Antique Hearts Needleroll - Shepherd's Bush

Design: Antique Hearts Needleroll

Designer: Shepherd's Bush

Threads: DMC - mostly as charted, beads, lace, ribbon and charm from stash

Fabric: 28 count evenweave, bone

I really like the Shepherd's Bush needlerolls  - and if anyone has charts from these needing a new home, I might be interested in buying or trading! I find them a good way to explore specialty stitches without getting too bogged down in a big project - and they do look attractive in a basket with other smalls.

This was a bit of a 'stash buster' project, as I used decorative pieces from my hoards of such things. I do seem to acquire pretties, and then not use them...

The big task with these needlerolls is the construction - I use a French seam, and I stitch and hem all by hand, it seems to take almost as long as the embroidery itself!

Sheep in the Meadow - Shepherd's Bush

Design: Sheep in the Meadow (freebie)
Designer: Shepherd's Bush
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, unknown colour

I stitched this for the Hooked on Exchanges bookmark exchange. It's a design I've stitched before - and lost, the Round Robin I did it for never returned home - and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I didn't have the called for buttons and charm, but found substitutes in my stash.

And here's a picture of the entire exchange I sent to Maria:

June - Shepherd's Bush

Design: June

Designer: Shepherd's Bush

Threads: DMC, Gentle Arts Sampler Threads, Dinky Dyes

Fabric: 28 count linen, antique white

I think this was another chart from my friend - and arch-enabler - Marci - which I have finally stitched. See, it may take a while, but I get there in the end :o) Marci used to be a demon stitcher, but over the last few years has been bitten by the bead bug - she has some nice earrings in her etsy shop, but that's only the tip of the iceberg as to her lovely creations! Marci, not only did I find the bead shop in Nottingham, I've found one that I didn't know existed in Chesterfield ... it's a conspiracy I tell ya!

It was a pretty quick stitch, and relatively trouble free. Because I didn't have the overdyes called for in the pattern, I substituted ones I had to hand, and the purples are slightly darker, but I like the effect.

I don't know whether to frame this to go on the "wall of bees" (which I really should photograph) or to make it into - yes, you guessed - a pinkeep!

Sunday Stitching

Well, we had more bad weather, but fortunately, none of the snow settled. It's bizarre - we're officially in British SUMMER Time. Oh, and the cricket season starts today ... Mind you, I'm old enough to remember a match at Buxton having to be called off because of snow - in July! That year we had a drought later in the summer ... and that was before anyone knew about global warming!

Both The Hermit and I stayed in, nice and warm. I finished stitching Shepherd's Bush "June" - which made me feel a little more summery. I think mine is a little less pastel than the model, because of the overdyes I chose to use, but I like it. This will probably be framed.

After the finish, I did think about going back to The Sludge Monster, but by that time, the light was really dull, so I picked up another new start - bad girl! Anyway, this one is Tall Trees by Brightneedle. This is proving to be a quick stitch, despite the number of colours (fifteen! in a piece 61 stitches by 39). I also have the freebie chart for the matching scissor fob, so that will be my travel project this week. I think I will finish Tall Trees as a pinkeep, and I might try that type of finish for the fob.

And good news! I found Morning Song (it was filed with some of my stitching magazines) so I can start the SAL with Sally when she receives the chart. I think I'm going to stitch mine on Flax Cashel, I just need to do a "floss toss" to check that there's no clashes or invisibility.

I hope everyone has a good week, thanks for dropping by!

Lamb - Shepherd's Bush

I like Shepherd's Bush designs, but I don't like the pricey sets of buttons they use! This design was worked on 14 count aida instead of 10 count Tula, so the recommended buttons might have looked a little odd. However, my multi pack came to the rescue yet again and I think they work well, even though I didn't have the buttons when the piece was stitched a couple of years ago! The design is worked in DMC and not overdyes either. It doesn't look much like the cover picture on the chart, but hey, I like it! An advantage of the smaller scale is that it is going to fit in a standard size frame, so will be cheap to finish. To do more framing is going to be my New Year's Resolution, as hopefully by then I will have done a lot of my finishing, too!

Schoolhouse Needleroll - Shepherd's Bush

Firstly, a quick thank you to each and every one of you who leaves comments - they are all appreciated! If you haven't done so already, do think about signing up for my first round of "Pay It Forwards" - there's a spot left!

This is my schoolhouse needleroll finally made up after all the anguish of the red colour running - it doesn't look too bad although really close inspection will still show a pink tinge around the apples! I couldn't find a small enough bell charm for the schoolhouse, so it is silent for now. However, I think it's quite appropriate - I was reading a local history booklet about the history of my primary school, and it mentioned there that our school bell was stolen one night - I'd forgotten that! It was a bit of a nine day wonder in the village - it was a very small place! - and instead of being called in from break and lunch by the bell, the teachers had to use whistles. It just wasn't the same!

Schoolhouse Needleroll - Shepherd's Bush

This was stitched as part of a Round Robin (which never really got off the ground, this was the only piece completed), but came back to me needing beads added, which I've done. I then made a huge mistake - I pressed it with steam, and the red (WDW Lancaster Red) ran, and ran, and ran... it took two days of rinsing and drying to get (most) of the colour out. The hem stitching is supposed to be done in the same thread but I'm not going to risk it!

Design Details
chart has gone astray, will complete later.