New & Now in Needlepoint

I used to see “New & Now” as a headline in fashion magazines when I was younger. I think it’s a great way to draw our attention to the latest & greatest. There are plenty of new products in needlepoint. Today and Thursday and probably next week as well, Monday and Thursday columns will be devoted to new products.

As always, I do not include links to or pictures of the products mentioned. That’s because not every designer has an updated website. Rather than penalize designers without updated sites, I don’t include links. You are encouraged to seek out pictures of these new products on the designers’ sites and on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

New in Canvases

To go with the popular “Girls Rule” canvas of Elizabeth I from Curtis Boehringer, Sandra Gilmore has created a similar canvas of Henry VIII as a companion piece. Pippin’s newest nine canvas features 9 Crabs. Some of them are also available singly. Their newest Christmas stocking features a dozen brown bears. They also have canvases of single mermaids taken from the 5 Mermaids canvas.

The Meredith Collection has great new canvases for babies, including some adorable onsies. They have also expanded the selection of Charley Harper ornaments. Gone Stitching has an elegant new Tallit bag designed by Janet Gaynor. Large patterned leaves are on a dark brown background. The top can be personalized with a name in English or Hebrew. They have also added a new section to their site that has free stitch guides.

Rittenhouse Needlepoint has lovely 3-D flowers that come with both front and back on a single canvas. These can be finished very realistically with a botanically correct stem. One of the newest is a lovely lily. Liz Godrick-Dillon has several new canvases, including a lovely Holy Family stocking.

Voila Needlepoint has introduced Pet Points with collars, leashes, and ornaments. Strictly Christmas has a great new Halloween canvas with two dressed skeletons dancing in a cemetery. They also have several new canvases celebrating America in red, white, and blue. Jean Smith has five lovely summer bouquets, including a gorgeous one of pink peonies. They are 14″ square on 13 mesh.

The Artist’s Collection has three new canvases with a delightful new lady dressed in black and white. You can find Petunia gardening, drinking tea, and relaxing. They also have a new series of six seasonal Santas from Heartstrings. Kangaroo Paws has a new series of school spirit designs that can be finished in different ways.

New in Threads, Accessories and More

Treenway Silks is coming out with some lovely limited edition color sets. 65 roses is inspired by actual roses. 10% of sales will be donated to help fight Cystic Fibrosis. The threads in this collection come in 10-yards skeins. They have also added 16 new colors to their line of silk floss, Harmony.

Dinky Dyes has lots of new colors in silks (5 colors, ribbons (3 colors), and their silk
& wool blend, Jumbuck (6 colors in 2 families). Kreinik has five new colors in Facets. They give you the look of beads in bright colors without needing to bead. & more has new colors in Heather (a wool) and Kokadjo (a cotton). I have some of these and they are lovely. Rajmahal threads, silks and rayons, are now being distributed by Point2Pointe.

Silk Road Fibers has four new colors in Straw Silk coming out. They are: a brilliant cobalt blue, a dark rich brown, a pale pink, and a bright orange/red. Weeks Dye Works has four new colors in floss: a bright Cobalt blue, lavender, a soft gold, and a red-brown. Threadworx has added five new colors to both the Vineyard and Au Ver a Soie silks.

Mill Hill’s newest perforated paper kits include a series of folk art inspired Autumn designs.They have another series with humorous designs, including a piece of pizza. They also have six new celestial kits which are inspired by Laurel Burch designs.

Wichelt has extended their Zweigart line to include a variety of rug canvases. This should make this canvas easier to obtain. The line of self-finishing items from Lee now includes a display box. It’s available in beige or black and can hold a design 5″ x 6″.

Accoutrements Designs has new magnetic needle minders celebrating Star Wars. There are six designs in the series. Knots, Fur & Turkeywork is now available as an app for iPhones and iPads. Get it through Apple. Just Add Needlework has new fabric project bags. They can hold an 11″ square project. You can buy matching accessory and tablet bags.

DeElda has a lovely line of simple needlepoint kits, designed to get folks stitching. There are over 50 designs in this line, which is distributed by Colonial Needle.