Brite Eyes (Margaret Bendig)

The Sun city Stitcher had lots of fun with this Halloween piece by Margaret Bendig.  I didn't know DMC had glow-in-the-dark floss!

https://www.suncitystitcher.com/2025/07/brite-eyes.html

https://www.suncitystitcher.com/2025/08/brite-eyes-update.html

Sadly, this is also a design only available through ANG.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright July 17, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Emerald Isle Heart (Nancy Cucci)

Brenda and some of her fellow ANG guild members stitched Nancy Cucci's "Emerald Isle Heart," which is lovely.

https://brendasneedlepointstudio.blogspot.com/2025/07/heart-emerald-isle-71625.html

There are a lot of beads, so photos don't do this justice.  Sadly, I think Nancy Cucci's pieces are only available through ANG classes.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright July 17, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Textile History and On Female Education

Those interested in the history of needlework will be enthralled by Tricia Nguyen's latest article.  Basically, she lays out the problems she and other experts in needlework face in trying to battle the prejudices around the history of our art and what she is doing to combat these things.

https://thistle-threads.blogspot.com/2025/07/on-female-education-new-article-in.html

How can you help Tricia?  Read her three articles in Textile History when they are published and available online, then talk about them.  Or you can buy the Winterthur article with her other article in it (Tricia includes a link) and show it to everyone you know.  Or both.

It's up to us to make ourselves and our stitching ancestors more visible for what they are/were, not what people assume they are/were.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright July 16, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Threads of Blessing Needs Thread Donations

Thanks to Lynn Mason, I learned about Threads of Blessing, a Uganda organization that takes donated threads and distributes them through local churches to nearly a thousand Ugandan women who turn the threads into works of art that they sell.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3614054892223398&set=a.1444052322557010

It looks like you send threads to The Bishop Jones Center in San Antonio, TX and they ship them to Uganda.  Use the Contact Information section to find out more.  Of course if you have no threads to send, you can always buy a completed piece of needlework to support this effort.  They also take commissions.

https://www.threadsofblessing.org/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright July 15, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Soie d'Alger versus Splendor UPDATED

Melita used artificial intelligence to parse the differences between Soie d'Alger and Splendor silks.  Then she did a little hands on testing.  Note that a single ply of Soie d'Alger is fatter than just one of Splendor.  

https://melitastitches4fun.com/2025/07/12/soie-dalger-vs-splendor/

I wish she'd told us which Ai program she queried.  They differ a lot, though I suppose asking basic questions like these will give similar answers across all the bots.

Melita kindly let me know that she used Google's Ai embedded in their Chrome browser.  Thanks!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright July 13, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.