Review: 100 Cross Stitch Patterns To Mix-and-Match by Jane Greenoff

Book Title: 100 Cross Stitch Patterns To Mix-and-Match

Designer/Author: Jane Greenoff

List Price: $24.99

Format: Spiralbound flipbook with two sections, upper section is motifs and borders, lower section is alphabets

Number of Projects: 58 pages of alphabets and borders and motifs

Information Included: Introduction, Tools and Equipment, Threads, Fabric, Starting to Stitch, Combining Charts or Patterns, How to Use the Book.

Charts and Designs: A wide variety of designs are included. Alphabets range in size from quite small to very large. Motifs include everything from traditional sampler elements, to houses, to fruit, to holiday, and even more.

The format of the book makes it easy to mix and match elements to find alphabets and motifs that work well together. Overall, I like the concept of the book, however, I find it hard to make many of the color combinations in the elements work for me when putting the alphabets and motifs and borders together, but color changes would be an easy to do.

With all the motifs and borders and alphabets in this book, it would be a great one to add to your stitching library.

Available at Amazon.com

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Fourth of July Cross Stitch Patterns

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]

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