Introducing Cha-Cha (Leigh Designs)

The canvas above is from Leigh Designs' Brazil series.  It is one of eight bird-fruit-flower designs on 18 count pink canvas, all named after dance styles.  You can see the whole series on the Leigh website.  All the designs are 12 inches square, so this is a pretty large piece.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp403x.html

When Leigh and I started talking about which design I would stitch for her next, I mentioned how much I liked the colors in the Brazil series.  So she sent me Cha-Cha to stitch.  Eventually this canvas will be a model for her at trade shows and I will sell a stitch guide for the design through the new Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides site.
http://www.chstitchguides.blogspot.com/

As you can see, this design breaks down into six distinct areas:  the bird, the flowers, the fruit, the leaves, the tree branch and the background.  It is going to be a challenge to find stitches for each area that harmonize with all the others.  Tomorrow I'll talk about the background stitch I choose and why I'm doing background last on this design.

For fans of Dancing with the Stars on tv, here is a video of the cha-cha that demonstrates the basic moves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ngz4hPC328

"Like a flower in the breeze...."

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

New Clubs, New Finishing Instructions

Fireside Stitchery has just announced four new needlepoint clubs that will all start in September.   The clubs include pastries (love that blueberry pie slice), Halloween bears in costume, holiday themed baskets that make up into cute 3-D display baskets, and cookie cutter ornaments.  Click on the Click Here link under each photo to see all the stitched models for each club.
http://firesidestitchery.com/fs/clubs/index.cfm?fuseaction=getClubList&CategoryId=3&clubState=future

By coincidence, Cheryl Fall, the About.com needlepoint guide, has posted instructions for finishing stand up needlepoint figures on her site.  They look fairly simple so if you are interested in stitching the Halloween bears and trying your own finishing, this might be a good starting point.  If you are interested in stitching a Nativity, she has also posted charts for the Nativity set used to illustrate her instructions elsewhere on this site.  Click on the links to go to the charts.
http://needlepoint.about.com/b/2010/06/14/finishing-instructions-for-stand-up-figures-posted.htm

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

Columbus Market Again UPDATED

Folks are coming home from Columbus now and still posting about the wonderful things they say there.  Margaret is back from helping at the Squiggee booth and is promising a series of articles on what she saw.
http://cranecottage.com/stitchingblog/?p=1534

UPDATE:  Margaret is adding specifics to the above.  First, she talks about SharonG and her designs, with photos from her booth.
http://cranecottage.com/stitchingblog/?p=1528

UPDATE #2:  Margaret showcases Barbara Bergsten.
http://cranecottage.com/stitchingblog/?p=1547

She also has photos in her online Photo Album from the show.  Look at pages 1-3. Anything posted after the first of June is from Columbus.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandco/

Peggy is home now but full of stories (and photos) of the classes she took at the TNNA show.  These are presented so that shop owners learn new techniques, stitches and about new threads and can pass the knowledge along to their customers.  Peggy, thanks for taking the classes on our behalf--it was a huge sacrifice!  [Big grin]
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2010/06/its-wrap-from-columbus-tnna-2010-needle.html

DMC's blog has two product summaries: one on the workhouse perle cotton (which is so useful so many places) and their newer satin floss.  Each article has photos of needlepoint projects done with the featured thread.
http://dmc-threads.com/?p=2334

http://dmc-threads.com/?p=2314

I expect a little more information to trickle out over the next few days.  Stay tuned for more news....

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

Announcing the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides Blog

Now that most of the news from the Columbus TNNA show has stopped coming out, I have news of my own to announce.  I have a new blog!  It is called Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides.  It lists not only my stitch guides which are for sale, but tells you where to find stitch guides for a whole range of designs from many stitch guide writers.  It's not all about me, in other words.  LOL
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/

The new blog tells you which stitch guides I have available and how to order them.  I hope that other stitch guide writers will email me at sg from chnp @gmail.com with information about whose canvases they have guides for, give me contact information, prices, etc.  I'll add that to the CH Stitch Guides site along with any other information I can find about which shops do free stitch guides if you buy from them, who will do custom stitch guides, etc.

The new blog is evolving.  There are twenty-eight articles already.  You can browse them one by one or just use the search box at the upper left hand corner to find your favorite designer or stitch guide writer.  Feel free to send me information about other guides and writers if you happen to know the details.

Blog is changing also.  Occasionally I rearrange the furniture, so to speak, by choosing another layout template, changing the header photo, and changing the colors of the titles and links, etc.  I get bored with the old look after a while and am always looking for something that looks good but is also easy to read.  Sorry to have startled you guys with a change without notice yesterday.  I just had longer computer access than usual and moved things around.  It's my version of rearranging the living room furniture without the heavy lifting!

Those of you with sharp eyes have already noticed the magic carpet that tops the list of blogs I maintain at the bottom of this page.  Clicking on it takes you to the new stitch guide blog.  There is now a tab at the top of this page that has the link, too. You can always bookmark the new site, but any time you visit the Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure, you can go on to the CH Stitch Guides site.  (And vice versa--the magic carpet will bring you back here once you visit if you like.)

I hope that CH Stitch Guides will be a resource for all stitchers who are interested in a specific canvas, who collect a certain stitch guide writer's work, or who are just interested in what's available.  I also hope that the original blog's new look is easy to read and makes it easy to find things once you get used to it.


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

The Last of the New from Columbus? UPDATED

By now the Columbus trade show is over and folks are dragging themselves home, tired but happy.  Robin from Amy Bunger's shop sums the show up perfectly with her posting about the new designer she discovered, new threads, and hints about her next class for TNNA.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2010/06/mariela-nielson-designs-and-good-times.html

As Robin mentioned above, the Columbus Heart (Needle Deeva) class she taught went very well.  Here's a review from Michele of Bristly Thistle.
http://bristlythistle.blogspot.com/2010/06/columbus-heart-class-with-robin-king.html

UPDATE:  And one from Colleen of Needle Works.
http://theneedleworks.typepad.com/the_needle_works/2010/06/i-am-stuck-in-columbus-so-i-my-as-well-blog-about-market.html

Speaking of Michele, she posted photos of the newest Charley Harper animal canvases which were just released.  Here they are for your viewing pleasure:
http://bristlythistle.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/new-charley-harper-needlepoint-designs/

Speaking of animals, here is Gail Hendrix's newest alligator.  I never knew reptiles with teeth and claws could be so cuddly!
http://squiggeedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/06/presentingdirect-from-squiggeelandgg.html

Are you curious about what stitchers are doing with DMC's new memory thread?   DMC reports their booth was full of pieces done with memory thread.  You can admire the creativity at work through the many photos posted on DMC's blog.
http://dmc-threads.com/?p=2283

Here is Barbara Bergsten's TNNA booth.  Wish I was there!
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/create_needlepoint/2010/06/saturday-at-the-tnna-show.html

Barbara is interviewed on the TNNA site.   It's great to learn a bit about the personalities behind the designs, especially when you like the designs as much as I like Barbara's.
http://www.worldofneedlepoint.com/featuredartist.html

Finally, Janet Perry has written a multi-part round up of the show.  Here are the links.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/tnna-round-up-part-1
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/tnna-round-up-part-2
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/tnna-round-up-part-3
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/tnna-round-up-part-4

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