Not OT: good day

larisa,

PLEASE, let me know where this shop, this mecca, is, so that I can add it to my slowly evolving XS shop database!!

Thanks

gillian

off kilter quilter wrote:

LOL! That reminds me of an advert we have on TV - a mother takes her 3 yearold into the Supermarket and SHE throws herself on the floor, kicking and screaming. It`s the look of horror on the kiddywinkie`s face that cracks me up. I`m SURE no-one warned him that this grownup was going to do that!

Some of these tiny cross stitch places are the best, aren`t they? We have one near here which is bursting at the seams. You always find loads of stuff you haven`t spotted before.

Pat

Sounds wonderful!

cheryl

There's a wonderful little shop like that in the Houston, TX, area -- when I first go in there, I always wondered why I made the effort, and yet I usually buy as much if not more than I do at my local LNS when I'm at home.

- Jere

Waynesboro, Virginia 1500 W. 11th street

remember, though it may be tiny, it is PACKED!! What I loved were the bins after bins of aida, linen, etc on one side and the bins after bins of floss and threads on the other...I could have spent an entire day there - if I didn't have DD with me!

I live in Houston (well, in Spring actually but close enough) - which shop are you referring to?

Nadia

Jere Williams wrote:

I think it's called 3 Stitches -- I know it's on Louetta.

Are there any other good ones in the area? We come down there every spring for a meeting for my dh, and I'm always looking for things to do to fill my time for those 3 days.

Oh - that one's just down the street from me - my subdivision's on Louetta, too. I was hoping you'd found a new one! They do have a super selection but I find that they're a bit mean sometimes as I'm considerably younger than the owner and so I get to hear about it quite a bit. The other day, I had brought my project in to get a Kreinik substitute for Rainbow something or other....and the other ladies commented on how nice the back of my work was but she had to jump in about how if I were truly talented, all the lines on the back would be vertical! It just felt so mean and condescending to me. So I try to avoid going there if I can get my stuff by other means - I never find that age is a factor in ability. But that shouldn't stop anyone else from going there - they do have a super selection and are very willing to order just about anything for you.

I know there's one in Richmond near Sugar Land.....I can't remember what it's called but I've heard superb things about them and about their customer service!

Here it is my last day at work before I go on maternity leave and I ought to be saving my money for diapers but instead I'm getting excited about a new LNS!! (It's a good thing DH doesn't read this newsgroup!!)

Nadia

Jere Williams wrote:

I agree, there is a woman there who is not at all friendly and is very condescending, and I suppose that's the owner you're talking about.

Since I only go there once a year, it's not a problem for me -- I just browse and relax, then go back to the hotel with my treasures!

It's a shame when shopowners are like that, though. They're really hurting themselves.

If she ever makes a comment like that again, you can says that even the designers rarely have all staight lines on the back, and that happens only when you stitch 'out and back'.(It was Charland Garvin that made that comment one time when I was in a class of hers). As well, point her to Darlene O'Steen's "The Proper Stitch for other ways of doing crosses. Some people consider that having all straight lines on the back is very, very, incorrect since they use 'english' (cross every stich as you go), and their backs would not have straight lines. Besides, if you are stitching with overdyes, you won't have straight lines.

She sounds like a proper cow.

MargW

OH, PLEASE, who ever said that the back has to have straight lines? And who died and made that woman the chief of stitch police? I stitch on the horizontal and sometime on the vertical it just depends on the design, thread and stitch I am using. I hope this shop owner never goes to England and visits the Royal School of Embroidery as she will be in for a mighty big surprise. The English think we Americans are a bit off since we want and expect the back of our embroidery to look as good as the front. Yes, the back should be neat but it does not have to be perfect. It is, after all the back!

That's the problem. It is all in how one defines "neat". One person will say that means the back shouldn't be excessively lumpy or show through to the front. Someone else won't be pleased unless the framer has to ask which side is the front because both sides look perfect. In both cases it is simply personal preference. As long as neither stitcher dictates to the other, all is well. Of course all bets are off if the stitcher is working a piece designed to be reversible.

"Nadia Abbasi" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

That is so stupid I feel like yelling. I have asked every person I ever took a course from (that includes three times at the Royal School of Needlework) and ALL have said so long as the back is not a rats nest that will make the work lumpy when framed, it is of no account.

So she is an idiot, ignore her.

And how many horror stories have we heard about people whose backs were so perfect that their work was framed inside-out? My backs are neat, but there are enough imperfections to make sure that won't happen to me.

Good advice, and beyond - what really matters is how the piece looks from the front when finished. When I was taking the judges certification training classes we all discussed that no one but the stitcher and framer/finisher ever see the back. What's important is no bumps, lumps, or thread shadows carrying thru to the front (even when we look at a piece from the side - as in across the plain of the stitching it should be level

-except for stitches that are supposed to be built up, or beads, etc).

Of course, being me, I'd ask her what spoiled her day and leave while pointing out there are plenty of other places that value customers and are happier to take your money.

ellice

You know, somewhere between being "just" a stitcher to a charter (eeewww, still don't like that "designer" tag 'cuz I just don't FEEL like one), I lost my back-of-work OCD.

A. I'll never get anything done if I worry about it and

B. I've decided to go with the school of thought that says that the more thread on the back, the longer lived the piece and

C. I also found out I actually LIKE stitching English (it's that instant gratification thing), especially when it's most useful for the more mosaic-type pieces.

As to the comment about age being no indicator of ability, remember also that age is no indicator of wisdom.

Nor is age any indication of maturity or knowledge. That being said, looks like I need to work on the knowledge part at the moment, so enlighten me: what do you mean by "stitching English" please?

-- Carey in MA

I'm sorry. You know what they say about assuming.

It's where you make a complete x as you go across the row instead of making half the x one way and then coming back crossing the x.

English = xxxxxxxxxx Danish = //////////// then going back \\\\\\\\\\\\