Cross Stitch Discounts

Reviews

Bought this for my mother who is an avid, accomplished cross-stitcher. She loves Alphonse Mucha, so I knew this was the perfect gift for her. She doesn't have a computer so I spent over $40 to have a local print shop transfer all the data from the dvd (instructions, color codes, etc.) to printed form. Spent $13 to send it to her (it ended up being several hundred sheets, yes 100's). She rec'vd it...loved it, then hated it. The patterns were so hard to see w/o a magnifying glass, insidiously detailed, just plain overwhelming. She said there was NO WAY she would even attempt 1 of the patterns, as it would take her years to complete one... so many color changes, etc. This coming from a woman who cross-stitches EVERY day of her life, and has produced numerous projects and masterpieces. Again, the dvd is well worth the price, but unless you want to devote a portion of your life to one of these projects, you better think twice. As it turns out, I spent $80 for naught, and am totally deflated that my "big gift" turned out to be a goose egg.

I can't say enough about how exciting it is to be able to reproduce some of my favorite works of art in cross-stitch. I have a close friend who is a major Mucha fan, and she will be overwhelmed by her gift.

Reviews

this is an older book and everything is charted in a single color or in two colors (red and black) -- it's not fancy in that way -- but it is just as solid as can be -- there are wonderful patterns small, medium, and large -- lots of borders. great for handtowels, mats/napkins, tablecloths. highly recommend.

The book was just as described. The seller was fast in responding and sending the item. Would do business with again.

The designs in this book are absolutely stunning, beautiful, and versatile. There is also a great variety of designs one could use for many projects and gifts. The designs are special because they are indeed a kind of historical record of the peoples who stitched them. Some of them had even been stitched with human hair! The only thing that disappointed me is there wasn't much history presented about the designs. I would have also liked to know a little bit about the families who had them as family heirlooms. There was a brief introduction about some of the styles, but it wasn't very organized. I found myself spending some time on writing what I could find about the designs next to the plates so I had some kind of reference to where they came from. However, the authors put a lot of research into presenting as many designs as accurately as possible. According to the book, they had to view some of the finished pieces under a magnifying glass to graph them accurately. If you are of European ancestry and love traditional cross stitch/embroidery desings, and if you want something authentic, special, and creative, then you will love this book. The designs are presented in black and white, and the charts are clear,large, and easy to follow. Also there are LOTS of them. If you worked out of this book alone, you could spend years stitching. In my opinion, this book is worth much more than I paid for it.

Reviews

This is just plain fun! Motifs galore, color coded pages, an index that can't be beat, borders abounding. You name it, "motif-wise" it's introduced here, home and garden, flowers with ribbons and streamers, quilt designs, and art nouveau, hobbies and occupations, animals, holidays and many childrens ideas. They are simple but they are delightful and very workable. They even show how backstitch in a certain color will enhance a design. If you are hesitant about mixing color this might be the first book you want because they do that for you. There is a conversion chart at the back of the book so that you can shop for the correct color floss with ease. Just as important, a section for proper preparation and care of your work is included. I learned the hard way that this is critical. A large piece I had just finished was ruined because I took the advice of the kit manufacturer instead of following what I had learned a long time ago about the care of a cross-stitch piece. Trust the authors and enjoy your art.

This book has several unique designs to stitch. The pattens are made up of X's instead of colored blocks or patterns. This makes it a bit harder to follow, but many of the designs are cute and neat. Most of the patterns are on the smaller side. Not too many large designs. I'm very pleased with this purchase.

The spiral binding on this book is it's only positive. I haven't found a single thing in this book I would like to stitch. The graphs are done with colored Xs which make it difficult to distinguish between similar colors, and to imagine what the finished product will look like. The colors are not given in Anchor or DMC format, but in other numbers that you then have to look up the DMC or Anchor numbers in the back. Finally there are very few designs for each category. For example, there are only about four or five small pages of Christmas designs. Christmas is a very large subject to design from. Did they run out of ideas? Rather than this book, buy the Better Homes and Gardens 2000 Cross Stitch Designs. There are so many more designs for many more topics, and stitched pictures are given so you know what you'll be working on.

This is a wonderful book: the spiral bound format makes it perfect to work from. The motifs themselves are clearly presented and lend themselves to stitching on all manner of items. From bookmarks to babywear, from towels to tableclothes: there is something here for every stitcher! Highly recommended. Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I highly recommend this book to anyone who cross stitches. I got it from the library and loved it so much that I purchased it. It has pages and pages of really cute patterns. This would be a perfect book for someone who designs their own samplers or for someone who enjoys stitching smaller designs, even on bookmarks. This one is a keeper!