Magazine reviews

I had started doing this a few months ago, but I never kept up with it. I am hoping to start doing this regularly. I hope no one takes offense; just like there are numerous people who review fashion, consider this an other view.

Today at lunch, which was a bad idea, I headed out to Barnes and Noble to get my British magazines. It's always a crap shoot with them, you never know when they will get the magazines. And I am addicted to them. Anyway, explanations commence:

I will start with US Cross Country Stitching, December 2007. I am normally not a fan of this magazine. I don't do religious things and I find that they have WAYYY too many religious samplers. Not to mention that their religious verses tend to have LITTLE to NOTHING to do with the design. I have a pic at home which proves this. Anyway, it being close to the holiday season, 9 weeks for you all that care, they have some Christmas designs. The cover design is of the Holly and the Ivy with a nativity scene. It's OK, but maybe not the best choice of the nativity. There are some sweet little Christmas ornaments if you like country angels. Also a really cute design with cats and crocks and boxes. It's cute, stitched in linen threads--no big deal to convert to the regular DMC, though, but the design doesn't match the verse. It says "blessed is he who considers the helpless, the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble." I don't know what is supposed to be helpless, the cats or the crocks? I would probably substitute something about cats. There is folk art design. I don't like it. A design called Hearts and Stitches, really a welcome, but there are some cute litttle motifs. There's a Love & Friendship sampler which is alright. Not my thing to stitch. But it's OK, you could pick out of it for a round robin or something. The rest of the issue is Christmas stitching. There is a nice angel and some small things you could hang, including a bellpull, and a little design about Jesus is the reason for the season. All in all, it's an OK issue. I don't buy this magazine often, because I'm not a country fan--country may match my accent, but it doesn't match the beachy lifestyle I love.

I also purchased Cross Stitch Collection. It's a good issue. They have a beautiful Anchor sampler of wildlife. It has a field mouse. I love fieldmice. And a pic of a Japanese maple tree. My parents have one of those, so I might stitch that. I am not a fan of the Wuthering Heights design. I don't like the book, the movie bored me, I wouldn't want to stitch the picture. But I do have to note that they are doing a Joan Elliott angel next issue. It says it's a masterpiece. I thought the winter angel was a masterpiece too. How many masterpieces does one need to stitch . . . or design? And doesn't that cheapen the word "masterpiece" eventually. And I must say, this was a thinner issue than normal, or at least it felt that way. For $12US, it should be thicker.

Lastly, we come to Cross Stitch Favorites. It's nice this year, it's a Christmas issue, featuring the best of the Christmas designs from the people who do WOXS. Some of them, I have, some I don't, so it was nice. There are lots of designs that could be used for ornaments, perfect for exchanges. I even saw penguins; my friend Steve would like those.