It's Our 15th Anniversary!

The photo on the right is of one of our free patterns, from Monsterbubbles, stitched by Pam Shelquist, finished by Corliss Marsh - on Baroque hand dyed fabric from Picture This Plus. The other photo is Sandy's niece, who took the advice to heart! :-)

Mill Hill is early this year - with their fall kits and now even their Christmas kits are ready! The beaded and buttoned series is a village - there's a church, toy shop, train depot, tree farm, post office and Victorian house, just darling! And there's their usual cute Christmas pins - we love them all - teddy, carolers, holly wreath, train, kitty and gingerbread boy. You can see them on www.wichelt.com - and here in the shop, of course! Soon they'll have a new Santa ornament series ready, which have always been wonderful in the past.

Many of our favorite designers have great new designs, too - we especially love the cute patterns from Count Your Blessings, Forever in My Heart, Prairie Schooler and the new Daydreams from Dimensions. Janlynn has followed their Dolly Mamas with Chicklets - the daughters! - "Motor Mouth", "Miss Understood", "Miss Know-it-all", "Smarty Pants", "Princess Drama" and "Miss Behave" - what a hoot! And Hob Nobb's new buttons and patterns are terrific!, a wonderful baby sampler, Limited Edition Spring and Christmas, new Doodles, just so cute!

Please remember, you can always look up patterns for us to order for you, by subject, keyword or designer at http://hoffmandis.com

We also have Stitcher's Journals from Yarn Tree; each has graph paper as well as journal pages, so you can design and record your materials, thoughts and ideas, all in one beautiful book. They'd make a great gift for any stitcher.

Peter Rabbit has made his appearance - in the baby sampler Sandy stitched for her newest grandson, Mitch. It's not framed yet, so no photo - but you can see it at the shop. Pretty darned sweet!

"All Purpose Recipe for Cleaning your Needlework

The Valentine museum has a wonderful needlework collection. This recipe comes from one of the curators at the Valentine, Grace Wells, via needlework teacher Marion Scoular. Mix 1 T Ivory Flakes (or grated bars Ivory soap) and 2 T Snowy Bleach. Dissolve this in 1 gallon of hot water and let it COOL TO ROOM TEMPERATURE. Put your needlework in this solution and soak until the stain is gone, up to three weeks. Rinse very well. The "up to 3 weeks" part of the directions implies that the solution is not changed, but I'd check water level for evaporation, as above. And when I add water, I'd give things a gentle swish."

Find loads of free designs here:

http://www.cross-stitch-art.com/crossstitch2/Enewsarchive.htm

And some great ideas for gifts:

http://www.cross-stitch-art.com/crossstitch2/Thingstomake.htm

And even animated instructions!

http://www.cross-stitch-art.com/crossstitch2/AnimatedXS.htm

Addressing those pesky fabric creases again, this advice is from Marla Hunt in the Nordic Needle's newsletter: "take a mixture of white vinegar and water and dab it on the crease...then put a damp dishcloth on it and lightly steam it dry until it disappear(s). It work(s) beautifully."