Photo by Cindy

Last week Cindy of 'Chronicles of a cross stitching hockey fanatic' sent me her finish of Sew Red (see last post); this week her lovely finish of Sew Easy, another freebie from iStitch Designs. It is stitched 1*2 on 32ct Antique White Wichelt linen with Caron Waterlilies in Cherry Cordial. 

Thank you to both Anita and Cindy for allowing me to show their beautiful finishes. 

Both of these designs are available *here* - for Sew Parisian there is a link on the sidebar. For Sew Easy follow the 'Freebies' link, also on the sidebar.

If you have an iStitch Design you would like to share, please send me a picture together with details of fabric and threads used. My email address can be found on my profile.

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Brenda (no blog) has today sent me pictures of two beautiful pinkeeps she made using the Sew Easy free chart. The first is stitched 1*2 on 32ct raw Belfast linen with HDF premium silk thread in 6211/13/15 combo, white 5201 and Zaffre Colbalt.

Her second pinkeep is stitched 1*2 on white Belfast linen with HDF Winterberry 1423 premium silk thread. I'm glad I do not have to choose which one I prefer as they are both absolutely gorgeous! Thank you Brenda for allowing me to show these on my blog.

And check out her stunning Longaberger 25th Anniversary basket in the first picture. My dear friend Diana has just sent a small antique Longaberger basket to me. I will post a picture in the next day or so. Thank you Diana!

The Sew Easy free chart is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar and while you are there please check out my other charts.

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Edgar is having a birthday giveaway on his blog *here* so pop over and leave him a comment. You have until October 4 to enter and, if you are very lucky, one of his adorable little pooches will pick your name from the Bowl of Destiny.

It's been a lovely day here today so I took advantage and took my book out into the garden.

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Christine from Mes Petites Croix et Mes Chats recently sent me this picture of her finish of Sew Easy. She took a piece of wood, some fuschia and green braid and a tiny calendar and finished her stitching as a very pretty and unusual calendar. It is stitched on flax Belfast linen with 'Bahia' by Atalie threads. There are some more pictures on Christine's blog so do go over and have a look at these and her other stitches and finishes. Thank you Christine for allowing me to post this here.

Sew Easy is an iStitch free chart and is still available *here* and while you are there please check out my other charts on sale at a reasonable cost.

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Martine from Broderies Passion sent me pictures of a beautiful needlecase that she stitched using the Sew Easy free chart on white linen with DMC threads. There are more pictures on her blog so please make a visit and see her other wonderful stitching and finishing! Thank you Martine for sharing.

Also Christine from Les Petites Croix de Symiote sent me a picture of her framed Sew Parisian stitched with Threadworx threads on Belfast linen. Christine made this her own by adding a French song title about Paris by Jacques Dutronc. Translated into English the song title is 'It's five o'clock, Paris awakens'! Isn't this a lovely version of Sew Parisian? Thank you Christine for sharing.

Both Sew Parisian and Sew Easy (free chart) are available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

If you would like to share any of your stitched iStitch designs here on my blog, please email me with a picture and details of fabric and threads used and I would be more than happy to post them with a link back to your blog. My email address can be found on my profile.

By request, I have added a 'Followers' link both to this blog and my charts blog so, if you want to be a follower, you are more than welcome. At some point I will be having a giveaway for followers only so don't miss out - sign up now!

Over the weekend I stitched an ornament for Christmas and once this is 'finished' I will post a picture. I also finished charting and printing off a new design ready for stitching - it's pretty and it's pink!

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For the last few days I have been stitching Sew Easy as test pieces to help me decide whether to stitch Jane Rees on pale ivory 48ct Gander linen with HDF Perfect Red 6215 or on white 55ct linen with Soie Surfine 109 and here they are. To the left is the 48ct linen; the 55ct linen is on the right. I am still very undecided and would ask you to please comment with your views. If I stitch Jane on the Gander linen she will measure 15" x 19.8" whereas on the higher count she will measure 13" x 17.6" which is closer to the original measurement of 10" x 13½" as Jane stitched hers on 70ct linen. As much I like high count linens, 70ct, even if I could get it, would be a bit much for my eyes! Please, please comment - I value your opinion.

For those of you who are interested in Sew Easy this chart is available free *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. My test pieces measure 2½ x 3 on the Gander linen and 2 x 2½ on the 55ct fabric.  I nun-stitched each piece in HDF silk threads (Natural on the Gander linen, B5200 on the white linen) to enable me to cut them down with a neat edge.

And here, just a few days late, is my Tusal jar. If you peek inside you can see pink thread from Sew Sweet, the red Soie Surfine and HDF from Sew Easy and the cream of Sew Seasons. I am on the last season now - Sew Winter - so the chart will be ready soon.

The sun is shining and my place is booked in garden, my book is to hand and a cool drink ready to be poured - have a lovely weekend.

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Elisabetta from Punto E Virgola sent me a picture of the pinkeep she stitched using the Sew Easy free chart. She chose to use Andrea's colour scheme of black and red on 28ct white linen. Very pretty Elisabetta and thank you for allowing me to show this on my blog.

Sew Easy is still available for free *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar and while you are visiting please check out my other designs. Sew Red, Sew Blue and Sew Autumn are all available free with any purchase.

When Valie was visiting we took a walk along Deal seafront and the pier so my pictures here are 'fishing' related. The statue is one that stands at the front of the pier - I think it's rather strange - we have a nickname for it which I cannot divulge here as it's named after Ken's old boss and his wife! Check out that pink fishing rod - it was unattended but I assume it belongs to a female rather than a male fisherman!

Yesterday it rained all day so I took the opportunity of having a 'stitching day'. Sew Sew is almost stitched and if the black Soie Surfine arrives from France today, I will be able to put in the final stitches but ... this afternoon I have an appointment with the dentist and I think I will be having a tooth pulled. I am not looking forward to this :'(

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Andrea of The Craft Room has kindly allowed me to post her version of Sew Easy. Both Andrea's stitching and finishing skills are amazing and show what a incredible finish can be achieved from a very simple design. It is stitched on 36ct antique white linen with NPI silk threads in 998 and 226 and finished as a pinkeep. I love that she has stitched the tiny hearts in red and complimented them with the red heart pin at the top. There are more pictures over on Andrea's blog. Thank you Andrea for allowing me to post this.

Sew Easy is still available for free *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

I finished stitching my section of Wendy Jo's RR last night and I will take a picture later. I think a new start for this afternoon, probably Sew Quaker!

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Nelly from France has sent a picture of her beautiful stitching of Sew Easy. Nelly stitched this on Zweigart Edinburgh 36ct linen, with AVAS 619 and 264 and an HDF silk thread called Raspbery Cobbler for the alphabet. This is such a pretty version of Sew Easy which chart is still available for free *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar. Thank you Nelly for allowing me to show your stitching on my blog.

I had lots of enquiries about the 'My Favorite Needle' after my post 'Lost' on Wednesday. These needles, together with a 'My Favorite Needle Petite' were produced by Mardina who also introduced the Do-Lolly to the stitching world. Unfortunately this company no longer exists so these needles really are like gold dust and you can well understand why I was so unhappy to lose one. The above picture shows the difference between the MFN and a Piecemakers 28. They are smaller in length and instead of the long 'slot' eye they have a tiny round hole which makes threading very easy. I did buy up a few when they were available so do have a few spares.

After crawling about on my hands and knees with a magnet in hand on Wednesday, there was still no sign of the wretched thing but yesterday I went to pick up a bit of fluff from the carpet and, lo and behold, not 2" from the fluff was my lost needle! This was a good 3ft or more from where I had been stitching so maybe it was on my clothes and I walked it over before it fell. So - he's back where he belongs and very pleased I am to see him. I think he took a short vacation, read my blog and decided to return home or maybe he was jealous when he saw me stitching with one of his brothers?!!

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... and the lovely Angela (no blog) did just that when she discovered Sew Easy, a freebie on my Charts blog! She immediately chose a 40ct Newcastle flax linen and a limited edition HDF silk thread and here is her finished version. For the backing she used a pretty silk fabric called Silk Mori which, together with the lace edging, was especially hand-dyed for her. Isn't this beautiful? Thank you Angela for allowing me to use these pictures, not only here, but on my Charts blog too.

No stitching for me yesterday - so no stitching pictures from me. I did, however, work on charting up a couple more designs so expect something new shortly.

Thanks for visiting and have a lovely weekend.

Take care