Back from the framers

Ellenor Wykcs and EK 1653 (now known as Three Sisters) are back from the framers. 

Ruthy Rogers is progressing and I am loving stem stitch. It is so fluid.

I was definitely out of my comfort zone to start with but this stitch is well worth having a go at. 

It stitches up very quickly. 

My other start is a hardanger place mat for my WI group.

The inner sections are not finished but I wanted to try the buttonhole edging. It is a padded one which I had not heard of before. You stitch satin blocks then work the buttonhole stitch over them. It does create a nice effect. Hopefully, if all goes to plan this will be very pretty.

The challenge is to have the back looking as good as the front.

The postman has been with a new spool caddy. I cannot resist collecting them. Richard Hyers makes such beautiful stitching accessories.  His website is well worth a visit.

http://www.hyerswood.com

Archie continues to grow and he is now very mobile on his own two feet. Chris and Kate have been having some decoration done to the house and he is fascinated with paintbrushes. The decorator gave him one and at the moment it is going every where with him !!

I hope that all my American followers have enjoyed their Mothering Sunday today.

Two finishes and a new start

My needles have been flying and I have finished EK 1653 and Ellenor Wykcs both by The Scarlet Letter and stitched on Floba 35/6ct with AVAS.

Ellenor was such a pretty sampler to work on.

EK 1653 has quite a few similarities to Ellenor and I found that switching back and forth between the two worked quite well.

I adapted my EK from the original by inserting the lines of a favourite poem that means a great deal to me and my sisters.

My new start is Ruthy Rogers also by The Scarlet Letter

Ruthy is quite a different sampler for me and I am out of my comfort zone.

After seeing Barbara's stitched Ruthy I just had to have a go at stitching her.

Didn't Barbara do an amazing job on hers?

I will post again when Ellenor and EK are back from the framers with detailed photos.

Catching Up

How quickly the weeks can pass by. Why as you get older does time pass more quickly?

I have been busy stitching but during the last week life seemed to be getting in the way for various reasons. It is surprising how events can change plans.

We have had two jackdaws visit us by gaining entry down a chimney - what damage they wrought !! It took us six hours to clean up the bird poo and associated mess. We are left with broken ornaments, photo frames and staining to curtains, sofas, chairs, cushions, rugs and lamp shades. Fortunately our insurance policy covers us for this damage.

The exciting event was a visit to the V & A and a meeting with some of my "pin" pals. It was meant to be for a viewing of samplers but turned into a surprise birthday celebration.

I felt so blessed to receive an amazing gift made with love, generosity and the warmth of friendship.

Krista with the support of Jo and Elaine organized this STUNNING surprise. Elaine also assembled the quilt. I had no idea whatsoever.

 They collected 48 squares with Scarlet Letter motifs... AMAZINGLY from 44 different Scarlet Letter samplers!  

It was a worldwide effort with 9 countries over 6 continents represented! Australia, Canada, France, Scotland, Spain, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and in the United States, 21 different states!  

I cannot put into words how touched I was. This quilt will be treasuerd forever and I feel very emotional every time I look at it.

The surprises didn't stop there. I was blessed to receive the Betsy Davies sampler stiched and personalised by Marsha Parker the designer of the Scarlet Letter

and a lovely coffee table book showing the construction and indivdual samplers that went into the quilt put together by Krista

Krista has also made a video about the quilt and if you are interested you  can follow this link to the orginal post.

http://scarletletteryear.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-secret-scarlet-letter-quilt.html

I have been cherishing my time with Archie.  Here he is with my son and daughter-in-law.

He is fascinated with ipads and iphones, last week I Facetimed my parents so that they could chat with him and when the call was ended he played with my ipad on my lap and took this selfie

A bit too much of a close up for my wrinkles !!! He then proceeded to Facetime Debbie in Ohio - thankfully the time difference didn't make it night time. I would of been mortified to wake someone up.

We have been trying to get a walk in most days. There is always something beautiful to see.

These aren't beautiful but were something we had never seen before.

It turns out they are a fungi. 

Despite Spring having been here for a few weeks now the coastal paths have not recovered from the wind damage.

It is wonderful to have such huge expanses to explore and often at this time of year meet no-one.

I started this post with a close up of Band 4 on Ellenor Wycks. Here is an overall photo of my progress so far.

I have now switched to EK 1653 even though it is hard to leave Ellenor.

I have spent sometime with my sewing machine and have nearly finished this cute little cushion. Just the buttons to sew on now ready for Easter.

It is a design by Jo from The Cowslip Studio which is situated in Cornwall. Jo makes the most wonderful quilts. Next week Mary Berry is visiting for a cookery demonstration at The Cowslip and  I am so excited to be attending and meeting someone I have admired for many years. I have her books ready to take with me hopefully to be autographed.

Until next time ......

Walking in the rain

Band five is complete. I am sorry for the awful photo, the light is so bad today.

The wet weather is back and it has rained long and hard today. We ventured out for a quick walk and once again had the beach all to ourselves.

Poppy and Blue both like to dig in the sand but it has all been washed away.

It was definitely a day for the dogs to have their warm, waterproof coats on. The rain was icy cold and felt like hail at times.

We needed our waterproofs onto. I took this accidental selfie on my phone whilst trying to photograph this.

A huge chunk of the coastal path has been washed away. You can see in the top right hand corner where the path down to tthe beach has been closed. You can also see Ray (just) in the top left hand corner.

The sea is so powerful and has dragged the sand from the beach. The fence you can see is the boundary of the golf course.

The exposed stones have some interesting shapes and layers.

It always amazes me how life can spring from nothing. It gives such hope but then we saw this.

Since last Sunday a wreath had been laid on the headland. I do not know of anyone who has died here. I wondered afterwards if someone's ashes had been scattered.

We were very wet and cold when we got home. Poppy and Blue enjoyed a rub down with the towels we had left warming on the AGA and we thawed out with hot showers and  a good old cup of tea.

In every walk with nature one receives far more that she seeks

EK progresses but Band 5 is taking longer than the previous 4. It is far more intricate but I have enjoyed its twists and turns.

Do you remember this quilt I posted about in January

I have now pieced together the off cuts to make another one in reverse. Here it is on my design board.

I hope to start the quilting this week but need to choose a design.

I recently made two cushions from the same pattern but using different fabrics for the patchwork centre and linen for the surrounding strips and back panel.

This is a great way to use up offcuts of linen from samplers. I have even used small scraps on the right hand cushion for the patchwork.

The wet weather has continued and although today has been dry it has been very wintery and "grey".

We decided to walk the nature reserve between Mullion and Predannack.

The ground is very wet.

and muddy

You wouldn't want to loose your wellies in this !!!

or this

on second thoughts we had better find a way to walk around

There is always much beauty to be seen

Here is Mullion Cove

The recent storms have caused damage to both walls and you can just make out a JCB carrying out repairs and  moving boulders whilst the tide is out.

Our walk now took us back towards Predanaack.

This little cove is only accessible by sea and you can often spot seals here but none today.

A climb over the style and a last look back.

We were all tired after trudging through the mud and the car was a welcome sight.

I am now sat in front of the wood burner typing surrounded by Ray, Poppy and Blue snoring.

Blue is definitely having sweet dreams.