Tall Trees - Brightneedle

Design: Tall Trees
Designer: Brightneedle
Threads: DMC and Olde Willow Stitchery
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, cream

This design was so soothing to stitch - the colours blend together so well, and are such a nice palette, it was a real joy to keep watching it grow!

Bunny Hop is a companion piece to this chart, and I will display them both together. Tall Trees seems to be a perfect design for a pinkeep, and I already have the backing fabric in mind!

If you would like to enter the draw for this chart please comment below!

Bunny Hop Scissor Fob Freebie - Brightneedle

Design: Bunny Hop Scissor Fob freebie
Designer: Brightneedle
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, cream

I've stitched this before, for a gift, but this time, it's mine, all mine! :o) For something so small, the frog spent quite a lot of time visiting on the border, but some of that is my fault, for trying to stitch it without the chart on a moving bus ...

It's very sweet, and I will finish it as a scissor fob, although I'm wondering if I could make it into a teeny tiny pinkeep style fob ...

Swirly Sampler Freebie - version 1 - Bent Creek

Design: Swirly Sampler Freebie
Designer: Bent Creek
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count jobelan, apricot

This was my first attempt at my pinkeep exchange for Hooked on Exchanges - I thought it came out a bit big for a pinkeep, but it's a really nice design! The Hermit likes it a lot, so I will probably frame it for him.

January Block Flip It - Lizzie*Kate

Design: January Block Flip It
Designer: Lizzie*Kate
Threads: DMC (conversion as per chart)
Fabric: 29 count evenweave, lambswool

I started this three years ago, on a flight from Birmingham to Frankfurt. My needle and Clover cutter got through airport security okay, but my hair accessory didn't ... it was a large clip, and the powers-that-decide-these-things thought it too long and pointy. So, I'd to spend the flight with my damp hair down and getting chilly - it was a 6.40 am flight and I'd to be awake at 4.00 am! I was embarassed as I was with my then boss, who'd had to wait as my hand luggage was minutely examined ... and of course there were supplies for my period in there too LOL

Anyway, due to the early hour and the hassle, I made a counting mistake on the snow scene, and this piece was laid aside until earlier this year, when I finally worked out the mistake and did some serious frogging.

I'm beginning to feel that this series is jinxed though - I started doing the February piece on the bus, and lost my baggie with the floss in it ...

Scotland International Heart - The Victoria Sampler

Design: Scotland International Heart

Designer: The Victoria Sampler (Thea Dueck)

Fabric: 25 count evenweave, white

Threads: DMC and Kreinik #4 braid

I liked stitching this heart - for once, all the elements looked like they were supposed to, although I did fiddle a little with the piper's pipes :o)

These little kits are great for learning some new specialty stitches, as the instructions are so good.

The bird is a type of grouse called a Capercaillie - which coincidentally is the name of one of my favourite bands!. Their Myspace page can be found here.

I did think about making all of them up into a quilt, but know I've discovered pinkeeps, they may very well end up as a series of those!

Pinkeep - Brenda Keyes

After dithering about whether my first choice for the pinkeep for the Hooked on Exchanges exchange was too big or not, I finally decided that it was. Running short of time, I looked again at my partner's details, and picked out that she liked alphabet samplers, and purple.

So, once again I turned to a favourite design of mine, from Brenda Keyes's excellent book The Sampler Motif Book. I chose to stitch the design on antique white evenweave, with a limited edition Gentle Arts Sampler Thread. I've stitched this particular design half a dozen times at least, always using one colour thread, sometimes an overdye, sometimes not, and on many different scales, from 18 count to 6, and it always looks great.

I made this up using the conventional method for a pinkeep, although I stitched the two pieces together, rather than relying on glue. The fabric I chose for the back - or rather, the one the quilt shop lady picked, which I endorsed - can be seen in the background. It's rather nice - you can't see from the picture, but the flowers are surrounded by the words "daisy, daisy give me your answer do..."

These were the goodies I included for Jayne (who has no blog) - some overdyed threads, and some beads - all in purple, of course!

Wedding Sampler - Angela Davison

Design: Wedding Sampler
Designer: Angela Davison - own colour scheme
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, antique white

My sister asked me to stitch a sampler for her sister-in-law's wedding, as Suzi really is "the woman who has everything". The colour scheme chosen for the wedding was pink and ivory, so that's what I chose to use in the sampler. Although I hadn't seen the bridemaid's dresses when I had to start this, I did a pretty good job at guessing the colours :o) The original colour scheme for the sampler was blue and lemon, and it took some adjustments as I stitched to make sure the colour balance was okay. At first, it looked horribly pink (and so the WIP got called The Pink Peril)but I think in the end the design looks fine. My sister was really pleased with it, and so was the recipient.

This sampler design is one I've stitched before - in fact, the first time I stitched it, I stitched it for my sister, and I chose lilacs and silver-blues. She eloped to get married, and I didn't see the dress until she emailed photos from Oz - and guess what, her dress was a silvery lavender colour ...

This design comes from a book by Angela Davison, published by Merehurst. The charting isn't great, and there are several errors in it. Fortunately, having stitched it once, I was on the look out for them, but I find it really irritating when patterns are obviously not thoroughly proofed.

My niece was a bridesmaid at the wedding, so I thought I'd post a picture of her, too :o) The lady carrying her is my sister.

And this is the cheeky side of M: