Yesterday I stitched Bands 29 & 30 of the Randje per week SAL. I am really enjoying this project and I love to see the different versions on the Randje per week Facebook page *here*. There are 2,181 members of this group and although not all post pictures it's great to see how the members are putting their own stamp on this project. 

I have now stitched my late mother's name, date of birth and date of death on the sideways section. The next name will be mine although I will have to leave the DOD blank for someone else to fill in!!

This week I will be stitching the model for a new iStitch Design to be released shortly.

Thanks for visiting

Take care

I eventually decided to leave out band 26 on my Randje per week and went ahead with bands 27 and 28. I also added my late mother's name, DOB and DOD on the sideways band - Millie Gulliver 1916-1976. This is all I actually stitched this past week as I have been watching 24 on Sky On Demand. I missed this when it was originally shown on tv! 

Week 14 chart of bands 29 and 30 were released late last night which I downloaded and printed with a view to stitching them over the weekend.

A number of people have signed up for the iStitch Design Exchange. The list closes on April 20 so there is still time to join in if you wish. Just email me with your name and mailing address and whether or not you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced stitcher. Further details on my last post. My email address can be found on my profile.

I had the stitches removed from my leg last Monday but it is heavily Steri-stripped which, hopefully, will be removed this coming Monday. 

Thanks for visiting

Take care

Since having leg surgery I have spent a lot of time with my leg elevated and needle in hand! This is Carol's Band stitched 1*1 with HDF Magpie Tears 2349 on a white 30ct linen banding with a lacy edging. 

Click on picture for a closeup view

This is band 25 from Randje per week SAL *here*. This is a free, Dutch, year long SAL and I think there are now over 2000 members! As I do not like band 26 I have decided to omit it although I may yet substitute it - who knows? It's nearly time to add my late mother's name on the downwards sidebar. 

Click on picture for a closeup view

Léontine Chatelard 1898 by Meriem Chavet of Couleur Tourterel gifted me this lovely chart which I decided to stitch 1*1 on 40ct silk gauze with Soie Surfine. The scissors by M Roulot of Nogent which are showing through the gauze are 3½" so you can see how tiny this sampler is. 

I have been wondering whether or not to host an iStitch Design exchange. A few people have shown a little interest but, at the moment, not enough. You will need to stitch and finish any iStitch Design and send it to your partner. It does not have to be a purchased chart (but feel free to buy one ;-)) as there are some free charts available *here*.  Look for the freebies link on the sidebar. It will be up to the individual whether or no to send extras so please remember if you send extras you may not receive any back! Please leave a comment or email me (my email address is on my profile) if you are interested.

The weather is slowly improving here on the south east coast of the UK - a little sunshine but with a cool sea breeze - the downside of living near the sea. 

Thanks for visiting

Take care 

I stitched the two new Randjes yesterday. I am so pleased with how this is turning out.

Last Friday I worked on my own version of Randjes - Carol's Band. I am loving this one too!

Short post. I had surgery on my leg on Friday and I'm supposed to be resting with my leg elevated!

Thanks for visiting 

Take care

My stitching of the Camille Jullien SAL on 64ct linen with Tudor Silk thread is coming along slowly but surely! Apologies for the poor picture it looked fine onscreen but now looks a little blurry. I will try to get a better picture for the next update!

Click on the pictures for a closeup view

Last Sunday we had another Mini Adventure. If you remember last May we went to France *here* but this time we stayed local and did the Ham Sandwich run. You may wonder what the Ham Sandwich refers to - it's nothing to do with food but refers to two local places - Ham is a tiny village and Sandwich a town in Kent - see the road sign! We started from the Transport Museum in Dover *here* and drove cross country to finish up at the Viking Ship *here* where we had a Teddy Bear's Picnic. Most people had brought along a bear to join in the fun so there was a competition to find the best bear chosen by Georgia. As Georgia is my grand-daughter, my bear Winston, was not allowed to be in the competition but I am sure he enjoyed the day out and for those who are wondering, he was allowed to travel inside the car and not on the mirror! After an enjoyable lunch part 2 of the rally began which was another cross country route to finish at the Hornby Centre *here*. Part 3 took us again cross country to a final finish at the Griffins Head, Chillenden *here* where there was a BBQ and the prize giving. We didn't win as our mileage was under what it should have been - I guess we took a shortcut at some point ;-)  It was a really fun day and we are already looking forward to the next Mini Adventure!

I'm off to the dentist now - wish me luck!

Thanks for visiting

Take care

Click to enlarge

An update on Camille Jullien SAL. As mentioned in my previous post  I was struggling with the 64ct uneven weave linen so I decided to overlock (serge) pieces of 48ct and 55ct Gander linen ready to give in and restart Camille but I persevered with the 64ct and above is my current progress. I am only able to stitch this is daylight with a magnifier but I am loving the delicacy and how tiny this sampler (181 x 146 stitch count) will be. This might be my last foray into such high count stitching although I never say never and I do have another piece of 64ct ;-) ...

Not such a nice day today so no reading in the garden unless the sun makes an appearance this afternoon.

Thanks for visiting - enjoy the weekend

Take care

Click on the picture for a closeup view

I made a start on Camille Jullien (Ouvrages des Dames) last night. The fabric (despite looking grey in the picture) is an off white 64ct  unevenweave linen; the thread is Glorianna's Tudor Silk in Bellagio Red #240 and the needle, placed to show exactly how tiny this stitching is, is a Bohin 28. This was extremely difficult to see even using a magnifier and under my ancient Ottlite so I may have to re-think this one before I go much further. I do like it but perhaps a smaller project might be better for this linen. I am going to try again in natural daylight and hopefully I will not find it as difficult to stitch. 

Click to enlarge

It was a beautiful day yesterday so we took a walk along the seafront with Hector. I remembered to take my camera and took a few snaps to share. I also took a few pictures of Hector ... here's one of them.

Click to enlarge

As you can see Hector is disabled and has been for the past 18-20 months. He is the loveliest little dog that you can imagine and is quite happy to go for a walk on his custom-made set of wheels. He is well known and many people stop to say hello to him and he is quite happy to pose for pictures! He does not have to be on a lead and is very obedient when told to wait to cross the road and waits quite patiently to be helped up the kerbs if they are too high for him to manage. He can go down steps but has to be carried up them. Isn't he the sweetest little dog?

Today is also a gorgeous day and my lounger and Kindle are ready and waiting so ...

Thank you for visiting

Take care

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

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

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

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

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

First we had Sew Petite and now we have Sew Grande! Three different alphabets and numbers with a motif or two thrown in the mix are surrounded by two different borders. It is stitched 1*2 with Needlepoint Inc 505 on 40ct Newcastle linen dyed with walnut ink crystals. 

It has been custom designed to fit a Medium Hornbook (Folk Art hand painted) by Kelmscott Designs which is available *here* or from most good needlework stores. The scissors are Primitive Lace Scissors also available from Kelmscott Designs. 

The sampler was edged with a double-wrapped nun stitch with DMC 80 Dentelles and then cut to size.

This chart is available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. It will also be available shortly from your LNS.

Thanks for visiting

Take care 

Here is the latest chart released today from iStitch Designs - Sew Petite - a teeny alphabet, Spring flowers and hearts within a lacy border. This tiny sampler is stitched 1*2 in both monochrome in red AVAS silk thread on 40ct antique white Newcastle linen and a colour version in HDF silk threads on 40ct white Newcastle linen. 

This petite sampler is custom designed to fit Image Stitchery Designs 2½" x 2" hornbooks which are available from Attic Needlework of Mesa, Arizona and other good needlework stores. 

A finishing tutorial will be posted on my Tutorials blog shortly - link on the sidebar. NOW POSTED *HERE*

Of course you do not have to stitch it on 40ct or finish it on a hornbook, it will look great stitched on a lower count fabric and finished as a pin keep, a pillow or a flatfold - this is entirely up to you!

This chart is available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

The scissors are Bohin Petites - rather aptly named scissors to photograph with Sew Petite!

Thanks for visiting

Take care

Please click on the picture for a closeup view

Here's the promised picture of Marquoir de Jeanne from François Prax book Miniatures au point de croix. It is stitched 1*2 with Needlepoint Inc silk thread number 505 on 48ct Gander linen which has been dyed with walnut ink. This little sampler measures 5" x 4¾". I actually had some difficulty in stitching this as my mind kept wanting to correct the mistakes so ... some errors are Jeanne's and some are mine! The scissors are again from my Nogent collection and are called, I think, Fleurs; I have a second pair of these in a silver finish. 

My flower

Kirby's flower

You can also click on these pictures for closeup views

Yesterday was Stitch-n-Bitch night and Lynn had agreed to teach Kirby to crochet so I decided to take along a hook and a ball of crochet cotton to see if I could remember how to do it. I used to crochet many years ago but have my own way of doing it so I thought it prudent not to teach Kirby my bad habits. I managed to do the above triple flower. Not the neatest effort but I enjoyed doing it and will continue to practise. Kirby was a little wiser than me and used a larger hook and wool and. as you can see, her flower is a lot neater than mine! Thank you Lynn for your patience.

I am back to stitching the second part of miniature blue - part 1 *here* - but not enough to show a picture! 

After the bad weather the sun is shining today and although it's still extremely cold we have decided to take a change and take Hector for a walk.

Thanks for visiting

Take care