Quick to Stitch Cross Stitch Keepsakes

by Helen Phillips and Helen Philipps

Book Overview

? Addresses the key need of time-starved cross stitchers - personal designs that are quick to stitch ? The author's prior title, Quick & Clever Cross Stitch sold over 29,000 copies and won an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0715327526
• ISBN13: 9780715327524
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: David & Charles
• Length: 105 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.6" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Big Things Come in Small Packages

I have to admit that Helen Philipps is one of my favorite designers. Her pieces can be called whimsical by some and dear to the heart by others but she is dedicated to helping cross-stitchers accomplish excellence. This book is for the stitcher who wants to have a few things made up as special gifts and doesn't have much time to do it. But, though they are small they are charming and will become treasured momentos to the recipient. Helen's color pallette is so cheerful that I always smile when I open her books and this is no exception. Her charts are clear and color coded. Some of them have symbol codes as well. However, in my copy of the paperback, the symbol in the color key on page 41 is wrong. It should be on the mauve. I haven't checked the other charts yet. If you follow her color coding you can't stray and will have something to be proud of. There are lots of choices even a little teddybear and some ragggedy designs for young children. There is a small Wedding Sampler and luggage tags, A New Home picture and a Friendship one also, affirmation pillows and Bon Voyage wishes. I do want to be very clear here. This is not like her other books. There is not a great amount of detail here and there are no intricate designs. It's usually easy to tell what the motto of her books are. If I had to guess I'd say that this one was, "Keep It Simple." In short, great variety here, quick and easy, small and fun. These are happy pieces and make me happy too.

Great for gifts

I consider myself an experienced stitcher, but these simple patterns are perfect to do quickly as gifts for others. Patterns are small and can be finished in as little time as a week (and, as a new mom, I don't have a lot of spare time!). I'm not sure how many of these I would stitch for myself, since I prefer complicated patterns for my own keepsakes, but when I get tired of the projects that take lots of time, I can whip up one of these and have a great feeling of completion. I recommend this book for beginners and for experienced stitchers who want a few quick projects.