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Saturday, 19 July 2008
One swan a-swimming?



I heard from Judy that the Quaker Inspired's Animal exchange that I sent to her has now arrived. I was getting a little worried as I had mailed this three weeks ago but Judy has been away and now I can breathe again. I had already started to think of re-stitching! I decided to stitch the swan on, yet again, my lovely white 35ct Brussels linen using AVAS silk in 1714 blue. I wasn't sure whether to finish as a pinkeep but in the end I chose a pillow with tiny white silk bows in the corners. I am glad that Judy was pleased with the result.

Yesterday evening I finished off the remaining motif on Mindi's QFRR.  I will post a picture later as it's very dark and dismal today - definitely not a day for taking photos! I then searched out patterns to stitch a scissor pocket for the Monthly Finishing Challenge which I will be starting today and I also chose a pattern for the redwork exchange on Jayne's Attic.  So ... the house is clean, the laundry is done and I am going to have a stitching day. Would anyone care to join me?

Thanks for visiting
Take care  

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Friday, 4 July 2008
Happy 4th July and Quaker animal exchange








The mail man brought me yet another package today - again postmarked 'San Francisco'. Unbeknown to me the lovely Valerie had drawn my name for the Quaker Inspired's Quaker Animal Exchange. Valerie and I have become friends this past few months and we had even discussed which of these animals we liked and we had both decided that the mouse was really cute! She sure can keep a secret!

Inside my package was a gorgeous flat fold featuring that little mouse. It is beautifully stitched and finished using Lakeside Linens Vintage Light Examplar fabric and Caron Waterlilies Flagstone floss and the backing fabric and the unusual trim co-ordinates perfectly.

Valerie also enclosed some lovely goodies; Samplers and Such "A Spot of Tea", two skeins of Gloriana Poinsettia silk floss (such a gorgeous shade of red), a packet of French (size 28) needles (which I can't wait to try), a magnetic notepad and some Cosmos flower seeds (which are the official flowers for Valerie's birth month of October). She also enclosed some chocolate bars which are not shown in the picture (and no it's not because I have eaten them already - it's because they were a bit soft from the journey and I have put them in the fridge). 

Thank you so much Valerie, you have made this exchange so very memorable.

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Sunday, 22 June 2008
The eggling has flowered!


The eggling flower has landed! Yesterday morning it was a tight red bud and later, in the afternoon, this beautiful flower emerged. There are other buds around the flower and on other parts of the plant. I am sorry about the poor picture but it's dull here today and really hard to get a good photo so I will try and remedy this when, or if, the sun comes out. I think it now needs re-potting into a much larger pot so I will do that in the next couple of days. I couldn't find a stick so I used a chop-stick instead! 

On the stitching front, I have been really busy finishing. HOE LHN exchange has been mailed off to it's new owner so I really hope that she likes it. I also finished my Christmas in July ornament and Quaker Animal exchanges and will get them mailed off sometime this week. I even finished the HOE Summer Quaker which is not due for mailing until August - how early am I with this one? I have also stitched and finished two birthday gifts for friends. All of this I cannot show yet, not even the birthday gifts as I know that both recipients read my blog but suffice it to say I am pleased with how all these projects have turned out. I have also stitched a tin topper for the Monthly Finishing Challenge and only need to put on my initials and the year before I finish this off. It's another black and white theme which, as you all know, I love but I will say nothing more until it's completed and ready to show. 

And, hopefully, I will also have something new to show in the next couple of days. I stitched this project in a SAL with a friend at the end of last year and we were going to get together for the finishing but, six months on, and it's still prepared and ready to finish so I have to decided to go ahead and finish mine now.

No more progress on Hannah Beeby as yet.

Thanks for visiting
Take care

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Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Some mail and some finishes


The mailman was really good to me today, not only did he bring me Donna's Quaker Friendship RR for me to stitch my section, but he also brought me a couple of patterns. The first one is a Twisted Oaks Design - A Patchwork Garden Pincushion Ball - isn't that so pretty? And the second one (and stop drooling those Quakerites out there) is the Sampler Cove's Quaker Casket which I think is absolutely stunning but I need to find a supplier for the casket now. Can anyone help here? I will get in touch with Diane Jourdan to see if she can point me in the right direction but I have a feeling it's going to be rather expensive - ouch! Both of these charts I brought with the Gift Certificate I won on the Monthly Finishing Challenge and arrived really quickly from Down Sunshine Lane. 



And, talking of the Monthly Finishing Challenge, May's Challenge was a biscornu and here is my offering. The top is The Work Basket's January Quaker and the bottom is part of October Quaker with my own bit in the centre. The fabric is 35ct Brussels linen in optic white and the silk floss is Au Ver A Soie 1714. Usually, when I stitch the back-stitch outline around a project, I stitch over 2 threads but as this biscornu was larger than others I have back-stitched over 4 threads and although it's ok I won't do this again as I prefer a tighter finish. 

And, as my six month blogiversary is coming up shortly I will be putting this biscornu up for a draw so keep visiting so you don't miss out!

I also finished the HOE freebie chart exchange and Quaker Inspired's Quaker Animal exchange. Both of these I am unable to show just yet. 

Last weekend was a Bank Holiday here in the UK and on Saturday we had glorious sunshine and although it rained overnight, Sunday was quite nice too but Monday - OMG - the heavens opened and we had gale force winds. My garden is such a mess and my tomatoes in their tiny growbag greenhouses are devastated. Rain collected on the top and the more it rained the heavier the top got until it sank to the bottom and crushed the plants so what with Tommy climbing in and marching through them one day last week and now this, I think it will be a miracle if they actually survive. Maybe I am just not cut out for gardening?

Thanks for visiting
Take car 

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Friday, 16 May 2008
Quaker Animals


Yesterday I finished the stitching on my Quaker animal for the exchange on the Quaker Inspired blog but ... which one did I choose to stitch... the sheep? the cow? the frog? or ... you will have to wait and see but, I am pleased with the result, and hopefully my partner will think so too.  I want to finish off all my exchange pieces in the next few days and I have, more or less, decided what finish for each piece. I still need to stitch my ornament for the Christmas in July exchange and I was persuaded by the lovely Carol, at the last minute, to sign up for the HOE Summer Quaker exchange! And next, a biscornu for the Monthly Finishing Challenge. I need to chose fabric and floss but I have decided on a pattern.

Now I should be doing the household chores rather than blogging and I know which I enjoy more but, as all good things must come to an end, I have to go clean the house!

Thanks for visiting and have a great stitching weekend
Take care

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Sunday, 30 March 2008
iMacs rule!



Yesterday I set up my new iMac computer. How neat is this? I just plugged it in, asked it to migrate from the external hard drive and voila it works! Everything from my old computer is now on my new computer so all those cds I burned off were not necessary. Better be safe than sorry though. The only problem I had was pairing it to the wireless keyboard and that was all my fault. When I typed in the pass code it said to hit return and I didn't so when it didn't pair I thought that maybe the batteries needing changing and, as I didn't have any spare ones, Ken went out and picked some up from a local shop. I changed the batteries and it still didn't pair and then I read 'type in the pass code and press return' - opps why didn't I read what it said? When I hit the return key it worked perfectly!

For those of you who have not seen my old system go here . I must admit I do prefer the 'all white' appearance of the older iMac but this new system is much faster and the screen clarity is amazing.

Don't be fooled by the tidy desk - I can assure you that it doesn't always look like this. Take note of the Tiffany Apple paperweight. I told you I was mad about anything Apple and isn't this just the ultimate desk accessory for any Apple addict? It was a birthday present from Ken a couple of years ago.

Not much stitching done over the weekend except for some gift stitching. Hopefully, my package from NIAH will arrive shortly and I can make a start on Hannah Beeby. I have also joined the Quaker Inspired Quaker Animal exchange and will be stitching for that too. I have already chosen my animal and the finish. There are still spaces in this exchange if anyone else is interested.

Thank you for visiting
Take care

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