The First Stitching Whimsy

Two Sundays ago I introduced the Stitching Whimsies, a group of people who gather at Queen Anne Stitches in Santa Clarita, CA to stitch weekly on the same design. They each interpret their own canvas their own way, but they have a blast doing it. The Whimsies are going to visit Blog about twice a month to talk about their Stitching Club canvases. Stitching Club is a design by Melissa Shirley that is 8 inches tall by 15 inches wide on 18 count canvas. Here is our first Whimsy stitcher, Sharon Quickstitcher!

By the way, the link below has the plain canvas of the Stitching Club at the top of the page and also shows other variations on this charming design.

http://www.melissashirleydesigns.com//gallery/?cat=74

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“I am the first of our Thursday stitching group to complete the Stitching Club by Melissa Shirley. My Stitching Whimsies are going to a party!! They are all dressed up in their best clothes, and have fun things for the party to eat and drink, as well as needlepoint canvases to stitch.

I stitched in the background first, as I thought I would have to count through the ladies, and indeed I was glad I planned for that. The background is a Pavilion stitch in #12 perle cotton.

Ms Red on the left has hair of mock twisted bullions using 2 ply Burmilana. Her fancy shirt is Neon Rays Plus with boucle at the collar and sleeves. I decided that too many of the shirts had dots, so changed it completely with these stripes built into the pattern. Her pants are Burmilana tweed couched with cord so that the shading shows through. She’s carrying a Neon Rays bag with Silk Ribbon flowers, and a flower bead. I obtained tiny scissors at a miniature shop and charm scissors at a bead shop. Her chicken canvas is stitched in Fuzzy Stuff.

Ms Chartreuse (second from left) has a hairdo in long French knots. She has a Swarovski crystal earring, and tiny chain necklace with Swarovski bead. Her needle is a #28 that I shortened by cutting it off and tacking it down. Her jacket is Vineyard Shimmer with Vineyard Classic accents. I created a woven pocket and tucked a wine bottle in her pocket (also from the miniature shop). When making the bag, I placed an object in the bag until I had completed the weaving in order to keep the top open the right amount. She has lots of beads on her canvas and bag.


Ms Raspberry’s hair is straight stitches in Wildflowers. Her collar is gathered River Silk. A small piece of canvas is in her bag, along with floss for the project she is going to stitch today. She carries a large stitching bag that is brick stitch over 2 in Vineyard Silk.



Ms Orange’s hair is Burmilana in straight stitches and mock twisted bullions, with a beaded head band. A small chain with Swarovski crystal is about her neck. Her blouse is Neon Rays Plus and Neon Rays, with padded cumberbund. I ignored the shading in the blouse. Her pants are Gradeur in a balloon stitch that indeed does emphasize her wide girth. Her canvas is only partly stitched. She will have something to work on today.


Ms Purple (with a casual personality) is wearing a corduroy jumper of Splendor and Very Velvet. All that plaid just didn’t sit right for me. Her hair is Pebbly Perle French knots and Colonial knots with a Swarovski earring. The heart canvas is only partly stitched. She has a scissor fob. In her woven basket, Ms Purple is bringing candy and flowers for the party. Hiding in the bag is Scooby the cat, holding a ball of yarn. Scooby belongs to my stitching friend, Nancy. Scooby tries to steal thread from me whenever I stitch at Nancy’s house.

The grass is Burmilana in a two-tone green done in encroached gobelin. I hope you continue to read the adventures of the other members of our Thursday Whimsies group - each is different, and the why will soon be revealed.

To finish the piece I used cording for the threads the ladies are stitching with, rearranged some of the scissors, and added a padded Very Velvet border. I also changed the color of the ladies eyes, lips, and skin.

This was a joy to stitch. My piece is stitched in more clear colors than some of the other stitchers used in our Thursday stitching group. We had lots of fun collaborating on this piece, and already have our next two projects on order.”

Sharon Quick (aka QuickStitcher)

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Thanks, Sharon! Now I can't wait to meet the next Whimsy!

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

"While I Sit and Ponder"

Once again Rosalyn Cherry-Soleil has updated her website newsletter with photos of her current projects, wonderful links to explore (don't miss the Japanese embroidery and beadwork at Blue Bonnet Studio!), and a guest gallery featuring even more of the terrific stitching of Daphne Goodyear whom you met here on my blog when I showcased her fabulous Wild Women canvases. Got several hours? Then what are you waiting for?! Explore!

http://www.stitchamaze.com/stitchtalk.html

The lovely photo shows part of a Melissa Shirley canvas adaptation of one of Linda Carter Holman's paintings. Rosalyn has just started this piece. I can't wait to see more!

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

Fish Eyes

As you can see above, the goldfish's face is now done. I debated for quite some time whether I should use tent stitch for his round circle eyes. I finally decided they were prominent enough even in tent stitches. After all, if you have carrot red long hair, you might not need to braid it with lime green ribbons in spikes all over your head to draw attention to yourself! I continued using just two plies in the eyes. The only thread I've had any trouble with when it comes to covering the background is the very darkest green in the lily pads. The darkest green was DMC cotton floss, not Splendor silk. That might account for the difference, or perhaps because it is such a dark color, the thread plies are a bit thinner than usual. I've heard many places that very deep and dark colors (reds, black, navys) have to make many trips through the dye bath to get their shades and this thins the thread slightly. Maybe that accounts for it.

I worked a bit on the water stitch background but didn't get enough done to be able to take a good picture for you to see. Maybe tonight....

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

Aladdin's Cave Open for Business UPDATED

My "local" shop, Needlewoman East, finally has a website. It's not much--just one page with their address, hours and trunk shows--but please note that the Christmas in July sale starts tomorrow!

http://www.theneedlewomaneast.com/Welcome.html

It's a terrific shop, full of painted canvases, threads, tools, books and charts, not to mention the helpful and pleasant staff. Maybe I'll see you there?

UPDATE: I'd added photos I took during my brief visit to the sale, but I'll not be talking about the things I bought since they are mostly threads for the next project. I think I'd better finish what I'm working on now before starting something new.

First, let me introduce the new owner of Needlewoman East. This is Liz, former investment banker, now the Aladdin who stocks this cave with treasures for us all. Liz is an avid needlepointer, and somewhere there's a large Melissa Shirley canvas of an old four-masted schooner that Liz will stitch one day.


Not to worry, though. Sue Jennings, the former owner of the shop, was present to dispense hugs and advice to all the stitchers who were rampaging through the shop. See? This is Sue's car. The bumper sticker reads "Don't just sit there-needlepoint!" Retired Sue may be, but she's always going to be a stitcher at heart.




I didn't just talk to shop owners and cars, though. I also ran into the counted thread designer Ruth Dits, who was kind enough to pose for a photograph for me. She's holding her latest design, Mystic, which I was astounded to see doesn't use any metallic thread to achieve the sheen and elegance I saw at Woodlawn when Ruth exhibited the model. It uses beads and Panache (the nylon thread I used in Autumn Leaves which I like) to look this gorgeous.






You can see a better image of Mystic on Ruth's website. This is a lovely design and at $12 for the chart package, a bargain!

http://www.ruthdiltsdesign.com/newest.html

Finally, I'll leave you with the trunk show, a wall and table covered with Mindy designs. You can see these better on her website but they are too pretty not to show off.



I had a wonderful time and can't wait until Christmas comes in July next year!

July 2008 Chilly Hollow Newsletter Article

Everyone has heard of Harry Potter these days. Whether you are a fan of the books or not, you probably know someone who loves the series. So I thought I'd look for Harry Potter designs. I found help here at this blog discussion about HP and cross stitch. And the second link is a shop that advertises Harry Potter needlepoint canvases in stock although there are no pictures.

http://www.tangledthread.com/stitching-harry-potter/

http://www.barbarasuebrodie.com/needlepoint.html

Probably due to copyright reasons, I didn't find any needlepoint canvas photos but in the world of knitting, there are many "illusion" patterns all about Harry and his world. Illusion knit patterns are designs that are abstract from one view but that turn into a pattern from another view. I bet one could needlepoint these charted designs but I haven't tried it myself.

Here's an illusion Hedwig washrag (that's Harry's pet owl).

http://www.freshislefibers.com/Patterns/Hedwigillusioncloth/Hedwig%20Illusion.pdf

I found quite a few designs which chart the various Hogwarts School houses and their symbols:

Ravenclaw scarf

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/crafts/knitting/ravenclawillusionscarf

Gryffindor symbol charted

http://gallery.the-leaky-cauldron.org/default/fullpic/209866

Hogwarts crest charted

http://gallery.the-leaky-cauldron.org/default/fullpic/209868

sock pattern gryffindor crest for sale

http://www.freshislefibers.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=220

There are a great many fantasy needlepoint canvases of wizards. You may enjoy Raymond Crawford's Wizard of Oz inspired designs.

http://www.raymondcrawford.com/designs/oz/index.html

Want to do a set of Wizard of Oz standups? Petei has a wonderful series of canvases that look great made up. I particularly like the Emerald City and the Toto canvases.

http://www.petei.com/line_list/line_wiz_oz.htm

How about a Wizard of Oz box? This is from Julia's Needlepoint.

http://www.bristlythistle.com/childrens.html

Trubey has a series of three wizards who look like something right out of the Arabian Nights.

http://www.needlepoint.org/WhatIs/2005/504np.php

This silly canvas has two smokers--a dragon and a wizard. You may also enjoy the discussion of fractional XSs if you aren't familiar with cross stitch but would like to turn a XS wizard pattern into needlepoint.

http://www.needlework-tips-and-techniques.com/fractional-stitches.html

And Michaelene Love of Sunrunner Designs has a whole series of wizards right out of a fairy tale.

http://home.att.net/~michaelenelovedesigns/MLDWeb_PAGE11.htm

But if you need something quick and easy, how about Jolly Red's little wizard?

http://www.stitch1knit1.com/shop/jolly_red_childrens_tapestry_kits_wizard_needlepoint.html

This should keep us busy stitching a fantasy world in needlepoint.

Jane/Chilly Hollow

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