More About Melita's Books

Melita Glavin shows off two books she got for Christmas:  New Twists on Needlework Embellishment (by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson) and Embellishments for Canvas (by Mary Lou Helgesen).

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/01/18/books-in-my-library-new-twists-on-needlework-embellishment-by-howren-and-robertson-and-embellishments-for-canvas-by-mary-lou-helgesen/

Melita found the sections on using silk ribbons especially interesting.  I own New Twists and found it interesting.  I've not seen the Mary Lou Helgesen book, but it was apparently a companion to her famous Nativity set.  Both are worth seeking out, especially if you are in Texas, which was Mary Lou's stomping ground.

The next set of books from Melita's library are all classics from June McKnight.  I find her Architectural Stitches especially helpful.  Plants and Animals is a good one, too.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/02/23/books-in-my-library-architectural-stitches-plants-and-animals-shading-and-thread-blending-techniques-decorative-backgrounds-and-more-backgrounds-by-june-mcknight/

Many shops carry June's books but if there's one you can't find, contact Old World Designs as June teaches there regularly.  They might be able to help.

https://www.oldworlddesigns.com/

Melita just purchased a copy of Mary's Whimsical Small Stitches, the latest book from Mary Legallet.  

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/03/07/books-in-my-library-marys-whimsical-small-stitches-by-mary-legallet/

Here's Mary's Instagram page so you can see what her diagrams look like.

https://www.instagram.com/whimsicalstitch/

Melita has added Dawn Donnelly's book Transformative Stitching:  Needlework on the Diagonal to her library.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/03/21/books-in-my-library-transformative-stitching-needlework-on-the-diagonal-by-dawn-donnelly/

Melita has two volumes of Custom House of Needle Art's books--Quick Stitch Variations and More Quick Stitch Reference.  These are very portable with good information and clear diagrams.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/03/24/books-in-my-library-quick-stitch-variations-and-more-quick-stitch-reference-by-custom-house-of-needle-arts/

This is a classic book about Bargello followed by more Bargello books.  If I remember correctly, I thought Barbara Snook's Bargello books full of lovely patterns.  Dorothy Kaestner's 4 Way Bargello book has some wonderful patterns, which made my head hurt trying to follow.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/06/06/books-in-my-library-bargello-florentine-canvas-work-by-elsa-s-williams-1967/

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/06/07/books-in-my-library-florentine-embroidery-by-barbara-snook-1967/

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/06/08/books-in-my-library-bargello-a-pattern-book-by-golden-hands-1972/

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/06/10/books-in-my-library-four-way-bargello-by-dorothy-kaestner-1974/

I've never seen Nancy Kurten's Bargello book, although I'd like to.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/06/15/books-in-my-library-bargello-sampler-by-nancy-noland-kurten-1975/

This is a fascinating, although confusing for me with my dyslexia, Bargello book.  I don't have trouble with random but following charts that change a lot is almost impossible for me.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/06/17/books-in-my-library-free-form-bargello-by-gigs-stevens-1977/

I remember this Dorothy Kaestner Bargello book as being very interesting, with a lot of great designs.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/06/19/books-in-my-library-bargello-antics-by-dorothy-kaestner-1979/

Melita's finished her collection of Bargello books.  Next up is Mary Shipp's wonderful design book.  Her color book is amazing if you can find it.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/06/28/books-in-my-library-exploring-pattern-in-stitches-by-mary-shipp/

Jane Zimmerman's books are amazing and full of ideas.  Although she is known for her silk and metal designs, this book has a lot of stitches that will work on any type of needlepoint.

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/08/13/books-in-my-library-traditional-silk-and-metal-thread-techniques-on-canvas-by-jane-zimmerman/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright January 19, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Breaking News: Jane Zimmerman Has Died

The amazing embroidery historian, embroiderer, needlepoint writer and teacher Jane Zimmerman has died.

https://www.gayannrogers.com

http://stitchingfoolishness.blogspot.com/2021/06/jane-zimmerman.html

For now her website is still up, so you can see some of her designs.  What you cannot see is the play of light on the silk and metallics she used.  Trust me, her work is stunning in person.  Cameras are blind to the technical expertise she used so well to create lights and shadows on her designs.

https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Student_Gallery.html

Snap up her books and charts if you can.  They are marvelous.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright June 2021 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Cat Needs a Name Tag and Ears Tutorial

Moon Name Tag in Or Nue'

The next part of my Debbie Mumm Halloween ornament is the cat, which has a lot of interesting techniques.  I decided that I wanted the cat's name tag to be in Or Nue' which is a technique of couching a metallic thread using silk  Jane Zimmerman has a good tutorial for doing Or Nue' on needlepoint canvas but before you read it, you should know this technique is essentially couching metallic thread (often in pairs) in a spiral from the center of a focal point out using a colored silk to add a pattern.  

https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Techniques/Or%20Nue-canvas.pdf

If you want to see more, Rachel Wright has a great series of videos on Vimeo that shows her stitching a whole piece on linen using Or Nue.

https://vimeo.com/virtuosewadventures

The way I worked the name tag was to basketweave the area around the name tag first.  Then using a strand of Kreinik gold in size 4 braid in my needle, I came up in the center of the name tag.  Then I started to spiral the thread around the center.  I used clear beading thread to couch the thread in the moon area because the clear thread didn't show.  I used two plies of purple Splendor silk to couch the Kreinik in the purple areas.  It's easy to do but fiddly as you have to park the couching thread you aren't using out of the way and keep the gold metallic spiraling tightly as you couch it.  I used magnets a lot to keep tension on the gold thread and to keep the needles I wasn't using out of the way.  It's not easy to get a smooth curve where the purple area covers the gold to make the background of the name tag but if you do multiple stitches in areas, it works.  

Needle Weaving Wire

Once I had a name tag, I could work the cat's ears. I wanted dimension in the ears, more dimension than the name tag, because I plan to use felt padding on the cat's face and hind leg to raise them quite a bit.  So the ears have to be prominent. I decided to use needle weaving to create ears with wire and thread.  In the photo above you see my 28 gauge black wire.  I cut off a three inch length (DON'T use your good embroidery scissors to cut wire!) and bent it in a sort of hairpin shape.  That's the basis for one ear.

Poke the ends of the wire into a canvas hole at the base of the painted ear on your canvas.  Secure on the back.  It doesn't have to be really secure, just enough that it won't wiggle as you weave your ears.  I used a little brightly colored thread to tack the tip of the ear to the canvas.  You cut this later so the ear can stand up.  It just makes it easier to weave the thread around the wire if it's not moving so much.  

I used black Pepperpot silk to create my ear.  Come up at the base of the ear with your needle, then you start to weave the thread around the wire in a figure 8 shape.   Go under the wire with the needle pointing left, then point the needle right.  You will go over the wire on the left side and under the wire on the right.  Point the needle left.  Go over the wire on the right and under the wire on the left.  Repeat endlessly, working left to right, right to left, and the weaving will start to create your ear.  You'll have to push the thread down toward the ear's base with the needle periodically.  When your weaving is close to the tip of the ear, cut the thread that secures the tip of the ear to the canvas to finish it.  To end the thread you are weaving with, run it down behind the ear to the base where you can take the thread to the back side and secure it.  Then bend the loose ends of the wire into a curve and secure to the back side well.

This is hard to visualize but Ruth of Bedecked and Beadazzled has a great video on needle weaving.  Note that Ruth is doing a long feather shape that's flat to the canvas so she used thread instead of wire and she needed three supports, not two.  My ears are TINY so I couldn't use three supports.  I just used two.  What she's doing is very similar to what I did.  She started at the tip; I started at the base.  The procedure is very similar but using wire means the my ears are dimensional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2bJSi5nW1w

My cat's ears were painted with orange centers so I used a ply of orange Gloriana silk in a straight stitch to create the inside.  Note that the ears don't quite match.  I could have removed the left ear and made it a little narrower but I decided I liked the cat having ears that weren't exactly the same.  You can bend the ears a bit to position them as you like.  I stitched over the painted ears with my background stitch so that any bit of the paint that shows looks like a shadow, by the way.

No laughing at the red clown nose on Mr. Cat—that's next week's lesson.  

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Jane Zimmerman Talks Or Nue on Needlepoint Canvas

Recently I realized Jane Zimmerman has made some of her writings about or nue available for free online.  I was particularly interested in her article about doing or nue on needlepoint canvas or Congress cloth.  She tells you exactly how to do this, from the types of metallic thread to couch to the number of plies of the various silk brands available when this article was written.  
https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Techniques/Or%20Nue-canvas.pdf

If you want to read what she says about traditional or nue, here's the article.  Note that the articles are nearly the same but there are some tips that apply only to those working on needlepoint canvas or on linen fabric.
https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Techniques/Or%20Nue.pdf

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright August 3, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Mary Talks Or Nue' UPDATED

Mary Legallet's latest blog posting talks about or nue' on needlepoint canvas.
http://www.whimsicalstitch.com/about-me

Or nue' as we do it on needlepoint is more similar to a couched, patterned stitch than classic or nue'.  If you want to see what that's like, you should explore Rachel's Slow Stitching TV on Vimeo.  It's done on linen and the gold is completely covered in places and bare in others.  
https://vimeo.com/virtuosewadventures

UPDATE:  I just discovered Jane Zimmerman has posted free information about Or Nue on her website.  Click on the links to read the two articles.
https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Techniques.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 22, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Or Nue' on Needlepoint Canvas

Sunday I posted a link to a video about Margaret Nicholson and her fabulous Or Nue' embroidery.   Today I want to talk about all the variations of Or Nue' (which I believe translates as "shaded gold") used on needlepoint canvas.   Traditional Medieval Or Nue' was used on church vestments and altar cloths.  You can see some stunning examples here.
http://www.pinterest.com/gbertholet/embroidery-opus-anglicanum/

The Nimble Needle has a fabulous article with photos of Or Nue' that includes a link to Jane Zimmerman's explanation of how to do Or Nue' on needlepoint canvas.  When you study Jane's article, note she is couching pairs of gold threads. The reason I emphasized this will become obvious tomorrow....
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-or-shaded-gold-work-ready-to-try.html

If you would like to do a little Or Nue' yourself, how about using Mary Duckworth's flower pattern generously hosted on the Caron website?  Note that Mary couched down Caron threads using other Caron threads instead of using the traditional gold base thread held down with silks, but there's no reason you can't switch threads if you prefer to use what you have in your thread box.
http://www.caron-net.com/designerfiles/desaugfiles/augchrt.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.

Or Nue Online

Quite a few folks have become intrigued by the Or Nue' technique on needlepoint canvas.   If you want to try this, Jane Zimmerman has posted an online guide to the traditional technique on her website.  You will find it great background reading and helpful if you are going to try Or Nue' yourself.
http://www.janezimmerman.com/Temp/Techniques/Or%20Nue.pdf

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.

Or Nue Book at Last! UPDATED

Kreinik's blog has a review of the newest Must Have book--Sue Dulle's Celtic Origins, which teaches the pattern couching technique of Or Nue.
http://kreinikthread.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-pattern-couching-and-or-nue.html

UPDATE:   Sue commented below with further information about what's in her new book.  Be sure to read before you buy!

Or Nue is basically couching gold metallic thread on the surface of canvas (or fabric) using colored silks to create a pattern against the gold background.  Nimble Needle just took a class from Brenda Kocher on the technique and has posted plenty of photos and a link to Jane Zimmerman's interesting online article about the technique.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-or-shaded-gold-work-ready-to-try.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.

Eyelet Tips and Book Recommendation

Every Sunday Needle Works posts a stitch of the week.   I don't usually post about them as I link to the site in the "Online Stitch Diagrams" section at the bottom of Blog but this week the stitch is an eyelet variation with some great tips for stitching any type of eyelet.
http://www.stitchinginthetexashillcountry.com/the_needle_works/2013/06/share-a-stitch-june-31.html

Plus Colleen talks a bit about Jane Zimmerman's Canvas Embroidery, which is in two volumes currently.  I've heard nothing but good things about this series although I have not yet broken down and purchased the set.  I did just buy Jane's Background Stitches Volume One.
http://www.janezimmerman.com/Site/Needlework_Books_and_CDs.html

There isn't a Volume Two of Background Stitches yet but I am looking forward to that being published because I really like Background Stitches Volume One.  It's a small booklet with about 43 stitches diagrammed in black and white with a black and white photograph of each worked.  Some stitches have a variation also diagrammed.  The diagrams are small but easy to read.  All have the stitch sequence numbered although it is occasionally hard to read the numbers.  Each page talks about the stitch diagrammed and photographed there briefly with hints such as how easy or hard it is to compensate a certain stitch or recommends whether to use contrasting colors in executing a stitch.  My copy was autographed which is a nice touch since I bought it straight from Jane herself.  (One note:  she mails her books out via media mail so my copy took three weeks to arrive.  It'll be faster to get a copy from your local shop if they stock it.)  Of the stitches in the book, about a third were totally new to me.  Many are subtle variations of more familiar stitches.  All are great backgrounds for the right canvas.  If you have an extensive library of stitch dictionaries, this won't repeat what you already own.  If you are a beginning stitcher, or don't own a lot of stitch books, you might want to spend the money on a book with more content, but it is a very good source for those who are looking for something different.

You can peek inside of Background Stitches Volume One here.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2013/06/whats-new.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.

Or Nue' Explained

Several bloggers have talked about the Or Nue' class they took recently. This is an old technique that is particularly lovely on the right design. I thought you'd like to see what folks are saying in case you want to try this yourself.
http://stitchinginsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-star-lily-finished.html

http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-or-shaded-gold-work-ready-to-try.html

Besides the Jane Zimmerman article mentioned above, you may be interested in my favorite online free project from the late Mary Duckworth.
http://www.caron-net.com/designerfiles/desaugfiles/augchrt.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.

Glimpses of Woodlawn UPDATED

Third Place, Tara Roberts

Since so many of us live too far to make the trip to see the Woodlawn needlework show, and with 600 items on display, the likelihood of Woodlawn doing another online photo album is right up there with the likelihood of me being elected Miss Universe tomorrow,  I've been begging folks I know exhibited to send me photographs to put on Blog. You've already seen the Fishing Lady (who is awesome!) but I have more eye candy for you today.   Let's start with the unframed Granda (a design by Jane Zimmerman) by Tara Roberts, which is the photo you see above. This won a third place ribbon.  Zimmerman's silk and metal embroidery pieces rely heavily on the play of light across perfectly laid silk so I can't wait to see this one in person.  No photograph can capture that reflective light well.

First Place (2011), Tara Roberts

If you recognize Tara's name, it is probably because she won a blue ribbon at Woodlawn for this beauty (Diamond Delight IV by DeeBee's Designs) last year.

Arlene Cohen

Arlene Cohen (whom you will remember from the Woodlawn 2011 article I wrote about her designs based on a lace pattern she made)...
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2011/04/arlene-at-woodlawn-2011.html

... only sent one piece to Woodlawn this year.  What you see above is Jean Hilton's ScottLee.  Arlene sent me close ups of her color version of this classic design because the photo of the framed version makes the blues too turquoise.

ScottLee Up Close

Arlene wrote this about her ScottLee:  "The interesting tidbit that I have to share about this piece is that I did work on the border first, as in the instructions, but then went a bit out of order. In making color decisions as I went from the most inside out, I realized that the blue that all those Jessicas were stitched with simply wasn't the right shade any more. Debated and debated, but realized that I would never be happy with the finished piece if left as is. So, out came the entire blue border (at some point I counted how many Jessicas that was, but don't remember at the moment) which had been in a DMC pearle and back in with a much softer color and slightly darker Splendor silk. It's the only piece at Woodlawn for me this year."

Arlene's ScottLee Unframed

Here is Arlene's ScottLee unframed.  This is much closer to the actual color.  It's beautiful in those soft blues, tans and creams with a green accent.

If you have a Facebook account, see if you can see this posting which shows the piece Ruth Dilts won a 2nd place for.  I believe it was finished to resemble a snow globe.  Ruth is going to teach this with Joan Lohr at the Columbus trade show in June.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2817488376712&set=o.108537025890131&type=1&theater

If you can't view the Facebook photo, here's one from the TNNA website of classes.  This is a design from Kirk and Hamilton.
http://www.tnna.org/resource/resmgr/Summer2012ClassPhotos/NT112-lg.jpg

Carol Sylvester

My final photograph is one of the three pieces that Carol Sylvester exhibited.  Carol took the photograph before framing.  This is a now discontinued ANG correspondence course design called Oriental Poppies by Pat Van Cleve.  There is still information about the class on the ANG website, although you can no longer sign up for the course.
http://www.needlepoint.org/CorrClasses/classes/oriental.php

Carol sent me links to two other pieces she stitched.  The first link is to a Brazilian embroidery design that won a blue ribbon for Carol.  This is a photo of the designer's model, not a photograph of Carol's design.  I believe the designer is Anna G.
http://users.vcnet.com/annag/AG_4163.gif

Carol writes about the second link which is below--"The page it's on is the gallery for people in the EGA Master Craftsman program in surface embroidery. This was step six, the ethnic embroidery step. It's a shisa cushion. This piece got an honorable mention.  I wanted to complete the program last year, and was awarded my Master Craftsman certification last fall. It will become official at this year's EGA seminar."
http://heritageshoppe.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_Carol_Sylvester_9-10-10-Step5.jpg

Congratulations on becoming a Master Craftsman, Carol, and many congratulations on the ribbons to everyone.  I am thrilled you were willing to share you work with Blog's readers!

Beth Robertson (you know Beth, she's part of the team behind the Stitches for Effect books) won a blue ribbon for an original design at Woodlawn.  She posted a photograph on Facebook.  I hope you can see it by clicking on the link, but if not it is a crazy quilt type design in roses, red-violets and golds.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3517860744094&set=a.2285787823041.2114467.1199272810&type=1&theater

UPDATE:  MaggieB, whom I think belongs to Nelly's Needlers which is the group that runs the Woodlawn Needlework Exhibit, posted links to articles about the show which ends next Sunday.
http://maggiebsmocks.typepad.com/smocking/2012/06/49th-woodlawn-needlework-exhibition-2012-drawing-to-a-close.html

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

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Tent Stitch

Joni Stevenson has written a series of essays on tent stitches that you will want to read and re-read.   It's dense going, but if you want to improve how you make tent stitches, it's a Must Read.  Joni starts out with a look at the three different stitches in the tent stitch family.  You'll learn all about half cross, continental and basketweave, from their disadvantages to how best to end threads if you are basketweaving, and there are plenty of good photos to illustrate Joni's points.  If you've never understood how to use the weave of the canvas to do beautiful basketweave, read this.
http://creative-stitch.blogspot.com/2012/04/tent-stitch-part-1.html

Once you understand part one, settle down with Joni and read part two, which talks about basketweave in detail, particularly how to achieve a smooth look when you change colors, and also explains why stitching tent stitches on linen and on needlepoint canvas is different.
http://creative-stitch.blogspot.com/2012/04/tent-stitch-part-2.html

In part three, Joni talks in depth about starting and stopping threads when you are doing basketweave. Her technique will keep the starting point for a new thread from showing on the front as a hole.
http://creative-stitch.blogspot.com/2012/04/tent-stitch-part-3.html

The last tent stitch article talks about ending waste knots and about pin stitches, then goes on to analyze the best starting points for large areas of basketweave.
http://creative-stitch.blogspot.com/2012/04/tent-stitch-part-4.html

My favorite book  about basketweave (and the only one I've ever seen that treats basketweave in depth although Joni says Jane Zimmerman has also talked about basketweave) is Davie Hyman's The Diagonal Basket Weave.  This book is out of print but well worth hunting down.  There's nothing about basketweave that Davie didn't understand and explain well, including how to basketweave if you are left handed.  Here's a bit about the last (fourth?) edition of this wonderful book.
http://www.daviehyman.com/book.htm

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

April 2010 Chilly Hollow Newsletter Article

I am writing this the week before IRS Day, on a cold day with lots of sunshine. I think Spring has started to arrive in Chilly Hollow and I hope it is well underway wherever you are.

The About.com guide to needlepoint has posted a spring looking bamboo framework chart meant for an initial. She also has created an Asian looking alphabet to use in the center. These are neat!
Here is the bamboo framework,

http://needlepoint.about.com/od/patternsbytype/ss/BambooFrame.htm

and here is the alphabet.

http://needlepoint.about.com/od/patternsbytype/ss/AsianAlphabet.htm

Spring always makes me thing of Asian designs. If you are like me, Jane Zimmerman's newest cyber class for the Shining Needle Society is shown here. It's a pretty thing, isn't it?

http://www.janezimmerman.com/Site/CyberClasses.html

However, not everyone is a fan of Asian themes. Not to worry. Jane is about to publish a new stitch dictionary, all background stitches. This is not a huge book, so it's not expensive, but it will be useful.

http://www.janezimmerman.com/Site/Small_Books.html

In other book news, Linda Corirossi's books are coming back into print. I own her first book and use it often to find stitches.

http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2010/04/great-news-linda-coriossi-books.html

Finally, I've found mention of a place to get famous people NP canvases. If you've ever wanted to stitch Abraham Lincoln, this is the place!

http://needlepointofview.com/2010/04/14/presidential-needlepoint/

Have a great spring, everyone!
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Amy and Jane Z.

This is just a quick post to remind everyone the monthly Amy Bunger newsletter is up on her website.  This month there are a lot of great photographs of finished projects that Amy, her staff, or her students have stitched.  And congratulations to Robin for her new teaching gig at TNNA in January!
http://www.amybunger.com/f/Amy_s_e-newsletter_October_2009.pdf

AND Jane Zimmerman has released more of her designs as chart booklets as part of her website's one year anniversary.  I can't stress enough how gorgeous her work is in person.  Photographs can't capture the shine of the silk and metal embroidery she specializes in.
http://www.janezimmerman.com/Site/index.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Fun Thanksgiving

I'm beginning to pack to leave for the Thanksgiving holidays but I thought you guys might like to have a little fun browsing the Internet while your turkey cooks.

On Thanksgiving Day, Jane Zimmerman plans to have a few special items for sale on her website. If any of the Thanksgiving Special items don't appeal, browse the two Needlework History articles instead. One is about English Medieval embroidery and I plan to read it the next time I put down my French Medieval Cat in the Pet Guardian Angel series.

http://janezimmerman.com/

If you aren't a chart person, how about checking out the new monthly Petei Santa club for 2009 at The French Knot? You can read about it in their latest newsletter here and discover other treats in store.

http://www.thefrenchknot.com/newsletter.html

Have fun browsing while I'm away. I will be back Sunday.


Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

A Very Big Deal Indeed

See this? This is a design by Jane Zimmerman called "Angulation 1" which is the newest class offered in cyberspace through the Shining Needle Society. Angulation 1 is worked on congress cloth using silk or cotton floss and metallic threads. If you are interested in the class, you need to join the Shining Needle Society (it's a Yahoo Group) and look at the class information.

I'll quote the important bits here from Kate Gaunt's posting announcing the class to SNS members--

"This class explores techniques of Far Eastern and Western silk andmetal thread embroidery through the ages in addition to traditionalcanvas work. The model of this 10" by 11" challenging geometric design, inspired by a Danish rug, was executed on gray congress cloth in gray-white and two color families of silk(or cotton) with metallics to coordinate with the silk colors chosen. The techniques include overlaid Florentine, burden stitch, trellis on satin ground, Japanese novelty pattern, fly stitch, web stitch, eyelet stitch and many other canvas stitch variations.

Since the color combinations for this design are endless and such fun to select, Jane decided to offer the project as a chartpak only. Use Soie d'Alger and/or Needlepoint Inc. and/or Vikki Clayton's hand-dyed silk, or cotton floss with Kreinik metallic braid -- supplies that can
be found easily at your local needlework store. You will need 6 values of silk (or cotton) and one of metallic with congress cloth of a color that coordinates with your silk choices. (A supply list is provided upon enrollment in the class.)"

More information, including cost and how to sign up, is at the Shining Needle Society's Yahoo Group. Join the group which costs nothing and hear about this class and others as they are offered.

This is a Big Deal. Jane Zimmerman is retiring from teaching except for virtual classes like this, In other words, classes that were always limited are now expanding into cyberspace without Jane's having to travel. Jane has also started a fabulous website where we'll be able to order her books, see her designs and look at diagrams of stitches.
Have fun exploring.

http://www.janezimmerman.com/

Those of you who are like me and not into geometrics, let me tell you these things are really beautiful in person. If they are well executed, the shine of the silk and metal threads is incredible. They take ordinary geometric patterns into the realm of art.

Jane's books are very popular with really talented stitchers I know. I've not seen any of them in person but here's a review of one.

http://accesscommodities.com/blog.htm#012908

This is a big deal and a great deal for stitchers everywhere. Thanks, Jane!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow