Mystery for Fall 2025--"My New Skull"

Ruth Schmuff has announced the Fall 2025 mystery class at Bedecked and Beadazzled--Sharon Hendy-Moman's "My New Skull."

https://bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/2025/08/say-hello-to-my-new-skull/

The first class of the three that Ruth's planned is September 7.  I'll update this article as Ruth posts progress photos of the fun.

First lesson Ruth started with the face, the leaves in the background and did an interesting twist on the background itself.

https://bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/2025/09/framed-in-foliage/

The second lesson is all about the buildings in the background.  Great ideas for other canvases with buildings here!

https://bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/2025/10/buildings/

And she's finished by the third lesson, which dresses her in jewelry, a gown and flowers in her hair.  The skull is fancied up, too!

https://bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/2025/10/my-new-skull-is-complete/

Here is Renee's version, finished and beautifully framed.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10242700477587319&set=pcb.25571286452521838

Here is Ruth's version, also lovely in her frame.

https://bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/2026/05/she-cleaned-up-nicely/

Ruth has posted a video that shows a closeup of "My New Skull" and gives you a good idea of what is in the kit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38aiLGbDIoI

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow 

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright August 2, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

For Your Inner Darth Vador

Just in case you need these-
http://www.rings-things.com/Products/Swarovski-Crystal-Flatback-Skull-2856/

Two caveats:  these have to be glued or wired or somehow bound onto the surface, and these are pre-orders.  Apparently these are brand new and not available yet.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 1, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sherlock Knits

You saw it here second (right after NeedlePrint broke the news).   I want mine in pink, knitters!
http://needleprint.blogspot.com/2014/05/knit-power.html

By the way, I have no idea what politicized knitting is.  Must be a Brit thing.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 21, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Skull and Bones (and Pumpkins)

The latest Leigh canvases for the August trade show are now viewable on the Leigh Designs website.  Skull and Bones is their name (and bridge is their game-LOL!).   There are eight ladies, all in fancy hats, some with 1960s style bracelets, some with drinks, some with fancy sunglasses.  Leigh designed them in pairs so folks could do a coordinating set if they wanted.  I had fun looking at the entire series, trying to find the common denominator between them and looking for the funny touches, like a gold tooth or the red dot in the center of an empty eye socket.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp514x.html

I have it on good authority that at least one name came from a high school teacher Leigh is pretty sure she put in an early grave....
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Sgl5140.html

By the way, Smilin' Jack is now viewable in all his glory on the CH Stitch Guides blog.  I find it charming that two of the Skull and Bones "ladies" carry miniature Jacks. Do you think they are having a pumpkin fight?  LOL
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/2011/08/smilin-jack-stitch-guide-available.html

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

Skulls Cell Phone Case Finished

As you can see, the cell phone case is finished. I sewed the snaps inside the lining so a phone can be secured inside, then whipstitched the lining to the NP outer case.  The final touch was adding narrow trim to hide the join.  I deliberately let a bit of the lining show above the trim to add to the interest.

I'm happy with how it turned out.  The video doesn't show the sparkle well (it is almost blinding in the full sun) but you can see the color changes from the beads in the above.

Do you think the new owner will like it?  LOL

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

Finishing the Cell Phone Case: Part One

Yesterday I worked on the cell phone case. The first step is to put your needlepoint face down on top of your fabric (with the fabric's front side touching your needlepoint front) and cut out a piece of fabric the same size.  In the photo my lining is a little bigger so you can see there is fabric under the NP.

Next I turned under the margin along the top of the needlepoint and the top of the lining fabric...

...and pinned these down.

The next step is to fold the NP into a pouch form, right sides together.  Sew around the bottom and side, but leave the top open.  The top is where you turned the margin down and pinned it.  Note that by now the raw NP edges are fraying a bit. This is why you leave a big margin of bare canvas. Once everything is secure you can trim it a bit, but I think wider margins are better to start with.

Repeat this step with the lining, right sides together.   Sew around the bottom and side again but remember to leave the hemmed top open.

Trim around the side and bottom raw edges nearer the stitching for both the NP pouch and the lining pouch.  I trimmed everything to about 1/2 inch away from the sewing.  As you can see, there's just a little free room around the cell phone case I borrowed to test but there will be more without the plastic ribbed cover, so I'm ok here.

Turn the NP pouch right side out.  This takes a bit of gentle pushing with your fingers until you can't reach to push any more, then use the eraser end of a pencil to push more.

Use the eraser end especially at the bottom corners.  Remember, you are only turning the NP pouch right side out.  Leave the lining pouch as is with the wrong side out.  After all, your phone will slide inside and you want the right side to touch the phone.

Now I attached the jump rings to the lining.  These rings are where the detachable chain handle will go.  Below is a close up so you can see the left ring being attached and how the detachable shoulder strap slips over the jump ring.

I didn't go any further with the finishing because I realized that the snaps I have here are the wrong kind.  I can't stitch them to the lining to close the pouch.  The finishing will have to wait until I get the correct type of snaps.

The sharp-eyed will realize that I didn't follow much of Summer Truswell's finishing after all.   I realized when I got started that her mini sock finishing technique will work better for a cell phone case that has two separate sides instead of being in one piece.

Hopefully I'll be able to pick up snaps today.  If not, I'll work on Stars until I can get the proper hardware to complete the finishing.

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

Back to Skulls

I hope everyone found Deborah's question about how I stitched Japanese hair on my geishas interesting, particularly since I reposted old information about how my canvases were worked.  My original blog is no longer easily available, so reposting was the best option to help Deborah.  My apologies to long time Blog readers to whom this was old hat and to those who aren't really that interested in stitching hair.

As you can see, I've been busy finishing side two of the cell phone case.  This has been rather relaxing after Cha which involved trying new techniques and coming up with stitches to interpret the lovely design.  I am about to start assembling this into a pouch.  I have Ultrasuede cloth (very thin version of Ultrasuede) in purple for the lining and a long chain for the handle.  The background above is the lining fabric but I forgot to include the chain in the photo.  Sorry.

Once everything is put together I'll add beads to the side seam where they were omitted when I stitched this.  I doubt I'll put trim on the edges as it will be carried a lot, so I'll have to be very careful to make a neat seam.  I'm going to adopt these mini stocking instructions to make it up.
http://summerlouise.blogspot.com/2008/11/learn-to-finish-miniature-christmas.html

Wish me luck!

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

That Skull Winked at Me!

Since Cha is finished and on the way to Leigh Designs to be a model, I am settling down to finish up the iPhone case.  Side one is finished and I've completed the skull and crossbones border across the top of side two.  I stitched the skulls on the second side, thinking that I would put them in a different place, just to be more interesting, before I started the background grid.  As you can see, one of the eyes in the left skull is very different from the rest.  I ran out of black thread when working on that eye and as I reached for the card to cut another length to finish, I looked down at the skull and saw what a neat pattern I'd get by not finishing the eye hole all in black.  I did a square of holographic purple Kreinik first, then finished the eye with the same light purple JL Walsh silk/wool thread that is used for step one of the background stitch.  It's a touch of whimsy that I hope will help remind the owner of the iPhone case that the little open pocket inside in the lining is on this side of the case.

Before I forget, Elizabeth saw another of Leigh's Brazil Series (Mambo?) in the 60% off bin while she was traveling last week.  She thinks she saw it on sale at this Spartanburg, SC shop.  If you have a hankering to stitch something like Cha, you should follow up on this sale.
http://www.theneedleandcanvas.com/index.html

Here is the full set of Brazil if you want to check out what Cha's sisters look like.  They are all 12 inches square on 18 count pink mono canvas, so 60% off is a good deal.  I think you could stitch all of them using the ideas I came up with for Cha with only a little modification.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp403x.html

Sorry it took so long to get this posted.  My ISP is having problems this morning.


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

Delayed Posting (Beaded Skulls)

Saturday morning my Internet service was down so I didn't get to post this image of the work I've done on the iPhone case.  I decided to skip step four in SharonG's brocade variation and finish up with step 5, which is beading.  As you can see, I put beads in all the rows except for the ones on the left and right side.  I'll wait until finishing to decide whether beads are needed on the right side and will wait until the other side of the case is stitched to add beads to the left side.  I don't want anything close to that area where I can snag threads.  After all, if a thread can snag on anything, it will!

In the above photo I have outlined the bottom skull with black silk. If you compare it to the upper skull which I have not touched, you can see why I wanted to backstitch lines around the area to set it off from the background.

Hopefully I will be able to post this Sunday morning along with progress on Cha.  (Cross your fingers!)

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

Cha Waits While the Floral Background Grows

I know I am close to finishing Cha but I don't have the energy or focus at night to work on her this week.  Too much is going on!  Oh, well, things should calm down shortly.  Right?  RIGHT?!!

In the meantime I started the third step (of five) in SharonG's brocade variation stitch.  You can see that it is changing the background substantially.  I may have to outline the skulls to separate them from the background. I didn't expect that but it is easy to do.  Part of the fun of this stitch is watching it change as you add another layer of simple stitches.

Even though it is very hot here, the seasons are starting to change.  I found my first frog in the garage this morning.  Reptiles try to sneak inside where it is cooler during the heat of the day.  Thankfully it was a baby toad this morning, not a snake!  Above you see him just before he hopped out of my hand onto the mossy ground out back.   Yes, I washed my hands!

Speaking of which, the thing on the screen and in my hand is a jar fly.  You know them as cicadas.  They love the heat and spend all day sitting in the tops of trees, buzzing to each other.  Judging by the racket, there must be thousands of them all around us.  Despite the numbers, I rarely see them as they are usually very high up, but yesterday I found this baby sitting on the screen.  He is about 2/3 grown.  (Yes, I did wash my hands again.)  He has the same bulging eyes that the toad did. Odd how nature creates a similar look in different creatures.

The critters we share Chilly Hollow with are fascinating to me.  It's a sign of the summer season changing to fall when I start actually seeing them.  Usually we hear, but do not see them, as they are shy around people.  I hope you enjoyed a quick look at a few of them.

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

Floral Background Comes Into View

Yesterday was hectic again, as we cleared up the downed trees and piled up wood to be split for the winter.  Chores are never done, are they?  I was so tired that I barely managed to finish Step 2a of the iPhone case's floral background and start on Step 2b.  You can see in the photo above how adding the + sign on top of the big X adds to the design.  I've done the first column on the left and started on the second.

In other news, The Needlepointer says the Tapestry Tent stockings in their trunk show are 10% off.  These are large stockings and are expensive but if you've fallen in love, you'll want to check out the trunk show due to this discount.
http://np.theneedlepointer.com/trunkshows.php

Vikki Clayton's e-newsletter this week mentioned a new product--paper linen.  Curious, I headed over to her website to see what on earth this is.  There are examples on the home page and free project instructions in the  "Articles and Information" link on the left side of the page in the Menu box which is the third box from the top.  Click there and then choose a project.

http://www.hand-dyedfibers.com/oscnuked/

I've found an interesting collection of Oregon canvases at The Playful Needle.  Normally I see state canvases for places that draw a great many tourists (Florida or Cape Cod) but these are interesting and fun for anyone who has ties to the state.
http://www.the-playful-needle.com/Index_oregon.html

I have two more monthly clubs to mention:  Family Arts has a Halloween ornament of the month club and a Christmas ornament of the month club for the reasonable price of $40 for each one.
http://www.familyartsneedlework.com/Clubs.html

Little Shoppe of Stitches has added a Twelve Days of Christmas ornament set to their collection of clubs.  These ornaments are notable because they are shaped like pears.
http://www.littleshoppeofstitches.com/clubs.html


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

A Grinning Border

Not too many borders are as cheerful (in a macabre way) as the one I finished last night for the iPhone case.  No, I didn't work on Cha again.  We are busy cleaning up a tree that went down in the storm that took our power out last week and I was just too tired to do anything besides a simple charted pattern.  Maybe today I'll get back to Cha if we don't finish clearing away the treetops and stacking the part of the tree that is suitable for firewood.  I am getting too old to do physical labor and still be able to sit and concentrate on needlepoint later.  Sigh.  Oh, well, the mess is almost cleaned up.

As you can see, the top border on one side is finished.  I also positioned the first motif in the border that will continue to the other side of the iPhone case while I had the count down.  Then I finished the grid on one side and have started filling it in with large Xs.  Once they are all done, a large + sign goes on top of the X in each box.  I'm using the new holographic Kreinik for the border but a regular purple Kreinik in size 4 braid for the background pattern.

This is easy stitching as long as you don't totally zonk out while doing it.  Just what I needed last night!

I'm getting nostalgic for the endless tent stitch background on Cha.  At least I was making progress on that design but didn't have to think while I was working it.  Here's wishing you some mindless relaxing stitching of your own today....

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

The Grid (With Skulls)

Life continues to be exciting here in CH, so I was dead tired last night and ignored Cha for the easy stitching to be had on the new iPhone case I'm creating.  I've almost finished the grid that is the first step in SharonG's brocade variation stitch.

I'm using one ply of JL Walsh silk/wool (it comes in a strand that breaks down into five plies).  I'm stitching one side of the case at a time.  In the photo above you see two skulls floating on top of the background pattern and that I have started a border at the top.  The black thread is Silk Lame Braid which I love/hate.  The effect is lovely but I find I have to use short lengths as this thread unwinds as it goes in and out of holes.  I'm going to switch to a size 20 needle the next time I work on this project as I think it might protect the thread better than my current size 22.

Which reminds me--you probably will want to take a look at Gay Ann Rogers' latest technique tips on her website.  Gay Ann is a counted canvaswork teacher who creates beautiful, feminine designs, particularly samplers and "smalls" which are the little scissor and needle cases that needleworkers love.  This time her tips are all about thread tension.  It is a Must Read for anyone who wants to improve their stitching.  If you have never visited GAR's website before, have fun exploring.
http://www.gayannrogers.com/site_2/Techniques_13.html

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

Powerless

Last night we temporarily lost electricity due to a big series of thunderstorms that moved through the area, so once again I didn't work on Cha's tail feathers.  Instead, once the power came back on I started to count the SharonG brocade stitch to see if it worked within the 5x6 inch space I am going to stitch for an iPhone case.  If you click on yesterday's link to the Stitch of the Month project SharonG did and look at brocade variation stitch, you'll see it is a framework of over two stitches that build up a block.  I counted out the blocks and then worked out how many would fit into the space without too much compensation.  I will put a border at the top and bottom of the case to fill out the area, and have started putting the stitch on one side of the iPhone case.

I also counted out the main motif I choose (which luckily has a border included) and have done a little stitching there, just to see how it would look.  Luckily this was a quick stitch as I didn't have a lot of time before bed once the power came back on.  The chart I am using is below.  No laughing!  I am stitching this for someone who really likes scary things and I remember how obsessed with Egyptian history and mummies I was at her age.  This chart is from Goosefairy.  I suspect it is a knitting chart as knitters, much more hip than I ever will be, are into knitting skulls on their scarves/gloves/sweaters/hats.  If you google "skull charts" you will be overwhelmed with various sizes, shapes and patterns of skulls and bones.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67828223@N00/3268797153/sizes/z/

Keep your fingers crossed that nothing interferes with my working on Cha tonight!  Else I'll be stitching purple skulls again.

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

Last Night Was Crazy

Barbara Russell's "Lady" from the African Fashion Series

Last night was too harried to work on Cha's feathers so I started blocking out the new project.  Since Glenis is threatening to die from curiosity about the Next Project in the Comments, I'll talk about it a bit here.  I am going to stitch an iPhone case as a gift.  I don't own a smart phone of course (cell phones don't work reliably in CH) but I know someone who does who needs a case.  I'm going to use a simple pattern on top of a fancy background in purples and blacks. (My victim, ah the gift recipient, wears a lot of black with either purple or pink accents.)

The first thing to do when you want to make something like this is to figure out the dimensions. I used Google to find out the size of iPhones.  They are roughly 4 1/2 inches high by almost 2 1/2 inches long so if I block out a space that is 5 inches high by 3 inches wide, that should allow any iPhone, even one inside a rubber case, to fit.  I might want extra space at the top to have a snap or piece of Velcro to close the case.  Rummaging in my stash,  I found a piece of "pewter" (i.e., light gray) 18 count canvas that is 7x8 inches.  I put it on stretcher bars, marked the center of each side with a tiny dot of blue marker at the edge, and printed out the instructions for the background stitch I plan to use.  Which is this.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/nov.php

My next steps will be to print out the charted motif I plan to put on top of the background and then figure out if everything fits inside the 5x3 space (or perhaps 5x6 since I could create a long rectangle I can fold in half and just stitch up the bottom and one side to make a case).  Those are all the hints you are going to get today.  I plan to work on Cha's tail feathers tonight, assuming things calm down enough.

By the way, the photo above is of one of Barbara Russell's new pieces.  Deborah (who collects African-themed canvases) stumbled across Ms. Russell's new African Fashion series and sent me the link.  The canvases are so spectacular that I had to share.  To see the whole series, click on New Designs at the link below.  If you  love African design, also look at the Clarice Collection for more canvases inspired by the continent and its people. Thanks for sharing, Deborah!
http://barbararusselldesigns.com/browse.html

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