05.30.2011

At Quilt Market earlier this month I ran into my friends from a great embroidery design shop, Embroidables.com Embroidery Designs. You should take a look! They have Dolly Mama designs and a variety of other fresh, fun licensed motifs. I especially like the Renae Lindgren designs and have my eye on the Fancy Pants(TM) Christmas motifs.

Over the years I've stitched many Embroidables designs, so I know that the digitizing on these motifs is second to none. The images on the web site show actual stitchouts and you can zoom in to see details, so there are no surprises.

Embroidables offers a great rewards program: beginning with your first purchase, you automatically earn 10% back in store credit! Their customer service is very responsive. The website has a Wish List function. And yes, there are great Freebies, too, so browse on over and take a look.

02.02.2011

If you know me, you know I've been using and enjoying a Kindle for years now. As hooked on books as I am, storage space is, well, nonexistent at my house, and an electronic bookshelf has enormous appeal.

However, you may also know that I've resisted buying electronic-format craft books - those like the ones I've written, large format with lots of photos - because the picture quality just isn't the same. Now Martingale & Company/That Patchwork Place has made a believer out of me. They have released some past classics that had gone out of print as e-books, and they are simply fabulous.

These e-books are available in their shop any time, day or night, as downloads delivered via the Internet in PDF format, which is read and displayed by the widely available (and free!) Adobe Reader. The pages display on your computer screen in full color, laid out just as they were in the traditional book. Using the controls on the Adobe Reader toolbar, you can flip through the book page by page, jump to a page by typing in its number, or even search for a word within the book in seconds.

You can zoom in for a very close look at details in the photographs, and when you start a project you can either print the pages containing the instructions or work directly from your computer screen.

These e-books are fantastic. They give us a second chance at older titles that are no longer available in a traditional format. You'll love the prices. Plus, they store easily on computer hard drives. Imagine what we can do with all that shelf space!

Here are some personal e-book favorites:

To see the e-books and other digital downloads for yourself, visit the Martingale & Company web site at www.martingale-pub.com/store