Site Closed

I will be leaving this up as an archive for as long as blogger lets me, but I will no longer be updating Cross Stitch News. Thank you for your support!

Shutting It Down

I'm thinking of shutting down Cross Stitch News. It was a good idea, I think, but the end result isn't as interesting as I would like. More importantly, though, I just don't have the time to deal with it now. Ok, perhaps it's more accurate to say that I don't want to put the time into it. It's just not holding my interest as much as stitching itself does, for instance. I think it might be time to let this one go. If anyone's interested in taking it over, let me know, but I will probably shut it down within a few days.

Cross Stitch Calculator

Widgetbox has a gadget that will put a cross stitch calculator on your website, blog, etc. It calculates the stitched size of the project. Add a margin, and you'll know how much fabric you'll need.

Lady Day Cross Stitch

Marni at Conjure Crafts stitched a little bunny for the Spring Equinox and has a photo up of her finish.

Cross Stitch Offer

From the Birmingham News (AL, US) comes this Good Neighbor item:

"Cross-stitch patterns:

P. Blalock, Pelham, 238-8614, offered to give a large amount of cross-stitch patterns and books to someone who can use them."

Heart Cross Stitch

Christine at Beside Still Waters has a photo up of a finished cross stitch for the wedding of her father & stepmother. 

Visit Historic Adobes, stitch a bookmark

The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, CA (USA) reports that several historic adobes will be open to the public on Jue 7. There will be a lot of activities that day that showcase historic activities of California in the 1800s, including cross stitching a bookmark.  (Hey, it's a one topic blog, whattya want? :) )

Designer Blog: Cross Eyed Kat

Here's another designer's blog for folks to follow. Kat from Cross Eyed Kat blogs at Kat Gets Cross Eyed. If you've never seen her designs before, you should check them out. She has a lot of dragons, but she also has some historical and impressionistic designs, as well as science themed ones. It's quite a broad range.  

Mother's Day Cross Stitch

plaidbunny at Sweater Surgery has a bunch of finished cross stitch photos to share, including their Mother's Day gift. 

Hopkinton Needlework

The Concord Monitor (NH, USA) has a section for the Hopkinton community news. This included this item:

"SLUSSER SENIOR CENTER: The Hopkinton Recreation Department's Slusser Senior Center offers...needlework, Thursdays at 10 a.m. For more information, call 746-3800."

Cross Stitch Trees

KonnyKards finished up some cross stitch with beads. Click on the photo for a closeup; they're really nice!

Bank Holiday Musts

The Rutland & Stamford Mercury (UK) has a list of Bank Holiday Musts -activities for the upcoming Monday - including this item: 

"THE craft, Food and Gift Fair ld at Burghley House will give you the chance meet some of the country's finest artists and craftspeople in a demonstration area. Watch glass-blowing, woodcarving, cross stitch and fabric painting. There will be puppet shows and amusements for children, a food hall, falconry, ferret-racing and a make and take marquee. Opening hours are 10am to 6pm and admission is £5, seniors £4.50, children £2. Admission to the house and gardens is extra."

Exchange Update

Sandrajay of Sandra's Cross Stitch Haven posted an update on the exchanges she's been in lately.

Cross Stitch Exhibit Report

Malta Media reports on a cross stitch exhibit hosted by the Stitch in Time club at the Catholic Institute in Floriana. The article also includes contact info for the club itself.

Christopher Bell joins HAED

Christopher Bell at Otherworld Illustrations announced that some of his designs have been turned into cross stitch patterns and are available through Heaven and Earth Designs. 

Women Watching Baseball

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article about women who love to watch baseball. Among other items that the Phillies are using to promote interest among women, there is a mention of their Stitch n' Pitch, which will be held Aug 5 this year.

"Since then they've added a line of women's shirts and hats and Stitch n'Pitch Night, an evening when needle arts enthusiasts are invited to knit, crochet, embroider or cross-stitch their way through a game with a discounted admission price. This year's Stitch n'Pitch is slated for Aug. 5."

Debbie Draper Designs Joins Yarn Tree

The Yarn Tree announces the addition of another designer to their shop, Debbie Draper Designs. 

Reversible Cross Stitch

Needlework Tips and Techniques has a tutorial up on how to do reversible cross stitch. I've never seen instructions for that before!

Nine Geeky Cross Stitch Examples

Geek Crafts has nine geek-themed cross stitches. More geek stitchers, please! :)

Itty Bitty Stitching!

msjenmc at Clam Casino's Journal posted a finish of an itty bitty design she stitched.

Central Illinois Summer Activities

Pantagraph.com has a huge list of summer activities in Central Illinois (US) this year, including this item:

"(June) 6-15: National Counted Cross Stitch Show, more than 400 pieces on display, Rockome Gardens near Arcola."

Some Finished Cross Stitch

April at Cake Makes the World a Better Place finished some cross stitch projects and is showing them off. I love them all!

Designer Blog: Joan Elliott

Here's another designer blog, Joan Elliott of Joan Elliott Design blogs at http://joanelliott.wordpress.com/ . Her latest post, Spring Update, talks a bit about two upcoming books and several new designs in various magazines. I was just looking at her "Sea Goddess" design at the bookstore, but I may have to go back for the geisha design in Cross Stitcher. The cats in World of Cross Stitch are pretty cute, too. 

Stitch N' Pitch - St Louis Cardinals

From the Tri-County Journal:

"The St. Louis Cardinals second annual Stitch N' Pitch will take place at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, at Busch Stadium. Fans can go to baseball game to knit, crochet, needlepoint, cross-stitch and embroider, watch the game and sit with friends, family and colleagues, Tickets are $27 and include a goodie bag. $1 for every ticket sold will go to the Needle Arts Mentoring Program (NAMP), an initiative that mentors children in the needle arts. Tickets available through http:.//www.stlcardinals.com."

Easter Stitching

Rev Deb from Just Enough Time has photos of two Easter-appropriate projects. The first is Mike Vickery's Emerald Cross (which I think I might have in a book...hmm). The other is an El Salvadoran embroidered stole that's just gorgeous.

Celtic Heart

Liv 'n Laf has an Easter update of their Celtic Heart WiP.

Stitching Party

From the Augusta Chronicle's (GA, USA)"Around the Block" section comes this entry, titled "A Stitch in Time":

"Me & D'Girls Can Cross Stitch will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, March 28, at Roy Warner Memorial Park, South Carolina Highway 39. Youths will meet and learn to cross stitch, followed by lunch and manicures. The cost is $5 and registration is required. Call (803) 564-6149."

Napa Stitcher

The Napa Valley Register (CA, US) profiled Mary Ellen Walters, a local stitcher. From the photos, it looks 
like she's a BAP stitcher 
- I recognize designs from Mirabilia, Lavender & Lace, and I think a Passione 
Ricamo in the back. 
Although, someone needs to introduce her to daylight spectrum fluorescent lightbulbs; she says she uses 300watt bulbs now and they burn her 
lampshade! 

Photographing Cross Stitch

Kate Pullen at Suite101 has an article with hints & tips about photographing your cross stitch.

Review of "The Needlework of Traquair"

Lady Leonor, aka Melissa Barton, of The Commonplace Book of Lady Leonor has posted a review of a pamphlet titled "The Needlework of Traquair".

Charity Embroidery

7Days has an article about a charity project involving clothing embroidered with Palestinian cross stitch designs. Unfortunately, there's no photo of the actual embroidery.

Superbowl Sunday Stitchers

The Star Beacon of Ohio has an article about an alternative superbowl party, a stitching get together. 

Floss Toss

Nicole at Carolina Dreams pulled out the threads for a bunch of upcoming projects and shows them off in a grand "floss toss." I love just seeing a pile of threads & fabric like that for some reason.

Anti-Valentine's Designs

Laurasweet at ThisNext found some anti-Valentine's Day designs from Fuzzy Bunny Crafts.

New Stitcher

Danny Sturgess joins the ranks of addicted cross stitchers. Glad to have you!

New Direction

StitchHappy at Cross Stitch Happy is taking a new direction with their blog.

Enrichment Includes Cross Stitch

The Winchester Star (Winchester, Virginia, US) writes about Quarles Elementary School's after school program that's been taking place the last month or so, including a class in cross stitch for second through four

Ecclesiastical Embroidery

EpiscopalLife Online has an article discussing ecclesiastical embroidery, both creation and preserving of embroidered items used by many churches (I know the Episopal, Anglican, and Catholic churches all use embroied vestments at times, for instance). It's an interesting piece, and they talked to many stitchers and sewers who've worked on such items.

There's an idea....

JY at Right Up Your Alley came up with an ingenious way to chart a simple cross stitch design: use a spreadsheet with the cells set to the same square size. Good idea, especially if you don't have any graph paper handy.

Stitching People

The El Paso Times (Texas, USA) has an article about Leonor Lozada, a lady who stitches designs of famous & not-so-famous people. Many of her designs are on display at a local coffee shop. 

*Giggle*

Lorezo's a dachsaund at El Diaro De Lorenzo whose mother is starting a stitching project. He's bored. Dog's can't stitch!

TIF Sampler

Mary Corbet at Needle'nThread is participating in the TIF Challenge by making a needlepoint sampler.

Seducing a Knitter

Imbrium from Nerd Knits, usually a knitter, is being seduced by the "evil" cross stitch. :)  She shows off two of her knitting WIPs in addition to her cross stitch one. 

Make Love Not Wor

Ok, I don't actually get the pun (I didn't play a lot of arcade games as a kid; I preferred pinball), but Sprite Stitch does, and shows off this design from kidmissle.

BAP in Progress

Smarty Mags is debating what to do with their big projects and shows off one in progress, an Eva Rosenstand design.

Vintage Puppy

Tipnut has a cute puppy for their latest vintage design. It looks like you'll need to flip the design if you want it to say "Tuesday." It appears it was originally part of a series of designs for the chores assigned to each day. 

Decisions

Kathryn at Threads of Desire discusses her upcoming projects.

Stitching Inspiration

The Redditch Advertiser (UK) has an article about Gordon Wright, a stroke victim who thought he had loss his creative outlet until he started cross stitching. Now, he's giving an exhibition of his work at the Redditch library, and he hopes it will inspire others not to give up in the face of a stroke.

Cross Stitch Connections

Taneya at Taneya's Geneology Blog connected some relatives with the help of her former hobby, cross stitch.

Rob's RR

Von at Hello Neighbor! finished up their portion of Rob's Round Robin, a lighthouse.

Geek Cross Stitch

Spwug has an article about the geek side of cross stitch.

I actually find it interesting how computer games are becoming a popular motif. Fantasy images (fairies, unicorns, dragons) have been popular cross stitch designs for awhile now, so I don't think there's anything new about "geeks" being interested in cross stitch. But, this is a new genre for the hobby.

Also, this article is yet another mention of Dark Lilac's chart generator. If you haven't checked it out yet, and you're interesed in creating your own designs from photos and other graphics, you really should take a peak at it. 

Be Mine Finish

Sharon at Sharon's Cross Stitch Obsession finished her Be Mine as a pinkeep and posted some pictures.

Finishing Ideas

Emily at The Floss Box shows off a whole bunch of finishing ideas for smaller pieces.

Names of God

Connie W at Simply Quilted shows off an older bit of counted cross stitch she did before she took up quilting. It's a religious design, of many of the names of God.

Valentine's Finish

YummY! Down on This finished a bit of Valentine's stitching for an exchange.

Mrs Stitches

The Daily Record (New Jersey, USA) profiled a needlepoint and counted cross stitch shop named Mrs Stitches, located in Mendham, NJ. 

Creating Your Own Design

Maggie Greene at Kotaku has an excellent article titled, "Krafting With Kotaku: Final Fantasy to Bioshock," that starts with "Why not mix cross stitch with your favorite computer game?" (Kotaku is a gaming site) and takes you through designing your own stitching project and then actually stitching it. It's a wonderfully complete piece.

Feminist Cross Stitch Kit

Kakariki from Radical Cross Stitch has a new design kitted up and for sale. 
It's a flowery sampler, with 
a simple, feminist expression, typical of her blend of cross stitch and 
activism. :)

Houses WIP

Carol of Garden of Stitches has a WIP to show off of her Houses of Hawkrun Hallow, as well as a bit of recent stash enhancement.

Needleroll Finishing Class

Focus on Finishing has an online class teaching how to make a needleroll.

Back to Cross Stitch

Lynn at Knots in a Row has picked up her cross stitching again and made a nice start of it, jumping right in to working on linen.

Overlord Embroidery

Thanks to the Ottawa Citizen's article about the 10 Best Canadian Military Memorial Sites, I discovered this interesting item: 

"9. D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery, Portsmouth, England: Telling the story of Operation Overlord from its origins in the dark days of 1940 to victory in Normandy in 1944, the museum features the amazing Overlord Embroidery, a modern-day counterpart to the Bayeux Tapestry."

I had never heard of the Overlord Embroidery, so of course I had to look it up. There's some history about how it was created here. It actually sounds like it's an applique design. The designer, 
Sandra Lawrence, has a site talking about it here, including pictures.

To Hoop or Not to Hoop

Pamela Kellog from Kitty & Me Designs discusses whether or not to use a hoop with your stitching. Also, this is the first time I've seen her blog, so I'll be adding it to the designers' section.

Hip Hop Happy Dance

Lelia at Stitches of Life has a happy dance to show off, Hip Hop from Pine Mountain Designs.

Cross Stitch Leaflet

From the Good Neighbors section of The Birmingham News (AL, USA):

"Cross-stitch leaflet - I would like to replace a lost cross-stitch leaflet that is about 20 years old. This Leisure Arts counted cross-stitch leaflet titled "Hearts and Flowers" contains numerous borders, samplers and "flowers of the month" patterns. Does anyone have this leaflet that I may buy? It is not available from the Leisure Arts Web site. - B.M., Dadeville."

There's an email/snail mail addres if you have the leaflet the author is looking for.

Help Snow Days

Snow Days has a stamped tea towel UFO and wants to know: Can this design be saved?

Weekend Kits Blog

I came across another business blog. This one is the Weekend Kits Blog from the folks that make, well, Weekend Kits. I've never used one of their kits, but they certainly look like they fit their 
premise: something you can learn over a weekend (maybe finish, maybe continue working on it 
next weekend.). Looks like a good way to learn a new craft, and, of course, they make cross stitch kits.

Window Box Needlework Accessories Set

Melinda from Medeiros Needlecraft Designs has a new design out, the Window Box Needlework Accessories Set:

Cross Stitch Lace

Heidi at Needle Necessities talks about a lovely sounding book full of cross stitch patterns for lace.

My Mark Designs

I stumbled across another designer's blog that I wanted to share. Monique of My Mark Designs has a blog titled "inside number twenty" at mymarkdesigns.wordpress.com . 

New Year's Cross Stitch

Kathy at Blig Blog posted her finished New Year's challenge.

Tet de boeuf

Quieter Moments has been working with the Tete de boeuf stitch as part of SharonB's TIF challenge (Taking It Further). It's fascinating to see what you can do with a single stitch. 

Spring Cleaning

Kathy Nida is spring cleaning in January, and she tore up her cross stitch magazines! I need to do that...

Welcome

Welcome to the new home of Cross Stitch News! Colors & layout are subject to change as I figure out what my options are. :)  I've brought over the blog roll and our award, and I think I have everything. Previous posts from csnews.blogdrive.com will remain there. Please update any bookmarks or favorites as well as RSS subscription feeds. Thanks, and if you think of anything I missed, please let me know!