Caroline (no blog) has been a friend of mine forever and is a member of our Stitch-n-Bitch group. Recently she went to her cottage in Cornwall and whilst she was there she stitched Sew Red and has just emailed me a picture together with the following write-up headed 'Spot the Difference':

"Thank you so much Carol for such a lovely design, which was a joy to stitch. I stitched it on 40 count Cream linen with one strand of Gloriana 'Cranberry'. If you look closely you may see that my Sew Red is not the same as Carol's original..... Carol designed this especially for 'my friend the mathematician'! She really does spoil me! If that was not enough I then added a change or two (mostly by mistake, I hasten to add) of my own. I did draw the line at leaving out the 'D' in the alphabet - even though I was up to letter 'J' by the time I discovered what I had done! My husband, probably correctly, reckons that I spend more time unpicking than I do stitching!

This is not the finished product! Having got this far, I then wondered what to do with it. By very good fortune I had been given a small wicker tray (full of stitching goodies) for Christmas. It is exactly the correct width for this to lie in the base of it, but needs a bit more stitching each side to complete the rectangle. Carol promptly offered to add a border each side so the design would perfectly fit the tray. How lucky am I to have such a friend?

As for coincidence - who gave me the wicker tray? Why - Carol of course. I look forward to showing you the completed product in due course.

Thank you Carol for sharing your beautiful designs with us - you are a most talented lady.”

Did you 'spot the difference'? There is a clue in Caroline's write-up. Thank you Caroline for, not only stitching Sew Red so beautifully but, supplying a picture and a lovely writeup too! I look forward to seeing what you do with Sew Blue.

I completed my 'secret stitching' last night and I will be 'finishing' later today. I cannot show a picture yet but I can say it's my own design!

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Valie and I chose BBD's 'Sarah's Blooms' from 'Thank You Sarah Tobias' as our BAM VII. Valie chose to stitch on a beige 35ct Gander linen with an unknown Steff Francis silk thread. As you can see Valie stitched her home town on the bottom of the sampler whereas I am, once again, a sheep and followed the pattern. My home town is only four letters long and has the rather boring name of Deal!

I chose to stitch 1*2 on 40ct Summer Khaki linen with Thread Gatherer's Silk'n Colors in Mississippi Mud (173).

I started a new project yesterday. A new design ... not much to tell though ... this one is a secret stitch.

My grand-daughter Megan has been stitching Sew Red and as soon as it's finished I will post a picture; she is already planning a Christmas ornament as her next project. As she has no embroidery scissors, I asked her if she would like a pretty pair with a beaded fob for her Christmas gift. The answer was a definite 'yes'. I think we have a new stitcher in our midst!

If anyone is still waiting for Sew Red or Sew Blue charts it will be because you did not let me have an email address so please contact me by leaving a comment with your email address.

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I received an email from Natalia in Australia with pictures of her charming finish of Sew Red. She stitched on 40ct cream linen 1*2 with Dinky Dyes silk thread (Lilly Pilly) a beautiful shade which ranges from pink to a greenish beige. Very beautiful Natalia - well done! If anyone else has finished either Sew Red or Sew Blue and would like me to post pictures, please email them to me with details of fabric and threads used and I will be more than happy to show off your interpretations.

I have been working on BAM VII with Valie who has already finished hers - I have been much slower but only two little motifs and some lettering to do and I shall be finished too.

Hector will be returning home today, I shall miss him when he goes but I am sure he will make a return visit at some point.

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As a thank you for sending her the Sew Red and Sew Blue charts, I received a lovely gift from Paula of Kelmscott Designs - a pair of her newest scissors, Tudor Rose and a pretty Adam and Eve needleminder. Thank you Paula - it's nice to be appreciated and thanks for the offer of help to 'turn professional'. I will definitely give this some thought.

While my daughter and son-in-law are away in Leicester for a few days after helping Kirby move to Loughborough, Hector is holidaying at my house. After a dull day yesterday, the sun decided to make an appearance and he found a sunny spot in the living room.

And Kirby seems to have made a great start to Freshers Week. She is already wearing her 'Towers' t-shirt and is obviously enjoying herself! You can party this week but remember that lectures start next week!

Last night was Stitch-n-Bitch so I took along Suzanne's Emblem of Love RR which arrived in yesterday's mail. I only half-stitched a motif so not enough to show yet. I am also working on a new design but it's still in it's early stages. I have 'finished' the belated birthday gift so I need to put together a package and get it in the mail to it's recipient.

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My beautiful grand-daughter Kirby is off to Loughborough University today. I am amazed at how much she has had to take with her - linen, towels, toiletries, her laptop, her printer, her tv and dvd player, an iron, a kettle, a toaster the list goes on ... and then there's her clothes (and believe me she has 'lots' of clothes!) and all her art materials and, of course, her stitching stash! I am going to miss her so much. Have a great time darling - love you loads!

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Today I received not one but two packages in the mail. The first one contained my JSC Christmas Ornament magazine and the latest issue of Piecework magazine - this one has 'Discover the Wonderful World of Miniatures' inside and we all know how much I love miniatures!

I received an email from dear sweet Angela (no blog) today with the attached photo of her interpretation of Sew Red. Isn't it gorgeous? It is stitched 1*2 on Lakeside 40ct Linen Attic Lace using Waterlilies Ambrosia. I love the colour variations and the tiny white frame compliments it beautifully. Thank you for sharing this with us Angela. If you want to share your version of Sew Red, please email me a picture and details of fabric and threads used.

Sew Blue is charted and I am trying to get the model stitched so please be patient, it will not be too long.

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Thank you to everyone who has written such lovely praises about Sew Red - I am amazed at how well my first little sampler design has been received. I have been inundated with 100s emails plus the lovely comments to the posting. I have only sent the design out to those of you who specifically requested it so, if you wanted a copy and didn't ask, you will not have received one but ... do not despair ... it is still available! If you left a comment asking for the chart and have not received one it's because you did not leave me an email address so therefore you will need to contact me *here* or leave a comment (with an email address) *here*

A follow-up chart - Sew Blue - will be available shortly so please check back.

It's raining heavily here today so, after tackling an enormous pile of ironing and preparing a Sunday roast, I will finish stitching a gift and make a start on the model for Sew Blue. I am expecting a small stash buy to arrive tomorrow so I can make a start on BAM VII although I might tea-dye some white linen. Some years ago, I brought some 'boiled' linen and loved the colour. I wonder if you can still buy this? Maybe I should boil a piece for myself?

And, as I do not like to post without a picture, here's Hector showing which brand of cola he prefers!

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Here is my first sampler designed with the Macstitch software which goes by the name of 'Sew Red'. Valie suggested we use this chart for BAM VI so we both stitched our interpretations. Mine is stitched 1*2 on 55ct white linen with deep red (109) Soie Surfine. The chart also makes reference to our earlier BAMs - a tiny bunny, a key, a butterfly ...

Valie stitched 1*1 on 32ct Vintage Magnolia Zweigart linen using HDF Everlasting silk thread. Both of these versions are therefore very small.

This chart is available as a freebie so, if you would like a copy, please email me (link here) or leave a comment with an email address saying you would like one.

Ellen Chester of With My Needle asked if she could post a picture of 'Splash of Red' which is my interpretation of Eliza's Pyn Pillow (see here). I think one tiny pin and a bottle of nail varnish worked well.

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First up Tommy the tortoise. The weather has changed here and already he has become lethargic. I cannot believe that nearly six months has past and that it's not long now until he beds down for his long winter sleep!

And here's the Hare! I have coveted these scissors since Valie showed them on her blog with Brown Bunny and in this morning's mail arrives a pair of my very own (together with other goodies). Thank you my dear friend ... I shall have to be careful what I admire in future ... you spoil me too much!

This morning I received a package in the mail from Edgar - he knows I love dark chocolate; he knows that I cannot buy Midnight Milky Ways here in the UK; he also spoils me! Thank you Edgar.

I'm sorry for the poor photographs. Although the sun is making a fleeting appearance today, it's also very windy so I have had to take the picture indoors in bad light conditions.

I have to decide what to stitch on next. It should be a Christmas ornament although I have another design just waiting to be charted. No - a Christmas ornament it will be ..

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