The Halloween B00-tique

Ruth Schmuff's blog announced her new monthly club yesterday--a selection of Halloween canvases from A Collection of Designs combined with Ruth's over-the-top embellishments and stitch ideas.

Now you see why I was so frantic to have my blog list link to Ruth's blog work correctly!  I still can't link to it directly on the blog list but you can view the finished ornaments here.  Hint:  Put on your sunglasses.  :)
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2010/03/bedecked-and-beadazzled-bewitching-boo.html

Pricing and all the sign up details are on Ruth's shop website.
http://www.bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/details.php?pid=11565

I think it was Chottie Aldersen who said if it's not fun, it isn't needlepoint.  By that definition this is NeEDlePoInT!

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

Beads, Beautiful Beads

All the beads and crystals are attached to the Candy Cane Dog stocking now.  The first thing I added were six ruby Swarkovski crystals to the centers of the large snowflakes on the top and toe of the stocking.  (By the way, I used a doubled ply of red DMC cotton to attach the crystals firmly.)  I choose the 4mm bicone shaped beads for this.   Swarkovski has a lot of colors, shapes and sizes of glass faceted beads and findings to choose from as you can see here.
http://www.artbeads.com/swarovski-crystal-beads.html

Then I had to decide whether to use pearls or diamonds for the other beads on this piece.  I had two sizes of fake pearls which were lovely and three sizes of iridescent faceted crystal beads (hex or cubes) to choose from, all from Sundance Designs.  I finally went with the crystal beads since I had three sizes (both #11 and #14 hex beads and 8 mm cubes).  That would allow me to use the larger #11 hex beads at the top of the stocking and the smaller #14 on the toe and for the tiny stars behind the dog.  (Both are color 250 although the larger size 11 beads are labeled H250.) Then I could use the cubes as trim in the finishing.  So that's what I did.

In the photo the larger #11 beads are attached in the stocking top using doubled white DMC cotton floss.  The rest of the stocking uses the smaller #14 beads.  For the stars in the sky behind the dog, I used blue doubled DMC cotton floss.  For the small crosses in the toe of the stocking, I used white DMC cotton floss again.  Changing the colors of the attaching thread in these crystals changes the bead color slightly, making the stars somewhat blue and the crosses white.  In the photo you see some of the light reflection from the Sundance beads.  The red Swarkovski bicone beads aren't as flashy as I assumed they would be. The whole stocking looks rather elegant--if you ignore Elmer!

I have a few finishing touches for the stocking and I need to start assembling my finishing materials:  sewing thread, embroidery needles, choose a trim, pick lining and backing fabric, etc.  It may take me several nights to get the stocking put together so I guess I'd better get started!

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

Callaway 2010 Website Up

The Callaway Gardens Needle Arts 2010 website is up. The classes are listed under the Course Description tab but I'd encourage you to look at all the sections as the header for each is a close up from various lovely stitched models.
http://www.callawaygardens.com/Callaway/info/calendar/calendar.needlearts.event.aspx

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

Muzzle and Snowflakes

I have finished Elmer the Candy Cane Dog's muzzle, using white and gray Wisper in tent stitches.  The tent stitches mean this fuzzy thread isn't as fuzzy as it could be, but it still stands out a little as being different from his body and the candy cane, which is what I wanted.  (By the way, my card of white Wisper does not have a color number but the gray Wisper is W60.)  Wisper is a thin fuzzy thread that is a mix of kid mohair and nylon.  I doubled a strand in my needle so it would cover my 18 count canvas ok.  Wisper usually looks better in long stitches, and you can use the tip of your needle or a laying tool to gently stroke the stitches after you lay them on the canvas to bring more of the fuzzies to the front.  Since I was using tent stitches I didn't bother to do this.

The same photo above shows I've been working on the big snowflakes at the top and bottom of the canvas.  The top is finished.  The empty spots are where beads will go.

The bottom shows better how I went about stitching the big snowflakes.  Using the same white Very Velvet I used to couch the long diagonal lines, I tent stitched all the single stitches in the centers of the snowflakes.  That is what you see in the stocking toe.  Then I used a new white thread called either Faux Fur or Santa's Beard & Suit to insert long stitches in the snowflake arms.  That is the step you see finished at the stocking top.

I should explain that both Faux Fur and Santa's Beard & Suit are from Rainbow Gallery.  Both threads are very fuzzy and are meant for 13 count canvas.  They are made up of 85 percent acrylic and 15% wool and both threads come from Italy. As far as I can tell, these two threads are identical except that there are 10 yards on the Santa's Beard & Suit card while the Faux Fur card holds 20 yards.  I used Santa's Beard because there wasn't much thread left on the card and I hoped to use it all up (although I didn't).  The Santa's Beard thread is fuzzier than my Very Velvet so it is a little harder to stitch with but it looks lovely as the fuzzy snowflakes.  The fact that the centers of each snowflake are done in Very Velvet isn't obvious.  I took advantage of the characteristics of each thread to stitch the snowflakes, using the clear definition of the Very Velvet for the single tent stitches and avoiding the fact that Very Velvet picked up red fuzzies from my red Crystal Braid and looked pink by finishing the snowflakes with Santa's Beard.

Mixing four different white threads (Very Velvet, Santa's Beard & Suit, Wisper and Burmilana) worked well for me on this piece as all four were the same stark white shade.  I don't think I would have mixed thread brands if some of them had been cream, some white and some ivory.

My next step will be choosing the beads and trim that will finish this darling little stocking.

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

Patchwork Pears and Halloween Baskets

Chaparral Needlepoint has two new monthly clubs they have announced in newsletters.  They have Kelly Clark's Patterned Pears which are a patchwork pattern and which come with a stitch guide by KC herself, and are starting a Halloween basket series with stitch guides by Cynthia Thomas.  I don't know the designer for these baskets but each little monster face looks like a lot of fun to stitch.  Sadly, photos are not on the Chaparral website but they do show the Mile High Princess monthly heart club that started in January on their home page.  Their newsletter says you can see photos of the patchwork Pears in an ad in the March/April Needlepoint Now.
http://www.ndlpt.com/

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