New for Spring (and Halloween)

Melissa Shirley has released a few new designs (and a few new stitch guides) for the spring season.  Visit them on her website, especially if you happen to live in Texas or want to stitch for someone who lives there.
http://www.melissashirleydesigns.com/gallery/?bsn=1

The other new treat for this morning is Ruth Schmuff's just finished Spookin canvas.  The design is by Leigh Designs and Ruth shows off both her version and the one that her friend Sue stitched under Brenda Hart's direction.  Both turned out sophisticated Halloween pumpkins but in totally different styles.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2011/03/spookin-in-march.html

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

Goodbye to The King of Metallics UPDATED

The Kreinik blog announced yesterday that Jerry Kreinik (who with his wife Estelle founded the Kreinik Company) was very very ill.
http://kreinikthread.blogspot.com/2011/03/jerry-kreinik.html

The Kreiniks just posted on their Facebook account that their father has died.  I hope he knew how much his metallics mean to stitchers, especially those of us who remember the time when needlepoint meant only wool.

UPDATE:  A brief profile of Mr. Kreinik on the company blog.
http://kreinikthread.blogspot.com/2011/03/remembering-jerry-kreinik.html

UPDATE #2:  SharonG found his online obit.
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/546092/Jerry-M--Kreinik.html?nav=5062

UPDATE #3: Sue speaks for all of us in thanking Jerry for what he did for us.
http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/jerry-m-kreinik/

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

The Other Bird

The second bird is now beaded.  My final step will be to work the legs and see if I need to add a bead to the center of the tent stitched eyes of each.

Once that is done I'll probably return to working the lining of Luna's cloak.  I got a little distracted there!  (Beads do that to me.  Do they do that to you?)




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

May's Monthly Clubs

Fireside Stitchery has announced their monthly clubs, all of which start in May.  There are dimensional pears from Little Shoppe Canvas Company, pastel patterned hearts from Associated Talents, Rebecca Wood's season tree ornaments, and A Collection of Designs' miniature Halloween ornaments.  Click on the link under each photo to see the entire set.
http://www.firesidestitchery.com/fs/clubs/index.cfm?fuseaction=getClubList&CategoryId=3&clubState=future

Stitchbirds has a cowboy boots monthly club.  If you want Western ornaments, this is the place for you!
http://www.stitchbirds-needlepoint.com/designs/phpslideshow.php?directory=.&auto=1&currentPic=12

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

Book Review: Shapes of Needlepoint Series One (Circles, Squares, Triangles, Rectangles)

Shapes of Needlepoint:  Series 1

Sandra Arthur's new book, Shapes of Needlepoint, has been a big hit.  All you have to do is read about Marianne's attempts to keep it in stock in her online store and you know how folks are thirsty for stitches organized in a way in which they find the shape they need for their painted canvas easily.
http://www.newneedlepoint.com/content-product_info/product_id-2619/shapes_of_needlepoint_series_1_by_sandra_arthur.html

Recently a friend sent me a copy so I thought I'd do a review so you can see whether you need to join the stampede to get your own copy.  Marianne covers the basics above very well but I have taken a photograph at random to give you another inner page to look at.

This book is just what Marianne describes:  a book of diagrammed stitches organized into shapes.  Each section has its own table of contents with the stitches described in terms of how much space they cover.  In other words, there are Circles - 4x4, Circles 5X5, Circles 6x6, etc.  After the four tables of contents (one for each shape covered in the book) there is an Index By Thread Count that lists all the 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, etc. stitches diagrammed in the book.

The diagrams are very clear.  They are done in shades of gray but occasionally an important area will be highlighted in red.  Stitches are usually, but not always, numbered to show the sequence your needle and thread follow to make the stitch.  In a very few instances there are colored photographs of stitched examples.  A great many of the stitches diagrammed are "string art" type stitches that counted canvaswork geniuses like Jean Hilton use in their designs.  This makes the book not something a stitcher new to needlepoint will need but it is useful for both the painted canvas and the charted design crowd.

I have to admit I probably would not have bought this book as I am used to analyzing the sort of space I want to fill and flipping through my stitch books looking for what I want.  If you aren't good at analyzing your unstitched canvases, this is going to be a useful series.  But it won't tell you which stitch to choose for your design, just what will fit into the space you have unstitched.  Picking just the right stitch is still going to be up to you.

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