Just a little late...

...for the reveal date which was yesterday but here it is, the little pillow I made for Februarys challenge on Jayne's forum. The design for this month was Valentine Heart, a complimentary design from Kristine (Dragonfly Stitches). For the fabric I chose 32ct Belfast cream with Six Strand Sweets Plum Parfait. The ribbon trim is another first for me which I've wanted to try for some time and thought it would be just perfect for this finish. I followed Judy Odell's Ribbon Gathering instructions which were included with a chart I have. I was very pleased with how it turned out.



I really wanted to use a pretty blue fabric for the backing but couldn't find anything suitable locally. I did find a couple of pieces online but I decided against buying anything as the chances were it would be the wrong shade of blue when it turned up so instead I played safe and backed it with the cream Belfast adding my initials and date.


Next months challenge will be one of three complimentary designs by Blue Ribbon Designs. I've wanted to do all three so don't really mind which one will be voted for in the poll, they are all lovely! :o)

The Busy Needle - Little House Needleworks

HOORAY!! DH left my camera home with me today so I can at last share my latest finish! I'm a huge Little House Needleworks fan but somehow missed this one! I only became aware of it while browsing a message board towards the end of last year. Someone had posted a picture of the stash they had received from a very generous stitcher and I spotted it peeking out from beneath the pile. I recognized it at once as one of Diane's designs, but how come I had never seen it before, especially as I just adore anything bees! Well like Barnabee off I went on my quest...lol! I didn't have to Google too long though before finding it at The Busy Needle in Tuscon. It turns out that it is a shop exclusive chart thread pack that Diane had designed especially for The Busy Needle. This was such fun to stitch and I thought it would be the perfect design to try out my very first flat fold following Judy Odell's wonderful instructions from her Flat-fold Book. I used the Crescent Colours threads that came with the thread pack on 32ct Belfast Raw Linen and for the cord and tassels I used DMC 3051.


I have a couple of thank yous too. First to Yuko for the lovely comment she recently left me on my birthday post, which reminded me that I still hadn't taken a picture of my new Momiji Dolls that I had for Christmas. My Mum spoilt both my sister Sarah and I. As well as our main Christmas present she also bought us both two Momiji Dolls, the Limited Edition Angel which comes in it's own little tin and Missy Flake. My youngest DS also surprised me with a little extra pressie too. He bought me Snowflake wearing her bobble hat and scarf. My new collection is now off to a very good start!

I hope you get to see this post Yuko and thank you so much for your very kind offer of help if I should ever need it. I have found a few UK websites where I will be able to buy the Momiji Dolls, so hopefully it won't be too difficult for me to get hold of the ones I would like.


I was so thrilled in the week also to find that Mel had nominated me with the you Make My Day award! Thank you so much for this Mel it really made my day! :o) Now the rules are that I should nominate 10 other blogs that make my day too, which shouldn't be too difficult really because there are so many wonderful blogs that I love to regularly visit! What would be impossible though is having to narrow it down to just the 10! So I would like to nominate this award to all of you whose blogs I visit and to let you know how much I enjoy looking at all the beautiful stitching and wonderful things you create. :o)

Christmas Ornament

Too late for Christmas but I thought I would get this little ornament finished anyway so that I could put it away. The stitching was actually completed at least a couple of weeks before Christmas but I just never got around to making it up! It's Christmas Heart, a Mary Garry's Sewing Cabin design from the 2000 issue of JCS Ornaments. I wanted it tiny so I've stitched it 1 over 1 on 32ct Wichelt Lambswool Linen using the listed Gentle Art Sampler Threads. For the cording I used DMC 221, which matched up well. I think it turned out really cute done 1 over 1!




I'm now looking forward to making a start on the monthly challenge for February on the Jayne's Attic forum. The design chosen is Valentine Heart a complimentary design by Kristine Herber (Dragonfly Stitches). My fabric and thread is ready and I think I've already decided on how I would like to finish it!

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! :o)