Blackbird Designs - Madeira Jelly Roll Tin

Look what came in the post this morning...the Blackbird Designs Madeira Jelly Roll Tin! As you can see from the photos I already have some of the Madeira fabrics, so when I found the empty tin on Ebay for 'Buy It Now' I just had to snap it up immediately...lol! Have you seen the pictures of Jane Timmer's (Fancy Work) Madeira Tin Project that she has on her Blog? Isn't it lovely! I would love to be able to make these accessories for my tin too! :o)

Tin top

Tin bottom

Today is reveal day...

...for the Jayne's Attic monthly challenge. Yippee, I managed to get the finishing done in time this month, I just had the tassels to make and attach yesterday! The design is Alphabet Tree, a retired complimentary design by Blue Ribbon Designs. Fabric is 40ct Light Espresso R & R linen with GAST Gingersnap, stitched 1 over 2. Tassels were made with DMC 3858. Just a quick finish, a pillow/pincushion finished the same way I finished the Indigo Rose pincushion I made last year. The front and back were whipstitched together. Not wanting to miss the reveal date again this month I didn't have time to wait until I could find a patterned fabric for the back so I quickly did a little stitching instead.

House For Sale

The time has come for us to put our little home on the market for sale, hopefully in time for moving into our new build! I always get a little emotional when we move home, even though I'm happy to be moving and I'm really excited about our next move but for some reason as soon the removers turn up I just burst into tears, I just don't know why and I'm sure it will happen again this time! I think I shall feel a little more sad at leaving this time though, as this was our first self-build. DH Colin isn't at all bothered but then I suppose he does spend most of his time at our new home already!

I never did get round to adding internal photos of this build after it had been finished and we had moved in. Full details are up on the internet at the moment with the estate agents who are marketing the property for us. So if you would like to take a peek at how it was all finished inside you'll find them here.

Sharon had a couple of questions about our new build at Spire Hill. Spire Hill isn't going to be a second home for us Sharon, we will be moving in, hopefully to stay a little longer then we have here which will probably be approximately 18 months by the time Spire Hill is finished. The size is 1900 sq. ft.

Sadly I won't be getting my needlecraft room just yet! For ages I've been wanting the computer and DH with all his paper work out of the dining room and the smallest bedroom is where it's all going to go! I'm hoping one day we'll build a house with an office downstairs for him and then I'll be able to have my needlecraft room. :o)

Spire Hill Self-Build

No new finishes to share but I wanted to post a progress photo of our new self-build at Spire Hill in Cornwall. The windows and doors are now in and the roof is on, which means the house is now water tight and we can start the fun bit on the inside. I'm so excited - Woo Hoo!!

More progress pics can be seen here if you would like to take a peek. :o)

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)

Eliza's Pyn Pillow

I can at last share a finish I've had for a couple of weeks, as today is the reveal day for the Monthly SAL Challenge on Jayne's forum. The challenge this month was to stitch Eliza's Pyn Pillow, a complimentary design from Ellen Chester (With My Needle), using our own choice of fabric, threads and finishing. I was really excited about this one as it's been on my 'to do' list forever! The chart for Eliza's Pyn Pillow can be found on the With My Needle website.

I chose to finish mine as a mattress pincushion using 32ct Belfast cream linen and substituting the listed silks for GAST Dungerees, Harvest Moon and Sable, for the letters, carnations vase and motifs and WDW Scuppermong for the stems. The date on the back was taken from Ellen Chester's Quaker Hornbook. I've also added the same little diamond motifs that are on the front of the pincushion to the back and again stitched the same motif around the edge of the pincushion.




The challenge was fun to do and all the ladies have done some wonderful finishes. I hope to be able to join the challenge again for next month. :o)