I do really hope ...

that my exchange biscornu has not been lost in the mail because I mailed it 10 days ago to a European country (won't say which one just in case, on the off chance, that the recipient of this reads this blog but she doesn't know who she is so I definitely will not be spoiling the surprise) and everything else that I mailed that day has made it to it's destinations both far, the USA and near, Britain and somewhere else in Europe. Oh well at least I took photos of it and the things that I sent along with it! Once again if you click on the photos they will become a lot bigger and you can so see my abortion that is called finishing (and I only sewed the buttons on as explained below).


This is the biscornu that I stitched. It is a design by a French designer called Atalie (if you click where it says Charts on the left hand side you can see Atalie's charts if you click on her name) who's designs I am totally addicted to. I changed the colors which isn't like me at all but I just thought my partner (who shall remain nameless for the time being) would prefer these instead.


This is the back of it and now you know why I am sending my things to Deb to be finished. I am honestly not saying anything against my stitching but as you can see my finishing is definitely not as expertly done as I would like and that is why I decided to let Deb do it because it will be finished as perfectly as it is stitched. Hold on lady (that's me), I didn't do the finishing my friend Sandra who is expert at finishing did the finishing and it looked perfect until I put the darn buttons on and it became the abortion you can now see. It certainly wasn't Sandra's fault - because if you click on her blog through her name here you can see how perfectly she finishes everything she does and this was no different.


And along with the Biscornu I enclosed on the right some Vikki Clayton 2mm ribbons, on the right some Vikki Clayton Silks and in the middle you can see this Black Swan bead saver that was added as well. If these things have been lost I will be gutted. I just wish and hope that it is received very soon or I shall have an apoplectic fit, so beware people out there.

Carin and I are going to start an SAL for this

which is by Olde Colonial and is called A Needlework Garden and is by no means a new patter. Now it is sold as a kit by The Silver Needle, amongst other LNS and ONS that sells it, and is listed as a Kit which it, unfortunately, is not. What is included with it is the Chart, finishing instructions that include the templates, heavy board to stabilize the needlework, a ladybug button, snap, lining fabric and hand-dyed Weeks wool for the attached needlebook. So it's not a complete kit but a half of a kit if you like.

If you wish to purchase the fabric and hand-dyed thread that is extra but not an arm and a leg job. All of this can be purchased from The Silver Needle (linked above) and I, as yet, do not have the basket - that can wait. We are starting this on April 4, 2009 and anybody that wants to join in please just email me or Carin and you will be very welcome, or else you can just leave a comment on either of our blogs and we will make up a list. We aren't sure how we are going to do this yet but Carin has suggested that we work on it on Sundays but any other suggestions are more than welcome.

Finally I just wanted to thank you all for your very kind comments. Do you remember a few weeks ago I received an award saying that my blog made your heart smile? Well I have to tell you that your comments, be they good or bad, really make my heart smile big time and I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my smiling heart!

So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

I hate to admit it ...

... but do you know that everything I showed you from Laura on the last post I own one way or another. Most I have purchased off of eBay and some I purchased from the designers themselves, but I just haven't stitched them YET! Do you also know that I have bought so many charts and kits that I couldn't stitch them all if I lived to be 2000 never mind 200! It was only when I was looking at the last post to see who I should put up next that I realised it. I should be ashamed of myself for buying all that stuff! Okay so I'm not and I can just sit and fondle it if I so desire.

Sorry still can't show you the biscornu I made because it hasn't reached it's destination yet. But I can show you what I sent to Alice who takes much better photos than I do and you can see how small it really is compared to a small pair of scissors because it really was tiny. It should have been stitched on 28 or 32 count and I stitched it on 40 count instead which made it incredibly small. but I still loved it and am pretty sure that Alice loves it as much as I did!



Ok time for some more show and tell. These have all been stitched by Sandra Carstairs who's photo album is on the right of my blog. Sandra is really a great stitcher and finisher and doesn't spend hardly any time on the computer which is better than me that's for sure. Now you will be surprised but I don't actually know who each designer is because I do not own all of the things that Sandra has stitched. At least one is by Merry Cox and another by Blackbird Designs. The reason I don't do as much as Sandra does is because I spend far too long on here and that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Anyway on with the show and I hope you enjoy all her stitching/finishing.

















I had these last two in Sandra's folder but I am almost 100% sure that Laura Meir in fact stitched and finished them as they kinda have her initials on it.




So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

Two more Awards + Laura's Stitching

Hi again if it's me you're looking for ... okay so it isn't and I can't sing either. I was just going to say Hi again it's me but then the rest of the song just sort of popped into my head like it does ya know.

Ok so on to the awards. First I would like to thank my Director, Producer and ... ok so I'm not getting an Oscar or Bafta, a Bafta is a British award and don't ask me what the initials stand for, because apart from the B for British, I have no idea, either.

Okay so on with the ceremony or not as the case may be. My friend CindyF not only gave me one award but she gave me 2! Imagine that 2 awards in one hit and three in one week plus that great scan photo of Cuteness as well as Lily's 6th Birthday today, it's just all too much happiness for one person to handle!

Cindy had this to say when awarding me these two awards: "Patti - Who has the mental strength of Gandhi, Mother Teresa....you get the picture! She takes in the bad and gives out the good:) Meet Patti, the Energizer Bunny:) She keeps going and going....and her kindness is unbelievable!" Not sure if I agree with her but that's what she thinks and here are the two awards for which I am more than grateful. Trust me I never thought I would ever get any when I started this blog of mine and I am enjoying it so much too. Let me tell you girl (as you would say to me) you make my heart smile too as well as my face - you are one very very special person.




Now I should give this out to other people but I don't want to pick anymore because there are so many great blogs out there and if you read this blog please just right click on either or both of the awards, separately of course, and save them to your desktop and the copy it or them onto your blog and say Patti gave them to you because I am giving them to every single person that reads and leaves a comment on my blog because you all deserve them just for coming here.

Now unfortunately I don't have any of my stitching to show you right now because the only thing I have finished was an exchange and it has been mailed to it's recipient and as soon as she receives it I will post photos on here of what I sent to her. So, in the meantime I am going to share with you more photographs I took at Britta's a few weeks ago and this time they are of Laura's stitching. Unfortunately Laura does not have a blog because her stitching is really something else so here goes (once again just click on the photos and they will get bigger):

This is an Etui designed by CA Wells being held up by another Sampler Guild member, I think it was Sandra Carstairs and you can see my friend Chris much cleared in the background in the green.

This is another CA Wells piece and it pulls out to be a needlecase and if you look closely you can see Laura in the background holding something.

This was one of Lois's kits and luckily enough believe it or not I have this to do.

This is by Laura's really favorite designer Lauren Sauer who the Sampler Guild Girls (ok we are all grown up and some of us a gray haired too) are going off on a retreat to tomorrow or Sunday and I am as green as anything because apart from anything else Lauren Sauer is going to be teach two classes there over the coming week. But hey ho one can only afford so much and by the time I took into consideration all the classes I wanted to do and the food and the gas and the price of the week itself it was going to cost around £1,000.00 (like $1500) and I just couldn't justify it. Well I could have but I want to see my brother more (yes I am putting him before my stitching - I know very unusual). Oh yeah and I have this kit too - I bought it off of Ebay a while back.


I love this one. Yes you are right it is another of Lauren Sauers. Well these are all Laura's pieces.

All of the 5 pictures above are of Laura's stitching of the Album Class that she, as well as a few others took of this Lauren Sauer class in London and these books are just something else

I think this is one of my favorites. This too is by Lauren Sauer and is called
Butterfly Garden

And last but by no means least this is a Thimble Carrier by
C.A. Wells

Oh yeah I almost forgot. Now I don't have to worry about finishing anything anymore you will have loads more to see because all my finishing is being sent to Deb in the U.S. who is the best finisher in the whole wide world and I love her to pieces. Cause now I can just stitch and stitch and stitch and never have to worry about finishing anything because I know it will be finished AMAZINGLY. LOVE IT and love you too Deb!

But just before I go I made one big decision today and that was I am finally going to accept me for who and what I am and no more dieting. I have been dieting for so long it just isn't true - almost all my life and that is a very long time. Now I'm just going to eat sensibly and stop all the diets and see what happens.

I hope you have enjoyed my really really bad photographs but look I try and as Larry (dh) says "yes I am very trying".

So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

2 REALLY exciting things!

The first one is here is a photo of my next Grandchild. We don't know if its a boy or a girl but we do know it's a baby that is sucking his/her thumb and we all though this was extremely cute and if you look closely you can see it too. We all, that's Danielle (darling daughter-in-law) and I first though it was a girl and now Danielle thinks it's a boy. In about 20 weeks time we shall find out and I am as excited about this one as the other two. At the moment the baby is being called Cuteness which I think is really sweet.


Secondly I got another award from Wendy Jo who awarded me for the Kreativ Blogger Award! Thanks so much Wendy Jo!!

In turn these are the 8 blogs I'm nominating for the Award in no particular order I hasten to add:

1. Mayte
2. Barbara
3. Theresa
4. Vondalee
5. Gwen
6. Anita
7. Carin
8. Doris
   

and now here is what you have to do:

1. Copy the logo of the Kreativ Blogger Award in to your blog
2. Make a link to the person's blog who nominated you
3. Nominate 8 other blogs
4. Add their links to your blog
5. Leave a comment on the blogs, that they have been awarded

So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

My turn to share what I've been doing etc.

I do hope that everyone in Blogland is well. Stacy is finally out of hospital and on the mend. So that trauma is done and dusted. I just wish my life was less traumatic that's for sure. Anyway here are some things I've been up to lately. As usual if you click on the images they will get bigger.

This first one is how far I have gotten on the sampler part of The Diminutive Sewing Set by Merry Cox and I am loving every single stitch I put in this and just like Merry I will stitch this for my granddaughter Lily and if and when my lovely daughter-in-law has a girl (she is 20 weeks pregnant tomorrow) I will stitch another one for that child as well

I was in the Quaker Quarterly Exchange on the Legacy BB and this is either the front or the back of the very lovely pinkeep I received from Becky in WA. Thank you so very much it really is very lovely and I shall treasure it alwys.

And this too is either the front or the back - you choose. Me? I love this side so think I'll make it the front but hope everyone that comes over to my house will turn it over and see which side they prefer as the front or the back.

This is the pinkeep I stitched for Mayte. It is not nearly as good as what she stitched for Nancy for her part of the exchange but it was the best I could do at the time and I really hope she likes it.

This was the back of the pinkeep - I lined it with purple silk and as she had said her favorite colors were Purple and Green the trim was in those colors as well.

And last but by no means least this is what Mayte stitched for Nancy I just had to share this with you all because it is to very beautiful. It is a Stitching Case and this is front and

this is the inside of it and I just though it was so superior to what I finished that I wanted to share it with you all.

So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

And another one .....

... from Britta's get-together. This time the stitcher is none other than Lin the founder and owner of The Sampler Guild. This is just one stitched stitched item by this incredibly talented woman and is so incredibly beautiful with so many facets to it that I just couldn't share this with any other stitched piece.

This is the outside of The Secret Garden by Lauren Sauer of
Forget Me Not In Stitches

This is the first inside page

This is the middle page that contains a secret. If you look at the far left you will see a little gold button and just look at what you get when you open up the little button to reveal ...

This incredibly beautiful stitched garden

And yet another inside page

and another - does this design ever end?

Yep it surely does. Here is the final page that is the back of this incredibly stitched
A Secret Garden Needlework Necessary

Firstly apart from the first page and the last page I'm not sure I have this in the correct order. Secondly please click on each image to make it larger so you have a better view of it and lastly if you hover your mouse over certain words guess what? Links appear and you can go to other places like The Sampler Guild, Lauren Sauers page that shows you A Secret Garden Needlework Necessary and the things you need for it, and finally the home page of her stitching company which is Forget Me Not in Stitches. More will come - I have three more people's stitching to share with you over the coming weeks.

So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt