Baby, it's COLD outside! I don't know about you, but this is the time of year I park myself in front of football on the tv and stitch my brains out.
If you want to read a good book instead, how about this new South African book that shows how to enhance Cicely Mary Barker's little flower drawings into ribbon embroidery and stumpwork?n Click on the Periwinkle Fairy at the bottom of the page to see how one design turned out. After you get the larger image, click on the magnifying glass icon and then move your mouse around to see details.
http://www.dicraft.co.za/books.php#ff
Another fabulous book from overseas is Trish Burr's long-and-short stitched flowers from Pierre Joseph Redoute's botantical watercolors. Beautiful!
http://www.trishburr.co.za/books.htm
If any of this inspires you to stitch and you need stitch ideas, a lot of bloggers are posting diagrams and closeup photos of stitches they are using. Let's start with the designer Barbara Bergsten's blog. She is doing another sampler with explicit instructions and charts for each stitch. She even tells you the order she stitched a complicate stitch in and gives you tips on the use of color.
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/
Summer Louise Truswell, famous for her finishing skills, is now doing a Stitch A Week for us, with the latest being cross stitches. There's a bonus if you keep reading earlier blog postings--she is also showing what she is stitching on a large Amanda Lawford stand up Santa. The design is fabulous! Use the links under Previous Posts to find earlier Stitches of the Week and also see more of the Royal Santa and some of her finishing.
http://www.summerlouise.com/blogger.html
The final blogger with fun stitches and projects to enjoy and learn from is Sue Dulle of SD Designs. She shares her snowman collection and the stitches she is using for her latest addition to the group (look for the January 4 blog entry). I especially love the little glimpses into her house and the antiques she enjoys and I'm definitely going to use some of her lovely snowman stitches.
http://sudukc.wordpress.com/
Stay warm, stitch a lot and be inspired by the great books and stitchers we have visited today.
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
If you want to read a good book instead, how about this new South African book that shows how to enhance Cicely Mary Barker's little flower drawings into ribbon embroidery and stumpwork?n Click on the Periwinkle Fairy at the bottom of the page to see how one design turned out. After you get the larger image, click on the magnifying glass icon and then move your mouse around to see details.
http://www.dicraft.co.za/books.php#ff
Another fabulous book from overseas is Trish Burr's long-and-short stitched flowers from Pierre Joseph Redoute's botantical watercolors. Beautiful!
http://www.trishburr.co.za/books.htm
If any of this inspires you to stitch and you need stitch ideas, a lot of bloggers are posting diagrams and closeup photos of stitches they are using. Let's start with the designer Barbara Bergsten's blog. She is doing another sampler with explicit instructions and charts for each stitch. She even tells you the order she stitched a complicate stitch in and gives you tips on the use of color.
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/
Summer Louise Truswell, famous for her finishing skills, is now doing a Stitch A Week for us, with the latest being cross stitches. There's a bonus if you keep reading earlier blog postings--she is also showing what she is stitching on a large Amanda Lawford stand up Santa. The design is fabulous! Use the links under Previous Posts to find earlier Stitches of the Week and also see more of the Royal Santa and some of her finishing.
http://www.summerlouise.com/blogger.html
The final blogger with fun stitches and projects to enjoy and learn from is Sue Dulle of SD Designs. She shares her snowman collection and the stitches she is using for her latest addition to the group (look for the January 4 blog entry). I especially love the little glimpses into her house and the antiques she enjoys and I'm definitely going to use some of her lovely snowman stitches.
http://sudukc.wordpress.com/
Stay warm, stitch a lot and be inspired by the great books and stitchers we have visited today.
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
