Free Birthday Chart

Hi! As promised, here is a picture of the piece I designed for my birthday (today). If you want the free chart, all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post with your email address and I will send you a pdf of the chart. It does not matter if you have never left a comment on this blog before and you don't have to be a follower either. You can also leave a comment as long as this post remains available, so it doesn't have to be on the exact date.

I hope you like it! If you stitch it - feel free to email a photo to me - I would love to put it on my blog! I stitched it in DMC threads on a 28ct white evenweave, but you can change it as much as you like :)
Here is a pic of some of the sweet treats we had for dessert - chocolate and strawberries - what's not to love!

Some of the beautiful flowers I received.

Isn't this little posy too cute?

That's it for now, have a good week with lots of stitching!

Free Sampler Sneak Preview

Hello from a hot and humid Cape Town! As promised, here is a sneak preview of the little Alphabet Sampler I designed as a free chart for my birthday this coming Sunday. As you can see, I had a lot of fun playing with ribbons to style this piece :)
The model stitching is done and the chart needs a bit of tweaking, so it will be ready in time. If you are interested in the chart, just stop by again and leave a comment on Sunday's post.

Enjoy the rest of the week and remember the most important thing - tomorrow is Friday!

Train Birth Sampler

Finally I can share this! I stitched this train as a birth sampler for my boyfriend's sister's son (I guess that would make him his nephew), Michael, earlier this year. I didn't know when the Christening would be, so I finished it soon after his birth in April and guess what - the Christening was yesterday! The poor sampler was 'hiding' in the cupboard for five months!

Here you can see it laced over board - it is up to his parents to choose a frame. I made a Noah's Ark birth sampler for Michael's older sister, Emma, two years ago, but unfortunately I don't have a photo of it.
I stitched it on antique white Jubilee from a chart in a magazine (I think it was a Cross Stitcher).

There is such a lot of detail in this piece, here are a few close up pics:

The elephant is probably my favourite. There was also a lot of backstitch!

Look at this cute fellow! Did I mention all the backstitching and that I hate backstitching? (Don't worry - the fractional stitches were not far behind!)

Here is another friendly guy. All that backstitch (which I hate) really finishes it off!

And one more in the last carriage! What a difference all the fractional stitches and backstitches make!

You might notice that I did not precisely enjoy stitching this piece, but the end product is well worth it. (Did I mention all the backstitch?)

Well, it is my birthday in less than a week - next Sunday to be precise. I have been 'playing' with charting for years now, but have only shared it with friends and family up to now. I have also done lots of photo charting as a service and have stitched some of my own - unfortunately given as gifts, so no photos!

I have finally decided to share some of my own charting with others. I will have a free chart giveaway on my birthday for everyone who leaves a comment on that post - Sunday 25 October, so watch this space! (It is an alphabet sampler - I will try to post a sneak preview later in the week.)

Enjoy the rest of the week and happy stitching!

Christmas Stocking WIP

Hi from a cold and wet Cape Town! It is storming here today - very unusual for this time of year!


Since my Mary Wigham is having a 'rest' again, I decided to resume work on a Christmas WIP. I started it last year, but didn't get too far :) It is a stocking out of the book 'Donna Kooler's Ultimate Stocking Collection'. It is a lovely book and contains 15 beautiful stockings by various designers.


This one is called 'Teddy the Bear & Friends' and is designed by Linda Gillum.

This is just a photo to show you how much I still have to do on it! I hope to finish it this time and have it ready for Christmas.

The animals have a lot of detail and, yes, a lot of backstitch! I backstitched this bird when I was working on it last year - the backstitching really brings it to life. (You will notice that backstitch is my enemy - I have loads of finished projects just waiting for their backstitch - I certainly hope this piece won't fall into that category when I get the cross stitching done!)

I am also still working on Scheherazade, but I'm still not on her dress! I am trying to build a solid base for the dress before I work towards the top again, but it takes a lot of stitching without seeing a picture :( That is the problem with starting at the bottom! At least I'm still enjoying it very much :)

That's it for now - have a great week!

October Pinkeep Finish

Spring is in the air! Despite today being cooler, we are definitely going into spring here - days are getting longer, flowers are blooming and temperatures are rising.

I stitched this sweet little pinkeep, which is another Freebie on Maryse's blog. It is her October pinkeep and she has it in Autumn shades, so I changed the colours to suit our season. It is finished as a pinkeep and trimmed with dark pink and green braid.
The backing fabric is a pink floral patchwork material, which was in my Mom's stash for about 25 years! Must be one of the first needlework related things she bought after I was born :) She is very glad that I could use it so many years later - it proves stash will never be wasted!

I finished the border of Mary Wigham, so she is having a bit of a rest again while I resume work on Scheherazade (Heaven and Earth Designs).

For those who are wondering what 'Mary Wigham' is all about:

The Mary Wigham chart is still available for download on the Needleprint blog. The chart was originally made available as a 'free' download for a SAL - the aim was to raise funds to preserve the original embroidery. The idea was to donate a dollar per download (there are 9 downloads), or whatever donation, if any, you wish to make. Read more about it on the blog - you have to scroll down a bit to get the link to the download page.

Have a great week with lots of stitching!