Finishing Ideas and Inspiration

I never tire of photos of finished needlepoint, do you?  Katherine just picked up some fabulous ornaments.
http://bootsandbeads.blogspot.com/2012/08/more-fabulous-finishing.html

Pocket Full of Stitches has some great Stitch Its ornament models as part of their trunk show.
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2012/08/stitch-its-models.html

Diane has some unusual finishing to show off.
http://dianestakingtimeouttoneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2012/08/finishing.html

Finally, Linda has finished stitching one of her Melissa Shirley Christmas crackers.  It's not made up yet but it is fabulous already.
http://splittheneedles.blogspot.com/2012/08/christmas-crackers.html

Just looking at all this makes me want to pick up my needle and get busy!  See you later...

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

The StitchIts Sweater Collection

My trip last week to Needlewoman East included a careful inspection of the current trunk show. No matter how good the pictures are you see online, nothing beats seeing painted canvases in person. So I look over all the NW East trunk shows carefully any time I get to visit. I don't want to miss anything!

This time the trunk show on display was by StitchIts, not a designer I know much about. They specialize in simple designs, not the realistic canvases I prefer. Not my cup of tea usually but I enjoyed their little sweater patterns. I photographed my favorites for you to see. Looks like they are on 18 count canvas, and all are in primary colors with contrasting polka dots in an all-over pattern. Each sweater comes with a series of 2-4 themed buttons in matching colors, and it is the buttons that set these designs apart. If you look closely you'll see the teal green wizard-castle-dragon buttons, the brown dog with a white bone, the three elfs on a blue sweater, and the tiny Nativity Mary, Jospeh and Baby Jesus. [NOTE: This image is on my main blog. The link is below.]

I've put a second image on my mirror blog (above) that shows the bright green cowboy boot, hat and cactus sweater; the one in blue decorated by the toy ship/airplane/truck; the red bowling pins and ball; and finally the brown trout and fish basket sweater. These are an easy and quick stitch with outstanding embellishments. There are a great many more of these (I saw at least 25 different sets of sweater canvases and of course their line has much more than sweaters), all very cute and all a perfect easy present to stitch for someone, or even for yourself.

By the way, if you love buttons with your canvases, Mindy and Squiggee also offer great buttons that match or enhance a painted canvas design.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow