a few more Nancy Pederson smalls

I seem to have lost incentive for my larger more colourful projects over the last few days . . . but to keep my hands busy in the evening I have been stitching several small Nancy Pederson blackwork designs again and again . . . and again lol.  These will be going into my “Christmas” box as I am already making good headway with present making . . . which explains the coins placed stategically in the centre of three of the designs, to hide the intials and not give any hint as to WHO I am stitching for ^^

a couple of coasters

I showed you some blackwork stitching the other day, and I’m back to show you the “finished” Daisy Ring (Nancy Pederson) . . . finished off as coasters because I was in need of a couple of nice, flat, postable gifts to send to two stitching friends. “A” for Agnès and “M” for Monique.

Blackwork with Nancy Pederson

I decided to take a short break from my current WIPs and do a few quick stitches . . . so went through my archives of “The Gift of Stitching” (which sadly stopped publication a few months ago) and printed out a couple of Nancy Pederson’s blackwork designs.  Great projects to use up little leftovers of fabric and threads.

Here is the result of several evenings stitching . . . A Jane Austen Bookmark from issue 64.

Daisy Ring (stitched on 18 count with the full border, and again on 14 count without the border – to make things the correct size for the finishing I have in mind) from issue 60

and I’ve just started Tudor Rose Bouquet from issue 65

I’m on a roll . . . happy dancing with another finish

I’m on a roll this afternoon and my sewing machine has been whirring away.  A really simple finish for a Nancy Pederson blackwork piece that I altered slightly, adding “Bienvenue” instead of the original text. I stitched this ages ago and originally I just slipped it in a wooden frame for photos, before shoving it in the bottom of a drawer.  Today, however, I have finished it off as a wall-hanging.  I used a deep marbled burgandy fabric and a matching pompom.  Didn’t quite have the right colour ribbon but I thought this “plum” went quite well because it picks out the shades in the Threadworx threads I used.

I need to ask my other half to find me a nice piece of wooden dowling to varnish to hang it properly . . . for the moment I have used a pair of wooden chopsticks lol.  As usual, with my machine stitching, it’s far from perfect, but if you don’t look too closely, it does the job ^^

rummaging in my drawers

Today I had a bit of a rummage in my drawers – intially because I was doing a sort of inventory on charts & fabric but then I came across a pile of finished cross stitch and had something of a shock when I saw how many pieces have been stitched but then just folded and stored. I can’t even remember when I stitched some of the designs, but some go back as far as 2007 maybe even earlier.

Bramble & Rose and my Isabelle Vautier “Grand Marquoir” are the largest pieces waiting to be finished off, but there is also

“Who’s watching Whom?”, “South Seas Lace” plus three Isabelle Vautier hearts

various smaller designs, including two Peter Underhill, a couple of my own, a Jardin Privé, a Drawn Thread, a breast cancer awareness angel, and a Lizzie Kate

and last, but not least, a Nancy Pederson blackwork design that I originally put in a frame and then began a proper finish with sewing machine but never got round to finishing completely.

Well, I know what I’ll be doing this summer . . . thinking up ways of finishing off at least a few of these pieces because it’s a shame to leave them folded in my drawers.

exchange gifts for Chantal

I am taking part in another exchange, on a French forum . . . I know I said I was going to be sensible this year, but it’s so hard to resist. The idea for this exchange is very simple and there are no deadlines.  There are five of us taking part: myself, Reinette, Chantal, Dincy and Tagada and the idea is for each of us to make and send gifts to the four others, based on their tastes. There is no imposed theme, and we are free to make and send as we like, ie we make a gift and send to a fellow exhanger when she least expects it.

For my first little parcel, I decided to send to Chantal.  Her favourite colour is red so I made a little scissor fob and matching bobbin to stand her scissors on . . . and since Easter is just around the corner, I added a packet of chocolate eggs.

The blackwork is part of a Nancy Pederson design.

“Mother Christmas” exchange: sent and received

On the forum Bonheur Point de Croix, I took part in an exchange for Christmas, the idea being to make a useful stitching gift for our partner.  The secret Santa draw meant that I was stitching for Anne-Marie, whose favourite colour is blue . . . and I jumped on the chance to stitch a Nancy Pederson blackwork design (from issue 48 of “The Gift of Stitching”).  I used a light blue aida with Anchor 1349 variagated thread . . . and made up a little “two in one” thread-holder that also doubles up as a pin cushion. I then repeated the corner of the design to make a matching scissor fob.

Voilà the finished items.

And here’s what I received from Brynette . . . the most gorgeous zippy bag, to carry all my stitching essentials, in lovely vibrant colours to remind me that Spring is only around the corner ^^ plus some very yummy biscuits and a lovely card.

meeting Jocelyne

One of the wonderful things about blogs and forums, is that you occasionally get the opportunity to meet virtual friends in the flesh.  I have had the pleasure in the past, meeting Felicity (from Australia) a few years ago when she was over in Paris . . . and mamoures, a forum friend from the North East of France when she came to Paris for a cross stitch show.

Well, yesterday, I met Jocelyne in person. We started emailing each other because of my bookmark collection, believe it or not ^^  Jocelyne is a collector too, but we share other interests, since she is also a patchworker and cross stitcher. She doesn’t live in the Paris area, but was visiting family over the holidays so we exchanged phone numbers, fixed a date and met at a frequent crafters’ meeting spot in Paris: le Marché de Saint Pierre (a quarter at the foot of the Sacré Coeur, where there are streets full of fabric shops . . . a crafters’ dream.

No photos of the two of us together, I’m afraid, as Jocelyne is camera shy.

But, photos of gifts we exchanged.

For Jocelyne, I did a matching bobbin and scissor fob set. The blackwork is part of a Nancy Pederson design (issue 53 The Gift of Stitching) with a pair of scissors to match the bobbin (that my other half stained to give an olde worlde look).  A bookmark, for her collection, of course . . . and because Jocelyne also loves (and collects) owls . . . a little cross stitch kit: Ollie Owl

Jocelyne arrived with a very heavy bag, full of patchwork magazines for me ^^

since I’m new to this craft and she had duplicates of some magazines, as well as others that she no longer needs. She also brought me another bookmark for my collection and a gorgeous patchwork flower in festive fabric (sorry about the photos, dirty carpet and cat hair in full view)

And, because we were at the Marché de Saint Pierre, surrounded by fabric shops . . . we couldn’t resist admiring all the gorgeous fabrics and adding to our mutual stashes. Here is what I bought – no idea what I’ll be using it for, I just loved the colours

my “The Gift of Stitching” album

The other day, on a French forum, some of the ladies were asking about GOS magazine http://www.thegiftofstitching.com.au/ and wondering whether or not it was worth subscribing to. I began my subs in 2009, immediately bought ALL the back issues too (that’s me, never do anything with moderation) and therefore I was all fired up to encourage them to take the plunge and subscribe lol.  At only $20US for an annual subs, and so many designs each month, I honestly feel you can’t go wrong. 

To give them even more incentive, I then went through my photo albums to show them pics of the designs I have stitched from the magazine since May 2009 and was surprised myself at exactly how many I had done!

So I thought I would share photos with you today. You’ve seen them all already in previous posts, but I thought it would be fun to group them all together on one page. So here goes . . .

This was in black in GOS, with buttons in the centre of each square, but I changed to red and made it into a Christmas ornament. “Black Velvet” by Lynne Herzberg – n° 34 Nov 2008

“Elizabethan Biscornu” by Nancy Pederson – n° 24 Jan 2008

“Summer” by Helga Mandl (slightly altered) n° 31 August 2008

“Cat Sampler” by Helga Mandl – n° 12 January 2007

“South Seas Lace” by Debbie Draper – n° 40 May 2009

“Rose Trellis” by Nancy Pederson – n° 50 March 2010

“Sakura” by Alchemy Stitchcraft (in pink in GOS but I went for something completely different) – n° 29 June 2008

“Daisy Ring” by Nancy Pederson – n° 60 Jan/Feb 2011

“The Bramble and the Rose” by Tracey Horner (Ink Circles) – n° 41 June 2009

I also have two gifts that were stitched for me by Sandra http://mollycaff.wordpress.com/ for xmas 2009 and 2010 with designs from GOS.  So here they are “Russian Christmas Doll” by Sofia Cornali – n° 46 November 2009

“First day of Christmas” by Nancy Pederson – n° 58 November 2010

As you can see, I think GOS is a real treasure trove when it comes to finding ideas and designs to stitch. I actually stitched another of their designs, but can’t show it for the moment as it’s a surprise . . . that will be revealed later in the year lol.

And . . . for any of you subscribers . . . did you see me on the “Reader of the Month” page in July 2009 ? lol

exchange in RED sent

Today I can post a better photo of the Daisy Ring blackwork coaster in red (design by Nancy Pederson http://tudorthyme.wordpress.com/) I stitched this coaster in variagated red for a recent exchange.  A colours exchange, and the person I was stitching for chose RED.  Her pseudo is Mariette but her real-life name begins with a “C” ^^.  Anyway, we had a budget of around 15 euros to stick to, and here’s what I sent