We are delighted to showcase for you some exciting new needlecraft goodies in the warehouse this month! Winter seems to have finally gone into hiding now and, on some days, it even seems like spring has come and gone too. We are following this movement towards summer in our top picks this month – it’s all about landscapes, views and journeys to different places.

A change of scenery with Caterpillar Cross Stitch

Always a popular choice, and the inspiration behind many beautiful cross stitch designs, Caterpillar have excelled themselves this month with two new summery kits! With Shine Bright, on the left, take a journey with them to a vivid seaside location, complete with a vibrant, red-topped lighthouse, calm blue water and bright fields in the distance. The little boats bobbing on the serene water add an aura of calm to this charming scene – who wouldn’t want to visit for a quiet break by the water?!

Alternatively, if mountains and lakes are more your location of choice, maybe take a trip into the great outdoors with Caterpillar’s Wandering Peaks kit. With lush, green trees in the foreground, surrounding a calm, aqua lake, the snow-topped mountains stretch up to a background sky filled with sun rays and soft clouds, The charming, pastel colour palette will delight – you can almost feel the cool, mountain breeze and smell the pine trees!

Each kit from Caterpillar Cross Stitch includes: full, easy-to-follow instructions; a printed, colour pattern; pre-sorted DMC threads; 14 count aida from Zweigart; and a needle.

Embroider a new view for yourself!

Hawthorn Handmade have two new embroidery kits that fit perfectly into our theme of journeys and new landscapes – Highland Hike and Harvest Time!

And DMC are also in the mood for new beginnings and a change of scenery with two exciting embroidery kits, Ocean Rain and New York City!

Stitch some of New York’s most iconic and recognisable landmarks with this embroidery kit designed by Kseniia Guseva. Celebrating New York’s famous skyline, captured in DMC’s well-loved stranded embroidery floss, this kit has everything you need to begin creating your own exciting view of the city – the base fabric is pre-printed so that it is ready to stitch straight out of the kit, and there are also stitch diagrams and video tutorials available to ease your way to a successful and enjoyable completed project.

To accompany the bustling, exciting city-scape, DMC also have a soft, natural scene, where stitch direction is used to create contrast and a real sense of hard rain falling. Taking its inspriation from the Devon landscape, this clever, modern design by English embroidery artist Victoria Rose Richards evokes a dramatic scene of rain falling into the sea in a semi-abstract way, which is typical of her style. Just like the New York scene, this intermediate embroidery kit contains everything you will need to create your own natural, dramatic scene in embroidery stitches.

And Finally…

We are just thrilled with the new Heritage Crafts designs – whether you are longing to lose yourself in a a rural, quiet haven; or take a once-in-a-lifetime trip to India; or visit a moonlit, frozen bay, complete with a solitary seal, these new cross stitch kits are sure to fulfil your travel dreams!

From the creative imagination of UK designer and illustrator Mel Rodicq, these colourful, vibrant landscape and seascape design will be a delight to stitch and display. These full-coverage kits include either 27 count evenweave or 14 count aida, both by Zweigart, plus DMC threads sorted onto number cards, a needle, and all the instructions and charts you will need to create your own magical journey. The designer’s use of colour really gives a magical feel to her illustrations – we can’t wait to visit all of these scenes on our stitching travels!

So, that’s the end of our needlecraft journey for this month – why not pop over to see what Judith and AJH are excited about for Fabric and Yarn in May?!