Stitching a Pen Knife Case

Rachel at Virtuosew has decided to stitch a case for her pen knife.  She's working from her stash so this is going to be a challenge!

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2025/05/20/penknife-case-in-canvaswork/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2025/05/27/more-on-the-canvaswork-penknife-case/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2025/06/17/finishing-the-penknife-case/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright May 20, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Virtuosew's Latest Adventures Begin

Rachel at Virtuosew stitched an original design a while back that she tucked away in a drawer until her sister begged for it and turned it into a fabulous pillow. 

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/02/08/another-new-project-to-think-about/

Her sister wants a similar design so Rachel's starting to mull over the possibilities.  I'll update this as she starts to create something new, perhaps in greens....

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/05/24/a-site-visit/

And we are done!  I'm so glad this has a good home.

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/07/19/last-details/

Rachel's also starting to stitch an old kit she found.  She plans to use the scale differences possible in penelope canvas to her advantage.

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2021/12/28/something-that-wants-finishing/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/02/15/getting-going-on-that-canvaswork-picture/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/06/28/a-second-conversation/

Rachel's take on the dog and horse having a conversation is fabulous!

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/07/12/dobbin/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/08/02/adding-the-saddlecloth-and-other-details/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/08/23/william-himself/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/09/06/bemusements-and-puzzles/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/09/20/moving-on-with-william/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/10/04/more-thinking-about-that-border-design/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/10/18/williams-border-the-background/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/11/01/still-working-on-that-border/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/11/15/border-design-finally-nailed/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/11/29/border-transfer/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2024/12/17/raising-a-needle-at-last/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright February 8, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Rachel's Glasses Case

Rachel at Virtusew Adventures has made herself a fun glasses case out of random patterns.  I love the idea of the drawstring bag being tucked inside to keep the sunglasses where they belong.  

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2021/12/21/an-exploration/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/01/11/continuing-the-exploration/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2022/02/01/finishing-my-canvaswork-sunglasses-case/

Doesen't this make you want to play around with something similar?

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

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

Fishie Experiments

Rachel over at VirtuoSew has been experimenting with a fish design.  She's not entirely happy, but it is just an experiment.  She's about to start another fishy design and there's even a video so you can watch!

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2021/03/30/first-fishie-experiment-finished/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright March 30, 2021 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Footstool UPDATED

Rachel of Vertuosew Adventures is going to create a canvas footstool using inspiration from her grandmother and stash threads.  It will replace a footstool her grandmother stitched that her mother has worn out.

http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2020/11/17/another-footstool/

http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2020/12/01/the-stash-busting-canvaswork-footstool/

UPDATE:  More progress on the sections of the footstool.

http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2020/12/15/stash-busting-canvaswork-footstool-2/

http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2020/12/29/stash-busting-canvaswork-footstool-3/

http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2021/01/05/the-stash-busting-footstool-4/

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2021/03/16/finishing-the-stash-busting-cushion/

And it is DONE!

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2021/08/24/footstool-finished-and-set-up/

It's really easy to come up with something fun to stitch from your stash, even if you don't have an old footstool that needs a cover.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright December 1, 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.

Redoing a Footstool

Rachel has just refurbished a footstool her grandmother stitched on binca with tapestry wool.  
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2018/09/04/renovating-grandmamas-footstool/

I had never heard of binca before but managed to find a closeup photo.  It's not needlepoint canvas but the way Rachel washed and restitched her heirloom footstool is similar to what she would have done with needlepoint canvas.  She just would have figured out the thread count on the original needlepoint and put patches of the same size canvas under any holes or rips.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Binca-Cross-Stitch-Fabric-25x25cm/dp/B0089CSM3I?tag=duc08-21

It's wonderful to give life to old pieces, particularly when they are family treasures.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 4, 2018 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Studying Sunset and Water

Rachel pulled out an older piece of needlepoint and talked about what stitches she used on it and why in this interesting blog posting.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2017/05/02/sunset-study/

Got any ideas for her for the unstitched areas?

Rachel also posted a finished piece, with information about the threads, stitches and canvas to help you learn to analyze what you see and use some of the ideas on your own canvases.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2017/05/09/canvaswork-again-the-lady-by-the-lake/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 2, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Over Rachel's Shoulder UPDATED

Rachel of the Virtuosew Blog has been working on a Bargello patchwork cushion cover for quite a while and today, she started posting about how she made it up into a long cushion cover.  This is a gift for her mother.  First, they had to block it.  I'll update this article as Rachel gets it made up.  By the way, if you are interested in seeing how Rachel came up with this original patchwork design, look for "Crazy Canvaswork Cushion" at the bottom of this article and click on that.  All the articles Rachel wrote as she designed and stitched this will magically appear.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2017/02/14/finishing-the-form-cushion-stage-one/

UPDATE: I removed the wrong link and added the right one.  Sorry!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 14, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Stumpwork Unclothed

If you don't follow reproduction embroidery, you probably don't realize that stumpwork figures are undergoing a huge revival. Thanks to the classes Tricia Nguyen runs through Thistle Threads, people are exploring stumpwork as never before.  Here's the link to her latest classes, by the way.
https://thistle-threads.com/teaching/projects/onlineclasses/classinfo.html

You can see the fruits of this at the Lady's Repository Museum, which is Rachael Kinnison's blog.  Rachel is creating a series of stumpwork figures to adorn her flat topped casket, which is a reproduction of 17th Century boxes.  The entry below shows how the clothing for the lady who goes inside the casket was created.  It's amazing to see the steps all laid out in one place!
http://ladysrepositorymuseum.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-long-short-stitch-stumpwork-ladye.html

This is another lady, who has a special piece of jewelry on her blouse, also built from the shoes up.
http://ladysrepositorymuseum.blogspot.com/2015/05/ladye-water-some-special-bling.html

This little video shows the inside of Rachael's flat topped casket which is now done.  She will turn her attention to working the figures for the outside next.  Anyone who loves music boxes or secret drawers will adore this!
http://ladysrepositorymuseum.blogspot.com/2015/05/inside-my-flat-top-casket-finished.html

If the above interests you, then Rachel's blog will fascinate you.  She's creating two panels called "Dreams of Armana" based on Mary Chubb's book about Egyptian archaeology in the early 20th Century and is creating clothing for the current section--workmen carrying a heavy wooden box full of amazing tomb treasures--using similar techniques.    To see more, click on Dreams of Armana in the keyword cluster on the right side of the page to see Rachel's progress and test pieces.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/

https://dreamsofamarna.co.uk/

There's now a short film about "Dreams of Armana" which I enjoyed very much.

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/06/02/something-different-this-week/

I think we are in a second golden age of stumpwork, don't you?

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 14, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

A Death Hits Pearsall's

Thanks to Rachel I discovered that Pearsall's Silks is discontinuing their Filosell Silk Floss due to the death of their master dyer. It is very sad to lose not only the skilled, but their products.  If you love the Filosell six ply silk, Tristan Brooks has the remaining stock.
http://www.tristanbrooks.com/index.html

By the way, Rachel was working on an Or Nue' Hittite Amulet when she ran out of thread and found out about the death at Pearsall's.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2013/12/03/making-progress-on-the-hittite-amulet/

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.