one needle felts a needlepoint canvas.  I'm using my coaster sized Timeless Tiger from Leigh Designs' new Imari series to explore needle felting and then report back to you.  I'm doing this as a model for Leigh so there will eventually be a stitch guide that has full instructions for this particular piece.  The things I've learned while working this piece will work for any canvas you want to needle felt, though.

If you've not read my previous articles on needle felting, they are collected here.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/p/needle-felting-needlepoint-canvas.html

I used a single felting needle and the foam type felting block.  I took my canvas off stretcher bars but you don't have to do that.  I thought it would be easier to reach the various parts of the tiger if the bars weren't in the way.

Holding the Roving in Position

I started with the tail.  This is a narrow, curving area so I used a single needle since the multiple needle felting tools won't work here.  To needle felt, pinch off a small amount of the wool roving.  By small, I mean a nickel -ized piece that is thin enough you can see through it.  It will be wider than the tail but that's ok.  Just fold it in half to make it approximately the right width. Hold it in place with the fingers of one hand while you needle felt it with the other.   I started at the outside edge of the design but where you start doesn't really matter.  Lay the wool roving on the tail and poke it with the needle into the center of the tail, moving up and down perpendicular to the canvas.  (Holding the felting needle at an angle makes it easier to break.)  Remember to watch what you are doing so you don't poke your fingers with the needle!

Afraid of splitting your needlepoint canvas threads?  Don't be.  Practice poking the roving first with a regular tapestry needle.  You will notice that if you hit a thread, the needle will slide down into a hole.  This also happens with the barbed and sharp felting needle as long as you are not whaling the tar out of your canvas.  In other words, take your time.  Speed is not your friend here.

After you think your wool roving is stuck to the canvas somewhat, pinch off another bit of wool roving.  Fold it to fit and lay it on the tail, making sure it overlaps the first piece of roving.  Now use the felting needle again.  Once the second piece is felted, you can start to move the needle nearer the edge of the tail.  At this point, you can angle the needle and poke the wisps that are laying over the tail margin into the tail area.  Go slowly.  

Repeat this process up and down the tail, adding another pinch of wool roving as needed.  This will take far longer than basketweaving the tail but I think of it as doing background.  It takes time but is worth the effort.  To check that the wool roving is secure, flip the canvas over.  You will see the fuzz on the back side.  Like this--

Wool Roving on the Back Side

When you are happy with the look of the tail, check to see if there are any wisps of roving sticking up or out.  Poke those into position with the needle felting tool or trim them with sharp scissors.  You can use the needle to push down into the edge of the tail at an angle which helps secure it but go slowly as angled pokes are more likely to break the needle.

The final step is to stem stitch the stripes on top of the wool roving using a sharp needle.  It's really just like stem stitching on top of an already stitched area.  The sharp needle helps the thread go through the wool roving smoothly.

Next time I'll talk about needle felting the tiger's back and starting his face.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 26, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

I Haven't Forgotten

Timeless Tiger from Leigh Designs' Imari Series (coaster size)

No, I haven't forgotten the Imari tiger and the needle felting tutorial I promised. I have just been very busy with Real Life things, plus the small Imari Tiger has been on a trip.  The piece went to Destination Dallas to wow the shop owners.   However he's back at his lair and I have started working on the piece again.  Expect the needle felting tutorial to pick up again next week.  Until then, the photo above shows the coaster sized Imari Timeless Tiger as he appeared at Destination Dallas.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 24, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Needle Felting the Imari Tiger: Tools and Sources

Tiger, Wool Roving and Tools

My small version of the Imari Timeless Tiger has arrived from Leigh Designs!  I put him on stretcher bars and pulled out all my wool roving colors to try and find the best match to his rust coat color.  What you see above are the best matches.  I unrolled the dark brown on the left so you could see what wool roving looks like better.   (Before I forget, the design itself is six inches in diameter on 18 count canvas.)

I am not sure you can tell from the photograph but the labels of the wool roving brands read Dimensions and FeltWorks.  Those two along with Artiste are the brands available at the big box crafts emporiums in my area.  The unlabeled baggies were a gift from a knitting friend (Hi, Marj!) who picked them up at a crafts fair, I think.  

Disclaimer:  I know nothing about any of the sites I am mentioning in this article (except for Dharma Trading which has a good reputation among those who dye their own threads, and Thread Gatherer which is well known as a source for wonderful threads), so buyer beware. 

I can't tell any difference in the wool roving sold under the various brand names, but the hand dyed wool my friend sent me is much nicer.  It is softer and the colors are better.  Etsy is a good source for good quality wool roving if you really get into needle felting in a big way or if you have to mail order your supplies anyway and want a less common color.  Here is the first Etsy shop I came across with a nice selection of wool roving but there are quite a few more.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/woolgatherings

The Thread Gatherer also sells packets of wool roving that are overdyed if you want a more subtle look without having to blend two or more colors on your own.
http://www.threadgatherer.com/Black%20Sheep%20Page.htm

This website seems to cater to the needle felting and spinning enthusiast.  It has an amazing range of fiber sources!
http://www.paradisefibers.com/spinning/wool-roving.html?gclid=CNbIpZf1078CFSdp7AodgG8AYw

I asked Sandy Arthur about the tool brand she prefers since she has a lot more needle felting experience than I do.  Sandy says she likes the Clover brand the best.  Clover tools come with a felting block (the thing you put under whatever you are going to felt to protect your table) that looks more like a brush than the styrofoam-looking thing I own.  They also come in single and multiple needle forms.  Here is the multi-needle tool. It comes with a "finger guard" to keep you from needle felting yourself.
http://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/Clover-Needle-Felting-Tool-8900_p_352.html

Here is the pen style with multiple needles.
http://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/Clover-Pen-Needle-Felting-Tool-8901_p_353.html

Here is the single needle tool.
http://www.the-quilt-rack.com/browse.cfm/clover-single-needle-felting/4,5884.html

Here is the Clover felting mat.
http://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/Clover-Small-Felting-Mat-_p_355.html

As you can see my needles are set into a plastic handle which helps grip it with less hand cramping while you poke and prod your wool roving.  Many needles are bare, though.  I think a handle of some sort is a good idea myself.  But be careful buying needles. You want the ones with a barbed point that will go through the holes in 18 count canvas.  Some felting needles are designed for needle felted 3-D animals and they have star shaped ends, not points.
http://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/-Felting-Needles-Variety-Pack_p_16.html

I think from my experience with the small single felting needle that the tools with multiple needles will make needle felting go faster but I will stick with my single needle because my tiger's tail is small--about five threads wide and six threads high.  That's about a third of an inch.  I don't want to keep punching the canvas on either side of the tail with the bare needles.  So if you are considering needle felting a piece with small detailed areas, you might want to use single needles.  If you are interested in speed and have a large area without much detail to needle felt, the multiple needle set will work well.

Remember, these needles are thin and barbed.  Not only are they dangerously sharp and barbed, they break easily.  If you are trying to choose between the brands of kits available to you,  a kit with spare needles is a good investment.
http://www.dharmatrading.com/tools/clover-felting-needle-tool.html

My thanks to Sandy and Marj for their help and advice and Ruth Schmuff for her tips on needle felting.  No stitcher can tackle something new without the help of their friends.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© July 20, Copyright 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tiger Tiger's Needle Felting in Public: Introduction

Belleza's Needle Felted Flower Center

Since I plan to needle felt the small version of Leigh Designs' Imari Timeless Tiger in public here on Blog, I thought we should go over the materials needed and the basics first.  I have needle felted a simple shape before, the orange flower centers on my Tapestry Fair Day of the Dead Halloween piece, Belleza.  The materials I used are described here.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2012/09/learning-to-needle-felt-simple-shape.html

I had no clue how to do this but it wasn't as hard as I had thought.  There are two things to keep in mind, however.  The needles used to needle felt are very sharp with barbs on the end.  Therefore, you have to needle felt carefully and choose a time when you aren't distracted or likely to be interrupted.  You DO NOT want to needle felt a finger!  The needles are also thin, so if you stab your wool roving at an angle instead of straight up and down, you are more likely to break the needle.

Here is how I needed felted in my first attempt.  Note that I needle felted onto a piece of wool felt, cut out the shape from the felt and appliquéd that onto canvas.  It worked very well for me, but for the Imari tiger, I plan to needle felt directly onto the canvas.    The photo above is a close up of one of my needle felted flowers, just to the right of her earrings.  It turned out very well.  The red-orange petals are beaded, by the way.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2012/09/learning-to-needle-felt-simple-shape_27.html

Next week we'll look at other examples of needle felting on needlepoint canvas and discuss some tips from the experts.  Until then, study the photos and video and start assembling your equipment if you have a canvas you'd like to needle felt.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 17, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tiger, Tiger Reveal

...Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

from William Blake's The Tiger

In early May I started pestering Leigh to create a smaller "coaster" size of the Imari series she released at the Spring TNNA Market.  Here are the original Imari series.  They are 10 inches square on 18 count.  I have done a stitch guide for the Imari Dragonflies, by the way.   It will be available shortly from Leigh Designs.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp628x.html

Since Leigh normally releases smaller versions of the spring florals she is known for, it was easy to talk her into smaller versions.  I choose to stitch the tiger sight unseen.  Finally today I know what I signed up for.  Here's the tiny Imari Timeless Tiger!
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Sgl6291.html

He and his fellows are all six inches in diameter on 18 count.   It would be hard to choose among them now that I've seen them all, so maybe it was a good thing I picked without knowing what I was picking from.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp629x.html

Leigh has agreed to allow me to blog-stitch him.  He will eventually be a Leigh Designs model and there will be a stitch guide, but I'm going to needle felt the tiger himself and document that here for you.  Stay tuned!  First I need the canvas and I don't expect that will arrive for another two weeks.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 16, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

More Tiger, Tiger

...Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

from William Blake's The Tiger 

Here's a hint as to what this is all about:  "When you're stitching, you aren't getting into trouble!"
http://www.leighdesigns.com/News.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 16, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tiger, Tiger

...Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

from William Blake's The Tiger

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 7, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Top Secret: Introducing MY Imari

A hint....

Yesterday I promised I'd drop a hint as to which Leigh Imari I am stitching. 
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp628x.html

The model and stitch guide will premiere at the Fall show in Dallas.  Stay tuned!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 3, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Top Secret: Introducing The Imari

Leigh Designs has announced their new series for the May TNNA show--the Imari!  You can read about them on the Leigh website, then click to see them all. 
http://www.leighdesigns.com

Basically, they are all 10 inches square on 18 count and based on traditional Imari porcelain patterns.  Each is a circle within a square, which allows for corners where you might use fancy stitches, place your initials or just work some restful basketweave in your favorite thread.  You can also just frame the circle alone and cover the corners with your mat or fabric for a pillow.

Above is my current favorite, the Timeless Tiger.  I love them all and I am stitching one.  No, I'm not telling you which one yet, but I'l drop a big hint tomorrow.

Those with sharp eyes will have seen two of the Imari framed at the Leigh table during last night's opening, courtesy of Amy Bunger who took this photo and posted it on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=780691411941838&set=a.780691068608539.1073741834.189965167681135&type=3&theater

Those with really sharp eyes will have noticed the three Russian Santas standing around.  My Blue Russian is on the right and Sandy Arthur's two Russian Santas are on the left.  West Coast Finishing made them up into standup figures using white fabric on the backs and similar bi-colored trims around their edges.  You can't tell but there is sparkly fabric under each canvas to add more shine.  When it comes to Christmas, you can't have too much shine or your stitching won't hold its own with all those lights.  Your shop can order the canvases and the guides for these handsome fellows when the trade show opens today.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 3, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Finishing Friday

How did it get to be Friday already?!!  Time flies when Christmas is only fifty-five days away! To distract us from all we have to do before Dec. 25, here is a lovely little stand up Santa with gorgeous gingerbread button trim.  Kudos to the finisher!
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2013/10/blog-post_18.html

Ridgewood has a sweet snowman ornament, beautifully done.
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2013/10/blog-post_23.html

Stephanie reminds us why we love Petei designs (and why we are glad Painted Pony picked up the line).
http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2013/10/petei-is-back.html

Pocket Full of Stitches has all sorts of wonderful finishing for us to enjoy.  I don't know what's my favorite, the Halloween items, the Christmas stockings or that wonderful dog pillow!
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2013/10/finishing.html

Needle Nicely reminds us that a older piece of stitching can be redone to give it new life.
http://needlenicely.blogspot.com/2013/10/several-finished-pillows.html

Here's one last Halloween Hurrah--straight from the magic fingers of The Needlepointer's finishers.
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=2b1a4dafdf1ba6e29e773aa79&id=9700551c3c&e=73961ee0ea

I've been showing off a lot of holiday finishing lately but I didn't want you to miss this traditional pillow, beautifully stitched and finished simply as befits such a jewel.
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2013/10/blog-post_22.html

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.