History Through Needlepoint (with Skulls)

Needlepoint is one of many historical embroidery styles. It happens to be **my** favorite but there are many more. Those who would like a history vacation centered on embroidery will want to "express interest" in the tour of English embroidered jackets and costumes that the Plimoth Plantation reproduction jacket folks are setting up.

http://thistle-threads.com.mytempweb.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/announcing-a-jacket-study-tour-of-england/ 

 History buffs may enjoy browsing this site that specializes in Arts & Crafts style embroidery. (Please click on Framed Needleart to see some wonderful finished examples for sale.) If William Morris' embroidery is a favorite of yours and you've never looked at Beth Russell's needlepoint kits, click on the second link and enjoy. These kits are first rate, although the designs are either stamped or silk screened on canvas. 

http://paint-by-threads.com/shop/ http://www.bethrussellneedlepoint.com/

If you are more into the curvy Art Nouveau style (related to the styles above) how about this? I choose Water Lilies from here to illustrate this blog entry. 

http://www.art-stitch.com/bourgaize/cat-ff808081172580e501172f3401f42990.html

If you enjoy exploring your favorite historical period through needlepoint painted canvases, check out some of these designs-- Elizabeth I (I think the designer is Designing Women) http://www.needlepoint.org/WhatIs/1998/Bodien.php 

If you want to stitch like Mary, Queen of Scots, this company reproduces some of her known pieces for needlepoint. 

http://www.sewexciting.com/?page=shop/view&category_id=47d7abf64882d498ca0aa53c50b664ab

Melissa Shirley has all sorts of fun canvases of women from history, ranging from Marie Antionette to Betsy Ross and even Calamity Jane. http://melissashirleydesigns.com/gallery/?cat=64 

here are more realistic portraits available. Here is Tapestry Tent's Henry VIII- http://elainemagninneedlepoint.stores.yahoo.net/kinghenryviii.html

How about a stylized King Arthur? 

http://elainemagninneedlepoint.stores.yahoo.net/nust.html 

Is Egyptian history fun for you? 

http://elainemagninneedlepoint.stores.yahoo.net/phardynkin.html http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp822x.html http://www.theneedleworks.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_100&products_id=231 http://www.amybunger.com/catalog/item/6278007/6754081.htm

I promised skulls, so here they are--A Dragon's Tale has their new Halloween designs on their blog and there is a skull and crossbones canvas for those into pirates (that's historical, right?) Plus they are having a sale! You can't order directly but you can ask your local shop to get the catalogue so you can browse and place an order through them. http://adragonstaleneedlepoint.blogspot.com/search/label/Whats%20New%3A%20Halloween

And by coincidence Judy Harper has posted some new Halloween outlines to copy and use and there is a skull and crossbones pattern there. If your kids are driving you nuts in these last weeks before school starts, maybe one of them would like to stitch this.... 

http://needle-crafts.blogspot.com/2009/08/halloween-time-motifs-for-projects-in.html

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! (or at least a martini) http://www.amybunger.com/catalog/item/6297823/6259691.htm

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

Preparing for the Trip to the Hairdresser

I have to prepare for a trip to have my hair done. For one thing, it is a long drive and I have to make an appointment at a time when I can take off work since the person I use doesn't work Saturdays any more. Then there is the endless debate--do I wash my hair right before I go or not? How much should I have cut off? And there's always a bit of anxiety. Will I like what she does to my hair?

I'm preparing for a trip to the hairdresser's for Cape Cod Dogs, too. I have picked out some threads and tentatively decided that the larger mermaid will be a bleached blonde with roots showing and long, straight hair. I plan for the smaller mermaid to have red curly hair.

So I bought some threads (since according to the eternal law No Matter How Much Stash You Have, You Will Not Have Everything You Need to Finish a Project) to achieve this look. You see the results of my shopping above--I have a blonde and a brown thread in Vineyard Silks, the classic silk that looks like wool line without the metallic mixed in, and a skein of overdyed red boucle, which is the nylon thread used in Brazilian embroidery. I also put my new Needle Bling cat magnet back in the package so you could see it. The threads and magnet are lying on the color copy of the canvas which I'll need to help me with the next step, which is not the hair but the facial features. I need to stitch them in first before I put hair around them. Besides, those blank faces are pretty creepy!

The other preparation I need to do before the hair was finishing all that skin and working on the mermail tails (progress photo above). I was curious about how the larger mermaid's tail would look if I used two plies of my blue/green Soie d'Alger mixed with one ply of Treasure Braid in sparkly dark green to stitch the lighter areas of the tail. The stitch is diagonal mosaic, slanting one way on one fin \ and the other way / on the other. I just had to turn my canvas on its side to get the / slant. Easy. So here's a photo of my progress on the mermaids. I planned to work left to right on all the figures sitting at the bar: large dog, large mermaid, sailor, small mermaid, small dog. But in the end I am finding it easier to work on the pairs of similar figures simultaneously which means the sailor will be the last figure stitched.

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

Tanned Skin

As you can see, I'm stitching away on the mermaids. I was a bit tired to count out the Helen's Lace stitch on the tails last night or to do all the compensation necessary, so I switched to tent stitching skin last night, using the more tanned shades from my Splendor Design Collection of Bronze Porcelein skin tones (silk floss from Rainbow Gallery in a set that will mimic tanned skin). I didn't notice it last night but when I took the scan this morning I realized that the little mermaid's shading is too stark a contrast and her arm resting on the smaller dog's head is too jagged. I'm going to have to do some ripping out to replace the darker skin with something a bit closer in shade and to smooth out the arm.

I have (thanks to Waste Knot in Arlington, Virginia) some tarty red hair thread (overdyed red boucle) and some bleached blonde hair (blonde and brown roots in Vineyards silk). And courtesy of Needlewoman East in Falls Church, VA, I have a new tiny Needle Bling magnet, a Hello Kitty style silver cat face with a red crystal flower above one ear. I'll make sure the magnet shows up in the next photo I take. I didn't leave it on the canvas in this morning's scan as I don't like having a strong magnet next to any computer equipment and can't have anything bumpy on the canvas I'm trying to put flat on the scanner bed. I should mention that the photos you see of Cape Cod Dogs are all cut off because the canvas on its frame is larger than the scanner's window. But I'll take a photo instead of a scan so you can see the magnet. Although I was tempted by the multi-colored apple and the darling blue crab, I went with the cat. Meow!

Cape Cod Dogs' design is 12 inches by 12 inches on 18 count canvas, which is really a bit too wide to fit on the 8 1/2 x 14 scanner bed, especially with two inches of bare canvas all around the perimeter of the design.

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

Mermaid Tails, Spooky Faces and Monthly Clubs UPDATED WITH PHOTO

Last night I carefully ripped out the Gloriana overdyed silk I had used for the largest mermaid's tail and replaced it with two plies of a mystery floss (which I think might be Aver A Soie but I'm not sure) and one ply of a Soie d'Alger silk floss. (I'm still using the Helen's Lace stitch, by the way. I think it is going to work nicely with a bit of manipulation.) The mystery floss is very dark forest green and the Soie D'Alger is more spruce in color. This adds a tinge of dark blue to the forest green. Mixing the threads gives me a less green color for the mermaid tails and matches the color painted on the canvas pretty closely. I very often don't change colors of my painted canvases since I buy them because I love the color scheme. So I am often scrambling to match the color with my threads.

I also tent stitched the face of the smaller background mermaid. Both mermaids are tanned so I am using darker colors than normal in silk for their skin and faces. There are no pictures this morning as I didn't have time to scan one. When I get a chance tonight I'll update this posting with a photograph although I have to say there is not much to see yet unless you think mermaids and dogs without eyes or noses interesting. It looks spooky to me!

In other news, Needlenook of La Jolla has updated their website with photos of six of the twelve holiday fairy pieces all stitched and made up. These are their Raymond Crawford monthly club.
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/events/fairies/index.html

Three Kittens has a traditional Twelve Days of Christmas club this year from Shelly Tribbey, using her little round ornaments.
http://www.3kittensneedlearts.com/3K_Needlepoint_Clubs.htm

The Needlepointer has done something interesting for their newest monthly club. They are offering Amy Bunger's 24 chapters of stitches and two binders to hold them instead of a series of designs. It's a clever way of tempting folks who don't really want a new series to stitch into parting with a bit of cash each month.
http://www.theneedlepointer.com/needlepoint-clubs.htm

Now that should keep you busy until I get a scan posted tonight!

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

A Contest Challenge

Donna just wrote in the comments of Two Dogs, "For a second there I thought this was going to be - two dogs walk into a bar..."

Which gave me an idea for a contest. How about writing a joke about two dogs (or two mermaids) walking into a bar? If you can work needlepoint or other stitching into it, there are bonus points. Post your comments here or email me your joke directly at chilly hollowat hot maildot com.

The reward will be something really nice from my stash. We'll pick a winner and after consulting with them as to their color and style preferences, I will send them something from my extensive stash I hope will please them.

Ready? Ok, go!

I'll allow a week for any jokes to arrive, then I'll post the winner....

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