A Sampler Finish and an Egg-Change Received!

Hello dear stitching friends, I trust you had a wonderful Easter!  I am happy to say that I have my first big finish for the year :)

Two weeks ago I finished the Isabella Donald sampler from the Spring 2012 issue of the SANQ magazine.  Michelle in the UK and I have been stitching on this piece every Tuesday evening for our 'Sampler SAL'.  I just love how it turned out!

It is stitched on 28 count natural evenweave in my own choice of Madeira silk.

Here is another close up:

I really enjoyed this SAL so much - thank you Michelle, it was such fun stitching 'together'!

This year I decided to take part in my first ever exchange, so I joined in the fun of the Easter Egg-change hosted by Mii!  I received a wonderful package from dear Valerie in France!    

She sent me such great goodies, here is a pic of the beautiful ornament - I just love it!

She also included my favourite chocolates - I just love Lindt!

Beautiful Easter serviettes, lavender scented fragrance sticks and the sweetest card:

Some lovely stitching goodies and ornaments, including buttons and ribbon and the cutest tape measure I have ever seen!  Yes, that little hedgehog is a tape measure!  I absolutely LOVE him!

Thank you for my beautiful gift Valerie, I really love it!

I sent a package to Sonia in Italy.  It left South Africa the day after being posted, but took quite a long time to make its way closer to her.  According to the online 'track and trace' it is now ready to be delivered to her, so I really hope it reaches her soon (and safely!).  I will show photos as soon as it reaches her :)

Furthermore, I have been working on my Bambu Hardanger SAL and I still have a lot to do before the next 'step' becomes available on the first of May.  I also look forward to resuming work on Celebration Sampler now that Isabella Donald is complete.

That's it for now!  Enjoy the rest of  the week and Happy Stitching!

Michelle

Still Stitching Along!

Hello stitching friends!  It has been so long since my last stitching update - we have had such internet connectivity problems over the past few months - I just hope this post makes it safely into blogland!  

It has cooled down a bit here in Cape Town over the past few weeks and we are definitely moving into Autumn!  There is even a slight chill in the air in the evenings and we have had some rain - such a relief after a terribly hot summer!

Even though I haven't been blogging I have been stitching!  Michelle from StitchCraft Place and I have been enjoying our Tuesday evening SAL every week!  We are stitching the Isabella Donald sampler from the Spring 2012 issue of the SANQ magazine.

I have substituted the charted colours with my own choice of Madeira silk and I just love how it's turning out!

I'm quite satisfied with my progress and hope to have a sampler finish in a few weeks :)

Here is another close up,  this band was the most time consuming section of the sampler so far, but looks lovely and the touch of dark blue silk looks just beautiful on the sampler:

I have also been working on the 'Bambu by Mamen' SAL as hosted by Ticoeur on her forum.  New steps become available twice a month and I always look forward to see which part we'll be stitching next!

A closer view of some of the details:

Work on my Celebration Sampler from Just Cross Stitch Magazine has slowed down over the past few weeks, but I do have an update to share:

I can't wait to get back to this sampler - I just love working on it!

I am also working on a few Easter ornaments to be sent as gifts, so I can't show them yet!  I am taking part in the Easter Egg-change hosted by Mii Stitch.  This is my first exchange and I'm so excited to take part!

Well, that's my stitchy update for now!  

Happy Stitching!

Michelle

SAL Start and HAL Progress!

Hello stitching friends!  Oh my, it has been so hot over the past few weeks, I can't wait for the first signs of Autumn, even though I know how hot February and March can be!  Last week there were a few evenings that were too hot to do anything, even stitch, followed by nights that were too hot to sleep, leaving everyone feeling absolutely drained.  On to more pleasant things - stitching!

Tuesday night was the start of the private SAL Michelle and I are having.  Every Tuesday night we will be stitching on the Isabella Donald sampler featured in the Spring 2012 issue of the SANQ magazine.  Here is my start: 

The design is actually charted in grey and soft purples, but that does not suit my decor, so I changed it completely!  It is not a reproduction sampler, but compiled from different samplers from the same era. Some of the inspirational samplers are shown in the magazine and I really liked the colours of the 1825 Kildare School Sampler.  I was fortunate enough to have some Madeira silks in the deep red, gold and blue and soft green shades.  I am stitching it on a natural 28 count evenweave and I'm very satisfied with the way the silks look on the fabric.

I also managed to do quite a bit on the Bambu HAL (hardanger-a-long) by Mamen and I'm actually a bit ahead of the steps set out for the group!  Here is my progress:

Here is a slightly closer view - I love the combination of soft pinks and ecru!

 At least the hot weather is good for one thing - my roses just keep on flourishing!  Here is a picture of a beautiful soft pink rose - it also has a lovely delicate fragrance!

That's it for now!  It's almost Friday - have a good weekend and Happy Stitching!

Michelle

Celebration Sampler Progress and a SAL!

Hello dear blogging friends, I hope the first few days of 2014 have been treating you well!  I am so happy to have some stitching to share with you in my first post of the year.  I have made a little progress on the Celebration Sampler, which was featured in the Just Cross Stitch Magazine in 2013.  

Look at this lovely section of the sampler, I was even brave enough to stitch '2014' in the space for the year - I will definitely have to persevere with this piece :) 

Here is my progress so far, the words look a bit funny at the moment, but will make more sense once I put more stitches in it!

It is such a pleasure to stitch, I am really enjoying it - here is a close up of the Bargello section - always so much fun to stitch!

This year I decided to join a SAL for a beautiful Hardanger piece by Mamen, which is kindly being hosted by Ticoeur on her forum.  The piece is called 'Bambu' and I'm stitching it on 28ct antique white Quaker cloth in DMC perle thread.  Here you can see my first step and the threads that I'm using - I decided to break away from 'tone on tone' Hardanger stitching and I'm having great fun with the lovely pinks! 

I am also starting another SAL on the 1st of  February with my dear friend Michelle from the UK.  There is a lovely sampler in the Sampler and Antique Needlework Magazine (SANQ) that we both want to stitch - I'm really looking forward to our SAL!

In other needlework news, I have been working on a quilt!  My cousin in Oregon had the most precious baby boy last year and I am making a quilt for him - the quilt top is made and the basting is done, now I have to machine quilt it.  I will show photos in a few weeks (after they have received it), since they haven't seen any photos yet - only snippets of fabric!

Well, that's it for now!

Have a great week and Happy Stitching!

Michelle