June 10

Hi all, I'm writing this during the first hot spell of the year, well, the first one where I've had the chance to sit with my bare feet in a paddling pool.....there's nothing better! I wasn't stitching at the time but the thought did cross my mind that I may very well do that if we get some more summer later.

In this newsletter we're focusing on social media (that's facebook to you and me, plus twitter and some others too) and also looking at the story of one stitcher's journey through our Lewis Hamilton design. One thing following on from our last newsletter, where we looked at stitching on a plane.

I'd like to say hi to Jenny, who sent me a lovely e-mail after my article last month about my experiences attempting to stitch whilst on our way to America. She told me about one of her friends, who has taken a small cutter onto flights quite recently with no problems. Whilst I can't guarantee that your own airline will allow you to stitch on board the flight, the evidence is certainly building up that you'll be able to stitch on board. Which really helps with the boredom! Talking of stitching and planes, my Spitfire is coming on well, I'm about three quarters of the way through and I hope to be able to show it to you next month, all being well.

A couple of weeks ago I had a lovely e-mail from Kelly, who had been working extremely hard to complete our Lewis Hamilton design for her friend Jade. She sent these brilliant 'action shots' so that I could see how she had stitched the design.

I love watching other people stitch, because everyone is different. These photos are the next best thing, I can see for example that Kelly likes to complete a large chunk of a certain colour before moving on to the next one, and that she is happy to start a second page of her design even if the first page still has some stitching left to complete on it.

I really envy Kelly for this. I'm really weird about my stitching and I have to finish a page of the design before I can move onto the next page. Kelly's method is so much more efficient than mine!

Kelly says her friend Jade is Lewis' number one fan, and so she worked night and day to complete the stitching in time for Jade's birthday, working until 2am the previous night to finish - that's friendship for you!

Apparently Jade absolutely loved the stitching, which was obviously a relief to Kelly, we've all stitched for non stitching friends and worried about whether they'll like it, after we've put in a lot of hours, far more than if we'd simply shopped for a present.

Well done Kelly, and good luck with your next stitching project. If anyone has been inspired by Kelly's brilliant job, have a look at http://www.stitchtastic.com/product/mclaren-hamilton-f1-caricature-cross-stitch-kit.aspx .

I'm fairly new to Facebook. I've had great fun working out all the different options and was delighted when, after our last newsletter, some of you clicked 'Like' for our Stitchtastic facebook page. Now we need more of you! I've put up lots of pictures of my stitching, plus some of our fans are starting to add their own pictures too. If you click 'Like' on our facebook page, you may have the honour of appearing on the Stitchtastic website (don't let that put you off!) and you'll hear all the latest news before anyone else. You can link up to other stitchers who have completed our designs, and compare notes! Search for 'Stitchtastic' on the facebook search and get chatting! You can contact us that way with any stitching queries you may have, or just show off your work. You never know where it could lead to - maybe a starring role in our next newsletter!

One little extra treat - have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBCJcL8Bd1I to see our first cross stitch video! We started small with this production of 'How to thread a cross stitch needle', but we have big plans to produce a lot more 'How to' videos. Let me know what you think by posting a comment!

Next month, we're going to concentrate on our aircraft designs, which is why I really want to finish the Spitfire by then!

Enjoy the sunshine and see you in a few weeks.