< iStitch
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Sew Spring





Spring flowers and a tiny rabbit - Sew Spring is now ready for release. It is stitched 2*2 on optic white Brussels linen with Heartstitch Threads 'Watermelon' and hem-stitched with white DMC. This chart is available *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

You still have 14 days in which to stitch that special Valentine gift for your loved one and Sew In Love is still available on my charts blog *here*

Thank you for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 13:16 | Permalink | 11 comments Photobucket
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
A international Sew Patchwork



Valie could not wait to stitch Sew Patchwork and just look at her interpretation of this chart. She has added her own personal touches - a trailing thread from the reel, splashes of red and pink, a blue heart charm and beautifully framed too!


Photos by Valie


This truly is an international 'patchwork' - a British chart, American linen, Japanese Cosmo threads and a French stitcher!

This chart is available together with other iStitch charts (freebies too with a purchase) from my Charts blog *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 11:09 | Permalink | 21 comments Photobucket
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Scissors and giveaways!

Click picture for a closeup view


Today I received the scissors that I had ordered from Yuko. I ordered type A and Yuko also enclosed type B. She is such a sweet generous girl - thank you Yuko. She has recently started to sell the most unusual types of scissors so a visit to her 'Be Happy Scissors' *here* is a must. She has four types of scissors for sale and her service is fast so, if you are a scissors fanatic (and what stitcher isn't?), do have a look and see if you can resist!




A while ago I won a giveaway on Patti's Tapestry of Dreams. She showed a piece of stitching and gave the winner a choice of finishing and, as I was happy just to win, I told Patti that any type of finishing was fine by me. Unfortunately poor Patti later informed me that she 'messed up' on the finishing of the original stitching and that she had decided to stitch something different. This beautiful stitched and finished Hearts pillow with both our initials on the reverse was her choice. As you know I love hearts so I was happy to receive both this and the pretty beaded scissor fob with a sunshine yellow tassel. Thank you Patti.




More recently I won a giveaway of threads on Danielle's blog which threads arrived this morning. I certainly was not expecting the large amount of threads which arrived - a selection of WDW, Dinky Dyes and Crescent Colours. These threads are not widely available here and certainly not at my LNS so it will be great to try out these threads. Thank you Danielle.



And a few more photos of Canterbury. Click on the picture and check out 'Ye Olde Ducking Stool' in the top left hand picture - I don't think I would like being 'ducked' in that cold wet river!

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 11:23 | Permalink | 22 comments Photobucket
Monday, 25 January 2010
A new start and a day out!




As promised in my last post, here is a picture of Bleu de Soie's 'Alphabets à ...' - not a great picture for once again it's dark, gloomy and raining so I had to take the picture under my Ottlite - click on it though and get a closeup view. There is a little backstitching yet to go into the B to form stems for the small flowers. I am really enjoying this one.



Click picture for a closeup view

And a few pictures of our visit to Canterbury with our friends from NYC. We collected them from the railway station, after their delayed departure from London, and then drove out to the village of Fordwich where we had a traditional British Sunday lunch of roast lamb at The George and Dragon. After lunch we went back into Canterbury for a walk around the city to, hopefully, lose the lbs put on by said lunch! Almost forgot, check out the photo with the reflection in the mirror and meet Derek and Ken!

Thank you for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 12:28 | Permalink | 18 comments Photobucket
Sunday, 24 January 2010
A belated birthday gift!



Yesterday I received an unexpected envelope in the mail from Jill who sent BBD's Tokens of Friendship to me as a late birthday gift - thank you Jill - a wonderful surprise!

I have been stitching but I don't have time to take a picture as I'm going out very shortly to meet some very old friends who are over here from NYC on a quick visit. I will post a picture of my WIP on 'Alphabets à ...' tomorrow. For those waiting to hear which colour thread I chose - it was - none of the ones shown *here* as I found two more reels of red Soie Surfine in my stash and used one of those instead!

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 08:38 | Permalink | 5 comments Photobucket
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Travelling Sisterhood stays in Britain!



It seems the Travelling Sisterhood is enjoying her visit to the UK and wants to extend her trip. The number generator picked out number 35 - Nic. Welcome to the Sisterhood Nic - an email has been sent to you.




And here is the coveted Pink Witch bicycle of which memories were evoked by stitching Sew Spring in pink and green variagated thread. I couldn't find a colour picture but then colour photography wasn't around much in 1957/58! This young lady would have been the envy of her friends owning this beautiful bicycle and check out her outfit - pedal pushers and hightops. I had a similar outfit but was lacking the bicycle!

Thanks for visiting - have a great weekend
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 09:25 | Permalink | 6 comments Photobucket
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Sew Patchwork




Sew Patchwork - a slightly different chart for this release! It is available *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. It is stitched 1*2 on 32ct raw linen with AVAS 2925 and hem-stitched with DMC 644.


Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 15:43 | Permalink | 19 comments Photobucket
Decisions, decisions!


It's time for a new start. The chart is chosen - 'Alphabets à ...' by Bleu de Soie; the fabric is selected - 48ct creme Gander linen; the thread is ... I cannot decide! As the fabric is a high count, I have opted to use AVAS Soie Surfine in either red or blue but which red or which blue? I rather like the denim blue but the brighter blue looks good. I also like the darkest red but the bright red look nice and then there's the peacock blue/green - oh decisions, decisions!

I have part-stitched Sew Spring. I had to go with a white linen rather than the rue green linen because, as I thought might happen, the greens of the Watermelon thread were disappearing into the green of the fabric. Pinks and greens - not my usual palette but it's pretty. Many years ago I coveted a pink and green bicycle - it was called a 'Pink Witch' - oh how I wanted that bicycle but, despite numerous letters to the guy in the red suit and pleas to the parents on my birthday, I was never to have it. Does anyone remember the Pink Witch? Did anyone have a Pink Witch?

It's dark and gloomy and threatening to rain. Where is the sun? Who has it?

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 11:15 | Permalink | 10 comments Photobucket
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
A sneak peek!


Here is a 'sneak peek' of the latest iStitch chart called 'Sew Patchwork' which will be released in a couple of weeks time. Or are you ready for it now?

Yesterday's post of 'scissors' brought a few guesses as to which pair of scissors I purchased myself. It was the miniature golden Elizabeth 1 by Kelmscott Designs which measure a tiny 2½" and have sweet little roses entwined on the handles. I will not use them for cutting - they are for show only!

It's a 'new start' for me today but I have to decide whether to stitch the model for Sew Spring or 'Alphabets à ...' by Bleu de Soie. I purchased some beautiful threads from Antonella over at HeartStitch Designs, one of which, Watermelon, is a really pretty thread of pinks and greens and should make an ideal choice for Sew Spring. The fabric I have chosen is a 36ct Edinburgh linen in rue green so I am not sure whether or not the greens in the threads will disappear into the fabric so I may have to change the fabric to an antique white or white or choose another thread. If I decide to go with 'Alphabets à ...' it will be a deep red Soie Surfine on 48ct creme Gander linen. Check back tomorrow to see my choice!

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 11:37 | Permalink | 11 comments Photobucket
Monday, 18 January 2010
I have scissors!


I have acquired four new pairs of scissors in recent times. Three pairs were gifts; the other a pair I could not resist! Firstly some classic Lion's Tails, then some Dinky Dyes Titamium coated, a pair of Gingher 'Sarah' and lastly a tiny pair of Elizabeth 1 by Kelmscott Designs. Can you guess which pair I succumbed to and purchased myself?


My Christmas cactus hasn't fared too well this year as I've only had a total number of six flowers. I am open to suggestions of what I should or should not be doing!

I have designed and stitched a new iStitch design which now needs to be hem-stitched before I can release it for sale so no new stitching pictures to share as yet.

The past couple of days have been lovely - cold but sunny. I can cope with the cold if the sun makes an appearance!

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 12:21 | Permalink | 17 comments Photobucket
Saturday, 16 January 2010
She's ready to travel!
DRAW NOW CLOSED - I WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER TOMORROW,
SATURDAY JANUARY 23




The Travelling Sisterhood is now ready to move on to pastures new. She arrived with me in October last year and I certainly did not expect her to stay so long but, here she is all stitched, although yet to be 'finished' into a final form - maybe a pinkeep or a flatfold - I haven't decided. As you can see I added 'Travelling Sisterhood - January 2010' at the bottom. I'm not overly keen on her nose - it looks a bit odd to me so I will probably redo this!

If you want to know more about her journey go *here*.

And now I need to have a draw to see where she will visit next. If you are interested is joining this elite group of stitchers, please leave a comment (on this post only) together with an email address if it is not shown on your profile. You have until mid-night (GMT) on Friday, January 22 to enter.

Thanks for visiting - have a great weekend
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 10:32 | Permalink | 84 comments Photobucket
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Sew Animalistic

(Click on picture for a closeup view)


Sew Animalistic is the name chosen for new iStitch chart! There were so many good suggestions that I ended up putting those I liked into my little Nantucket basket and drawing one out - the winner is Barb of Barb's Ramblings - Stitching'n Things. Thank you Barb (please get in touch with me and I will send the chart out to you) and thanks to all for your suggestions.

Sew (or should that be So) - Sew Animalistic is the latest addition to my range of 'Sew' charts and is available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS link on the sidebar. It is stitched on walnut dyed 36ct Edinburgh linen with Japanese Cosmo thread 2311 (kindly sent to me by the lovely Yuko) and hem-stitched with a DMC thread to match the linen.

By request, I am preparing a hemstitch tutorial and, although the text is done, unfortunately the pictures didn't turn out as well as I had hoped so please bear with me.




As I reported on January 8, Beatrix Potter is finally finished! It has taken a whole year to stitch this and I did not enjoy it at all but I persevered, mainly due the SAL blog, which blog is now open for new members for 2010. I personalised this by adding both my initials and my sister's initials, '1950-2010' and '60' in the spaces available. I really hope she likes this!



And here's WIP of the Travelling Sisterhood. As can be seen I am stitching 1*1 on, I think, a deep cream 30ct linen with the recommended DMC threads. I have not made any changes to the colours although, being a brunette, I would have changed this if she had been a blonde!

The snow has all but disappeared leaving dark, gloomy skies with occasional rain. Kirby has managed to return to Uni after her original plans were disrupted by a heavy snowfall last Friday evening resulting in Deal being completely cut off from the outside world over the weekend.

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 12:53 | Permalink | 23 comments Photobucket
Monday, 11 January 2010
Gifts from across the English Channel



The mailman fought his way through the ice and snow to deliver a package from across the English Channel. Inside a Dove to represent peace and friendship; exquisitely stitched on 40ct Gander linen with Soie Surfine from the AVAS warehouse in Paris.



Also inside the package was the wonderful neck warmer of golden hue to ward off the winter blues. It fastens by means of a co-ordinating pin. And see the golden beads peaking from the fur? Thank you Valie! All photos by Valie - it is much too dark to take my own!

I have also been unable to photograph Beatrix Potter but as soon as I can I will show her off.

The animal sampler now has a name; the model is both stitched and hem-stitched but needs to be photographed. I will announce the name chosen and the winner of the competition in the next day or so when I release the chart. There were so many suggestions that I put those I liked into my Nantucket basket and drew out the winning name. Thank you to all who put time and effort into thinking up names.

I am working on a hem-stitch tutorial so please be patient.

Yesterday I made a small start on Travelling Sisterhood - again pictures to follow. I feel bad that it has taken me such a long time to get to this one but, now I've made a start, I will try to get it done as quickly as possible so that I can send her on her way. I am stitching 1*1 on 30ct cream linen with recommended DMC threads.

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 08:40 | Permalink | 13 comments Photobucket
Friday, 8 January 2010
Valie's Sew In Love



Valie could not wait to stitch Sew In Love and chose to stitch this as a New Year gift for a friend who likes pink. It is stitched on a cream Gander linen with ThreadworX thread 1005 and is finished as a wonderful pinkeep with a pocket on the back of a Cherry Blossom print. Pretty flower ribbon surrounds the pinkeep with matching pins. A stunning finish Valie and thank you for allowing me to share it.

I, too, received a lovely gift from Valie this morning and I will show this later.

And now ... (insert drum roll and trumpets blowing here) ... Beatrix Potter is finished! Yes, at last I can report that the final stitch was put in yesterday and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. If you are interested, the final stitch was on the leg of the R of my initial! Once I have ironed it, I will post a picture. Next I need to choose a frame. I hope that my sister likes it.

This afternoon I will start on the 'as yet to be named' animal sampler and I am so looking forward to this. The naming will take place on Sunday when, hopefully, the model will be ready and the chart can be released. Thank you to those who are participating in the competition. I think I may have to throw the names into a hat and pick one out as they are all well-thought out names.

Have a lovely weekend and for those who are midst snow storms and blizzards - keep warm and safe.

Thank you for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 13:03 | Permalink | 8 comments Photobucket
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Be careful what you wish for!





After complaining yesterday of the paltry amount of snow in our area, last night, around 7.30pm, it started to snow and this morning I woke up to a winter wonderland. I hope to go out later with my camera and take some more pictures. It's a lovely day today - crisp and clear with bright sunshine!

I stitched the last motif on Beatrix last night so only the initials and dates to go. I am so glad that this one is over and, no surprise, I have no plans whatsoever to stitch the Beatrix Potter Companion piece!

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 10:15 | Permalink | 10 comments Photobucket
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Let it snow!



While the rest of the UK is under a deluge of snow and ice this is all we have to show! Now you can see why I was so excited on my birthday when we actually had 5/6" of snow *here*. For some reason this little corner of the UK always misses out. Last year when Britain had snow, Ken left for work on a construction site some 35 miles away and returned home a couple of hours later saying he had been 'snowed off'. I wasn't too sure I believed him as the skies were blue and the sun was shining!

And talking of snow, has anyone wondered that some blogs, such as Dovile's, show pictures of their stitching laid on the snow. Does their precious stitching not get wet?

Beatrix is definitely on the home stretch. The outer vine/leaf border of the large motif in the top right hand corner is done and the flower inside is part-stitched. Once this is done I will only have the personalization to do and ... voilà! Or should that read 'phew'!

For those of you watching the Travelling Sisterhood, do not despair, it is not forgotten and I kitted it up this morning although don't forget I cannot put in a stitch until the dreaded Bea is done. Hopefully, I will enjoy TS a lot more than Bea and she will fly off my needle a lot quicker.

Thanks for visiting
Take care

 
Photobucket posted by Carol R at 16:12 | Permalink | 13 comments Photobucket
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
A gift to dye for!



Just before Christmas I received a package from Yuko in Japan which contained a tin and, inside the tin, I discovered a bundle of Japanese Cosmo threads and some wool threads too (not in the picture). I have been wanting to try Cosmo threads since reading about them on other blogs. They have a very soft feel to them; more like silk than cotton. I already have plans for both the tin and the threads - thank you Yuko for your generosity!




Last year when Valie came to visit, she carried across the English channel a bag of walnuts (black walnuts?) that she had harvested from her uncle's orchard. She told me that she makes 'walnut ink' from them and uses the ink to dye fabric. Yesterday, I boiled the walnuts, and left them in the liquid overnight. Today, I strained the liquid into an old coffee jar, complete with a snazzy label so that Ken does not attempt to drink it! I then took a piece of white 36ct linen and placed this in a tray containing the ink and left for 25/30 minutes. This is the result:




I now have a beautiful shade of walnut-dyed linen. Isn't it a gorgeous colour? I am definitely going to use this dye again. I am going to stitch the 'yet to be named' animal chart on this fabric with a brown Cosmo thread, probably the darker of the two shown and I can't wait to start but ... I must finish Beatrix - only the large motif to go now - if I put her aside now I will find it difficult to pick up again.

Thank you for the suggestions for a name for the animal chart. It is not yet decided!

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 14:44 | Permalink | 21 comments Photobucket
Monday, 4 January 2010
Two Quakers




This is Deb's Emblem of Love RR with three sections stitched. Deb chose a pink linen with a selection of threads leaving us to decide which threads we used for our section. I do not usually stitch on such a colourful fabric so I found this quite a challenge.




A close-up of the section I chose to stitch. I am trying to pick a different section on each one but this doesn't always work out towards the end of a RR. I apologise for the poor pictures - I think they actually look slightly better if you click on them to enlarge. It's very dark again today.




And now an update on Beatrix and, as you can see, I am nearly there! There was no stitching for me over the weekend as we had visitors but I will get back to it later this afternoon. Why did I leave that large motif at the top? I am now determined to finish this before I start anything new. There will be rejoicing when this one is finished!

Thank you to all who have suggested names for the latest iStitch chart. There are a couple that have caught my eye but I have not yet decided on a final name.

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Photobucket posted by Carol R at 12:59 | Permalink | 14 comments Photobucket
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