Monday 12 January 2015

Bare branches of each tree on this chilly January morn look so cold so forlorn

As I sat down to bring my blog up to date I looked out of the window and saw such a wintery, blowy day. This poem came to mind.


Bare branches of each tree
on this chilly January morn
look so cold so forlorn.
Gray skies dip ever so low
left from yesterday's dusting of snow.
Yet in the heart of each tree
waiting for each who want to see
new life as warm sun and breeze will blow
like magic, unlock springs sap to flow,
buds, new leaves, then blooms will grow.


Our days are already getting longer and there is so much to look forward to as 2015 unfolds.

Elizabeth Cox The Scarlet Letter



Since my last post Elizabeth Cox has been finished and hung. To mark in my own way Remembrance Sunday I added many poppies to her and dedicated the sampler to two uncles who lost their lives in WW2, sadly fighting on opposite sides.



Miss Cox was a big learning curve.


She has, however, flung open the doors to many more samplers.


It is hard to choose a favorite section but the red house was great fun to watch grow.


Stem stitch creates such a wonderful background.



My "main" current project I am unable to show at the present time. It is a beauty and I am very excited to be stitching "her". I will share her with you properly as soon as I can.

In the meantime here are two sneak peaks that were revealed to Our Scarlet Letter Years.





 I can show you Mary Hurst which is the 2015  Group Learning Project  for our Scarlet Letter Years.

Band 6 Mary Hurst by The Scarlet Letter

I have 183 eyelets to start and end individually on this Band.

If you are interested in stitching Mary Hurst or would just like to follow the tutorials you can access my stitching notes HERE 

The links are updated each week as further bands are explored.

They will take you step by step through the various bands. If you wish to stitch her you will need to purchase the chart but there is nothing stopping you having a go at some of the specialty stitches on a doodle cloth.

A dreaded stitch for most is detached buttonhole and I have not actually stitched a sampler yet that has this in. I sat down yesterday evening and had a practice, taking photographs along the way.
















Detached Buttonhole Stitch


I have used Mary Corbet's wonderful video as reference http://youtu.be/WCi2f_Pg8FE

If anyone reading this blog post has experience of this stitch I would be interest to hear from you with any words of advice.

Tips and tricks can make a big difference to how we stitch and a very BIG part of blogging and sharing via social media is learning from each other.

Recently Barbara Hutson (whose satin stitches are perfection) shared one with me which I used last night.












Thank you Barbara.

Archie had his second birthday on January 2nd. He is such a busy little chap and loves nothing more than to be helping on the farm. He will follow the farm manager around all day with his wellington boots and cute bright green waterproof dungarees on.



The beauty of The Lizard Peninsular never fails to fill me with awe and we have managed to get out walking most days in all types of weather.

Poldhu Cove, The Lizard


The holidays saw us in demand and we buzzed around the country staying with various family members. We were back home for Christmas Day with a wonderful coastal walk and an afternoon spent constructing (and I do mean constructing) a bright red shiny kitchen set for Archie.

New Year's Eve saw us partying the night away with dear friends at the golf club

Ray, Nicola, Sue

I think we all found muscles the next day that hadn't been used for sometime. We blame the DJ who played "our" sort of music.

John, Kathryn, Tony

If anyone would like to contact me about joining Our Scarlet Letters Years group or to stitch Mary Hurst please email. There is an email link top right hand corner of my blog.