< iStitch
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Soed Idee's Blok SAL finish!





I finished stitching Soed Idee's Blok Mystery SAL. It is stitched with HDF OMG Red 1149 on 48ct nacre Gander linen and measures 6" x 6". I really enjoyed stitching this 'little red' and would like to thank Simone for holding this SAL. Simone has posted pictures of other the samplers stitched in this SAL *here* so do go take a look. Although B Blok only stitched the first line of the last alphabet I decided to stitch the rest following Jeanny of Merklapperie en nog veel meer *here* who used alphabet #160 on page 39 of the Bible des Lettres au point de Croix by Valérie Lejeune. 


I have already planned my next 'little red' - Camille Julienn from Ouvrages du Dames - a SAL run by Annelein *here*. For this one I have chosen to use 64ct (this is not a typo - I said 64ct!) white linen which was sent to me by Marjan (thank you Marjan) and I will use Glorianna's Tudor Silk thread in Bellagio Red #240.  I am not sure whether this is taking my miniature stitching a bit far but we shall see! I need to print off the pattern and overlock (serge) my linen and, hopefully, make a start later today. 

I have also been stitching a new iStitch Design with French Blue #176 and Olivine #206 Tudor Silk threads on 55ct linen and I must say I like it.  

At last Summer seems to have arrived in the UK and I have been spending a lot of time in my garden with the ever-present Kindle onto which I downloaded John Grisham's ' The Racketeer' ready for my afternoon in the sun today. I have enjoyed the majority of John Grisham's books so I hope I will enjoy this one too. 

Once again, don't forget iStitch Designs July offer - buy one chart and get a chance to win Sew Angelina chart plus the burgandy linen and white silk thread to stitch it. Go *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. This offer is open to all buyers whether or not you have a blog or wherever you live. For those of you who prefer to buy a printed chart from your LNS, please ask the store owner to contact *Michelle of Stitching Pretty* who is my distributor in the US. UK shop owners can contact me directly - my email address is on my profile.

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Sunday, 7 July 2013
Soed Idee's Blok Mystery SAL Part V





I finished stitching Part V of Soed Idee's Blok Mystery SAL at Stitch-n-Bitch last Wednesday evening but have only just got round to taking a picture. The final part was released yesterday and I have downloaded it ready to stitch later today. All parts of this SAL are still available on Simone's blog *here*. I have really enjoyed stitching this little red - thank you Simone. I have already decided my next one will be Camille Julien a freebie from Ouvrages de Dames *here* and, as there is a SAL for this one too *here*, I will join this if I am able to. The scissors are Small Gold Vineyard from Kelmscott Designs *here*. 

At last the summer seems to have arrived in the UK so I will leave you now as my Kindle is fully charged and the lounger in the garden is ready for my occupation!

Don't forget iStitch Designs July offer - buy one chart and get a chance to win a new design (Sew Angelina) complete with linen and thread to stitch it. Go *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

Thanks for visiting
Take care



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Friday, 28 June 2013
Soed Idee's Blok Mystery SAL - Part IV






Here is part IV of Soed Idee's Blok Mystery SAL *here*. I am ready for Part V which will be released tomorrow. The large letters at the bottom were charted for cross stitch but Simone suggested it might look nice in eyelets but as I had already started the A I decided to stitch only my initials in eyelets. The C is stitched in eyelets but by the time I got to R I had forgotten the plan! I have decided to leave it as it is.

Two new iStitch Designs models are stitched and now need finishing. These will be released, maybe with a third design, during July. Don't forget to read the earlier post re the chance to win one of these new designs, not only the chart but the kit to stitch it with too. 

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend
Take care


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Saturday, 22 June 2013
Soed Idee Mystery SAL Part 3






Here is Part 3 of Soed Idee's Mystery SAL. Part 4 was released today and I have printed it off ready to stitch later today. Earlier parts are still available from Simone's blog *here* so you can still join in the SAL if you wish. There are also some great pictures taken by participants of the SAL so worth just taking a look.


And now for a walk on the wild side ... 







Just recently we took a walk at Fowlmead Country Park which is quite close to where we live. This Park is built on the old slag heap/spoil tip from the now closed Betteshanger Colliery as can be seen from the above picture and is well worth a visit. There is a two mile tarmac cycle track, leisure paths for both cycling and walking and established woodlands, wetlands and reed beds full of wildlife. 






The views are amazing and the waterways so clean and so blue! There are wildflowers in abundance although I cannot give names to all of them. 











What amazed me the most were the wild strawberries. So tiny and so many of them. Many were still in flower but a lot were ready for picking although we didn't bother. I am not sure if they are edible but I suppose they must be.




All the above pictures are clickable for closeup views. This was our first time visit to the Park but definitely won't be our last. 


The weather is awful this weekend and has been for ages. Where is Summer? I am so ready for it!


Thanks for visiting
Take care



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Monday, 10 June 2013
Soed Idee Mystery SAL Part 2





As Simone (Soed Idee) released Part 2 of her Mystery SAL on Saturday I set to and got it stitched up in the evening. I am really enjoying this SAL - I wonder why? No prizes for guessing!






As promised here is my finish of Gigi R's Sweet Adeline. I have yet to decide on a final finish. It is stitched on 55ct antique white Gander linen with Soie Surfine 611. The scissors are by M Roulot of Nogent.




And for those of you who asked what the back of my work looks like - here is the back of Sweet Adeline! 

I am now stitching Sew Fine - one of the new iStitch Designs. I enjoyed stitching Sweet Adeline so much I decided to stitch Sew Fine on 55ct with Soie Surfine 613 which is a gorgeous mauve. Of course, you would not have to stitch Sew Fine on such a high count (unless  you really want to) as it will be just as pretty on a lower count fabric! 



Despite the awful weather we are having in our little corner of the UK the honeysuckle in our garden is blooming and smells heavenly.





And meet Eddie the Seagull .. I don't usually like seagulls - they are noisy and messy but no so Eddie. He visits on a daily basis and balances very precariously on the trellis fence. He makes no noise (or mess) and just waits patiently until I throw something over the fence for him. 

All the above pictures are clickable to enlarge except for the first Sweet Adeline to protect copyright.

Thank you for visiting
Take care

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Saturday, 8 June 2013
Soed Idee Mystery SAL





Last weekend was the start of Simone's (Soed Idee) mystery SAL. I had already prepared my linen and thread to make a start and stitched Part 1 last Saturday evening. The linen, as you can see from the label, is 48ct nacre Gander linen and the thread is HDF OMG Red 1149. Part 2 was released last night so now that my chores are done I am about to start stitching this. It's not too late to join in this SAL as the parts are still on Simone's blog *here*.

I also finished stitching Sweet Adeline and need to take a picture so I will post this as soon as I can.

I have been working this past week covering for staff on holiday. It was good to see my old work colleagues but it also meant that when the office was quiet I was able to work on some new iStitch Designs. There are 8 new ones and I now need to stitch the models and prepare the pdf file charts. 

We were promised good weather last week and, although it was fairly sunny, there was, and still is, a very cold wind blowing off the sea - a downside of living by the ocean. 

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Absence makes the heart grow fonder?






As you may or may not have noticed I haven't been around much these past couple of weeks. My flu bug got worse and I was too sick to post although I did blog surf and leave a few comments here and there. On bad days I curled up on the sofa in front of the tv and on my good days I worked on my Blue Ribbon box class pre-stitching. This is now finished apart from removing the basting threads and cutting it up into sections. I must admit I changed a bit here and there and I hope that Sherri does not mind. I'm sorry about the poor picture but it's been very dark, gloomy, rainy weather here these past few days. Click on the picture for a closer look.





Sally from Stitchy Angel's Treasures sent me a picture of her beautiful Mystery box finish. It's stitched on a 25ct fabric with an unknown Victorian Motto thread. Thank you Sally for allowing me to post your picture.

Sew a Mystery is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Saturday, 18 February 2012
A gift, a window display and Mystery boxes


Picture by Valie


After such a wonderful trip to France a week last Thursday I went down with the flu so I spent the whole of last week tucked up in bed. I am now recovered and back to stitching and blogging.

While in Paris I met up with my dear friend Valie and as usual we exchanged gifts. I have yet to take picture of my received gifts but the above pillow is the one I stitched for Valie - Sunflowers and Acorns by Beehive Needleworks. It is stitched on 40ct raw linen with my own conversion to HDF silk threads. There are more pictures on Valie's blog *here* so do go take a look and check out her lovely stitching and finishing while you are there.

I also have more pictures to show of the goodies purchased at the AEF but please bear with me while I completely recover from my flu.




A few weeks ago I was at Bluewater shopping centre and one of the stores had a complete window display of old sewing machines. I cannot remember the name of the store, I'm not sure I even looked as I was much too interested in the machines!




I received pictures of two more Mystery box finishes. The first lovely finish is by Janine who unfortunately omitted to tell me what fabric and threads she used although she did say that she printed off a sampler picture to line the box. What a great idea. Janine also stitched a matching scissor fob and then gave the box, together with its contents, to her friend for Christmas. Such a lucky friend!




The second beautiful finish is by Meari and is stitched on 22ct Zweigert linen with Anchor thread 1315. She certainly found a great co-ordinating fabric and trim. There are further pictures on Meari's blog so do go take a look at both these and her other lovely stitching.

These ladies made a great job of their stitching and finishing. Thank you both for allowing me to showcase them here.

If you have an iStitch Designs finish that you would like to share, please email pictures and a note of fabric and threads used.

Sew a Mystery is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Saturday, 4 February 2012
Paris and two iStitch Designs finishes




This coming Thursday, Kirby, Caroline and I are off to Paris by the Eurostar train to the L'aiguille en fête (AEF) in the Grande halle de la Villette. If you remember we went to the AEF last year *here* and we were so impressed with such a wonderful fair that we decided to repeat the experience this year. Our bags are packed with passports, tickets and plenty of euros and, of course, cameras. We will be meeting up with Valie *here* and I will certainly be visiting with Monsieur Roulot and his wonderful scissors - I am positive that a pair of two of his masterpieces will be making their way back to England with me. We are all a little excited and I will report back with plenty of pictures next weekend.






Recently I received pictures from two lovely ladies of two iStitch Designs. Firstly is Sew Scissors by Maryse of Un Chalet à la campagne *here*. It is stitched on 48ct Gander linen with DMC threads. A very pretty finish Maryse.





Next from Sheila's Stitches and Stuff is her box finish of Sew a Mystery. It is stitched on 40ct Newburgh linen with Valdani Hand-Overdyed cotton floss in Mauve Orchid - a beautiful finish Sheila!

Thank you to Maryse and Sheila for allowing me to showcase their stitching.

The charts for both Sew Scissors and Sew a Mystery are available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.


No stitching pictures of my own to show today although I have been stitching a gift for a dear friend and the pre-stitching of my class in London in April. Our little corner of England, together with the rest of the country, is expecting snow but as yet there's not a snowflake to be seen although it is extremely cold. I hope it warms up a little before Thursday!

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Mystery SAL finishes




Patty of Hanging on by a Thread sent me this picture of her beautiful finish of the Mystery SAL. Using Simply Shaker Sampler Threads in Autumn Leaves #7073 on 40ct Pearled Barley linen, Patty finished as a box top edged with a gorgeous co-ordinating braid.






Elisa of Old Ragged Threads also sent me a picture of her finished SAL. Using Gentle Arts 'Rhubarb' on 32ct Murano Vanilla linen, Elisa stitched 1*1 to produce her wonderful finish. There are more pictures of this and Elisa's other beautiful stitching on her blog.




Elisa also stitched the freebie NOEL chart using recommended DMC threads on white 28ct Country French linen. She altered the snowflake to holly as the white didn't show on her chosen fabric. This is also stitched 1*1.

Both Sew a Mystery and the NOEL freebie are still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. You will also find a box finishing tutorial by clicking on Tutorials on the sidebar here.

A big thank you to Patty and Elisa for allowing me to showcase their lovely stitching.



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Sunday, 8 January 2012
Mayté's Sew a Mystery finish





Mayté of MagicXstitch sent this collage of her lovely box finish of Sew a Mystery last month. It is stitched on cream 40ct Newcastle linen with a hand-dyed cotton floss called 'New Vision' from Carrie's Threads. The finishing fabric is 'Forget Me Not, My Love' by Robyn Pandolph for SSI Fabrics and the chenille trim was hand-dyed by Mayté with Hibicus and Raspberry organic tea. There are more pictures of her finish on her blog *here*. Thank you Mayté for allowing me to showcase your beautiful work here.


Sew a Mystery chart is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.


If you have an iStitch Design finish you would like me to feature on my blog, please send me a picture, details of fabric and threads used and a link to your blog if you have one. You can find my email address on my profile.


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I have finished the alphabet section of Jane Rees and will post a picture shortly. I really wanted to start on the motifs section but I know I have to pre-stitch for a class in April. I overlocked (serged) the linen and basted the marking lines ready to start but then I got waylaid on the model for my new design. This is stitched on 40ct Newcastle linen (which I dyed with walnut ink) with HDF OMG Red 1149 - one of my favourite reds. It's small - approximately 4" x 4" square and will make an ideal box/tin topper although I have yet to decide whether to finish like this, to hem-stitch and frame it or to make a needle book. For some reason it's getting difficult to buy square frames locally, even the nearest Hobby Craft store have stopped stocking them. If my newest design is tempting you, please visit again in the very near future. Almost forgot ... it's called Sew Nicole 1847!

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Sew a Mystery box finish


Click on the picture for a closer view


Cynthia (no blog) sent me pictures of her beautiful box finish of Sew a Mystery. It is stitched on antique white 22ct Hardanger fabric with Cosmos Marble thread. Isn't this a lovely finish? Thank you Cynthia for allowing me to showcase your box.

Sew a Mystery is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. The bonus pin pillow chart is also included. Box finishing instructions can be found on the Tutorials button on the sidebar.


Thank you for visiting
Take care


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Saturday, 17 December 2011
Sew a Mystery box finish





Isabelle of Los puntos sobre las telas blog *here* recently sent me a picture of her wonderful box finish of Sew a Mystery. It is stitched 2*2 on a 36ct linen with DMC threads 221 and 223. The box is lined with a really pretty pink and white fabric. There more pictures of this on Isabelle's blog so do go over and have a look. Thank you Isabelle for allowing me to showcase this here.

If you have any iStitch Designs finish you would like to be shown here please email me. You can find my email address on my profile.

Sew a Mystery is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

Thank you for visiting
Take care


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Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Three Sew a Mystery finishes!





Valie finished her Sew a Mystery as this wonderful box top. Stitched on a 40ct linen with discontinued AVAS silk threads Valie found the perfect Liberty print for lining the inside of the box. Also found in her stash was the sweetest of dotted ribbon. Isn't this finish just gorgeous? There are more picture of this on Valie's blog *here* and while you are there check out her other beautiful stitching and finishing.





Kim of Scully's Cross Stitching chose to frame her version of Sew a Mystery. It is beautifully stitched with DMC variegated thread 88 on a white even weave fabric.




Maureen (no blog) also decided to frame her Mystery SAL. It is stitched on a piece of linen hand dyed by Vikki of Hand Dyed Fibers which has no specific name ... indeed a mystery piece! Her thread 'Paula Abalone' is also by Hand Dyed Fibers.

Three lovely finishes by three lovely ladies. Thank you for allowing me to showcase these here.

Sew a Mystery is available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar and remember there are free charts available with a purchase!

For those of you who are participating in this SAL, please note that the SAL closes on December 10 and no parts or the bonus chart will be sent out after this date.



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I have been stitching my Christmas ornaments and have 'finished' the two that have to be the mailed out. I hope to finish both stitching and 'final finishing' of the others shortly. I have also stitched the model of a new design and had hoped to be able to photograph it today but alas, it's yet another dark and gloomy day so I have had to postpone the photoshoot. This design will be released as soon as I can re-schedule the photoshoot. It's slightly different to the usual iStitch Design and I hope you like it.


Thanks for visiting
Take care


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Thursday, 1 December 2011
Sew a Mystery framed!




Cindy (no blog) has sent me a picture of her version of Sew a Mystery that she recently got back from her framer. Cindy tells me she used a mystery 30ct linen from her stash that she sprayed with walnut stain. Her thread is Fragrant Cloves from Sampler Thread. a very beautiful version Cindy - thank you for sharing.

If you are behind with this SAL, please note that it finishes on December 10 and after that date no charts will be sent out.

Sew a Mystery chart is available *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar if you missed out on the signups for the SAL



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I have been stitching my Christmas ornaments - only two more to go and then I will have a marathon finishing day. I've also made a small start on a new design (it has no name as yet) which I hope to release shortly. It is stitched with a wonderful HDF silk thread called 'Gigi's Christmas' and I may show a sneak peek in a day or so. There will also be a new freebie for Christmas so keep checking back.

It's an awful day here today; dark, gloomy and raining heavily - I really need some warm sunshine!

Thanks for visiting
Take care


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