Everything Blackwork is New Again UPDATED

I have used blackwork patterns on top of skirts belonging to Joan Thommason angels, so I have been interested to hear that Julia Snyder's latest book is about blackwork patterns on needlepoint canvas.  I haven't seen the book personally, though.  Pocket Full of Stitches has a brief review and photos of the inside pages.
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2011/03/julia-snyders-blackwork-book.html

Janet Perry has a copy of the book and gives us a review on her site.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/great-new-book-on-blackwork-in-needlepoint-book-review

Janet also just reviewed the Royal School's book on blackwork, and...
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/blackwokr-royal-school-of-needlework-essential-stitch-guides-book-review

...she has reviewed Laura Perin's blackwork book, too.  Since Laura is a counted canvaswork designer, this one is of particular interest to us needlepointers.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/blackwork-patterns-by-laura-perin-book-review

UPDATE:  I belatedly realized I should have provided links to examples of Joan Thomasson angels showing the use of blackwork patterns on their skirts.  The last two examples of angels on this page show the blackwork patterns fairly well.  Click on the thumbnails for a glimpse.
http://www.stitchers-paradise.com/Painted_Canvases/JoanThomasson.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

The July Sales Continue

Gone Stitching is doing a Christmas in July sale--all Christmas canvases are 25% off for the rest of July.
http://www.gonestitching.net/


Madonna Needleworks is also having a July sale (until July 25) with 25% off any special order.  Their dwindling stock of Medici wool is also half off.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=131165b3ce3e5bc8&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D8e8a836fbe%26view%3Datt%26th%3D131165b3ce3e5bc8%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbS015gIam1wP14RDL42DUhmdc1ZNQ&pli=1

Know of any other good July sales?  Post about them in the Comments, please!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Cat Topiary Garden: Two Missing Bushes

dede Odgen's Cat Topiary Garden

Last week I planned to basketweave the egg shaped topiary while I pondered how to stitch the large bush to its right.  As I worked on Egg, I realized just how much of the large bush is behind the trellis arch, which means it needs to recede.  I don't want any bush hogging the limelight when the arch and gate are more important!  So I decided that I would basketweave the big bush, too. Above you see how they turned out.  I like the contrast of the smooth basketweave on the egg shaped bush and how the bigger bush looks compared to the ones behind it.  Now I need a rough-textured stitch for the big fish, bird, cat and mouse topiary bushes.

Remember, I used just two plies of my flosses in the basketweaved bushes.  I tried three plies but the stitches looked uneven and a bit twisted, which is always a sign you have too much thread in the needle.  I suppose that the tulle layered on top of the canvas means I need to use a little less thread since normally three plies of floss look good when I basketweave on 18 count.  But your own stitch tension also comes into play, making it hard to know exactly how many plies each of us needs to use.

I also "needle blended" colors, which is a fancy way of saying that I used two plies of my teal green thread in the teal green areas and two plies of the dark teal in the shadowed areas, then used one ply of each color in the areas between the very light and dark spaces to mix the colors.  You can get very elaborate with needle blending, working from four plies of AAAA to three plies of AAA plus one of B to two plies of AA plus two of BB, etc. but I didn't really need to be that subtle here.

Two Yellow-Olive Bushes Behind Gate

After I finished the two bushes I took a good look at my canvas.  I discovered I'd completely overlooked two small yellow-olive bushes that lurk behind the lattice gate.  I left my magnet and needle on the canvas on top of one of them in the first big photo so you won't overlook them also.  I found a yellow-olive size #5 silk perle (Rainbow Gallery's Grandeur G848) in my stash, and after some thought, decided skip tent stitch might be just the thing to use. In the photos above and below you see how they turned out.

By the way, here is how Ruth Schmuff does Skip Tent.  She calls it Basketweave Twill since it is done on the diagonal like basketweave is.  If you do it in horizontal rows, it's called skipped tent.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2010/06/one-of-my-favorite-stitches.html

If you are stitching along with me, any #5 perle in approximately the right shade looks good here.  If your canvas is 13 count, you may want to use #3 perle but try it first to see if the little stitch bumps are going to be too prominent with the larger #3 size.

In the photos you can just see that I've started the big central topiary bush.  I'll talk about the stitch I choose for it next time.  Hint: I am using a variation of a stitch I used in this blog post.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Who Are Your Stitching Ancestors?

Ruth (who does ecclesiastical embroidery) asks a question that we don't think much about.  Who are your stitching ancestors?
http://rutholearytextileart.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-embroidery-ancestry.html


My earliest stitching ancestors are the women of both my father's and mother's families, all of whom do some sort of needlework.  Now that I concentrate on needlepoint exclusively, my "ancestors" are Brenda Hart, SharonG and Susan Portra, all of whom do the style of stitching I aspire to.

I hope that I'm the stitching ancestor of at least a few Blog readers....

What is it they say, "each one teach one"?  Time for us to all teach someone new to needlepoint so that we have descendants.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Trish Burr on Needle Painting

If you want to learn how to create naturalistic plants and animals with needle painting, Trish Burr is the teacher to learn from.  Unfortunately for us, Trish lives in South Africa, but fortunately she has a DVD available to show us how needle painting is done.  And now there is a little snippet of the DVD available to see online.  Just a taste but it'll make you want more, guaranteed!
http://trishburr.com/dvd-review/

By the way, do explore Trish's website. You are going to be astounded at the beautiful stitching you see there.
http://trishburr.co.za/

Jane, writing another thing on the Wish List for Santa here in Chilly Hollow

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com