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

From Background to The Next Thing UPDATED

Cha's background is done!  HURRAH!

While stitching all those zillions of tent stitches, I've been busy thinking about Cha's tail feathers and the next project.  I'm not ready to reveal either item yet, so I'll distract you with some of the fun stuff I've found on the World Wide Web, ok?

The DMC blog is starting a new project, a needlepoint flower.  This project is suitable for someone who is relatively new to NP and wants to move from endless tent stitches (Boy, can I relate!) to projects that use a mix of stitches and colors.  Since the DMC threads used for the project are easily available to most folks, this is a good learning project.  Here's the link to part one.
http://dmc-threads.com/?p=3166

UPDATE:  Part Two
http://dmc-threads.com/?p=3204

Part Three
http://dmc-threads.com/3217/needlepoint-stitchalong-part-3/

Pepita Needlepoint has been busy building a needlepoint news site that automatically finds and posts links to stories about needlepoint.  The stories seem to be grouped into three columns, one for forum mentions, one for feeds from NP blogs, and one for items from online newspapers (this time of year it's full of county fair stuff and ads to sell NP via Craigslist).  There is some advertising because Pepita needs to pay to have the site hosted.   I'm not sure how interesting this is going to be but trend-watchers may be interested in this.
http://www.needlepointnews.com/ 

Rachel at VirtoSew has written a well-thought-out article about copyright, theft, and chart sharing on her blog.  It's worth reading on its own merits but I am posting about something I've already talked about recently to remind us all that those who steal impact designers, who stop designing because they can't profit enough, and then we have fewer design choices.  It hurts us all in the long run.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2010/08/03/piracy-isnt-cool/

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

Laura Perin Fan Alert

Scarlet Thread has posted photos of all the colorways available for Laura J. Perin's new One Long Panel design. They are kitting the chart, canvas, threads and beads for $45 if you are interested in each of the colorways (aqua, peach, purple, pink or blue) but if you have a local shop to buy from or want to make up your own colors, this link is just to show off the pretty color combinations.
http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/ScarletThread/-strse-2144/Laura-Perin%2C-Needlepoint%2C-Canvaswork%2C/Detail.bok

I promised to post the link here and have updated my July 28 posting where I promised this but it's been pushed off the main page so I thought I'd better make a separate posting, else you counted canvaswork folks will think I a) forgot and/or b) don't love you as much as your painted canvas friends!

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

Six Rows to Go UPDATED

By stitching quite a bit yesterday, I managed to work seven rows of background, leaving me just six to go.  Those six will take several evenings but the end is in sight!  I'm holding off stitching Cha's tail feathers to keep me going on the background rows.  Wish me luck!

While I stitch and think about my next project, you might want to do a little thinking about your next project as lots and lots of new monthly clubs are available.  Chaparral has added the Give Thanks little boxes to their series of clubs.  Click on the photo to see the stitched individual pieces that show the fall foliage, flowers and fruits that decorate each item.
http://www.ndlpt.com/html/series.html

2 the Point has gone in for seasonal designs, one with birds and one with seasonal symbols such as sail boats.  These are all small with stitch guides written by Terry Christopher.
http://www.topoint.com/canvasclubs_qrt.htm

What's the Point? has two new clubs, one a Nutcracker ornament set and the other a bird watcher's club.  Again, click on the photo to see the entire set.
http://www.whatsthepoint.biz/clubs.php

The final club is from The Needlepointer, who have a tiny village to stitch.  What fun!
http://np.theneedlepointer.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=85

UPDATE:  I just discovered the cute village is from Squiggee (Gail Hendrix), who has a lovely photo of the designs on her blog.
http://squiggeedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/08/bubbles-and-squeek.html

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

Rows Upon Rows (with Tips)

I worked on more of Cha's background last night.  I have 13 rows to do, but each row (this is an 18 count canvas, remember?) is 12 inches long.  My calculator tells me I have 18x12x13 or 2808 tent stitches left.  Eeeeekkkk!

When I can't stand it any more, I'll take a break and stitch a couple of tail feathers.  In the meanwhile, here are some online tips I've stumbled across.  First of all, since I am working a lot with silk ribbons, here is what River Silks says about starting and ending silk ribbons.
http://www.riversilks.com/stitch_instruction.html

DMC posted about how to cut a skein of perle cotton for easy use at the top of this article.  It'll probably work for many types of thread skeins, unless you are like me and you hate using pre-cut threads.
http://www.dmc-usa.com/majic/pageServer/130100031i/en_US/Getting-Ready-to-Stitch.html

e-Rose has found a great silk threads comparison table.  There's a link to it on her blog.  Many of the brands and some of the shops are English so if you want to mail order something exotic to substitute for a silk you are bored with, this is the place to find help.
http://elmsleyrose.blogspot.com/2010/08/silk-thread-comparison-table.html

Hope all this good information comes in handy while I count down toward the end of stitching Cha-Cha.

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