I love this time of year because of all the new canvases that arrive at Needle Nicely.   And, of course, I'd like to stitch all of them.  The following canvases are from Maggie Co.  The next ornaments are by Associated Talents.  I love their variation in colors for the Easter canvas. I didn't measure the Grinch canvas from Raymond Crawford, but I think it is about 15-18" tall.  It screams for pattern-stitches. The Painted Pony is the source of the following two angel canvases ..read more

Yes, this is the time of year when new canvases come flooding in.  Some are duplicates of ones we have had previously; some are new beauties. This canvas distributed by CBK, I purchased as a teaser for Macy.  For the past two weeks, she has been in Texas, visiting Bruce where he is attending boarding school.  Macy and her husband do retrieving  and Macy does agility with their dogs.  These chickadees are by Liz.  While I'm not a bird-lover, I have to admire the composition of this canvas. This is a Susan Treglown canvas, designed by either Linda Pietz or Pol ..read more

In the past few years, Needle Nicely has used lavender metal book-end like stands to hold the magnets that are for sale.  It got so the 3 stands weren't large enough to hold the magnets we had available. After some brain-storming, I decided to search the internet for adhesive magnetic sheets.  I found a product that was just the width I wanted and came in a roll of a length the buyer specified.  After I got it, I trimmed the width, and applied the product to the end of the sales counter.  While it isn't readily visible, I do have some magnets on a purple stand on the sales ..read more

I think that I will have enough stitched canvases to do the chair with these pieces.  Now to locate a suitable chair.  I am also considering asking my local upholsterer if he can make the chair for me.  More at another time about that. This was a kit from Elsa Williams, years ago.  The next five canvases were designed by Village Needlecraft.  Gayle retired and so far as I know, did not sell her designs, which was a pity.  I think this canvas was either a Winnetka Stitchery or a Village Needlecraft design. Trubey stitched this canvas.  It was ..read more

Planet Earth has added a ladies' version of a credit card case to its line of pre-finished items. This comes in Royal Blue, Red, and Green. There is a slit on the side to allow receipts or bills to be inserted,  I have looked and cannot locate a blog entry showing the smaller version of the card case that they label "for men"--I will show a photo next week (the smaller one comes in red, blue, green, black and tan).  It comes in red, blue, and green. This is the luggage tag which comes in black, red, lime (green) and blue. And the best of them all, sets of coasters that are backe ..read more

I started stitching the Summer canvas by Pippin using the interlocking Gobelin for the body and wing of the sea gull. I had brought home what I thought I would use for the beak and the other golden areas of the canvas; but it turned out to be too yellow, rather than golden.  So Monday I will select another shade so I can stitch the beak and the stripes in the closest beach towel.  ..read more

NOTE:  It is really aggravating to sit down to finish a blog entry, only to discover that your internet connection is non-existent.  While Earthlink didn't repair it instantly, they were a little more professional about dealing with the whole process.  Over last weekend, Peggi of Tapestry Tent (tapestryfair.blogspot.com) blogged about an upholstered chair that she had had covered in"old" stitched needlepoint.  It made me think that that would be a good use for the Needle Nicely shop models where the canvases are no longer available. The pillows  have been put on sale ..read more

To make up for not being able to make it to Destination Dallas this past September, I ordered some canvases.  These are some of the canvases I ordered from Pippin Designs. Jennifer has a series of seasonal designs.  I am blog-stitching summer, but here are the other 3 in the series.  The first is winter.  Then, we have spring.  And, finally, we have autumn.  Each one more interesting than the last.  I used to believe that Needle Nicely didn't have many Halloween canvases.  Perhaps next week I'll show the wall of Halloween canvases we have put up to ..read more

Jennifer Tan of Pippin Studio has done a series for the 4 seasons.  I have decided that "Summer" is the canvas I'll be stitching at home now that I have my stitching mojo back.  I will be stitching the kimono at the shop.  Both will be stitched primarily in Splendor ..read more

Here is a picture of the lines where I ripped out the red outline of my kimono.  Notice that there is a residue remaining along the lines.  This residue would show through the pattern stitches within the boxes. Next you can see where I folded over a piece of Scotch tape.  I used this piece of tape to remove the bits of residue ..read more