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Sunday, 29 August 2010
DBS finished - well almost!

Click on picture for a closeup view


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.


Click on picture for a closeup view


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'!



Click on picture for a closeup view


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!

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Dutch Band Sampler update


Click picture for a closer view

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.

Thanks for visiting
Take care 


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Monday, 15 June 2009
DBS and some stitches!


I stitched a bit on my Dutch Band Sampler over the weekend plus a little 'secret' stitching. I love the colours of DBS - quite soothing! I need to pick up Beatrix again but I feel like a new start - maybe a Christmas ornament? We are six months into the year already and I can see, yet again, a last minute panic in December!


Cable Stitch - jolly little sailors in a 'tug-of-war'

I was surfing around on ebay last week and discovered a 1934 copy of Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches for sale. I made the initial bid of 85p and promptly forgot about it until I received an email saying I had won. I had already seen this book on someone's blog (sorry I cannot remember who) and knew that it contained the most delightful illustrations.



Honeycomb Filling Stitch - bees around a hive


And one of my favourites - Pekinese Stitch - enchanting little Pekinese dogs!

Tell me some of your favourite stitches and I will post the accompanying illustration if there is one.

On the inside cover of the book there is a label marked the Wolverhampton Education Committee showing that it was awarded as a school prize on Speech Day, January 25, 1935 to Vida Griffiths of Form Va for Senior Needlecraft. It's old and a bit musty but what a find!

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Tuesday, 26 May 2009
The return of Beatrix Potter


The above picture shows how far I had got with Miss Beatrix before my hand surgery at the end of March.



And this picture shows how much I have stitched over the past week. Not too much to show but at least it's an update! To my horror I have discovered that the bottom motif (you can see a tiny peek) is coming dangerously low to the bottom of the fabric. I am going to finish this motif and if I cannot fit it in or there is only a slip of fabric left, I am going to ditch the whole thing. What is annoying is that there's a 3" border at the top! I obviously miscounted or the fabric is not the 36ct as purchased. I suppose I should have started in the middle and worked outwards from there. I really do not like this project!

 

I also stitched a bit more on the Dutch Band Sampler. Again, not a lot, but a few stitches soon mounts up. I need to change one of the colours as it was  the same shade as the fabric and disappeared, hence the gaps. I think I will choose a much darker shade of this colour rather than pick a completely different colour.



As it was New Moon on May 24, I was supposed to post an orts update for TUSAL on that date, opps, here it is now. If you look carefully, you can pick out the Raisin Wine from BP and the threads from the DBS! 

I am sorry for the 'worse than normal' photographs but it's dull, gloomy and raining heavily here and therefore not ideal conditions to take photographs!

Tomorrow is the day of my minor eye surgery. I am a bit apprehensive and the thought of a needle being inserted near my eye is worrying me quite a bit. Maybe they will use eye drops?

I have no idea when I will be able to post again so ...

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Yes another DBS update!



Here's yet another update on the Dutch Band Sampler which seems to be the only thing I have to work on at present - well that's if you ignore those UFOs loitering in the back of the cupboard! In January 2008, I posted about the Loara Standish sampler (here) which sampler I started way back in ... 1999! This is such a beautiful sampler and it's almost 2/3rds finished so I really should get back to it. There is also Beatrix Potter. I am trying to ignore her as I've gone right off her (sorry Beatrix) maybe I should work a motif or two to keep her happy. 

Tonight is our Stitch-n-Bitch meeting which I am looking forward to. Caroline has taken herself off to Cornwall this week so there will only be the five of us but I am sure we will have plenty to stitch and bitch about!

It's dull and gloomy here today but at least the high winds have dropped and we didn't get the heavy rainful that was forecast. I can't really complain but exactly when is the long hot summer going to start?

Not much else happening here so ...

thanks for visiting
Take care

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Monday, 11 May 2009
And clouds!


Although I did not stitch at all over the weekend, I can still show you an update of the Dutch Band Sampler. As you can see I did a fair bit on Friday but rather overdid it as far as my hand is concerned - opps! More about my visit to the consultant later.


This morning's post brought me a package from dear Deb containing some 'shopping' she did for me and also enclosing a few 'extras'; a tin of Altoids, a tape measure from the Stitch & Bitch Cafe (perfect for a member of a Stitch-n-Bitch group!) and some of her sweetest floss tags. Deb makes these floss tags and believe me they are absolutely gorgeous - far superior to those that I can make! Quite often these can be found for sale on her stash sale on her blog so it's always worth checking. Thank you so much Deb you have made my day!

I have a dental checkup later today. I don't mind going to the dentist, in fact Mr Brown is a very nice man but ... why is there always a but? ... although he was an NHS dentist, he has now gone private so a checkup will cost me £20! Yes £20 for a 4-5 minute look into my mouth to tell me that all is ok (well I hope all is ok)! Don't we all wish that we could earn £240 an hour? After the dentist I plan to go to the library and stock up on reading material for the week.

My visit to the consultant last week didn't go quite as I planned. Although he was very pleased with my progress he is still a little worried about my index finger.  Let me explain.  In 2007 I had the same surgery to my ring, middle and index fingers but this time he said my index finger was not so bad so he operated on the ring and middle fingers and injected steroids (I think it was steroids) into the index finger. He has not discharged me and has given me an appointment to see him again in September and, if the index finger is not to his satisfaction, he wants to operate again - I think not! I think enough is enough and I have to yet to go through my eye surgery at the end of this month! I only hope that this heals quickly and that I do not have a black eye for my son's wedding on June 20!

In case you were wondering about the title of my post ... 




... while I was in the garden yesterday I was gazing up at the clouds and to my amazement I saw this face appear! I called Ken but he could not see it - I guess he has no imagination. Do you see a face?

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Thursday, 7 May 2009
Dutch Band Sampler


I have been working on the Dutch Band Sampler and although I haven't done much to it, there are a few additional stitches. As you can see I have been 'playing' with Photoshop too!

Now why, you may ask, am I showing a pair of stork scissors? Well these stork scissors are no ordinary run-of-the-mill stork scissors! They were found in a box in the attic of a firm of solicitors over 20 years ago and were probably part of someone's long-forgotten estate. The partners of the firm, knowing that I was a keen stitcher, said that I could have them, along with another pair of 'not so nice' scissors. I used them for many years but now they are purely for 'show' although they are still fairly sharp. I think they are probably gold or maybe gold plated; I cannot see if they are hall-marked. The blades of the scissors, together with the wings of the stork, are silver not gold and the wings seems to be 'inset' rather than part of the scissors. I often wonder how old they actually are and, indeed, who originally owned these beautiful scissors?

I have a follow-up appointment with the consultant later today to check my hand and, hopefully, he will now discharge me. As I could remember the exercises I was shown by the physio when I had the same surgery on my left hand in 2007, I have been doing these and there is much improvement. I cannot stitch for long periods but I am sure this will happen with time!

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Tuesday, 5 May 2009
A new start, a gift and some good news!



A week of no stitching as I could not decide what to stitch - shall I continue with Beatrix Potter which, since stitching Petites Lettres Rouges, now seems absolutely enormous? Shall I continue with my miniature stitching? Good idea but I am still waiting on Needle Needs for the lamp/magnifier I ordered ages ago but they are having problems sourcing bases or shall I start something new? And, as you can see, I chose the latter. This is a Dutch Band Sampler, from the Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly, reproduced by Katie Trendell of An Elne of Lynnyn. Although it was recommend to be stitched on 36ct puck hand-dyed linen from Elne of Lynnyn (I did purchase this fabric but used it for Beatrix Potter) I chose a 40ct flax Edinburgh linen. It was charted for either Gloriana silk floss or DMC but as I do not have many skeins of Gloriana (not my first choice for silk threads), I firstly sorted out the DMC threads and then matched Au Ver a Soie silks of a lighter hue. I think I am going to enjoy this one.



Last week I received a delightful gift. A beautiful fabric pocket and inside a gift of 'something to do with scissors' but 'not quite scissors' - it was a perfect size for the pocket! Also enclosed was this fabric heart - so perfect, so lovely, merci mon cher ami!

Edgar is having his second year blogoversary giveaway this week. You have until May 9 to leave a comment and then post on your own blog about the giveaway - simple! And let me tell you Edgar puts together amazing giveaways with heaps of goodies and a piece of his incredible stitching. I should know as I won his first blogoversary giveaway (here)

Kirby had great news for us last week - she has got into Loughborough University for her degree course in Fashion and Design. Well done darling, we are very proud of you and love you lots!

Thanks to all who left such great comments on the Petites Lettres Rouges post. I really enjoyed stitching this sweet little sampler even if I didn't win the contest! I have been thinking of stitching one with my mother's name and DOB and framing them together and then I thought why stop there? Why not stitch one with my own name and maybe another for my daughter and then Kirby too or do you think I will be sick of it by the time I get to Kirby? But wouldn't it make a fabulous family heirloom?

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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