Life's a Circus

Or, shall we say, a Cirque!

Here is Cirque des Cercles, as performed by the lovely Beatrice using only Navy Blue Jobelin evenweave, 4072 variegated DMC and her own bare hands!  Well, technically she probably used a hoop, a lamp, and a needle, but it sounds much more dramatic the first way.

And now, may I direct your gaze to the ring near the elephant cage. You may remember back in March when the daring Stefanie showed us her Cirque des Cercles and gave us a glimpse of diamonds to come?  Let us say the months of hard work and training have paid off.  Here, never before seen in its entirety, on this blog: Stefanie's Cirque des Carreaux!

Ladies and Gentlemen, won't you give these two ladies a hand, . Woot Woot! Now, watch as Gregor, the Human Cannonball prepares for this next death-defying feat.

Word Association

I say Quaker. You say...since you are likely a stitcher if you're reading this...something like "sampler" or "Ackworth".  But that's not much of a game, is it?  Let's try again with a random non-stitcher. 
I say Quaker.  You say...

Oatmeal.

Toppings?

Raisins.

Berries?

Strawberries.

Acorns?






Squirrels.

I see the game has kinda gone to pot.


 

Hungry for the Oatmeal  Quaker? Fill your bowl at the Online Needlework Show that starts Thursday the 21st.  The show is wholesale only, so you'll need to ask your favorite shop to get a copy for you. ($10 suggested retail price.)  It's stitched with 2 skeins of Belle Soie silk in Briar Patch on 32 ct Vintage Pearled Barley by Lakeside Linens. You'll want to pick some of that up too.

Celtic Needlebook - Freebies in Action

Marianne shows us here that a little ingenuity can lead to a great finish.  She used one of the complementary Celtic knot designs from my site, adapting it from a square to a rectangle to suit her needlebook application.  I had the chance to meet Marianne during a recent trip to visit the Northwest Sampler Guild in Seattle.  What a super friendly and talented group of ladies!  Her stitching (and knitting) was exquisite, as you can see in the pictures she shared below.  Thanks, Marianne for the inspiring photos.

Now, here is another of my freebie graphs that Cathy in Virgina has stitched. I love those colors on the black, and it's our friendly ubiquitous DMC (variations)!  What is your favorite way to finish up a square like this into a small?

Stop Copyright Abuse Now

You're going to hear a lot more about this - hopefully everywhere you turn.

All I can say is that it sure bums me out to catch wind of one of my patterns posted on one of those sharing sites.  My artwork is really crappy when I'm bummed. You don't want crappy designs, do you?

Here is a new website that has sprung up specifically to champion this issue: http://needleworkcopyright.blogspot.com/