All Those Lovely Canvases!
I’m not generally a one to have fits and fits about wanting tons of canvases. So much needlepoint has passed through my hands (I’ve been stitching since 1970 after all), that I almost never go nuts wanting more and more needlepoint.
But last week I visited the long page Melissa Shirley Designs has of their new canvases which debuted at TNNA earlier this month. There was so much great stuff I hardly know where to begin. You can see the whole page here, but I’ll have links to individual canvases throughout the article.
They are simple but I really loved the two sets of a dozen needlepoint “lollipops,” two for Halloween (here and here) and two for Christmas (here and here. If you’re a beginning stitcher, try a few of the geometrical designs, more experienced stitchers might want to go crazy with threads and embellishments on the pictoral ones.
I also loved the two canvases with black cats (here’s one of them) which looked like vintage Halloween decorations.
There are also two series of small canvases with a wonderful, but very stitchable Victorian look about them. There is a series of eight charming little girlswith either Jack o’Lanterns or pumpkins. There are also more than 30 new small Santas in a similar style, for everything from a stitching Santa (love his “handknit sweater”) to a traditional bishop to an unusual Asian Santa.
Melissa has become known for her needlepoint bracelets and headbands. This Winter many of her new designs have versions which include these. There is a lovely series with butterflies and a floral ornament. Another just has butterflies by themselves. There is also one with jewel-like beetles and several with shells. There are lots more, in all kinds of styles. All are available as bracelets or headbands.
Many of these coordinate with her larger, realistic canvases. So many of these are so glorious, it’s hard to single them out but here are some of my favorites. My youngest loves mushrooms and she would go nuts over these two canvases. There are also a set of magnificent whales which have the charming qualities of vintage folk art from New England which is so compelling. I also loved the three cat canvases, also in a vintage style. Licensed from Mary LakeThompson is a charming chickadee canvas which really captures the spirit of these little birds.
Melissa also has dress canvases, four in all. They come in two sizes and several styles. There are fantastic nutcrackers (also from Mary Lake-Thompson), new Christmas stockings in many styles, two glorious tree skirts (two choices for background color), and several wonderful folk art cats.
I could go on and on, but go take a look for yourself, I guarantee you’ll find something you want to stitch.
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I met Melissa Shirley at a trunk show at The Status Thimble in Burlingame, CA. She is a talented artist, but doesn’t stitch! I have several of her Halloweentown small canvases, but have no idea when I will get around to stitching them. As much as I love her new canvases, I really can’t afford the time right now to contemplate stitching them. Still, many thanks for highlighting them as there are SO MANY lovely canvases there.