Hello stitching friends,

Scarlet Quince has been online for 7 years as of the beginning of April! Where has the time gone? A big, big thank you to all of you for making us successful!

We have a lot of beautiful and interesting new pictures in the gallery! There is progress on All is Vanity, one of our black-and-white pieces. There are also new pictures of A Young Hare and Job Lot Cheap, stitched as needlepoint! These were stitched on 18-count Zweigart canvas using 4 strands of DMC floss (2 of each color for the blends). The stitcher notes that she tried using 24-count congress cloth with 2 strands but the coverage was not as good as she would have liked. (Remember, needlepoint looks like a half cross stitch -- only one leg of the cross -- so the floss coverage with a given number of strands and fabric will always be half that of full cross stitch.) For her needlepoint pieces, she uses a frame of 3/4" pieces made to fit the canvas, to keep the work from getting distorted (always a danger with needlepoint).

There's lots more, too. If you haven't visited the gallery in a while, you'll find plenty of new pieces and updates there -- just keep scrolling down!

The Online Needlework Show opens soon! While it is a wholesale show (only needlework retailers can buy at the show), everyone can window-shop and it's a great place to discover new designers or the latest from your favorites. You can ask your local retailer to order your finds -- or the show has a list of participating shops.

Retailers, if you have not registered for the show yet, use code HU0OT to have the fee waived (that's HU zero oh T). But hurry, there is a late fee if you register after the 9th. We'll be there, with doorprizes and show specials!

The Sheepherder
Thomas Hart Benton

Spring in the Country
Grant Wood

An Orchard in Spring
Claude Monet

An Interesting Book
Seymour Joseph Guy