Adding Twirls to Your Painted Canvas

The latest newsletter from Needlepoint For Fun features two "swirl" stitches to add movement to areas of your painted canvas.  One stitch points right and the other left; one is larger than the other.  So you'll have to consider how much space you have for the stitch to develop (the rule of thumb is that you need room for at least three repeats) and whether your canvas area is slanting left or right before using one of these.
http://www.needlepoint-for-fun.com/needlepoint-swirl-stitch.htm

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 29, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Pin Friends from Accoutrement Designs

I just realized Accoutrement Designs has introduced a new item called a Pin Friend in 2016. This is a magnet pair with a hole through the middle so you can add a jewelry pin to the magnet and either wear it without creating a hole in your clothing or as a needle minder on your canvas.  Clever!  You can see it in action at the bottom of this page.
http://fobfriends.blogspot.com/p/2016-new-items.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright August 30, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Bar Hugger Bears Hug My Clamp

The Bar Hugger from Sundance

I just got my paws on the new Bar Hugger bears from Barbara Elmore at Sundance Designs.
These are a set of two teddy bear-shaped pieces that keep your stretcher bars from wiggling around in the clamp of your frame. You can see the front of the package above.  My bears come in a rose-lace pattern and in solid yellow.   The front side is slick while the back side has embossed fabric, sort of like oilcloth.  Barbara posted some of the other colors and patterns available on her Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/barbaraelmoredesigns/photos/a.10152584568623262.1073741828.102579373261/10153670652253262/?type=3&theater

Bar Huggers in Use

The back of the package shows how to use them.  You drape a bear over the stretcher bar of your canvas, then put it into your floor or table stand.  The fabric is somewhat thick and so it keeps the stretcher bar from moving once you clamp it to the frame.

My Table Clamp

I also use it for my table clamp.  See this?  It's a quick release clamp from the hardware store.  (Pull the trigger with your index finger and the clamp slides back and forth on the bar, allowing you to widen or narrow it to hold the bars to a desk.)  I often clamp small stretcher bars to my desk when I am stitching while streaming a movie on the computer.    I have been using my bar hugger to make sure the clamp doesn't mark the desktop, even though the clamp heads themselves are slightly rubbery.    Since there are two bar huggers per package, I can put one on the top and one on the bottom clamp to protect the wood if I use this on my oak dining room table.

Bar Hugger in Use

Here is the table clamp in use with a bar hugger.  Table clamps come in pairs at the hardware store. I went for the smallest that opened the widest I could find that had the quick release as the ones that screw down are too slow for Miss Impatient here to use.  (Note:  This clamp set is probably too small to hold my Egyptian Cat canvas too long but this was for illustration purposes.)

Thanks so much for this clever idea, Barbara!  It works on so many things.  Wonder if I can grip and pull a needle through with these when it gets stuck...?

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 26, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

My Next Project

I've been rummaging in my stash, trying to see what I want to blog-stitch next.  But before I reveal my next public project, I thought I'd tell you about something that I've never stitched but that has started to intrigue me--projects with lettering.

I'm sure you've seen those signs from & More with a striped background.  They are always popular.
http://www.andmorethreads.com/andmorethreads.com/Sayings.html

Of course many designers have saying canvases.  How about "Mermaid My Day" from CBK?
http://www.needlepoint.com/mermaid-my-day-19115.html

Or maybe Zecca's "Just Be Kind" will speak to you.
http://needlepointalley.com/site/?page_id=7#!/Just-Be-Kind/p/35573110/category=8327483

The sky's the limit when it comes to styles that word canvases come in as these postings by Pocket Full of Stitches of the range of sayings they had in the shop in July demonstrate.
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2016/07/christmas-in-july-letters-words-sayings.html

http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2016/07/christmas-in-july-letters-words-sayings_19.html

With all these sayings so popular, of course bloggers have talked about their current canvases and how they stitched them.  Suzanne in particular loves sayings canvases and has lots of great ideas for them.  She likes to use metallic and tent stitches for skinny lettering to make it pop off the background.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2016/04/rub-some-dirt-on-it.html

She loves large expanses of blank background so she can use complex, compound stitches in multiple threads there.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2016/05/mother-darling.html

And she just figured out a way to make the slightly larger words raised.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2016/05/exciting-new-stitch-for-lettering.html

 I'm sure I'll at least think about all these ideas as I start work on my new piece.  (Hint:  the color scheme of my new canvas is cream and lilac.)

I'll show you once I find stretcher bars and get it attached to them.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright  August 16, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

A Motto to Live By

I just spotted Tess and Thorn's business card on Facebook. Words to live by! 
https://www.facebook.com/tessandthorn/photos/a.987358254671599.1073741829.987255491348542/1090236024383821/?type=3&theater

If you want to see what these two get up to, here is the Tess and Thorn's website link.
http://www.tessandthorn.com/our-story/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 27, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.