Just For You

Good morning blogger buddies and visitors.  This is just a quickie post.  It is my birthday today so I have decided to hold a small giveaway, just to thank those who take the time to visit and leave comments and also to my new followers.

I made this little envelope during the week using a toile de jouy fabric from my stash which I am trying to reduce this year - with the hope of renewing next year of course, and lined the bag with cream satin.

I also made a few ribbon bobbins to match and filled the small cushion with lavender from the garden.

Hope you like these and if you would like to enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below and I will announce the winner on the 19th August.

Have a lovely  week

Linking this post to Supermom no cape stitch party.

Sheryl

Smalls SAL - July

Today is check in day for the Smalls SAL hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus.  If you are interested in stitching a small design each month or just finishing off one already started, do join us and visit Heather for the details.  You can join anytime during the year.

I have got quite a lot of stitching done this month but only this little mirror case is completed.

I found the unknown design in my files and thought it ideal for a compact mirror  pocket or such.

The pattern was very quick and easy to finish and I used red fabric for the backing from my stash and black velvet for the lining.  Nice for a Xmas gift maybe.

The other small design that I have been working on is not proving quick and easy, in fact it is trying my patience.  No one´s fault but my own.  If I insist on getting the blue thread tones mixed up and getting the spacing wrong, I have no one to blame but myself.  In progress..

It is a pattern by V Enginger from a French magazine of 2009 and kindly sent to me by Irmeli as the magazine is no longer available.  You can see her beautiful finished version here.

and another addition to my thimble collection is from Margaret at Margaret my blog.  A gorgeous thimble from New Zealand and she spoilt me with a beautiful tea towel which I shall display in my kitchen and pretty Jobelan 28ct fabrics - we can´t buy anything like these colours here and I am eager  to use them.  Thank you very much Margaret.

  

I  can´t show what I have sent her as she will not have received my packet as yet.  Hope she will be pleased.

See you next week.

Linking to Supermom-no cape stitchery party.

Sheryl

High Seas

Hello stitching buddies,   When I last saw my daughter, I was pleased to see that a pirate ship cushion cover that I had made many years ago, was still braving the high seas and had not sunk into obsoleteness.  It was made for one of my grandsons as he was rather keen on pirates and the suchlike at the time, so here are a couple of photos of the rather old and faded cover.

Here you can see my grandson braving the high seas with our dear unforgotten pet parrot Bobby.

His only shipmate was his sister who was on the lookout for land.

..... or so she said.

of course he had his own flag

 They never found any treasure,

This month I also received some delightful goodies in the post.  Two private thimble swaps with sewing buddies.  Irmeli in Finland, sent me a lovely thimble from her home town Turku, she included postcards, choco and a gorgeous lavender filled embroidered sachet.

The other swap was with Kaye from Australia, who sent two beautiful thimbles from Melbourne and Phillip Island.  She also included an assortment of pretty and useful souvenirs from her part of the world...., just look at that pretty handkerchief.

Very thoughtful and generous gifts, thank you very much Irmeli and Kaye.

 Thank you for passing by.  See you next week for the Smalls SAL  check-in.

Sheryl

Hot hot

Hello friends,

We live on the North coast of Spain and our summer temperatures are never very high but last week we had a heatwave and we had to travel inland to Leon where the temps are much higher... higher! - 38 deg. C......  I thought I might melt and in fear of that hunted about for the little fan I bought a couple of years back. Of course it needed a holder.

I found a lovely little blackwork design by Lesley Teare called `Blackwork Lady´ and decided to use  DMC colours to match the fan 

and 32ct linen star sapphire which I had in my stash.

I added a few touches of applique to her head and to some flowers instead of the called for embroidery and added a couple of beads, - just love beads. I backed the holder with purple velvet and lined it with the purple satin.

As always I didn´t use the fastening that I want because I can´t find a shop that has small pretty snap fasteners, only large dark ones, so at the moment I have used a small transparent snap until I find the ones I want.

Thank you for passing by, see you next week.

Linking to Supermom no cape stitchery party.

Sheryl

Smalls SAL June

It is the last Wednesday of the month, meaning check in time for the Smalls SAL hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus.

After making the crochet thread holder seen in my last post, I decided to make another one  for embroidery floss as we can´t buy them where I live or at least I have never seen them on sale in our patchwork shops.

The design I chose to embroider is part of the Alphabet Brodeuse by Mon Ami Pierre and the  backing fabric, another piece from my stash.  I am really making progress this year on using up my stash, although today I was very tempted by some gorgeous new stock at our local patchwork shop when I entered for thread.  However I did not succumb

If you would like to stitch a little something  each month, do join us by clicking on my sidebar button and visiting Heather for more information.

Until next week, happy stitching everyone.

Sheryl

Victorian Thread Holder

You know how it is when you have a drawer full of UFOs crying out to be  finished but you can´t hear those lamentations and you have to put down that piece of stitching that you are already behind with, just because your hands insist on doing another needlework technique?  I just had to get the crochet hook out and so made this little thread holder.

A pretty design by Maggie Petsch Chasalow and available free from  Ravelry. Both sides are the same and when made up holds a 50 gram ball of thread.

I thought that this holder might come in handy when out and about, as it is slipped over the wrist while crocheting and the ball of thread stays still instead of rebelliously exploring its surroundings.

Each week I have been joining Nadine at Jocondine in her quiz journey around France and she surprised me with these gorgeous goodies.

A beautiful handmade bag, a lavender filled heart, thread holders, ribbon, silks, lavender soap and even lavender tea which I have never tasted.  Just left me speechless with so much generosity.  Thank you so much Nadine, I shall use everything.

Until next week, happy stitching everyone.

Sheryl

Divorced or Beheaded

When mentioning my cabinet fobs last week, I realized that I had hardly any photos of the various embroidered oddments that adorn/clutter the bathroom and so decided to take a few photos of the two samplers that are displayed from the cabinets.

I couldn´t get a very good photo as there is a window right next to the cabinet  which reflects light onto the glass.

A great fan of English history and especially the Tudor era, these samplers depict the various fates of the six wives of one of the most famous of British kings, Henry VIII.

From his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon which was annuled, the execution of Anne Boleyn and the death of Jane Seymore.

to the divorce of fourth wife Anne of Cleves, the execution of Katherine Howard and his last wife who outlived him, Catherine Parr.

I didn´t follow a chart but used various patterns from Eileen Bennett´s needlework samplers. I did this needlework years ago in 2005 and today would perhaps choose different colours,  At the time I used colours that more or less matched the bathroom curtains, but they have long been substituted.

The samplers have a plain white backing fabric and are attatched with velcro to cardboard panels which fit behind the glass doors of the cabinet.

Thank you for looking.  Until next week,

Sheryl