Dec 25, 2011

Associated Talents Offers Free Stitch Guides

Associated Talents has started putting free stitch guides on their website.  Not only is this good news for owners of these canvases, any stitcher who wants to learn Don Lynch's basketweave beading technique can do so just from looking at the PDF stitch guide for any piece that uses this technique, such as the Plaid-Pumpkins-Dots Candy Corn ornament.
http://www.atneedlepoint.com/CanvasLookup.asp?Category=Guides

Don is busy writing up a description of his basketweave beading technique but don't expect that to be available until after the January 2012 TNNA show.  There is just too much for Don to do to get ready for that right now!

Dec 21, 2011

Hannukah Stitch Guides

Kreinik has posted stitch guides for several fun Hannukah items (menorahs and dreidels) on their website.  You'll have to pick up the Stitch-a-Pens or the painted canvases from either Kreinik or Gone Stitching, but the instructions and stitch guides are available free of charge here.  The instructions are downloadable PDF files, so you can download and print them out to stitch at your convenience.  Happy Hannukah!
http://www.kreinik.com/kshop/home.php?cat=399

By the way, here is the Gone Stitching website.  It's full of Jewish themed canvases in case you are looking for something special.  Pay special attention to the Stitch Guides section in the header bar.  Clicking on it will take you to painted canvases that come with their own stitch guide.
http://www.gonestitching.net/

Dec 1, 2011

Amy Bunger's Stitch Guide Catalogue

After a lot of work, Amy Bunger's staff has compiled a listing of stitch guides she has created over the years and offer them for sale to anyone who buys the canvas and/or the thread kit from Amy.  The announcement and all the details are in Amy's November 2011 newsletter.
http://www.amybunger.com/f/Amy_s_e-newsletter_November_2011.pdf

Amy has also finished a new guide for another of the small Labors of Love birds.  This time it's a flamingo.  These small canvases and cheap guides are a great introduction to Amy's guides at a good price.  Amy is now turning her attention to Kirk and Hamilton's small Halloween poison bottles to add to her collection of small canvases with cheap guides.  It's a great way to treat yourself with a bit of Amy at a reasonable price.
http://www.amybunger.com/albums/album_image/6819545/7511823.htm

Besides all of the above, Robin King's stitch guides have been broken out into a separate page on the Amy Bunger website.  Now fans of Robin's work can go straight there to see if she's worked on that canvas they are lusting after.
http://www.amybunger.com/robin_king_stitch_guides.html

Here's the link to Amy's most recent stitch guides.  The bulk of her work will be in the catalogue, however.  Amy's staff will have the newest stitch guides here but older guides will be in the catalogue which you can access from this page.
http://www.amybunger.com/custom_stitch_guides.html

Note that I have never been able to get the individual sections to open with photos.  That space is always blank.  It's a quirk of my computer setup probably.  I always go straight to the host site to see the catalogue.  If you are having the same problem, go here instead.  You will have to hunt a little to find each section as they are in no particular order, but at least you can see the thumbnail photos so you know that the canvas you have (or want) is the one Amy did a guide for.  The controls are at the top of the page once you open a section.
http://issuu.com/amybunger

A few more details about how this will all work are in my earlier article on Amy's catalogue.
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/2011/08/amy-bunger-opens-her-stitch-guide.html

A Range of Stitch Guides from Needlenook of La Jolla

As one of the larger online shops, Needlenook of La Jolla has a nice search function.  You can go to their main catalogue, then put "stitch guide" in the Search tab on the right to see what canvases with stitch guides they have available.  Some stitch guides are extra, some are included with the canvas at no extra charge.  Read each listing you are interested in with care to discover which category the guide you want is in.
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/categories.php

The shop also has a custom stitch guide service for canvases purchased from the shop.  Costs range from $35-$125 depending on the size and complexity of the design.  I don't know who does the guides but David McCaskill manages the store and does lovely guides.
http://store.needlenook.com/Custom-Stitch-Guide-Service-p36795.html