Rose pins

The order I received from The Thread Basket the other week had some rose pins in it that I purchased. Unfortunately most of them didn't last the journey. Their little leaves had broken off. I mentioned this to Valerie of The Thread Basket, and she said she would send me another set. Well, they arrived today and all were fine. Not one broken. How happy I was. I think it was so kind of Valerie to do this.

Butterflycouture rose pins

Silkweaver fabrics

I received another lovely bit of stash in the mail today. This time it's a bundle of Silkweaver fabrics. I ordered them soon after I arrived back from my holiday, when I was craving a stash order.:) There's an assortment of colours and I'm sure they'll be put to good use in time.

Fabrics from top to bottom ~ Porcelain 36ct Edinburgh, Spring Garden 28ct Cashel, Rose Petals 28ct Lugana, Caribbean 28ct Cashel, Blush 28ct Cashel, Days Gone By 28ct Cashel, Antique Gold 32ct Belfast, Chocolate 28ct Lugana, Days Gone By 32ct Belfast, and Purely Primitive 32ct Belfast.

I just want to thank everyone for their thoughts about what I should do with Autumn Blessings. I've been thinking about it and the main thing I'm realising is if I want to pull out the one over one stitching, it's going to be tough. What I'll do is leave the wording for the moment and continue with the rest of the pattern. I'll probably end up sticking with the Dried Pink Roses, as I'm sure there'll be enough purple throughout the design anyway. I've also got the Jill Rensel mat for it so as long as it suits the colours in that, it should be fine.

I'm pretty busy with life at the moment so I'm not sure when I'll have a progress picture to show you, but hopefully one will be not too far off. I'm so enjoying seeing what everyone else is doing on their blogs. You're all so very talented.

Until next time...

Autumn Blessings

Chrissie has asked me whether I had any WIPS on the go in her last comment. Apart from BBD's Quaker Garden (which I should get back to sometime), I don't have any others. I do have a UFO that I started back in March 2007 though. It's a Shepherd's Bush kit called Autumn Blessings. It's a really lovely design and I'd like to finish it someday. The reason why I put it down was the colour of the wording in it. The picture shows it as a purple and the kit calls for Dried Pink Roses. Not purple at all. So it wasn't coming out the way I had visioned.

So my options are to continue with the Dried Pink Roses as pictured in the photos, or to pull the wording out and replace it with another colour. I went through what threads I have and came up with a limited edition GAS called Pale Aubergine. I don't know what you think. I'd appreciate your comments about my choices if you have an opinion. It may help with my decision. Then I might be able to get back into it.

Colours can change your whole outlook on a design. They're such an important part. Remember, if you have an idea on what I should do, or if you've stitched this one yourself, please let me know.

Silk threads

Since I'm not stitching at the moment (still!), I'll tell you about some threads I found while on my leave from work recently. I dropped by a needlework shop in a town nearby to see what they had. Not expecting anything grand because the embroidery shops here don't really stock much and charge the earth. So I was pleasantly surprised to find some silk threads from an Australian company called Cascade House who I haven't heard of before. Some of their threads were varigated and some were full colours. There was quite a range of colours and they were a very reasonable price. So since I don't get the chance to actually see the threads in person when I buy them usually, I thought I would lash out and get some.

Cascade House silk threads

They tend to look like wool in the photos, but believe me, they're silk.

My thread stash is starting to grow. I'm even looking at buying a narrow table with drawers in it to hold them in. I've seen one with six square drawers along the top that would hold my threads and fabrics really well. The bottom is open with a shelf to display quilts or other things on it. And of course I could put items on the top too. I love it and I'll probably end up getting it. I saw it at a shop in Yarragon last weekend, but I've also seen it in a shop where I live. I can get it in antique white, pink or green. I love any of these colours but I think I'll get the white. It's not the best time money wise to get something like this, but it's not too expensive and when you're looking to find a piece of furniture you never can. It's only times when you stumble upon these things that you can get them. I'll be sure to take a picture if I end up buying it.

New stash has arrived!

The order I was waiting on finally arrived in the mail today. There was a package waiting at my door when I got home from work. I was so glad to see it as it has taken just over two weeks to get to my address. It's come from a different part of the US than I usually order from, so that may be the reason. The shop I bought it from is in Pennsylvania. This is a state in the US I would love to visit someday. The countryside and Amish people would be so fascinating. Anyway, enough of this gabble. Here's all the things I got...

Atalie - Pochette a ciseaux Centauree chart

L'atelier des Fees brodeuses - Tea Time In A Stitcher's Garden chart

Une fee dans mon jardin - Fairy Rose Garden Stitcher's Treasure chart

Les Creations de Chrystelle - Cote Couture chart

Tournicoton - Petite Pause chart

Tralala Collection - La Maison au Chat chart

Tralala Collection - Maisons De Campagne chart

Tournicoton - Delicieux Jardin

Les Creations de Chrystelle - Magnet Chocolat chart

Some fat quarters of fabric and Les fils Pomme de Pin cotton thread in Au coin du feu

Tralala Collection - Jour de cueillette chart

Tralala Collection - Mere Noel chart

Tralala Collection - Dans mon jardin chart

Tralala Collection - Un ange passe... chart

Tralala Collection - Gardienne de chats chart

I also got some buttons and rose pins.

As you can see these charts aren't from American designers. They're mainly French with the odd one from Belgium from memory. I did buy them from the US though. A place called The Thread Basket. Valerie runs the shop and gives terrific service. She responds to emails quickly and will help you with anything (even translation with the charts). If there's anyone interested in these designs and they live in the US, then I recommend you buy them through The Thread Basket. I'm not sure if there's any other places that sell these French patterns in the US. You may have to do some hunting.

I really like the Chocolat design, it's so cute.

i

Like all the stash items I buy, I'm not sure when I'll get around to stitching them up, but at least the patterns are there for the time I get the urge to do them.

L@@K what I bought!

So here's all the bits and pieces I bought yesterday at Candleberry Country. I can never go into this shop and come out with nothing. My will power seems to wait outside while I go and drool over everything inside. Then I end up picking up this and picking up that and forgetting how much all of it is going to cost. I always feel so joyful when visiting here though and it's a place I never tire of.

I have put more photos in my Candleberry Country album if you'd like to take a look.

I never know when I will use the items I pick up over time. They're not usually for a particular thing, but I like to get them when I see them as they'll be gone in a short time. Nothing is available for a long time here - especially fabrics. Some of these I will use in time for my smaller cross stitching pieces to finish them off.

Hope you've enjoyed my shopping experience. I certainly did!

Candleberry Country

I had a lovely day with Mum today. The weather was mild and sunny, and we went to Yarragon for the day as planned. We had a look at some shops and had lunch at a nice eatery while we were there. Now I should mention, a trip to this town usually costs me a fortune because I end up buying way too much than I should, and today was no exception.

My favourite shop here is called Candleberry Country. It is chocked full of patchwork and stitchery supplies. Lots of primitive looking pieces can be found here too. I can spend hours in this shop and I think today two hours passed away while we were there. Mum finished looking before me and had a sit down while I still browsed. Mind you, while I was looking she would end up finding other things she wanted to buy (which she did!). She said at one stage that I better stop looking because it was costing her more and more money as time went on.:)

I'll take some pictures of what I bought tomorrow in the daylight. For now though, Natalie who owns Candleberry Country, was kind enough to let me take some photos of the shop. I have placed more in an album for you to look at if interested.

Yarragon township - West Gippsland, Victoria

Candleberry Country - Yarragon

Inside the shop

Class samples on sale

A sneak preview of what I purchased

Sweet Angel

This darling angel has been living in my house for a number of years now. Unfortunately I didn't make her myself, but she was a find in one of my favourite patchwork shops.


This shop I am probably going to visit on Saturday with my mother. We haven't been there for a while and it's about time we went to discover what wonderful treasures the owner has inside. The other reason for going is I've found out that samples of class projects made over the years are being sold off. This would comprise of a lot of country looking cloth dolls and pillows.

The shop is called Candleberry Country and is in Yarragon, Victoria, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes drive from my place. There are a few other craft shops there, so it's well worth the drive.

I can't wait to go there and see what other cuties I can find!

Offline and cats

Hi all! Over the weekend I've had no connection to the Internet. It's not until you don't have it that you realise how much you use it. So I haven't been overly thrilled by the situation. The problem was my modem wasn't connecting properly. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I managed to get it back online this morning somehow (don't ask me how), without even having to rely on a technician from my service provider to work on it. Mind you, I did speak to someone from them on Saturday to try to fix the problem and even they couldn't tell me what was wrong. Hence they were going to get a proper technician to look at it. Perhaps there were gremlins in the system...

So over the weekend I have taken some pictures of my two cats. I love them dearly and any opportunity to get a photo of them I take. My eldest, Sophie, was in an angelic mood sitting on some towels I had on the table ready to be put away. Charlotte was not in such a placid mood and therefore harder to get some good photos. Here's the results.

Sophie

Charlotte

My stitching is still on a go slow at the moment. Sorry I haven't got anything to report on there. Hopefully my next stash order will be here soon.

Ribbons

I haven't seemed to be able to get back into my stitching since my holiday, so I'm sad to say I have no progress photos to show. However, I was out at the shops the other day and came across these ribbons I thought would be handy for finishing work. They're only ribbons for wrapping gifts (well that's what they're sold as) but are strong enough to use with my needlework. I just loved the pink/brown tones to them.


I have also succumbed, and have finally done a big stash order. I should receive it in the mail next week so I will tell you all about it when it arrives. Let me just tell you none of it is from American designers. I'll leave you to ponder over that one...