Rows Upon Rows (with Tips)

I worked on more of Cha's background last night.  I have 13 rows to do, but each row (this is an 18 count canvas, remember?) is 12 inches long.  My calculator tells me I have 18x12x13 or 2808 tent stitches left.  Eeeeekkkk!

When I can't stand it any more, I'll take a break and stitch a couple of tail feathers.  In the meanwhile, here are some online tips I've stumbled across.  First of all, since I am working a lot with silk ribbons, here is what River Silks says about starting and ending silk ribbons.
http://www.riversilks.com/stitch_instruction.html

DMC posted about how to cut a skein of perle cotton for easy use at the top of this article.  It'll probably work for many types of thread skeins, unless you are like me and you hate using pre-cut threads.
http://www.dmc-usa.com/majic/pageServer/130100031i/en_US/Getting-Ready-to-Stitch.html

e-Rose has found a great silk threads comparison table.  There's a link to it on her blog.  Many of the brands and some of the shops are English so if you want to mail order something exotic to substitute for a silk you are bored with, this is the place to find help.
http://elmsleyrose.blogspot.com/2010/08/silk-thread-comparison-table.html

Hope all this good information comes in handy while I count down toward the end of stitching Cha-Cha.

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

Still More Background Stitching

There seem to be miles of background stitching left on Cha, even though most of last week was devoted to it, but the end is in sight.  I think I have about a week's worth of stitching left!  Above is a photograph of the overall canvas as of yesterday morning. I've done more tent stitching since then but it doesn't really look like it.  That's the mystery of backgrounds--they seem endless!

Yesterday, Kathleen K. asked in the comments why I was not doing basketweave in the background.  Take a gander at the background in the above photo.  See the streaks of darker color here and there that gives this canvas the look of faded fabric?  My background thread is an overdye that shades from pale pink to pale rose and back again.  If I was basketweaving the background, I'd not only be using even more thread (I've used about a skein and a half of my JL Walsh so far), I would be creating diagonal streaks instead of horizontal ones because that's how basketweave is done, which would look odd.

While I get back to my stitching, I have a fun link for you this morning.  Amy Bunger's staff have released her August newsletter, and this time it features guest appearances from former First Lady Barbara Bush, a new thread, and a vampire.  The newsletter also reveals the subject matter for Amy's next How'd You Do That? DVD....
http://www.amybunger.com/f/Amy_s_e-newsletter_August_2010.pdf

As a reminder, Elaine Magnin's big sale ends today.  I don't know if the shop will be open much longer but visit now to pick up beauties like the Canvas of the Day or the Sophia kimono above at great prices.
http://www.elainemagnin.com/noname770.html

Gone Stitchin's August sale starts tomorrow, with all canvases (except for trunk shows and Judaica designs) on sale during the entire month at 20% off.   The canvas above is one of Leigh's Floozies, partly stitched by Beth of ThreadworX which will be offering a companion stitch guide and thread set for anyone who wants to stitch Chardonay Charla or any of her seven friends.
http://www.gonestitching.net/

If you want to see Alehouse Annie, the first canvas Beth stitched, go here and then click on "the Floozies."  Be prepared to smile at their jaunty hats, their choice of beverages, and of course their period dress.  Their charm is timeless, of course, but they are very 1890s otherwise.
http://www.threadworx.com/kits.php

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

Cha's Wings and K's Flowers

Cha's wings are done!  I hope you like how they turned out.  The two wings are quite different. The right one is more realistic but the left one is smoother and probably will look more like the tail feathers once I get them stitched.  I have lots of background still to do.  Once I finished the wings last night I spent an hour and a half working background and only got five rows done.  I won't be finished by the end of July but I won't go far into August, either, before it is time for another quilt block on my Stars piece.

Kaffe Fassett's Fire Flowers

In other needlepoint news, my email box got a notice from Ehrman that their 2011 catalog was available online.  Here's the link. This year these traditional designs (often on 10-12 count and almost always kitted with wools) are particularly strong in floral patterns.  Above is Kaffe Fassett's Fire Flowers (chosen because I love his mastery of color and pattern but also because the colors are similar to those in Cha-Cha), but there are a great many others you will want to see, particularly if you are a fan of Beth Russell's William Morris-inspired designs.
http://www.ehrmantapestry.com/newprod.cfm?Currency=1


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

More Feathers, More Ripping?

Yesterday was full of errands and chores so I didn't get as much wing stitched as I had hoped but I still have a photo to share of Cha's right wing.  I am not happy with the lowest orange line of feathers since I've decided longer looks better but they will be easy to remove and restitch.  It is just hard to do long straight stitches on a curved wing. I'm going to leave the orange tips of the feathers until last and probably do very short Japanese ribbon stitches there as I did on the other wing.  Regardless, this is progress that isn't tent stitches so I am happy!

In other news, Linda's posted a quick review (with photos) of Ruth Schmuff's new books.  These are the hard copy form of her Stitch Encyclopedias that originally were just on CDs.
http://nystitchingsisters.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-new-favorite-books.html

Janet Perry's done a review of the new Painter's Palette threads.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/painters-palette-thread-review

Needlepoint.com has a contest going on their blog.  The price is a $25 gift certificate.  Once you enter, click on one of the header items (Naturally I choose Sale--LOL) and then look on the left side of the page.  Click on Needlepoint U to see their online classes, clearly labeled as to difficulty level, complete with a Yahoo Group to help you with questions and problems.
http://www.needlepoint.com/blog/?p=556

If your wallet is empty these days, how about a free elementary embroidery book posted online?  Mary Corbet has the details and a link to the book which-- although old-- has great tips for those doing needle painting of flowers, for example.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2010/07/elementary-embroidery-online-book-free.html

My final link this morning is for sampler lovers.  The Museum of Fine Art in Boston is looking for help finding samplers similar to one in their collection.  Tricia of Thistle Threads suggested they harness the power of the Internet to find sampler lovers who might recognize the motifs on this sampler as occurring other places.  So go and help the museum out, ok?
http://thistle-threads.com.mytempweb.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/distributed-sampler-intelligence/

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

Counted Canvaswork (Good and Bad) UPDATED

I've collected a few little tidbits for my friends who love working from charts.  First up, Scarlet Thread has photos of the newest Laura J. Perin chart which is called One Long Panel for obvious reasons.   I'm posting this for the Spinster Stitcher in particular who reads Blog and is a collector of Perin pieces.  Click on the photo for a better view.    Sara Leigh promises to post photos of all the threads for each colorway shortly in case you want to see the possibilities Laura has listed for you.
http://stitchything.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-from-laura-j-perin-one-long-panel.html

UPDATE:  Laura Perin has added great photos of this new design to her blog.
http://two-handedstitcher.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-design.html

UPDATE #2:  Sara Leigh has posted photos of the various colorways available for this piece. You can buy thread kits for each color from her shop.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSZO15Ui5Dl3Y-ed6cMDNQ32-FTewa1THn-ekfX9IxyE3gmllkD_C2wgPnvDCenvKt-y38tOr2PqJMXcDkwiGHG5xi-ao06VVtwuQGhYeN-COnJmnxkGUR4OSCmq2NBNPJzG9kA4XJqM/s1600/LJP1LongPanelBlog.jpg

I also found a free download of a beautiful traditional sampler which some of you may be interested in, particularly if you are trapped at home due to the really hot weather.
http://needleprint.blogspot.com/2010/07/free-download-steve-rousseaus.html

The last thing is just plain sickening.  Ever wonder how much money chart copying thieves are stealing from designers?
http://mymarkdesigns.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/do-the-math-2/

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