Good Morning

I just wanted to say good morning to everyone quickly. I have been on holidays and had my son move up from Toronto. We took the oportunity to re-decorate his room starting with new paint "Emerald Green" and then new furniture. He is finally making friends here and today is going to the beach.

My youngest daughter Alex is in Newfoundland with her Granparents for the month of August -and loving it. She will also be coming home to a new bedroom. Before leaving she bought a new comforter with her own money and picked out a "Grape Green" paint for us to do her room in. Room is painted and her new bed set up--- I just have to clean out her closet and go through all the boxes of junk she has before she comes home. Just like a pre-teen, her stuff just gets shoved into the closet... including a lunch bag with a tupperware container that is about to sprout legs any day now.

I'll be back with lots to share by the middle of next week as the kids are preparing for "Back to School" Hurray!!!!

Before you begin

It is always exciting to find something you want to cross stitch or embroider. The anticipation of starting and working on that project usually makes me rush home and want to sort my floss, get my needles ready and start the new project.

No matter what kind of needlework you do there is one thing that you should do before you ever begin working on a project. Prepare your hoop!

Preparing your hoop is very simple. Regardless of what type of hoop you buy, plastic, or wood, you should always buy white single fold bias tape, iron it out flat and then wrap the bottom hoop with it. Overlap the edges only slightly and then stitch in place once around the whole hoop. This believe it or not, keeps the project in place and keeps the tension on your material and protects your fabric. You will find that you will not be pulling at your fabric as often to keep the area your working on taunt.

I do not change the bias tape each time I stitch a new project, only when it has become too frayed or worse yet met with the accidental cup of spilled coffee or juice. Once my hoop has been prepared, there really is no need to change the bias tape.

Happy Stitching. If you have any suggestions you would like to share please feel free to comment or e-mail me.

UK Magazine the CrossStitcher

At the beginning of July as I was browsing the magazine racks at the local mall before meeting my brother at the bus station, I came across a cross stitch magazine that offered a free kit with it. Since I loved the flowers displayed on the kit I immediately purchased it and proceeded to the bus terminal to wait for my brother. As I waited and waited, it soon became obvious that he had told me the wrong time to pick him up and I had at least an hour to go before he arrived.

Well, lucky for me I had this wonderful kit attached to a new magazine.

Turns out that every month the CrossStitcher offers some sort of free gift as part of the magazine. Here is the gift for the June Issue that I purchased.

I'll upload my completed project as soon as it is done and I have decided how I'm going to display it. In the mean time if you are looking for a great magazine, I recommend you look for this one at your local craft store or mall. Be forewarned however this one is a little more expensive than other magazines as it is a British Publication.