TO RECEIVE E-MAIL NOTIFICATION OF NEW DESIGNS & NEWSLETTERS, PLEASE CONTACT ME... gnicoletti@wwdc.com
There's been a new addition
to the
Fortune-Teller
Fortune-Teller series... hope you like it!
Coming Soon
First thing in the morning... mid-morning... lunch... late-afternoon... pretty well anytime...
most of us love our coffee! The
"Essence of Coffee"
will soon be available and it combines delicious coffee-toned colours (cream, iced coffee, cafe au lait, expresso, etc) with the Coffee Bistro colours of dark plum and grasshopper green
Please click on the thumbnail for a Materials List
Stitcher Finishes
Heather L.
must be the envy of all stitchers!
She spends her afternoons stitching while her new son sleeps, contentedly, in her lap. Heather's needlework portfolio is full of the most amazing work and I'm very grateful that she chose to spend some time with Cleopatra (who just happens to be one of her favourite historic figures). You did a fantastic job, Heather! Thank you very much for allowing me to display your finished Cleo and Mod Mini-dress Doll. Have a wonderful 1st Mother's Day on the 11th!
How much difference can 8 little lines make? An enormous amount when they're stitched as brilliantly as those of Kathy and Neale Unruh, owners of Thread & Eye needlework shop in London, Ontario. They gave two of my charts ( Dream and Seascape ) the perfect finishing touches... a pair of high-flying seagulls. Thank you very much, Kathy & Neale, for your inspired embellishment and for letting me use your photos.
Satin Threads
Those inventive people at DMC have been busy creating some new toys for us! They recently introduced a new line of threads called Satin and I've been very pleased with how they perform.
There have been some rumours floating around that they're simply the old Rayon threads under a new name... this definitely isn't the case.
"Satin" flosses are numbered in a similar manner to regular DMC embroidery threads... except that they carry an 'S' at the beginning. This means, for example, that S552 is the Satin version of the medium violet colour of DMC 552 regular cotton thread. (Rayon flosses carry the numbers '30' in front of the regular DMC numbers... this means that the Rayon version of DMC 552 is #30552).
On first picking up a skein of Satin floss, you'll notice that it lies much'quieter' than Rayon and behaves in a far less 'agitated' manner. The skeins are well-disciplined and the individual strands don't fray into separate plys the way that Rayons do. Depending on the light that you're sitting under, Satin skeins don't shine quite so luminously as Rayons. I decided to conduct a little experiment...
Taking equal lengths of Satin (S744), Rayon (30744) and regular DMC (744) flosses, I sewed one small, cross-stitch square with each of them on 16-count Pewter Aida. I've always enjoyed the finished effect of Rayon and have found that dampening this fibre before stitching renders it tame. Satin floss however, is well-behaved from the very start. It doesn't slip around at all and is as managable as regular cotton floss. I discovered that the finished Satin square didn't have the same glow as the Rayon one, but the sheen of the Satin square still showed up very well against the regular floss. I like the effect of playing shiny threads against those with a more matte finish and look forward to incorporating the new Satins into my designs (in fact, White 'Satin' floss plays an indispensable role in the "Essence of Coffee" which is to be released soon).
Shop News
Are you ready? There's been an incredible amount of important shop news and perhaps your LNS (local needlework shop) is amongst them...
CANADIAN SHOPS
I'd like to thank the following shops for choosing to offer my designs to their stitchers...
CEDERS SEWING CENTRE, 416 Main St., Penticton BC V2A 5C5 Ph: (250)492-7612 e-mail: ceders@shawbiz.ca
KIMAT DESIGNS, 15 Pine Gate Place, Whitby ON L1R 2M5 Ph: (905)666-5996 e-mail: kimatdesigns@rogers.com
I'd also like to wish Carolyn Mitchell a happy and fulfilling retirement. Carolyn is a builder who constructed an amazing career as a designer, teacher, mentor and shop-owner ( Mrs. Twitchett's Eye ). She's chosen to pass guardianship of her close-knit community of stitchers to another talented needlework designer, Kathryn Drummond of Gingerbread Girl.
So, Carolyn's busy getting ready for her semi-retirement (she's going to concentrate on teaching and designing) while Kathryn is transforming Mrs. T's into Kathryn's Stitching Studio. If you've been fortunate enough to have dealt with Carolyn, please consider dropping her a quick congratulatory note... email Carolyn. (May 31 is her last day).
KATHRYN'S STITCHING STUDIO, (formerly Mrs. Twitchett's Eye), 1739 Pembina Hwy., Winnipeg MB R3T 2G6 Ph: (204)261-7747
Speaking of moves and changes, the Knit One, Stitch Too! Gang (formerly the Cross-Stitch Cupboard Gang ) have beautiful new digs on Gloucester Street and are ready to tempt needleworkers with a wide variety of stitch-y treats..
KNIT ONE, STITCH TOO! (formerly Cross-Stitch Cupboard), 100 Gloucester St., Ottawa ON K2P 0A4 Ph: (613)729-9744 e-mail: info@cross-stitch.ca
While Carolyn, Kathryn and the Knit One, Stitch Too crew are on the move, Sandra Rogers (of Loving Stitch ) has returned home from her family's 8-month trip across Canada and the United States. Please visit her Trip Journal for a fascinating record of their incredible journey. She's also been working on her new web-site.
LOVING STITCH, 10566 King George Hwy., Surrey BC V3T 2X5 Ph: (604)584-9022 e-mail: lovingstitch@telus.net
For a list of other Canadian stockists, please click here.
U.S. SHOPS
I'd like to thank the following shops for choosing to provide my designs to their stitchers...
MOOSE LODGE CRAFTS, 21 Forest Edge Rd., Washington - Oroville 98844 Ph: (509) 230-9783 e-mail: mlc@mooselodgecrafts.com
STITCH 'N FRAME, 6000 Douglas, Ste. 110, Des Moines IA 50322 Ph: (515) 270-1066 e-mail: stitchnframe@att.net
Marie at ABC Stitch Therapy, has moved to a larger, improved location beside the Carousel Quilt Shop...
ABC STITCH THERAPY, 120 Rte 10 S., Unit 20, Grantham NH 03753 Ph: 1-877-873-9111 e-mail: marie@abcstitch.com
For a list of other U.S. stockists, please click here.
For a list of stockists outside North America, please click here.
Just a Little Reminder
In 2005, Wendy Mesley (a popular TV journalist and co-host of CBC's consumer show, 'Marketplace') was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Her diagnosis, subsequent treatment and recovery led her to investigate the rising incidence of all forms of cancer throughout North America. The end result was an informative and much-repeated television show, "Chasing the Cancer Answer" which exposed startling facts about the fight against cancer and our environment. CBC has also provided online tips about avoiding carcinogens in common household products.
Please don't forget to familiarize yourself with the signs of Ovarian Cancer and to ensure that the men in your life remember their PSA checks.
Phew, that's it! Thank you so muchfor taking the time to read this not-so-little newsletter. I hope it brought lots of helpful and interesting stitch-y information to your door. Til next time... take care and Happy Stitching,
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