It's been a while and I'm a year older!

I have been missing for quite a while.  I had to fly to Darwin at very short notice as my Brother was ill and then his wife also became ill.  Thankfully they are both now OK.  I have been back for two weeks but don't ask me where that time has gone to.  Life sometimes gets in the way of my hobbies.

While I was away I celebrated another Birthday and I returned home to some lovely gifts from my stitching friends.

This one from Marg was waiting on my doorstep:

aren't those scissors gorgeous?  and lots of new projects (maybe I will get an early start for next year).

Also waiting for me was this lovely gift from Sandra - all the way from England:

Two large pieces of Zweigart 40 count Newcastle linen - one in cream (my all time favourite colour) and one in Sand which I think may just be the exact size and colour for Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, and the lovely Forget Me Not pattern from Ewe & Eye & Friends.  Can you see the lovely black and white tissue paper they were wrapped in?   Toile ??

Then this parcel of goodies arrived from Chrissie:

the very, very cute Olga and her mate Boris ......

... some card making supplies - Graphics 45 Christmas paper and a coffee themed stamp set .... AND .....

..this beautfiul material - "Mrs March's Collection" - it is quite beautiful with writing and postmarks all very vintage, and with it's own antique postmarked tag made by Chrissie.

Chrissie's parcels are always beautifully wrapped with everything matching - they are a joy to open and this one was no exception.  Her card was equally lovely:

Just look at the flower - it is made from very fine gauze material and it and the lace have obviously been hand dyed.  Beautiful.

Then just when I thought my belated celebrations were over look what I received from Rosalie this week:

it is a lovely canvas work needlecase - the front and back are covered in french knots and the back has been personalised.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my gifts - stitching has certainly enriched my life, not only by the enjoyment of the stitching but because of the wonderful friends I have made along the way.

Mary 

Finally - a finish !!

Well I finally got around to actually finishing this one - needle rolls are probably one of the easier things to finish off. 

I tried to take a close up of the very cute little bee button but they came out very fuzzy.  The linen is the palest of pinks.

And I couldn't post without showing you Elizabeth.  Not a lot done on her this week, but I did finish the flower basket last night.  I now have to do some counting to see where the side trees will go.  That's the only trouble when you start altering things, you have to keep adjusting things, but I am still very happy with her.   

I should be starting on some Christmas gifts but I really would like to finish Elizabeth first, so I will have to get stuck into it. 

Mary

O happy day ...

I picked up SB Happy Day needleroll again and have finished the main stitching  - in fact since I took this photo I have nearly completed the hemstitching, so I must keep at it and actually finish it off. 

I have also done a little more on CHS Diminutive Dutch and it is looking quite good.

And of course, I haven't neglected Elizabeth.  I was thinking I was half way but that's not correct as there are the two rather large motifs on each side of the central stitching.

I think it is looking better all the time - such a lovely one to stitch.  My Daughter saw it the other day and I think she was quite pleased that this one will be hers, as she loves the colours.

I popped this one in to show how I have decided to use the darker red on the flowers in the baskets on each side of the centre.  There is only a tiny amount of the red used in the sampler and I think it will look good.  You can see a red tinge where I had to unpick one of the flowers that I stitched in the wrong place.  I thought I had removed all of it but when you put it on something white you can still see it so will have to fix that.

Hi Siobhan - yes the same Daniel O'Donnell!  He was here in Melbourne for two concerts and I went to see his show on the 7th September - went backstage to chat with him afterwards as we have a friend in common.  He is a really lovely person.  Tell you MIL that I haven't washed my face since I got my kiss.!!   You really should get your Elizabeth out as it is such a fun one to stitch and will be a piece of cake after the difficult pieces you do.

So not a great deal done but I have been busy with quite a few special cards and I have gone back to playing croquet again after a few years away from it so I am kept busy trying to fit in all my hobbies.  The pile of books beside my bed is growing higher by the day, and so are the weeds in the garden.

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments and for stopping in to check up on me.

Mary

"Spring is sprung, the grass is riz.."

.. and here is where the birdies is!

I took advantage of the sunshine pouring in through the back doors to take this photo of my progress on Elizabeth, not taking into consideration that it hadn't been pressed - it's quite amazing the difference it makes.  However, I put in a few more hours on her yesterday and will not post that until I have had the iron out.  It's not that I don't like ironing, I just prefer to wait until I have a real pile (or haven't anything to wear!) and then I settle in with a good dvd (usually Daniel O'Donnell!) and have a lovely old daydream while I'm doing it.

So, back to Elizabeth - I thought I had finished the tree section and didn't notice that the birds at the base of the tree have not been finished - I think those small sections should be green.  The two birds at the top of the tree that are stitched in "Green Onion" do look better in real life but look washed out here.  I may have to change them.

Thought I would try for a close up of the bird but he must have moved !! or it could be that my skills with a camera are pretty woeful.

I took the opportunity the stitch on Dutch Diminutive earlier in the week ( or was it the week before ?) when the sun was pouring in.  The colours in this one are quite dark so it was nice to be able to see it in good light.  Not much more done but progress none the less.

This one is my first try at 40 count and I was feeling very proud of myself until I saw Margaret's Family Sampler which she is stitching on 40 count gauze - OVER ONE !! 

Not much progress for two weeks but life does get in the way sometimes.  Now, I am off to get the iron out because I have run out of clothes to wear!

Bye for now,
Mary

Elizabeth 2

Thank you so much for your words of encouragment regarding Elizabeth, I really do appreciate your comments. 

I have temporarily put the family tree to one side as it was taking over my life, and I am not in the mood for my card-making at present, so the stitching has been the winner.  I don't seem to be able to rotate my hobbies on a daily basis - I am usually totally involved in one of them to the exclusion of all else until suddenly I drop that one and pick up another.

So, as I said, the stitching is "it" at present - I even sat up in bed one morning at 6am with a cup of tea and Elizabeth instead of my Sudoku. 

Last night I finished off the central border which will be where the wording will go and I was very happy and much relieved when that all joined up perfectly.  I am so enjoying this one - even the challenge of altering it.  I am not really a pink person but I do love the colours - they are so cheerful and bright and look wonderful on the magnolia linen (thanks again Terri for a great choice). 

Inner circle all finished - tree not finished.

Yes, it is sideways !!!!!!!!

.. and this is the top left corner but WHY has blogger turned these three photos around ???

So sorry, but I have downloaded these photos several times now and blogger just turns them sideways.  I am off to babysit and will try again tomorrow to fix them.

I do believe I have managed to get better photos this time - certainly my new iron has done a much better job on the linen.

Cheers for now,

Mary

The ins and outs of Elizabeth

I finally started on Elizabeth back at the end of July.  I gave up trying to fit it onto the frame and instead I am just using a hoop which is fine. 

I started stitching at the top left corner going a little way across the top but then continuing down the left border just to make sure that it would fit.  I had put in a few nights of stitching before I had a really good look at it and I knew the discepancies in the pattern would drive me insane.  I know there are some stitchers who faithfully replicate these antique samplers and they will probably be horrified when I say that I have to alter the pattern. 

So I started again, this time from the top centre and I worked my way down, ensuring that each section was aligned.  I have now done the basic stitches for the left border, making sure that each pattern is identical.  (I hope !!)

The centre line - you can just see the top of the tree which is now dead centre.

You can see part of my original start as well as the second attempt.

I keep going back to the picture of "Terri's" Elizabeth and I just love it and it looks perfectly fine, but I guess it is just that I am stitching this and know that it is "out" so I have to alter it.  Having said all that I am really enjoying it despite all the unpicking and the challenge of 'getting it right'.  In fact, I think I will spend some of this cold afternoon getting some more done.

I am pretty sure that I won't be putting Elizabeth's name in the centre either - I will probably put my Daughter's name and date of birth in there instead. 

Mary

Diminutive Post

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post - I seem to be getting worse instead of better, but I have to confess that most of my time has been taken up with researching my family tree lately, and oh boy, is that addictive!

I also can't believe that I still have not started on "Elizabeth".  I wanted her so badly but still haven't put the needle to the linen.   The main reason (here comes the excuses ..) is that I think it needs to go on the frame but it is just a bit too wide for my frame and I was going to get another, but I think I will try to fold the edges in and see if it can still be wound with the double thickness.  The pattern is a little different from any others I have done so hope I will be able to work it out.  Oh well, anticipation of a new project is always part of the fun, so hopefully I will get to it soon.  It is definitely next on the list.

What I did start back in the middle of June was CHS Diminutive Dutch, using the 40 count linen and the threads called for in the pattern.  I just had to try the smaller count linen and I have to say I found it very easy to work with.

There are only three colours - I know you can't tell, but the colours are from the outside of the border - a teal; then olive, then brown.  All of the letter A is done in the brown and the flower in the teal.  It is quite tiny and I have no idea what I will do with it when finished.  I though maybe a little needle pocket but the abc will be running the wrong way, so we will see.

I have had a small finish but I can't post it just yet, so till next time, happy stitching!

Mary

Note to self:    "See, that didn't take too long, did it ?"

A snowflake short of a snowstorm ?

When I started "Tis" I thought it was going to be a quick stitch - two months later it is finally done.  After several wrong turns through the vine, many variations of the snowfalls, many hours of unpicking snowflakes and a long stitching slump, the big red bird and his stitcher have reason to be jolly.

I have just finished pressing this and it was looking great - but in the photo it looks like a crumpled rag!  Took the photo in brilliant sunshine but it still does not do it justice - it really is a lovely piece.

While I had the iron out I pressed my new pieces of linen.  Some of them had fold creases in them which weren't responding to the dry iron so I dampened my pressing cloth and pressed through that - oops ... probably not a good idea as I then had a bit of a watermark.  I have done the piece again and hopefully it will be ok when it dries.  Like I said previously I haven't used these overdyed linens before and I have a bit to learn about them.  

Oh dear, now I have to choose a new start - how sad is that ????? lol

Bye for now ..

Mary

Threads, glorious threads ...

... there's nothing quite like them ..... especially when you open  a package full of them and they are accommpanied by some yummy linen.

My parcel from Elegant Stitch arrived yesterday.  I was out and didn't get home till after midnight but I just had to open it at 1 AM! 

I have always bought my linen from  my local needlework shops, but they really only stock Zweigart or Permin.  I love working with Belfast but don't really like the Permin.  However, after reading all your blogs out there I decided to try some of the different linens, in higher count.  Lois and Annie (from Elegant Stitch) have even over-locked the edges of the linen for me and labelled it so I would know which is which and I was so grateful for that, (just in case they get lost in the stash cupboard).

From left the linens above are:  R&R Antique Cotton 40 ct; Lakeside Magnolia in 36 ct; R&R Abecedarian Blend 40 ct and Lakeside Pear 40 ct.   Not that theylook anything like that in the photo.  

I just love the Lakeside Magnolia, and the Lakeside Pear is nice.  Not too sure about the R&R Antique Cotton - it feels quite stiff and starchy and probably a bit too "yellow" for my choice, however that is what the pattern called for so we shall see.  Funnily enough, the R&R Abecedarian Blend is nothing like the Antique Cotton and feels much the same as the Lakeside.

The Lakeside Magnolia has the orange stripe in the selvedge like the Belfast does, so do they just overdye the zweigart linen ??? I know I'm showing my ignorance here but haven't had anything to do with these brands before.  You ladies are leading me astray !!

  

 

This is the Lakeside Magnolia (looking too white) with the Crescent Colours on it that I will be using to stitch Elizabeth.  Great choice of linen and threads - thank you Terri !!

This photo is to show you how the girls at Elegant Stitch have overlocked the edges of the linen for me.   Isn't that great - I don't have to work up the enthusiasm to get the sewing machine out.  (I can sew - just don't enjoy it!)  The colour of the linen is much better in this photo - it is like a clotted cream - LOVE IT!.

I got a few other threads - some WDW - not sure what they were for; some NPI (for  CHS Gilded cage and Diminutive Dutch; and of course the Gloriana to finish "Tis" is here now too so I can sit and finish that one off and maybe make a start on something new.  Woo hoo,

I did get something else but can't show you just yet.

Off to the stitching corner ..

Mary

I didn't really die waiting !

You must have thought I had popped over to America to pick up my parcel.  I cannot believe how long it is since I posted, ..... and yes, my order did arrive shortly after that post and everything I had been wanting arrived.  I must say that Elizabeth looks a little daunting but not enough to change my mind.  I have spent ages fiddling around with threads and linen and finally have decided to bite the bullet and buy the Crescent Colours to do this one in.  I have also ordered some 35 count linen for her as well.

My favourite linen has always been 32 count Belfast, but my friend Chrissie and I did a stitch along on the Blessings Sampler and when I saw her version done on a 35 count linen it looked so much smaller and daintier than mine I knew that I had to try it.  I would not have thought that 3 or 4 threads per inch could make that much difference.  So .. stay tuned to hear if I can handle this finer linen.  Not sure what I have let myself into. 

Tis the Season has been waiting for some more Gloriana to finish it off - only the wording to do. I found that using two strands of the Gloriana I got the coverage it needed.

No photos today but hopefully soon.

So once again I am waiting on an order but it should be here any day now.

Bye for now