Thursday, Oct 4 2007 

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Jennifer
(http://astitchinwri nkledtime. blogspot. com/) and is:

What are your favorite online stitching supply sources?

The permalink to this post is:
http://blog. blondelibrarian. net/archives/ 2007/10/sbq- sources/

Happy Stitching!

Renée

I used Sew and So  a couple of times in the past and am very pleased with their customer service. (seems few companies actually have the business culture and know how to communicate properly with customers).  The negative side is that Sew’s prices are quite high.

I am also glad that Patterns Online  exists. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t get the TW’s I have now - at least not in the next couple of years. I wish more of the renowned designers submit their patterns there.

Various Thursday, Aug 30 2007 

 

1. Indeed it looks way better in real life. I spent some time yesterday just standing and staring at it. The reference photo is IMO good enough to give a hint that they will look really good when stitched. But I also see that too few people have actually stitched them, which is a miss. I highly recommend them, they all will look really stunning.

2. Happy Beefday to me. So it happens for a couple of years already that for one reason or another I have to celebrate another day, mostly during the weekend. Dull.

3. Regarding b-day presents and ordering online, I am annoyed at a certain company. Wanting to save some money from price and shipping, I decided to order the Best of TW fantasy collection II book from ABC Stitch Therapy. Book 20 dollars, shipping 10 dollars, looks fine so far. I placed the order on August 21-st, received a confirmation email, and since then I haven’t heard from them. They write in the email “We will be sending you a shipping notification email when your order is ready to ship.” But after one week has passed I emailed their orders department about the status of my order. (”You may inquire about your order’s status at any time by emailing us at  orders@abcstitch.com) No reply. Now *this* is already insolent. I’ve dealt with similar US companies on my previous job, so I know this type of behavior, and in such cases we had to pick up the phone, call them and make them do their job. So if I was there I’d call them, but now I have to just wait and see what will happen. They haven’t charged my credit card, and overally it looks like they’ve disappeared from the face of the earth. Suppose some of you might have dealt with them too, and even if everything went well with you, here so far it is just not showing well about them. So no matter if they ship it in the end or reply, I won’t be ordering from them again. This is a neglectful attitude to customers.

Even if we mind a possibility that my email was not received for some reason, the way I understand business, is that the firm itself is responsible to notify the customer in the moment there is any kind of delay, and also initially inform him of a possible time-period when he can expect his order to be processed. I have witnessed a good business approach, when I ordered from Sew and So a couple of years ago, they sent me a confirmation and on the next day emailed me again, saying that they don’t have the item currently in stock and I will have to wait for a few days, for which they apologize. After a few days (two in fact) they emailed again saying that they already received it in stock, apologized (again) for the delay and added that the item was already shipped. I also have good impressions from Patterns Online, I emailed them with some payment related questions and received a very detailed reply on the same day.

More stash from Patterns Online… Wednesday, Apr 4 2007 

…because of the following good news: Teresa Wentzler will be releasing one design from the Best of Sampler Collection every month through December 2007. Birth Announcement  already went to my wish list.

I wish I could finish Rose Tree soon so to start the next acquisition :D

Rose tree in bloom progress part 4 Sunday, Mar 11 2007 

(cross-posted to Solarium Sublime needlework forum)

I am quite behind my schedule with it, but still it moves along well. The part that did not went into the scanner is a completed upper left border (at the top), so now I am moving to filling the middle areas - flowers. This is the third page and it will take more time because it’s bigger than the previous two. In terms of upkeeping interest, I am really looking forward to working on the flowers because the repetitions of the border for the 3-rd time already make me a bit bored.

On the good news front, Teresa Wentzler  announced a future release of more designs at PatternsOnline, the designs from Best of Sampler Collection book. I am really anticipating this, as some of the designs are in my “mandratory to stitch” list. If they’re available at PatternsOnline the “someday” may easily change into “next one to stitch” for me :)  

TW stash! Friday, Feb 2 2007 

It is official - I was finally able to purchase stuff from Patterns Online. Firstly I was stuck because they refused VISA Electron (now that is real shame). It took a couple more days to have hb get an electronic credit card which was safely accepted. Long live EU, we made payment methods expansion within a few weeks!  Now this is to feel like human beings. /me avoids going into political rant although me wants to.

Congratulate me? :) Indeed, I directly did a massive, shameless, money-throwing, joyful adding of several charts.

The Fortunate Traveller

This one will have to undergo some form alterations but when I get to working on it.

Knotwork Bookmarks I

Honestly I do not like the other serie II but I plan to stitch all 8 from this serie. You might want to start taking note of my promises if you so desire *g*.

next is The Minstrel

Looks very difficult and that’s why it will be stitched when yours truly accumulates enough experience. But is gorgeous nonetheless.

The queen of the day, Rose Tree in Bloom is something that has caught my attention from a long time. While I am not a huge fan of Art Noveau, I spent quite a time looking at this Rose Tree and trying to find out whether I like it or not and whether such design will fit anywhere in my house. I ended up with a big “like” and a very strong desire to stitch it. I am starting it now.

Flower Quartet

Following my new addiction I obtained this one as well. The colors could have been a bit brighter but overally is very nice. (besides this is just a photo, the finished piece might look brighter in RL). I hesitated about the Fruit Quartet, though. Maybe someday.

Hint: All wool-cross designs seem of very low difficulty and most probably will be stitched very fast and pleasant.

The one most “hesitative” is

The Princess and the Dragon. It went under the “better to have because who knows how my taste might vary in future”. This means at the moment I am not in awe but once again rule number I: we have proof whether a design looks good or not after stitching it or seeing it stitched in RL.

And that’s it. Perhaps this is just a beginning of the “Aquirement of TW stash in huge quantities.” But I am also selective as I picked only the designs I would stitch - this makes 6 out of 29 available at the site. The rest do not speak to me. Paisley Corner and Fruit Quartet are on gueue, though.

For those who might be interested to excersize their TW-holic nature, a more direct link to the designs is http://www.patternsonline.com/Designers/Designers.aspx?L=W

Self-inspiration Saturday, Sep 30 2006 

If you want to see a well-done finished “Castle”, by Rebekah.

http://p203.ezboard.com/fteresawentzlerfrm21.showMessage?topicID=586.topic

As far as I can tell it’s on Aida, so respect also goes to the amount of work put for the quarter stitches. To admit, I still kinda like more how the empty parts of the background look on Aida than on smaller count fabrics, but this is my “order well visible” part. This finished piece is quite an inspiration for myself to move on.

On a side note, I ordered “Daffodils” DMC kit today. So starteth the “stash-acquiring” epoch. The kit must arrive after 2 weeks from France, after that I might order the next one in the list, but will keep to “one order per month or per two” rule. Discipline, people, discipline.

TW Books Tuesday, May 9 2006 

…and thinking of also ordering Best of TW Sampler Collection sometime after they (or rather she, my relative's wife) brings me the first book from Germany. These books are really worth it because although I have maximum 2-3 of the designs from the book in my "to-do" list, the price of a single chart (if bought seperatedly) is equal to half of the book's price. And who knows, I might want to do the rest of the designs someday.

In the Sampler Collection there are few designs that interest me very much: the Camelot Sampler, English Garden Sampler and most of all the Fantasy Sampler. Worth buying the book, as by "interest me" I mean "plan to stitch". In the Fantasy Collection  which I have to check if is already ordered, there are only two designs that I want to stitch: The Castle and Castle Sampler. I very much insist on the Castle Sampler so decided it is again worth it as I cannot buy the chart separatedly.

The Christmas Collection also has two designs that interest me: Gabriel and Byzantine Ornaments. If you imagine the Gabriel guy without angel wings, you'll get a nice and well-designed medieval-type sorcerer/priest/or just a kind looking figure. But I am hesitating to buy the whole book as these two articles are small (not big projects).

There is a fourth book that will be available "sometime this fall", again a Fantasy Collection. Rumor is that it will contain:

Enchanter
Celestial Dragon
The Guardian
The Storyteller
Fantasy Triptych
Mermaid
Tradewinds

and the mini designs:

Peacock Majesty
Gentle Creature
Castle Ridge
Above the Clouds
I am interested in most of the designs in there, especially the Enchanter, the Storyteller and Tradewinds. WILL buy as soon as it is available on amazon.de. A big "want". Hope my folks are still in Germany at that time! 

P.S. Just spoke w her, she's coming on June 6-th and the book is ordered and waiting to arrive.

Protected: New source, maybe. Monday, May 1 2006 

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:


Protected: Live presentation Saturday, Apr 22 2006 

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: