A little about my likes and dislikes

I'm involved in several exchanges, so I thought I'd post a little about my likes and dislikes here.

About Me

I've been stitching since I was a small child, thanks to my crafty mum - so that's more than thirty years, although it's only in the last ten or fifteen that it's become almost obsessive! I live in the middle of England with my Canadian partner (referred to in my blog as The Hermit) and two guinea pigs. I'm studying for a degree in Literature and Creative Media - principally because my other obsession is books! I also work part time for a circus theatre company as a Community Project Manager. My other hobbies include yoga, books, knitting and eating chocolate.

I have Multiple Sclerosis, which does mean I have to pace myself. I'm not very good at doing nothing though, so stitching is a real sanity saver!

I'm pretty easy to please on exchanges - this list below isn't intended to be prescriptive!

Favourites

Favourite designers: Bent Creek, Lizzie*Kate, Prairie Schooler, Shepherd's Bush, Little House Needleworks, Brenda Keyes, Heart in Hand, The Drawn Thread, Brightneedle, Homespun Elegance.

Favourite style: folky, slightly quirky, traditional

Favourite subjects: alphabets, bees, sheep, bunnies, seasons, stitching

Favourite colours: autumnal shades (rusts, golds, oranges), yellow, purple, green, jewel colours (rich rubies and the like)

Favourite threads: DMC, Gentle Arts Sampler Threads, House of Embroidery, most overdyes.

Favourite fabrics: evenweaves and linens in neutral/natural colours, 28 and 32 count.

Favourite finishes: anything - I have several baskets for "smalls".

Favourite techniques: cross stitch, blackwork, hardanger, freehand embroidery. For someone who likes blackwork, I actually try to avoid as much backstitch as I can on cross stitched pieces!

Dislikes:

Designers I'm not keen on: Marilyn Leavitt Imblum, Ellen Maurer Stroh, Vermilion Stitchery, Stoney Creek

Styles I'm not keen on: Sentimental, flowery, cartoon (Disney etc), conversions of artwork (HAED etc)

Subjects I'm not keen on: angels, fairies, cats, teddy bears, religious

Colours I'm not keen on: blue, pastel pinks

Threads I'm not keen on: Weeks Dye Works, rayons, metallics

Fabrics I'm not keen on: blues, bright primary colours

Finishes I'm not keen on: none

Techniques I'm not keen on: none

Charts/Kits Wishlist - March 2009

This is something of an aide memoire for me - I don't expect to acquire all these charts, I don't have room to display all the completed stitching LOL.

Bent Creek
The Lighthouse
Blue Bird Sampler
Brown Bird Sampler
Cabin in the Woods
Cow
Gobble
Red Bird Sampler - thank you!
The Swirly Sampler
Yule

Snappers:
Happy Arbor Day
Happy Christmas - thank you!
Happy Easter
Happy Hallowe'en
Thanksgiving

Elizabeth's Designs
Black Sheep Sampler

Lizzie*Kate
Easter Sampler
Easter Flip It
Halloween Flip It
Christmas Flip It
Gather A Harvest
Happy New Year
Thankful Sampler
Big Girl Panties

Prairie Schooler
A*B*C
Autumn Leaves
Christmas Day
Country Seasons
Daffodils
Farmer's Almanac
J*K*L
M*N*O
Measure of a Year
The Needle's Eye - thank you!
Old MacDonald
P*Q*R
Pins and Needles - thank you!
Pumpkin Patch
Rain Rain Go Away
S*T*U
Spring Has Come
Summer Samplers (OOP)
Fall Samplers (OOP)
Summer Breeze
Thanksgiving Comes Again
Two By Two
V*W*V
Weather Wise
Winter Wind
Y and Z

Praiseworthy Stitches
Be Ye Loving

Shepherd's Bush (these are kits - I would be happy with just a used chart!)
The Wool Gatherer
Americana Roll
Bee Garden
Bee Keeper's Cottage
Bee Scissor Fob
Bees
Birdhouse Roll
Blackberrie Sampler
Busy
Easter Egg Roll
English Christmas Roll
Fa La La
Folk Heart Roll
Friendship Roll
Garden Roll
Happy Day Roll
Happy Wishes Fob
Harvest Fob
In My Garden Needleroll
Keeping the Bees
Lamb Bag
Love Fob
My Garden
Pansy Roll
Pine Pin Roll
Pumpkin Hill
Shepherd's Hill
Soft Spring
Spring Scissor Fob
St Nick Roll
Thanksgiving Needleroll
Thisbe Roll
Tudor Roll
Violet Roll

Shepherd's Bush - charts
- any freebie charts, especially those with sheep, lambs, bees or bee hives
Shepherd's Earth

The Drawn Thread
Brown Ranch
English Garden Pocket
For The Birds
Hana's Little Spot
Linen and Lace
Little Spot Sampler
Minute Spot
The Perennial Border
Real Roses
The Riddle
Sanctuary
Souvenir Sampler
Spot of Autumn
Sunflower Bellpull
Treasure Box
Two Friends
Wayward Garden
Welcome Spot

Homespun Elegance
Colonial Life I
Friendship and Blossoms
Miniature Samplers IV
Miniature Samplers VII
Sheep May Safely Graze
Spring Patches
Summer Patches
The Stitcher II


Little House Needleworks
Freebies I haven't got (I have Summer House, Thankful for Ewe, Early America, Star Light Star Bright, Miniature Garden Game Board)
Blossoms and Blackbirds
Blackbird Inn
My Needle's Work
The Bookshelf
The Counting House
Abigail Winslow
Elizabeth McGuire
Emmaline Whitcomb
Hannah Purington
Julia Flynn
Lucy Fairchild
Mary Heaton
Rebecca Small
Garden Pleasures
Gourmet Garden
Herb Garden
Moon and Stars
Morning Berries
Nature's Beauty
Necessities Sampler
Needlework School
Night and Day
Sampler Lady
Season of Growth
Season of Hope
Season of Plenty
Season of Rest
Starlight Sampler
Willow Tree Inn

Brightneedle
Finger Lakes Sampler
Little Houses Sampler
Quiet Night Sampler


Carriage House Samplings
Haunting Mermaid
The Mairmaid's Song
Mermaid

Country Cottage Needleworks
Daisy Sampler
My Beloved
Raspberry Patch
Sunflower Sampler

Periwinkle Promises
April Sampler Accent

The Trilogy
Autumnology
Cardiology
Celebration: Autumn
Celebration: Summer
Celebration: Winter
Christmas with Friends
Easter Spots
Family
Gardening Spots
Halloween Spots
Happy Heart Heart Day
Happy Ho Ho Day
Happy Mom Mom Day
Ornamentology
Seaology
Simple Blessings
Springology
Summerology
Thanksgiving Spots
Trilogy Square
Winterology
Zoo Lineup
Any of the long legged "bird" charts, apart from Valentine

The Goode Huswife
In The Beeman's Garden
1798 Quaker
Live Simply

Threads and Fabric Wishlist - Updayed 19 August

For trades and exchanges, I'm happy to receive most things - although I'm not keen on metallics, or Weeks Dyes Works threads. My favourite colours are autumnal shades, plums, purples & greens. I'm not a fan of pastels or blues.

I usually stitch in DMC or Anchor for solid colours. My favourite hand dyed threads are Gentle Arts Sampler Threads.

This is a list of specific colours I'm after, it mainly here to help me complete sets.

Anchor Multi colour Stranded Cotton

1300, 1301, 1303, 1316, 1318, 1342, 1347, 1352, 1353, 1355, 1360, 1385, 1390

Gentle Arts Sampler Threads

Any colours will do really, but these are ones I would especially like:

Aged Pewter, Apple Cider, Apricot Blush, Autumn, Baby Spinach, Bayberry, Berry Cobbler, Black Raspberry Jam, Blackboard, Bluebell, Bubblegum, Buttercrunch, Buttermilk, Camoflage, Chalk, Chamomile, Cinders, Cotton Candy, Currant, Daffodil, Daisy, Dark Chocolate, Dungarees, Freedom, Gingersnap, Grape Arbor, Grasshopper, Green Pasture, Harvest Moon, Holly Berry, Huckleberry, Jasmine, Kiwi, Lambswool, Lemon Drops, Lexington Green, Liberty, Mint Jubilee, Mistletoe, Mountain Mist, Mustard Seed, Old Hickroy, Orange Marmalade, Pebble, Picket Fence, Poinsettia, Punchberry, Raven, Royal Purple, Rustic Cottage, School House Red, School Yard, Shaker White, Spring Grass, Stormy Skies, Sugarplum, Summer Fields, Sweet Pea, Sweet Petunia, Tea Rose, Tin Bucket, Tutti Frutti, Uniform Blue, Weathered Barn,

Fabrics

28 count and 32 count linens and evenweaves in neutral to dark colours are my favourites. I'm always happy to receive fabric in cream, antique white, flax, bone or parchment shades.

Welcome!

This is a little spot to organise trades, exchanges etc - both stitching and book related (I'm a member of Bookcrossing and BCUK). It's also going to act as an aide memoire for things I would like, someday...


I'm based in the United Kingdom, so please take postage (both to and from...) into account when arranging trades.