Prairie Schooler Exchange

Design: From the Pins and Needles Chart, Book 115
Designer: Prairie Schooler
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, cream

I've just heard that Ulla has received my HoE Prairie Schooler Exchange. I really loved stitching this - just looking at it brings back memories of the Olympics - which is perhaps why I didn't stop at just one item, I was so immersed in listening to the Games!

All the designs come from Book 115, Pins and Needles. I modified the construction of the scissor keep - it is lined with red felt and backed with the fabric you can see in the photo. It was a bit of 'suck it and see' finish and I nearly didn't send it. The pinkeep is also backed with the printed fabric. The thread fob uses an element from the design and I added Ulla's name to it - the reverse has another fob and my initials and the year. To complete the exchange, I added a PS chart - Welcome Home.

Busy Weekend

Thank you everyone for your kind comments on the torrent of posts I've made lately - I've been trying to catch up - during my summer 'vacation' from the world of work I was quite busy with the finishes, wasn't I? I guess I don't really realise unless I see everything here, as so much of my stuff goes to other people! However, now I'm back gainfully employed, things might slow down a little!

Market Square, Nottingham

I did quite a bit of stitching and knitting on trains this weekend, though. Saturday I went to Nottingham, to a regular Bookcrossing meet. I like Nottingham - it has a bad reputation for crime in some areas, but the centre is nice and has some great shopping, if that's what floats your boat - it doesn't do much for me, in general, but I usually find time to visit Hotel Chocolat :o) The meet was great fun - my sock was duly admired, and we laughed hugely over plans for a forthcoming reading challenge, we really were getting silly! The only downside to the day were major engineering works on the line, which doubled my journey time there and back, but the network is repairing a Victorian tunnel.

Leeds City Square

Yesterday, I headed north on the train instead of south, and met my closest friend J in Leeds. It was great to see her, as we haven't met for a while. J had a personal tragedy early on in the year and has hidden herself away since then, much to my distress. We've known each other 21 years and it was horrible knowing she was hurting and being helpless ... we've seen each other through good and bad times before so I knew our friendship wasn't in doubt but ... Anyway, we had a lovely time in the sun, taking in an exhibition and eating lunch outside a waterfront restaurant and catching up on the news. J isn't quite her old self, but I'm feeling less worried about her.

Leeds is another city with a great reputation for shopping - it had the first non-London branch of Harvey Nichols, for example and it rather overshadows the other cities in Yorkshire - regional TV output comes from there, which I think is a factor. I'm biased but I think Sheffield is a nicer city - there's so much more green space, and a cosier feel, and anywhere in the city you can look up and see hills :o)

Stitching: Pumpkin by JBW Designs, worked on my sock and on my HoE Halloween Exchange

Birth Sampler 2 - Helen Philipps

Design: Birth Sampler from The New Cross Stitch Sampler Book
Designer: Helen Philipps
Threads: DMC and DMC Color Variations, Seaside Treasures
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, bone

This was a commission from my sister for her friend, as she loved the sampler I made for her so much!

I altered the layout slightly, to incorporate the birth details, as my sister thought that would be a nice touch - and so did I, I didn't want to make something identical, I like all my pieces to be individual. The colours are used slightly differently too.

Birthday Cards

July and August are always manic months for birthdays in my family. First of all, there's my sister, then my brother in law, then my mum, then my partner's sister and finally, my partner.

I've already posted a picture of my sister's card which I made using ribbon embroidery, but here are the others:


It's really hard to find cards for men that aren't a bit of a cliche - cars, football, fishing or sailing seem to be about the limits! This was a card from a kit to which I added peel off lettering. I can't say I recommend stitching with raffia, it's a bit of a struggle :o)

Stitching with silk organza is much more pleasant and it grows so quickly! I do get a bit tangled up with the sticky tape on the reverse, but fortunately, no one needs to see that! Again, this was a card from a kit, and I embellished it with additional lettering, which not only makes it more personal, but I think it balances the design better. I'm all for blank space in designs, but there can be too much of a good thing! The needleroll was an earlier finish which I also gave to my mum. It's all her fault I stitch anyhow LOL


This is another card from a kit - I bought the kit locally on sale, but I think the designer/maker is a Dutch company. It wasn't the best stitching experience ever. First of all, I had to prick every single hole - they weren't pre-punched, unlike the ribbon embroidery card. And then, to get the effect pictured (and which had been on the picture on the packet) I had to fudge how I folded the whole thing and incorporated the liner. I wonder if everyone else had to do that, and thta's why they were so cheap? :o) I'm pleased with the effect though, and it was nice to make something for The Hermit in his favourite colours, as I rarely stitch anything blue - it really is a colour I dislike!

Needleroll - Cathy Bussi

Design: Needleroll (from an old edition of Needlecraft magazine, sometime in 2000)
Designer: Cathy Bussi
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, bone

I stitched this piece for the recent needleroll exchange over on Hooked on Exchanges. I'm not normally a big stitcher of delicate pieces in pastels, but I really enjoyed making this for Amy, and I'm so glad she liked it! I added beads and an irridescent heart from my stash, and my LNS sells irridescent ribbon which matched perfectly :o) I do like making needlerolls, even the hemstitching is fun (now!)

Below you can see the complete exchange I sent, which included one of my floss tags:

Ontario Heart - Victoria Sampler

Design: Hearts of Canada: Ontario Heart
Designer: The Victoria Sampler (Thea Dueck)
Threads: DMC as charted, Kreinik braid
Fabric: 25 count evenweave, white

I made this design into a pinkeep for The Hermit's birthday as he was born and brought up in Ontario. I'm not completely happy with it, as I think it is a little large and not taut enough, but I've used glue and I don't know whether it will come apart without ruining the stitching. If I do dismantle it, I was thinking of remaking it in a heart shape - would that work, do you think?

The Bees - Eventide Designs

Design: The Bees
Designer: Eventide Designs
Threads: DMC and GAST Clover
Fabric: 28 count linen from Silkweaver

This piece was originally framed, but it dropped off the wall and the frame broke! Rather than re-frame it, as nice small square frames are hard to find, I made it into another pinkeep :o)

Fit Words - The Sewing Circle

Design: Fit Words
Designer: The Sewing Circle
Threads: Gentle Arts Sampler Threads
Fabric: 28 count linen, random hand dyed piece

This is a companion piece to the Alphabet Sampler and was a lovely quick stitch. It will probably get finished as a pinkeep as there isn't a bit border of fabric available for anything else.

Bee Hive - Elizabeth's Designs

Design: Bee Hive
Designer: Elizabeth's Designs
Threads: Gentle Arts Sampler Threads
Fabric: 28(ish) count linen, antique white - but not even!

I hope that you're not fed up of the pin keep finishes yet, as I'm not - it's a great way of finishing small pieces, and they don't then take up my limited wall space - I can pop them on a shelf, in a basket, almost anywhere!

Abigail Adams Sampler - Chartmakers

Design: Abigail Adams
Designer: Chartmakers
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count linen, antique white

This lovely piece has been sat in my 'framing' pile for probably four years (or more) - I know I finished it fairly early in my days in the flat, as I thought it quite fitting for a gravestone angel to go on our walls, as our main window in the flat overlooks an undertakers... yes, I have a black sense of humour at times!

However, not being of standard dimensions (like 4" x 6") I couldn't find a ready made frame cheaply, so it languished undisplayed - until I discovered the wonder of pinkeeps :o)