February 11

Is Spring coming yet?

Stitching feels great in the Spring. The plants are on their way, the sun is just poking through and most people get a little spring in their step (sorry about the pun!) However, February is not well known for the start of Spring, more for the last gasp of winter. So if you're stuck inside, waiting to plant those seeds, or really wanting a lovely country walk but knowing that the foot of snow outside would really hamper your idea, get stitching! Pick out a beautiful Spring design, or go mad and head straight into Summer! Have a look at http://www.stitchtastic.com/catalog/flower-designs.aspx to see our lovely colourful flower range, which will brighten up any nasty February day. By the way, if you read our newsletter from the southern hemisphere, I'm sorry that I talk about the seasons the wrong way round for you! Spring Flower designs 
Two of our flower designs, a hibiscus and a sunflower.

Wonderful Stitchers

As a very visual medium, its really important that we have as many of our designs stitched for display as possible. This is really important so that customers can see exactly how the design will turn out. My computer can produce a pretty mean stitched model, but it's not quite the same as the real thing. So this month all of our pictures are stitched pictures, either stitched by me or one of our other stitchers who provide stitched designs for us to display. Hope you like them!

Firstly, one of the most popular designs in our range - the Eddie Stobart Lorry design. Measuring in at a dramatic 17.2" by 11", this really makes a statement. The one in our picture was stitched by Joan, who does an awful lot of our stitching (I know you're reading Joan, I hope you know how incredibly grateful we are for all the stitching you've done over the years xx). Joan is a very close relative to someone in our household, but to maintain an air of mystery I shall say no more!

Eddie uses 20 DMC colours and looks amazing when displayed. At stitching shows, he is usually one of our best sellers over the whole range because he looks so dramatic and colourful. Further details at http://www.stitchtastic.com/product/eddie-stobart-lorry-cross-stitch-kit.aspx.

Joan also wins the award for stitching the most backstitch, on our Westie Dog caricature design, as the tartan effect is created with backstitch and looks brilliant! He's a real cutie, using 16 DMC colours and measuring 9.3" by 10.3".

Our next stitchers come from quite a long way away. We met Joey and Harry at the Olympia Stitch & Craft show several years ago now and they make a special effort every year to come & chat to us. Last year they took several of our designs away with them to stitch, and then returned them for us to display. Both Joey and Harry stitch and Harry has been featured in his local newspaper, showing off his designs, including one of ours! Did I mention that they live in Norway? So thanks Joey and Harry for being lovely friends and fantastic stitchers. See you in March at Stitch & Craft 2011!

From Joey and Harry's stitching, we're featuring the Harley Davidson 1946 Classic motorbike. It's a super vintage design and is available in red and black. Both use 12 DMC colours and measure 15.4" by 7.2". Have a look at http://www.stitchtastic.com/product/harley-davidson-1946-motorcycle-cross-stitch-kit.aspx.

Our final featured stitcher is.....wait for it......me! I stitch our designs all year round as you know if you've been reading our newsletter for a while, but I am a bit lazy about ironing and backing them, it always takes me ages to get round to it. I tend to back all the new designs we recieve just before our trade & retail shows in February and March, so there will be some new stitched deigns on our website in the next month or two! At the moment I'm stitching our caricature Vauxhall Corsa design, which is virtually all in shades of grey and so far looks amazing, but is only really at the 'what on earth will this be' stage so I'm not showing it to you yet!

Instead, here's a couple of my designs, the Easy Rider Chopper and Mini Cooper caricature. And I must just mention my favourite ever stitch, our scuba diving goldfish!

The Easy Rider is actually stitched on 16 count aida to give extra detail in the engine and measures 14.6" by 7.8", using 15 DMC colours. The Mini Cooper is the cutest little car and uses 14 DMC colours. It is also available in blue, green, grey and red , but I couldn't resist stitching it in pink! We don't have many pink designs to display so that one certainly takes pride of place at our shows. It measures 13.3" by 10.1", have a look at http://www.stitchtastic.com/product/mini-cooper-union-jack-roof-cross-stitch-kit.aspx for further information.

Finally, the goldfish. This design seemed to jump off the aida as I stitched it, it was the best design I've ever stitched and I really recommend it for a fun, striking stitch. It measures 10.4" by 10.4", uses 21 DMC colours and is just brilliant! It's at http://www.stitchtastic.com/product/goldfish-caricature-cross-stitch-kit.aspx.
Eddie Stobart Cross Stitch Kit 
Eddie Stobart never looked so good!

Westie Dog Caricature Cross Stitch Kit 
So cute and so Scottish!

Harley 1946 Classic Design 
The beautiful 1946 Harley Davidson, beautifully stitched in Norway.

Easy Rider Cross Stitch Kit 
The Easy Rider looks so detailed on 16 count. Mini Cooper Cross Stitch Kit 
Mini Cooper, available in lots of colours but I couldn't resist pink!

Goldfish caricature cross stitch kit 
My favourite ever stitch.

Stitchtastic Stitchers

As you can see, there's no real need for a stitchers section this month as the whole newsletter is dedicated to stitchers. If you'd like your work to be featured in our newsletter, send a picture to me, sarah@stitchtastic.com. Or, for a more immediate display, you can upload pictures of your stitching to our facebook page, www.facebook.com/Stitchtastic. Make sure you 'Like' us as well!

You can now 'like' each individual product on our website, if you click the 'Like' button on our product page, your name will appear. You may also get redirected to Facebook to log in there first, but don't quote me on that!
Our Facebook Page 
Come and join us on Facebook.

Advance notice - stitching shows coming up!

The stitching shows are even closer now, we're preparing for the first one which unfortunately most of you won't be able to attend as it's a trade only show at the NEC in Birmingham in February. I'm sorry that you can't attend as it is an absolute treasure trove for creative types, but don't worry, your local retailer will most likely be there so you'll be able to see all their favourite new products pretty soon after.

The shows start in earnest for us in March, with Stitch & Craft 2011 at Olympia in London, 17th - 20th March and Sewing for Pleasure 2011 at the NEC, Birmingham, 24th - 27th March. Then we'll definitely be having a rest!

Photo of Stitchtastic show stand

Looking forward to seeing you all at a stitching show soon!



Next Month

OK, so last month I said I would be featuring lorries and vans this month, didn't I? I've only managed to squeeze in one lorry, so I do apologise to anyone waiting for those vans. I promise I'll show you a few more next month, along with our annual guide to visiting stitching shows.

See you then!
Next Month will feature Lorries and Vans again!

Questions or comments? E-mail me at sarah@stitchtastic.com or call +44 (0) 114 2353958

Until next time
Sarah
Designer


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