Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Cross Stitch Magazines

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How many Cross Stitch or Needlework magazines do you subscribe to or purchase each month? Right now – I only subscribe to 3, which is pretty conservative for me. I had to cut back because they were TAKING OVER THE HOUSE. There’s also the issue of the expense. They do get a little costly, don’t they?

I just got the latest issue of Just CrossStitch and it is filled to the brim with stitchy goodness. My two favorites are the “Santa Portraits” by Carol Emmer and the “Star of David” by Sharon Pope.

I just thought of the other problem with having too many subscriptions – adding those charts to my already huge, I-want-to-stitch-these-charts-someday-list! Oh well, I will just have to keep reading the magazines for the articles – yeah, that’s the ticket!

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Comments

  1. Yep have cut back on all magazine subscriptions over the past few years due to the expense. Haven’t been getting any cross-stitch mags for a long time however just subscribed to Cross Stitch Crazy, a U.K. magazine, if it ever gets here to me in the U.S. Subscribed 3 mos ago and keep getting excuses why it hasn’t started… sounds like I’m going to have to buy the latest Just Cross Stitch though – need a trip to JoAnn’s/Michael’s to get me a copy, ha! I do continue to buy charts and patterns ‘to do’ some day… not getting any younger either so ‘some day’ needs to come soon, ha! As I tell my husband ‘it’s a collection.’

  2. I only subscribe to one Cross Stitch magazine (though I subscribe to 7 craft magazines in total!), Cross Stitcher, a British mag as it’s modern. The other’s are a bit old fashioned and cutsy.

  3. I don’t subscribe to any now. I do buy the World of Cross Stitching almost every month. I used to also buy Cross Stitch Card Shop but I can’t find it any more. Mostly I love to browse the magazines if I can find them. It seems to be rather random, which stores carry what. Maybe that’s best, for my budget anyway.

  4. I subscribe to Needle Pulling Thread and Spool – both have XS but also other goodies and I prefer that

  5. I’ve had to cut down, too! I whittled it down to three – Just CrossStitch, Sampler & Antique Needlework, and Cross-Stitch & Needlework. I would love to get The Cross Stitcher (British), but just can’t swing it.

    Connie … I, too, have more patterns than I could ever do in three lifetimes but I love collecting them and I tell myself that someday I’ll do them all. HA! (That’s the sarcastic HA!) 🙂

  6. Seems like we’re all the same when it comes to cross stitching – I love the magazines but when they threatened to take over an entire room I needed to make some decisions. So – I usually now buy a couple a month just to satisfy the craving. So many beautiful things – not enough time to make them all but lots of time to dream about it.

  7. This probably sounds crazy, but I don’t subscribe to any magazines right now *gasp* I will pick up a copy of JustCrossStitch every now and then, but aside from that I’d rather buy a single pattern or a full book than buy a magazine. I used to subscribe to several, but I get so overwhelmed and right now I have no space for storage so having those subscriptions was crossed off my must have list.

  8. Hello to all us addicted X-stitchers. I am brand new to this blog and have been doing this wonderful craft since I was pregnant with my daughter (she is 35 now) and never stopped. I met a man that is just as obsessed as I am and those multiple magazines were taking over our lives so we cut out only the patterns we liked and hoped to do & now it all fits in one big container. I recently found this website and spent a insane amount on charts. They are gorgeous and look like finished artwork. All the shops have closed that specialized in charts, and JoAnn’s/Michael’s is almost out of this stuff and made way for scrapbooking. This is a dying craft but not for us we love it! Happy Stitching :<)

Have you read?

Everything You Need to Know About Embroidery Hoops

One of the most common supplies for cross stitch, aside from fabric, needles and floss, is an embroidery hoop. A hoop isn’t needed for every project, and indeed there are some stitchers who prefer not to use them at all. I generally don’t use a hoop when I’m working on a small cross stitch project, especially something that’s shape isn’t conducive to using a hoop (like a bookmark). 

But embroidery hoops can be really helpful for cross stitch because they hold your fabric at an even tension, which allows you to stitch more evenly without any more work on your part. It’s great for beginners to use hoops because the tension on the fabric can both help make your stitches more even and make the holes in the fabric a little easier to see. 

I’ll admit to always just buying whatever hoop is available in the right size when I’m ready to start a project without giving it much more thought than that. But there are things you should consider when choosing among the different kinds of hoops, which Caterpillar Cross Stitch covers in their great guide to embroidery hoops. 

The post walks you through wooden, plastic, spring tension and flexi hoops (which I’ll admit to having never heard of; they’re made of vinyl and plastic apparently), as well as Q-Snap frames, which aren’t really hoops because they’re made of plastic tubes that you snap together in the size and shape you need. 

It also covers what size hoop you should use for the project you’re working on and how to actually use a hoop in the right way. 

Whether you’re new to cross stitch or more seasoned, you’re sure to pick up a tip or a product to try in this post, so go check it out over at Caterpillar Cross Stitch. 

Do you have a favorite kind of embroidery hoop to use for cross stitch, or do you go without? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]