The Anne Book is Complete!!

Did you hear the happy dance?   My Anne book is complete.   This has been a real saga; a veritable marathon; almost but not quite, a never ending story.   In 2008 my best friend Kazumi, who knows I love Anne of Green Gables, sent me a whole series of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the cute red-head from Prince Edward Island.  Inspired, I decided to embroider my own celebration of Anne (with an E) and on investigation found a sampler from Charland Designs.   But it was the book that had enthralled me so a book it must be and the sampler was split into pages and off I started -  with little idea of the creativity or expertise necessary to design my own piece.   At times this project was sheer enjoyment and at others only dogged determination but today I have finished!   This is never going to become an exhibition piece and to my eye only the faults are visible but at present nothing can dim the satisfaction.  

Here's some of my lousy photography to show off.



The cover  -  my idea of rustic

An embroidered record of the reason for the book

A is for Anne with an E of course

Ah, but she did forgive Gilbert Blythe and countless girls over the century later have loved the romance of it all

And the stamps from Kazumi that inspired this whole saga.

And now my UFO's are all completed I am off to my stash cupboard to decide what to do next.  Have a  good evening everyone.

10 weeks until Christmas

Only 10 weeks until Christmas they tell me, so it's just as well I have made a start.
Here's a few snapshots of what I have been up to this week.
These little pendibules were a freebie from a site I can't remember so I apologise for not giving credit where it is due.  A scrap of 36 count linen and assorted DMC threads, some ribbon from the stash box and all is fini!  Once again my photography skills are not good -  the middle shot shows the colour best- I took the final shot too late at night but if nothing else it does complete the sequence.

Frilly Tassell

Last night I paid a visit to my stash cupboard and found a Catherine Howell kit, which was a birthday gift some years ago.   As I felt like having a new start and this looked like a one evening project, I began.   Even the hated silk ribbon and mini teeny tiny sequins didn't put me off.   Here's the finished result.  The silk ribbon and silk thread of the tassell are Colour Streams in colour called Monet.   Great colour combination isn't it.

And voila ! a fifth tassell is added to my collection.   I seem to have got the lighting right this time as it is true to colour in this shot - but the tassell threads aren't uneven as they look here.

Hope you are all enjoying your week.   Nice to think we're half way through isn't it?

Ukranian Mat Finished!

Hello all.   Before this mat begins it's journey over the seas here's a couple of photos to show off.   I am rather pleased with this one - again from Gay Eaton's book.   In this book each stitch combination is named and this was Andrij -  the instructions for this stitch combination were again very easy to follow.   While I loved the colour of this piece the linen wasn't easy to work with being too soft but the finished product doesn't look too bad.   These photos were taken after work in what was left of the natural light and then indoors under the Ott light and neither give the true colour -but they do show the stitching

Ukranian Whitework Mat

Fabric :   Weeks Dye Works Handdyed Linen 32 Count

Threads :  DMC Perle  #3813

It's only October and already I have made a resolution for next year -  to do a photography course and learn how to take better photographs.    So with apologies for the quality of the photography, I bid you all good night.



Spring is here and I have a new toy!

Although it has officially been Spring for over a month the weather and temperatures haven't made it feel so.   But today is beautiful!   And these cherry blossoms are too good not to share.

On the stitching front I hope to finish the Ukranian Mat tonight and then I promise a photo.  Unexpected visitors, a particularly gripping episode of Midsomer Murders and a late night phone call to Kazumi all combined to hinder stitching progress yesterday.   But this afternoon I have made a batch of lemon biscuits, a ginger crunch slice and am now going to have half an hour indulgence reading Awakening by S J Bolton and I will be back to my stitching.

Yesterday I went to the camera shop and bought a new macro lens for my camera - hopefully this week I will have time to begin trying out the new toy.   Here's a shot the guy at the Camera Shop took to show me just how great it was.  No good me trying to pull out the grey hairs is it -  by the looks of this every second one is grey!

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend.