Dimensions, Inc. just makes kits. I have bought kits and thrown away the floss and used my DMC. I rarely buy kits because I just like to use my own supplies.

Sometimes just the pattern will be offered, but not usually. Also, this beige Aida cloth has a painted background, so you just stitch the orchids.

May be the reason Lanarte recalled their patterns & issued them as kits. But the one I bought was painted crooked & I had a terrible time stitching it properly.

Thank you, ladies, for your input. I was about to order the kit until I read about the problems you were having. At first, I thought, great I only have to stitch the orchids. I was planning on using syagel's great idea of washing the Aida cloth first to make it softer. Now I have second thoughts. I love orchids and this is the first pattern that I've seen with the orchid motif. Just as well, I have tons of "stuff" that I should be working on before purchasing more. Thanks again!

jlhewes, when I have more time I will do some research and also check with my local shop. I'm confident that I'll find something. I liked this particular one because it looks to be a very contemporary design. I wanted something that I could stitch relatively quickly. I finished several projects that dragged out over a couple of years, sometimes I like to see results more quickly. :) I do enjoy this message board - I've learned a thing or two as well. Many of the stitchers are quite knowledgeable.

Hey JHewes: I just saw this post from March, but wanted to comment on it. I too had a problem with this project and couldn't figure out what it was. I thought I had goofed somewhere. Now that I see you had a problem, I figured it out. Mine turned out "funny" looking, like it was too far over to the left. I made do and framed it, but never liked it. Until....I had a great idea. My sister liked it and so when she moved into a new home, I took it out of the frame and wrote her name in Korean on the right side where it was blank (characters going downward). What a revelation that was!!! It looked great!

Just had to share that piece of info.

What a great idea, jclifford. I've done several small modifications myself and what a difference it makes. I love the motif and had planned to order it until I read jlhewes comment. I am not overly fond of Aida unless the entire surface is covered. I considered stitching it on linen but not having the square on there would probably take away from the appearance. I did a quick search for orchids and didn't come up with much. Most of it looks so corny. I feel like Senior Stitcher in her search for gladiola motifs. I most likely will purchase two orchid pictures form Ethan Allen and be done with it. I saw a series that looks attractive.

Texas Stitcher: I don't think it would make too much difference without the square in the background. That's what was wrong with both of ours. I bet if you did it without the square background, it would still look pretty (or even better).

I'm with you, syagel, I also prefer to use my own supplies. I've purchased kits for various projects way back when and donated them. I only stitched one kit so far - a huge advent calendar on some sort of linen. Although the motif is really cute and I did a good job, I am not completely satified because the stamping was crooked. The lady (professional seamstress) that sewed it for me had one heck of a job to get it halfway straight. I was in transit and did not have acces to my sewing machine.