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Cross Stitch Tips & News ~ April 11th 2009
Patterns Patch Cross Stitch Club:
Cross Stitch Tips & News
Saturday, April 11th 2009 |
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Hi
Once more, welcome to all our readers, we hope the past two weeks have again been kind to you and you enjoy reading this issue of your Cross Stitch Tips & News letter.
In this issue you'll find a range of features below, including:
- Our New Style Cross Stitch Patterns
- The "Top 50" most popular cross-stitch pattern downloads in March 2009.
- Survey Result
- Pearls of Wisdom...
- The latest patterns uploaded to the Cross Stitch Library
- Recent cross stitch articles
- Your latest cross stitch tip (rescuing damaged cross stitch items - part 1).
A Month ago we promised to give you our findings on a new search engine with a claimed difference (worio.com). We've since realized one month isn't enough time to form a true opinion of worio.com, so we'll give you our findings in mid-May.
Here's wishing you all a happy and peaceful Easter, Passover, Theravada, Vaisakni, Hanuman Jayanti or just plain choc fest. Enjoy yourselves!
*~~*
Our New Style Cross Stitch Patterns...As we hinted at in the last issue of Cross Stitch Tips & News, starting this week we're introducing a new and improved look to our cross stitch patterns. The most noticeable improvement is in the resolution of the color and black & white charts. The symbols are more clearly defined and there's both a stitch count around the outer edge and an overlap border.
You'll also notice that the symbols are clearly marked on the Thread Organizer now (see image). No more having to mark them by hand. 
We've also removed the instructions from the individual patterns and replaced them with an enhanced report "Achieving Cross Stitch Success" that you can download from our Patterns Patch website.
Achieving Cross Stitch Success is still in draft form and a bit rough around the edges. However, it gives you all the stitching help you need and will be fully complete by the time the next news letter is issued.
In addition to the latest patterns appearing in our Cross Stitch library, the following patterns have also been converted this past week; you'll find them in the Cross Stitch Library as well:
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| Gift of Love |
A Young Leopard |
Last Supper with 12 Disciples |
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| Joyful Prayer |
Floral Delight |
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It's important you let us know if you have any problems with these new patterns. It's only by getting feedback from you that we learn what's good and what's bad about our patterns and what corrective action we need to take.
When you download Achieving Cross Stitch Success make sure you know where you've downloaded the report to. Believe me it's frustrating downloading an item from the Internet and then having to go searching for it; it's often quicker just to download it again.
*~~*
Patterns Patch "Top 50"Here's the monthly Patterns Patch "Top 50" listing of our most popular downloaded cross-stitch patterns at the end of March 2009:
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1. Mountain Retreat
(<>)
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2. Light of Peace
(<>)
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3. Stepping Stone Cottage
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4. The Big Five
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5. Little Hope
(<>)
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8. The Good Shepherd's Cottage(-1)
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11. Bear Montage
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12. Last Supper With 12 Disciples
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14. Animal and Maiden
(-1) |
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16. The Old Cornmill
(<>) |
17. The Cherokee Child
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18. Bald Eagle on Stars & Stripes
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19. All in the Moonlight
(+3)
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20. Dogwood Chapel
(+1)
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22. World Trade Center Collage
(-3) |
23. Deer Near Cabin
(+1)
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24. Angel's Spirit
(+6)
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26. Moo! Surrounded by Sunflowers(-1)
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30. The Tiger Cubs Trio
(-3)
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31. Unicorns by The Magic Waterfall
(+1) |
32. Mama's Boy
(-1) |
33. Butterflies and Daisies
(+1) |
34. A Little Girl With Two Kittens
(+1) |
35. Jesus Blessing The Children
(-2) |
36. Valley of Peace
(+3) |
37. Spirited by the Wolf
(+1)
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38. We Three Kings
(-1)
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39. Symbols of the Tribe
(<>)
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40. The Toddler Angel
(N/E)
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41. Clarissa and Petey
(+1) |
42. Pure Polar Love
(-1)
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43. Mermaid's Ocean Hug
(<>)
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44. Fruit of the Vine
(-4)
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45. Love's Blessing
(-1)
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46. The Gathering
(+3)
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47. Almond Blossom Fairy
(-3)
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48. Lakeside Manor
(N/E)
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49. Butterfly Kisses
(-4)
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50. Mermaid and Daughter
(<>) |
51. Beautiful Waterfall Princess
(N/E) |
KEY: (+) = Places Moved UP in the past month; (-) = Places Moved DOWN in the past month; (<>) Same position as last month; <N/E> = New Entry.
*~~*
Survey Result...For a couple of weeks recently we ran a survey to find out which would be the most popular topic for a cross stitch report. As it turns out, the results were fairly predictable. I doubt there are many surprises here:
| Rank |
Report Title |
Votes |
| 1 |
Where To Find The Best Cross Stitch Patterns |
116 |
| 2 |
How to Design Your Own Cross Stitch Patterns |
88 |
| 3 |
Can You Make Money From Cross Stitch? |
54 |
| 4 |
How To Finish Your Project |
28 |
| 5 |
Cross Stitch Threads & Fabrics |
26 |
| 6 |
How To Start Your Project |
22 |
| 7 |
Blackwork For Beginners |
15 |
| 8 |
What Cross Stitch Equipment Do I Need? |
12 |
| 9 |
Cross Stitch & Needlework History. |
12 | There'll be more info on our range of Cross Stitch reports in an upcoming issue of Cross Stitch Tips & News.
*~~*
Pearls of Wisdom...The next pearl(s) of wisdom to emerge from the "University of Life" are: At the age of 42, George Sand, the famous19th century French novelist, was a broken and depressed human being. (She had adopted the male pseudonym to cover the fact that her novels were written by a woman.) Her personal life at this time had fallen apart and she was the victim of severe personal criticism from powerful and influential people in France. One day, feeling low and melancholy, she wanderd into the woods near her home where she played as a child. Seated there on a boulder she thought over the past, pondered her future, and tried to analyze her personal situation. If you'd like to try and win a fr*e membership, reply to Membership for fr*e with the word 'pigeon' in your email subject line (only one entry per reader please). After some time she reached a conclusion that was to enable her to go on and write another 50 plays and novels. That decision was this:
"Henceforth I shall accept what I am and what I am not. With my limitations and my gifts, I shall go on using life as long as I am in this world and afterwards. Not to use life - that alone is death."
*~~*
"Fear less, hope more;
eat less, chew more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more;
hate less, love more;
and all good things are yours." - Swedish Proverb
*~~*
Membership For Fr^eIf you'd like to win three months full membership to Patterns Patch for Fr.ee, why not take a look, it's really easy to enter. Don't forget to search for the mystery word in this letter ~ Good Luck!
The latest winner of our draw for Three-months membership to Patterns Patch for Fr.ee is:
*~* Wendy Sithole *~*
"Well done Wendy, you're nearly there! All you have to do is email us to Accept and Activate your prize!" The number of entries goes up each issue, so an increasing number of you are building up credits and enhancing your chances of being a future winner. Commiserations to those who entered and didn't win this week. But hey, perseverance is a virtue; try again next time ~ it could be YOU! And for those of you who didn't enter, why not? Don't you want this valuable gift? (Please remember! Only one entry per person, per issue.). You've got to be in it TO WIN IT!
Silver (formerly Associate) Membership
To overcome the problem of "spammers" accessing our new chat room, we've created a Silver Membership, which is fr*e, but limits access to just the chat rooms and our community forums (the Cross Stitch forum and Intros/General forum). Silver members will also qualify for a 20+% discount on some of the patterns in our Cross Stitch Store.
(Note that only patterns that have been in our Cross Stitch Library for three months or more, will be offered for general sale in our store).
If you want to join Patterns Patch as a Silver member and enjoy access to the chat rooms and community forums, please join here. The subscription form is easy to use and only asks for: your name, email address, login name and passw*rd (you choose these last two yourself).
*~~*
Services
We have an ever growing list of services our members and subscribers can use and enjoy (mostly for fr*e), including:
Make A Pattern For Me:
Yes, we'll create a cross-stitch pattern for you, for fr^e. But there are a couple of conditions that you need to know about ~ go read the details.
Is there ANY aspect of cross stitch that's puzzling you? That you'd like a simple explanation or an opinion on? We are always interested in hearing your questions or comments.
Our policy is there are no silly questions. So don't be shy. Come forward and feel free to ask anything you like. Our friendly experts Beryl and Lizzie don't bite and will do their best to provide you with a full, easily understood answer.
Cross Stitch Survey:
Your vote counts, so tell us your opinion on cross stitch matters. You'll find our Cross Stitch Poll (survey) on the Home page, down the left-hand column. Please take 30 seconds to give us your opinion by voting in our latest survey. Go to Cross Stitch Poll (opens in a new window), and scroll down a little and make your selection.
OK! Not exactly a service, but if you need a good dose of motivation or simply picking up, this is the place to go for a diverse range of vidoes and presentations that will both inspire and amuse you.
Go here to see the latest additions:
We regularly add to this department so make sure you pay a visit each time you read your Cross Stitch Tips & News letter.
For the latest jottings and thoughts from our super stitcher Iona, why not pop over and visit our Patterns Patch Blog (opens in a new window).
You can be sure of an interesting read, and while there feel fr*e to leave a comment or question for Iona. You'll always get a lively and detailed reply.
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*~~*
Cross-Stitch Tip (by Julia):
How to Rescue Your Damaged Cross Stitch Items - Part 1 of 2We all have cross stitch projects that have been stained, torn, or have had thread colors bleed into other areas. Luckily, there are some very simple ways to fix the problems we encounter.
The first thing you should do is learn how to prevent some of the problems that may occur. Make sure you wash your hands very well before handling your stitching. If you use hand lotion, make sure it is a non-greasy formula. This will ensure that the least amount of natural oils will transfer onto your project as you're working on it.
You also want to make sure that you check to see if the fabric and threads you are using are colorfast. Anything hand-dyed usually isn't, and there's a good chance the colors will either fade slightly or bleed over into other areas.
If you're unsure as to whether or not the threads you're using are colorfast, there's a simple test you can do to check. Simply take a small sample piece of the threads in question and dampen them with clean water.
Fold a wet paper towel over them and place something heavy on them and let them sit overnight. Check them in the morning and if the paper towels are colored in any way you'll know the threads aren't colorfast.
Usually the well-known manufacturers create threads that are colorfast. The lesser-known brands as well as hand-dyed threads are not. If the threads do happen to bleed, don't panic.
There's a simple way to fix the situation without ruining your finished piece! Rinse the item under cold continuously until the water is clear. Let the piece soak in cold water for a while afterwards.
Using a commercial product that claims to reverse color transferring isn't recommended. The chemicals in these products are often times harsh, and may damage your finished piece beyond repair.
Also, please keep in mind, using bleach on a finished product is never recommended as it will often cause the fibers to break down, as well as removing the colors from the threads and fabric.
Does your fabric have creases in it? More times than not it probably does, especially if you buy precut fabric. Try running a steam iron over both sides of the fabric to gently remove the folds.
If the creasing is severe and the steam iron method doesn't work for you, try washing the fabric and towel drying it to get most of the moisture out. Then run the steam iron over the fabric again while the fabric is still damp.
Creases still a problem for you? Take the problem piece to your local dry cleaners. They have professional steam ironing equipment that can most likely take out even the most stubborn creases.
What happens if somehow your fabric tears before you've finished the project? Starting over can be very disappointing. Good news! You don't have to scrap the work you've already done.
Just take a small piece of fabric that's the same color, and patch the piece. Cut the patch a little larger then the tear or hole. Line up the fabric exactly so that your stitches will remain even and in line with one another.
Tack the patch in place on the reverse side of the fabric. Start a few stitches away from the tear and stitch straight across the tear until you get a few stitches past it on the opposite side.
Remove the tacking stitches, and just continue with your design as you normally would. The patch won't be smooth, however it shouldn't effect the way your finished piece looks.
*~~*
In the last but one issue of Cross Stitch Tips & News we discussed Basting & Gridding. Then again in the last issue we added a great find from Member Kathy K, who shared Easy Count Guideline with us. Since then Joyce W told us she's been searching for easy count guideline on the web and has found the cheapest source so far is "1-2-3 Stitch" where the price is less than $8 for a 100 yards reel. You'll find it here at: http://www.123stitch.com/cgi-perl/itemdetail.pl?item=123-4499If anyone has used easy count guideline, why not write in and tell us what you like or dislike about this cross stitch aid.
*~~*
If you've any personal tips on cross stitching that you're willing to share with your fellow stitchers, send them to us here and we'll include them in a future issue of Cross Stitch Tips & News.
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Recent Articles:These articles are amongst those we've recently added to the cross stitch articles library:
Do You Get Sore Eyes When Cross Stitching?
Are you one of those cross stitchers who regularly experiences that feeling of tired, sore eyes and a slight headache following a satisfying evening of stitching, especially after a long day. We all love to achieve great results, but there's no need to suffer afterwards for our pleasure. Fortunately there are several measures you can take to prevent straining your eyes when you are stitching . . . keep reading
Leaving a Legacy When You're Gone
I'm sure all fellow stitchers like the idea of leaving their loved ones something special to remember them by when they pass away. You'll not be too surprised, therefore, to learn that the companies who specialise in cross stitch design are now, more than ever, turning to the classics in order to produce a range of unique and highly personal heirlooms . . . keep reading
Personalizing Your Cross Stitch Projects
When it comes to cross stitch thread, most stitchers rarely think beyond the major cotton six-stranded brands. Alternative threads, however, can help you create unique and personal projects, and with only a little extra work in the preparation stage of your . . . keep reading
This is just a small sample of the 200 or so cross stitch articles enjoyed by our members. If you'd like to read more, you can join here right now.
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*~~*
New Cross Stitch PatternsWe're giving EVERYONE who reads this letter a FREE Bonus cross stitch pattern.
Follow the download instructions carefully and Contact me if you have any problems.
Some of our more experienced members have asked us to consider providing the occasional design that's a little more "challenging". We've listened and will sometimes list at least one pattern with embellishments, such as: beads, knots, backstitching, and so on.
Here you can view The latest FREE downloads (for members):
You'll find additional information and can also leave comments and rank (from 1 to 5) each download, if you so wish.
Please note that you have until the next issue of your Cross Stitch Tips & News letter to download the BONUS pattern. After then it will be available only to Standard Members in the Cross Stitch Library.
We're trying to introduce as wide a range as possible in the cross stitch library to cater for all tastes. So if there's a theme we've missed that you'd like to see patterns for, then
please drop a quick email to Contact us.
To view this week's gallery, here's the link again to view the latest FREE downloads.
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*~~*
... And FinallyAs always, you are encouraged to contact me with any questions or entries for future newsletters. You can do that here.
When the membership of Patterns Patch grows to a certain level we'll be able to approach major suppliers and manufacturers and negotiate discounts for our members. So please make sure to encourage your stitching friends to join Patterns Patch.
Forward this email newsletter to them so that they can subscribe to (www.patternspatch.com) and receive future copies directly to their own mailbox.
Please do not reply to this email. It was sent to you by our computer, which is splendid at sending emails but absolutely useless at reading them! To get in touch with us, please send a short email to Contact us.
Do please take the time to let us know what you like or dislike about "Cross Stitch Tips & News". We value all your emails and rely on them to move us forward as we strive for cross stitch perfection.
Have a great Easter and I hope the chocolate chicken lays as many eggs you wish to eat!
... and finally, if you have children, give them a hug and a kiss, and tell them you love them.
Sincerely,
PS If you're not already a member, why not? You're missing out on so much! Why not join right now?
Joining is so easy!
Your next "Cross Stitch Tips & News" letter will appear on SATURDAY April 25th 2008.
Until next time... Missed an issue of our "Cross Stitch Tips & News" letter? Find them all here:
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Cross Stitch Library
