Scarlet Quince News
October 2013

The online Needlework Show is under way! We apologize for the short notice. If you haven't visited it before, it's a nice showcase of various needlework designers. Only retailers can buy through the show but it's a good way to see what's new. It closes Tuesday night (October 22) so if you want to visit, don't delay.

We have more new pictures in the gallery! Sometimes we have trouble keeping up, but we love seeing your work and reading your comments.

Flower Window, by Carl Larsson, one of our new patterns this month, was a suggestion. We are waiting to hear from the person who suggested it so that we can send her her copy.

By the way, if you have made suggestions in the past and subsequently changed your email address, be aware that if you update your email address on the member services page, it will automatically be updated on your suggestions. If you just resubscribe under a new email address, we have no way of making the connection. If you think the email address associated with your suggestions may be out of date, please email us (include name and both the old and new addresses).

If you've ever tried to take a picture of your cross stitch, you have probably found it can be pretty tricky to get a good picture. The camera refuses to focus, the flash makes a white spot right in the middle, or the color is terrible -- sometimes all of the above!

We've added a section to the tips pages covering some tricks and things to be aware of to improve your pictures. Don't worry, you don't have to become a photography guru, although we strongly recommend you read your manual! At least the sections on resolution and compression options, minimum focal distance, flash settings, and white balance settings (if your camera has that).

The section is too long to include here (and there are a lot of pictures), but here's a little sample.

Even if your picture is framed under glass, you should probably photograph it using the flash. You need a lot of light for a short exposure, and if you turn the flash off you are likely to move a little during the exposure and your picture will be blurry. If you put it in bright indirect light, you'll get reflections in the glass of the surrounding objects. But don't take the picture straight on -- if you do, the flash will reflect straight off the glass and back into the camera lens, producing a big white spot in the picture. Take the picture at a bit of an angle. Now the flash illuminates the cross stitch but doesn't reflect back into the camera lens. This may make the frame not quite rectangular, but this can be corrected digitally. If you don't have glass over your cross stitch, you shouldn't have any issues taking the picture straight on.

Christmas Morning

Flower Window
Carl Larsson

Z is for Zephyr
Jessie Willcox Smith