Ladies of the Night

Luna:  Lady of the Night Unfinished

As a special Halloween celebration, I have some of the wonderful Leigh Designs' Ladies of the Night series, all stitched up and ready to inspire us all with ideas for our own Halloween canvases. First of all, I've linked to the unstitched canvases so you can see them all. Leigh always designs a series of eight canvases, which gives plenty of options to choose from.  I'm working on Luna, even though she's been put away for almost a year when family crises got in the way.  I'll be working on her this fall after Christmas stitching is done.  (Note to self:  Stitch FASTER!)
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp513x.html

The first finished canvas is of Esme, who wears a beaded gown (Luna's gown is only beaded at the bottom) and has the most marvelous pillar and candle--that candle wax is inspired!  Esme's got smashing jewelry and gorgeous hair.  I suspect if we could see this in person the red curtains in the background would also be beautiful.  The photo isn't quite clear enough for me.  Leona Cole of The Stitch Niche in Mississippi is the stitcher of this masterpiece.  Think she'd let me borrow this for a while to study?  I'll give it back.  Eventually.  Really I will.
http://www.LeighDesigns.com/Mdl5132.html

Daria is the next finished piece.  (I'm listing them in the order they appear on the Leigh website to make you finding a photo of the unstitched canvas a bit easier.)  This has always been a favorite canvas.  I just love the black cat!  Daria wears a gorgeous patterned gown and has the best manicure of the bunch.  I particularly like the couched metallic spiral on the broken pillar and the velvety look of the cat with the jewel eyes.  Daria's ring is simple and I think that enhances the overall look of this piece since it doesn't detract from the cat's eye or the fabulous beaded girdle she wears.  Take a careful look at the background of this piece.  The zigzag pattern is both quiet and dynamic, a wonderful combination!  Sally London of Rainbow Gallery is the creative mind behind this great canvas.
http://www.LeighDesigns.com/Mdl5134.html

Our final vamp vampire is Beth Hendzilik's Remilia.  I was thrilled to see this photograph as the gauzy curtains on either side of the canvas were not shown in earlier versions I've seen.  The curtain tie backs are inspired, as is the little spider hiding in the curtain folds!  That spider was obviously inspired by the web that you can just see glistening on the right side or Remilia.  She wears the most marvelous Russian shawl, which I am told was inspired by the ones the designer SharonG takes to the trade shows.  Wish I could see that shawl better. Maybe I have to borrow this design, too?  Heck, I'll just need all three, please!
http://www.LeighDesigns.com/Mdl5137.html

I think the background is unstitched here.  The hair is just fabulous and the sleeves are fascinating.  My Luna's sleeves are unstitched so I find these particularly interesting in that they are done with such a light touch they are gray, not black like her sisters' outfits.

Beth works for ThreadworX and created a stitch guide for her version which comes with the thread kit from ThreadworX so you have everything you need.  Add canvas and you'll have a Lady of the Night to haunt our dreams as well.
http://www.threadworx.com/productDetails.php?prd_id=1087

It is great fun to study all three ladies and see how the similar elements of black dress with tattered sleeves, the flowing hair and the backgrounds are handled.  Each stitcher has put her unique stamp on the designs with the elements that are different--the spider web, the cat on the pillar and the candle in its skull holder.  Needlepoint is really art in the hands of these master stitchers.

Happy Halloween!


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

Get Ready for a Big Sale

Stitch Niche in Mississippi has announced a 50 percent off sale on painted canvases for this Saturday, October 22. Any in stock canvas (except for the brand new designs and any New Orleans themed piece) will be in the sale. The details and restrictions are here in their newsletter. Hope they have the canvas of your dreams!
http://www.needlepointyaya.com/Newsletter_files/September2011.pdf


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

More Beads While We Wait UPDATED

I'm eager for the November newsletters to appear at The Needle Works and Stitch Niche.  I always enjoy seeing them and Colleen says she will post NWKS' today.  But we are in different time zones, so I wait....
http://theneedleworks.com/

http://www.needlepointyaya.com/Newsletter.html

UPDATE:  NWKS' newsletter is up.  Don't miss the explanation of Fish Eye Turkeywork (so easy!) and the new book that helps you find the right stitch for an odd shape.

Fortunately I have beading and basketweave to do!  I'm trying to decide whether to introduce a few crystal beads to the gunmetal gray ones in a few places that need highlights at the bottom of Luna's hem.  Any opinions?

I am going to continue a black section of the gown while I ponder this and revisit "The Blind Banker" in PBS' Sherlock series.  I have to say I have a lot of sympathy with Dr. Watson whose first date with a lady he meets at his temp job goes very very wrong!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/watch.html

By the way, fellow bloggers who use Blogger.com will be interested in the article below about photo storage limits.  I've started to clear out duplicate photos and photos from the Canvas of the Day that are stored in my Blogger album since it was nearly half full.  Eventually I won't be able to upload photos if I don't delete some, so don't be surprised if some photos disappear from articles.  I'm deleting ones I think unimportant to the narrative to make room for more.
http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/2007/08/manage-blogger-image-storage-space.html

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

Halloween is Coming

Two Monsters from Renaissance Designs

It's October 5 and Halloween is on the way!  I've read recently somewhere that Halloween painted canvases are more popular than any other theme.  I have trouble believing this since there are so many Christmas canvases for us to enjoy, but since I've seen a huge influx of Halloween canvases showing up at Woodlawn and online, certainly a lot of Halloween stitching is going on.  I've even stitched two Halloween designs myself.  The first was Two Monsters, above.  It turned out so well that I have it still, put away in my stitching drawer each year to wait until October rolls around.

Pirate Cat Himself

Of course I just finished Patt and Lee Designs' Pirate Cat. He was quite a lot of fun to do, wasn't he?  Now I think I want to do another Halloween design, but something a bit more sophisticated.  But you'll have to wait and see what I choose....

Two Monsters, Giggling and Teasing You

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

Another Day, Another Sale

The Stitch Niche in Mississippi is having a 25% off sale on their hand painted canvases in the month of July. You can do a little browsing here.  Don't miss clicking on Sale to see needlepoint designs that are half off!
http://www.needlepointyaya.com/Canvases.html

The Busy Needle in Tucson is closed for summer vacation until July 12 but when they return, all Christmas or Hanukkah canvases will be 25% off until the end of July.
http://www.busyneedle.com/

Needle Nook of La Jolla's anniversary sale is over but they still have seven pages of 50% off painted canvases available.
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/products.php?cat=105

Have fun browsing.  Maybe you'll get lucky and find that canvas you've always wanted at a great price.

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

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!‏ (updated)

It's Fat Tuesday, time to party Mardi Gras style!

The dancing chicken is from Stitch Niche's website, the New Canvases February 4th page. I'm sorry I don't know the designer.

http://www.needlepointyaya.com/

Don't fail to check out the Newsletter section. The January and February newsletters each have a new useful and unusual stitch explained.

Here's to the green and purple and gold. Bet if you are close enough to visit Stitch Niche, they'll throw some beads for you.

UPDATE: The chicken canvas is by Cheryl Schaeffer Designs. I found it here.
http://www.cherylschaeffer.com/category_results.cfm?Category=26

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

Progress Update from Chilly Hollow

While I've been tent stitching around the wizard and working another project I can't show you, other folks have been busy. Stitch Niche in Mississippi has posted two newsletters. I always find their stitched projects inspiring.

http://www.needlepointyaya.com/newsletter/nwsindex.htm

Stitches by the Bay is doing a 3-D octopus class and one of candy corn (yumm!) dressed as a mummy for Halloween.

http://stitchesbythebay.com/classes.html

I've also posted one of Isabel's Originals canvases as my Canvas of the Day in the right hand column. Isabel's canvases are inspired by French style so the letters of the alphabet are made from French contortionists in traditional dress. The garden of the month canvases show Frenchwomen in their garden each month, with the correct plants for that time of year. They are dressed in 19th Century garb but in a modern touch, you will find zodiac symbols on their clothing. These are large and expensive designs but very beautiful. You can see them here. Click on "Hand Painted Canvases" at the bottom of the page and scroll through the gardens to find your favorite month. July is above.

http://www.isabelspocket.com/

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

While I've been tent stitching around the wizard and working another project I can't show you, other folks have been busy. Stitch Niche in Mississippi has posted two newsletters. I always find their stitched projects inspiring.

http://www.needlepointyaya.com/newsletter/nwsindex.htm

Stitches by the Bay is doing a 3-D octopus class and one of candy corn (yumm!) dressed as a mummy for Halloween.

http://stitchesbythebay.com/classes.html

I've also posted one of Isabel's Originals canvases as my Canvas of the Day over in the right hand column. Isabel's canvases are inspired by French style so the letters of the alphabet are made from French contortionists in traditional dress. The garden of the month canvases show Frenchwomen in their garden each month, with the correct plants for that type of year. They are dresses in 19th Century garb but in a modern touch, you will find zodiac symbols on their clothing. These are large and expensive designs but very beautiful. You can see them here. Click on "Hand Painted Canvases" at the bottom of the page and scroll through the gardens to find your favorite month.

http://www.isabelspocket.com/

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