Japanese Embroidery Scissors

I have two pair of Japanese embroidery scissors I love.  I don't know the brand (they don't have any name on them) but they have stayed sharp for years and I just love them.  So I noticed when Tanja Berlin announced she carries KAI brand Japanese scissors in her shop now.
https://berlinembroidery.com/blog/new-kai-hand-embroidery-scissors/

https://berlinembroidery.com/product-tag/kai/

My scissors don't appear to be from KAI but if these are half as good as the ones I own, they are a great bargain.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 10, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Threadaholic Alert: Overdyed Floche

One side of Threedle's Christmas 2015 Ornament

I've been stitching with overdyed floche on my current project, one of Threedles' annual Christmas ornaments.  You can see it above.  The mirror image crescents flanking each point of the diamond-shaped center are Ravishing Raspberry #115 overdyed floche from Bedecked and Beadazzled.
https://bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/threads/color-dreams/

Regular floche comes from DMC.  One strand nearly the size of two plies of DMC cotton floss.  Mary Corbet has a lovely review of regular non-overdyed floche here.
https://www.dmc.com/us/p-free-patternsfloche.html

I'm eyeing the teal-purple mix that Colour Complements creates for the next side of my ornament.  I think it would look smashing on the aquamarine background.  But of course Lorraine at Colour Complements does lots of pretty colors.  The orange would also be amazing on my aquamarine canvas.
https://colourcomplements.com/product-category/hand-dyed-cotton-floche

Overdyed Floche and Cotton Floss from Colour Complements

UPDATE:  The teal and purple floche has arrived (there's a skein of Colour Complement's overdyed cotton floss in lime and turquoise in the above photo, too).  I forgot to tell you that the overdyed floss from Bedecked and Beadazzled and the overdyed floss from Colour Complements come in skeins of nearly the same size—28 yards for the Color Dreams' skeins from Ruth Schmuff and 3 meters (which is 27.8 yards more or less) for the Colour Complements' skeins.

Floche, whether overdyed or solid, is really lovely to stitch with in my opinion. If you like light coverage, it's very easy to use there.  If you prefer full coverage, you can get a nice smooth finish with 2-3 plies on 18 count.  It looks good next to a sparkle thread or beads, too, providing a good contrast that highlights any bling. This enables you to get away with using only a few beads if you need them but you don't like beading all that much.  I encourage you to try using this great thread the next time you need cotton on your project.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 10, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Woodlawn Report 2020 UPDATED

Melita's been to the Woodlawn Plantation exhibit and has a lovely long report for us all.
https://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2020/03/09/woodlawn-needlework-exhibit-2020/

Several of the nice folks from NJNA have also seen the show.  Here is their report.
https://blog.njneedleartists.org/2020/03/13/njna-at-woodlawn/

UPDATE:  Woodlawn Plantation is posting photos of some of the ribbon-winners from the Woodlawn Show on their Facebook page, starting March 16, 2020.
https://www.facebook.com/woodlawnandpopeleigheyhouse/

UPDATE #2:  NJNA has posted photos of the chapter's award winners.
https://blog.njneedleartists.org/2020/08/24/njna-at-woodlawn-2020/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 9, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

BREAKING NEWS: WOODLAWN EXHIBIT CLOSES

I've been told the Woodlawn Plantation staff have decided to close the 2020 needlework exhibit early due to the coronavirus epidemic.  (Thanks, Donna.)  Here's the official statement:

The National Trust has made the decision to close Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House effective Friday, March 12, 2020 at 6:00PM. We have made this decision due to the coronavirus and our concerns for the health of our visitors, volunteers, staff, and community. We will be monitoring the situation as changes are occurring rapidly, but at this time, the site will be closed through March 27^th and all tours, programs, and events will suspended, including our Annual Needlework Show.

While we are closed to the public, the Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House team will be working remotely and will continue to communicate with the public. 

We are sorry for any inconvenience this closure might cause and hope that this might be only a postponement of the Show,  if it is both practical and deemed safe to do so, we may be able to re-open the exhibit at a later date.  We all love organizing and executing this event each March, and appreciate your support as we move through this situation. We look forward to seeing you back at Woodlawn and  Pope-Leighey very soon! 

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 14, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Needlepoint During an Epidemic UPDATED

With the coronavirus that appeared in Wuhan, China last December rampaging its way across the world, things have changed.  Needlepointers tend to be older and sicker than non-needlepointers, so we are going to have to be careful about how we live our lives to help slow down the spread of this very contagious disease among our tribe and among the rest of the world, too.  The good news is that we don't have to upend everything to do our part.  This article, from a blog written by a stitching friend's son-in-law who happens to be a specialist in infectious diseases in animals, gives you plenty of common sense tips that are easy to follow, including one I've not heard before—and I am pretty well read.
https://erinbromage.wixsite.com/covid19/post/every-disaster-movie-begins-with-the-government-ignoring-the-scientists

Armed with this knowledge, we also have to think about the impact of the cancellation of the Orlando trade show on our beloved designers and shops, not to mention the thread-makers and those who provide tools for our stitching pleasure.  Since we are going to be safe at home more than usual, how about browsing the "Spring Needlepoint Show" tab and look at links to some of the newest stuff, then email or call your favorite shop and order something?  Don't have a favorite shop?  Not to worry—there's a tab called "Recommended Online Shops" here that has names of highly recommended stores to choose from.  Some of them are particularly helpful for those of us who are not in the United States and some are based overseas.  So we can all do our part to keep shops and designers afloat until things return to normal.  And—except for those who lose someone dear to them to COVID-19—it will return to normal eventually.

Until then, we can occupy ourselves by being kind to each other and stitching our brains out.

UPDATE:  Laura Taylor is going to do virtual stitch and thread suggestions via Apple's FaceTime.  Contact her is you are interested.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeedlepointNation/search/?query=laura%20taylor&epa=SEARCH_BOX

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 13, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.