Dragon Dreams

I love the Dragon Dreams designs (especially the ones she does with Theresa Wentzler). I was just perusing Dragon Dreams patterns at 1-2-3 Stitch -- Joanne really does have a nice selection of Dragon Dreams charts -- and I fell in love with one called "Guard This Keep." I can't buy it right now because I need to eat and survive until the 15th (small matter, isn't it?) but maybe I'll order it later. It would be great on my door!

Radical Cross Stitch

Rayna Fahey, an Australian, has a website called Radical Cross Stitch. Rayna is truly an artist, with an artist's cultural mentality. She has charts for such things as "Question Authority" (surrounded by a pretty flower border), "Riots Not Diets," and "Stop Climate Change" (with a nice polar bear, stitched on a pillow). Rayna's designs are for sale, and right now all the proceeds from her sales are going to the Australian bush fires victims. I strongly encourage you to check out her website and (if you are so inclined) buy something. Pretty amazing.

Le Bonheur des Dames eyeglass case

Well, I took a look at the pattern. It's over one! The pattern is very large, and of course the case won't be. I don't know what count the fabric is, but it may be 28 or 32. So over one on high count fabric. The threads are already separated in the kit (which is nice). A lot of the instructions are in French, with a few select ones in English and other languages, but I can figure it out. The colors are also in French, but I decided that I can look at the picture and figure out which ones are which. I can't decide whether to start this one or do the Valentine's Day ones first, leaving this for after the 14th. I'm thinking -- maybe I'll start it. I am washing the fabric for both the eyeglass case and the Bobbie G "LOVE" design. I am looking forward to doing some stitching! By the way, it is 60 degrees here today (Spring is coming?) and I'm going to walk with Ace (my border collie) to the Subway half a mile away.

The best collection of wedding samplers!

I have been looking at wedding samplers on various websites, and I finally found the mother-lode of wedding samplers.  They are on the Abc Cross Stitch website.  There is a drop-down menu which lists weddings as one option, and there are (get this!) 17 online pages of wedding cross-stitch! I am going to remember this for the future.  The website is http://www.abcstitch.com.  Go for it!

What's your favorite Valentine's design?

I've been looking at small Valentine's Day designs on 1-2-3 Stitch.  There are three web pages of hearts, Valentine's sentiments, love symbols and (the ubiquitous) reds and pinks.  I'm not going to tell you my suggestions -- just that I'd love to make a couple of quick designs for my sons and their amores.  What would you suggest?  What Valentine's Day designs are your favorites?  I'll reveal mine soon!

The trick to the French knot

I had a lot of trouble with French knots until I learned the trick.  The trick is to keep your thumbnail or finger on the knot as you pull the needle through.  The knot must be against the fabric when you do this.   That's all there is to it!

I have looked for a picture on Google Images for exactly this procedure, and I can't find any that show it the way I do it.  I just know that I haven't had any problems with French knots since I started using this method.  Try it!

Gridding Aid from 1-2-3 Stitch

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog on how to grid cross stitch fabric to make stitching easier.  In fact, I can't stitch without gridding.  It makes it a lot easier to count and prevents mistakes.  It is especially useful on evenweave fabric, although I need a magnifying glass to make sure I get the rows right.  I always use a thread color for gridding that contrasts with the fabric.  This is done with regular sewing thread, by the way, and not floss.  After you're done stitching, the threads pull right out.

Well, 1-2-3 Stitch (www.123Stitch.com) carries a product that makes gridding easier.  It is called Easy Count Guideline and runs for $7.83.  It looks like the grid can be inserted without a needle, and appears heavier than the plain sewing thread that I use for gridding.  I haven't tried this product, but it does look useful.

La D Da cross stitch

Another one of my favorite designers is La D Da.  The designer is Lori Markovic.  She does great stuff.  This one is called "White Cat" and is done with Gentle Art Sampler Threads.  This was one of the first La D Da designs I saw and I really liked.  I don't have a white cat (I have an orange tabby instead) but I love this design and would love to stitch it some day.  A good place to buy La D Da designs is 1-2-3 Stitch online.  She has a lot of options.  Strange, I haven't looked at La D Da in a long time, but there don't seem to be any recent patterns.  I am wondering if Lori has moved on to other things.  Anyway, all of the La D Da designs are what I would call "primitive."  

Bonheur Des Dames Eyeglass Case

Bonheur Des Dames, a French company, has the greatest designs.  I picked this one to show because it is so delicate and lovely I couldn't resist.  I would love to make one.  It appears to be on blue linen evenweave, which would make half-stitches possible.  I haven't ordered anything from Bonheur Des Dames in a long time, but I'm going to order this one.  I need an eyeglass case to keep my reading glasses close at hand.  (No, I don't wear one of those chains around my neck!)  Look at the delicate flowers on the case.  Aren't they charming?

P.S.  I did order the kit for the eyeglass case from the company.  It is expensive (in Euros) as is the shipping, but I'm looking forward to receiving it and stitching it.  I don't know how long it will take to get here, but I'll let you know.

Beginner Cross Stitch Kits from The Bold Sheep

I have been in the market for a beginner design for my 17 year old daughter.  It occurred to me to go to The Bold Sheep website (link in my sidebar) and see what they have.  The Bold Sheep is a British company, and although they have both patterns and kits for more experienced stitcher, the beginner patterns are all kits.  I understand European kits have a greater allotment of fabric than US kits, so I thought I would try this out for my daughter.  It is on 8 count Aida with bright colors and sooo cute!  Designs from the bold sheep are cute, fun, relatively easy, small and have a variety of charts for several different levels of stitcher.  

The price is in pounds and it looks relative expensive, with costly shipping added.  I hope she appreciates it!

British Cross Stitch Magazines

I have a vast collection of British cross stitch magazines.  Most of them are in storage in Wisconsin, which makes them impossible to access, since I live in Saint Louis.   My favorites are Cross Stitch Crazy and Cross Stitch Card Shop.  Some of the other British cross stitch magazines, such as Cross Stitcher, don't appeal to me.   If I want a big design, I don't want one that is stitched on Aida in whole stitches, with tons of backstitching just to define the edges.  That is why, for big designs, I prefer charts from, say, the US or France or Ireland, and I stitch them on hand-dyed linen.  I don't do kits, either.  There are a lot of references to kits in British magazines.  I don't understand kits.  I don't understand why all the threads are not already sorted and labeled in some kits (Dimensions kits would drive me crazy for this reason), or why the fabric pieces are always so skimpy and almost always white, or why they use boring brands of thread rather than hand-dyed thread, which I prefer.  I do like Cross Stitch Crazy and Card Shop because the designs in them are small.  I don't mind stitching something on Aida in entirely whole stitches with cheap thread if it's something small and quick, although small and quick for some of the designs in these magazines means up to 50 hours.   They do have "one nighters" which for me would take a week because I just can't sit down and stitch for four or five hours straight -- unless it's Monday and I have an iPod full of new podcasts I could listen to for hours on end.   If I could read and stitch at the same time, that would make me happy.  Okay, so I could (and do) download Audible.com books and listen to those.  That kind of multi-tasking would make me happy.

So back to the British cross stitch magazines.  They are fun to look at.  They are fun to read.  Sometimes I find nothing in them I would want to stitch, but there's a lot more in them than designs.  They are almost cross stitch gossip magazines.   They're very entertaining and fun.

I get my British cross stitch magazines from the racks at Barnes & Noble.  The only problem with buying them at Barnes & Noble is that oftentimes some idiot cheap stitcher will have already stolen the free gift out of the plastic wrapper.  It's not that I really want the free gift (I almost never use them), but it does take some of the fun out of it.   It's important to check that the free gift is still in there when buying the magazines sold in wrappers.  

Now I'm off to fantasize about stitching silly little designs in the latest issue of Cross Stitch Crazy.

Selling Silkweaver Cross-Stitch Fabric on Craigslist

Well, I accumulated too much fabric stash.  I had an entire cardboard file box full.  I decided I would sell each piece on Craigslist for $5.00.   Two women came out, one with her daughter, the other with her husband, who actually found the posting for her.  They each bought 14 pieces, and I've got a lot left, I'd say half a box.  My posting lasts for 30 days, and I might get more takers, but if I don't, I'll repost after the month is up.  If you are interested in purchasing some silkweaver fabric for cheap, send me an email and I'll send a description of what I've got.  

No worries, I have more stash of my own in another box!