Spoiled

Hi everyone, I recently did a private exchange with Ellen in Singapore who told me her favourite colours were Autumn. After a couple of false starts I finally decided on some small cross stitch designs by the Prairie Schooler which I then turned into a drawstring bag, needlecase and pincushion.

The front of the bag has a pumpkin and the back has a black crow. The bag pattern I used is this one by Gail Pan

Here's how the inside of the needlecase looks. It is a pattern I've used many times before and comes from the book remembering Adelia by Kathleen Tracy

Close up of the cute owl design

The package I received from Ellen was stuffed full of goodies. This gorgeous rose pillow and matching biscornu scissor fob

Both are just as pretty on the back as the front. Ellen's stitching and finishing are perfection.

and as if that were not enough there was two fabric FQ, a pretty tissue holder, lace, buttons, charms and more! It was such a fun package to open. Thank you so much Ellen I love it all.

Another beautiful stitched gift I received came from Brigitte in Germany. I had admired this pillow on Brigitte's blog never dreaming it would be coming my way. Thank you Brigitte I really love it.

Friend Sheila showered me with all kinds of lovely things for my birthday. This message holder looks very Cath Kidston - ish but Sheila tell me it was actually from Avon

Then there was this box with a crochet granny square design on it

with lovely leather handles

and inside there are all kinds of lovely treats.

It looks rather nice with my crochet squares inside. One of these days I might actually show you a finished blanket!

Do you remember the triple zipper pouch that I showed in my November post? It was made from patriotic fabrics. Sheila gave me these Union Jack scissors to go with the pouch and hanging from the scissors is this beautiful fob that she and her sister Pamela made for me. So pretty!

Finally here are some of the books that have been making me happy.

The Red Home and Tis the Season books were needed for the Chookyblue's SAL I am taking part in. Hopefully I will be showing you some finished projects from the book soon. Do visit the SAL blog as there are some lovely projects being shown there. As always as big thank you to followers old and new for visiting me here. Margaret

Three SAL's

Hi everyone, I love the start of a new year when I can think about the projects I want to work on during the year. Right now I'm involved in three SAL's one of which will probably take me well over a year, one which will be finished around September and the other should be finished in a matter of weeks. I signed up for Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year Challenge and I started my sampler on December 26th. I've managed to get the top border done. I'm stitching on 36ct Lakeside linen Vintage Light Exemplar with DMC threads. Hard to get a good photograph of this. I think you should be able to click on it for a better picture if you wish.

It's a long time since I've tackled such a big cross stitch project but I'm enjoying it and hope to have at least some progress to share each month. The second SAL I'm involved in is Chookyblue's Stitch-a-Long 2013 This will involve making a variety of small projects from three books. These are just the kind of things I love to sew so I jumped right in. The project for January was either a shoe bag or a thread basket. I chose to do the thread basket.

A few years ago I was trying to teach myself Redwork and I still had this little block lying around from that time so I made use of it. The design was a freebie from Bird Brain Designs The third SAL I'm doing is 1905 JHA SAL which is currently free on this blog but only for a limited time so if you want to do it at some point you need to get it now. I'm stitching mine on 36ct Antique White Zweigart linen with Vikki Clayton silk. Here is my progress so far

I didn't manage to do a blog post in December but there are a couple of Christmas things left to show. This is a Shepherd's Bush design Sadie's Pocket. I think this was a kit with a pre-finished pocket but friend Angela sent me her pattern and the fabric to make my own pocket. My mum was called Sadie so I thought of her often while I stitched this.

Next is a little pillow using the free Christmas Robin design from here

Another small pillow from a design by The Primitive Hare which was in Gift of Stitching magazine issue 64

Now for some lovely gifts that I have received. This pretty pillow was stitched for me by sweet blogging friend Michelle for my birthday and she also sent me this Cath Kidston address book, handbag mirror and card of buttons for Christmas. Thank you Michelle you really spoiled me :)

A few weeks before Christmas I was the lucky winner of a giveaway on the Green Rabbit Designs blog Vivienne makes the most delightful little crochet bunny rabbits and beautiful crochet flower corsages to sell in her Etsy shop I was delighted to receive a pretty corsage, a gorgeous little tin bird tree decoration and a handbag size diary as my gift. Thank you Vivienne I love it all!

I think that's it for this time but hopefully there will be lots to share in my next post. As always a big thank you to everyone for visiting my blog and welcome to the new followers. Margaret

Rounding up November

Hi everyone, I was beginning to think I wouldn't manage to squeeze a blog post in for November but a last minute flurry of finishing means I have something to show after all. First up is this Christmas candle mat using Peace on Earth fabrics by Moda and a free pattern that you can download here

Another small Christmas finish is this Bon Bon by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched

Ideally it should be stuffed full of Ferrero Rocher but they would be long gone if I dared to put them in now! Now on to the cross stitched Christmas ornaments. The first one is by Pineberry Lane. It is stiched on 40ct Lambswool linen with one of the

Victorian Motto Shoppe overdyed threads. The second ornament is Oh Tannenbaum

by Country Stitches

It was quite a summer in the UK with the Queen's Jubilee followed by the London 2012 Olympics and I was gripped with patriotic fervour. I made this triple zipper project pouch from a tutorial found on this blog The tutorial is for a small pouch but I wanted a jumbo project pouch. This one is 13 inches wide by eleven inches deep. Each of the three zipper pulls is adorned with a patriotic charm. You should be able to click on the pictures to enlarge if you wish.

Meet Patch! Friend Caz surprised me with this cute Tilda bear she had made for me. Patch arrived bearing the gift of a packet of tiny Union Jack buttons. The two little books you see in the picture are also from Caz. Thank you dear friend I love everything :)

I think the only things I have left to show this time is the knitting. I think I've been doing too much of it as my arm and shoulder are telling me. Last year I started this cardigan from the Rowan Purelife Organic Wool Collection. I finished it off this year and only just sewed the buttons on yesterday. The ruffles are done by picking up stitches with a crochet hook and then doing a chain before picking up the next stitch.

I've also knitted berets for my daughter and grand daughter using Sirdar Crofter yarn. Further details of all knitting projects can be found on my Ravelry page.

So that's it for this time. Hopefully there will be one or two things to show in a December blog post. As always a big thank you to friends old and new for visiting my blog. I'm always happy to read your comments :) Margaret

Tally for October.

Hi everyone, It's hard to believe it is almost November! October was another productive month so I'll get straight on with the pictures. First up is my first ever box finish. This is the Prairie House Sewing Case from the Blackbird Designs book A Stitcher's Journey.

I had been dreading finishing the box and I put it off for months but it was nowhere near as bad as I imagined. I finished the inside of the box with fabric from the Blackbird Designs Harvest Home line. I thought the inside of the lid looked a bit bare so I finished that off with fabric in the same way.

I also stitched one of the pincushions from the book. This is the Oh, My Stars Pinkeep on page 33 of the book.

Friend Caz came from UK to stay with us and surprised me with this lovely bag she had made for me. The bag is actually made from three Sainsbury's tea towels. The fabric feels like the Cath Kidston cotton duck fabric and of course the fabric design itself is very CK although it isn't. Pockets inside are in the blue and white dot fabric. I love this bag!

While Caz and I were out "on location" taking pictures of the bag we also took pictures of another pair of fingerless mitts and a shawl I had knitted. The mitts look very strange off so I had to get a picture wearing them. Caz suggested I hug a tree. Hmmmmmm, I was hugging more than a tree as there were some giant ants and other creepy crawlies on the bark.

It was very difficult to get a decent picture of the shawl I knitted

If anyone is interested in the pattern/yarn details you can find them on my Ravelry page While still on the subject of yarn I thought some of you that knit might like this picture of the yarn stall at a local market.

The only other thing I have left to show this time is the Little Red Schoolhouse Quilt which I finally got round to hand quilting and binding. This design is from the book Prairie Children and their Quilts by Kathleen Tracy.

I did have a zippered pouch to show as well but the batteries have died in my camera so that will have to wait til next time. Meanwhile I will leave you with a couple of pictures taken while out and about recently.

As ever a big thank you to friends old and new for taking the time to visit my blog. Margaret