Starry-eyed-stitcher

Not totally puppy - honestly

2012-01-17T04:37:00.000-08:00

I am aware that this blog could easily become dedicated to the exploits of my two dogs, especially this little one.

So I am going to try hard not to let that happen, but to just show the occasional picture as she grows, and the odd sentence about her development.

So... she had her visit to the vet today and her first vaccination and she behaved very well except for wriggling to be down on the floor and crying pathetically when I wouldn't let her.

Nicola asked how Meghan had accepted her?
Well sadly - not very well at all.
I thought that she would be fine, but she is very jealous and tired of being attacked by Bronte's needle-like teeth.
She climbs onto the chair and tucks herself in, but nothing saves her as Bronte runs across the floor and launches herself at her.

We are trying to give Meg some peace by leaving Bronte in another room for a while, and by taking her out alone for a walk, and just to be in the car with us when we go shopping.

We are really hoping that the situation will improve and it may have done a little yesterday when Meghan seemed slightly more tolerant of the ninja pup.

Now briefly to things more creative.

This is a stained glass pear I finished just before Christmas at my class.
It was difficult to photograph, and it is a bit wobbly-edged, but not too bad.

I made this as a Christmas gift for my friend Anne.

It was my first mattress finish, but will hopefully not be my last as I really enjoyed the finishing.

It is 'A Quaker Pincushion' by Carriage House Samplings.

I used Hand-dyed-fibres rather than the recommended Au Ver a Soie and stitched it over two (text over one) on 36 ct Pearled Barley by Lakeside Linens.

Anne gave me this in return.

It is a 3 sided quaker ornament with different quaker motives on each of its three sides.and beautifully finished.

Not beautifully photographed - but beautifully finished.

Thank you so much Anne.

I tried and failed once before to show pictures of Helmsley, a little market town in North Yorkshire which we visit often.

I got the pics then from their web site and they didn't show up on my blog, so master photographer that I am (as illustrated by Anne's ornament above) I took these myself.

This little stream runs along the back on the market square.

This shows a typical stone-built building and the bridge over the stream,

and below another view from that bridge.

It is a pretty little town and very popular with visitors.

There we go then - not totally puppy.

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments about Bronte. It was so nice to read them.

She is lovely and sloppy puppy kisses are the best. And I am trying not to mind that she has just pulled the braid off the chair.

I have new followers too, so welcome to you especially and I hope I can produce something of interest for you when you visit.

Love Irene xxx

Bronte arrives

2012-01-14T01:29:00.000-08:00

Is this the most glorious creature you have ever seen?

This is Bronte, our new Irish Setter puppy and she is wonderful
( and eating the cushion as I type!)

The light was not good for pictures so I sat her on the desk where I have the computer and she promptly fell asleep.

She is a little butter barrel with enormous paws.

And very NAUGHTY!

Yes - looking innocent here, but notice the shoe behind her?

Chewed.

But who could not love such a face?

She seeks company all the time and yesterday fell asleep with her head snuggled under my chin
snuffling and mewling softly and dreaming.

And maybe missing her mum and dad and 11 brothers and sisters?
We'll try to take their place in her life.

I'll try to post more pictures soon, but now there are little widdlies to be dealt with.

I doubt I will ever sew again.

Wish me luck.

Irene xxx

A Winter's Tale.

2012-01-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

It is such a long time since I wrote, I thought I might treat you to a winter picture of Meghan in front of the fire.

She really loves the coal fire and will sit for ages in front of it just staring pensively into the flames.

I wonder what she thinks about?

Isn't she just a glorious colour?

I feel like taking her into my hairdresser and saying 'This colour'!

Anyway - more exciting setter news later.

I did a bit of stitching leading up to the festivities, but not much.

I completed a few ornaments to give as gifts and made my first mattress pin cushion.

Now - this was also for a gift but I was too harassed trying to finish it in time to think of taking photos.

I will try to remedy this if I can.

I did manage to complete the above 'December Word Play' by 'With thy Needle and Thread'

I finished it with a gingham ribbon and bells. I like this series very much so will hopefully complete the set.

This is Meg's shiny cold nose.

She is such a sweet dog we have decided, after much soul-searching, to get another in the hopes that she will be the same - but different.

We worried greatly about whether Meg would like another dog in the house, but we have spoken to lots of people who all agree that she will most likely love to have a puppy friend and that as the new dog will be small and young, Meghan should not see her as a threat.

So we get our new Irish Setter puppy girl next Thursday.

Yay!!!
People count sleeps to the predicted birth of their baby, to their wedding day, to Christmas and like my friend Michelle, to the stitching show.

But we are counting sleeps to puppy day.

Only 7 sleeps to go.

We haven't chosen a name yet, it is just so difficult.

We are considering

Annie, Bronte, Molly, Callie

so far and just hoping that inspiration will strike when we actually get the chosen one.

If you would like to have a look at the litter of 12 (!!) puppies - they are here.

http://www.thendara.uk.com/puppies.

We don't know which will be ours til we go next week but one will definitely be coming home with us.

Now, finally, I have to thank my good friend Patti for sorting out major problems with my blog which was badly broken just before Christmas.

For some reason, the pattern down the outside moved into the middle making it all but impossible to read anything.

Patti gave me a festive background for Christmas and then this new one which I hope you like.

Thank you so much Patti

In spite of all that, a few people managed to read my blog and actually chose to become followers. So thank you new ones and thank you old ones, I can't tell you how grateful I am for your support and comments.

Happy New Year to you and those you hold dear

Irene xxx

A pile of finishes - and then some! (Edited)

2011-11-16T04:19:00.000-08:00

Edit - Cathi kindly pointed out that none of the photos were showing. I have had hassle with Blogger trying to post at all this time but I've had another fiddle and hope the pictures are there now.

I have been so busy.
I have, literally, a pile of finishes to show you.
And then some.

So, seeing as this posting is going to be long and full of photos, I will keep my chatter down to a minimum.

You will have seen some of these in their 'raw' state anyway, so I probably don't need to say much more about them

This is LHN 'Summer' from their monochromatic seasons finished as a little box/lid/thing.
Do they have a name?

This and the following project you may recognise as the results of my feeble attempts at primitiving!

They are both freebies from Pineberry Lane finished as small cushions.

On this one I have used a couple of my Victorian pins.

Actually when I showed the whole pile of projects to my mum, this is the one she liked most.

In spite of the fact that this says 'Mother'.
No accounting for it is there?

This is an old freebie 'Brite Birds designed by Kathy Barrick Dieter at Barrick Samplers

I had an idea for a new hanger and tried it here.

I used Nymo thread with needles on both ends and threaded them from each end of the bead, crossing through it - if you follow my fumbling explanation.

I like it and will probably use it again.

It is substantial without being heavy.

But T E D I U S !

Waiting for the Harvest, stitched over one on 32 count.

This took much longer than I had anticipated.

Now that Winter is fast approaching it is dark so early here in the Northern hemisphere and I much prefer to stitch over one on this count linen in natural light

Another LHN, this time from the 2011 JCS Christmas issue magazine.

Again stitched over one and quite tiny.

The old silver thimble is added to give an idea of scale.

LHN ornament of the month.

(I hadn't realised how many of their designs I had chosen 'til now)

This one artistically photographed

and looking hairy for some reason?

And then some?

From the blog title.

Remember?

These freebies from Daffycat for Toby's girlfriend Victoria's niece.

The larger one stitched over two to give away, and the smaller one stitched over one
to maybe hang on the Christmas tree?

Behind is a little book found at an antique fair called

'Daisy's visit to Uncle Jack'.

This book was presented to Miss Elizabeth Robinson as a reward for her efforts in collecting for the Foreign Missionary Society in 1897.

Ta da!!

My latest effort from the stained glass class.

Not perfect, but at least I dare show you it a little closer than the box.

I am just loving this class and have already signed up for next year.

I know - a lot to plough through, but thank you if you did.

Welcome new followers and thank you again longer serving ones.

Love Irene xxx

More interesting stuff!

2011-10-24T06:25:00.000-07:00

Well, obviously I am overwhelmed by the interestingness of all this, but I can see that for some readers - maybe not so much.

So, in deference to those who actually like to see a bit of sewing, I have started there.
With Dandy Dreams by Silver Creek.
This was a really nice stitch. I like words anyway so this suited me fine. I used a 28 ct Jobelan linen and the suggested DMC threads.

This was bought to be given as a Christmas gift.

Yeh! Right!!

If you knew me in real life you would know that I am NOT a cake-baking sort of person.

I quite like making pastry and have sessions when I make enough pies and pasties to feed the whole neighbourhood, so this little cake stand will probably not be used for its rightful purpose.

But - I care not a jot.

Just look at the pretty English wild flower design etched on the top.

It would be a shame to cover it with fancy cup-cakey things.

We went to a small Antique fair locally on Saturday and I found these little desirables.

(The fair was in Thirsk, Carmen!!)

I spotted a card with Mother of Pearl buttons, it's tricky to see here but they quite irregular shapes - it would be hard to find a matching pair.

Some are not quite round, others have their holes drilled haphazardly - nice!!

Then there are three bone thread winders.

These are quite difficult to find now so I was lucky to spot them.

And finally a length of hand made lace.

Have you remembered that I am going to classes to make stained glass?

Last time I showed a little bird I had made.

I showed it in close-up because I was really quite proud of it.

Well, after the pride cometh the fall.

The next practice piece?

A small box.

And this is as close as you are going to get to it!

I have a spare copy of this year's Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

If you are in the UK and would like it, the cost is £3.95 for the book and £1-15 postage.

(This is the actual cost, I don't want to make money on the deal.)

If you are quick, and I am quick and you are quick, you could easily make a little ornament

before the kids come a-knocking.

(I am saying UK because it is more widely available in the US)

Thank you so much to the new followers who have joined me here, and for your lovely comments.

Love Irene xxx

A pot pourri of really interesting stuff!!!!

2011-10-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

Now I'm not that keen on ivy, because it is slowly taking over my garden.
However, right now I am more than happy to have it creeping over the garden wall because it is attracting these beautiful butterflies. I counted at least twenty enjoying the early Autumn warmth.
Are they Red Admirals, or Peacocks?
Mmmm - don't know but they are a joy.

I recently told you of my lucky win from Marly over at Samplers and Santas. She generously gave away some bundles of fabric and I won one.

As a small thank you I stitched her this, one of my favourite small designs and personalised it for her by stitching her initial in red. It is a La D Dah freebie, Alphabet and Hare.

It is edged in beads along with a bead hanger but they are tricky to see here.

OK, this little birdie doesn't look much - a bit wobbly - a bit uneven - a bit crude.

But I made it.

Yay!!!

I have started classes for making stained leaded glass and after two weeks (4 hours) of lessons I produced this.

Because newbies are notoriously clumsy and coloured glass is ridiculously expensive, we had to make this first project from clear glass and it was difficult to photograph (I think that is my bosom encased in white on the wing!) but here she is.

Another craft now - knitting. You can tell I am retired can't you?

When I was teaching I barely had the energy to crawl upstairs to bed, but now - stitching with one hand, glass making with other, knitting with the ......... er feet???

Anyway, one pair of socks completed, one sock from another pair also completed.

Cool colours eh?

For a little variation, I ribbed all the way down the front of the blue sock.

As you can see, they are knitted on four needles using Regia wool and their free easy peasy pattern

Now - not quite so successful was my foray into ageing pieces for a primitive look.

Carmen at Cardan antiques and Needlework sent me lots of stuff to get me started and last night Anne, my stitching friend, and I, had a go. We made up different strength solutions of walnut crystals and coffee and experimented with various types and colours of linen.

As you can see.

But, mostly it just looked as though we had mistakenly spilt coffee on it.

It did not have that 'I was used by your great great grandmother during the long hard snow-bound winters in that single room log cabin. On the mountain top. Cut off from all hope of rescue.

Isolated. Making do and mending.

Wondering what her husband would say when he returned from hunting to find all his clothes had been patch worked during idle moments.

Oh for goodness sake, get a grip Irene!

I'm sorry, back to the sewing.

In the end we aged the stitching we had prepared and this is the result

We were only sort of satisfied as this only worked when we followed this somewhat time-consuming procedure.

We crumpled, we dipped, we squeezed, we held.

We dipped, we squeezed, we held, we baked.

We ironed on the right side ( hush my mouth!)

And we got this faint crackling finish.

I am sure Carmen will take me in hand soon and success will be mine.

Finally, as a reward for those who ploughed through this nonsense, here is my lovely Meghan.

Oh - I forgot to mention something.

Have you ever googled your own name?

I did, ages ago.

I googled my single name and discovered that there was a pioneer woman, with my name, who traveled West across America in a wagon train and taught English in a pioneer settlement.

She wrote a book about her experiences and I have the book!

By the way, I was a teacher with responsibility for the teaching of English in my school.

Bet that's why I know about log cabins and stay-away 'I was on a hunting trip, honest' husbands.

Love to all, Irene xxx

A posting - finally!

2011-09-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

I honestly don't know where the time goes to. I just don't know. It is a month since my last posting.

What have I done in that time?

Not a lot.

Acquired stash?

Well, obviously that goes without saying.

Here is some of it.

I have kitted up BBD Enchanted Raven and Silver Creek's Dandy Dreams.

I think I may start with Dandy Dreams as it could become a Christmas present.

If I can bare to part with it.

Which I won't!

So maybe it will be bath salts again this year!

(Pretending it might be a Chrissy present just eased my conscience as I pressed the 'Proceed with order' button)

Then a generous blogger was having a little stash sale and I bought this variety of small linen pieces which will be yummy for ornaments, which I may well give as gifts.

(Conscience eased again)

And also, from the web, three pairs of spotty scissors.

One in pink, one in blue
and one in green

which I gave away to Anne.
Ah ah, you thought I couldn't count didn't you?

And whilst on holiday I found a little needlework shop and bought the bobbin box which is just right for holding my spools of Nymo thread.
Nymo is a beading thread which is perfect when making up ornaments. I use it to stitch the back stitch border, to whip the sides together and then to attach the beads. It is very strong and doesn't easily fray or break.

And I did a titchy, titchy, tiny amount of stitching.

This little sampler is again for my mum's friend and comes from a book I have had for ages

by Brenda Keyes.

I promised her three and this is the third, but I may do just one more.

This is the first of this year's Christmas ornaments.

Not that I am late starting!

What happened to all those one a month promises?

It is from 2002 JCS Christmas Ornaments issue (recently acquired) and is called Chloe's First Christmas by Homespun Elegance.

This one, when finished (!!!) will be for my mum.

This is freebie by Pineberry Lane.

Carmen from http://cardanantiquesneedlework.blogspot.com/ is encouraging me to try some primitive finishing.

She is very kindly sending me some walnut crystals and advice about sprinkling and spraying and baking.

Scary stuff!

So I have stitched this little pinkeep-to-be in preparation.

Don't ask me why the letter 'R' is a different blue. It came from the same skein and didn't look any different as I stitched.

But...here is my thinking.

A pioneer woman, bumping along on her conestoga, journeying along the Wyoming trail, in search if a better life for her and her family, deserted by her gun-toting husband, could EASILY have run out of one blue, and not having a LNS close by, and desperate to have a receptacle for her pins which are scattered around the wagon in danger of falling into the sourdough, would have stitched with the closest blue thread she had.

Well, it works for me.

I'm leaving it!!

Thank you to my followers old and new. I really enjoy your comments.

Love Irene xxx

Mary Garry - A Milkpaint sampler

2011-08-19T04:23:00.000-07:00

Well...this started off as Mary Garry's Milkpaint Sampler, but then, like Topsy 'it just growed'

I am sorry the pictures are so faint and pathetic. The original was not exactly Sunset Strip, but it was a bit brighter than this.

The original was one of a series called 'Remember the Ladies' and should have been stitched in Kreinik silk Mori milkpaint colours - but I didn't have any of those so I just picked from what I had - this is a mixture of GAST, WDW and HDF ( times were when a list of initials like this would have meant nothing to me, but hey - look at me now!)

Also the two designs - the alphabet and the Quaker bit were side by side to be finished as a thread / needle keep, but I sat them above each other.

And - there was a little lady stitching - but I missed her out and a house and a couple of trees - but I didn't do those either!

Instead I charted this cottage - which is so like the real one you wouldn't believe and is where the recipient of the sampler lives. It is an ancient cottage in a small North Yorkshire village next to a very pretty river. Lucky her!

It is the same friend of my mum's that I gave the little sampler to in the previous post. I have decided to stitch a small group for her to hang together in the hall of this lovely place.

I left a light on too. I like to do that.

Not such a marathon to read this time.

My computer has recently upgraded and now works on steam power
rather than the small and easily tired animals running on a wheel which I had previously.

However there was no water in the boiler this morning and posting has taken an age and quite a lot of money has dropped into the swear box.

Love Irene xxx

Such generosity is astounding.

2011-08-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am honestly amazed at the generosity of cross stitch bloggers.
They do Random Acts of Kindness, Pay it Forwards, Give-aways, competitions.

And the support I have seen for people going through difficult times is second to none.
Hundreds of bloggers respond with kind words and hugs and prayers.

A couple of weeks ago, I put my name down on a couple of blogs that had give-aways.
In fact they were two blogs I had found in my meanderings and had liked and chosen to follow anyway.
You know how it is, you never expect to win, but you check back anyway.

Marly was offering some stash for the cost of postage.

I know!!!

She had 4 or 5 bundles of linen with extras.

And I won a bundle!!

I know!!!

How she managed to pack so much stuff into one small box is beyond me, but she did, she packed it to the gunnels and this is what arrived - across the mighty ocean- to me.

Big, beautiful pieces of 28 count linen in lovely shades, ribbon, threads, beads and a Mill Hill kit with perforated paper and lovely strawberry buttons.

She did all that, gave all that away, to me - a total stranger.

Astounding!!

But go visit her a http://samplers-and-santas.blogspot.com.

Tell her how wonderful she is!

And then look at this little sweetie!!

Again another new-found blog.

Carmen (http://cardanantiquesneedlework.blogspot.com) was offering one of these luscious little velveteen carrots

( for a velveteen rabbit?)

and I won.

Well, actually, that might not be strictly true. Because Carmen, in her amazedness, decided that as only 10 people had entered, she would make carrots for everyone.

Again, she happily shipped here to me in the UK

I know!!!

You see - the generosity of people is truly astounding.

I thought I would share with you a bit stitching!

Do you remember the Ellen Chester needleroll from my last blog?

Well this is the inner piece.

It was a nightmare!

It involved counting.

Beyond 4.

Up to 33 sometimes!

The border is Nun's Stitch as it will be trimmed back to there.

The dividing lines are herringbone and over one cross stitch for the words.

And finally......

(well done if you got this far)

..........and finally

A small sampler for a friend of my mum's.

Those are her initials at the bottom.

I am going to stitch another couple of small samplers for her to hang as a group in her cottage.

This one I saw on Marlene's blog (the above Samplers and Santas)

and when I asked her about it she attached it to an e-mail for me.

As kind as ever.

It is, I think, a shop freebie, from Margaret and Margaret Inc.

I changed the verse to 'reap' and 'sow'

rather than 'rend' and 'sew'

Well - even I have had enough of this now!

Thank you so much again for your comments and hello to new followers.

I don't post often, but when I do I try to give you your money's worth!!

Love

Irene xxx

Oooo - lots of pictures

2011-07-21T04:10:00.000-07:00

Mmmm - lots of pictures of UNFINISHED projects!

In fact the the little box above is the only finished project in this whole posting

- and I didn't stitch it!

Anne ( my stitching buddy) was wanting to make a top for a wooden box and tried this out first.

It was just a bit too small so she made it up into this little tusal box

and gave it me. Yeh!!!

It sits wobble-free on the arm of my chair and graciously accepts the trifles I offer.

Thank you again Anne.

Now for my unfinished stuff.

This is the needle roll from the 'Fruits of the Vine' huswif I took as a class with Ellen Chester at Fobbles this year.

The path to hell is paved with good intentions - as we know - so in spite of determining to just get on with it, for some reason I didn't pick it up again until last week.

At the class, we were taught the speciality stitches that make up the beige bars that divide up the roll, and I managed to count and complete all of mine at the time.

They are difficult to see, but I stitched plaited cross, barrier, zigzag, Belgian cross, closed herringbone, Montenegrin, queen,mosaic, Smyrna, Rhodes octagon etc etc.

So all I needed to do was to fill the intervening spaces with alphabets and birds and grapes.

As I worked it, it was so pleasurable that I couldn't imagine why I hadn't done it before.

Again there was just enough variety in the stitches and colours and design to drive me on to the next band each time.

Ellen's instructions are so thorough and her stitch diagrams so clear that it was like having her there next to me.

Now I need to complete the needle roll by lining it!!!

This is another part of the huswif. It is one side of the scissor weight and it's tiny as you can see - just over an inch.

The bird's breast and the grapes are finished over one with tent stitch and the border is closed herringbone and then a line of back stitch.

This is my final unfinished piece.

It is from the monochromatic seasons series by Little House Needleworks.

I worked it over one with a variegated thread the name of which I can't remember - maybe Ocean Breeze??

I thnk I might take inspiration from Anne and finish this as a little box for mu mum to pop her rings into before bed.i

Anyway - that's it - almost.

I just want to congratulate my nephews on their academic achievements this year. Well, I say this year, but they have both worked very hard for several years. The whole family are so proud of then.

Toby gained his Masters degree this year following his Bachelor's degree in Linguistics at Lancaster University. He is now a journalist.

His girlfriend Victoria has graduated with a Master's degree too.

She has just started a new post in Public Relations after being a magazine features writer.

Perry graduates tomorrow with a First Class degree in Mathematics.

He begins work in September with a highly regarded global accountancy firm.

Personally I think they are changeling children and one day a professor is going to come and claim them back.

But until then - very many congratulations to you all.

You deserve the very best things life can offer you.

Thanks for getting through this long post, and welcome to my new followers, I am honoured that you have added your name to my blog.

Love Irene xxx

It arrived. Yay!!!!

2011-07-12T02:15:00.000-07:00

Obviously, all my peevish wittering and admonishments yesterday worked, as the parcel finally arrived with April.

She e-mailed to say how pleased she was with it and will post on her blog as soon as she is able.

What a relief.

Thank you so much for all your encouraging comments. I felt so much better knowing you felt my pain!!!

Honestly - I am so grateful that at the moment the worst of my worries is whether a bit of sewing arrived at its destination. Other people have so much more on their minds.

Love
Irene xxx

Publish and be damned!!

2011-07-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

OK.

I know, too dramatic.

But I mailed off my Blackbird Designs exchange gift to America on June 16th - that was 25 days ago - and it seems not to have arrived with its intended recipient.

I wrote to her a week ago but as yet have received no reply so I have decided to post the project here anyway,

if only to prove that I did keep my end of the bargain.

I have always wanted to make one of these little pumpkin style pin cushions so chose this one, BBD 'Summer House' as my project.

I really, really liked it when finished and was reluctant to part with it anyway - oh alright - it had to be prised from my sticky little fingers -but then it doesn't even arrive!!

I used a 32 count linen and two HDF colours of my own choosing.
I finished the back with this checked cotton fabric and pulled in the cushion with perle thread, using two vintage mother-of-pearl button to finish.

I even left a light on in the window of the work room!

Perhaps this lonely little light is shining still in a dim corner of some distant post room.
If so, come on Postie, get it sorted!

I have some other stitching to share, especially my Ellen Chester needle roll which is one part of the major Fruits of the Vine project, stitched but not yet finished.
(The needle roll is stitched, not the whole huswif!)
I'll do that soon.

I am off to lunch today with an old friend who is here from her home in Qatar. We will talk so much the food may well go cold.

Happy days,

Love Irene xxx

Smalls selection and beading how-to.

2011-06-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

When I met up with friends Clare and Judith recently, I made each of them a little quaker scissor fob. Here you can see the front of Clare's and the back of Judith's.

I edged them with beads and backed them with a teal silk dupion. I used a variegated thread but I can't, for the life of me, remember its name.

This you have seen before.

Well not quite this, but a variation thereof.

I made one as a gift and liked it so much I made one for me too. It is easily recognisable as La-D-Da's freebie Alphabet with Hare. It is stitched over one on 28 count using for the alphabet Crescent Colours 'Smoke' with is a lovely faded blue/black ink colour. I used stash colours for the rest and highlighted my initial in red.

This is the back, a small floral design and you can just see the edging - a red bead added every third stitch. I deliberately tried to show the hanger too as I am going to try to explain how to make one in case you don't know how and would like to have a go.

I think this is La-D-Da too, but I am old and the memory is fading fast.

The wine doesn't help!

Again stitched over one with a brown variegated thread which I can't find now.

Why am I writing this blog when I am obviously incapable of giving any useful information?

Anyway this is the back, again showing the bead hanger.

Now - shall I have a go at explaining the bead hanger?
OK - bear with me as I have no pics but it really is very easy and gives a more substantial look than a single bead thread.

How-to

Finish your hanger as you would like and close the sides.
I tend to start and finish stitching at a top corner so that I am in position for the hanger bit.
I always use a beading thread such as Nimo for stitching together as it is much stronger, doesn't fray so easily and is available in lots of colours.

Secure your thread at the corner, whether you are ending the side stitching or beginning with a new length of thread.

Then just thread on a single row of beads to the length you want and secure invisibly at the other top corner. Don't have this string of beads too tight as you are going to go back through them and you need a little bit of space to do this. Not too much though!

Then, you go back through the first bead ( number 1 - this is the last bead you threaded before securing the thread).

Add a new bead to your thread.
Miss out a bead (number 2) on the original string then thread back again through bead number 3.

Add a new bead.
Miss out bead number 4 on your original thread then go back again through bead number 5.

Add a new bead.
Miss out bead number 6 on your original thread then go again through bead number 7.

Add a new bead.

So you just keep going like this until you reach the beginning corner where you secure your thread invisibly.
The new beads you add on the way back lay beside, rather than on top of, the bead you missed out when threading back. You made need to push them gently into place as you go.

You can thread through 2 or 3 beads before adding a new bead to give a slightly different, more open effect. On both the ornaments shown I threaded through through 2 beads and then added a new.

I probably should have explained this with pictures, and if it really makes no sense at all to you, I'll get the camera out again and have another go. Sigh!

I hope that wherever you are, your weather is a bit better than ours in the UK at the moment.

Love Irene xxx

A gift given - and received

2011-06-16T04:20:00.000-07:00

First of all - a gift given.

This was really hard to photograph, so I will apologise at the very beginning for the poor quality of these pictures!
(Do you get really tired of hearing me say that?)

I have fiddled and faddled and used every fix device the photo program offered, but they are no better so I will just plod on with the details.

My nephew's girlfriends's sister had a baby last year called Daisy and when I was browsing through charts at Fobbles I found this one by Sadie Stuart of SamSarah Designs which I think is one of a series, this one being Spring.

It had the daisy flower and some hearts and a sweet rabbit and a bird and seemed perfect, so I substituted Daisy's name for the word Spring and added her birth date.

I used a selection of threads - mostly Vikki Clayton's Hand Dyed Fibres on a larger (25 I think) count rustic-type linen.

I think that and the variegated thread made it so so hard to photograph

(Yeah - right!)

Anyway, I sent it off and Victoria liked it and will frame it in time for Daisy's first birthday.

This is the gift received.

Michelle (http://stitchcraftplace.blogspot.com) asked if anyone wanted to do a mini Blackbird Design Exchange and we ended up with a merry band of seven.

Happily, Michelle is very efficient and organised (is that not true Michelle?) so I received my piece yesterday. It's lovely isn't it?

It's BBD Basket of Memories stitched on 28ct fabric with a hand dyed thread from Africa.

It's difficult to see the thread colour here, and difficult to describe too - it's a tealy grey khaki colour, very unusual and very pretty.

Thank you so much for the gift Michelle, I love it, and thank you for suggesting the exchange.

I have posted mine out today, so as soon as it is received, I will share it with you.

Thanks for visiting, have a relaxing stress free day.

Love

Irene xxx

A pretty little needle case.

2011-06-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

I was looking for something small and not too complicated to fill the few days I had before going to Fobbles in Cumbria for Ellen Chester's class.
I knew that once I had been I would have two major projects to work on, both huswifs, so I didn't want to add yet another WIP to my pile.

I remembered this little kit I had in my stash and it proved the perfect project. It is, as you see, a needle case and scissor holder, and everything was included, even the pretty scissors and the vintage style rose lining fabric. So no real thinking to do at all.

I completed it within a week and I really like the result. Also I am actually USING this one, as you can see from the assortment of needles.

Do you see the little black-headed pin there too?

Well, this was another lucky find at the antique fair I told you about last time. In fact I found a whole card of these old glass headed pins which I think may be Victorian, maybe, judging from their style, even mourning pins.

So if you receive an exchange or gift from me in the future, expect one of these sweet little things to be included too.

I notice that this week I have lost a follower.

Oh dear.

If I have said something to offend you, or failed to say something to please you,

I am so sorry.

Thank you for your visit, I welcome and read with interest your comments

Love Irene xxx

Mending Sampler??

2011-05-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Many of you will know that I love a bit of scuffling around antique fairs and flea markets. Well I thought I would share my latest find with you. There are at least a million pictures here - most of them of my usual poor standard.
So.. this is number 1. A long view of what I think is a mending sampler.

And this is my first mistake - obviously I turned this around before uploading, but here it is on it's side. Why is that??

Anyway, moving right on, this shows four practise monograms. The C L is obvious - the rest less so, but one might be an F.

Here are some lines of different stitches, with variations. The colours are very bright - red, pale blue and bright blue on a white linen. This piece of evenweave linen has been joined on one side with what I think is called a French seam and on the other with an open seam.

Again this photo has turned over again. The bottom pic shows the right side with blue blanket stitch and 2 red rows of running stitch, but the top pic is the underneath side which shows that one row of the running stitches is actually a back stitch.

(How much easier this explanation would have been if the pictures had just stayed where I put them!)

Here are both sides of some darning stitches. The dense red one almost looks like a knitting stitch and may be some kind of needle lace as it doesn't show underneath at all, nor does the more conventional diagonal darning stitch.

I like this bit, although it's not showing too well. There is a scalloped edge with a blanket stitch which varies in size to follow the curve, much as you would see on a pillow case, and if you lift the edge, there are two of those old fabric/metal buttons with buttonholes.

This is the wrong side of a patch with another monogram. You can see that the cloth has been darned down in this bottom corner and then securely covered with a patch.

Throughout there are examples of hemming stitch and pulled stitch work. The whole thing is bound with a binding which is invisibly stitched.

A nice little find eh?

I am not sure how old it might be, but it has to have some age as nobody would bother to learn or practise mending like this now.

I, being of great age and wisdom, was taught to do some of this stuff in the 50's. I can certainly patch like that - I remember stitching on the spare material on the right side, and then cutting a cross to the corners on the wrong side, trimming and hemming in the excess, so I think it must be at least 50 or 60 years old.

I negotiated calmly and casually with the stall holder and got it for £10, all the while thinking 'Whatever you say, I'm going to buy it'.

I'm not sure what to do with it now though. If I leave it out on show it will get dusty over time, but it doesn't seem right for framing.

A good problem to have.

If you read all this - have a gold star - you deserve it.

Love

Irene xxx

PS Apropos of nothing - President Obama gave a speech to both Houses of Parliament here, in Westminster Hall. Westminster Hall was built in 1097 by the son of William the Conqueror. Now isn't that something??

Blackbird Design Exchange 7

2011-05-22T03:44:00.000-07:00

I must apologise first of all for the poor quality of these photos. I did remember to take them before I sent my exchange gift off, but I did not remember to check if they were good enough to publish - and in all honestly - they're not!!

Anyways, this is the design I chose to stitch for Laura in Mexico. It is Summer Stars from the new Stitcher's Journey booklet. I chose my own colours - mostly hand-dyed-threads from Vikki Clayton and expanded the design a little to allow for folds in the needle book.

As you can (only just) see, I also stitched an extra piece to include an over one star and details of the exchange which I folded down inside the top cover.

I must admit, I quite liked this closure.

Instead of a button and hedebo, I stitched the ribbon down inside the back of the needle case and then brought it forward to fasten the front fold down in a bow.

You can see that here in this opened out view.

I stitched a little scissor fob, again edged in tiny beads, to complete the gift.

A final view showing the batik fabric I choose to line the needle case and the woollen needle pages.

I have to say that I found in my stash this little length of ribbon which perfectly matched the colours I had chosen. I had, only the previous week, given my friend Anne a similar length of the ribbon for her stash.

So when she arrived I asked her for it back to finish the fob.

I tell you - I give with one hand and take with the other.

I have quite a bit to show and tell this week, so hopefully will be back before long with more witterings.

Thank you for your comments and welcome to my new followers. How nice it is to think that someone actually reads this!!!

Love

Irene xxx

BBD Exchange - gift from Mayte

2011-05-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Just look at this pretty thing!

It is my exchange gift from Mayte which arrived this morning and I can't tell you how pleased I am with it.

Mayte tells me she was inspired by a design in the Honeysuckle Manor book. She has used a variegated thread to stitch it and added a beautiful hand-made pin too.

But look how clever and original this is.

The base is a vintage mould which Mayte had and is an idea I will definitely be copying!

The final photo shows the pin cushion sitting in its base with the pin and the lovely card which came with the gift.

Thank you so much Mayte. I will add it to my collection of treasures.

Thank you also Patti, who in spite of being unwell, managed to organise the exchange again this time.

Love

Irene xxx

OK quickly - before I change it back again!

2011-05-06T02:40:00.000-07:00

I thought I would quickly show you the little ornament hangy tree thing with its Easter egg display before I change it back to some stitched ornaments on it again.

Pretty eggciting eh??

Oh come on!

I couldn't let the occasion go by without one little pun!

This is a sweet little pillow I bought from Danybrod. Again - quite small, stitched over one, on I think a 28 or 30 count linen. I used the recommended colours mostly, only changing the browns on the rabbits for a variegated thread.

It is called 'Spring Rabbits' (only in French)

My final show and tell this morning is my version of Summer Stars from BBD's Stitcher's Journal. This is such a lovely simple design, I think I will be using it a lot. I chose my own colours, using Vikki Clayton's hand dyed threads. It is not terribly clear here, but the blue patterned background is the backing fabric. It is a really pretty batik print.

It seems that I can't see beyond over one stitching - so naturally - this is over one - on a cream 28 count linen. I finished the hanging ornament with iridescent beads which echoed the backing fabric.

Thank you again for calling in.

I appreciate your company and your comments.

Love

Irene xxx

Blacksheep's having a giveaway.

2011-04-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot to mention that Edgar is having a 4th Blogaversary giveaway.

If you don't already read his blog, pop over and have a look, always an enjoyable and informative read.

If you do read it - go back and put your name down, someone will be very lucky.

Here is his web site.
http://blacksheepsite.blogspot.com/

Good luck
Irene xxx

Betsy Morgan 'Tiny Treasures'

2011-04-28T02:52:00.000-07:00

Oh my, how wonderful this would be if it was my finished project.

I would smile, graciously acknowledge the plaudits of my adoring audience, and retire, maybe to teach a selected few my acquired knowledge and skills.

But sadly it isn't.

I have taken this picture from the Inspirations magazine which carried the chart and instructions for this lovely Betsy Morgan Tiny Treasures Etui. (Issue 65)

However I did pick it up again a couple of weeks ago and actually finished the stitching, which is shown above, and chose to finish the easy bit first. The little tuffet.

It is little too. (Tiny Treasures is a bit of a clue, maybe) and I have shown it here next to a thimble to give an idea of size. It just needs a little bead attaching to make the central dimple and then on to the rest. The 'rest' is all lined with silk and stitched together with ladder stitch - guess why I chose to finish the tuffet first?

Can you believe how long it takes to find the right size, right colour, right style bead??

Yeh - you know - you do it too.

Two postings this week. Phew - I'm exhausted!

Irene xxx

Something to share - at last

2011-04-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share this picture with you - it all looks a bit of a muddle .....but let me explain.

In my hallway I have a little ornament hanger tree-thingy on which I hang my little tree ornament thingies. Sounds logical eh? Well, it being Easter and all, I decided to use the tree instead to hang some little eggs and tiny wooden chickens and birds and other seasonal bits and bibs.

So without ceremony I gathered up all the afore-mentioned stitched things and dumped them on this little chest where there was already some other bigger pieces of work and I was astonished at how many there were. They are not artistically arranged to their best advantage - just sort of spaced out - but not bad eh?

And I have been adding to the pile during my long absence from this blog. My son was away working in Spain for a week and so my dog Meghan and I just did our own thing - for a whole week. I will hopefully make a couple of brief postings this week to show the latest additions.

This is the first - a patriotic heart.

I know, it should really be a Union Jack heart, especially with the growing frenzy here of Royal Weddings, but I liked the Quaker look of this freebie by Aury. I am sorry, but I checked the site to give you a link, but the chart is no longer available.

It does have a soft creamy white thread contrast but it hasn't shown very well in the pic. The backing material is laid alongside. I finished it with a continuous border of red and white Delica beads.

So hopefully - another posting soon to show you a couple of my other finished projects, but now - I must away to finish my exchange piece for the BBD exchange.

Maybe I'll stitch whilst watching yet another Wedding related TV programme. We've had ' Royal Weddings' in general ' Royal Wedding Dresses', Royal Wedding Cakes', the Kate and Wills story, the 'Kate' story, the 'Wills' story, the 'Middletons' story, we've even had the stories of people who are related to Kate through common ancestors in 1700 and whom she would never recognise if she passed them in the street.

Good Grief - they will be knocking on my door next. I once visited Westminster Abbey so maybe I can contribute too!!

Thank you so much for checking back and for all your lovely comments. I really, really appreciate them.

Irene xxx

Mary Garry ornament and computer problems!!

2011-03-29T02:38:00.000-07:00

So.... I decided to switch my television, telephone and Internet service to a new provider in the the middle of February - I know - ages ago.

All went well - my TV service and phone were installed ahead of schedule leaving only the final internet connection. On March 18th, on the button, the previous provider turned off my access to the internet and I waited for the new connection to activate. I waited and waited, did a bit of stitching, read a few books, walked the dog - oh - bought a new car (!!!) and still no access.

I phoned my new provider who told me at first that I hadn't ordered the service - as if - and then decided on 'system error'. I had, as you can imagine a long conversation with this young man who finally said "Give me your e-mail address and I'll let you know what's happening with this" ........... mmmmm 'there's a hole in my bucket dear Henry, dear Henry!! So for 10 whole long days I could not use my computer.

At first I was really irritated, then sort of relieved, then just cross. But I'm back now and frantically trying to catch up on all the lovely blogs I read daily.

This a tiny piece stitched over one on 30 count by Mary Garry. This photo shows the piece unfinished with my choice of opaque blue beads - and a small check cotton backing. I was at this stage when the above problems arose, but in the meantime, went on to finish it as below.

It's alright, but I think I wasn't really in the mood for finishing so it is by no means perfect.

This is another crochet blanket, this time for my sister. She bought three enormous cones of wool a while ago at a tiny cost and there is more than enough to finish this blanket. It is lovely to do at the end of the day, the growing blanket keeping my knees warm as I work.

If you hung around waiting for me to write something - thank you so much. I am sorry you had to wait so long,

Love Irene xxx

Blackbirds and blankets and things beginning with 's'

2011-02-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

Blackbirds - instantly recognisable as BBD's Their Song. This was a really enjoyable, but slow ( and I'll explain why just now) stitch.
It is stitched on a cream 28 count linen, over one with a whole mixture of threads. I rarely have every thread a design calls for, unless its DMC (I have all of those) so I spend ages with a colour chart and a variety of 'maybe' threads until I find a set to complete the project. This has WDW, Gentle Arts, Gloriana, HDF and DMC.
I artistically placed a pair of scissors on the work to show the scale, but then cropped them off!!

This is the reason why Their Song was so slow.
I rediscovered crochet! Yay!
I found a lovely blog which showed lots of crochet blankets including this ripple design. I knew I had once been able to crochet so I found some wool and had a go. I crocheted the recommended practice 17 chains and did a few rows, pulled it out, cast on 3 million chains and started the blanket. My colour palette was someone limited to what I could find around the house and any half finished knitted sweaters I could pull out, but then I bought a few extra balls and carried on til it was done.

It looks a bit pale here, because I needed to use the flash, but in real life it is quite vibrant.
It goes with absolutely nothing in my house, but I am going to make another one - just because I can.

OK - I bet some of you recognise this? Well, maybe not recognise it, it is Victorian, but I bet you know what it's for?
You are right - it's to hang your office stamps on, showing the date, or maybe your company logo, or maybe 'PAID' or even 'FINAL REQUEST'

I used to work in a company library, many many years ago, and I had to date and file articles, so every morning I had to twizzle the little rubber numbers and letters around on the wooden stamp to show the new date. I didn't have a fancy holder like this, but it was the most boring job a restless teenager could do. No wonder I decided to teach!

The firm has long since gone - but I'm still here. Zippity do dah!!

This is why I bought it. I can keep my scissors on it. Nice eh?

If you twiddle the brass knob on the top, it swings around to make scissor selection less hassle.

Hassle when choosing my scissors is one thing I can live without.

So...blackbirds, blankets, stripes, stamps and scissors.

Thank you so much for your kind comments on my last post. Val was a special person.

Love
Irene xxx

A Quaker needle case.

2011-02-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is just a quirk of fate that brings you a new friend. Sometimes at the very moment you need them.

So it was with my friend Margaret. We actually had a mutual friend, Val who became, accidentally, the connecting thread. Those are all our initials on the back of the needle case.

Val lived originally in England, where in 1963, we became friends, then in Canada where she became friends with Margaret. She eventually moved to North Carolina when her husband's job demanded it and then they retired to Florida. Through all of this, and even when I lived for a while in South Africa, we stayed friends and communicated often.

Then one fateful day I got an e-mail headed ' a drama, but maybe not a crisis'.

Val had discovered a lump in her breast, but at that time the prognosis was excellent. So still only a drama. Then it became clear that this was actually a secondary cancer. Val had major surgery, was even then on the mend when she caught a hospital infection, which meant the remaining cancer was able to spread untreated and she died aged only 62 years. So in June 2007, the drama finally became a crisis.

I can't begin to tell you how much I miss her.

At some point during all this, an e-mail was forwarded to me by mistake and it was from Margaret in Canada. It was full of the anxiety and concern and worried questions that I was expressing myself, so I wrote to her. We sustained each other through the following weeks and have stayed in contact. If you would like to hear a little more of Val's story and meet Margaret, a very special friend, visit her blog http://allthingsmaggieo.blogspot.com

So as a tribute to Val, I made the needle case again for Margaret. It is stitched over one with Kaalund thread, is backed with silk, edged with tiny beads and tied with a matching silk ribbon.

I wish I could have made one for Val too.

Man - she would be so cross to think we were wallowing in this gloom! Sorry Val.

Love Irene xxx

PS Sorry the photos did not load in my last post. Apparently my server did not know where to look for them. I mean - what else has it got to do all day???

A happy happenstance

2011-02-06T03:56:00.000-08:00

Most Saturdays my family (sister and Mum and me) go out for the day.
We meet up, choose whose car we will use, pile in and speed off for our weekly adventure.
We might go to an antique fair or to a local small town or village and have a mooch around, eat lunch, examine and ooh aah over our purchases and set off for home again.

So this Saturday was much the same and we chose to go to Helmsley, a small market town in North Yorkshire, only about an hour away, that has some interesting shops and good places to eat.
The journey there involves a drive through beautiful countryside, all hills and dales and exceedingly pretty.
And it was here that our happy little happenstance began.

Because... I found a dog. Well I didn't actually find it, but it was running loose along the side of the lane, and was heading for a motoring catastrophe at any second. We saw it and drove past before realising what it was. So...obviously I made my sister who was driving, stop, do a perilous turn on the bendy road and go back for it. It was friendly and tail-waggy, and although it looked like a Labrador puppy from the car, it was actually a Labrador/ terrier cross of, maybe, a year old and it was covered in mud and a little smelly. Happily, I don't mind wet doggy smells, or mud really, so we tied a scarf through his collar and took him back to the car where he sat happily on my knee looking out of the window. We were in the middle of the countryside and although we tried to call the number on Smudge's collar (she was called Smudge - aw!)we had no signal. We drove on until we came to a farm track, and turned in hoping the dog might live there.

My sister went up to the farmhouse ( we always send my sister, just in case there is danger) and the farmer's wife made a land line call to the number and we waited for the owner to turn up. Mum and I and Smudge in the car, my sister braving possible perils outside the car. Then her and an older man wandered past and into the large stone building on our right. They were missing for ages and Mum and I speculated on how he might be murdering her whilst we sat idly by speculating on the manner of her death.
Mum felt safe because she was in the back of the 2-door car and we have to shoe horn her in and out anyway, so she thought she would just wedge herself further in if danger threatened. My sister, looking remarkably relaxed, and the strange man came out and walked past us again to the back of the building.

We felt a little relieved, and continued to speculate on what was going in. As we did so, the owner of Smudge turned up in a new sparkling white Mercedes car and claimed the little dog back. I sort of felt that she didn't deserve such a characterful dog if she was letting it roam around with impunity, but that may have been a little jealousy, as both the car and the dog were very nice.
Away she went, leaving me only with the muddy footprint remains of my encounter and an all pervading smell of dog in the car.

My sister gestured to us to get out of the car and we discovered what she and mystery man had been looking at. Inside the stone building was an 12 century water mill and it was glorious. Lots of wooden wheels and cogs with wooden teeth and enormous oak beams carrying the actual wheel.

The mill steam was thundering through underneath. The man who looked 60 (honestly) but was actually 81, was so enthusiastic and talked so knowledgeably but simply about how it all worked that it was a pleasure to listen to him. We walked to the back of the building to see the wheel and paddles and he opened a sluice gate so that we could more fully experience the force of the water emptying back into the stream that fed the mill race. He said that they had documentary proof of the mill working in the 14th century - just imagine that - but believed that it was operated by monks in the 1100's. They had had carbon dating done on some of the wood, but evidentially that only proved that the wood was there in the 12 century, not that the mill was.

So finding the little dog led to us seeing that water mill inside a building that we have driven past a million times without ever knowing it's secret. Good eh? A happy happenstance.

The pictures are of Helmsley, our destination on Saturday. We visit here often and forget just how pretty and very English it is. Hope you enjoy them. Sadly none of us had a camera with us on Saturday so no photos of the mill, but perhaps another time.

Thank you for visiting, a rare post without stitching this time, but things are progressing.

Irene xxx

Hearts and Flowers

2011-01-29T04:58:00.000-08:00

So, the little emergency alphabet hanger I made for my nephew's girlfriend was apparently very well received. She loved it and could only bemoan the fact that she didn't have a house grand enough to display it properly! She is so sweet.

It is lovely isn't it, when something is so appreciated. So, obviously, the only thing to do was to make her another one. And this is it. A little branch with hanging hearts. It is the first time I have stitched anything from this Italian designer, but the design is so - well - clean cut - with beautiful true colours that it certainly won't be the last. The design is called Amore Amour by the Italian designer Renato Parolin.

I began to stitch with the recommended DMC colours and then decided to kit it again with variegated silks, but - you know - it just didn't need it. The variegation just fussied up the design so I carried on with DMC over one on 30 count linen and I really like the result. It is backed with red silk and finished with beads and a little ribbon bow hanger.

As it happens, it is my nephew's birthday on Valentine's Day, so I will give him this early to give to Victoria as extra surprise.

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

This is quote from a poem by Shelley which I have just checked out. It has something like 25 verses and this is the only bit I know, the last two lines.

Anyway, you didn't come here for a Literacy lesson, but perhaps it serves as a gentle reminder that in spite of the harsh and unremitting bad weather some people have experienced this year, nature is already girding its loins to blossom forth in a few short months.

To prove that, here are a few sprigs of Pussy Willow collected yesterday when walking with Meghan. They are in a little silver topped antique vase my mum bought me for Christmas, standing on the shelf in front of the range oven, lovingly black-leaded. also by my mum. It is part of a cooking range in my dining room and has an open fire in the middle and a large water boiler to the right. I do light the fire occasionally in the winter when we have a family celebration, but the oven is too unpredictable to use for cooking. Nice to have though!

Well that's all for today folks, thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

Love
Irene xxx

Two ornaments finished - finally

2011-01-23T03:10:00.000-08:00

I started both of these ornaments well before Christmas and saw myself presenting them with a flourish (of course) to grateful friends.
Well, yesterday I finished them.

It is in fact so long since I stitched this first little bird heart, that I can't even remember where the chart came from, which is very remiss of me. I will search it out - eventually - and give due credit to the designer because I think it is rather sweet. It is stitched with Vikki Clayton's threads, over one, I think on maybe a 30 count cream even weave linen, so it is quite small, and I finished it using bronze beads, as an edging, little tassels and a hanger.

This second one I can give credit for but there is a tale. I stitched it as far down as the last border and then misplaced the chart - for weeks. I knew it was a freebie, but couldn't remember who by ( is there a theme developing here?). Happily Anne (she who gives wonderful presents) found it as she searched through her own stack of freebies.
So happy thanks go to http://123citrouille.canalblog.com/. She has quite a few sweet little charts like this and a lovely blog, so go visit her. Again this is over one with a Vikki Clayton premium floss on a 32 linen. I used a double silk ribbon held by larger red beads.

So all ready for my tree then - in 11 months time???

I have also stitched a gift for someone which is pretty, but I'll show you that when it reaches its destination.

Thank you for calling by, I love your comments and always pop over to read your blog too.

Love
Irene xxx

BBD Snow Garden

2011-01-19T01:32:00.000-08:00

Oooh - this was so nice to stitch. It is, of course, Blackbird Designs Snow Garden, stitched on a 28 count linen called Mushroom with the recommended threads. I needed to buy in most of the threads for this one and as soon as they arrived - I thought 'yummy'. They are such subtle variegated colours.

Alright - I know already - I desperately need lessons in photography. I took several pictures of this, is different places, trying to catch a bit of light, but it is so gloomy here in England at the moment that none of them gave a true representation of the colours.

This is a gift for my sister. It was originally meant for her for Christmas, but I just didn't find the time. When she visited recently she saw Mocking Bird and really liked it, so I gave her the choice of that one or this - as you can see from the initials KHH - she chose this one!

There is a tiny, tiny variation from the original - have you spotted it?

I stitched an upstairs window with a yellow thread, so that a light could be on and the house would look occupied - I'm in that room stitching away! I was amazed at the difference - nine little stitches and suddenly a welcome light shining through the snow.

Well, that's all for today. I have to take my car in for a service. It's really not very well - apparently you have to put oil and water in them now and then. Who ever heard of such a thing???

Thanks for stopping by

Irene xxx

GoD And DoG by Wendy J Francisco

2011-01-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

I found this lovely simple song on another blog, so I have posted it here for dog lovers everywhere.

I bet you watch it more than once- it has something very special about it.

Enjoy

Irene xxx

The perfect gift

2011-01-08T07:29:00.000-08:00

You must know by now that Anne and I spend a very pleasant evening together every Thursday. We sew, we chat, we gossip, we drink tea and we eat biscuits. Not necessarily in that order.

I have also mentioned before that Anne is a much more adventurous stitcher than me, she will try different techniques and different finishes much more readily than boring old me. This time she made this amazing drawstring pocket - but - she gave it to me!!! Yay!!!

Anne designed this herself and so it is very personal to me. The three little cats are Poppy, Sasha and in the middle, black cat Dicken. And the dog - why - Meghan of course. Isn't that sweet?

The back has our names on it and it is lined inside with a cream fabric on which are printed tiny white fronds and leaves.

I made a real photographic effort to show you a bit of the amazing and careful detailing. Look at the tiny stitched bars which hold the cream satin ribbon. Pretty special eh? Really pretty and really special.

And not only but also - inside - this lovely matching strawberry. It has green felt leaves and a sisal hanger. Anne has made these before and I have envied them and promised myself one, but she remembered and made me one and hid it inside the bag.

Like I said - the Perfect Gift.

Thank you so much Anne.

I love it.

Thank you for your comments they are very much appreciated. Any admiring ones for this beauty will be passed on to Anne.

Irene xxx

PS I have just viewed this post and see that the first picture is on its side. Now why is that? And can I mend it? Mmm not clever enough. Sorry.

La - D - dah

2010-12-28T02:54:00.000-08:00

Is that the correct spelling? Anyway - you know who I mean!

This is a freebie by the above aforesaid aforementioned which I completed just - JUST - before Christmas.

So - you're toddling along, doing the last minute things, making a list, checking it twice and then leaving it at home, when you get a text message from your much loved nephew.

He explains how he would really, really like a piece of sewing for his girlfriend, but don't worry about anything too elaborate, just something like his mum and I have hanging from door handles everywhere.

Oh bother!!!

I didn't want to let him down so the wrapping of gifts, the buying of food, the cleaning of house is abandoned whilst I search through hundreds of charts to find something appropriate and more crucially, do-able, in the time.

His girlfriend, is, like him, a journalist - haha - a wordsmith I thought. Letters = words = sentences = news features = Victoria.
I'll choose an alphabet.

Yeah.

So this is the one I chose. It is stitched over one using HDF Be-grimed for the black and a WDW for the bronze.
It is finished as a hanger (as requested!). It has tiny black beads as an edging and a plain black fabric as backing. The ribbon, which you can't see in this really very poor photo, is a narrow black and bronze stripe.

Toby later explained how they had decided to spend only a small amount of money on each other this year, but were allowed to call in favours from others.

Mmmm - might try that myself next year!!!

I also completed and had framed the Red Cardinal 'Tis the Season' from the BBD Joyeux Noel booklet for my mother. I missed out the words to make it more displayable all year and added some extra snowflakes to fill in the gap. I loved it. My mother - not so much!!! I tried to take a picture, but the glass reflected back and it was too poor to show here.

Can fingers have Tourette's Syndrome? I think mine have. This would gave been totally unreadable had I not made a real effort to correct it. ( ir cirect if!!)

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and we can now look forward to what I hope will be a healthy and happy New Year.

Love
Irene xxx

Blackbird Design Exchange Round 6

2010-12-15T02:27:00.000-08:00

When you received your JCS magazine Ornament edition this year, did you seek out a particular designer, or did you browse all the pages?

Well - I always look for Blackbird Design's contribution and this year it was this lovely thing. Is the flower a poinsettia do you think?

Anyway - this was my choice to stitch for the Blackbird Design Exchange Round 6. It is Christmassy with it's colours, but would work throughout the year too, I think. I mostly used the recommended threads and chose to stitch it one over one.

I made it up into a little needle case for Barbara (I always put too many 'a's into her name!) at Mainely Stitching.

I stitched a little herringbone line for the spine and finished the edge with ruby red beads. There is a cream border and date on the front too and a couple of motifs but they have almost disappeared in this photo.

Inside I lined it with a small red check print and chose a green wool needle page. The whole thing is only a couple of inches square. The needle case ties with a red silk ribbon with a couple of beads to make it a bit more weighty.

OK. And fancy too!

I really liked this project when it was finished and I'm glad to say that Barbara seems to like it too.

Phew!!

Thanks for visiting,
Irene xxx

Some stitching at last!

2010-12-13T01:57:00.000-08:00

This is a small ornament I completed recently - it was actually the one I was searching for when I found the prayer in my previous posting. It is a freebie by Drawn Thread called 'Home for the Holidays' It is stitched over one on a 28 count linen from some I had already. I used the threads as listed which were mostly Weeks Dye Works. It is finished in twinkly iridescent beads which are really not doing their twinkly stuff here!

The beads around the border of the house (not in the edging) are stitched around with a Broad Diagonal Stitch which was charted. I did it, although I didn't think it would show much, but actually it does and I like it.

I stitched a second one like this but finished by doing the Broad Diagonal Stitch in red - mmmm not so good! I tried to frog it but the whole piece is so tiny that I couldn't get the red staining out, so in the end I just re-stitched in red. I think it takes the sparkle from the beads somehow.

Both ornaments are backed with motifs from a large piece of fabric I bought when I was in Fobbles in Cumbria in the Autumn. I am pretty sure it is a BBD fabric and has lots of different snowmen and winter trees and little crows which I thought would be really useful for backing ornaments. And so it has proved to be!

It is about now that the panic sets in for me! I have in previous years finished an ornament for special friends and would like to continue with this - but hey - when am I going to do them all? Do you, like me, wish you really had completed an ornament every month as you said you would, so that now your only problem would be which to send to who?

I have just about finished the piece I am stitching for my mum from the Joyeaux Noel (BBD) booklet called 'Tis the season'. This is GOOD thing, because I need to have it framed yet!

And then maybe I can do a couple of ornies.

Or I could do Snow Garden for my sister which is kitted and ready to go but is a sizeable project at this time of year?

Or I could write my Christmas cards?

Or find a tree?

Or find the decorations?

Or have another cup of coffee?

The latter I think!

Have a good day,

Irene xxx

Edit - I have just heard that Barbara received my gift in the Blackbird Design Round 6 so I will show pictures later this week. If you would like a preview - pop over to her blog http://mainelystitching.wordpress.com

So true!

2010-12-10T02:32:00.000-08:00

I found this little prayer on another blog quite a while ago and it made me smile. I found it again among my pictures whilst searching in vain for the photographs of two ornaments I finished recently, so instead of the sewing I thought I would share this in the hope it will brighten your day too.

Love
Irene xxx

And milk comes frozen home in pails - almost

2010-12-06T04:35:00.000-08:00

Now, I really like Picasa as a place to store and edit my photos. It's fairly simple to use, even for a klutz like me, and I can manage simple editing. However, I have only ever been able to download one photo at a time to my blog.

Until now!!!!!

Today I did what I should gave done a long time ago and actually looked at the tips for using Picasa and now - as many photos as I want! Itsa kinda magic!

Yay!!!!

So the FIRST (!) photo is of my lovely setter Meghan in the snow. I haven't shown her for a while, but she's still here keeping me company, being my friend.

And the SECOND photo is of frozen milk.

So worth waiting for eh?

Some of my American friends who pass by this way may not know that here in England, one of our old traditions is to have a milkman. Yep - we have a man (or woman) who gets up at some godforsaken hour in the morning to deliver our milk to our doorstep. We just open the door and there it is, fresh milk in a glass bottle, just as ordered.

It could also be cream, or fresh orange juice. That's pretty special isn't it, but not something I take for granted. It is so easy now to pick up plastic cartons of milk from the supermarket that many people do just that and have abandoned their friendly milkman. Not me. I like to have my milk this way. And my milkman has ploughed on through all this freezing cold, (its -4 now at 12-30 in the afternoon) and has never missed a day.

But the milk can freeze outside as you can see from my photo. The little red stripey tops have popped off and we have this little volcano of frozen milk erupting from the neck of the bottle.

By the way, not only do I help keep a man and the local dairy in work, but its green too - well not green milk obviously - but the bottles are washed, left on the step for the milkman to collect on his round and they are then re-used.

Thanks for reading through this far. The experiment worked - 2 photos on one blog.

Mission accomplished.

Irene xxx

BBD Exchange

2010-12-03T02:38:00.000-08:00

I interrupt my normal if somewhat erratic service to bring you news. My exchange gift from the Blackbird Design Exchange group arrived yesterday, and isn't it pretty?

My partner, and until the gift arrives, you don't know who your partner is, was Laura who lives in Mexico. Isn't it amazing that with modern technology you can connect with people you have never met, but who have a common interest, so easily?

Laura sent me this lovely and incidentally, my first, scissor keep. The design is called Summer Iris and is stitched using DMC
threads on Monaco 28 count antique white linen. It is backed with a blue fabric with tiny leaves and flowers which are not very clear here, and finished with a lovely ivory braid.

Nice eh?

By the way, the scissor keep was wrapped in a clear cellophane packet and tied with a lovely blue and gold organza bow. I tried to take a picture of this too, but the light kept reflecting off the paper so I am unable to show it.

Thank you so much Laura. It was so exciting to open the package and I was not disappointed.

Isn't it fun to receive packages full of goodiness?

Love
Irene xxx

PS I forgot to tell you, if you want to see more of Laura's work, her website is http://puntadasmagicasdepebble57.blogspot.com

1831 Pin Keep

2010-12-02T02:34:00.000-08:00

I had a finishing session on Saturday. It was snowy and cold and treacherous outside so I just had to resign myself to staying in and sewing.

Some days life is preeetty hard!

So, one of the things I finished is the Good Huswife 1831 Pin Keep (Pyn Keepe?) above. It is a mixture of threads, mostly Vikki Clayton and is stitched over one on a 28 count fabric which is acually a mid-ecru colour, although it looks a bit white here. It has an edging of tiny bronze beads. I didn't photograph the back, but it is the same fabric with the single tree and bird and 2010 stitched underneath.

I also finished my piece for the Blackbird Design Exchange group. I can't show it here yet, but I really liked it so I hope the recipient does too. It was one of those that I kept picking up and thinking, 'I must do one like this for me'. I probably won't though!!!

So the snow.

Well, kinda boring now isn't it?

Fun at first, exciting, run to the door and look, let the dog gambol in it, watch it melt on your outstretched hand, take snowy pics with a view to using them as Christmas cards - all that - at first - but now its just white and slippy and freezing and is like the final guest at the party who just doesn't know when its time to leave.

The photo on my previous blog is very strange isn't it? That mist wasn't visible to the eye, it only showed up on the photo. Good job it wasn't Halloween then!

Thanks for stopping by

Irene xxx

Ethereal Snow

2010-11-29T03:01:00.000-08:00

I have some sewing pictures to show too, but for today I thought I would share this photo with you.

Many of you will know that parts of England are gripped with Winter's icy tentacles already, having had the earliest snow fall for many years and temperatures of -18 in some places. That is cold!

I went out into the garden to record this winter wonderland and this was the result.

Those fronds of mist are hovering over a small pond, but the water in the pond was almost frozen and certainly not giving out any heat.

Eerie isn't it?

Love
Irene xxx

After the pride cometh....

2010-11-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

So, these are the two pairs of socks I knitted recently. I began with the blue stripey pair and then, gaining in confidence, quickly completed the red motley pair.

Easy I thought - all this fuss about cuffs, heel flaps, instep shaping - in my sleep I can do this.

I will make a pair for everyone I know for Christmas.
They will be astounded at my prowess.
I'll knit them as I watch TV.

These are 4ply - I'll do some in double knitting, they will be even easier - and quicker to boot.

I may sell some on an etsy shop.

Or donate some to charity. That would be kind.

Two balls of your best double knitting sock wool if you please, my good woman.

Mmm - so I've knit the rib, and the cuff and turned the heel and now I have no wool left!

Well - I have a couple of metres, and another ball for the other foot but I will need a third ball to complete this pair. I have checked the pattern, used the needles offered by the aforementioned good woman, followed the pattern exactly, but the sock is enormous and sort of loose and of course, half-finished. And the wool is £4 a ball. Which would make the socks £12 a pair. Are they threaded with gold??

I have snuck it into a bag and left it for a while. I may have another look at it, or consult with people who actually know what they're doing with a set of needles (Maggie??) or it may just go to that happy half-finished heaven where it will meet up with an Aran sweater, a garter stitch cardigan and a scarf that only needs to be cast off and have a fringe added.

It is of course a fall which cometh after the pride!

And is my bum bruised!!!

Love
Irene xxx

The very last pear.

2010-11-14T02:51:00.000-08:00

I looked out of my kitchen window on Tuesday and saw this - the very last pear on an ancient old pear tree, which actually sits in my neighbour's garden but overhangs mine.

It was just like this, a little golden orb hanging alone amongst the bare branches against the dark green of the ivy and naturally, the photographer (!) in me couldn't resist a photo.

Now - I know that I mutter constantly to myself that the pears from this tree - hundreds of them - fall on to my decking and go brown and squishy, and make horrid stains that only a power washer will remove and then the wasps come and are a nuisance especially to Meghan who having once been stung gets hysterical on hearing even a distance drone, and probably the roots are stretching out and undermining the very foundations of this house, but hey - what a pretty autumnal picture.

And yes, no doubt I should gather them and make pears in white wine and other such deliciousness but then - when would I stitch?

I had a really nice time with Clare and Judith at Fobbles on Thursday. The people there were so lovely and welcoming to these strangers from across the country. I bought some stash - scissors (of course) linen ( of course) threads (of course) and beads (of course) because I have none of these things and was in desperate need of them.

The journey back was tricky however with a severe weather warning in operation. We were driving on one of the highest roads running across the width of England (A66) and were exposed to the very worst of it. But we survived, Clare and I, and will live to stitch another day.

And - I have knitted a pair of socks. I know. How clever am I? And I have started another pair and knit nearly one whole sock in one day. Sleep and the need to eat got in the way or I definitely would have finished it.

Thank you again for your comments, read always with interest and much appreciated

Love
Irene xxx

Tulip pin cushion

2010-11-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

I am just not back in the habit of writing this blog. They say the way to hell is paved with good intentions, well watch out, I'm on my way!

This is the second little pin cushion from the BBD Sarah Tobias booklet. It is stitched over one on a 32 count evenweave linen using a mixture of threads, some DMC and some from Vikki Clayton. It is finished on the back with a matching dullish print.

Have you noticed the clever bit yet?
Eh?
Come on, look closely.

Mmmm - maybe some of you will never find the clever bit, seeing as you don't know my full name - but my initials are IH.

Yeah - those clever gals at BBD designed this one so that my initials came in the right order and I could highlight them. Now how did they know to do that?

I enclosed a ric-rik ribbon in the joining for the edging and what a chore this was! Looks alright finished though.

This photo is very smudgy isn't it? I'm not sure why I have stopped being able to take a half decent photo. This one is using my camera which was way more expensive than my son's which I often use but his definitely gives a better close up. The problem is his battery is down and I don't know where all the wires are.

Do other people have boxes full of wires and adaptors and chargers and converters and cable things? We have so many, for phones, consoles, computers, games, cameras, every electrical appliance that has ever been made and every model of said appliance. Only my son can find the right one and he struggles sometimes. We should have a clear out!

Well, the builder has gone. He has been here for nine weeks and now he's gone and my house is an emptier place because of it.
I gave him his lunch every day and bought him a newspaper to read whilst he ate it and he had his own kettle and coffee and tin of biscuits which I replenished daily. Could this be why he stayed?

I am meeting up with friends from the Sampler Guild tomorrow over at Cockermouth which means a drive from the east coast of England to the west. It will take about 3 hours. England is quite narrow here! We will be stash building - of course - by calling in at Fobbles. We will be taking our latest stitching projects to look at so that will take all of two minutes for me, but I look forward to seeing what my more industrious friends have produced.

When I re-read my previous post, it sort of sounded as though the back of the Autumn Heart was too bad to show. The back, thanks to Anne, is perfectly wonderful, it was the photo of the back that was too poor to share.

Thanks for calling by
Love
Irene xxx

Autumn Heart

2010-10-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

I think I mentioned that my friend Ann and I have a stitchy night every Thursday evening? She brings yummy biscuits and I provide as many cups of tea as we can get through - not as many as you might suppose as we talk a lot and drinking and talking are hard to synchronise.

Oh.... and we stitch!

It is a guaranteed oasis in the chaos of our busy lives.

Ann is much more adventurous than me and tries lots of new things, new finishes, or different stitches, I tend to stick to what I know.
I do have a bigger variety of stash though - ( c'est un surprise n'est-ce pas?) So I am sometimes able to help out with the odd thread and this lovely heart is a thank you gift from her.

Can I say that the French phrase above is just a shameful affectation. I have tried to learn French since I was knee high to a grasshopper and have spent many happy hours lounging around in France, sometimes staying there for five weeks in the Summer holidays, but in spite of that, and ignoring the fact that I sometimes even wore a little jaunty neckerchief (surely that isn't the word?) giving all the outward appearances of being stylishly French, and totally at home (a la maison?) as soon as I opened my mouth, my northern roots showed.

I so envy people who can speak a second language - or play an instrument - two accomplishments that in my life I have failed to .....well.....accomplish really.

Well, I did learn ....... naw... I can't really count that.

OK - when I was 6 I had my turn playing that clapper thing, that you bang on your hand, but hey - nobody recognised my potential so I just passed it to boy sitting next to me.

Raymond I think it was. He's probably in a boy band now.

Anyway, no good crying over that, the heart above is freebie from the gazette94 site and is stitched beautifully over one on a 32 count linen using an unnamed but appropriately autumnal thread from HDF. I also took a photo of the back which is finished in a matching watermarked cotton with a little 'hand-made' tag, but it was really too bad to post. Sorry Ann.

Love to all
Irene xxx

So I resume - with Sarah Tobias

2010-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

It has been five weeks - can you believe that - five weeks since I last posted here.

I will tell you in a sec what has been occupying my time, but first to Sarah.

I was a participant in the Round 5 Blackbird Designs Exchange organised by Patti, and therefore browsed through all of my BBD charts and booklets looking for a suitable design to exchange. It was then I realised that in my eagerness to acquire stash, to possess it, to have it, own it, file it, organise it, gloat over it ( come on - you've done it!) I had actually hardly stitched any of it. So I completed my exchange project - afore posted - and decided to do a couple of things from the Sarah Tobias booklet.

I chose firstly the little alphabet pin cushion above, stitched over one on a mid-cream 32 count linen with Kaalund thread - the colour of which is lost in the mists of time. Now it seems that in the intervening interlude, any photographical skills I may have once possessed have deserted me completely, so the pictures show hardly any detail at all.

This, I think, leaves me open to a little exaggeration!

The piece is backed with a perfectly matching batik fabric ( you can't really tell so you'll just have to believe me) and exquisitely finished with opaque irridescent blue / green beads! It is packed with crushed oyster shells. I know - it sounds exotic, but I can't find those darned walnut shells that everyone seems to use and this gives a nicely weighty emery-ish feel.

So that is finish number one. I have a lovely gift and another finish to show another day.

Well, you ask, those of you who loyally check to see if I have made any effort to write here at all, what has the girl been up to?

A dream holiday on a paradise island.

Naw.

I've just been cleaning. Relentlessly. Unendingly. Exhaustingly. Purposelessly ........ cleaning.

Yes - purposelessly. To no purpose. Uselessly.

I still have the builder here. We are running into, I think, 6 or 7 weeks now. To be honest, he so much part of the family I've stopped counting. He came to renovate all the sash windows in the house, and just stayed. Like a lost puppy. We have adopted him. He hardly ever goes home.

He is now finally outside, repainting the house and it looks great. It is just taking so long. And because it was every window in every room that needed some work, every room was a mess, with dust sheets everywhere, and wood shavings and paint scrapings. He promised faithfully it would be completed before my guests from America arrived for their holiday.

Oh didn't I tell you? Oh yes, in the midst of all this I had guests for about ten days. Happily they are old friends and picked their way around the rubble, but it's not want you want, is it, when friends are staying?

So in a vain attempt to make the house look habitable I cleaned. But in the end I just asked people to wipe their feet as they left, not as they arrived.

There is just a glimmer of normality showing, a tantalising glimpse that I may eventually resume the retirement I signed up for.

We shall see.

Thank you for your patience

Ooooo - almost forgot to mention. Are you desperate for the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments Special? My friend Margaret is giving one away in a draw on her newish newsy blog. She would love to have you visit. http://allthingsmaggieo.blogspot.com/

Irene xxx

Shhhh - not a word

2010-09-07T01:47:00.000-07:00

I have stitched a couple of small things - and I've started on a Christmas pressie for my Mum - but I have nothing much finished to show. I don't think I have shared this with you though and I do like it very much.

This is Mocking Bird by La D Da. I used their recommended linen - if only I could remember what that was - and substituted HDF threads by Vikki Clayton. I am pleased with the colours I've chosen except that his little feet have almost disappeared. I'm afraid he looks a bit grounded, in real life and even more so in this very poor photo. He is framed, so that accounts for some of the wonkiness of the picture. Don't ask!!!!

So - I have a man in at the moment.

Not a handsome, suave, debonair, ready-for-love at the drop of a hat, man.

(I should be so lucky.)

( Well - I should be if I could be bothered with all of that, but I can't)

But anyway - back to the story.

He's a very nice workman.

He is renovating my windows. I live in a Victorian house and the windows are those old sash windows which I really like. But most of mine have, after a hundred years of less than precise painting, been sealed shut.

I need then to pose the question - why is it that although they are painted shut and will not moved by a herd of angry elephants, the wind whistles through them like a hurricane and leaves me shivering in my favourite (stitching) chair all through the long Northern winter???

I know, another of life's mysteries.

But Derek - for indeed that is his name - is mending them for me. He is making them open, top and bottom, replacing sash cords and weights, burning off the old paint, re-painting them and draught proofing them.

Which is all good. And he's no bother.

But..isn't it unsettling when things are going on in your house? I am in a constant mood of unsettlement. I feel not ready for anything. This blog, mundane as it is, has required considerable effort this morning.

Sorry it wasn't more exciting!!

Love
Irene xxx

My contribution to BBD Exchange

2010-08-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

When Patti asked me if I would like to join the Blackbird Designs Exchange Group, I was quite apprehensive - not that I was afraid I wouldn't love the gift I received (I did!) but the whole thing about what to stitch, how to finish, can I complete in time etc.

However Patti is a persuasive gal so I agreed to give it a go.

There followed a great deal of chart searching and discussion with my stitching friend Ann. Is the possible design too big? Too small? Take too long to stitch? Need framing to look good? Has it been seen too much on other blogs? Will my partner have it already?

Eventually I chose this little Blackbird design from a file of printed-off charts. I chose the colours from Vikki Clayton's HDF as the original was a single colour and set to work.

It was lovely to stitch, just enough variety to keep it interesting but a bit of repetition to make it a fairly quick stitch.

Then half way through - a really worrying thought struck me.

'Was this an actual Blackbird Design chart, or just a chart with a blackbird on it' - in which case it wouldn't do! There was nothing on the chart itself to indicate where it was from. I found it under 'Blackbird Designs' in my folder, but you can see my dilemma.

I called my friend Ann and she remembered seeing it on a blog somewhere, but between us we read so many! She came round and together we began to trawl through the blogs we normally read - something with 'needle' thought Ann, or 'thread' - mmmm that narrows it down a lot!

Eventually we found it and read with relief that it was an actual Blackbird Design freebie. So I carried on, finished it as a little ornament with a beaded edge and peyote stitch hanger (I really like these now) and sent it off to my partner Elisabeth in France.

There was the expected anxiety about whether it would arrive safely and whether Ela would like it.

It did and she did. Ela even sent me a lovely hand-made card to thank me again for the gift.

So maybe I will join an exchange group again. I loved my gift from Christina and Ela loved hers from me and that's just about everything you can hope for.

Thank you for your comments - always read with much pleasure.
Love Irene xxx

Counting Mistake Item 2

2010-08-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

I know, I promised you this ages ago. Counting mistake number two.

Mmmm you think - can't see anything much wrong here.

Well actually, there isn't anything much wrong, except that it is supposed to say 'Live, Love, Laugh'

I bought a chart which showed a little woven basket with a stitched border along the outside, and inside, lots of pretty little mottoes and inspirational sayings - like - 'be what you want to be - it isn't too late' (it was slightly more catchy than that) and 'seize the day' and stuff.
I determined to use my wonderful Kaalund thread (Taipan) and set to work.

Now, for little inspirational saying ornamenty-baskety-things, I don't much bother about the linen count, huh, that's for amateurs, so I grabbed a piece and began to stitch 1 / 1 because that is mostly what I do now and as I stitched I hummed a little inspirational tune. I was getting really quite good at this stitching thing although humming and smirking at the same time was proving a little more difficult

I learned the pattern quickly, the border was looking good, the colour was yummy, and so as I stitched, I began to discuss with myself where I might put the completed basket and the aforementioned sayings. On the table, in the hall, in the bedroom?? Now where would be the best place to show off my considerable skill?

Enough of this, border finished - time to look at the lettering.

Have you guessed yet?

Yes....stitching 1 / 1 from a chart that was meant to be 2 / 2 with lettering - spells disaster.

There was just not enough space to stitch anything much. So, not wanting to waste a perfectly good border, I wrote 'LIVE'
It's not even inspirational is it? If you manage to take in a breath, you're doing it.

I couldn't give you the exact quotes and sayings because I threw the chart down in disgust and now I can't find it.

Yeah, not so smirky now eh?

Love to all who visit,

Irene xxx

Beautiful Tall Ships.

2010-08-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last posting that I have been busy. Well, I thought I would show you briefly what I have been up to.

My home town, Hartlepool, has been hosting the 2010 Tall Ships Race and I have been a volunteer. I haven't had a very high powered job - I am a 'Lost and Missing Persons Assistant' but it has been such fun to be involved with this event.

We began our training way back in May and have been looking forward to the arrival of these ships for months now. There are about 65 vessels in all, quite a few of which, including all those in the photographs, are Class A - the biggest of the sailing ships. They are from all over the world, Oman, Russia, Indonesia, Poland etc and their crews have been magnificent. It is not every day you see a group of Russian sailors shopping in your local supermarket!

From the Headland, we watched the ships far away on the horizon, steadily making their way into our port. I am not a watery, shippy sort of person at all, but seeing those great vessels in full sail must send an echo back through the ages as it really stirs the heart. I found myself quietly humming the tune of 'Hearts of Oak' and the rousing 'Rule Britannia'. Both these songs are probably inappropriate these days, and of course most of the ships here are not British, but still.........

The festival ended on Tuesday with a full Parade of Sail when all the ships left the harbour and sailed north along the coast, again in full sail.

OK - so even I shed a tear and like I said, I am not usually a watery sort of person!

Back to sewing now all the excitement is over.

Irene xxx

Blackbird Designs Exchange

2010-08-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

I interrupt my busy schedule to bring you excellent news!

I still have a 'counting mistake' project to share, but this lovely ornament arrived this morning from Christina and I just had to show it.
It is called 'Thistle Manor' by Blackbird Designs stitched on 32ct linen with an unknown, but very pretty Anchor thread.

I am a member of only two exchange groups, the Quarterly Quaker Exchange and this - the Blackbird Design Exchange.
Patti encouraged me to join, and I am so pleased I did as I would not otherwise own such a lovely piece of work. I am delighted to have the ribbon finish too as I can't do this - and the ribbon is all shiny and curly-whirly and so neat!! I don't know if Christina has a blog, I suspect she may have, so I will find out and post it here next time so that we can all go and look at her meticulous work.

Thank you Christina, I thrilled to ribbons with it.

Love
Irene xxx

Post Script Edit.

Christina's blog is http://whilstirisnaps.blogspot.com.

So there's no excuse, pop on over and have a look.

Counting Mistake - item 1.

2010-07-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last week I explained how, in spite of teaching maths, I seem to have lost the ability to count.

Well this little acorn ornament is proof of that, if proof is indeed needed.

Oh yes, it looks very nice - on the surface - at first glance - from a distance.

But it is flawed, deeply flawed.

I frogged a whole heap of it once, then twice and then I tried to work out my mistake. I had miscounted, in the middle somewhere, near the central ( well, actually, as it happens, not central) motif.

Frogging was leaving behind little tell-tale shades of evidence of error in the form of brown fluffy residue.

So finally, needing to move on, I just accepted the imperfections, sellotaped it liberally, and went ahead and finished it.

So my friends, look if you must, but not too closely.

The chart is a freebie that Patti very kindly offered to send, the fabric a 28count evenweave, the thread HDF 'Kindling' and the beads a sort of bronzey colour.

However, to shine a little lightness in the dark that is this posting, I tried something new for the hanging cord.

I have often used a single thread of matching beads, but this time I put my elementary and very rudimentary knowledge of beading to, I think, good effect by using a peyote stitch which gives a little more interesting and substantial finish. I think this method is used to begin a piece of flat beading and is very very simple to do, although I think it looks more complicated.

I will be trying it again methinks.

Thank you for your welcome comments.

Irene
xxx
PS This is counting mistake item 1, - item 2 to follow. I know - I never learn!

Another needle case - whoppee!!!

2010-07-16T04:15:00.000-07:00

OK. So I seem to have got the hang of these needle case things. I can just churn them out now, like crisps on a conveyor belt.

Crisps on a conveyor belt????

Actually I really like this one.

I used for the first time, Kaalund threads, this one is colour 'Taipan' and I really like them. They are cultivated silk and come in twelve stranded, 10 metre skeins. All of the colours are subtly variegated. They are Australian threads but available in the UK. I got mine from the Sampler Guild. (www.thesamplerguild.co.uk)

The fabric is a 28count evenweave linen. I used a matching cream ribbon for ties and for the little hinges - the first time I have tried this.

Having completed it, I think I would change a couple of things - the tie ribbon is too unbendy (can you tell I taught English?) and I think a hoop and button would have worked better and I painstakingly stitched beads on both sides of the hinges - on reflection they were only really needed on the top side.

I mentioned above that I taught English, and indeed I did - to Primary aged children all my teaching life - and for a year I taught other teachers to teach too.

I also taught Maths. My pupils did really well in all their tests.

So...why can't I count? Not big counting, with hundreds and thousands and lots of zeroes, no just little counting - you know - up to 10!!

Next week I will share with you the results of my inability to count. I have no shame.

The thimble keep was nice wasn't it? Thank you for your comments.

Love

Irene xxx

Ann's thimble keep.

2010-06-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Cast your mind back.

Not far - just 5 weeks or so - to mid-April when I showed some little silver sewing treasures I had found.

Remember?

OK - well I mentioned then that having found the little silver thimble with the two swans entwined, I would look out for a Quaker pattern to make a keep for it.

No need!

My friend Ann brought this amazing gift with her to our stitching evening on Thursday.

She decided that a humbug design would work well for my wished-for keep and then had to work out the size and stitching to just fit the thimble. She said it took an inordinate amount of time to work out just where the opening on the humbug needed to be! It is usually these little decisions that are so irksome and because they work so well they oft-time go unnoticed.

Ann - (I think we can now call her now Designer Ann ) - thank you so much for this gift. It was totally unexpected but beautifully stitched and will be treasured.

The photos - Aw not so much! I haven't done this little beauty any justice at all.

Love to all and thank you for your many comments.

Irene xxx

Sorry Stitcherhood!

2010-06-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

No pictures this time, although I am working on a couple of things.

My major current project is one of Betsy Morgan's lovely etui sets. This one is from the Australian publication 'Inspirations' magazine ( the one before the current one - I've checked now and it's issue 65!) and is called Tiny Treasures. The set consists of an Etui box, a button box, a needlebook and a tuffet (biscornu). My stitchy friend Anne also has the chart for a thimble keeper, so I will add that to the list. It is stitching up quite quickly on the recommended 32 count Belfast linen. The threads should be Gloriana, but as I have only a few of those, I am using Vikki Clayton's hand dyed silks.

I have a couple of other small projects plodding along too, and of course, I still have finishes to complete from the Jackie du Plessis class. Oh dear - and it all started so well!

However, the main reason for this quickie is a correction I need to make regarding my last post.

I said that the needlebook came from a free pattern. This is because I discovered it whilst browsing through a file of printed freebie sheets, without a front page, just asking to be stitched - so I presumed it was a freebie.

I wanted to credit the site and today started to look for the precise location.

And....

It was not a freebie. It was actually a download from www.thestitcherhood.com which had been misfiled. The download (#17 Stitcher's Samplers) is only $4 and if you like it, check out the site above. I hope the designer will forgive this oversight and that at least a million people will go to the site and choose this or other available designs to stitch.

That's all - conscience cleared!

Love
Irene xxx

A touch of scarlet.

2010-06-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is another freebie pattern which I finished into a small needle case. It has also occurred to me that I keep on making these needle cases but never actually use any! They're just piling up on my little display and my needles are stuck in my T-shirt..

I used a 28count white evenweave linen and HDF colour 'Be-grimed'. You can see that I stitched one little bud on the Quaker motif with red - DMC 666 - and then, having got the bug, one little leaf on the central motif on the back and if you look carefully there is just one red bead among the black on the edging.

Oh for goodness sake, its in the middle on the top edge!

I used a red fabric for lining and a red gingham ribbon. The outside spine is a tiny herringbone stitch.

I made a little key fob too, but I haven't got a photo of that at the moment.

Oh -do you remember I couldn't think of a simile for 'as smug as'? Well, Katrina, (http://theneedlespromise.blogspot.com) a girl with my own sense of humour suggested 'Smug as a bug in a rug'

Nice one Katrina!

Thank you again for you comments.

Love
Irene xxx

It was this!!

2010-06-07T03:54:00.000-07:00

So, this is what I saw.

A full set of bone embroidery tools in this amazing purple case.

I have looked at many of these sets, but I have never found one with this colour lining. I just love it.

It has a heavy Dorcas thimble, some bodkins, tweezers, hooky things, a pair of pretty scissors and most wonderfully of all, a bone needle case with a little screw top. You can see it tucked into the second loop.

It has a gathered half-pocket in the lid.

What a lucky find. I am not even going to tell you how much - OK - how little, I paid.

£20.

I know. I've paid more for a thimble.

Heyho. I must have done something right at sometime in my life.

Love
Irene xxx

The Tease!

2010-06-07T03:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, in my post script, I promised you a little tease.

Well - here it is.

I know, it's just a box, a bit dull, a lot torn and very worn. Not very impressive at all. This how I found it, on the end of a stall at the Flea Market we visit at Tynemouth every 5 or 6 weeks.

Tomorrow I will show what I saw when I opened it.

Incidently, it is sitting on a place mat I also bought. This is a fine count sand coloured linen, hand worked with white perle cotton, with, as you can see, cut thread work and speciality stitching. It cost me £2.

Oh! Did I mention it is one of six, and there is a matching table runner? The whole set cost me £2.

Mmmmm. Yummy.

Til tomorrow then.

Irene xxx

Briar Rose finish.

2010-06-06T04:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm feeling pretty smug.

I know, not a nice thing to admit, but there we are.

Smug as a ?????

I can't actually think of a simile to go with smug so I'll leave it there. But feel free to finish this sentence with anything (polite) you want to add.

The reason for all this smirky smirky smugness is the Briar Rose finish above.

When I went to the Jackie du Plessis classes, I saw in the flesh many of the amazing projects she has designed, Briar Rose among them. I looked at it and thought 'I would love this, really love it'. And now I have it.

It has less little personal tweaks than Treasures of Comfort, the only one being that as in Treasures, I finished the needle and button pages with tiny blanket stitches rather than cutting them with shaped edge scissors. Mainly because I only had pinking shears and they seemed a bit mundane. I have since invested £1-79 in fancy scissors so from now on I will be cutting!

You can just see the little pin cushion Jackie added as a class extra.

So - I saw it, I stitched it and now I have it. And wild horses could not prise it from my grip.

Hope you like it too,

Love
Irene xxx

PS Tomorrow I have a flea market find to share, well actually, I thought I might just tease you with it a little first!

PPS Is 'Smirky Smirky Smugness' a song title??? If not - should it be?

Treasures of Comfort - da da!!

2010-06-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

So here is my first finish from the Jackie du Plessis classes. It is the the little needlework book from the Treasures of Comfort design range and I think it is very pretty.

It was quite tricky to stitch, not because of the speciality stitching which was fun to do, but because the chosen thread was sooooo close to the colour of the linen that is was difficult to decide if I had actually put in the stitch I thought I had put in.

That sounds muddled, but believe me - it was tricky!!

I have taken a little liberty with the finishing which I hope Jackie will not mind too much.

The original piece had a length of space-dyed ribbon which went across the middle of the needle 'pages' as mine does, but then carried on to tie on the outside with a bow. This meant the needlecase could be attached to the basket which is available to stitch along with other necessaire items. As I am not going to stitch these other items, I finished mine without the outside bow as you can see. This also means that the initials, date and little saying are not at all obscured by the ribbon.

The saying - quite difficult to read here - is 'another blue day'.

This is not 'blue' as in depressed and miserable, but comes from a verse of a favourite poem of mine by Thomas Carlisle.

So here hath been dawning
Another blue day.
Think will thou let it
Slip useless away?

My answer to this question always is 'No, so better do some stitching'

Did you notice I said 'first finish'? That's 'cos I've done Briar Rose too. I'll show that later in the week.

Oh my - I am such a smarty pants!

Thanks for calling by and for your comments which are much appreciated,

Love
Irene
xxx

Spot the differences.

2010-05-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

When my nephew Perry was a terrible three year old - I lie not - he was so atrocious that we almost persuaded his elder brother to negotiate a deal with a family of girls to swop one for Perry. We were having a pub meal at the time and Toby, one and a half years older, was on his way to do the deal when we stopped him!.

Anyway, Perry then went screaming, his preferred method of communication, to a Day Nursery and when we went to pick him up he was transformed. So much so that we thought we had the wrong child. Since that day, for it was indeed only one day, he has been an absolute angel and is on his way to a first in Mathematics.

For goodness sake - what is the point of all this?

OK - at the Day Nursery they had 'Tinies', 'Teenies' and 'Tweenies' who were the in-betweenies.

Following all this?

Right - well these two little ornaments are my 'Tweenies' because I stitched them in-between the big pre-stitching projects for the Jackie Du Plessis classes.

See - it all came right in the end didn't it?

When I stitched them I had no suitable backing fabric so thought I would vary the pattern a little and join the two stitched pieces together, but then I picked up a length of black cotton for 50p and decided to make two slightly different ornaments. The differences are subtle, (oh alright, obvious) but they are both from freebies I found. Again I'm not sure where which is a shame because I quite like them. The top one is finished with bronze beads and a black and tan ribbon, and the other with black beads. On this one I doubled up a stripey ribbon and attached beads as I sewed it together.

That's all for today - back to worrying about finishing up all my projects before I forget how to do it.

Oh, before I go, a couple of people have asked for the link to the Birds in a Tree freebie.

This is the link http://users.skynet.be/bk236098/CARINNE/surprise2009.htm

Thank you Carinne.

Love
Irene
xxx

Silver treasures and Cotswold stitching

2010-05-18T01:54:00.001-07:00

I have now returned from my much anticipated stitching weekend in the Cotswolds - and - although I haven't a finished project to show - I have to tell you that I LOVED IT.

If ever you have the chance to work with Jackie Du Plessis, I would really, really encourage you to do so. She is the most innovative designer and inspiring teacher. And patient?? Words cannot describe her unfailing good nature and willingness to have us all succeed.
Thank you Jackie.

The projects we pre-stitched were Treasures of Comfort, Briar Rose Etui and Thistlewood. Jackie also brought us a special new project called Queen's Crown. Her web site is http://www.itsfineallyfinished.com/ so pop over and have a look at what I will hopefully, fineally, end up with.

The three days were very intensive, but I think I did OK. Not as adept as some, but more so than others, so that was fine. I also had the chance to meet many of the ladies from the Sampler Guild(www.thesamplerguild.co.uk). It is strange to see names come up often on e-mails and messages through the Guild and then finally be able to put faces to them.

So...not having anything to show, I thought I would share my latest little treasures - flea market finds and not expensive. I don't do expensive! The top picture shows a small velvet covered pin box with a silver frame and a little pin cushion on top. The long tool is a tiny silver bodkin - cost £2 after being found in the bottom a tin of rubbishy sewing stuff and a silver thimble. The design of the two swans with their necks interlaced didn't show well so I have enlarged it in the bottom picture. Nice eh? Now I am going to look for a Quaker swan design to make into a little keep for the thimble. Ah Jackie - how much I am inspired!!

Thanks for stopping by

Love
Irene xxx

Birds in a tree.

2010-05-12T01:22:00.000-07:00

Yep - that's a pretty original title - I think I'll go for that!

This is the little cushion I stitched as Patti's birthday gift. It was a freebie chart, but I can't remember where from. I will try to find the chart again (that hints at my complete organisational skill doesn't it?) so that I can give credit to the designer.

I used a mixture of threads, mostly HDF but I couldn't find a good enough equivalent for the pink/purple thread so that is DMC. It is stitched 1/1 on a 28 ct fabric. I wanted to try something a little different on this, so couched down a matching narrow ribbon using a herringbone stitch with black thread. It reminds me of the embroidery I did when I was young, but I was not sure if it was a bit over the top as I worked it. However I plodded on and was quite pleased with the final result. I finished the edge with small purple beads.
I have spoken to Patti and I think she was pleased to have it - so that's alright!!

I have also been working doggedly on the projects for the Jackie Du Plessis classes which start of Friday and I AM FINISHED!!! Yay!!

I have enjoyed this stitching, and found parts of it quite challenging, but then once I had worked out how it was meant to be ( nobody has seen it yet, so I hope that proves to be a true statement) it has been a bit repetitive. I hope I can now cope with the finishing and that I don't end of sobbing quietly in a corner! I will let you know!!

Thanks for calling in
Irene
xxx

Quaker finish

2010-05-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

Patti (Tapestry of Dreams) encouraged me to join the Quaker Quarterly Exchange and you saw the lovely pin cushion Mayte sent me.

Well.... I was very late in completing and sending mine - I have a million excuses as you might expect - but finally I finished it and posted it off to Patti who was my first exchange partner. I spoke to her today and she seemed delighted to have it. Phew!!

Now normally, for a design like this, I would choose a variegated dark blue, or a red, both of which always look reliably great and are sort of traditional, but this time I made myself explore a little further and finally choose a Vikki Clayton's thread called Smoke n Mirrors. I like the delicate finish very much.

The cushion is stitched one over one and bordered with tiny beads which pick up the grey/beige tones of the thread. The fabric is a 28 count evenweave (I think).

Is everyone else able to instantly identify the count and type of fabric they are using from their stash? I do try, but get mixed up with my Zweigarts, Lagunas, evenweaves, hardangers etc etc etc. Its all a bit of a magic mystery to me!!

I also owed Patti a birthday gift which I sent along with the QQE, but I'll show a picture of that in the next few days, just to see what you think.

Like Patti, I am still frantically stitching away at the Jackie Du Plessis projects prior to attending the classes next week.

Next week. Good Grief!!!!

Sorry - have to go,

Love in haste
Irene xxx

A bird in (the) hand.

2010-05-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share with you this little stitchy gift I made for my stitchy friend Ann whose birthday it was on Wednesday. She loves birds and spends a lot of time at the local and very new and swish RSPB reserve 'Saltholme' here at Hartlepool.

I am not quite sure what this bird is - maybe a collared dove?

This one is wearing a sort of crown head dress which would be unusual on a wild bird to say the least and might even excite local twitchers, but all is fair is love and stitching.

It is called, appropriately 'A Bird in Hand' and is a 'La-D-Da' chart from their Littles collection. I sorted out the DMC threads and then substituted the closest Hand Dyed Fibre colours. The fabric looks like Aida - but isn't - it is an evenweave linen I had in my stash and was a little more straw coloured than this pic would suggest. I know Vikki Clayton has a conversion chart on her web-site, but I like to handle the colours and try them out next to each other.

I have started to 'borrow' my son's camera which gives much clearer close-ups but this was taken late one evening using the flash which tends to drown out the true colours.

Mmmm the date is not quite right either!

Thanks for popping in

Love

Irene xxx

2 months late posting a gift! Terrible.

2010-04-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

I really really should be ashamed of myself.

And I am.

I have always believed that if a someone goes to the trouble of making you a lovely gift, you really should show others how beautiful it is and tell how grateful you are.

But - Irene the hypocrite - practises not what she preacheth.

I received this lovely needle case for my birthday, from Patti - TWO MONTHS AGO, and have only just got around to posting it. Even now the photo is appalling and does not show off the gift at all.

It is stitched in black, with an inner border of white on a silver grey linen. Inside - two small felt needle holders finished with a tiny black bow. The whole case fastens with a black ribbon. How delicious is that?

Patti also sent me a kit to stitch which I have started but admittedly have not got very far. I took it away to Florida with me a couple of weeks ago, but only just started it. Then I came home and needed to press on with the projects for the Jackie Du Plessis finishing classes I am taking in May.

Also included in the very iffy photo is a pair of silver scissors I have added to my collection. Three pairs now so a very slow-growing collection. I did find a couple of other sewing accessories so I'll show those later this week.

So, with abject apologies to my friend,

love
Irene xxx

Meghan - the Irish / English Setter

2010-04-23T04:28:00.000-07:00

Meghan - being Irish - would only agree to wear a St George's Day collar for her daily beach stroll if I promised her she could wear it to play nurses later.

So here she is.

Obviously really enjoying it.

Sorry Megs.

Love

Irene xxx

My first Exchange - I know, how behind am I?

2010-04-21T02:31:00.000-07:00

I have been part of the on-line sewing community for a couple of years now - although I've been a sewer for so much longer than that and this is my first foray into an exchange. It is the Quaker Quarterly Exchange group and my friend Patti invited me to join. I have been busily worrying about what I might sew - I have not decided even yet and have therefore missed my posting date to Patti who I hope will forgive me. But my involvement in what I might stitch made me completely forget that I would receive something too. Honestly - it just never crossed my mind.

So I was busy with the vacuum cleaner on Saturday - a rare enough event - when a little padded envelope arrived in the post. I hadn't ordered anything, so I checked my address - fine and then the sender's address which I didn't recognise at all. I completed my quick circuit of the carpet - it was only my sister who was visiting and she knows me well enough - and considered what it might be.

Eventually I opened it and found inside this lovely pin cushion, complete with specially made pins and a little tag from my exchange partner Mayte. Isn't it lovely? The colour of the fabric is hard to see here but is in fact a pretty pale rose with chestnut thread and the perfect matching ribbon bow which is the linen pink but has the same chestnut colour underneath. You can just make out the decorative running stitch. I was so surprised and totally delighted. Thank you so much Mayte. If you would like to see more of Mayte's beautiful stitching, have a look at her blog http://magicxstitch.blogspot.com

Might do more of this exchanging thing!

Love to all

Irene xxx

Something to show .....at last!

2010-04-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

You know what they say about the pathway to hell being paved with good intentions??? Well that's me! I have awoken so many times thinking ' Today I will post my blog' but then I just didn't. I don't know why really, I have had time, but maybe not inclination.

I have been sewing quite steadily, but was not inspired to post.

But - enough already!

Here I am. And it you bothered to return here occasionally to see if anything was happening - I thank you.

I have a bit to show, and a big apology to make to my friend Patti for not showing the lovely birthday gift she sent me at the end of February. I know FEBRUARY. And still not here to be seen.

So, what I am showing today are these two small Blackbird Design stockings. I stitched them over one with variegated thread and they ended up soooo tiny that I really put off finishing them. They lingered at the bottom of my very untidy sewing box for several weeks - oh - OK months - and then I just picked them up and finished them and they really didn't take too long. Each measures 4 cm
across the top and 5cms from the top edge to the heel. Go on, find a ruler, really - they are miniscule!

Oh, and I have struggled today with my camera. It needed charging and then it took some really poor photos. (Note how I am abdicating responsibility?) so for today the socks are it. Tomorrow, or very soon thereafter, I will show Patti's gift and my very first exchange item. I am so thrilled. Thank you so much. More soon.

Love
Irene xxx

Christmas - what Christmas?

2010-01-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

I know .... it is ages since I last posted.

I'm not sure why really.

I am sewing quite a lot, but I haven't taken any recent photos and I prefer to have a picture to talk about if I am going to blog. Reason number 1!

Then my mum is still staying with me whilst my sister and her partner renovate their 1900's house and somehow my mind is unsettled and my routine shattered. That's number 2.

Then there's number 3. Well actually ...... I can't think of a number 3 right now.

The picture is the second Christmas ornament from the Staci Nash 'Simply Early Christmas' I spoke about so long ago. It has a mainly red bead border with a cluster of green beads at the corners and is finished with a little bead hanger.

I am lucky enough to be attending a class in May run by Jackie Du Plessis and organised through The Sampler Guild. We will be finishing 3 projects, 'Thistlewood' - a necessaire and tiny pin cushion, the 'Briar Rose' etui and 'Treasures of Comfort' needle book. I have been waiting to finish a couple on WIP's before starting the pre-class stitching for these, but now I'm off!!!

I began with the 'Treasures of Comfort' and I am really enjoying the challenge. At this early stage it is basically two columns of speciality stitches in squares. My eyesight is quite good for close work, but I find I am using a magnifying glass to check the placement of almost every stitch, so very slow progress!!! This is my first chance to attend such a teaching class and I am really worried that people will look at my work and think 'Good Grief'. I also have a fear that nothing will fit together at the end.
Gulp!!!

Andrea - lovely to hear from you and this next bit is just for you!

I don't teach at the class any more so I am not sure what is happening - its a long story! The shop is closed on a Monday so our original class is definitely finished, but there may be one on Wednesday morning with the beading class or a new one was scheduled for Thursday morning. I really don't know if that took off. Anne and I meet at my home on a Thursday evening to sew and you are very welcome to join us. I think Helen and Joan may join too soon. Could you leave some form of contact and I'll get in touch with you? I think my e-mail address is in my blog profile.

Sorry everyone else who might wander by - that's a reply to a comment from a lost friend!

I hope to be a bit more active on here now. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and will join me in looking forward to a peaceful and healthy New Year. (Well - only about 11 months now!)

Love
Irene xxx

How big will my tree need to be?

2009-12-01T04:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a little Christmas ornament from this year's Just Cross Stitch Ornaments edition. It is by Blackbird Designs, using Vikki Clayton silks. I chose a piece of linen from my stash and finished it with a little loopy edging which is not very clear in the photo. It is a plain, homely little ornament I think, but no less pretty for that.

When I flick through magazine's like JCS I amazed at just how easy it is to pick out the different designers from the pictures. Sometimes it is the colours they have chosen, or some aspect of the design, a little house, or a bird, but it is so often very obvious. How clever of them to have developed such a recognisable style.

Thank you again for your welcome comments.
Irene
xxx

At last - some sewing!

2009-11-29T04:10:00.000-08:00

I have been sewing a little, and waiting for a good day to take some photos. Today I was going to go out into the garden and take some interesting atmospheric shots - but hey - its piddling down, so back to the kitchen ans mediocraty.

This is a Stacy Nash design, from her 'A Simply Early Christmas' booklet. I chose Oliver Twists rayon hand dyed thread which is lovely to use and embellished it with some tiny iridescent beads and a bead hanger. I made another, very similar, which I will show later in the week. These are very quick to make and pretty I think.

I went to the Stitch and Craft show at Harrogate with friends on Saturday. There were some amazing displays of work. It astounds me that people have not just the imagination to dream up these projects, but the ability and capability to carry them out to such a fine degree.

Obviously, there was stuff to buy, and I think that if people have gone to the effort of setting out their wares for general perusal, I should at least acknowledge this effort by buying some of it. So I did.

I bought lots of fabric, lots of threads, some 'have-a-go' things like a couple of Japanese braiding cards and generally indulged myself. It did get very, very busy as the day progressed until we were finally shuffling along in a pulsating slow-moving crowd, catching tantalising glimpses of goodies that we were unable to reach. I had spent some time the previous evening noting fabric and threads of a couple of projects I thought I might start, but was only able to buy Crescent Colours, no WDW or Gloriana or Gentle Arts as I had hoped, so that was a bit disappointing.

These 'shows' travel around the country to various venues and I have heard that some exhibitors will go to the southern cities but not up north where the natives wear blue woad make-up and there is the constant danger of being snowed in and being forced to eat deep-fried Mars bars.

We do, we are and yummy!!

Take care
Love
Irene xxx

My second favourite activity.

2009-11-01T02:53:00.000-08:00

Oh - the acquisition of stash, second favourite only to stitching.

Well, you see, I say that, but actually I really enjoy the many rituals associated with this craft.

I like to browse through various shops, mostly on-line, selecting and rejecting items before making that final choice

I love to wind the new threads onto named bobbins and store them alphabetically or numerically.

I love to sit and turn the pages of the new chart or magazine, flicking backwards and forwards, making mental notes.

I like to select the threads and fabric. I even enjoy binding the fabric to stop fraying.

I LOVE to start something new, I think I even enjoy feeling guilty about not quite finishing the last project. I justify this by saying to myself 'This is a hobby, a pleasure, if it stops being that - then there is no point'. This means I can lay something down and hope to go back to it eventually. Easy isn't it?

So this is my new stash. I got this from the Sampler Guild. It consists of some Staci Nash primitive charts. These are beautifully presented with parchment covers and ribbons -especially nice to have ( even if I never work from them!). The Tokens of Love Quaker pinball book - see those long darning needle things on top of it? They are the knitting needles!! Mmmmm!!! Also the perpetually Engaging Diary and some Mail Art designs.

It is just awful weather here today, torrential rain, windy and totally unpleasant. So I guess I will just have to sit by the fireside and sew. Shame!!

Thank you for you lovely comments.
Irene
xx

Next.......... Beading.

2009-10-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

So this is my beading-without-a loom attempt.

The little legs are not actually attached here, just popped on for effect.

Yesterday I stitched the back and front together, much as we do a cross stitch ornament, but much messier and more out of control (eeeek!) and now I will need to fill him with lead shot and stitch on his legs permanently. When he is finally finished he will be .........

A mantle ornament. Yeeah!!!!!

But that's all right, because I have mantles, so he can ornament them as soon as I hear the first 'O Come..' being played in my local supermarket - so that would be any time now.

He is from a chart in Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch and Beading magazine and is made with Delica beads - in case you want to rush out and have a go.

Managing to keep up with more frequent postings - phew!

Love to all

Irene xxx

A patch to be proud of?

2009-10-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Or grammatically speaking - 'of which to be proud'!

Well no, not really. In fact I think in real life it is slightly better than it looks here, some of the patches seem a different colour, but they're not really, and I think, I believe, the seams are straighter than they look here.

Oh, OK!

It is exactly how it looks here, but it is my first try and I learned a lot.

I hope that when I embark on a full size quilt , it will be better. I have decided this block will not be part of my future masterpiece, which will be awesome, so I have finished it with a binding and will use it as a place mat. A single place mat - ooooh how stylish!

I think this pattern is called 'Butter churn' and I 'ditch' quilted with the machine.

Good grief! So much to learn and I am just getting to grips with WIPs and UFO's and RR's and stuff.

I am making an effort to post more regularly and have already stored pictures of my beading and some stash I acquired recently. So watch this space.

Love to all

Irene xxx

Happy Returns!

2009-10-23T06:50:00.000-07:00

People are so kind aren't they?

I'll tell you the story.

Angela, who doesn't have a blog, is a friend of Patti, who does. I sent Patti a little needle case I had made for her, and Angela saw it. She asked via my blog about the fabric I had used inside the needle case and about the tag I had used on the bow. I had a little of the fabric left, so I sent her it to try, along with a few tags.

And look what she sent in return! How lucky am I? She has repaid me thricefold ( is thricefold a word?). A newsy letter inside a pretty card from Cyprus, five lots of fabric, some different tags and beautiful ribbon.

This is especially nice as I know Angela is particularly busy at the moment with a poorly close relative and her daughter starting college. I know Rula will do well, Angela, and just go on being as supportive to your husband and family as you have been.

The fabric is particularly welcome at this time as I have begun a couple of new crafts - yeah, like I didn't have enough to do!

Both if them involve the acquirement of more stash. I know, I know, but somebody needs to sort out this economy and I've taken it upon my shoulders!

Firstly, patchwork - see how useful Angela's gift will be?

My LNS is running a series of classes and so far I have made one block.
OK, so one block does not a quilt make, but it is a start. I have a photo and will post it tomorrow.

Then bead weaving. Again classes run by my LNS.

Well, as a stitcher, I have a fair quantity of beads, only about 10 of those bead boxes with 18 compartments all full, which I toted gleefully to the class. The teacher looked, shook her head sadly and directed me to the bead displays.

Aw shucks!!!

I have made a 3D Father Christmas (well 2D at the moment as I haven't joined or stuffed him) and a sort of topiary tree hanging-to-go-on-a-bauble-Christmas-ornament thing. Again not finished. The work is quite interesting, maybe because it is new, but repetitious. The repetitious aspect gives me false confidence and has resulted in a lot of tedious pulling back.
I have learned two stitches (who would have thought there was more than one?), straight stitch and peyote or brick stitch. This is bead weaving without a loom. Huh, who needs a loom I cry?
Again I have a couple of pictures which I will let you see if you don't look too closely.

That's all for now, sorry it's been so long. Hope you find me again.

Irene
xxx

Busy, busy, busy but 2 things to share!

2009-09-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

I am so busy with a visitor here from America that I have no time to stitch, to post, to breathe!

However, I must just tell you two things very quickly. Patti is celebrating three years blogging and is having an amazing giveaway. She calls it 'the mother of all giveaways' and it is! So go on over and enter TODAY!! (http://tapestry-of-dreams.blogspot.com)

The other thing I wanted to share is, for me, equally amazing.

I was walking along the beach with my mum and the dog and chattering away as usual when suddenly, my mum stopped saying 'Sorry to interrupt, but what is that?'

When we looked, it was a pod of dolphins playing just off the shoreline. They were jumping and doing that lovely curved swimming thing and were just beautiful. We couldn't move, we just stood there transfixed by these creatures. We watched for about 20 minutes until they moved north along the coast and were lost to sight.

Now those of you in hotter climes must be thinking 'er yeah - so?' but remember this is the North-east coast of England, not the Gulf of Mexico and I have walked on the beach every day for 6 years and have never seen them before. We felt so privileged and our spirits were lifted.
Joyous!!

I will try to get some stitching done soon, and sort out a giveaway and finally give out the awards. Please bear with me.

Irene xx

Home again, home again, clippety clop

2009-09-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

I am so disorganised it's untrue!

I returned from holiday early on Sunday morning, but since then my feet have hardly touched the ground. There has been so much to do. All the things I postponed until after my holidays had to be taken care of.

The sky was black with chickens coming home to roost!

I had a central heating unit to service, a tooth to be filled, hair to be cut, a dog to collect, a mum to return, a class to attend, meals to book, tickets to buy, letters to write, and two days work promised. Then you have to eat, so you have to shop, so you have to cook.

Hey ho.

We went to Southern Ireland for two weeks and what a beautiful place it is. I thought we were lucky here in the North of England, we have the Dales, the Moors, the Coast and the Lakes all within an hour or two, but Ireland - well - its something else.

My only tiny gripe is ......the rain.

And boy, did it rain -

river-flooding,
garden-drowning,
despair-making,
holiday-spoiling,
monsoon-copying
rain.

I became very expert at winding down the car window, snapping a quick photo and winding it up again before we all got drenched. In the end, it was so bad it was funny! We decided just to do everything we had planned anyway, but it was a shame. There were pretty villages and fishing harbours which we only peered at through the swish of the windscreen wipers!

I have pictures and I will post some when I am on my main laptop. This is just my netbook and I don't store them here.

I took sewing with me - Mary Wigham - but actually did none at all. There was certainly time, but somehow my mind was in a whirl and I just couldn't settle to do it. Now I am back I am trying to pick up and finish some of the smaller projects I started before I went but which were too much hassle to pack and take. I have a 'Welcome Baby' heart, a Christmas ornament and a needle case similar to the one I gave Patti well on the way.

I have had some lovely comments on my blog, some even talking about previous postings which means readers actually went back and looked at them. Thank you so much. I have had queries and tips and praise and I am grateful for them all.

As soon as I get my head together, I will finish choosing my award winners.
About time too, some would say.

Irene
xx

Too hard!!

2009-08-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

I need to write a quick post to say that it is too hard!

Patti's 'rules' are that the award is passed on to blogs that are smile worthy and not necessarily to those of people who follow or comment regularly on your own blog. These rules are good rules.

But - finding only six blogs that especially make me smile from the very many that I read every day that make me smile, is just too hard. And because I was so pleased to get the award from Patti I don't want to award mine in a higgledy piggledy, devil may care, what does it matter, kind of way.

At the moment I have three definite nominations, but the other three........????

And tomorrow I go on holiday so there will be a two-week gap in my posts. So, if your blog is funny, or flippant, or wry, or dry, or just crazy, hold you breath......it might be you!

Well, OK - it is two weeks, you can have a couple of breaths if you really need them.

Happy holidays
Irene
xxx

My first blog award!

2009-08-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to see that Patti had given me this award. How cute is this? Thank you so much Patti, for the award and more importantly, for the sentiment that goes with it.

Now I need to pass on this smiley acknowledgement by choosing 6 blogs which make me smile too. No easy task - I could give this to many lovely interesting funny blogs. So, if you will forgive me, I will take a little time to think about it.

It feels so special to receive this, and it is wonderful to have contact and even make friends with people all over the world. A few years ago, such a thing would be beyond imagining.

Best wishes, and again many thanks. I am off to peruse some of favourite blogs.

Irene
xx

A gift for a friend

2009-08-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

I made this little needle case as a surprise gift for my blogger friend Patti. She has been so supportive and always writes a lovely comment when I post. We live at different ends of the country, but found out recently that as we are both members of The Sampler Guild, we will both be attending the Jackie du Plessis classes in this country in May next year - so we will meet. In fact we have arranged to be room mates! I can see it will be great fun!!

The basic chart for this is from the French book 'Miniatures au Point de Croix' but I added the 'les aiguilles' bit (it seemed more exotic than 'needles') and I just made up the construction as I went along. Actually this slap-dash approach led to the formation of the little pocket which could hold packets of needles, or threaders, along with loose needles on the flappy bit. I think I will do this again. I stitched it one over one with Vikki Clayton's Blueberry Soup silk. My exceptional photography means that you can't see it ties with a ribbon bow. I included a few tiny antique buttons, a little tin heart and a few of those little tags you can just see on the top, which say things like 'made with love', 'created for you' and 'hand made'.

Patti mailed me this morning to say she is delighted so - if she is pleased, I am pleased - and I was very very happy to stitch it for her. Thank you again, Patti, and here's to our stitching weekend.

By the way, Patti has a super draw happening at the moment, to celebrate the safe arrival of her grandson Oliver, so pop on over and have a look.http://tapestry-of-dreams.blogspot.com/

The Sampler Guild web site is http://www.thesamplerguild.co.uk/ in case you want to have a look there too. It is a very friendly group of like-minded people.

Thanks for visiting.

Irene

Quaker pyn keepe

2009-08-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

I used a motif from a larger freebie chart for this little pyn keepe. I wish I could give credit to the designer, but unfortunately I trimmed up the pages to make it easier to work across the motifs and cut off all the information. If I find it again, I will certainly note the details here.

This was my first pin keep and I can only say it is 'OK'. I think the stitching and finishing are alright, but the little bow on top was a nightmare to make up. I have since found a blog giving hints on how to do it, but too late for this one, which, if you look closely, is still slightly off centre. Believe me, this was in spite of much fiddling, pinning, cursing and sighing. I do not give in without a fight and hate things to be 'not quite' but in this case - !!!!

It was stitched one over one on 28 count using HDF Gandy Tango.

To tell the truth, it was going to be my first Blog Draw too. I recently reached 1,000 views and wanted to celebrate, but it ended up not good enough so I will try again and let you know. Maybe I will just have a draw for no particular reason.

I did a little more stitching too, but that is a gift and not to be shown here yet.

Love
Irene
xx

Pretty cut-glass pin jar.

2009-08-09T04:41:00.000-07:00

This is another little find in my quest for sewing bits and bobs. It is a pretty little pin jar with a white metal lid and the word 'Pins' picked out in gold ( I should be so lucky!). The pins were included when I bought it, so I didn't realise at the time that the jar is quite shallow, in fact you can just make out a line about a third of the way up on this photo. This means that the jar is heavy and very stable, but also that when reaching in for a pin, your finger can easily reach the bottom. Those Victorians actually thought quite carefully about how objects would work in practice, didn't they?

I have some stitching to show too, a little Quaker pin keep, sorry - pyn keepe - but I need to charge up the camera first.

Thank you for your previous comments. I love to read them

Irene
xx

Ecriture

2009-07-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

I showed this stitching to my son who tried to pick up the pen. My job here is done!!

I haven't pressed it properly ( actually - I haven't pressed it at all ), so apologies for the wavy appearance.

It represents a page from a child's French writing practice book, complete with teacher's corrections - and a ink splat. It appealed to me, but I am not sure how to finish it. I am thinking it would make an excellent slip cover for a note book, but this is a finish I have never tried before. Still, as a teacher I must have covered a million books with paper, really - a million - easily, so that must give me a bit of an insight into how to begin.

OK, I am going to tell you something.

I wasn't going to, but I will.

This was almost finished and only needed my name and a date adding. So, with determination this morning, I put it into a small hoop, ready to complete it.

I began to sew, and immediately panicked because my eyesight seemed to have deteriorated overnight. I was poking about in the back of the work, unable to hit the hole I was wanting. It was awful. I thought 'This is it then, the end of my sewing, I just can't do it anymore'.

I changed the needle, maybe that one was blunt, no difference.

I plodded on but it took an absolute age.

Finally it was finished and I took it out of the hoop.

Mmmmm - eyes not blind. Needle not blunt.

Sewing doubled up in hoop giving two layers of fabric.

Idiot!!! I couldn't bear to frog and repeat so I just treated the second layer like waste fabric and picked it out thread by thread.

Anybody else make basic beginner mistakes like this? I thought not!

Best wishes

Irene

xxx

Look what I've got now!!!

2009-07-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

Actually I have had this beautiful sewing box for a few weeks and I am busy hunting down old needlework tools to go inside. At the moment I have, all in bone, some bodkins, a tatting shuttle, some thread holders, quite a lot of crochet hooks, (some with mother of pearl handles) and some carved things which look needleworky, so they're going in too. There is a lovely old painted tape measure, and of course, some thimbles and some antique packets of needles. The back of the lid is a pin cushion and it drops open to make a space for charts or patterns - or secret love letters??

It's nice isn't it?

I have some sewing pics to show too, but I haven't worked out how to load two different pictures into the same blog using Picasa. The above is a collage which downloads as one picture. If you haven't tried Picasa, give it a go. It's free to download.

Regards
Irene

Just exquisite! And another draw to be won.

2009-07-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

A quick posting to say that I received my draw prize from Patti and it is just lovely. The pin keep is so finely stitched and finished it will take pride of place in my collection of smalls. Thank you again Patti.

New news.

Patti is having another draw and this one will be even more spectacular. Pop over to her site again and have a look. www.tapestry-of-dreams.blogspot.com

It finishes on July 14th and is definitely worth the effort.

I don't know whether I should have a go or not....it seems a little greedy.

Aw, go on then, I will!!!

Best wishes

Irene

It's mine, it's mine!!!!

2009-07-05T03:19:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you, if one of my blog favourites is having a draw, I add a comment and my name to the list, but I never win.

UNTIL NOW!

I won Patti's draw, so soon I will be the proud owner of the lovely Mary Little pin keep above. How lucky am I? The awful truth is, I had been so busy that I hadn't had time to read any blogs or to check Patti's (http://tapestry-of-dreams.blogspot.com/) so when I eventually did, my surprise and pleasure was even greater.

This will be my first ever pin keep, I have never made one and have never been given one before. I am so looking forward to receiving it.

Thank you so much for you generosity Patti.

Regards

Irene
xxx

Congratulations Toby

2009-06-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-24T02:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

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........

2009-06-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-06-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

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

Lo how a rose - finished!

2009-05-25T03:28:00.000-07:00

It seems to have taken me ages to finish this project - not because I didn't enjoy it - I certainly did, but because I just wasn't able to sit down and have a real go at it. However it is finished now and I am very pleased with the result.

I stitched it 1 over 1 on (I think) 28ct cream linen, although the whole thing looks pink here! I used a variety of threads, many of which I just changed as I went along, so difficult to list them. I used mostly Vikki Clayton and Weeks Dye Works. I particularly liked the subtle shading of WDW 'Pelican Grey' which I used for most of the script and 'Basil' for the occasional highlighted letter, such as the 'A' in 'Amid'. Now I need to think about framing!

I think I mentioned a while ago that I do a little teaching at my local needlework store? The store is fairly new, only existing since September'ish 2007. It was begun by two good friends, Linda and Val, who made a 'now or never' decision to leave their jobs in the Health Service and do something they really wanted to do.

So, they began small and have been slowly building the business to now include a really good range of knitting wools along with DMC cottons, including some speciality ones and a variety of charts and kits. They have some thriving craft classes happening throughout the week too.

Sadly, earlier this year Val decided that because of ill health in her family she was unable to devote the time and energy needed to keep the business vibrant and reluctantly left. Linda asked me to volunteer a little time to help and I have been really enjoying doing that. I have been 'working' 2 days a week and love the time I spend there. I really want this enterprise not only to survive but to expand and thrive. Linda is planning to include patchwork and quilting in the shop's repertoire in the autumn so that is an exciting prospect too. I have done some, but not for a long while. Wish us luck!!

If you would like to visit the new web site the address is www.in2stitches.co.uk

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy the sunshine Brits - its rare enough!!

Irene

Lo - Lo from 'Lo'

2009-05-05T04:02:00.000-07:00

When I was a teacher, I had to write a lot of reports, or presentations or accounts, and this was the aspect of my job I liked least. So, over time, a strategy developed.

I would prepare for the task ahead.

I would line up papers, - alphabetically, numerically, by size, by colour, sometimes by all four.

I would make important decisions about font size, colour etc.

I would 'arrange' my working area to better utilise the space.

I might even design the front page.

I could be thus gainfully employed for many hours. But I would not actually write the report.

I am a Pisces and I think this is all part of my psyche.

Now I find myself delaying a project because I really really want to do it.

And so it was this weekend.

A very kind friend gave me the chart for 'Lo how a rose' which I have been desperately seeking for ages (Thank you again Helen) and I so wanted to start it that I delayed until quite late last night.

Why??

I have no idea!

But now I have started, and I really like the little I have done, so it is full steam ahead.
I am using a variety of threads - a couple of Weeks Dye Works, some Vikki Clayton, the rest DMC on a piece of linen from my stash which I think maybe 28 ct.

I have only Lo to show!

Thank you for your very welcome comments.

Irene

'Lo how a rose' draw.

2009-04-29T01:29:00.000-07:00

I am sure that many of you have seen and admired Edgar's beautiful stitching of Brightneedle's 'Lo how a rose'. This chart, sadly, is only available from a 2001 better Homes and Gardens Christmas booklet which is very hard to get hold of and quite expensive - believe me - I've tried.

Well Edgar, star that he is, is offering the book as the prize in a draw. All you need to do is go to his site http://blacksheepsite.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment on the post referring to the draw, I think it is April 27th.

I e-mailed Brightneedle to ask if they had the chart elsewhere. They replied that they were trying to get back the rights to publish it again, but no luck so far. So Better Homes and Gardens is our only hope if we want to stitch this.

I wish you luck - but if you win will you share????

Irene
xx

The matching (almost) scissor fob.

2009-04-23T03:41:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share this pic of the scissor fob I made quickly last night to match the needle case. I charted the bird diagonally - this was not as easy as I thought it would be, which is why it only almost matches!

I also wanted to tell you that Valerie is having a draw to celebrate her fourth year blogging. You will find her at Fog City http://fogcitydweller.blogspot.com/. You need to leave your comment and draw entry on the April 21st posting.

That's it for now - poppy seed baguette with duck & orange pate and green grapes for lunch out in the sunshine.
I just love this retirement thing!

Irene
xx

Finally - something to show!

2009-04-22T04:49:00.001-07:00

This is a little needle case which I am really happy with. I haven't finished a case like this before and I really needed to think out the steps before I started! I was standing - iron poised to attach the interfacing- when I thought " No! Need to add the little needle holder fabric first!"

This shows the inside of the case and a some of my antique pin holders.
I used a 28 count linen, with Vikki Clayton threads, sadly un-named as they cane from a detritus bag. I just love the blue though. I used a tiny 'homespun' check style fabric and finished with a narrow grosgrain ribbon and a few simple heart buttons.

Nice isn't it?

Can I take the credit for its design?

Nope!

The original freebie chart came from http://aliolka.blogspot.com/ - look under 'primitive birds' and 'birds with tulips' for variations on the design. Thank you so much Aliolka, for this and your generous sharing of other charts. This site is in Russian (I think) but a translation is available for those of us less than fluent in this language.

And still I crib!!

The needle case design came from the wonderful Danybrod blog http://dany88.canalblog.com/ Thank you Dany for your inspired stitching.

Isn't it amazing that we can look at, and appreciate, the work of stitchers from all over the world with just a click of a button. Without the Internet we would all be stitching in virtual isolation and we could not be inspired by the creativity of others.

Thank you Internet inventors, could you ever imagine it would be this good?

Thanks for stopping by, good to see a bit of sewing isn't it?

Irene xx