INDEPENDENT NEEDLEWORK NEWS

We have a few weeks of catching up to do as far as the new releases go, and the Halloween and Christmas designs are starting to be released, making this a very picture heavy post.

As for what’s new this week at Hoffman Distributing, there are all kinds of goodies. First, a few things which are news not because they make my wish list, but for other reasons which make them post-worthy.

First, Hoffman Distributing has been putting quilt design on its weekly list of new releases every once in a while. This is a fairly recent development, I think, but as it is apparently going to be a regular thing, I’m going to mention it here — especially as I know many of you quilt. As the different arts start being mixed more and more together by the stitchers, quilters, and other people actually DOING those forms of art, I think it will happen more often.

Anyway, this one is by Lynn’s Prints/Diane Graebner and is called They Smell So Sweet Mom:

Next up is one I’m not sure yet whether or not I actually like … I’ve never been a lighthouse fan when it comes to stitching them myself, but Imaginating’s Lighthouse Welcome has the distinction of being the first lighthouse design that has caught my eye. I think I DO like it; I’m just not sure I’d ever stitch it for me … but there are lots of other people it could be stitched for, and I know a lot of you — lighthouse lovers or not — will find it very appealing for its playful use of lots of fun colors.

Another design which is news but not one of my favorites this week is from The Vermillion Stitchery, who has climbed onto the bandwagon along with seemingly nearly every other needlework designer and her sister to come up with a pattern for the 12 Days of Christmas. There didn’t used to be any designs dedicated to this particular Christmas carol, and now there are quite a plethora … enough to choose from to suit just about anyone, and I’m sure more are on their way. Maybe this one will be YOUR favorite of the many there are to select from, which is why I choose to share it with you. As shops may decide not to pick it up themselves simply because there ARE already so many, if you don’t know about it, you can’t request it by special order.

Now on to the patterns which definitely went right onto my own wish list. The needle-wielding mermaid in Sue Hillis Designs‘ My Heart Belongs to the Sea is a must have for me, and she looks like a quick stitch, too. I think she’d be perfect for the top of a tin (if I can find a tin big enough — I’d like one to hold more than what I can manage to stuff in an old Altoid tin), although I might have to stitch her over one depending on the dimensions of the design and the tin …

Plum Pudding Needleart’s Holiday Samplings is a monochrome delight which would make lovely holiday gifts for everyone in your family — and a set for you — without interfering all that much with the rest of your stitching must do list.

Looking back to see what I missed while I was between websites, I first checked the beginning of August at Hoffman Distributing for new releases I didn’t know about. Of course, I found several there.

A. Fox Original added two to my list. Failte (Welcome in English) is one I could stitch for almost everyone in my husband’s family … and I most likely have Irish from the paternal side of my family somewhere in my background also. Besides, who doesn’t love clover? Although I do always wonder why designers don’t stick in more four-leafed clover in their designs; I know it’s hard to find in the real world, but stitching is the perfect world, isn’t it?

I also love A. Fox Original’s Let it Snow, which I think would look stunning on a dark blue or even black fabric. Or how about stitching it on a deep red or green fabric?

I am head over heels for Ladybug Lane Designs‘ Praise Loudly, which is not only an important message for individuals of any age, but also just such an adorable design you can’t help but smile when you look at it. I’m pretty sure if I were upset, it would help me soften my words just by studying it for a few seconds, and I’m tempted to stitch one for every room in my house just for that reason! Instead, I think it will be another one which gets stitched more than once because it would make a super wedding or anniversary gift for pretty much anyone.

I’m also adoring The Primitive Needle’s Kindred Spirits, which fortunately appears to be another quick stitch, since my wish list is growing so much this week.

Then I took a peek at Hoffman Distributing’s listing of new releases for the end of July just to make sure I was all caught up, and I did find a few designs I had missed.

By the Bay Needleart’s Summer Hill is just lovely … and looks so much cooler than the weather going on in MY neighborhood!

Cross My Heart’s Christmas Kitty Capers contains images everyone owned by a cat will recognize!

Meanwhile, Cross Eyed Kat has done an amazing job capturing a tortoise shell colored cat in a lifelike way in its new design called With Cat for Comforter.

Now to get you caught up on the Friday Features … This week’s Friday Feature is a visit with Anita Boatright of The Sunflower Seed.

I know you’ll want to go back for the two Friday Features you may have missed while I was off-line. One is a delightful interview with Nancy Wallerstein and Pam Smith, who are the geniuses behind The Prairie Schooler.

The other is a fascinating discussion with another favorite designer, Kay H. Cavnar of Lilybet Designs.

Technorati Tags: Hoffman Distributing, new releases, cross stitch, Vermillion Stitchery, Twelve Days of Christmas, 12 Days of Christmas, Imaginating, Lighthouse Welcome, lighthouse, quilt, Lynn’s Prints, Diane Graebner, They Smell So Sweet Mom, Halloween, Christmas, Sue Hillis, My Heart Belongs to the Sea, mermaid, Plum Pudding Needleart, gift, Holiday Samplings, A Fox Original, Failte, Welcome, Let it Snow, Ladybug Lane Designs, Praise Loudly, anniversary, Primitive Needle, Kindred Spirits, By the Bay Needleart, Summer Hill, Cross My Heart, Christmas Kitty Capers, Cross Eyed Kat, With Cat for Comforter, tortie, tortoise shell cat, Friday Feature, Nancy Wallerstein, Pam Smith, Prairie Schooler, Kay H. Cavnar, Kay Cavnar, Lilybet, Anita Boatright, Sunflower Seed

The Needle Case has announced they are putting all of their Ewe & Eye & Friends (EEF) kits on sale because they are overstocked. Every single one of these normally $30 cuties is on sale for just $12 — less than half price!

So if you’ve been wanting any EEF designs, NOW is definitely the time to order! You’ll wish they had all of the Ewe & Eye & Friends designs available, although your credit card will be awfully glad they don’t!

Sale prices won’t show up in your cart, but will be taken at the time your order is actually shipped.

[tags] Ewe, Eye, Friends, Needle Case, sale, EEF, kit, cross stitch [tags]

Just Nan has just announced her upcoming Halloween and Christmas new releases, which start shipping to shops on August 21st, and as usual, they’re a bunch of cuties and beauties!

Here is Scream Girls — just look at their lovely eyelashes!

Next up is Ghoulies & Ghosties, with a bit of everything Nan loves to include in her Halloween designs, from the cats to the ghosts to the pumpkins to the witches.

Her lovely Pearl Angel will make it feel like the holidays all year round. The special frames are available from Just Nan, too.

How about Christmas Ribbons to remind you of the joy of the season this year?

And her Christmas Biscornu is a true stunner! Although many of her patterns work finished as biscornus, I think this is the first time Nan intentionally designed one of her patterns to be finished as a biscornu — and I’m sure one of you will correct me if I’m remembering wrong.

Which ones do YOU want?

Technorati Tags: Just Nan, Nan Caldera, Christmas Biscornu, Scream Girls, Christmas Ribbons, Pearl Angel, Ghoulies, Ghosties, Halloween, Christmas, cross stitch

First of all, the archives are current through the end of May. I am still working on June and July.

Second, I did something I’m not happy with when I added the initial set of archives (by “the initial set,” I mean the archives that were already uploaded by the time I announced on Sunday, August 5th, that Independent Needlework News was up and running), and then I compounded the error, so I will be removing the picture files in most of those, and then adding them from scratch. Basically, I currently have the same file taking up space on the server two and in some case three times, but I am unable to delete just the repeated files without affecting the pictures showing in the posts. Therefore, the fix is to delete the files altogether and reload them from scratch. I will probably be doing this late at night US time, but if you see missing picture files, this is why. I’ll post an Administrative Update later to let you know the fix should be completed. (Then if anyone finds any picture files still not showing up, it will be something I missed — meaning I’d appreciate a comment or an email letting me know you found it so that I can fix it. )

Third, and most importantly, Jenna Magee has graciously volunteered to give me some technical support and help me learn some of the technical aspects of WordPress for which I am having a bit of difficulty managing my rather large learning curve in a timely fashion. This will probably mean you’ll see me thanking her quite a bit for various things, and I would like to encourage you to please help me thank her by keeping her online needlework store, One Star’s Light Needlework Supplies, nice and busy. It would be terrific if she were able to quit her paying job and tell me to find someone else because One Star’s Light is orbiting faster than she can believe!

Lastly, at least for the moment, you’ll probably see the look of the site start changing now, as that’s part of what Jenna is going to help me do. Those kinds of things can look a bit goofy while you’re playing around getting things the way you really like them, so I just want to ask for your patience. It’s kind of like when you move into a new place, and you want to give it a fresh coat of paint in your own choice of colors … I need to do a bit of that around here myself before it will really feel like home.

Technorati Tags: Jenna Magee, One Star’s Light Needlework Supplies

Surely not enough!

Nancy Sturgeon, the designer behind the marvelous Threads through Time, is having a tremendous book sale. And when I say, “tremendous,” I mean both huge and wonderful.

The
list of books available at the time Nancy contacted me includes such extremely difficult to find out of print books as those authored by Genevieve Cummins & Nerylla Taunton, Glee Krueger, Betty Ring, and Gay Ann Rogers.

Other out of print treasures to be had include a first edition of The Proper Stitch, as well as Sampler & Antique Needlework: A Year in Stitches Volumes 1 and 2, Samplers of the Pennsylvania Germans, Alice Starmore’s Aran Knitting, and many books published by Curious Works Press.

Contact Nancy if you’re interested in seeing the current list and adding to your needlework book collection!

Technorati Tags: needlework, book sale, Nancy Sturgeon, Threads through Time, Proper Stitch, Darleen O’Steen, Betty Ring, Gay Ann Rogers, Glee Krueger, Alice Starmore, Curious Works Press, Aran Knitting, Samplers of the Pennsylvania Germans, Sampler & Antique Needework, Year in Stitches

As many stitchers are undoubtedly aware, The Goode Huswife stopped designing needlework patterns (at least for a while) some time ago, and nearly all of them are out of print.

To see which ones currently remain in print, check the radio button for The Goode Huswife using Hoffmandis’ Designer Search. The patterns which still show up here should still be available to order through your favorite needlework shop. Patterns which do not show up are officially out of print.

The big news is that The Goode Huswife has announced on her website the release of a new book in the fall, which will be a compilation of “ten old, favorite designs.”

In other words, people who want to sell The Goode Huswife patterns on eBay or other auction sites*** for ridiculous amounts of money might want to try to do their selling soon, as the old favorites they have for sale may be shortly available again at a much lower cost.

Simultaneously, people who want to have old favorite patterns by The Goode Huswife may just want to hold off from paying any ridiculous amounts of money on those same auction sites until you find out exactly which ten patterns are contained in this new book to be released!

I don’t know why The Goode Huswife is releasing this book of old favorites. Perhaps the designer is tired of seeing those ridiculous auction prices on eBay herself and would like to help stitchers who want to stitch or collect her designs out while simultaneously making a bit more money herself from her own designs.  I mean, it must be frustrating to see those kinds of prices on eBay when the designer herself didn’t charge that much for her designs and probably didn’t have any idea her patterns would become so popular AFTER they went out of print.  After all, most of the time, when a pattern goes out of print, it’s really because the designer feels the pattern is no longer in demand.  She must wonder where all these fans of her designs were when her designs were actually in print, and she was trying to manage a successful designing business.  Anyway, since she owns the copyright to her own designs, she can easily reissue them in a new format.

This seems a good time to go over another very important copyright issue: No, it is NOT okay to make a copy of an out of print pattern (so that you have a working copy of the pattern and can return a library book, or so that you can keep your own book and give your friend who really wants to stitch the design a working copy, etc.) simply because it is out of print. You MUST request permission from the designer to make a copy — and some designers WILL allow it, so it does not hurt to ask. One of my good friends recently received permission from the author of a quilting book which has been out of print for several years to make twelve copies specifically to be distributed to students in a quilting class she was planning. The terms of the agreement between my friend and the book’s author were very specific, right down to the number of copies and the reason for making the copies. That is the author’s prerogative because the author owns the copyright to the book he wrote. But if you request permission and the designer says, “No. You may not make a copy of my design from that out of print book,” then you cannot legally make a copy. To do so without asking at all, or to do so after having been told you may not, is copyright infringement — and it is NOT worth the legal costs and fines you could incur by taking that chance. Just don’t do it. Stitch nothing else but the design from the library book until you’ve finished it, then return the library book, and perhaps pay a few dollar in fines to the library; it will be money well spent. Loan your friend your book — or if it’s a book you’re unwilling to allow out of your sight, then allow your friend to stitch the pattern but tell her she has to come over to your house one night a week to work on it. Find another way — a legal way — to solve the problem. Or go look through your stash — there’s plenty there you’ve forgotten about anyway!

Back to the subject of The Goode Huswife releasing a collection of her old patterns … Clearly, for the needlework designer, eBay and other auction sites provide fertile ground to study which of their out of print designs are favorites and would do the best in a new release. There isn’t a much better opportunity for market research than that, actually.

So, we stitchers can hope The Goode Huswife has used eBay as a research tool to choose the ten favorites as indicated by ridiculous very complimentary prices to release in this upcoming book … and fall is just around the corner, too!

***WHAT other auction sites? They all seem to be going away and leaving the one big eMonopoly in their wake … Yahoo Auctions closed its doors in June.
Amazon Auctions are still in business, though a search for “cross stitch” produces a sad, sorry four auctions that are barely limping along. Boohoohoo! A lack of competition is bad for business all the way around; the proof is in the ridiculous eBay seller fees, which we all know only have to get added into the prices on the consumer’s end!

Sorry, my politics are showing. (Good thing this site is all mine, and I’m the boss! ) Walmart just opened a store in my little town of about 13,000 yesterday, and so now I’m just counting down the days until all the other businesses in town close their doors, and watching more of the people — single women with children, especially — in town to go to work for Walmart thinking they’ll work full time and have health coverage only to find themselves suddenly requiring public assistance they didn’t even need before.

Sorry again; I really didn’t realize when I started writing that eMonopoly and then Walmonster were going to hijack your regularly scheduled post. (But look at that … not even a warning from the boss! THIS is the life for me!)

Technorati Tags: Goode Huswife, eBay, cross stitch, auction, out of print, OOP, Hoffman Distributing, Yahoo auctions, Amazon auctions, auctions, eMonopoly, lack of competition, bad for business, Walmart, copyright, quilt, quilting, copyright infringement, library, market research

If you’re making reservations to go to Celebration of Needlework, be sure to use this link for the Marriott hotel, and then don’t forget to use the special code NEENEEA to get the reduce rate Celebrations of Needlework has negotiated for the block of rooms they have reserved.

You have only through August 16th to book your room at the reduced rate of just $109 per night, so book soon!

By the way, another good reason to go to Celebration of Needlework is to participate in the auction for breast cancer research. I firmly believe that someday, needleworkers are going to be responsible for curing not only breast cancer, but all the female cancers (because the cure most likely has something to do with our natural hormones, which have been linked to all of the female cancers, so it makes sense that when a cure for breast cancer is discovered, it will also be effective for ovarian, uterine, and other female cancers).

Technorati Tags: Marriott, Louisville, Kentucky, breast cancer research, cure, Susan Greening Davis, Charlotte Dudney, Jackie du Plessis, Robin Laukhuf, Barbara Jackson, Sherri Jones, Julie Norton, Pam Reed, Lauren Sauer, Marcia Brown Smith, Betsy Stinner, Catherine Strickler, Elizabeth Talledo, Wendy White, cross stitch, Celebration of Needlework, Still Stitching with Susan, Designs from the Pep’r Pot, punchneedle, It’s Fineally Finished, Olde Willow, Tristan Brooks, Patrick’s Woods, J Designs, Olde Colonial, Forget-Me-Nots-in-Stitches, Binding Stitch, Earth Threads, Indigo Rose, Fingerwork, Wee Works, needlework, hardanger, Britstitch, Tokens & Trifles, Sunflower Samplings, Simply Old Fashioned, Scandinavian Stitches, Images Stitchery, Heart’s Content, Maureen Appleton, Dutch Treat Designs, Just Stitching, Cross Stitch Treasures, Crossed Wing

A while ago, I told you about a valuable resource called the Cross Stitch Magazine Database.

After handling the Herculean task herself for the first 409 magazine issues (that’s 4068 patterns!), Taneya now plans to reformat her website to allow people like you and me to update the database. This will make the database a truly invaluable resource because, conceivably, and with an organized worldwide effort, we will literally be able to catalog thousands of magazine issues in a very short period of time. After that point, we would easily be able to keep the database entirely up to date from then on, and just a handful of stitchers could do that together without much difficulty. The most complicated part will be making sure we have all the magazines covered, preferably by subscribers, so they can each be catalogued as new issues are published.

At the same time, Taneya plans to combine the database with a second website she has set up, which is called The Mirabilia and TIAG/LL/BR Stitchers Gallery. This gallery indexes where numerous stitchers have online pictures available of their Mirabilia, Told in a Garden, Lavender & Lace, and Butternut Road projects.

However, this is an expensive proposition in terms of Taneya’s time coding the database and website. In order to do the necessary coding for this upgrade, Taneya will have to sacrifice quite a bit of her stitching time for a while.

Please consider how much your stitching time is worth to you, as well as how valuable a resource Taneya’s magazine database already is and how much more she is trying to accomplish with it. If those things are as worthwhile to you as they are to me, perhaps you’ll stop by Taneya’s website and send her a small PayPal donation to help make this project possible.

(She has no idea this post is being published, so please mention Independent Needlework News!)

Technorati Tags: Taneya, Cross Stitch Magazine Database, Mirabilia, Lavender & Lace, TIAG, Told in a Garden, Butternut Road, PayPal, Independent Needlework News

The Thread Basket is a delightful online and mail order shop I’ve recently discovered which I’ll be finding all kinds of reasons to mention to you — the first of which is the fact that store owner Valerie speaks fluent English and French, lives in the US, carries many of those hard to obtain French designs we US stitchers are finding so attractive lately (such as Bleu de Soie, Calendula Creations, Les Creations de Chrystelle, and — my favorite so far — Tournicoton), travels to France, plans to stock more French designs, wants to know what her customers would like to see her carry, and accepts US checks and PayPal as payment.

However, today I want to let you know Valerie has recently gotten in stock a number of chillingly spooky fabrics available in fat quarters. They’re just perfect for finishing off those Halloween ornaments you’re working on for the Halloween tree competition sponsored by Wonderful XS World! Or how about a quick tree skirt for your Halloween tree?

Or if you’re not participating in that Halloween SAL, just think how charming these would be in a Halloween themed quilt or crazy quilt!

Shoot, you might need to put these fabrics on your wish list because I don’t know how much Valerie has of each in stock — and I want at least a yard of each for myself now that I’ve come up with all these ideas … Oh, but then I won’t have time for Independent Needlework News, so I guess you win after all.

Pictured here are Haunted Mansions and Dancing Skeletons, which are just two of the great Halloween-y fabrics Valerie has in her shop right now for your benefit!

Technorati Tags: Thread Basket, French, Bleu de Soie, Calendula, Les Creations de Chrystelle, Tournicoton, crazy quilt, quilt, needlework, cross stitch, fat quarter, Halloween, autumn, fall, wXSw, Wonderful XS World, ornament, fabric, finishing

It’s hard for me to believe anyone — stitcher or not — has yet to subscribe to the wonderful online magazine, The Gift of Stitching (fondly abbreviated as TGOSM, with the M standing for magazine … or maybe marvelous!). But apparently it is actually the case that there are still a few stragglers, so I’m taking them on as a personal challenge.

Therefore, here are the Top Ten Reasons to Subscribe to The Gift of Stitching magazine during August 2007:

10. You might have been using the wrong needle all this time!

9. You can never have enough Altoid tin covers.

8. You don’t want to leave a basket half finished.

7. You want to know how and why Gloria Moore chose the name of her design company.

6. You don’t want to be one of the last to hear about the special new pattern being released by Needleprint.

5. Who wouldn’t want to try to win one of the sets of thread Stitches and Spice is so graciously giving away?

4. You Followed the Leader and now you’re addicted to White Musings!

3. There’s still time to stitch Helga Mandl’s cute back to school designs before school is REALLY back in session.

2. Debbie Draper’s design My Little Book of Stitches is just GORGEOUS!

1. You need to be a current subscriber in order to win the designing competition sponsored by Dinky Dyes in honor of their 5th year of business.

Technorati Tags: Gift of Stitching, magazine, Dinky Dyes, design competition, designing competition, My Little Book of Stitches, Debbie Draper, Helga Mandl, back to school, Follow the Leader, White Musings, Stitches and Spice, Needleprint, Gloria Moore, finishing for baskets