Quaker Garden

Lately I've been getting interested in Blackbird Designs' charts. The more I hunt the net looking at what they've released, the more I like them. Their Loose Feathers designs I like too, but they're only available for a certain time I've discovered, then they get retired and hard to find.

This is the case with the #19 pattern called Quaker Garden. I've checked out a few needlework shops in the US on the net and none of them have it anymore. So I Googled and came up with a place in Australia funnily enough, called The Home Patch, that had the chart on their site. So I went ahead and ordered it, and when more than a week had passed with no sign of the chart arriving in the mail, I gave them a call to find out what was going on. They said they were out of stock on it but were waiting for more to come in. Well, I told them I didn't like their chances of getting it as I thought it was an out of print design. I ended the call with them telling me they would let me know when it arrived (which I was assured wouldn't be too long). So the next day they left a message on my home phone telling me it had arrived and they were putting it in the mail that day (Friday 2 May).

BLACKBIRD DESIGNS - Quaker Garden

Today I got home and what should I see in my letter box? My Quaker Garden chart! I still can't believe it arrived. It's been selling on eBay for more than I paid for it here. I'm really happy with the pattern and have even got a piece of fabric just right for it. I bought it while I was on leave in March when I went out to a few needlework shops one day. It's a 32ct Permin Linen in the colour of Prairie Grain. Looks like a similar colour to what you see in the chart photo. Now all I have to do is get a few threads for it and it's ready to go.

Quaker Garden with 32ct Permin Linen Prairie Grain

There's so many patterns I have that I'm wanting to stitch, but can't do them all at once. This one though, I may start in the near future.

I love receiving stash in the mail, it just makes my day!