Wow, what a crazy month this has been! There's not much of it left but as we write it is still April so this is the April newsletter. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

We have several updates in our gallery, three new finished pieces and further progress on one we previously posted. Make sure you stop by and see them. And send us pictures of your Scarlet Quince work in progress!

Ann D. McCulley, of Dallas, Texas won a copy of Mountain of the Holy Cross - Thomas Moran which she was the first to suggest. Interestingly, this is a real place (in Colorado). The cross effect can only be seen at certain times of the year, from certain pretty inaccessible places. Moran painted many other western landscapes, and partly as a result of his work, the Yellowstone area became our first national park!

Tip: One Tip is Enough

Have you seen the double-tipped needles in the shops? They are longer than normal needles, with an eye in the middle and are pointed at both ends. They are supposed to make stitching faster because you don't have to turn the needle around. You come up through the fabric and the needle is already in position for going back down.

We gave them a try recently. OK, we're gullible. It seems to us that we turn the needle around pretty automatically as we move the needle to its new position, and that the thing that really takes time is moving our hand from the lower side of the fabric to the top and back. Sure enough, we couldn't see that these needles made stitching any faster. Now if you were using a floor stand AND were ambidextrous so you could keep one hand below the fabric and the other above, then you might really cook!

A few of our latest patterns... Click for a closer view, or see all the latest here

A Young Hare Albrecht Durer	The Arnolfini Marriage Jan van Eyck	The Church at Vernon Claude Monet	Sunrise, Yosemite Valley Albert Bierstadt

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