Breaking News: The Point of It All Reopens in New Location

The Point of It All in Washington, D.C. has reopened in their new location.  

5115 MacArthur Blvd, NW
Washington, DC 20016
202.966.9898

Their hours will be Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.  They are closed Sundays and Mondays.  The shop is up three flights of stairs but if you let them know in advance, they can let you in the back door which doesn't have all those steps.  Of course you can always visit their website.

https://thepointofitallonline.com/collections/all-products?mc_cid=8122757987&mc_eid=ac48f033cd

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright June 1, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wanted: Canvas Painter

Point of It All Designs in Washington, D.C. is looking for a canvas painter as their long-time painter has an injury that means she can't continue.  

https://mailchi.mp/45233d8dd375/finishing-deadlines?e=ac48f033cd

If you are interested, contact the shop.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright April 1, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Videos from The Point Of It All

The Point of It All is one of the lovely D.C. needlepoint shops in my general area.  I've never been there (parking is an issue) but I enjoy browsing their website.  If you are a fan of classic design, you'll have a blast looking.  Click on "Shop" to start looking.

The shop has a series of videos perfect for beginners and to use as a refresher course if you haven't needlepointed in a long time.  You can visit them all here—

https://thepointofitallonline.com/pages/videos

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright January 18, 2021 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Hitting the Shops Before the Woodlawn Exhibit UPDATED

Melita went on a road trip to see the Woodlawn Plantation exhibit. She had a lovely time stopping at four shops along the way.  Read all about the shops and see Melita's finds here.
https://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/roadtrip-before-woodlawn-2015/

UPDATE:  Here is what Melita saw at Woodlawn.
https://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/woodlawn-roadtrip-2016/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 18, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Crabby Beader

Suzanne at Hugs and Stitches is totally covering her latest canvas in beads. She has some great ideas, like using double-sided tape to hold her various bead colors in the margin of the canvas, and she is doing tent stitch beading for the crab to make it stand out a bit from the brick stitch beaded background.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2016/02/still-beading.html

 Note that she is adding more blues to the water to give it motion and is using three types of beading--adding beads to a brick stitch, adding beads to a tent stitch and "messy" beading.  Suzanne's explanation of the various bead and beading thread colors she used is very interesting.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2016/03/beaded-blue-crab.html

You can see the entire canvas here.  It is from Point of It All Designs.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2016/02/hello.html

If you decided to try this, I suggest you start with a small canvas.  A canvas totally covered in beads is very very heavy.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 23, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Mrs. Mellon's Pillow

The Point of It All talks about Bunny Mellon's estate sale and the pillow that was a big hit on their blog.
http://thepointofitallonline.com/needlepoint-sayings/

You can get a better glimpse of Bunny's pillow here, plus an idea of her personal style.
http://femmeetfleur.blogspot.com/2014/11/bunny-mellon-sale-at-sothebys.html

She and Mr. Mellon were very very popular in this area. Oak Spring Farm is perhaps an hour's drive over the mountain from Chilly Hollow, so many of the folks who did work for them live in this area. They all loved the Mellons who were very good to their employees, something of a rarity among the very rich in that area. Judged according to the pillow's rule, they were Somebody Indeed. 

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 3, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The New Fox or Owl?

I've started to see a small trend in painted canvses--panda designs! BB Designs has a Christmas panda ornament opening its gifts.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FINAL-Panda-Bear-with-Lights-handpainted-Needlepoint-Canvas-by-BB-Designs-/370859238104

Kathy Schenkel has a panda and bamboo stocking.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/KATHY-SCHENKEL-Mini-Christmas-Stocking-Needlepoint-Canvas-PANDA-BEAR-/301723257453?hash=item46401b8a6d

I adore this panda ornament found at the Point of It All Designs' online shop.
http://tpoia.storenvy.com/products/281852-panda-ornament-canvas-on-18-mesh

Animal Fayre has a darling small panda.
http://www.needlepoint-for-fun.com/shop/Kits-/Animal-Fayre-Needlepoint-Kits/p/Little-Panda-Needlepoint-Kit-sku-50067.htm

dede Odgen has a panda with a sweater and Christmas stocking ornament.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Handpainted-Needlepoint-Canvas-by-DeDe-Dancing-Panda-/321847175552?hash=item4aef962980

Jince has a Love canvas with a mama panda and her baby.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Needlepoint-Canvas-HP-Mama-Panda-Baby-Black-White-Red-Hearts-Jinice-371-/151798032827?hash=item2357de29bb

Liz of Tapestry Tent has a roll up panda.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-LIZ-Panda-Bear-Roll-up-3-D-Ornament-handpainted-Needlepoint-Canvas-/371019356369?hash=item56627a18d1

Scott Church's panda is eating a candy cane instead of bamboo!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panda-Bear-with-Candy-Cane-handpainted-Needlepoint-Canvas-by-Scott-Church-/371229164154?hash=item566efb827a

Jean Smith has a colorful panda bear in her kids animals series.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-Off-Jean-Smith-Panda-Bear-Needlepoint-Canvas-13M-8-x8-/161117821591?hash=item25835eda97

There's also a wonderful Panda Treasure Box on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/204120939/panda-treasure-box-unfinished?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=panda%20treasure%20box&ref=sr_gallery_1


The latest panda is this needle minder that Ridgewood posted--along with several other new magnets--on their blog.
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2015/09/new-magnets.html

I also found another style of panda magnet over at Bedecked and Beaddazzled.
https://www.bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/Exclusive-Panda-Magnet/

Speaking of accessories, you can even pick up a crochet panda tape measure.
http://www.buttonsetc.com/tapemeasures

I think while we weren't looking pandas became nearly as prevalent as fox and owl canvases!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 1, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: The End (or is it?)

No Flying Monkeys, Complete with Flying Monkey Magnet (Accoutrement Designs)

I hope you've enjoyed watching me blog-stitch this fun Point of It All Designs piece.  It's off to the designer to be finished but I don't know yet what it will be made up as.  It will debut at the Destination Dallas show in late September.  Once I have photos, I'll show them off here.

The stitch guide is ready and sent off to the designer as well. It will be available as a free guide for any purchaser of the canvas.  If you have the No Flying Monkeys canvas in your stash, not to worry.  Just send me your email address (I'm chilly hollow at hotmail dot com) and I'll send you the guide as a PDF file at no charge.  The same deal applies if you are a shop with this in inventory.  Let me know and I'll send the PDF file for you to print out and include with the canvas when you sell it.

Thanks for coming along for the adventure!  Here's hoping the flying monkeys stay in their cages in your castle.  And before I forget, many many thanks to Hyla Hurley of Point of It All Designs for allowing me to blog-stitch this piece here.  It was great fun, Hyla!

Remember, I collected the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posted them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog. You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again once you are ready to return.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 21, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: The Writing on the Wall

When we last looked at the No Flying Monkeys canvas, I was planning to add the finishing touch to the area where the background "wall" and the background "footstool" meet--a couched length of Silk Lame Braid SL125 (medium dark blue) over the area where the wall and footstool meet.  I used a ply of the medium dark blue Splendor S916 as the couching thread.  Then I turned my attention to the writing on the wall which I decided to bead.

I used one ply of black DMC cotton floss to attach black round beads but the clear beading thread used on the martini glass bubbles works as well. I used size 15/0 (sometimes written 15°) beads for my letters. That’s actually a little small for size 13 canvas where usually size 11/0 beads are chosen. I’ll explain why I picked what I did in a minute. When you choose your beads, you may go with either size, just make sure all the colors of beads you use are the same size.

I like to use reverse tent stitch to bead small letters. Work a letter at a time, going back through the beads with one long stitch after you finish a letter to help pull them into a straight row. Look at the chart below.

The gray ovals stand for beads. The yellow boxes stand for the painted lettering on the bare canvas. The top right side of the chart shows various ways of attaching beads—with a reverse tent stitch, a cross stitch, or with a long stitch through a line of beads. What I do with skinny letters like the T is use reverse tent stitches for horizontal or vertical rows. Once I finish the reverse tent stitches for the top of the letter T, I run a long stitch through the holes of all the beads I’ve attached. This helps pull them into a straight line. (That’s why I am using only one ply of my DMC cotton, so I can go through the beads 2-3 times.) Beads are wiggly things and you may have one that keeps jumping out of the straight line until you add the long straight stitch. 

The letter T is done in four steps: reverse tent stitch for the top horizontal bar, then a long stitch through all the top bar's beads, reverse tent stitch for the vertical base of the T, then another long stitch through the vertical row of beads. It takes a while but your beads will be straight and true.  So what do you do for letters like S that have both rows and individual beads? You do reverse tent for all the beads, then go through the rows with the long stitch and finish up with a regular tent stitch / for single beads. That means a single bead is attached with a cross stitch. A row of cross stitches is suitable for attaching single beads like the dots after the word Day where you don’t want to go through the row with a long stitch because it might show behind the beads.

I didn’t use all black beads for the lettering. For the words “flying monkeys” I added a few red beads to highlight the words slightly, mixing in a sprinkling of red among the black beads. This is optional. If you decide to use red beads as well, try to find beads approximately the same size as the black ones you are using. When you have all the letters done, check the placement of each letter one more time to be certain they are all as even as you can make them. 

 

No Flying Monkeys is Done!

No Flying Monkeys is finished!

I have written up everything I did in more detail for Point of It All Designs to use as a stitch guide. I think the guide will come with the canvases ordered after this point, but if you have this canvas already and would like a copy of the guide, I can email you a PDF version to print out if you will email me at chilly hollow at hot mail dot com and explain you need the guide for your canvas.

Many thanks to Hyla Hurley of Point of It All Designs for allowing me to blog-stitch this fun canvas for you.  Once the canvas is made up, Hyla has promised photographs.

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog. You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Now I need to turn my attention to my next canvas.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 29, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: The Wall Background

The Inspiration for My Background--Barbara Elmore

Now that I have the ruby slippers out of the way,  it's time to work on the wall in the background.  I originally intended to stitch this in cream Splendor using either Double Stitch or Staggered Crosses.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2015/05/no-flying-monkeys-background-stitches.html

But I am sure you all realize that the best laid plans fall apart at least occasionally!  I did some test stitching with my cream silk in the margin and before I even had 3 Double Stitches in place I knew that the color was too stark and the stitches I thought would work were too small in scale.  What to do?   I could browse my stitch books again, looking for stitches that would resemble larger Xs or I could figure out how to enlarge one of my chosen stitches to make the scale right.

I did neither.  I started fantasying about the teaching piece of Barbara Elmore's shown above.  It's called "Las Flores de la Noche" and you can see the design on her website as well.  (Photo courtesy of Barbara Elmore and posted with her permission.)
http://www.barbaraelmoredesigns.com/barbaraelmoredesigns.com/Canvases/Pages/Teaching_pieces.html#42

Look at the background carefully.  It's rows of gentle waves separated from each other by skipping a thread.  This allows the lovely paint of the background to show well.  This isn't going to work as is for the wall of No Flying Monkeys which isn't painted, but I can use the general idea.  And that's what I did.  I created the Gentle Wave Bargello stitch.  It has the gentle undulation of Barbara's background stitch but has smaller rows between each larger row.

Inspired by Barbara Elmore

I can't really explain why this stitch is The One, but once I start fantasizing about a stitch, it generally is going to work.  I looked again at the canvas and was struck by the lemon-lime crystals on the ruby slippers and how they emphasized the red of the shoes.  I wonder...?

The Ruby Slippers

So I rummaged in my stash and found a card of a lime green Splendor.  It was too dark but if I combined two plies of the cream with two plies of my lime green, it made a pastel lemon-lime color.  Then I turned my canvas on its side so the rows would be oriented vertically and emphasize the legs and shoes, and got to work, compensating around the letters as I worked the rows.

The Wall Is Done!

Here's the end result.  We have a wall!  Sure it is a pastel poison green, but what do you expect in a witch's den?  The color works well with the blue of the footstool and makes the ruby slippers even redder.  I am a happy camper.

By the way, I deliberately took the photo upside down. I take photos from unusual angles to help uncover problem areas.  Your brain gets used to seeing something and will miss problems if you always look at the canvas right side up.

Next I need to couch a line of something over the edge of the footstool where it meets the wall stitches to make that line even.  Then I will start stitching the lettering.  Stay tuned!

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog. You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 20, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: Ruby Slippers

Once the martini glass was finished, the next item I wanted to stitch was the ruby slippers. Doing them next meant I wouldn't drag thread or my arm over the wall background stitches and possibly snag them.

The shoes are the main focal point of this canvas so I wanted something special.  I rummaged in my stash looking for red beads and crystals and sequins that would look good with the two shades of red High Cotton floss I had pulled already.  It's actually harder than you would expect to find red bling that stands out when placed on top of red stitches.  But I had some amazing red sequins from The Collection that looked to be perfect for the shoe uppers.  I attached them in overlapping rows on one shoe using my medium red High Cotton (one ply).

Sequined Ruby Slippers

Alas, although the red and the shine were perfect, the mass of sequins didn't look the way I wanted.  Sigh.  Back to the drawing board.  (Luckily sequins are easy to remove.  Snip the couching thread and they fall right off.)

Then I remembered my little Sundance booklet called Sundance Beads For Needlepoint How To and Why Knot!  Time to consult the experts!
http://www.amybunger.com/catalog/item/8549795/6868467.htm

This is a great little book.  It talks about the types of beads available, how to attach them and finishes up with twenty-five diagrams of great stitches to use with beads.  I looked carefully through the book, admiring all the diagrams, then found The One--Serendipity Stitch!

I worked the boxes first (black lines on the diagram) using my medium red High Cotton (two plies as this is a 13 count canvas).  Then I used the same red Entice as I used for the olives in the martini glass (one strand which is perfect for 13 count) for the red parallel lines.  I finished up with using small 3 mm red bugle beads between the pairs of parallel lines.  I attached those with one ply of my medium red High Cotton.  Happiness!

Of course this isn't the end of the Ruby Slippers.  I still had the darker red soles and the shadow lines along the insides of each shoe to stitch.  I used Diagonal Mosaic for the soles, slanting the stitch from upper left to lower right for the left shoe and then using the opposite slang (upper right to lower left) for the right shoe.

I used tent stitches for the darker shadow lines.  The right shoe used regular tent stitch (two plies of the darker red High Cotton) and the left needed reverse tent stitch.  Success!

That left only the buckles.  I beaded those, using size 11/0 round galvanized yellow gold beads from Miyuki.  They were tent stitched in vertical rows (the same way you do half cross stitch) using a strand of my medium red High Cotton.  Once I finished a row, I went through the entire row again with a long straight stitch through each bead, using that long second stitch to pull all the beads into as straight and even a row as I could manage.

Serendipity Stitch Ruby Slippers

Finally, I added two Swarovski marguerites to the center of the buckles. Marguerites are flower-shaped crystals.  I choose two 4mm foil-backed pale yellow-green marguerites.  The foil backing keeps the color of the red shoes from showing through and overwhelming the actual color of the marguerite.  I discovered too late that the bugle beads in the centers of the buckles made the marguerites a little tipsy but I managed to get them to be pretty flat anyway.

The Finished Ruby Slippers

Next I need to tackle all the "wall" background.  Stay tuned!

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog. You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 11, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: Building a Martini

Now that the footstool on No Flying Monkeys is done, I can work the martini glass. Why did I work the footstool before the martini glass? Generally speaking, I like to work from the background forward. I think it helps me keep things that should be in the background less prominent.  (Of course for some canvases you need to work certain things before certain other things, so there's no set rule that works for everyone all the time.  Sorry.)  I also needed to see how the footstool looked before I decided how to handle the glass.  I often use how things look in real life to choose stitches.  If this were a real living room or den with a real footstool and drinks glass, one would see the blue of the footstool through the clear glass.  I wondered if having too much blue would blend the glass into the footstool, though, so I needed to have the footstool done to decide.

I was right--having a blue glass against a blue background would mean that it would become the stealth martini and totally disappear!  Since the glass is one of the focal points of this design, I can't let that happen.  So the martini has to show up very well against the footstool background.  It's going to need to be white (or clear).  There are several ways to create a glass look on canvas.  You can use beads or transparent threads like Water N Ice or Prisms, or you can use light coverage stitching to create texture without much color.  (Skip tent with Kreinik's #4 very fine braid in silver, say.)  Normally I'd use beads but beads on 13 count are harder for me since I have less experience on that size canvas.  So I played it safe with Water N Ice.  But first, I had to deal with the olives on the swizzle stick.

The stick itself was easy--a few tent stitches with my black High Cotton topped with three black Swarovski bicone beads (size 3mm) in a cluster.  If you haven't seen bicones, you can view all the sizes and colors available here.
http://www.firemountaingems.com/shop/swarovski-beads--5328

I used clear beading thread from The Collection to attach the beads.  It's strong and hard to see so it's a good choice for a piece that will be a model and get some handling after spending time traveling here and there in a box.

Then I tent stitched the olives in green Krenik and red Entice.  They sparkle! So far, so good.  The next step was brick stitch over two in Water N Ice.  I used the iridescent version, not the original clear, to get a bit more sparkle as this is a focal point of the canvas.  It also contrasts nicely with the silk behind the glass.  I covered the olives up with the Water N Ice in the brick stitches, too.  (By the way, I discovered that it is easier to track the stitching when covering already stitched areas to do the brick stitches in vertical rows.)

A "Dirty" Martini?

Once the Water N Ice was stitched, I outlined the silver of the glass with back stitches in #16 Kreinik braid across the sides, and couched the top rim horizontal lines using #4 Kreinik in a matching silver. The final touch was adding three "bubbles" above the glass with my clear beading thread and three 3mm Swarovski bicone beads.

The martini glass was an easy stitch but it looks good. I'm just sorry that cameras are blind to sparkle and bling, which the witch's martini has in spades!

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog. You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 6, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: Background Stitches Part Three

I'm sure by now you are a tad annoyed with me for going on and on about stitches I ended up not using.  Many stitchers don't want to make mistakes or have to rip out, which I can understand since none of us has enough leisure time to waste several evenings chasing a dead end.  But this is how you become a better stitcher, by making mistakes.  Think of it as shopping for a dress.  You have to try several on to see how they fit, if the color flatters you, etc.  After a while you know what brand names fit your body better, what colors make you look like a vampire and what colors enhance your eye and hair color, etc., but first you have to try clothes on to learn these things. It's the same with needlepoint.  Practice makes you better and ripping out makes you MUCH better.

Once I had the general size of the stitch I wanted in mind and had my eureka! moment with the X shapes I wanted to emphasize, the sort of stitch I wanted came to me and I graphed it, figuring out the size and shape and how the rows would interact with each other.  I choose a trellis stitch with four plies of the darkest blue silk making the framework of Xs and the medium shade of the blue silk filing the inner (roughly) oval shapes.    (I'm sure it's in one of my stitch books but I couldn't find it so created it from scratch which I'd do for the stitch guide anyway.)  I call it Xs and Ovals.  Here's the diagram.

I did have to lay my stitches pretty carefully and my silk doesn't cover 100% but since I like that look, I am happy.  If you are a full coverage babe, switch to another type of thread on 13 count or up the number of plies to 6.

Here's what the footstool looks like.

I missed some stitches along the fingers and have to figure out what some areas look blotchy in the photo on the left side (photos are your best friends when it comes to finding problem areas you don't notice in person), plus I need to add some darker silk outlining I missed on the right above the glass, but basically the footstool is done.  Notice that the basting thread is still in position.  I won't take that out until I start on the wall stitches.  The Plan at this point is to turn the canvas upside down and work the wall from the footstool down toward the lettering.

But first I need to work on the martini glass.  Stay tuned for more fun with that next week....

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog. You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 2, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: Background Stitches Part Two

Auditioning Footstool Stitches

Now it's time to reveal the results of my footstool stitch auditions.  The stitches on the left were all stitched with the dark or medium blue Splendor silks, using 4-5 plies.  I normally use 2-3 plies on 18 count so I added another to get better coverage as No Flying Monkeys is on 13 count.   The stitches are (bottom to top)  Henderson Variant from Tony Minieri via the ANG website, one of the Alternate Mosaic Variations from Carolyn Hedge Baird's Needlepointing in My Nest,  Roof No. 6 from Stacey Tombros' Ins and Outs, one of the Oblique Stitches from Carole Lake's and Michael Boren's Desert Island Stitches, and a charted version of a flying monkey I created.

Now let's talk about each stitch, working from the bottom up this time, and why I choose it and why I either used it for my footstool or rejected it.

The Henderson Variant is the bottom stitch.  See how small it is in scale?  It seems too tiny to make a good statement on the footstool.  It would work for the wall, which needs to be smaller in scale.  I could make it larger than Tony designed it but I didn't. I moved on to the next stitch.  By the way, the Henderson Variant stitch is all in the darkest shade of blue.  The color variations you see are caused by the light falling on the stitches differently according to how they slant.

Next up is the Alternate Mosaic variation from Carolyn Hedge Baird, who charts lots of compound or complex stitches in her books.  I thought this was quite pretty but I discovered that if I choose this stitch the inner section will need one more ply to cover the background than the X shape does.  You probably have noticed that thread coverage is better in the diagonal stitches than in vertical or horizontal stitches.  I have plenty of thread (Lori at Waste Knot sent me two cards of each color, just to be safe since we had no idea what stitch I would choose) so this isn't a problem--just something to remember.  This stitch seems a little large to me but it is a much better choice than the first stitch I tried.

Roof No. 6 is similar to Carolyn's stitch but smaller.  I went with it to see how a smaller scale stitch worked.  I don't like it as much as the Alternate Mosaic one but the size is better.

By the way, I judge scale by judging how many repeats I can do of the stitch I'm considering.  You need to be able to fit 3-4 in a space in general for a stitch to look good.  If you are going to have a lot more repeats than that, the stitch (like Henderson Variant) is too small.  Too few and you'll still have a problem.  Using this rule, Alternate Mosaic will fit four repeats on one side of the footstool.  You can see it borders on being too big.

The Oblique Stitch variant looks like Xs and Os, doesn't it?  It is my favorite so far but as you can tell from the sample I stitched, there is a lot of open space in this stitch.  I am not certain I want that much white showing and I don't want to fill in with beads or tent stitches, either.

While I pondered all of the above, I charted a flying monkey shape with the vague idea of stitching rows of these across the footstool or putting one on each side of the lettering in the background. I'm not sure I like it, though.  It's a little too indistinct, something that didn't show up well in the diagram I created.  You don't really know how a design you make up will work until you stitch it, though.

Studying all my stitches I auditioned, I had a big ah-HA moment.  I suddenly realized what my theme to unify the footstool and wall backgrounds with the crossed legs and martini glass would be.  It's the letter X.  The legs make an X, the martini glass looks like the top of an X, the two background stitches I thought I'd use for the wall background use cross stitches (also an X).  Can't make it any plainer than that!

So what stitch did I choose?  Naturally, none of the above!

However, you'll have to wait until next time for the reveal.  (Sorry)

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog. You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 29, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: Stitching Order

Before I show off my footstool test stitching for my No Flying Monkeys witch, I want to talk about stitch order a bit.  Because I choose silk threads for my footstool and wall backgrounds, I don't want to stitch these areas first, even though I normally do stitch backgrounds first.  Instead, I want to stitch the stockings and the hand before I tackle the backgrounds.  That way I will be less likely to snag a stitch done in silk reaching over the background to work the stockings, for example.  Once I have a general idea of how I plan to stitch a piece, I try to figure out the most logical way to stitch it.  In this case, working the stockings and hand first is important.  The footstool should be next, and then I'll work on the martini glass.  After that I'll probably turn the canvas upside down and stitch the ruby slippers, followed by the wall background area and finally the lettering.

So I tent stitched the stockings with black and white High Cotton, which is a five ply cotton floss with a slightly rough texture to the plies, making each ply slightly thicker than one ply from a strand of DMC cotton floss.  I stripped the plies apart and then recombined them.  I ended up using four plies to basketweave the stockings but if your stitch tension is tighter than mine, you might need all five.  (This is a 13 count canvas.)   I didn't have any gray High Cotton for the shadow lines on the outside of the stockings but a gray size 5 cotton perle worked nicely there in continental stitch.  I was careful to tie off after I worked each stripe so I wouldn't drag a thread across the white areas on the back and cause a shadow on the front.  Then I stitched the hand in basketweave using pink Flair F505.  This thread is semi-transparent so the shading shows even though I used only one color.

Now I am ready to start the footstool stitch auditions!

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog.  You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 29, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: Background Stitches Part One

 Now that my No Flying Monkeys canvas has been divided into the "wall" background and the "footstool" background, it's time to choose stitches for these areas.  I have to have something small in scale for the wall so that the lettering stands out.  That stitch needs to be easy to compensate as well, since I have all those little wall bits among the letters.

For the footstool I want a medium scale design so I can get quite a few repeats in the 7 inch width of the canvas and I also want something that creates a pretty pattern that doesn't detract from the black and white stripes on the stockings. I think a diagonal pattern would be good for the footstool since I want the eye to travel from the footstool to the martini glass.

Time to consult my stitching books!  I always look at SharonG's SENSE book when I need to browse stitches by texture and whether they have a diagonal flow or not.
http://www.homesteadneedlearts.com/product/sharong%C2%92s-simply-essential-needlepoint-stitch-explanations/

I didn't see anything in the diagonal pattern section that did much for me but in the section on medium texture I found my old friend Double Stitch, which is very versatile and small in scale.  It reminded me of Staggered Crosses, which is somewhat similar.  I think either might work for my wall.

Now I need footstool patterns so I looked at my Got Stitches? book from the team at Gone Stitching.  It is full of multi-layered stitches that are very pretty patterns.  But nothing really caught my eye.  So I kept looking, rummaging through my stitch diagrams, books and photographs.
http://www.gonestitching.net/new/index.php/supplies/got-stitches.html

I just auditioned Tony Minieri's Henderson Variant for another project and knew how pretty it was. If you turn the diagram so that it runs in horizontal rows, it might just work nicely as it echoes the stripes on the stockings and also will point the eye toward the martini glass since it is a diagonal pattern.   This diagram is available online from ANG's Stitch of the Month for June 2009.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2009/jun.php

Tony Minieri's Henderson Variant, Rotated

Here is the diagram rotated.  See what I mean?  I think it will make for a nice footstool.

Now I need to audition the stitches above to see how they actually look and how much thread I will need for my 13 count canvas.  Stay tuned!

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog.  You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 20, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

No Flying Monkeys: What's in YOUR Background?

The No Flying Monkeys canvas is a tabula rasa when it comes to the background, isn't it?  The feet are up in the air unsupported, while the lettering floats above.  This means we can do anything we want as long as the stitch is small scale enough that compensation around the letters isn't hard.  Check out what Mary Waldsmith did for her penguins stocking.  I'm going to do something similar, but what?
http://owlstitchery.blogspot.com/2015/04/adding-background-to-painted-canvas.html

I started to think about what the witch's feet were resting on.  Two possibilities came to mind.  Her legs were propped up on a footstool or her heels rest on a railing or chair rail.  Hummmm....

A chair rail could be broad enough for me to create a decorative band with flying monkeys across it....

Or I could put flying monkeys on a footstool.  The footstool has the added advantage of creating two background areas--one under the legs and one on the wall where the lettering is.  I could do something fancy and larger scale on the footstool and then work a smaller scale pattern on the "wall" around the letters.

I had not put my canvas on stretcher bars yet, so I used one of my stretcher bars to take photos of my canvas showing several positions for a dividing line on the canvas.  Here they are--

The higher bar on the left is where I thought heels would rest on a chair rail on a wall while the lower bar on the right is where I thought the edge of a footstool would be.  I think a footstool space looks better.  But then I consulted a stitching friend who thought the footstool looks better lower down, nearer her calves.  Like this--

Hope you can see this.  I think it is better, although I will put the footstool area up a bit higher, but not as high as in the other two photographs.  Now all I need are two stitches for the two background areas-- one for the footstool and one for the wall, both of which have to look ok with the stripes on the stockings.

Any ideas?

Remember, I am collecting the links as I blog stitch this Point of It All Designs piece and posting them in a tab on the CH Stitch Guides blog.  You can catch up on what you missed by going there--just click on the flying carpet photo to magically be transported to my other blog and then back again.

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.

Hide Your PJs

Needle Nicely, always thinking of items that we might actually use instead of just more needlepoint pictures and pillows, has a neat pajama bag/pillow canvas from The Point Of It All.
http://needlenicely.blogspot.com/2013/11/sleepy-time.html

A quick and useful stitch!

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.

Do You Need Something Stitched?

With Ghost Stitchers apparently no more, I thought I'd collect a list of shops that offer stitching services.   I've been told the following shops offer stitching services.  I don't know the cost, the quality of the work, or anything else about their services.  For details, email or call the shop closest to you.  In no particular order, here they are:

Beth's Needlepoint Nook - they will stitch anything for anyone and have done rugs and stockings with guides
http://bethsneedlepoint.com

The Needle House
http://www.theneedlehouse.com/newsletter/Summer_2016_Web.pdf

Old World Designs
http://www.oldworlddesigns.com

Rittenhouse Needlepoint
http://rittenhouseneedlepoint.com

The Needlepointer
Linda Wimer can be reached at The Needlepointer through the shop at their phone 425-252-2277.http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=2b1a4dafdf1ba6e29e773aa79&id=bcae16e4cc&e=73961ee0ea

http://www.theneedlepointer.com


2 The Point
http://www.topoint.com

Needle Nicely
http://www.needlenicely.com

http://needlenicely.blogspot.com/2011/11/stitching-for-hire.html

The Point of It All
http://thepointofitallonline.com

Needlepaint
http://www.needlepaint.com/blog/2014/01/08/beautiful-and-cool-custom-needlepoint-pillows/

Needlepoint Alley
http://needlepointalley.com/site/?page_id=23

Needlepoint Points West
http://www.needlepointswest.com

Red Finch Stitches
http://redfinchstitches.tumblr.com/stitchingservices

Enriched Stitch
http://enrichedstitch.com

Needlepoint Breeze
http://www.needlepointbreeze.com

Needlepoint for Fun
http://www.needlepoint-for-fun.com/needlepoint-stitching-service-we-can-stitch-your-canvas.htm

Flying Needles
https://theflyingneedles.com/pages/stitching-guides

In Stitches Atlanta
http://www.institchesatlanta.com

Spiral Up Stitchery
This is a group in Puerto Rico that will stitch unfinished projects or do canvas restorations.  Right now their website is off line, possibly due to the dislocations the hurricanes of 2017 have brought to the island.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/SpiralUpStitchery/about/

http://spiralupstitchery.org/

Keep Me In Needlepoint in New York State- Call on a Tuesday and ask for Miriam who will set you up with stitchers
https://www.keepmeinneedlepoint.com

Needlepoint Studio of Sarasota
https://www.needlepointstudio.com/

Stitching Fox (North Carolina)

https://www.stitchingfox.com

Elena Siurna

Email her at Etetexas@netscape.net

Folks on Facebook who say they will stitch for pay (remember, I have no way of vetting these people)--
Linda Breman (the Hippie Stitcher)
Beth Burns Gilbert
Susan C. Hudnall
Ilene Levine
Kathy Worley
Ginny Stapleton
John Touhey - specializes in stitching stockings
https://www.facebook.com/john.touhey.5?fref=nf

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeedlepointNation/permalink/1210755452334944/

Lauren Ryan
https://www.facebook.com/lauren.ryan1?fref=gc&dti=108537025890131

Jane Anderson
https://www.facebook.com/jane.anderson.9277583

Rebecca S. Then
Email thonirst@aol.com phone 615-331-1569.https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.s.thoni


If your local shop offers such services, please let me know and I'll add them to the list so folks searching for help know where to ask.  You can either use the Comments section below or email me personally at chilly hollow athot mail dot com and I'll add to this article for you.  Thanks!

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.

Resources for the New Stitcher

The Point of It All isn't just a distributor of fun needlepoint, it's also a shop that appears to have a real commitment to teaching folks to needlepoint.  Check out these videos on their website.  There's an introduction to needlepoint, tips on choosing that first canvas, and how to videos on basic stitches.  Susan Battle (shop owner) also has put together a little book to help beginners once they exit the shop.
http://thepointofitallonline.com/videos/

I haven't seen the book so I don't know how helpful it will be for a beginner but it's worth a look.  If any of Blog's readers have seen this, I'd like to have a mini review.   Either add a Comment by clicking on the Comment link below or if Blog won't listen to you (which won't surprise me, it doesn't listen to me at least weekly!), then email me directly at chillyhollow@hotmail.com.  Thanks.
http://tpoia.storenvy.com/products/1990183-how-to-needlepoint

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.