I have now finished my Dutch Band Sampler although I still have to put initials in the cartouche and date it. Once this is done I will get in framed in time to give away for a Christmas gift. This sampler was reproduced by Katie Trendell of An Elne of Lynnyn and appeared in the Sampler & Antique Quarterly. However, I did not use recommended fabric and threads and this is stitched on 40ct Newcastle flax linen with AVAS silk threads. Again not a brilliant photo - it's dull and gloomy here today. If I can get a better shot in the next day or so I will edit this post.

After a heavy rainfall I noticed these raindrops perfectly balanced on the Dicentra Cucullaria (bleeding hearts) and could not resist taking a shot. Nature's 'diamonds'!

And then I noticed a solitary flower on the clematis together with more 'diamonds'. I am not too fond of wet weather but sometimes it produces some great pictures.

Niky is running a contest over on her blog to win a 'Niky's Creation's prize" - see her post of August 24. All you have to do is email her for the chart and then stitch and 'finish' said stitching. The contest ends of September 10 so you need to send her a picture of the stitched and finished model by September 6. I love Niky's designs so I thought I'd have a go and last night stitched the design and I hope to 'finish' it later today or tomorrow. 

I have now finished charting my design for Halloween - Sew Spooky - so I need to get the model stitched up ready for an early release so as to give plenty of time for stitching this one in time for Halloween. 

It's a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK and, as usual for a Bank Holiday, the weather is awful. I am so ready for my trip!

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Sew Peaceful

Sew Pink

Pat from Maryland (no blog) sent me two photos of her stitched and framed versions of Sew Peaceful and Sew Pink. Sew Peaceful is stitched on 25ct Antique White Dublin linen with DMC threads 500 (green), 326 (red) and 3787 (brown). For Sew Pink she used DMC 224 on 25ct Flax Dublin linen. Beautiful stitching Pat and thank you for allowing me to share your finishes here.

And for those of you who have been enquiring about the limited edition Sew Peaceful chart, I have today released it for general sale *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. A companion chart to this, Sew Joyful, will be released shortly. Sew Pink is also still available on the charts blog.

Not much stitching has been achieved these past few days although I did unpick the gold thread on the Dutch Band Sampler and put a few stitches back into it. I will post a picture in the next day or so.

Weatherwise it's been alternating between clouds and sunshine but with a very high wind. It feels as though summer is coming to an early finish as it's getting darker earlier and the sun is not so high in the sky during the daytime. However will I survive the long winter months?

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When I designed and stitched Sew Pretty In Pink I was not happy with my final picture despite taking many which were either too dark or too bright that the design did not show up very well. Valie said she would stitch it too and here is her 'finish'. It is stitched on Zweigart linen called Maple Sugar with AVAS Soie d'Alger in shades of plum and pale pink and finally finished as a pinkeep but a pinkeep with a difference as it is backed with a piece of Blackbird Designs Harvest Home fabric and has a lace-covered pocket for storage. There are more pictures on Valie's blog *here* showing the back and a closeup of her minor changes so do visit and see not only this pinkeep but Valie's other beautiful stitching and finishing. This is a truly beautiful version of Sew Pretty In Pink - I think I should design and leave my friend to interpret such designs! Thank you Valie for allowing me to show this here.

Sew Pretty In Pink is still available *here* or by clicking CHARTS on the sidebar.

As you can see I've been busy working on the Dutch Band Sampler (and playing once more with Photoshop). I am alternating this with Jane although I had planned on keeping this for my Stitch-n-Bitch meetings. It's easy to work on despite being on 40ct linen and I'm enjoying it.

Justin and his family have just returned from their vacation in Brittany and the above photo of Tom and Georgia running towards the sea is one of my favourite pictures. You would think they have never seen the ocean but they live at the seaside! Maybe they think the French sea is different?

And here are the four children, from left to right Megan, Alex, Tom and Georgia outside the rented farmhouse which is one of a block of four with a shared swimming pool. 

The other evening I noticed this seagull silhouetted again the skyline so I zoomed the camera lens up close and was surprised to get such a good picture.

I have a new design charted but it has no name and I have no idea what threads or fabric I will use for the model. I received an order of HDF from Vikki Clayton this morning and there are some pretty shades amongst these so maybe I will choose one of these. 

Weatherwise, it's still quite gloomy but at least the rain has stopped. I am so looking forward to our Florida trip in the Autumn.

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As you can see I abandoned using my frame/stand for Jane Rees. I suppose I should have persevered longer as I know that the linen does not get so creased and it would keep cleaner but ... my arms and shoulders started to ache and I kept knocking my stitching hand against the frame! So back to a hoop and I am now enjoying it more and stitching a lot faster. Only a tiny section of the top left hand corner done with a lot more to go but it's a start.

Just after lunchtime yesterday it suddenly went very dark, there was a clap of thunder and a flash of lightening and within minutes it started to rain the most enormous raindrops. Luckily I managed to get the washing in off the line and the sun-lounger cushion indoors before the heavens really opened up and it rained heavily along with a few hailstones. The water laying on the patio and the grass is about 2" deep! Tommy marched off at a tremendous speed (yes he is a speedy when he wants to be) and hid himself up and was already out of sight by the time I got the camera out. A lot of roads and shops are closed today due to flooding as the drainage system couldn't cope with this deluge of water. It's still dull and gloomy today but at least it's not raining.

I have picked up my Dutch Band Sampler to work on again as it was a good project to take along to Stitch-n-Bitch last Wednesday evening. I have no idea why this one got forsaken but it will make a good piece to work on alternatively with Jane. I'll post a picture later.

Not much else to report so enjoy your weekend

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My dear friend Valie returned from her vacation and decided to stitch Sew French Blue (with a twist) - she changed the colour to red (HDF Gandy Tango)! Go take a look at her blog - her post, mainly in pictures, goes from geranium toenail polish to a geranium scented pillow - wonderful! Thank you Valie for allowing me to share this here.

Sew French Blue is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

It's dull and gloomy here today so I think a day with Jane is my plan.

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A new iStitch design called Sew Pretty In Pink - pretty alphabet and set of numbers together with flower motifs. Stitched 1*2 on 48ct blanc cassé Gander linen with HDF Pink Pearls 1211 and with an edging of nun stitch in HDF Natural. DMC equivalents are given on the chart.

You can find this chart *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. Please remember you can also have this chart and any other charts you wish to purchase on a cd-rom. for a small fee I can also add any previously purchased charts on the same cd at no extra charge. Please email me for details - my email address can be found on my profile.

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Jennifer over at Sweet Pea Stitches recently stitched Sew Nautical for an F&S exchange. Stitching 1*1 on 32ct antique white linen she used a variety of overdyes, mostly Crescent Colours. She also stitched a second square using one of the motifs - I wonder if you can guess which one? If you visit her blog you will see. I love that Jennifer gave the mermaid red hair just like hers!

Dawn asked me for more information about Soie Surfine (109) so I took the above picture so you can see how it differs from Vikki Clayton's HDF Perfect Red 6215 and DMC 815. It's a lot finer than the other two and is ideal for stitching over one or on high count linens. I used two strands for Alphabets à... which I stitched on 48ct Gander linen but I am using a single strand on 55ct Gander linen for Jane.

I was hoping to release iStitch Sew Pretty in Pink today but it's much too gloomy here to take a photo. As hard as I try my pictures are never very good at the best of times but it's still early and it may brighten up later and if it does I will attempt a photo shoot. If it doesn't I think stitching will be the order of the day!

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Andrea from The Craft Room decided to stitch Sew Pink in ... purple. It's stitched on 40ct flax Newcastle linen with Weeks Dye Works Mulberry thread. It never ceases to amaze me how different a design can look when stitched in a different colour and I can't wait to see how she will 'finish' this. Andrea has posted some great pictures of this over on her blog so do pay her a visit and while you are there check out her other beautiful stitching and finishing. Thank you Andrea for allowing me to share this here.

Sew Pink (or purple) is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

No more stitches put into fabric since the ABC on Jane. Number 3 grand-daughter came to visit yesterday so we watched movies - The Sharks Tail and While You Were Sleeping. I like Sandra Bullock movies don't you?

Not much else to report so ..

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After months of decisions and awaiting deliveries, I am now ready to start Jane Rees. I have the pattern; I have the linen (55ct blanc cassé Gander); I have the thread (Soie Surfine 109); I have needles (Bohin 28's) and my beautiful Nogent scissors.

The longer bars for my Millenium frame arrived this morning from Needle Needs - fast service thank you John!

The linen is overlocked (serged) and fitted to the frame and lays upon my Needle Necessities floor stand. The light and magnifier are clipped on the stand. So ... I am ready to start. Come back tomorrow to see WIP!

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First up is Cynthia's (no blog) version of Sew Patchwork. Stitched on 28ct light green Jobelan with Cosmo threads it is framed in a studio moulding in matte grey. Cynthia also has a thing for peacocks so she changed the charted bird to a peacock! Isn't this pretty? Thank you Cynthia for allowing me to share this here.

Michele of Just Another Stitching Blog also sent me a picture of Sew Sew finished as a needlebook for an exchange. I do not know what fabric she used but I do know that the thread is Belle Soie's Poison Apple. As you can see Michelle also altered the original chart by removing the alphabet and the border and substituting her exchange partner's initials for one of the motifs. I am sure there will be more pictures of this pretty needlebook over on Michele's blog so pop over and have a look. Thank you Michele for allowing me to post this here.

Both Sew Patchwork and Sew Sew are still available *here* or by clicking CHARTS on the sidebar.

Hector came to visit this afternoon (although that's not entirely true) I called at my daughter's house to collect something and Hector was home alone so I dognapped him and left a ransom note. I received a text from my daughter on their return home saying 'We'll keep the million you can have the dog'. As you can see him and Tommy get on quite well even if Hector did decide to eat Tommy's food - ever seen a dog eat tomato, spring greens and lettuce? He is such a funny dog! As you can see Tommy just turned his back as if to say 'this is my garden not yours'.

Once again I was hoping to make a start on Jane Rees. I duly cut my linen to size; I overlocked (serged) the raw edges on the snazzy overlocker (thank you Caroline) and then, the curse of Jane Rees struck again - I could not find the right size bars to my Millenium frame so I decided to order some new ones. I went to the website, added the bars to the cart and went to checkout but when I hit the 'pay by Paypal button' it took me to Paypal Sandbox! Now what on earth is Paypal Sandbox? I was unable to sign in with my Paypal details so it must be something different to 'normal' Paypal. OK so I'll pay by card but I then discovered when I found my new card that it had a sticker on it saying to ring and get the card authorised and the bank is closed on a Sunday! Ken was out so I couldn't use his card so I will call Needle Needs tomorrow after I ring the bank to get my card authorised. Meanwhile I thought that maybe I could borrow some so I called a friend who said to go round and pick them up. Again the curse struck, they are not long enough. So all in all what with the long time in deciding on fabric and thread, then waiting a month for the Gander linen to come from France, I now have to wait for the bars! I wonder if Jane is trying to tell me something?

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