Cupcakes and Stitch Guides

This morning I published a new article on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guides blog about Cynthia Thomas' latest stitch guides for a Needle Deeva series. To read about the new items, click on the link below, or click on the magic carpet's photo in the right hand column to go straight to my other blog.
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/2011/10/cupcake-anyone.html


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

A Glimpse Inside the Classroom

If you are like me and never get to go to any of the cool classes, you'll drool all over the photos from Terry Dryden's Tropical Jazz class for Needle Bug in Alabama and the photos of Brenda Hart's Drama Dragon mask and embellishment classes at Bedecked and Beadazzled in Maryland. It looks like so much fun!
http://theneedlebug.com/2011/09/terry-dryden-2/

http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2011/09/snap-tray-heaven.html

http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2011/10/so-many-stitches.html

And then there was the SharonG class at Nimble Needle.  Trust me, the horses asses canvases are delicate and beautiful in person. Photos don't do them justice.  I'm lusting after the Christmas one myself.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2011/10/sharong-class-recap.html


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

Threads for Perfect Skin UPDATED

Rainbow Gallery's Skin Tone Collections

So many folks report problems stitching faces that I thought I should continue with tips to help those who aren't happy with how things turn out for them. The right thread can really help create a face you are proud of.  My preference in stitching faces is to use silk floss. I must not be the only person who loves silk on faces because Rainbow Gallery has come out with what they call Design Collections in two skin tones using their Splendor floss colors--Bronze Porcelains and Blush Porcelains.  That's what you see in the above photograph.  There's not much yardage in each color but since I normally use 3-4 plies of Splendor in tent stitches for my faces, a card of these two sets will last me for 4-5 canvases of people.  (Splendor is a 12 ply silk.)  The Bronze Porcelains work for darker faces and the Blush Porcelains work for very pale skin and rosy cheeks.

UPDATE:  Rainbow Gallery has added Santa's Rosy Checks to their Design Collections skin tones.
https://www.stitchingbitsandbobs.com/cgi-bin/Store/pageread.cgi?SDC

Melissa Shirley's Nordic Snowman Stotcking, with face stitched

Of course these threads won't work for a snowman's face.  I've successfully used white Flair to stitch right over a snowman's pink cheeks and white snow "skin" as you see in the photo above, which shows Melissa Shirley's Nordic Snowman stocking under way.  The entire face is tent stitched with white Flair, including his pink cheeks and the gray shading under the edge of his fur-trimmed stocking cap.  The paint shows right through the transparent Flair and gives a slightly icy look to the face.

Flair also is a Rainbow Gallery thread.  It's a woven tube of thread which we stitchers sometimes call Barbie doll hose.  It comes on a card.  This website has good photos of the thread itself. If you've seen Frosty Rays or Petite Frosty Rays, you've seen Flair with a metallic thread threaded down the middle of it.
http://a-z-needlepoint.com/flair.shtml

Anyone else have a thread they use constantly for faces?  Either email me at chilly hollow athotmaildot com or post your favorite thread in the Comments section below this article.

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

Shops Do Stash for Cash

The announcement of an entire Kelly Clark/Amy Bunger Halloweenies set for sale brought me a message from Beth at Beth's Needlepoint Nook in Kentucky. Beth tells me her shop offers a Stash for Cash program for folks who want to send excess stash items off to a new home.  She describes how it works thusly,  "My shop has been helping customers with that issue for the past year. We list items on ebay for people. The canvas owner receives 60% of the sale value in cash or 80% in store credit. We have sold over 650 items so far including new canvases, partially stitched canvases, new fibers, partially used skeins of fiber, findings, books, tools, etc.  The program has been successful in that my customers are happy and they love the 80% store credit. One customer has received over $2000 in store credit from ebay sales. If you think that this would be of interest to your blog followers, feel free to post this information. Further details can be found on the home page of my website."
http://www.bethsneedlepoint.com/

Fireside Stitchery also has a very similar program for their customers.  Here's the description of how it works on their website.
http://www.firesidestitchery.com/FS/ebay/index.cfm

It is lovely of shops to sell items for folks who are unwilling to master eBay to sell excess items themselves.  I don't have any personal knowledge of how well this works, but anyone who has been thinking they need to get rid of things should talk to their local shop to make sure they don't have such a program.  If not, either Beth's Needlepoint Nook or Fireside Stitchery would love to talk to you.

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

The Cat Topiary Garden Reappears

dede Odgen's Cat Topiary Garden

I'm sure at least some of you noticed that the cat topiary garden piece I was stitching for my mother's birthday has reappeared. I ran out of time to get it done and made up so I worked on the pink geisha Miko instead. Cat topiary garden will now be a Christmas present, which means I'm working it each night, trying to get more finished on this fairly large piece (eleven inches wide by thirteen inches high on 18 count NP canvas).

In the header photo the cat is almost finished but the dark gray shading is just too dark.  I pulled all that out and replaced it with a lighter gray thread.  Sometimes what looks good at night when I do most of my stitching doesn't look good the next morning, which was the case here.

The cat is done in needle painting, which is basically a random long and short stitch with outlines in stem and outline stitch.  The eyelids are tent stitches.  I used two shades of orange Impressions, a cream from Vineyard Silk Classic, and gray Medici wool.  Basically, I found similar diameter threads in the right colors from my stash and stitched away!

I plan to go back to the topiaries but I needed a break from them.  There are a lot of topiaries in the background and stitching them is tedious work, so I hope to alternate finishing them with other parts of the canvas.  Stay tuned!

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