Congratulations Toby

I just had to congratulate my nephew Toby for gaining a 2:1 degree in linguistics at Lancaster University. He is going on to a post graduate course in journalism at Brunel University in London. Here he is celebrating his 21st birthday on Valentine's Day this year.

What a star!!

Irene
xxx

This is Patti's brilliant draw prize.

This lovely Mary Little pinkeep is the prize on Patti's Tapestry of Dreams blog.
The draw is on July 1st so you still have plenty of time to enter.

You're still here?

What are you waiting for?

Go. Go. Go.

http://tapestry-of-dreams.blogspot.com/

Good Luck

Irene
xxx

I've joined the Wighamonians!

OK, I'm not entirely sure what to call the people who are stitching the Mary Wigham sampler, but Wighamonians sounds good enough.
I really didn't want to do this, but nor did I want to miss out on the community of stitchers who are attacking this project with absolute gusto.

So I gave in.

I twisted my own arm.

I put forward too good an argument.

I was just too convincing.

I have chosen a 28 ct antique fabric and am using Vikki Clayton's conversion silks which are very pretty, not quite as strong as they are showing here and a little 'chalky' in their colours - if you what I mean. I am stitching 1 over 1. Since I started to stitch over one over one, anything else just seems too big.

I am off to work in my lovely LNS now, so not much time to chat. Loving it!

Regards
Irene
xx

Love letters - a primitive finish

I have always admired projects with a primitive finish, so I decided to have a go with this ' With my Needle and Thread ' design called Love Letters.

I dyed the backing cloth with a tea and coffee mixture and then I dried it in a warm oven. This does not really show in the photo - but I did - honest!

The instructions said to stitch the backing to the heart all around with a small machine stitch and then turn it all through a slit cut in the backing cloth. Another scary moment! But it seems to have worked and I stitched it up roughly as shown.

I was supposed to dye the front in tea and coffee too, but when I experimented it seems just too dark all over. Maybe I will have the nerve for this next time.

I stuffed the first heart with wadding only, but the second which I completed for my sister (see the K.H. highlighted?) I added some lavender buds too, so it is nicely aromatic.

I finished both as shown on the original design, with a tiny key.

I cannot tell you how hard I found it to 'stitch roughly' the slit and sew 'haphazard' cross stitches around the outside. It goes against every bone in my body!!

But hey - I did it!

I am not sure why my blog will only let me write with the middle alignment today - except for the first paragraph of course, I can do whatever I want with that. (Edit - I tricked it. Ha-ha)

Best regards

Irene

xxx

So...we can cross out pendiboulle

This is just a quick posting to show the little pendiboulle I made. It is 28 count cotton (I think) and stitched with DMC in a pale mauve and pink colour. I have replaced the floss bobbins in their box now and it is too much effort to look through and find them again! I embellished with a few beads from my stash. This one is quite small, in spite of being 2 over 2, but very pretty.

The chart was a freebie from http://stitch-creations.blogspot.com I notice she has spelt it 'pendibule'. I wonder which is right????

I pondered on my last blog about the pin box cube being half as big had I stitched it 1 over 1, but Patti pointed out it would have been a quarter of the size. How do you work out tricky maths like that, Patti? You are so clever. And always so kind to comment on my blog. Thank you for your comments and I envy you your mathematical genius.

Just before I go........I was looking at Rosewood Manor's new chart 'Language of Flowers' which looks lovely, but noticed in the blurb that is was 'just like a Tussie Mussie'.

A Tussie Mussie?

A Tussie Mussie?

A new one on me, so I had to google it. Apparently it was a small Victorian posy in which the flowers held a message, hence the name 'Language of Flowers'.

I can't believe I have reached this ripe old age having not even seen or heard of Tussie Mussie before. Am I alone in my ignorance?

Best wishes
Irene
xx

It all looked so easy........

This is a little pin cube box that I first saw on the 'Quaker Inspired blog', but was originally designed by Anita, of Stitch-Creations.
Thank you Anita.

When I saw it I thought 'Oooh nice' and then 'Ummmm, looks fairly easy'. Well, the stitching was very enjoyable, very quick and yes - fairly easy. The instructions for putting it all together were also very clear.

I think it all began to get a little tricky when I used double-sided tape to hold down the inside folds. The tape was too wide and I put too much on and then needed to trim back the edges of the linen for less bulk, which meant that the double-sided tape was exposed, which meant that as more sides were added, things began to stick to the tape. My fingers, other cube sides, frayed threads, my sewing thread, the sofa, my sweater, the dog! Well maybe not the dog but certainly all the other things! In fact the only thing that didn't stick to the tape was the folded-in edges! In the end I decided to tack down each corner to hold the fabric sides in place as I stitched.

So..... that's 4 corners on each side x 6 sides = 24 corners.

In fact, this would have been a good thing to have done at the beginning, rather than trying to do it with 3 haphazard sides already stitched together.

However, I really do like it. So Anita, I truly meant thank you. The chart you donated freely, the hassle I made for myself!

Kind regards

Irene
xx

PS This was stitched over 2 with 2 threads of DMC 4240 on a 28 ct linen. I am really into 1 over 1 but can you imagine trying to join this together if it was half the size? I would probably have to be surgically removed from it.

How cute are these?

I am not much of a knitter, but I do like to pick up the needles now and then.

I made these cute little baby booties to illustrate a couple of the styles possible using Zoe Mellor's '50 Baby Booties to knit'.

They use not very much Double Knitting wool and knit up surprisingly quickly and easily. Zoe's clever instructions mean there is no picking up or grafting of stitches and only one seam to sew at the end. The book and the wool come from a wide selection at http://www.in2stitches.co.uk/ .

I have also finished a pin box and a patchwork-type cushion which I will post tomorrow. I finally seem to be catching up on various projects and actually finishing them. I must get back to Village of Hawk Run Hollow though. I seem to have stopped stitching there and yet I really enjoy it. My resolve to complete one square a month means it is only June and I am already three months behind. I will need to stitch so quickly my needle will be just a blur!!

And then there is the Tempus Fugut SAl with the Sampler Guild! And I need to make a Christmas decoration for this month for the 2009 Christmas Challenge. And I want to try a pendiboulle, and a humbug, and a pin keep, and a flat fold and mail art and and and ........

Whoever decided that 24 hours in a day would be enough???

Regards and thank you for your kind comments on Lo How a Rose.
Irene
xx