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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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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Brown Bunny, more affectionately known as BAM V, is now finished. Valie chose to stitch on a 40ct brown linen using DMC ecru, AVAS turquoise blue and tan threads. My friend has such a good eye for colour! And check out those rabbit/hare scissors. I really need a pair of these in my collection!

I chose to stitch on a 36ct creme French Gander linen using the recommended DMC floss 3032. I omitted the motif above 'bunny' as I had planned on adding a tiny rabbit charm in the space but he was a little too fat, maybe he has eaten far too well this summer? I have decided to 'finish' this as a pinkeep and I will attach the charm to the back.

The weather has changed dramatically and I do hope this is not the end of the summer! I have been charting motifs and alphabets into Macstitch and very soon I will begin to design.

Last night was our Stitch-n-Bitch group meeting. I worked a little on Beatrix Potter but I had to unpick at one point - too much chatting and not enough concentration!

'tpdebbie' asked me about Gander linen. It can be ordered from here although it looks as though they only do 32ct so I suggest that you email them and enquire about the higher count fabrics. I am lucky that my French friend makes sure I have a good supply :-)

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No, this is not Brown Bunny that I am stitching for BAM 5 with Valie but a beautiful Brown Bunny pinkeep made for me by Amy for an exchange. Isn't this just gorgeous? It's much nicer than mine which I will show to you later in the week. It's stitched on 32ct Antique Ivory Belfast linen with DMC thread and the backing fabric is Blackbird Designs Moda. Amy personalised the stitching by changing the B to a C and adding both sets of initials and just look at that incredible bow! What a wonderful exchange - thank you so much Amy - I love it!

I made a start on the Emblem of Love RR. I am stitching 1*2 on 36ct fabric and I love the delicate blue against the antique white linen.

I think that Spring is in the air even though it's August as Tommy is trying to escape from the garden! Either that or the hot weather has sent him crazy. He is marching around the garden at top speed, trying to climb walls and even mounted a rock only to fall headfirst into the border. I am wondering if there is a female in the neighbourhood?

He climbs the plants and even attempts to climb the wall. At one point he fell over onto his back but was quickly rescued.

The last picture shows a tiny Jenny Wren. Just before I took this picture there were three birds, a male and female who, I think, have been nesting in the clematis and a tiny baby! Wrens are quite rare in this area so we feel honoured that they chose our garden for their home.

I have been stitching and will post pictures soon. I made a start on the Emblem of Love RR, I have part-stitched BAM 4 with Valie and have finished stitching the cube pincushion which now needs 'finishing' before it can be mailed to it's new owner. All of these pieces have been stitched on 35/36ct fabric which seems big after my miniature stitching. A friend showed me a piece of 28ct linen banding she had just purchased - it was enormous!

To celebrate the birth of her new grandson Oliver, Patti of Tapestry of Dreams has a great giveaway. You have until September 4 to enter.

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I finished the tiny red sampler called Rouge Velours that I was stitching from Isabelle Vautier's book 'Samplers en Rouge et Blanc' as a BAM (Brode Avec Moi) with Valie. I am happy with the result and wonder what we will choose for our next BAM?

My Emblem of Love RR is ready to be started once I have finished some stitching for an exchange with a very excited young lady in the US - you know who you are! Yes it's started and it won't be too long now.

A short and sweet post today - the sun is shining and I need to be outside.

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Although Valie and I had planned on designing our next BAM (Brode Avec Moi) whilst on my trip to Paris, we unfortunately ran out of time so we chose a pattern 'Rouge Velours' from Isabelle Vautier's book 'Samplers en Rouge et Blanc' and, of course, I chose a vibrant red Soie Surfine silk thread for the 48ct Gander linen. Patti has previously said to me that she cannot tell how small these samplers are so I have placed a US 25 cent coin to add some perspective. Tiny eh? I hope to finish this sampler later today and post a 'finish' tomorrow. Valie has finished her BAM and there is a picture on her blog. She also used AVAS silk threads but in blues and mauves with an accent of green and a few embellishments. I am a sheep to follow the pattern!

Saturday's mail brought me a surprise gift of this beautiful needlebook from dear Susan (no blog but should have one to show off her wonderful work!). As you can see it's in my favourite colour blue. Thank you Susan - much appreciated.

Valie and I enjoyed our recent SWiM (Stitch With Me). This design is Alphabets Blue by The Work Basket and was Valie's choice - our next SWiM will be our own design! As you already know mine is stitched on 55ct linen with HDF Colbart Blue silk thread whereas Valie chose to stitch on 36ct flax linen using HDF Zebra Dove silk thread. Isn't it amazing how individual the same design is when stitched on different fabrics and in different shade of thread?

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I have got a little further with Alphabets Blue, my BAM (Brode Avec Moi) with Valie. I have discovered that it's not 50ct linen but 55ct - no wonder it's such a tiny project! It's hard going, not only that it's such a high count fabric, but the pattern is not even so it's difficult to get any sort of rhythm going but saying that I am really enjoying it and will use this fabric again albeit with a finer silk like Soie Surfine. I am feeling a little guilty as I know that Valie has already finished her BAM; I am trying my best to 'catch up'!

I stitched some more on Alphabets Blue. It's quite hard going on the 50ct linen; I think my needle is too fat although I am using a My Favorite Needle Petite and a thinner silk thread would have been better, maybe Soie Surfine. I'll keep going with the thread but I will change my needle to a 28 to see if that helps. 

 

The lovely bride and her four beautiful bridesmaids. From left to right - Megan, Alex, AnnMarie and Rachel with little Georgia in the front.

I'm a day late for the New Moon showing of TUSAL. If you look into the jar you can see the colours of Dutch Band Sampler, the red of Marie Betton and blue of Alphabets Blue. 

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You may have read over on Valie's blog that we have started another BAM (Brode Avec Moi) or shall we say SWiM (Stitch With Me)! It was Valie's turn to choose a pattern and she decided upon The Workbaskets 'Alphabets Blue'. My fabric is 50ct (yes I did say 50ct!) white Kingston linen and my thread is HDF Colbalt Blue silk. I had to unpick some last night, not easy on such a high count fabric but you can see how delicate and tiny this is stitching up. Our next BAM we will be designing ourselves.

And for Lisa - her favourite stitch illustrations from the book mentioned in my last post - Lazy Daisy and Satin stitches. Just look at that Lazy Daisy - too cute!

It's warm and sunny today so, chores done, blog updated, I'm off to the garden!

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