From the Manila Police Blotter

I know it's hard to run a cross stitch store for profit, but I promise to never stoop this low:

Printing shops, second-hand book stores, art and cross-stitch supply shops, locksmiths and watch repair stalls act as fronts for counterfeiting work stations.

Click here for the whole boring story about document counterfeiting in the Philippines

Circle Game

Of the things I liked on Hoffman's new releases for May, I like this one the most:

March Balloons (Wright), from Heartland House

I think it's a pretty nice adaptation. Easy to stitch, to be sure. No doubt this will make into my already full rotation.

Edit: I've uploaded a bunch of Heartland House back titles to StitchStash.com today. Click here to view them all!

This Just In

The weekend mail call included some new fabrics from Picture This Plus.

The colors, L to R, are: Monster Mash, Phoenix, French Lilac, Legacy, DaVinci, Willow, Lily Pad, and Fossil. All are dyed over Zweigart products, in this case Cashel and Belfast linens.

I had seen this vendor at previous markets, but hadn't yet taken the plunge. I'm glad I did. The browns are very rich, and I think a lot of sampler/primitive pieces would work great. The shading is very intense, so I wouldn't recommend the rich color linens for just anything. Maybe a monochromatic piece with a good high-contrast color? Certainly metallics would work, too. Hmm, what do you think?

[Side note: my education continues. The file should appear now!]