Crafting in the Time of Corona III

I am still reading my way through my Nero Wolfe collection. All but two of the books are paperbacks and I bought most of them at used book stores but I found my first few copies under my mother in law’s bed. A couple of them are from the era when paperbacks had illustrated rather than photographed covers and when I started reading “The Second Confession” I kept turning it back to look at the cover which was practically detached. I was ready to begin cross stitching another piece and I realized I could recreate the cover.

Transferring it to a cross stitch pattern was challenging and I couldn’t quite get the typeface of the title but I’m pretty proud of the result.

I had already begun embroidering it without solving the problem of the small type at the top. Of course I couldn’t actually cross stitch the words but I knew if I left it blank the design would be unbalanced. I had been working from the top and had just gotten to that area of the piece when I got the Mr. X Stitch newsletter email from Mr. X Stitch touting the latest issue of their magazine which features 15 noir designs. Not only did this prove just how on trend I can be, it solved my design problem. The cover of the magazine had an image of a hand holding a cigarette with what looked to me like lines of type. AhHa, problem solved.

At the beginning of the Stay at Home order I pulled out some of my craft books including an embroidery book called “Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery” which featured the work of many artists including Mr. X Stitch. I was interested in seeing more of him so I googled him and signed up for his newsletter and here he was at just the right time!

Speaking of googling I tried to find out some information on the artist of my Nero Wolfe cover and while I found no information on him I did find another cover by him that I love. So it looks like I’ve got a new series going.

The colors of these covers are just right for my bedroom and perfect for the bookcase that holds my Nero Wolfe collection.