Reminder: Woodlawn Exhibit Opens March 1

The Woodlawn Plantation Needlework Exhibit opens Monday, March 1st and is open daily from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. every day in March.

To whet your appetite, here is a photo of one of last year's ribbon winners, courtesy of Nimble Needle.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2009/05/nimble-needle-class-spawns-award.html


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

Woodlawn 2009 Exhibit Update

I just discovered one of the Judges' Choice ribbon winners at last March's Woodlawn Plantation exhibit has released their counted thread design as a chart.
http://blackberrylanedesigns.bigcartel.com/

The long Adam and Eve clock piece was the big winner but the small square Adam and Eve clock piece won a 2nd place. I thought both pieces lovely and wish the new designer all the success possible!

If you want to re-read what I said, use the search box at the top of the page, left, to search on Woodlawn 2009.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

2009 Woodlawn Plantation Needlework Exhibit

The 2009 Woodlawn Plantation needlework show is in its 46th year. It looks good for something nearly as old as me! This year there was lots of NP and not much XS or beading (although the winner for a miniature piece was the Lavender and Lace Designs "Angel of Winter" on at least 32 count fabric with tiny little crystal beads clustered around the angel's neckline meticulously stitched by Kennth Toon).
http://www.tiag.com/images/designs/LL-33.jpg

Several lovely original pieces were exhibited, such as the two Adam and Eve clocks by Marie Driskill that won a blue ribbon and a Judge's Choice award.

UPDATE: These pieces are charted as counted thread designs and available from the designer at this website--
http://blackberrylanedesigns.bigcartel.com/

The smaller rectangle clock features Adam and Eve and the tempting apple tree with the snake coiled around the trunk as the clock face; the other clock is a long rectangle of a clock face with a full scene of A&E under the tree (still with snake around the trunk) but this larger design has blue skies with clouds and birds flying, a little creek, a peacock, a deer, a fox, and down in the foreground, the lion & lamb resting together. It was surface embroidery and in a somewhat primitive style. A docent and I talked about it, me claiming A&E motifs aren't popular these days and asking why this choice, and the docent saying look at all the animals-it's an excuse to stitch wonderful animals. She was right, of course.

I saw many more pillows than usual (the number have been increasing the last 2-3 years) and a lot of flower designs, often framed. I particularly remember two lovely framed single thistle flowers in an Arts and Crafts style, each with curved and symmetrical leaves. Both were by the same stitcher (Anna Garris Goiser) and beautifully framed. Classical design in crewel wool doesn't get any better than this. One thistle won a very deserved blue ribbon. Crewel is coming back, by the way. I saw several crewel pieces in the traditional wool (a chair seat and a long wool coat covered in a crewel landscape of flowers and birds) and several more pieces in NP with crewel-style patterns.

I only noticed one Japanese Embroidery piece that showed a swallow flying among the plum or cherry blossoms on trailing tree limbs. But there were lots of mermaids! I've seen many mermaid motifs in samplers (this area is a hot bed of the repo sampler movement) but these were NP. It always amazes me to see stitchers simultaneously and independently decide to stitch the same subject matter. This year there were no Easter canvases at all, but last year there were 15-20 rabbits, Easter eggs, ducks, Fabrege eggs, etc. The Halloween designs were not as frequent as in the past but Christmas designs are holding steady. How on earth do we all decide to stitch (or not) the same themes at the same time? I can understand why some years there are many Japanese Embroidery pieces and other years there aren't many. These are large piece done for the various stages in JE study, and the people who showed last year might not have finished the next stage in time to show their work.

Speaking of Christmas pieces, there were two artificial trees full of cute ornaments on display and almost 10 large Christmas stockings, all lovely. But my favorite Christmas piece didn't win any awards. It was just charming, a cat with a crown on its head and a flying scarf out on the snow with a mouse friend (also with a scarf) examining the wrapped presents stacked on the ground, each with a bow and its own cat paw marked name tag. The snowflakes in the sky, the expression on the cat's greedy face, the little pointy nose of the mouse, they all combined to make me smile. The piece was very nicely stitched by Marla Frazier and I enjoyed seeing it a lot.

UPDATE:  This is a canvas by Lee which turned up in 2010 on the Destaashing Blog.  I decided to update the 2009 Woodlawn report with the photo of the unstitched canvas above. You'll have to imagine the finished design!
http://stitchingdestashing.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-kat.html

Geometric designs in NP had lots of wonderful representative pieces. My favorite was probably Cheyenne Dyarman's original bargello piece, full of lots of color and many patterns. She won the Emma Mathison ribbon which is for the outstanding "junior" stitcher's piece. Young AND talented? Nothing makes me happier (or more jealous).

I saw Carole Lake's In a Purple Passion in peach,
http://www.carolelake.com/TeachingPieces/PurplePassion.htm

three versions of Laura Perin's Amathyst Dreams hung together (a black and silver version; a red, green and gold one; and a blue and green colorways) as well as a blue and green piece that I think is her Amber Waves. You can see both of Ms. Perin's designs here. Click on the thumbnail photos for a better look.
http://www.theneedlepointer.com/needlepoint-canvases_artist.asp?ArtistID=159

For once, the geometric stitchers showed none of Susan Portra's designs. This is the first year I've been to Woodlawn that I have not seen a Susan Portra piece on display but these are out of print long ago and with her website closing, they are probably going to continue being scarce. This U.K. shop has a nice selection, however. Bring Your Canvas To Life will be open until the end of this month and also has some of her charts. If you ever wanted to stitch one of Susan's pieces, I think you'd better buy your chart soon.
http://www.westendembroidery.com/s_portra.html

http://www.bringyourcanvastolife.com/page/page/3354979.htm

I forgot to mention the samplers. The large room where you enter the plantation is always full of samplers. I did notice this year how many large samplers there were and how many were the monochromatic all-over patterned type. The two big winners in samplers were a blackwork band sampler by Melissa Nichols that alternated bands in red, blue and green on what seemed to be 40 count linen (each stitch perfect, by the way, and the docents claim also perfect on the back side!) and a red one by John Kazmaier with slightly oriental motifs arranged as if it was a rug. Here are two links to explore. The first has lots of reproducation samplers. These are big at Woodlawn.
http://www.samplersrevisited.com/reproduction.cfm

The second shows typical one-color samplers. The ones on display at Woodlawn come from a variety of designers but I know Long Dog Samplers are highly esteemed by counted thread folk.
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/longdog/catalogue.html

Medieval knot gardens appeared in several forms--my favorite was the book cover on small count linen by Catherine Jordan which is an original piece. The garden there was walled with a large front gate and a small back one. Wisteria spilled over the front in exquisite tiny French knots while the four little green gardens, divided by crossed paths with symetrical patterns of green. They must be herbs and trimmed shrubs. It was lovely! Luckily, I found a photo on her website although when the photo was taken, the design was not mounted on the book cover yet. I am very tempted to give this piece my I'd Take It Home If I Could Award.
http://www.catherinesdesigns.net/samplers1.htm

Catherine also entered a second piece, one of her hand dyed linen boxes. It had a high rounded oval lid heavily padded and custom fabric dyed by Catherine to be clouds in a blue sky. The sides of the box had trees in autumn colors along the edges of meadows and fields. I wish I could have seen all the sides! I know there was a rising sun and suspect there were other wonderful things to see! Here is Catherine's website. This box isn't the one I saw but this will give you the idea. Her stitching is exquisite and the hand dyeing very subtle and beautiful.
http://www.catherinesdesigns.net/Painting_and_color.htm

A second garden you won't want to miss if you actually get to the show is the bird's eye view garden rug stitched by Diane Mitchell. It is an original design, laid out like one of those architectural plans of a garden with a brick patio, a terrace with the cat snoozing, and lots and lots of plants, all seen from above. The stitcher carefully matched plant colors in her garden to a tray of threads, according to the docent. The garden is very elaborate and the rug quite large, probably 2 feet wide by at least four long and it was a tremendous amount of work to stitch, all in tent stitches, on 18 count. The stitcher obviously put a lot of work into designing the rug, stitching it and of course maintaining the large garden it memorializes!

Until I saw this blog entry, I wasn't sure I'd mention the stitched chair I saw. It was turned to show the side so I am not sure if it was this one but you get the idea. It would be a fun challenge for a counted thread/surface embroidery fan.
http://lovetostitch99.blogspot.com/2009/03/peacock-stitching-chair-by-cats.html

Dorothy Lesher's gold metallic dragon was on display in the formal parlor. I wish it hadn't been on the far wall to the left of the chimney. This piece needs a close examination to see the various textures of all the different gold thread types.
http://www.needlepoint.org/Seminar-08/classes/4day/40813.php

Elena Miagkova's surface embroidery white feather peacock was in the same room. This piece mixed white feathers with lace eyelet "eyes" and some crewel type flowers into something quite special. The folk art influence on this piece is obvious but it doesn't belong in any one category. Actually, a mix of influences was apparent in quite a few pices on exhibit. Lois Fisher showed a ribbon embroidery piece done on paper with a watercolor background which was lovely. Kathleen M. Olex stitched a mixed blackwork and tent stitch portrait of autumn leaves which was gorgeous enough to pick up a Judges Choice ribbon.

I don't want you to think that the traditional was overlooked. Kaffe Fassett's shells pillow was on display, charming me with its subtle coloration and perfect tent stitches.
http://www.resurgence.org/gallery/kaffe-fassett/kaffe-fassett.html

Two of Mindy's Asian quilt designs were also done in tent stitches, with texture provided by various thread types. Three pages of Mindy's Asian quilt patterns start at the link below. They are lovely and always popular at Woodlawn.
http://www.mindysneedlepoint.com/asian_default.htm

And there were slip on mules and sandals, pocketbooks (I particularly liked the golden elephants on coral red bagette purse), a stained glass window pillow, and many many more pieces which would not surprise anyone transported from 1973 to see the show. It's just that the threads are modern and the designs first rate. That brings traditional needlepoint to the 21st Century and is a hallmark of our times.

As usual there were many Asian inspired designs. I loved Lee's wisteria kimono, and
http://www.silk-road-needle.com/images/Website/Lee%27s%20Needle%20Arts%20006.jpg

Sophia's paper umbrellas fan and
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/products.php?cat=116

the lovely little turquoise "takeout" box purse with a geisha and double cherry blossom pattern (number 15 on the designer's website).
http://www.dirksdesigns.com/ddc/keeg/designs/des_handbg.htm

One of Tony Minieri's teapots (the Washington, D.C. one with cherry blossom sprays and an American flag hanging in the background) made a lovely showing, plus there were a great many animal canvases. In fact, if it hadn't been for all the flower canvases, I would have said animal canvases of all shapes, sizes, styles and colors were the coming thing in NP design. I saw The Cowardly Lion, Victorian kittens, a fat modern cat, colorful butterflies, a giant ladybug and even larger bee in the midest of a very stylish border, a dormouse at a picnic, dog portraits, chickens, fish, owls, circus monkeys, and much more. There was even a frog dressed to shop carrying her Shop Til You Drop tote bag. All those animals personify stitching today. They were in NP, XS, blackwork, were in all styles, sizes and made up into all sorts of pillows, framed works of art, even a doggy bag lunch bag sporting a dog, tongue hanging out over his sporty bandana.

Woodlawn this year is traditional but mixes styles and threads to show a great diversity and also a clear interest in the flowers and animals of our natural world. I hope you enjoyed a brief report on the exhibit and what I saw there.

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

What I Did on Spring Vacation

Yesterday was Friday the 13th. I looked out of the window before dawn to discover it was snowing. There was only one thing to do--go see the Woodlawn Plantation needlework show! So I did. Above you see the main building at Woodlawn Plantation. There were two daffodils in bloom in one flowerbed. Spring can't be too far away, despite the snowflakes! I also hit four shops in the general area of Woodlawn Plantation. This is the one time of year when I actually am able to visit the shops. It'll take me some time to write up what I saw at Woodlawn, so how about I talk about the shop visit and tell you a bit about each? They all are worth visiting when you are at the show, or any other time of year. In Stitches: In Stitches is very close to the entrance of Woodlawn. When I left the show, I turned left and at the top of the hill (2-3 traffic lights) I turned right into the shopping center with McDonalds's and found their entrance. In Stitches is a counted thread and knitting shop with a nice line of painted canvases. Here is their website. http://www.institchesneedlework.com/ It carries the full line of Mill Hill beads and findings, a huge array of stitching tools and gadgets, and some painted canvases. You can buy all the Paternayan, Needlepoint Inc. and Thread Gatherer threads here. They also carry the Gumnuts line of silks and wools, plus a nice selection of other thread lines. If you like counted thread, you will love this shop! I indulged myself by buying two of the Kelmscott Designs needle minder magnets, the initial letter ones with cherubs. http://www.sewandso.co.uk/ran2701-0.html I was tempted by their small embroidery scissors with the large finger holes, but I decided my slightly arthritic thumb can do without those for a while longer. I know where they are carried and can always pick up a pair next year. Sadly, the only time I visit In Stiches is after I browse the Woodlawn needlework show. It is just too far away for me to get there any more frequently. But I highly recommend any visitor to Woodlawn stop by. It is really quite close and worth the visit. Then I jumped in the car and drove about 45 minutes to my next stop--Needlewoman East. The shop has changed hands in the last year but it is still "my" LNS. You see the former owner, Sue Jennings, in the slide show. She was demonstrating needlepoint on the second floor of Woodlawn and allowed me to take a photo for her many friends to see. She is surrounded by her stitching. Sue loves patriotic designs in red, white and blue. Even the Tony Minieri piece she has on exhibit was a cherry red and blue and cream version of what I think is his Chicago du Soir design, in a beautiful cherry wooden frame. http://www.institchesatlanta.com/tonym.html The shop is owned by Liz now and since she's a fellow threadaholic, I turned to her for help finding a mauve pink substitute for a Splendor silk that isn't working for a piece I'm doing on congress cloth. Two plies of Splendor is too much and one isn't enough to cover on 24 count. Liz lead me to the pretty pink Soie Crystale and the equally lovely Elegance silk perle. Both match the color of my Splendor so I have two choices now. By the way, here's the shop website. Lis plans to update it fairly soon and to include a photo of the framed crossed stitch piece her elderly mother-in-law surprised her with - the shop exterior, beautifully framed with Needlewoman East cut into the mat board. I took a photo but it didn't turn out. I'm sorry! It is delightful and a wonderful present from Liz's MIL. [UPDATE: The camera disgorged the photo of the stitched front of NW East and I added it to the slide show.] http://www.theneedlewomaneast.com/Welcome.html You'll love seeing all the latest threads at NW East. Liz has a great many of the most popular, including Burmilana, Vineyard Silks, Soy Silk, Mandaran floss, all the colors of Splendor and Watercolors (plus the matching Waterlilies silks and Wildflowers cotton perle), and much, much more. She carries the largest selection of painted canvases in the area, so if you are a painted canvas person, you really must visit! The unusual thread snips you see in the photo came from Liz. She doesn't know who manufacturers them, but they are Japanese. I can't wait to try them out. I found similar "thread nips" at this Baltimore website, but these don't have the rubber grip protectors. These are sharp, mind. You need to keep them away from pets and small children (and husbands who like to use your best scissors to cut articles from the newspaper). http://www.allstitch.net/product/412-squeezers-thread-nips-1708.cfm Sadly, I was only half way through my shop tour and it was already after lunch, so I grabbed my threads and new thread nips and jumped into the car for the adventure of finding a brand new shop I hadn't visited before that is less than 4 miles from NW East--Waste Knot. Here is the shop website. http://www.wasteknotneedlepoint.com/ The shop is a bit hard to find but I'd been warned to look for a little strip mall with a pastry shop on the end. Waste Knot is around the corner in the back, in the bottom level with the pastry shop above it. What a clever idea! I can now add to my stash and waistline simultaneously! I parked the car in the parking lot behind the Lee Heights shop fronts, jump out and dashed down the stairs. The shop is a delight, very light and airy despite being the basement. It is full of the Lee leather goods. You can buy totes, coin purses, the little wristlet purses, almost anything! And Lori the owner has canvases to match. These are beautiful pieces (the leatherwork pieces are first rate) and the easy finishing makes investing in a purse or pocketbook as well as the canvas a good bargain. You couldn't have these made up for you at this price. I was delighted to find Lori had come back from the TNNA market with the Leigh Swedish Dynasty special edition ornaments which are not shown on the Leigh website. She has the large Dalish chicken and the lovely rose tree pattern which I had not seen. She had several other Leigh designs, including the red-haired Las Vegas showgirl which I adore. It's not in my budget, though, so I confined myself to picking the size 22 needles I prefer and which I run out of often and a skein of mauve pink Lorikeet from Gloriana. http://www.glorianathreads.com/Lorikeet.html I adore Lorikeet. It doesn't look much in the photo but it is a very thin 9 ply overdyed wool, thin enough for silk gauze and certainly 1-2 plies will be perfect on my congress cloth. There is not another thread quite like it and since no one else in the area carries it, I was really happy to find a source. She also has the new Vineyard Silks Merino Wool. It is very pretty in the skein but I don't have a need for it and didn't buy any. Besides, this gives me a reason to come back, right? LOL I browsed all the Petei Santas, rummaged around looking at Christmas stockings and Nativities, enjoyed the Melissa Shirley and Kelly Clark pieces (I never knew the Kelly Clark Nativity canvases are that large!) and generally had a wonderful time, especially when I discovered that Lori also carries Sundance beads. No one else in the area has them, so definitely I will be back to shop here. Don't miss the class picture on the Waste Knot website of the Lee wisteria kimono with the acid green background. (click on What's New, it is at the bottom of the page) It will be taught here in a few weeks but the reason I'm pointing you to this piece is I saw the original model at Woodlawn where I think it won a blue ribbon (the tag was in the bright sun and I can't be sure). Very lovely subtle version of this piece which is a favorite of mine! I finally tore myself away as I had one more shop to visit and a 2 hour drive home still ahead of me. Luckily Scarlett Thread is on the way back to Chilly Hollow. This shop is in a new location in Great Falls which I pass heading north. It's in a similar place to Waste Knot in the back of a series of shops and partly basement but once you find it, you'll go back again and again. Despite there not being a pastry shop upstairs. [lol] http://www.scarletthread.com/ This is another counted thread shop, chock full of threads that no one else carries. I saw my first spools of Gilt Sylke Twist in person there yesterday. This is the reproduction silk and metal thread Plimoth Plantation talked Access Commodities into helping create and distribute. It's almost $20 a spool but it is beautiful! The gold glint is very subtle, not gaudy and the thread itself about the diameter of heavy sewing thread. This is a special thread for a very special project and I suspect the gold will be less subtle if you use it to do surface embroidery stitches. Sara had a spool of Lincoln Green and the Bisse (sort of ecru). The gold showed up better in the green than the ecru but that's just in the spool. Remember, threads stitched can look very different than in the spool or skein or on the card. http://www.needlestack.com/WebStore/Thread/Access_Twist.html If you need Jean Hilton or Laura Perin charts, this is the place to come. They also stock overdyed cotton threads that the repo sampler folks love as they give an instant faded look to any sampler or etui. I picked up the skein of Dinky Dyes ecru silk there, as well as the Gloriana purple silk robbon, the Gold Rush 18 (they have chainette metallics I can't get anywhere else), and the pink Silk Lame Braid. I could have picked up the Silk Lame Braid at NW East but I had forgotten I wanted some. The green Petite Sparkle Rays was hanging next to the Silk Lame Braid and they looked so pretty together, I had to have both. Then I saw the pretty lavender Snow and remembered I'd meant to get some of this, so I did. This was my last shop and I got a bit frantic to get everything on my list and anything that caught my eye as it is probably my last visit to any shop for 4-6 months and maybe longer. Scarlett Thread has started to carry more painted canvases. They've always had a nice line of crewel kits and wools, which no one else has in this area, and that attracted enough NP folks that Sara is expanding her painted canvases. She mostly has smaller pieces and many are in big portfolias she'll pull out for you to browse if you ask. (This is a small shop and things are everywhere so you may need to ask for directions.) I asked for magnets as I wanted my other initials in the Kelmscott thread minders which Scarlett Thread carries but they did not have the cherub initials. I was very happy to pick up the plain little square magnets instead. This are very strong and small, perfect for a canvas with not much margin in which to park needles. I love them already! My final purchase was an impulse one--the candy cane dog stocking. See the candy cane in his mouth? I saw a wonderful Woodlawn piece with raised sections which I'd like to try and reproduce here. I am sorry I don't know the designer to credit. Sara looked and looked and couldn't find out where she got this from, but perhaps a Blog reader will know. You guys know everything! This stocking is destined for my oldest friend who will adore it. I have a lot of plans on how to stitch this one already--some pieces just shout ideas at you and this one was whispering things to me the instant I saw it on the mobile display with all the cute little Melissa Shirley reindeer ornaments. I will spend the weekend writing up what I saw at Woodlawn. Stay tuned for that in a couple of days. By the way, if you visit any of theses shops, make sure you mention any guild membership you hold as they all have a small discount for us dedicated stitchers. Jane/Chilly Hollow Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow