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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. 

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Click on the picture for a closeup view

I seem to have missed posting a picture of Week 7 - bands 15 and 16 with a second colour (in my case blue to match my side lettering) being introduced in band 16. 

Week 8 of the Randje per week SAL from Soed Idee gave us bands 17 and 18. Band 18 is mainly back stitch or double running stitch. I was unsure how this would work with me stitching one over one as I though the silk floss might disappear under the linen threads but all was ok and I am pleased with the result. It's not too late to join this SAL. Go *here* and leave a comment on any post that you wish to join. All charts can be found by clicking on the Randje per week button in the top right hand corner. There is also a Facebook page where participants are posting their pictures *here* but it is a closed group so you may have to join to see the pictures. 

Click on the picture for a closeup view

I finished stitching Camille Jullien 1897 ages ago but forgot to post a picture. This sampler is very tiny being stitch 1*2 on 64ct white linen. Yes I said 64ct and not only was it such a high count linen it was also an uneven weave which made it extremely difficult to work on. This was stitched with Glorianna's Tudor Silk in Bellagio Red #240. I now need to find the perfect frame for this one.

I almost forgot - check out those gorgeous scissors which my dear friend Valie got for me from M Roulot of Nogent at the Aguilles en fête needlework fair in Paris together with some gorgeous vintage spools. Thank you Valie! 

At last there's a sign of Spring! We have daffodils, crocus and snowdrops flowering in the garden. It's been a very long wet Winter and I am glad to see the back of this awful weather.

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Click on the picture for a closeup view

Week 6 of the Randje per week SAL *here* brought bands 13 and 14. The charts are posted on the Randje per week blog at 11pm (midnight in Holland) each Friday evening and I go to check them out as soon as they are released. I stitched these two bands on Saturday afternoon which afternoon I now refer to as my 'Randje afternoon'! And now I have to wait until next Friday for the next two bands. In the meantime, and being impatient for new bands,  I have brought some lacy-edged banding and will be stitching another of these band samplers of my own compilation which will include not only borders/edges but alphabets too.  

As this sampler will also include family names, dates of birth and death, to leave for future generations I decided to keep a small journal. This beautiful tiny French journal was given to me by my dear friend Angela and is perfect to add additional information and thoughts as I go along. Thank you Angela!

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This weekend is the Aguilles en fête needlework fair in Paris. I had decided not to go this year but as the time got nearer I changed my mind and quickly go online to try to book Eurostar tickets for both Kirby and I but alas although there were seats available on the early train the only ones available for the return journey were at 3.15pm which would only allowed a very short time at the fair. Next year I will make an earlier decision and hopefully take advantage of the offers and as when they are released. 

Photograph by Valie

However, my dear French friend Valie did get to go to the fair so she very kindly shopped for me. She managed to get me a pair of the latest scissors from M Roulot of Nogent. These are gorgeous and I rather like what looks like tiny spools on the handles towards the blades. I can't wait to get these in my hands!

Photograph by Valie

I also asked Valie to look for vintage spools for me and she managed to find these. I am hoping that one will fit my Randje banding but if not they will look great in my display cabinet as they are. Thank you Valie for getting the spools and scissors for me.  

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Click for a closeup view

Last post I showed version 2 of my Randje per week SAL and this post shows version 3. I'm glad I purchased 2 metres of the banding because, rather than unpicking these tiny stitches, I could start yet again. So, on re-stitching, I moved bands 1-3 over to the left of the banding leaving a wider margin to the right where I have inserted 2014 sideways on. I have plans for the rest of this margin area which will be revealed in the next few weeks. Week 2 was released last Saturday so I have added bands 4-6. The scissors, which show how tiny this piece is, are hand-made by M Roulot of Nogent.

For further information of this SAL go *here*

Cornelia recently sent me a picture of her Sew Advent. It is stitched on 40ct raw Newcastle linen with Needlepoint Inc Silk threads in white, red and green. Beautiful stitching Cornelia - thank you for allowing me to post your picture.

If you wish to share your pictures of any iStitch Design please email them to me, together with details of fabrics and threads used and a blog link if you have one. My email address can be found on my profile.

And for those who love scissors:

iStitch Designs now has a Facebook page *here* where you can post your finishes and see old and future designs. There is also a link on the sidebar so please visit and, if you wish, join the group!

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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.

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Click on the picture for a closeup view of these teeny stitches

I have been seeing Gigi R's 'Sweet Adeline' on blogs and I was just about to order this chart when I received one as a gift! Thank you dear friend - you know who you are. I cut and overlocked (serged) a piece of 48ct Nacre Gander linen and pulled out one of my favourite reds - HDF's OMG Red 1149 but wait - I see tiny tiny and blue so back to my stash from where I pulled out a piece of 55ct (this is not a typo, I did say 55ct) Antique White Gander linen which I promptly overlocked in readiness to start.  I then delved into into my Au Ver a Soie Surfine box and espied this gorgeous shade of blue (number 611). I couldn't wait to start and here is my progress after a couple of evenings. I'm sorry for the poor picture - I will try to get a better one next time.

The scissors for the enthusiasts are Dovo's Victorian Treasures which are those I use most of the time.

It's a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK. We were promised sunshine but, once again, it's cloudy and overcast. I am beginning to think that we are not having a summer this year so yes I am feeling blue!

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First an update of page 4 of my Sajou booklet. As you can see it's coming along nicely and it won't be too long until it's done. The scissors were purchased on eBay and I have shown these before but I can't find the post at present. They are tiny, measuring 2½" and are engraved ER and dated 1953 so I assume they were released for the Queen's Coronation in that year.

During the week we took a trip to a garden centre near Canterbury and instead of coming home via the main road we drove through the countryside.We passed some wonderful old houses. This house 'The Old Rectory' is in Elmstone - a very tiny hamlet between Canterbury and Deal. 

It has a small pond and the gardens were beautiful.

It reminds me of a Jane Austen type house - what do you think?

And literally just around the corner stands 'The Old Vicarage'. I wonder why there are two such houses - an old rectory and an old vicarage - so close to each other?

I wonder which house I would choose if I were lucky enough to be able to afford to buy one? Which one would you choose and why?

All the above pictures are clickable for closeup views.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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Please click on picture for a closeup view

Scissors - oh how I ♥ scissors. I could not believe it when I saw these two pairs for sale on eBay, together with the thimbles. I left it until the last minute to bid and I won. The smallest pair measure 2½" and are marked Sheffield 81 England whilst the larger pair measure 3¾" and are marked Sheffield and some other indecipherable markings. The darker thimble has no identifying markings except Rd 12/2 PAT.G which I think is just the Patent No. The other thimble is hall-marked silver and is engraved MCE from MBR Sep. 1905 which brings me nicely to my next picture ...

Please click on picture for a closeup view

... SAL JHA 1905 - such a coincidence it has the same date as the thimble! I finished this sampler (which measures 5" x 5") a few weeks ago but today has been the first day I have been able to get a nice picture. This SAL was arranged by Simone of Soed Idee *here*. I am not sure whether or not this is still available. Thank you Simone for such an enjoyable SAL.

I have almost finished another little red sampler Marquoir de Jeanne from François Prax Miniatures au point du croix, which is stitched on the same 48ct walnut ink dyed linen with NPI silk thread 505 that I used for the JHA 1905 sampler. I will post a picture of this once it's done.

It's a beautiful day here today. The sun is shining so I must get ready to take sweet little Hector for a walk along the promenade. Although it was sunny yesterday there was a cold sea breeze so we avoided the seafront. 

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2013 is the 10th birthday/anniversary of the l'aiguille en fête. Our hotel must have known the 'Bond' girls were in town as our room was aptly numbered! Although we arrived in Paris on the day before the show, I thought you would rather see the AEF pictures first so I will post more pictures next time of how we spent our afternoon on the Wednesday!

We arrived at the new venue, Hall 6 at the Porte de Versailles and, as soon as we had disposed of our coats and luggage, we made our way immediately to Aisle C, number 5.4 where we knew we would find Monsieur Roulot and his delightful family and his wonderful display of hand-made scissors. 

Although there were a pair or three of his amazing (and very expensive) scissors that really took my heart, I was extremely good and only purchased some of his less expensive versions. Does five pairs count as 'some'? I originally purchased four pairs but passing by later in the day, I espied another pair which just had to come back with me.

I was actually quite restrained this trip and none of these charms made their way into my bag although Kirby wasn't quite so restrained! At the end of the day she was 'Euro'd out' so it was good that I was able to buy her a chocolate bar at the Eurostar terminal at the Gare du Nord!

I was tempted by this tiny china pot with a some very pretty hand-made pins.

At the end of a very tiring day Kirby rested on the floor before our metro trip back to the Gare du Nord surrounded by our luggage and her purchases.

All of the above pictures are clickable for close up views.

My dear French friend and her family had once again invited us to join her family for a couple of days and I would like to thank her. As usual we exchanged gifts and more of this in my next post.

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