Name Sampler Design Winner 2014

Yesterday I chose my 2014 Name Sampler Design Competition winner!  That lucky person is Melonie Pickering from Sheffield here in the UK and she wins the first kit of her design.  Melonie’s entry said:

“I’d love my name done in the colours of the flowers used on a canal boat….and maybe a little canal boat and some roses…so lots of strong colours, ie, red, yellow, greens, etc…..”

It is such a unique suggestion and one that instantly got me excited about designing.  Most of my samplers are aimed at young children but this one is bound to become a popular choice for older generations and those with a passion for the gorgeous canal boats that chug up and down the canals here in the UK.

I have already designed a bespoke canal boat sampler for Melonie’s husband so this one for her will make a great matching pair!

I can’t wait to get designing this one so watch this space when it’s ready.

H x

Name Sampler Competition Time

I love a good competition & this one is very popular with my customers and newsletter subscribers.  All you have to do is come up with a new design theme for my personalised Name Sampler range.  Here are the two previous winners:

Both of these designs are now really popular with my customers & yours could be next…

All you have to do is tell me your idea in this quick survey and I will decide on a winner from all the entries received by midnight on Friday, 11th April 2014.  But while you are thinking about your amazing design remember:

• it needs to be adaptable (for lots of different names)
• it should differ from those already on my website
• to give as much detail as you can – I struggle with one word entries!

If your idea fits all of these conditions then go ahead and enter.  The winner receives a full cross stitch kit personalized with the name of their choice before anyone else gets one – it’s worth £29.99 and I throw in free postage as well (wherever you are in the world!).

So, get thinking & good luck.

H x

 

Neatness counts

I recently replied to a comment in a cross stitch group on Facebook asking whether anyone thought it was important to have a neat reverse to your stitching.  I posted the photo below taken of my celtic heart design showing both the front and back of my own stitching:

Does it matter how neat the back of your work is? I think so…

Comments flew in from far and wide with many people of the opinion that I must have OCD to keep my stitching that neat.  Some thought it was a waste of time and that it must take me weeks to make sure that everything looks so nice on the reverse and others said it didn’t matter at all what the back looked like as no-one would see it.

Well, I do care about how my stitching looks, both front and back, but do I take ages worrying about the back and checking it looks OK?  NO!  It’s neat on the back because I have been stitching for over 25 years (makes me sound very old) and you just get used to it.

But why do I think it’s important that the back is neat?

1. Lumps and bumps on the back mean that framing, stretching or even making your design up into a cushion will leave the front looking uneven and it will be noticeable.
2. Long lines of thread from one place to another show through to the front of the fabric – especially if the thread is a lot darker than the fabric you are stitching on.
3. It can use up a lot more thread if you run thread all over the place or don’t stitch in a systematic way and if you’ve bought a kit you may well run out of thread before you finish your design.

So whether the reverse of your stitching looks like mine or better or worse, you (and your framer) are the only people who will see the back your work, but try to recall my reasons for neatness next time you start a new piece and see how you get on…