Your Personal Shopper Arrives at TNNA Market

Colleen of The Needle Works in Austin, Texas is at the TNNA cash and carry trade show now and has already posted photos of two brand new Leigh Halloween designs on her blog.  One of the witches (Delphine) in the six witch Wicked series is shown above.
http://theneedleworks.typepad.com/the_needle_works/2009/09/stop-the-presses.html
UPDATE:  All six Wicked witches are on the Leigh website.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp512x.html

To keep you reading her blog, Colleen says if you order any of the brand new canvases she showcases on her blog by 5 p.m. on Monday, September 28, you will receive a discount of 20% off the retail price.  Email Colleen at this temporary address while she is at Market theneedleworkssales@gmail.com to place your order, but remember this offer is only good for a limited time.

It's like having a personal shopper at Market with a trunk show discount....

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

More Background While Debating

I was pretty tired last night so I did a little more background, trying to move down the right side of the canvas and fill in the background from the Rabbit Geisha's waist to her feet and beyond.

While doing all this, I've been wondering just what stitch to use for the tunic part of her kimono. I am going to test stitch this Tony Minieri stitch tonight but it occurred to me that I really need to pick threads first.
http://needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2009/jun.php

The weight of the threads used, plus whether the filling stitches are beads or metallic threds, is going to change the look a lot.  Guess I need to do a lot of test stitching.  I might stick with the Mandarin Floss I'm using for the bottom skirt or choose a new thread altogether.  Haven't decided.

You can see why I am doing background while I think this all over!

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

Pantone and the Stitcher

Textile folks know about the Pantone report which tries to predict color trends for designers of all sorts of products.  Here's the Pantone report for this fall in a PDF format.
http://www.pantone.com/downloads/articles/pdfs/PANTONE_FCR_FALL09.pdf

After you droll over the sketches of designer gowns using these colors, you might want to read about this beader's use of the Pantone colors to generate color palettes for her beading.
http://beadlust.blogspot.com/2009/09/ten-great-colors-for-fall.html

Anyone who needs to choose colors for a design (whether it is a counted thread chart or an original design or an outlined canvas) might find the color articles from Pantone a good source of inspiration.

The fall colors seem luscious to me.  Do you like them?

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

Rabbit Geisha's Face, with Background

Last night I worked background stitches up to the right side of the Rabbit Geisha's face, then finished off the tip of her right ear with dark gray Burmilana. I think it looks ok.  The tip doesn't seem to dark to me, although I'd like some input from you guys about this.

I did a bit more on the lower kimono stitching, too.  It doesn't look like much but that took me several hours last night.  Still, having her face finished helps.  It shows me the background stitch works well with her figure and gives her a personality.  She seems subdued and elegant, but watchful.

I'd like you to visit her sister occasionally at the Stitching Up a Storm in Alamo City blog.  It has been very instructive to see how the Cat in a Kimono works up as the cat is fancier and has more decorative touches.  Both canvases are by Brenda Stoft although I think the Rabbit is earlier.  You can see how the design evolved to become more Asian in feel with the Cat.
http://janew1102.typepad.com/my_weblog/

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

Mystery Solved, Skirt Stitched

Last night I redid the lower skirt of the Rabbit Geisha's kimono, using two plies of my Mandarin Floss # M912.  I like how it looks a lot.  Using just the bottom part of the Tony Minieri's Sally's Diamonds stitch looks great and is perfect in scale for this small area.  I hope to finish the skirt tonight and perhaps get more background stitching done but I doubt I'll get it all finished in one stitching session.  I hope you can see the stitch well.  I wanted you to get an overall look at the skirt in relationship to the rest of the canvas.  We often focus on the small part we are stitching currently and forget it has to look good with the rest of the canvas.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2009/aug.php

TheresaA tells me that what she calls "tick tack box" bead storage is available through Whim Beads.  She's right--here it is.  Sadly, it is not available right now as they wait for more to arrive from their supplier.  Apparently there are many folks copying this system so you can probably buy something similar like the link I found yesterday, but I think waiting for the original if you know it is good quality is worth it unless you are swimming in beads.  Thanks a lot, TheresaA!
http://whimbeads.com/cart.asp?pg=products&grp=75

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