A Little Bit of This and That ....

The Blue Ribbon Sampler - Olwyn Horwood

Progress is being made on Blue Ribbon. It is not the easiest of charts to work from.

The Blue Ribbon Sampler - Olwyn Horwood

There are four pages of corrections available. If anyone has the book but not the correction sheets please let me know and I will email them to you.

The Blue Ribbon Sampler - Olwyn Horwood

The saw tooth satin stitch runs around the nine inner panels. There are two stitches omittedon one "tooth" it was not easy to find where I had gone amiss when I reached the end of the top row.

A good chart would have highlighted this.

The Blue Ribbon Sampler - Olwyn Horwood

This is such a pretty border.

I had an email from another stitcher about the photo album of JoAnn Hoffman and Bethany Gallant. I am sure that a lot of you know about their work but if you do not it is well worth a visit here.

When browsing their albums I came across Scarlett Letter's Mary Hurst and just had to order the chart.

Mary Hurst 1661 - The Scarlett Letter

Mary Hurst 1661 - The Scarlett Letter

Mary Hurst 1661 - The Scarlett Letter

Mary Hurst 1661 - The Scarlett Letter

What I really need is an extra pair of hands to stitch all the charts I seem to accumulate.

The SDW Sampler SAL officially starts this weekend. There are five possibly six of us. (Robyn if you are reading this please contact me with an email address, you are a non reply blogger and I have no way of responding to you.)


The first daffodils bloomed on the 24th October beating Trewoon's record by one week. I believe that this is a "Paper White" and what is particularly pleasing is that it is one of the newly planted areas.

I have been meaning for ages to take some photographs of finished projects and today I finally got around to doing so

The following is a mish mash of projects stitched over the years in no particular order.

We have bought a pram, push chair, car seat "system" for our expected grandson and as it is considered unlucky for Chris and Kate to have it in their home before the baby is safely born I have it here.

Blue is very interested in it. I wonder what he will think of the baby?

We played golf yesterday, it is good to be getting our lives back on track.

I did some baking this morning and tried out a muffin recipe - vanilla, chocolate and fudge chip, with a cinnamon sugar topping.

This is another recipe from joyofbaking.com. I am enjoying working my way through her web site.

This week's holidaymakers should be arriving soon so I am off to meet and great. Wishing you all a fabulous weekend.


Warm Wishes from Stitching By A Cornish Sea Shore Nicola xxx

Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.

The Blue Ribbon Sampler - Olwyn Horwood

I could not resist starting the Blue Ribbon Sampler on Saturday night. I haven't done too much stitching as Strictly Come Dancing, Downton Abbey and The Great British Bake Off Master Class have been on the television. All my favourite programmes. Hopefully I will achieve more this evening.

Thank you for responding to my call for help and putting me in touch with others that have started the sampler. It seems as if many stitchers have the book and started but not completed it. There appears to be quite a few charting errors and I have been advised to leave the right hand border until all the blocks have been lined up so that I have room for any adjustments.

If you would like to see some rare close up photographs of a finished sampler then visit Michele's blog stitchingcatsandchickens which she has just started. It is well worth a visit.

Michele is currently stitching Victoria Sampler's Alphabet Series as one project so her blog will be very interesting to follow.

Michele will be joining me with the SAL of the SDW Sampler by Scarlett Letter.

SDW Sampler - Scarlett Letter

Joining us with be Elaine, and  Robyn . This will be the first SAL for all of us. We hope to stitch one evening each week to suit our own schedules, sharing updates on a weekend to encourage each other  and then post about it once per month.

If you would like to join us you would be very welcome. This is such a beautiful and unusual sampler and one that I look forward to displaying in my home.

I am off to feed Poppy and Blue and then I am going to settle down with my needle.

Warm Wishes from Stitching By A Cornish Sea Shore Nicola xxx

A Winner, A SAL and some new stash

And the winner of the Ann Medd giveaway is .........

Kathy Ellen Congratulations, I hope that you get as much enjoyment out of this wonderful design as I did, Please could I have your address.

I am participating in a SAL of Scarlett Letter's SDW Sampler with Michelle who doesn't have a blog at present but I will be posting pictures as we go along of both our samplers.

SDW Sampler - Scarlett Letter

We hope to stitch one evening each week. If anyone would like to join us you would be very welcome. It is a beautiful and unusual  sampler and one I will be proud to complete.

I love Scarlett Letter and spend hours studying their website. I have been very naughty this week and ordered the following kits in silk.

English Transistional Sampler  1711

and

Dorcas Haynes 1720

and

Elizabeth Simon 1758

If I could I would have bought many more.

I also bought some charts from Laurie at Corgi Cottage who is having a stash sale. Check out the link there are many beautiufl charts.

I gave in last night and started Blue Ribbon. It is wonderful to be working on 35ct with AVS silks, I could not resist any longer.

We are off to visit my MIL and then hopefully a round of golf. Downton is on tonight so not much stitching today.

Poppy is due to have her stitches out tomorrow, bless her. The Thyroid medication has continued to make a huge difference.

To all my pin pals a big thank you for your continued support and encouragement. You have given me so much confidence to share my stitching journey through life.

Warm Wishes from Stitching By A Cornish Sea Shore Nicola xxx

Can anyone help ....

Victoria Sampler - Alphabet Series

Alphabet is back from the framers and I am VERY pleased. (a rare photograph of me)

Here are some close up of the rows.

Victoria Sampler - Alphabet Series

Victoria Sampler - Alphabet Series

Victoria Sampler - Alphabet Series

Victoria Sampler - Alphabet Series

Can anyone help me find other bloggers who have stitched The Blue Ribbon Sampler by Olwyn Horwood. I am amazed that a google search through images and blogs has not picked anyone up.

Do you know anyone?

Please would you put a request for information on your next post?

I have a few questions I would like to ask before I start.

The sampler has been kitted up with AVS and 36ct Edinburgh Linen in Flax. I am so tempted to start it straight away.

The Blue Ribbon Sampler by Olwyn Horwood

Peacock Garden has progressed well.

Peacock Garden - Chatelaine Designs

I couldn't resist adding a few of the smaller beads to see the effect.

Peacock Garden - Chatelaine Designs

On the cooking front I came across this recipe on joyofbaking.com for apple galettes. It was so popular I ended up making them two days running. It becomes difficult to find new ways of using produce from the garden at the end of the season. 

Apple Galettes

In the garden some of the bulbs that were planted only a few weeks ago have started to come up. Are we going to break our record of daffodils in full bloom the first week of November ?

Trewoon, Poldhu Cove, Mullion - Daffodils

Before I go my sister who is visiting has insisted I post a photo of me blogging taken by her without me knowing.

I am now off to decide where Alphabets is going to hang ........


Warm Wishes from Stitching By A Cornish Sea Shore Nicola xxx

Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns

Peacock Garden - Chateliane Designs

I have had a first good week of stitching Peacock Garden and am pleased with my progress.

Peacock Garden - Chateliane Designs

It was originally a mystery and I am tackling the chart in the order that it was issued in. I will be adding the beads at the end. There are an awful lot of them!

Peacock Garden - Chateliane Designs

Victoria Sampler's Alphabet series went to the framers this morning and I have chosen the same frame as Ann Medd.

I was overwhelmed by the kind comments that were left last week by my pin pals. THANK YOU.

Through one comment left I learnt of The Blue Ribbon Sampler by Olwyn Horwood. WOW!!

The Blue Ribbon Sampler by Olwyn Horwood

The panels of filet embroidery are gorgeous.

The Blue Ribbon Sampler by Olwyn Horwood

Michele who has stitched this amazing sampler contacted me and I have swapped a chart from my stash for it. Michele hasn't got a blog (as yet!) but did send me a link to a photo album of her work which is superb.

As a lot of you will know this book is out of print, is highly sought after and sells for quite a bit of money on Ebay. Michele's kindness in exchanging it for a chart that can be readily bought is truly wonderful. Thank you again Michele.

I was also very touched by Krista's generosity in offering to loan me the book. Thank you Krista.

Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns and I hope that I will be able to pass on the kindness shown to me.

It has been a busy week in the kitchen.

This dessert is scrumptious and very easy to make. This case is crushed ginger nut biscuits, the filling whipped mascarpone and creme fraiche and the topping fresh raspberries brushed with home made red current glaze.

I have made two Victoria sponges this week, this one was filled with apricot jam that some friends in Switzerland made. It is the most delicious jam, you cannot get the apricots ripe in the same way in this country.

Today we are having double orange loaf.

My son had a calf born on Friday, I am so glad that it is a girl as the boys eventually get eaten (:(: she is called Molly.

I received some photographs this week from John Wright, a very gifted photographer, who regularly stays with us.

Poldhu Cove

This one is of our little cove.

Mullion Cove

Mullion Cove in a storm.

Mullion Cove

You can see how easy it is to be swept off the sea wall.

A wonderfully dramatic sky.

The wild ponies on the cliffs are little butter balls, their grazing must be very good.

Poppy has not been well, 2012 has not been her year.

Damaged her eye in the undergrowth and had to have an operation to remove the resultant ulcer.

She stood on an old rusty nail that went right  through her paw and had to have an operation to remove it (it was horrible).

She cut her gum and it would not stop bleeding, she collapsed on the second visit to the vets through blood loss and had to go on a drip. They struggled to get it to clot and eventually has to cauterise the wound.

Next she damaged her cruciate ligament.

Damaged her other eye again playing in the undergrowth, had an operation two weeks ago and then on Friday she had to have another operation as the first had not worked. Bless her at the moment  her eye has a protective contact lens in and is partially stitched up.

Throughout all of this we have been very worried because she became an "old" dog. Our vet ran an extensive series of tests and it turns out that she has a problem with her thyroid and is allergic to turkey.

The thyroid medication has had an amazing effect and poppy truly has her "POP" back.

The vet is coming to check her eye this afternoon, she seems to know when he is coming and disappears.

I hope to settle down this afternoon and do some stitching and watch the results show for Strictly Come Dancing. Last night I didn't seem to achieve very much as I had to make a dash to the nursing home as my MIL had fallen (she is OK) and we had some holiday makers arrive late.

There was no way I could stitch through Downton Abbey it was so sad , I won't say what happened as it may spoil it for others but series 3 is a must watch.

I have been checking out youtube for Dancing With The Stars. They are all soooo good. I wish British TV would air the show, they used to.


Warm Wishes from Stitching By A Cornish Sea Shore Nicola xxx