Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Create Spring Lollipop Garden (Tamara Abdee)

Melita is taking Tamara Abdee's silk ribbon embroidery class called "Spring Lollipop Garden."



Doesn't that look like FUN?!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright APril 20, 2026 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

"Friends,"Johanna Virtanen's Mystery Class

"Friends" by Johanna Virtanen is Bedecked and Beadazzled's Mystery class for Summer 2026. What do you think is going on between the cat and the bird?!  Ruth will gradually Reveal All and I'll update this mystery class as she does.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 13, 2026 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Fleurs/Being Human (Kimberly)

"Fleurs" --also known as "Being Human"-- is the latest Kimberly class available only at Bedecked and Beadazzled in late February and early March 2016.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 11, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, January 23, 2026

The Sunflower Heart in the Depths of Winter (JudyAnn)

Melita is treating herself to a JudyAnn heart as a break from a more complicated project.

The heart features a sunflower.  Melita is using the Ginny Stapleton stitch guide published in ANG's Needle Pointers (the July-August 2025 issue) for this and five other JudyAnn hearts.  It turned out great!

The finishing is lovely, too.

If you are charmed, you can order JudyAnn's designs from her website or her Etsy shop.


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 4, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, September 7, 2025

Lani's Morning Glories (with Finishing)

Melita is going to take a finishing class from Sue Parsons of West Coast Finishing so she dug around in her stash and found a three inch round ornament by Lani of flowers.  She had a little trouble identifying all the elements of the design but with Lani's help, she found it was morning glories and buds.

It looks like this design is discontinued but you'll have fun browsing Lani's website anyway.



Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 8, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Great Stitches for Clothing, Hearts, Backgrounds, Circles and Flower Petals (plus a Star and a Brick)

Quail Run has posted a neat stitch and stitch diagram for the one they used for a hatband and collar on their Pilgrim turkey.  Since they are starting to post stitch diagrams for all sorts of things, I thought I'd gather them in one place.

It's a double brick stitch variation, and not too difficult to do when stitching black on black like the hatband Mr. Turkey wears.  Gives his starched collar a nice look, too.

Quail Run has also posted a diagram for Ribbing Stitch, which is perfect for a knitted item.

Next, the shop has posted two lovely heart stitches.

This simple background stitch will go fast.  It is an open stitch but you can add a tiny upright stitch over the empty canvas thread to take care of that.

Here are stitch ideas for round spaces.

Flower petals are next.

And here is a star diagram, easily made larger if needed.

Bricks are great made from Mosaic Stitch.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 22, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Ribbon Loops for Lupines: The Movie

Fire and Iris has made two quick tutorials for their Instagram account to demonstrate how to make little loops with silk ribbons for flowers.  The first video is optional, but it shows how to lock slippery silk ribbon into your needle and how to secure it on your canvas before stitching.  Useful stuff!  (Note:  the silk ribbon used is from River Silks.  You can sew right through it without damaging the ribbon.  It's my favorite silk ribbon for many reasons, but durability is #1.)

The second tutorial shows step by step how to make loops in your ribbon that create a beautiful lupine. Click on the right side arrow to move through the steps.  

Are you a visual learner?  Not to worry, Fire and Iris made a video showing all the steps if you'd rather watch than read what to do.  Once you make one loop, move up or down or to the side to make another, depending on how wide your lupine is painted.  Use your laying tool to move a previously done loop out of the way if necessary to see where to put your next loop.  Don't rush, just relax.  Silk ribbon embroidery is different than normal needlepoint stitches as you don't pull the ribbon tight in most cases.  

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
 
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 21, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Easy Flower and Buds: The Movie

This quick video has Ruth Schmuff of Bedecked and Beadazzled demonstrating creating a flower with 7mm wide silk ribbon (that's the medium size ribbon from River Silks).  

Once Ruth creates the flower petals, she uses a Colonial knot for the bud, followed by a lazy daisy stitch on top to cover the Colonial knot which serves as padding for the bud.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 9, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Twisted Lazy Daisy for Flower Buds (and Hair)

The very talented Ruth Schmuff has posted a video on Bedecked and Beadazzled's Instagram page demonstrating using twisted lazy daisy stitch for flower buds.

This would make great fake bullions for hair, too.  Here is what the purple buds look like clusters on a design.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 31, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, February 21, 2025

Making Flowers Using a Sewing Machine Bobbin: The Movie

The ever inventive Ruth Schmuff shows us how to use a sewing machine bobbin to make a perfectly round fluffy flower on her YouTube channel.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 27, 2024 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, January 31, 2025

Ribbed Spider Web Roses

The Wool and the Floss posted a video tutorial on their Instagram on creating ribbed spider web roses.  If you prefer written instructions, they posted a step-by-step guide in the description, too.

They appear to be using silk ribbons from Tilli Thomas and Treenway Silks, by the way, but I prefer silk ribbon from River Silks whenever possible because of the huge color range and their durability.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 8, 2024 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Vibrant Beauty: Winter 2025 Mystery

Ruth Schmuff has announced the Winter 2025 mystery class--"Vibrant Beauty" from Romantzart.

The classes are set for January and February 2025.  Stay tuned. I'll update this article with Ruth's progress reports here as the class dates come and go.  By the way, Ruth had an idea about how to reduce shipping costs starting with this mystery.

Ruth started with an open background and a new Color Dreams thread on the vase.  (Color Dreams is a line of overdyed floche that Ruth has made for her shop.)

Then she moved to leaves and flowers with a Ruth twist.

Then Ruth tackled all those black outlines in a very clever way.  The flower center she's finished is amazing, by the way.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 2, 2024 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Saturday, December 28, 2024

Floating Embroidery: The Movie

You may not be familiar with Helen M. Stevens, but her embroideries of the natural world are amazing.  I recently saw an example of what she calls "floating embroidery" on her Instagram account.  Here it is in close up.

Here is the entire piece, which reveals this as a clematis seed head.

Here is Helen's YouTube tutorial explaining this very simple but effective technique.  She's working this on muslin (I think) but if you switch to a small, sharp needle (a beading needle, for example, or a crewel needle) you can do the technique on your needlepoint canvas without having to create a sketch of your design.

Helen is a big fan of Piper Silks' "Floss Silk," but any silk floss should work (and cotton floss will work, too, just without the light play you get from silk).  If you are a threadaholic, though, you should explore their goods.  They have sample color packs which are a good way to have some stitching fun.

Here is Helen's website if you'd like to explore her books, her tutorials and classes, greeting cards, etc.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 31, 2024 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Braided Stitch Flower: The Movie

Anjiara demonstrates what she calls braided stitch on a round flower.  It's lovely!  And unusual.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 23, 2024 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Saturday, June 8, 2024

Ridgewood Stitches Flowers (and Leaves) for New Stitch Monday

Stephanie of Ridgewood Needlepoint has posted articles in her New Stitch Monday column about stitching flower petals, complete with stitch diagrams and tips on how she used beads in the center of her sunflower.



Stephanie has switched to a design with flowers and leaves, so she also has leaf stitches for us.





Stephanie has listed quite a few simple leaf stitch diagrams in this posting.

It's back to the center of a sunflower this time.

And now the leaves next to the sunflower.

More leaves on this Laura Love design.

This time Stephanie is doing the maple leaf.  As a special touch, she added Accentuate (a very thin metallic) to the overdyed silk from Thread Gatherers and says it looks great.

This week Stephanie tackles smaller leaves, using Thread Gatherer's Silk N Colors (which I agree is a terrific thread).  If you want to experiment with Silk N Colors, visit the second link below.


The ferns are especially lovely but she does some nice small brown leaves, too.

Next is the sunflower and its leaves.  The petals are in ribbon stitches.  Search for Japanese ribbon stitch to see how to do the outer row.  The inner row is just satin stitches in ribbon.  Stephanie gives two options for the little leaves around the sunflower.

The final floral motif on this design are small yellow flowers, which get three different stitches and beads!

The last bit of this canvas is the background and the lettering.

Here is the canvas finished and framed.

Poppy Monk Needlepoint recommends a stitch they call Diamond Leaves for leaves and tree trunks.  Since we are talking leaves and flower petals, I thought I'd put that here as well.

Stephanie is working on a traditional Tobacco Leaf design for her next project.  Her yellow-green leaf is done in all Nobuko Stitch, which is very popular among needlepointers for large areas.

The navy leaf is a familiar stitch with some great tips for stitching it.

More leaves are done on the Tobacco Leaf design.

Adrienne is working on an Alice Peterson still life of tulips in a vase.  

This step works the tablecloth, using Nobuko with Gloriana silk (which is a lovely lovely silk, by the way).

The tulips look great in interlocking Gobelin.

Adrienne is now working stems and leaves for the tulips.

I'm not sure what lines are being stitched--maybe the rows on the vase?

The Alice Peterson tulips still life is done!

The next floral (stitched by Stephanie) is Raymond Crawford's "Pumpkin Floral."  Here you see it stitched and framed.

Stephanie found the perfect background stitch in The Pointer Sisters' We Have Your Back Ground Stitches.

Then she tackled the pumpkin.

Finally, the acorns were done in various stitches, then an oak leaf finished the piece.

The maple leaf stitch is a favorite of Stephanie's.



Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 23, 2024 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Silk Ribbon Tulips: The Movie

Mai Bordados has a fun video showing how silk ribbon embroidery tulips are made.  The video's speeded up; in reality SRE flowers should be done slowly so you can let the ribbon do its thing.

She does lots of flowers in silk ribbon so you might want to explore her Instagram account for more.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 25, 2024 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Monday, August 7, 2023

Bisque Needle Minders and Beeswax UPDATED

If you collect teacups or just want a touch of English style on your current project, you might want to check out the new china needle minders Mary Corbet has started to sell.   (Unfortunately both items sold out immediately but keep your eye on Mary's shop to pick up one or both when they are stocked again.)

The painted china needle minders come in heart, square, circle or octagon shapes with various floral patterns and the occasional butterfly or dragonfly.  

The beeswax petites are available four to a little box, making them perfect for the stitch who likes to wax their threads for beading, Goldwork, or to just tame that Kreinik that will not behave!

UPDATE:  Melita bought Mary Corbet's beeswax petites and loves them.

By the way, the floche color assortment packs are back in stock if you want to add some to your thread stash.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 13, 2023 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, July 30, 2023

New Items from Planet Earth

Planet Earth Fiber has new flower and butterfly shaped fobs for self finishing.  

Planet Earth also has new lambskin Triangle Cases, meant to be folded into three for carrying tools, glasses and other summery essentials.  



Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 2, 2023 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Saturday, May 15, 2021

Flowers by Sign of the Arrow

Sign of the Arrow in St. Louis is posting free flower ideas in their shop newsletter.  The first lesson explains messy beading and how to create petals with long stitches arranged in a circle.

Their second posting covers very simple silk ribbon petals and brick stitch over two.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 19, 2021 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

The Floral Bench

A shop owner stitched four of Jean Smith's florals, then had them made into a bench cushion!

It's a very clever idea and perfect for those big canvases you love but don't know how to finish.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 5, 2021 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.