Magic Thread Trick (the Video)

Michele of Bristly Thistle posted this neat tip on Needlepoint Nation.  Julia Snyder taught her this way of getting exactly the right color for her canvas.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeedlepointNation/permalink/1890343834376099/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright August 28, 2018 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

A Great Stitch/Thread for Snow

This tip comes to us from Meredith Willet.  Michele of the Bristly Thistle obviously pays attention in class!
https://www.bristlythistle.com/blog/2018/3/7/a-great-stitch-for-snow

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 9, 2018 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Basketweave Turkeywork

Michele at Bristly Thistle has a tip for those who hate turkeywork but need some on one of their canvases—stitch it the Susan Portra way.  Basically you just do basketweave but leave big loops on top of the canvas.  I suspect this works best in smaller areas as I can see holding a ton of loops out of the way would get difficult if you were doing this in a big space.  Of course you could use non-tacky tape to hold the loops out of the way.
https://www.bristlythistle.com/blog/2017/7/24/the-easiest-turkey-work-ever

If you loathe turkeywork, this is something to try.  Thanks, Susan, Sally and Michele!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 24, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Taking a Mistake and Running With It

Michelle of Bristly Thistle goofed on a stitch diagram for a class-and her students made something beautiful!  It's proof that mistakes are sometimes better than the "right" way.
https://www.bristlythistle.com/blog/2017/5/16/do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do

That's my Thought for the Day.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 16, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Michele's 3-2-1 Rule

Michele Herron of The Bristly Thistle has a neat way to keep her stock of unstitched canvases under control.   She calls it the 3-2-1 Rule.  Now all I have to do is find some self-control buried under the boxes of threads and canvases….
https://www.bristlythistle.com/blog/2017/4/26/sticking-to-the-3-2-1-rule

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 27, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Beading Tips from Michele

Bristly Thistle's blog has several tips on beading needlepoint canvas on their blog. I think the list of good needles for beading is particularly helpful.  Hopefully this will help folks who find beading hard.
https://www.bristlythistle.com/blog/2017/3/2/beading-tips

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 10, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Alpaca Bunny (Michele Heron)

Michele of The Bristly Thistle in Florida just finished my nominee for Best Bunny of the Week.
https://bristlythistle.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/rabbit-pillow/

I don't know the designer or if Michele will create a stitch guide for this charmer, but you can check with her via the shop.
http://www.bristlythistle.com/index.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright  April 19, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Don't Be A Snail!

Michele at Bristly Thistle reminds stitchers the Christmas finishing deadlines are upon us with this charming Christmas snail from Kirk and Hamilton (the masters of the unexpected).   AND there is a bonus tip from the fabulous SharonG about choosing threads for open stitches like T stitch!
http://bristlythistle.blogspot.com/2012/08/christmas-snail.html

Speaking of finishing and deadlines, here is a similar note from The Needlepointer.  Stitch faster!
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=2b1a4dafdf1ba6e29e773aa79&id=62d7541c95&e=d91761eebb

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

A Box of Halloween

Michele's getting ready for Halloween with Dracula.
http://bristlythistle.blogspot.com/2012/07/count-dracula-by-julie-mar.html

You can see the finished box on the Julie Mar Designs website.  The second link shows the entire set of Halloween creatures.
https://juliemardesigns.hostasaurus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=7ab539cbeeba4098e18246e8b49c8936&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=809


http://www.juliemardesigns.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?


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

Why Didn't I Think of This?

One of the customers at Bristly Thistle has come up with a great way to keep their Lee tote bag side rigid after their stitching is inserted.   It's very clever and easy, too.  I don't think the Lee leather bags need stiffening but the canvas totes have more flexible sides, the better to stuff all your worldly goods Inside (and your husband's, too).
http://bristlythistle.blogspot.com/2012/01/purse-finishing.html

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

Stock Up On More Than Candy

Now that the stores are overflowing with Halloween treats, Robin reminds us to stock up on more than candy bars. This is the only time of year you'll find Halloween decorations for your house and your needlepoint.  So check out the craft emporiums, places like Pier 1 and Joann's Fabrics, and even your grocery store for buttons, beads, trims, bells, jewelry, and many other embellishments that you can use in those Halloween projects you will stitch in the next year.  Come November, all these things will vanish until next September.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2011/09/decorating-ideas-for-halloween.html


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

Finished Play Pretties to Admire UPDATED

Last night saw a rather tired Jane basketweaving a little bit. My progress isn't worth showing so how about I distract you with some fabulous finished pieces from other places? After all, if you don't like animals or Asian-themed pieces, you have been a bit disappointed here lately!

First, let's head to Michele Herron's blog to see her last four pieces, all shoe shaped! Two are Western boot canvases and two are Christmas stockings. All four are wonderful to see. Michele owns The Bristly Thistle in Michigan. You probably remember her Halloween canvas with the little kids marching in a row on their way to trick or treat. She calls her blog Neeldepoint Tips and Tricks and tells you what threads and stitches she chose for these designs plus she has a nice little blog entry about how to chart names for stocking tops. I love her blog!

http://bristlythistle.blogspot.com/

Next, how about we go see Ruth Schmuff? Ruth also owns a shop right outside of Baltimore called Bedecked and Beadazzled and is a NP designer, too. Her blog is full of pieces she's stitched for the shop or for classes. You may remember the pastel pink Melissa Shirley Santa she was stitching. It is covered in crystals, fur and fancy stitches. My kind of Santa! It is back from the finisher's and it is lovely.

http://www.tistheseason.org/blog/ruthsBlog.html

You should browse a bit. Ruth has photos of the many ways to finish the shop's new snowman club designs (that helped me decide to put my Squiggee canvas on a photo album cover) and shows off a gorgeous pillow as an example of how finishing really "makes" a stitched piece. Do not forget to go to the second page to see her cat portrait, complete with whiskers! To navigate her blog, click on the links under Recently on the right side of the page or open a month in the Archives and start reading there. Ruth loves finishing and embellishing painted canvases and posts great photos of her work to inspire us.

Finally, for something completely different, let's head to Edy's blog. Edy is sampler-mad! She has two blogs, a personal one, and a blog that collects photos of finished cross stitch samplers with detail like the designer name, the fabric count of the ground fabric, etc. If you enjoy samplers, you will want to bookmark and visit Edy's collection and perhaps contribute photos of your own work there.

http://galleryofsamplers.blogspot.com/

Edy's sampler blog is a great place to get framing ideas, find a designer whose style you like, or just get ideas for the next chart to add to your collection. Great idea, Edy!

UPDATE: Edy tells me the sampler collection blog isn't hers (although she's contributed to it), just her personal website that talks about her samplers and of course her ten darling grandkids under the age of eleven. Way to go, Edy! What fun! Here is Edy's personal blog.
http://grandmaelf.blogspot.com/

Now let's return to our regularly scheduled programming--I basketweave while we all complain about the winter weather!

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