12-Days of Christmas - Day 5

 We just got a foot of snow overnight and everything is white and sparkly!  So it seems like a fitting giveaway to put some light effects in white up.  So a bunch of people will get a bit of nice thread to stitch snow if their name is pulled!

Rules: 

1) you have to send me an email (tricia@alum.mit.edu) with "White Light Effects" in the subject line.  

2) You HAVE to put your name and full address in the body of the message (I can't send it to people who don't).  

3) Then send by Midnight EST on Dec 20th

I will pick a bunch of winners to send some after Christmas.

This is a different way to add a bit of sparkly to a project.  Inside the Harmony with Nature casket is a embroidered vase that is in the lid as a panel to cover the mirror.  When you open the lid, the light catches the moving lid and the flowers sparkle.  The tulips are stitched in Gilt Sylke Twist with a gold wire around the silk and the other flowers have a strip of silver in the needlelace.  

12 Days of Christmas - Day 4

 

Today's giveaway is this year's Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue for 2020.  I have four copies to give away.  If you want one, here are the rules for the drawing:

1) you have to send me an email (tricia@alum.mit.edu) with "2020 Ornament Issue" in the subject line.  

2) You HAVE to put your name and full address in the body of the message (I can't send it to people who don't).  

3) Then send by Midnight EST on Dec 19th

I will pick four winners to send a set after Christmas.

Now a closer look at the Harmony with Nature Casket:

12-Days of Christmas - Day 3

Today's giveaway is a magazine with a Tokens and Trifles project in it (using the Bon Bon package of Tokens and Trifles perforated papers) and a package of Tokens and Trifles to use.  You can make a three-dimensional butterfly with them.  

If you are interested in one of the three sets, please follow the instructions for the giveaway:

1) you have to send me an email (tricia@alum.mit.edu) with "TOKENS and TRIFLES BUTTERFLY" in the subject line.  

2) You HAVE to put your name and full address in the body of the message (I can't send it to people who don't).  

3) Then send by Midnight EST on Dec 18th

I will pick three winners to send a set after Christmas.

12-Days of Christmas - Day 2

It's the 2nd day of Christmas and we have some cute postcards to giveaway.  These are of an amazing embroidered dress from Sweden I saw last year.  

One of my favorite museums there is the Livrustkammaren which is the 'Royal Armory' under the Royal Palace.  It is where all the Royal embroidered clothing and embroidered regalia for horses/knights resides.  If you haven't been there and are going to Sweden in the future - do not miss!  There is so much 17th century embroidery on display - the Swedish royalty was very powerful during the 17th century and they had the money to spend but not the embroiderers in country, so they bought from professionals in England and France.  So you can find some really good stuff there.  

This was a dress made from silver tissue (silver strip woven with silk) and then over embroidered.  It was the wedding dress of Louise of the Netherlands in 1850 when she became the Queen of Sweden & Norway.  The train was just stunning, here are a few better pictures of it.

So if you would like a postcard of the dress - send me an email (tricia@alum.mit.edu):

1) you have to send me an email with "WEDDING DRESS" in the subject line.  

2) You HAVE to put your name and full address in the body of the message (I can't send it to people who don't).  

3) Then send by Midnight EST on Dec 17th

I will pick four winners to send a lovely postcard to after Christmas.

___________________________________________________________________

Did you know I did a Fiber Talk Podcast this year?  If you want to listen to how I got my start and why I have been working in historic embroidery for years as an engineer - go here to find the podcast.

12-Days of Christmas - Day 1

 I know I skipped out on this holiday tradition last year - but it seems like we all need a bit of cheer so here we go again!  My 12-Days of Christmas giveaways!

Here are the rules:

1) you have to send me an email (tricia@alum.mit.edu) with "JUST CROSS STITCH 2019 XMAS" in the subject line.  

2) You HAVE to put your name and full address in the body of the message (I can't send it to people who don't).  

3) Then send by Midnight EST on Dec 16th

I will pick four winners to send a copy of the 2019 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue to after Christmas.

Good Luck on the draw!

If you are looking for a new small project this winter, think about the Stuart Silk Purl Flower project.  It is a small introduction to using silk purls and couching down a gold twist.  Because the small silk purls are being discontinued, I only have 14 of these left.  But it makes a quick little sparkly project - about the size of a index card.  The course has videos of how-to as well as how silk purls are made and a little history too.

Silk purls are deceptively fancy looking.  They are a small spring made from wire that is covered with silk.  You can couch them down or pass a thread though the middle and stitch it down like a bead - either straight or in loops.  They work up fast and yet have a huge bang for the effort.  

Tricia

Do you know this Finisher?

I am trying to find someone and think I will use the power of the internet.  As my usual detective work hasn't gotten me the answer.  And hey - the story is kinda funny too.

A few weeks ago I got a business call from my health insurance company needing to validate some info on my business medical insurance.  As I went to my office to get the info for the administrator, the woman took the opportunity to ask me a question sheepishly.  "Is your business named Thistle Threads".  "Yes", I responded, thinking she was validating the company name.  "Like Tricia Wilson Nguyen - seen in Just Cross Stitch?" 

"Well, yes!"

"OMG this is like a celebrity moment" she said.  I was shocked and then we laughed, seems her job in high school was working for 3 Stitches in Texas and now in addition to her day job, she did needlework finishing and had finished many a piece of embroidery I had taught others.  We quickly forgot the task at hand and started talking needlework.  

I have been looking for another finisher who is familiar with my work to suggest when people contact me. Someone did today and I looked for the info I had written down with her name and instagram handle.  I couldn't find it and had tried the instagram handle before to no luck (likely a spelling issue).  It was a rhyme with Buckaroo Bonazi - when she said it, we found another thing in common (I also loved that cult classic and we talked about Peter Weller the actor for a bit).  

So now - if you know how to get ahold her - let me know!  Or if you have seen her instagram - send it to me!! 

Tricia 

Historic Royal Palace Talks

I am going to assume that many of you are Lucy Worsley fans and gobble up her many documentaries made for the BBC that filter over to the US and (I have to assume) other countries as well.  While they don't all concern the Tudor/Stuart period, they are always fun, interesting and enjoyable to watch while you stitch.  

Lucy, as you might know is the head curator at the Historic Royal Palaces, a private trust that holds and runs the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace State Apartments, the Banqueting House in Whitehall and Kew Palace.  Some pretty important places to us lovers of history!!  The Historic Royal Palaces is unique as they rely on public donations and visitors and they are hurting tremendously during the pandemic - as are many public facing arts and history organizations.

I wanted to let everyone know of an opportunity to help that also is fun for you.  Since the pandemic started, Lucy has been hosting online talks about subjects with multiple other experts.  This week was one about the Guy Fawlks Gunpowder Plot.  They are unique in that they gather several experts (in this case a Gunpowder Plot expert and a Tower of London expert) and use photos of primary source documents as well as other photos to tell the story in great detail along with the current research that is going on.  Of course this could seem dry but Lucy is great at making it fun to watch.  You can watch live for a small donation or if you become a member of the Historic Royal Palaces for 55£, you can watch it anytime as well as the dozen earlier talks!!  The next one is on Nov 18th on Royal Coronations.

Past topics available to members include Royal Fashion, Diana's dresses, Field of Cloth of Gold, the Ravenmasters, etc.  I have listened to many of these types of talks so far during Covid and it makes a tremendous difference to have a seasoned TV personality on it!  

I would say that the live-cast is a bit choppy at times like all of these.  The video is immediately available right after for 24-hours to those who gave a small donation - but open forever to members.   But I found the Historic Royal Palace staff the best at allowing me a little extra time on access if I couldn't get to the 24-hour open video (as I couldn't) because of scheduling issues.  I was able to watch it complete the next morning and really enjoy it.  On some of these topics it is hard to see new material as we have all heard it before - if you are a rabid documentary watcher - but I was pleasantly surprised that there was new information and insights I hadn't heard before.  I decided to join as a member as I was happy with both the content and customer service when I had some hiccups with the use.

So help out our favorite sites and get a full day of of their past presentations to boot AND the rest of the next year's worth as well.  It certainly beats reality TV!

Tricia