Thursday 10 December 2009

Another update


Here is Mary Wigham so far. I don't know how much more time I will be able to spend on her before Christmas but in the New Year I intend to get this finished ASAP.

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the Mary Wigham SAL for UK stitchers only. If you would like to participate in this gorgeous free design by the talented Jaqueline Holdsworth then you can email me at hazelhenry@hotmail.com stating "Mary Wigham" as the subject. I will then send you an invite so you can post pictures to this blog. More details about this SAL can be found here. If you are from another country then there will be other blogs set up for your specific country. See the Needleprint blog for details of who your leader is.

There is no pressure on completing this in a set time or working on it every month. However, as there are limited places on the blog, please only ask for an invite if you are willing to post updates regularly.

Look forward to meeting you.

Hazelx

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Visiting Harrogate

Hi

I'm attending Harrogate Stitch and Knit on the 19th. Just wondering if any other Mary Wigham stitchers will be there and want to meet up.

Jayne

Friday 9 October 2009

Sorry for not being around

Just to say a big "sorry" that I haven't been around very much on this blog. If I am honest poor Mary has not had a look in these last few months. My aim is to complete Beatrix within the year and then I can give my full attention to Mary. The Beatrix SAL has taken most of my attention this year and I probably "bit off more than I could chew" so to speak taking on this SAL too. Please forgive me. So from January, I will be posting a lot more regularly. Please someone tell me I am not the only one :-(

I love all the variations I am seeing and there is part of me thinking I might unpick and restart with some other colours. I am stitching the given dmcs over 1 on 25 count and it's tiny!

Anyway, please continue to post as and when you feel to. There is no pressure with this blog - it is just here for our own encouragement and motivation.

Hugsx

Tuesday 6 October 2009

Mary's taking part in Quaker Week

Hi all
I'm Meg and a quaker living in Scotland. I started Mary in August but due to health and camera problems I haven't got any pics to post yet. I'm stitching her on 14 count natural Yorkshire aida using the threads from the chart and have now completed 2 sides.
I just wanted to share with you all that this is Quaker Week in the UK and my Mary is visiting Edinburgh Quaker Meeting House every day this week for me to stitch in between the activities. I was asked to take her along as on Friday the day is all about Suffragettes and Suffragists and in particular Eliza Wigham who was an activist up here in Scotland.
Yesterday I was asked to see if I could find out if they were related in anyway. From my brief research last night I know that they are both descendants of Cuthbert Wigham from Cornwood in Northumberland. Our Mary is his grandaughter and I think that Eliza may be his great great grandaughter. But it's a very complicated family tree as Cuthbert had 5 children and, so far, I have found 19 grandchildren!
I hope to get some photos of Mary this week at the Meeting House and I'll let you know if I find the connection. You never know there might even be some Wighams around on Friday to meet Mary!

Tuesday 29 September 2009

The sides are finished

This weekend I finished the sides. Here is the latest progress pic.



Friday 11 September 2009

Mary's travels

Mary visited the Westmoreland Show yesterday.
She didn't see any of the cows or the sheep, and none of the Cumberland wrestlers. Could be because her owner was in the rural crafts tent demonstrating bobbin lace.
Thought I'd take her for the outing though.
Her next outing will be to the 'Not just lace fair' at Pudsey. If any other Mary Wigham stitches are going to be there do you fancy meeting for lunch and comparing stitches?

Monday 7 September 2009

More progress

Here is my latest progress pic.


Tuesday 1 September 2009

Sewing Mary Wigham

This Picture was taken at the top of the Mount, Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty. NZ. We have been here since 1973 and this is the first time that I have walked to the top, the scenery is amazing. I just felt that it was a fitting effort for
"Mary".

Friday 28 August 2009

A quick note

Just wanted to let you all know that I've just posted on my blog about Mary's travels while she was on holiday last week. It's a long post with lots of pics so I don't really want to repeat it here :)

Monday 24 August 2009

Another Sunday's worth of stitching


Another progress pic. Hopefully next weekend I should get on to the final side.

Monday 17 August 2009

Mary turns a corner

Having missed a couple of Sundays because of being on holiday, it was nice to pick up Mary again yesterday. I am now going along the bottom. I still need to decide what to do about the initials, I will probably miss them out all together or put the alphabet in their place. Someone else has done the alphabet (photo some where on Needleprint's blog) and it looked quite good.



Sunday 16 August 2009

Halfway through part 4


So far so good ! I am halfway through part 4 but have run out of steam somewhat. Anyway, here's a pic so far.

Saturday 1 August 2009

Cheryl's update

Here's my progress so far. I dont get much time to stitch so im gonna be slow on this one! Im not really keen on that yellow. I enjoy watching all your porjects grow. I love the colour changes some of you have made!

Monday 27 July 2009

First start - at last !


Have at last made a start on the MW sampler .... doing it in Needlepoint silks on 25 count evenweave


Mary takes a break


This is my progress so far. The Blue Lagoon has now been replaced and a couple more medallions completed. I am now off on holiday for a few weeks so Mary will have to take a break as she is too big to take with me.

Friday 24 July 2009

Late Starter


Hello from Morecambe.

I only discovered that this SAL was going on 3 weeks ago and so I started well behind most people. I've never done a sampler like this before even though I've been stitching for 30 years and have done a lot of cross stitch.

After seeing some of the beautiful version of the Mary Wigham I was inspired to do my own version and so it's on 28 count linen and I'm using Danish Flower Thread which is a favourite of mine. The choice of colour was straight forward...........it going to hang in my lounge so it's going to be mainly blues. I'm enjoying the challenge so far.

To do an Ackworth sampler is especially special as I was born and grew up close by in Wakefield, and had singing lessons from a man who was at the time head of music at Ackworth School.

Looking forward to seeing other peoples ideas

Jayne

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Part #1 complete



I completed part 1 at the weekend, and will probably start the second part tomorrow, tonight we are having a family night out, a meal and then the new Harry Potter movie :-) so no stitching at all for me tonight.
Happy stitching:-)
Posted by Picasa

Thursday 16 July 2009

Spam???

I got an email today from blogger saying that this blog has been marked as a spam blog!!! They had locked it so you can't post. I am hoping it is all resolved now. No idea how that happened. Hope no-one else has had problems posting. Anyway, here's to an easy rest of the month!
xx

Mary Wigham Biscornu

Mary Wigham Biscornu
I thought I would show you my latest creation, a biscornu based on two of the motifs from the Mary Wigham sampler. The biscornu is stitched using the fabric and floss colours suggested on the original chart. The centre and corner motifs of the medallion side were taken from elsewhere on the sampler as were the corner motifs on the flower side.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Mary Wigham In The Black Country!

Hello! (waves), I'm Maggie and i live in the West Midlands, hence the title of my post! My apologies for being such a late starter. I have been watching everyone's progress with interest, it's really great how many different interpretation of colours there are out there! My colour choice has come from a couple of the French ladies (gentlemen??) i came across while surfing, i was so drawn to them and they match my house so well that i had to go with them :-)
I'm not sure of the DMC numbers of the French ladies, i just went in search of 2 browns and a red (ish) that went together and i'm liking the effect so far. I know that most of you are wayyyy in front, and i will do my best to catch up but, be warned, i am a s l o w stitcher, lol

Monday 13 July 2009

Mary in Llangollen ....

... Where Wales welcomes the world!

This weekend, as most weekends, Mary went to Llangollen in North Wales. However this weekend was different as it was the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

In the spirit of this truly international SAL I decided to take a picture of Mary sitting on a bench on Platform 2 of Llangollen Station. In the background is the bridge which has been given the title 'one of the wonders of the Welsh world' with flags from other nations flying from it.


This is what she looks like after her international weekend.

Mary Wigham
Not as much progress as I would have liked but I have now removed and re stitched the medallion done in 'Blue Lagoon' which I think is a big improvement.

2nd Page done


It's too big for the scanner now so I have had to take a photograph and my camera skills are non existant therefore the colours are a bit off. It's coming on nicely and I am really enjoying the sampler.

Sunday 12 July 2009

Finally made a start!

I can't believe how late I am starting this piece - the fabric I ordered took almost two weeks before it was despatched, then went awol in the post, so I had to wait for another to be sent out........ Anyway, finally got my fabric on Thursday, and made a start with the first page. Hoping I'll be catcching you all up soon!



Saturday 11 July 2009

Mary Wighams Sampler

If you add the three xsts which are on the correspondening R/H side it will bring the motive up to the L/H side and it looks quite alright, I do hope that this is clear .Helenah

Part 6

is ready to download. Sorry if I'm a bit late with this one! x

Late Start from me....



I was a late starter doing the Mary Wigham SAL because I had to wait to get to my LNS, and also because of the bandwidth problem to get the pattern, but I have made it here now.
My LNS is not particularly good for larger amounts of fabric, and so I was limited to doing it on the only colour (mushroom) 28ct evenweave they had. I have chosen to do the pattern in 4 DMC colours, Chocolate 779, Coffee 841, Muted pink 152, and Ecru.

I started at the top left motif and then saw that it was not positioned precisely in the corner, so had to frog the motif, and start all over. I was so eager to forge on with the first part of the SAL,
and the fact that I am used to starting in the centre I didn't at first really see that the first motif was not exactly in the corner. Silly me!
I have noticed that the top right motif on the pattern is not symmetrical, probably because there was some damage on the original sampler, so charting was made difficult. I have looked at other ladies pics on here to see what they have done about it, and some have tried to put the pattern right where the flower joins the outer edging, and some have done it exactly as the pattern shows to do it. Now I am in a quandary as to which way to stitch it. Nevertheless I love this pattern.

Monday 6 July 2009

I think the 'Blue Lagoon' has got to go!

Here is my progress so far.

Mary Wigham
I had a scary moment with Mary last weekend which you can read about on my main blog here.

Having stitched some more I think I will be frogging the medallion done in Blue Lagoon. I might still use that colour for some of the flowers, I don't know yet. Just out of interest the floss I am using, Caron Wildflowers, comes in 33 metre skeins, you cannot split the floss. Now I'm really stingy with my orts but I have just started my second skein!

Mary Wighams Sampler

As an Expat, I feel very privilaged to be a member of your blog.I am stitching mine in the original colours on 25 count laguna 1 over 1. and I am really enjoying it. I will be stitching mine in Papamoa, Bay of Plenty New Zealand.

Saturday 4 July 2009

First page done !


Finished the first page tonight, it's starting to come together ! I am really enjoying stitching on Mary and wish I had more time to devote to her, ahh, if only I didn't have to work lol.
How is everyone else doing ?
Jen F

Charts available

The charts are now back to normal and available from Needleprint blog. Please go there to get the latest instalments. I think we're up to part 5 although I'm no where near that far. Link in the welcome message at the top of blog. x

Tuesday 30 June 2009

Update

I took MW with me to Woolfest last week and made really good progress on her
I also took pics of the places I've stitched her in and thought I'd share them here as well as emailing them to Jacqueline.
This one's not that unusal, in the caravan
But this one is :)
This is the cattle pen we had for our stand in the middle of a Livestock market


Another newbie

Hi my name is Shelley. I live in norfolk, I am 50 years young and have 3 children 8,10 and 14 and a wonderful hubby Fraser who has been a rock for me over the last few years when I have had many health problems. I breed miniature dachshunds and keep lots of animals and birds.
I have been stitching about 5 years now and although mainly into wildlife and botanical designs have recently started samplers and am hooked so this is a lovely one for me . I hope to use the original colours but haven't decided on a fabric yet. Hello to all and I look forward to seeing everyones efforts.

Needleprint downloads

Hi all. Just a quickie in case you were getting worried about how to get hold of the next parts of the sampler. Jacqueline said there were double the amount of downloads and it exceeded her bandwidth limit but she is not at home right now to change the server so she will do it in a few days when she gets home. They should be back soon enough. Keep checking the Needleprint blog. Thanks for your patience. Wips are looking great! Keep up the good work.

First Progress Pic

Well here it is my first picture of progress I am stitching it on Moss Green 28ct Brittney with Victorian Motto Threads, most of the finished motif was actually stitched on a day trip to the Spinning Jenny with Hazel

Monday 29 June 2009

Another newbie

I'm Abi, another waiting for the downloads to start working again! Thanks so much for the invite - I can't wait to get going on this one!

Hi Everyone

Thank you for the invitation Hazel. I have been dying to do the Mary Wigham Sal, but was too long in signing up for it. Now I find that the Needleprint blogsite has exceeded its bandwidth, so I am going to be way behind all of you.

I am Dawn and live in Devon with my DH and DS aged 13. I haven't decided yet as to whether I will stitch the pattern in its original colours, or whether I shall stitch it all in one color. Cloth will be a 28ct, but as yet haven't decided which linen I will use.

All of the pics so far look wonderful. Just can't wait to get started.
Hi, I'm Val, thanks for the invite .... am very keen to start this one but will have to wait until the downloads are available ....

Thursday 25 June 2009

First update


Here's a scan of my Mary Wigham so far. I started Saturday evening and have managed to do a little each evening after work. Progress is slow but sure and I like how it's looking so far.
Jen F

Hi everyone

Thanks for the invite Hazel, I'm Lisa, and I live in Scotland with my DH, 3 kids, and my 3yr springer spaniel. I'm really looking forward to starting this sal, although I'll be a good bit behind some of you, I've decided on the fabric, it will be 25ct lugana, stitching 1 x 1, and I will be using the listed DMC threads
I love looking at everyone's progress, you are all doing great
I hope to get started as soon as my materials arrive

Monday 22 June 2009

Further progress

Here is Mary after stitching yesterday. I managed to complete two motifs. I have corrected the motifs to make them symmetrical whilst trying to stick as close as possible to the real thing.

Mary Wigham SAL


Sunday 21 June 2009

Hello everyone and my first scan.


Thanks Hazel for the invite. I began the lovely Mary Wigham last night and this is my progress so far. I am using 32ct Belfast linen and various different brands of floss but still keeping the original colour scheme.
To introduce myself, my name is Jen but I see we already have a Jen on board so I shall call myself Jen F. I am 55 years of age, happily married for the past 31 years. We live, together with our Boxer dog, on the east coast. I work full time as an office manager for an ice cream company and in my time off love to stitch, knit and walk my lovely dog. I have been stitching on and off for the past 10 years or so and love all different designs, samplers, Mirabilia, Teresa Wentzler etc.
All for now, I am enjoying seeing all the different variations of Mary.
Jen F

Saturday 20 June 2009

Hazel's Progress

DSC04735

Here's my small progress. I have a lot going on right now lol. I am stitching this on 25 count light mocha lugana and using the called for dmc flosses. Love it but it is slow going!

xx

Friday 19 June 2009

A quick update

I have not been able to stitch much this week for one reason or another but I had a good session over the weekend. My internet link went down so all I could do was stitch (and cook, and clean, and taxi, etc etc!)


As you can see, I am not very far on as I am a slow stitcher but this is most enjoyable to stitch. I just love it. I love watching everyone's progress on this and as I see the next parts being stitched it encourages me to get on and stitch more! Hope everyone has had a successful week and that I will have more to report next time.



Thursday 18 June 2009

Grrrrrrr!!

I'm so sorry, I'm getting further and further behind ;(
I started late because of holidays, then had to order fabric............... hasn't arrived yet, and I'm chomping at the bit to join everyone. Hope I'll manage a progress picture next week!
Great work everyone, they're looking fantastic

Tuesday 16 June 2009

First progress pic


I really didn't like the original fabric I picked out so last weekend while at a GTG I did a few floss toss' on Sparklies fabrics and this one won. It arrived this morning so I made a start (again!)

Monday 15 June 2009

I'm not so sure about this!

In my last progress post I mentioned that I was stitching Mary in Caron Wildflowers, Blueberry. Thinking that this might be too dark I ordered two other colours in the same range. They were Azure Skies and Blue Lagoon. I have stitched most of the top left motif in Blue Lagoon. Now, I like the colour, but the colour changes are not very subtle and I do not know if it 'looks right'. So, I'm not going to finish this motif just yet but stitch the next one in the Blueberry and see how I feel.

I have enjoyed stitching this despite my reservations about the colour. Here it is so far.

Mary Wigham

Thursday 11 June 2009

Sorry I'm late!

Hello girls, I'm just signing in to say I'm sorry I'm late joining - I saw the initial post about this wonderful SAL the week before we went on holiday, and missed the first week. I've downloaded the first two parts today, and hope to get started over the weekend[unless I need to go and buy fabric......]
I'm Jacky, aka hadenmaiden, and I'm a stitchaholic! Sounds like a cue for an AA meeting, or maybe a S[titchaholics]A meeting ;) Anyway, looking forward to joining you, from just down the road from Ackworth.

Mary Wigham Part 2

is ready to download!

x

Wednesday 10 June 2009

I've started

I had my delivery of supplies today.



It's not alot I know but I only had 20 minutes before the school run and I was desperate to start. I am stitching on 28ct and this part is in DMC 3041.

An interesting observation

Whilst in blogland this morning I came upon this post by stitch-creations. It was through her blog that I found out about this SAL. It is about errors in the chart. On closer inspection I found one on the top left motif but have not investigated further. My initial thoughts are that I will do what she is doing and make the motifs symetrical as I am not making a replica of the original sampler as I am using different colours. What do other people think?

Tuesday 9 June 2009

A short introduction

Thank you for letting me join you all. I live in north Surrey with my husband, teenage son and 4 cats. I have been stitching for almost 4 years and am totally addicted! I discovered the Ackworth samplers just over a year ago but this is the first time I have actusally started stitching one! I have a few of the patterns but have not had the confidence start one before but, with your encouragement, I am sure I shall not only be able to start Mary but finish her too! I am a very slow stitcher though.

I am stitching the sampler on 28 count evenweave as my eyes are not as good as they used to be! I decided to dye the fabric myself as I could not get the colour I wanted. I am pleased with the result, particularly as it was the first time I have tried it! Stitching is going quite well; only needed to frog a couple of small patches so far. The sense of achievement when I finish a small section and it meets up where it is supposed to with the area already stitched is immense! I am using the flosses as charted.

I am looking forward to watching everyone else's progress on this wonderful sampler. This is my progress so far:

Monday 8 June 2009

Hi from Scotland

Hi everyone! Im excited to join in this SAL. Im dying to start but still need to order my fabric. I am Cheryl, 28 years old, live on the West coast of Scotland with my DH and 20week old baby boy. Stitching time is severely limited so i will probably be sloooow but hoping to finish this one in the next 10years LOL My blog can be found here Look forward to stitching along (all be it way behind) with you all

I've started!

When I came home last night, from a weekend away, my parcel from Sew and So had arrived! So, whilst the final of The Apprentice was on I made a start. Here it is.

Mary Wigham SAL

I have chosen the suggested 32 ct Permin lambswool, at the moment like cardboard and Caron Wildflowers, Blueberry. The colour changes with the Blueberry are really subtle but I think you can see them on the photo. I am worried that doing the whole sampler in one colour might be too much (dark). This afternoon, having sent a 'I need help' email to one of my main blog followers who is a member of the USA version of this SAL, to see if there were any 'rules' re colours and how do you choose which motif to do in what, which, there aren't apparently, I decided to go for another colour, just in case, and rang Sew and So. I had the colours upon the screen and the nice Sew and So lady went into their 'Floss Room' and looked at the real thing to confirm if they went with the Blueberry or not. In the end I ordered two more blends but have forgotten their names!

Hope to see some progress pics from everyone else soon. Happy Stitching!

Sunday 7 June 2009

Introductions

Hello, my name is Clare and I have been stitching since 1988. I have always had a love of samlpers, and have been taking a keen interest in the Quaker designs. There are some beautiful examples about, and it is lovely to beable to participate in a SAL to create one of my own. I am looking forward to seeing everyones progress, not only in the UK but worldwide too!
I live in beautiful Teesdale, the hidden corner of Britain, as our tourist office would say. I am married, with two children, DD 22, who flew the nest last year, and DS 14. I work part time, but would love to beable to retire, to fill my days with stitching, visiting and gardening - well a girl can dream can't she!

Thursday 4 June 2009

About Me

Hi, I'm Jen. I live near Preston in Lancashire.

I am so pleased to be a part of this SAL. This will be my first big Quaker. I did the pin-cube from stitch- creations and really enjoyed it. Yesterday I spent ages trying to decide what fabric and floss colour to use. In the end I opted for the 32 count lambswool and blueberry wildflowers from the Caron Collection. These are now on order from Sew and So.

My main blog is at http://speedystitcher.blogspot.com if you fancy looking at some of the other stuff I have done/am doing.

About Me

Hi there I am Laura. I have been stitching for about 11 years now but only seriously got into it about 4 years ago. Like many others I started with cute designs then I found blogs lol and it opened a whole new world for me.
I like quaker designs and was gutted that I missed out on the BP sal. Can't wait to start this and chat to you all in the process.

Laura x

Wednesday 3 June 2009

About Me

My name is Pat and I am a 64 yr old Widow from Lancashire. I have been stitching for about 8 years and have just recently become interested in Quaker samplers.
I am at present doing a Mary Busby SAL with Lindsay of the earlier post and I love it. I did not think I would be able to cope with 40 count, but I find it brilliant to stitch on
I am really looking forward to this latest SAL

offline for a couple of days

Just to let you know I will be offline for a couple of days so if you request an invite don't panic if you don't hear anything. Should be back online by Sunday eve. xx

A Quick Introduction

Hi everyone, I'm Maxine I'm 44yrs old and live with my OH Mark in North Lincolnshire, although I'm originally a Yorkshire lass. We've just celebrated our 11th anniversary of when we first met (we're not married...yet ;) ). I have four children, Ian who is my angel in heaven, Leanne 24 in August, Gary 22, and my 'baby' Jennifer 19 in October. We have two dogs called Wallace and Gromit (they're Min Pin Poms) we've had them since they were 8 weeks old and they're 1 now. I've been stitching for 9 yrs and at first loved stitching small cute designs. Now I stitch anything that grabs me, the bigger the better. I stitch a variety of designs and designers but I absolutely love stitching dragons, faeries, angels and teddies and after having no interest whatsoever in samplers I am now completely hooked on them.
I'm looking forward to stitching this quaker sampler and have to thank Hazel for running this blog. I have only just found out about this SAL so need to get sorting fabric and threads....I think I'll stick with the colours listed but not sure what count fabric to go with yet! If you want to know anything else about me then please visit my blog.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

About Me

Hi I'm Tracy I am 29 and live in Newcastle upon Tyne and I've been stitching for about 13 years now, I am separated and living alone with my two cats (which I love), I enjoy stitching (lol), music, shopping and reading (when I get time).

Thank you to Hazel for running the UK lead on this SAL I know she is a very busy bee, we have been friends for a couple of years now a chance meeting online.

I haven't decided on fabric yet although I do have a lovely piece of green brittney which I need to check the size of, colours are still undecided maybe something to accompany my BP.

Happy Stitching xx
Hi I am Janet. I have been stitching for a number of years and have attended both of the events at Ackworth. I am looking forward to stitching Mary.

About Me

Hi I am Rachael, been stitching for about 7 years, started with doing the small kits on Magazines,and like most people the cutesy designs although only really got into it just over the last 2 or 3 years with the introduction of the Internet, and finding all the wonderful designers from all over the world.

I don't think I have a favourite theme I tend to stitch whatever catches my eye,and I prefer the Evenweave fabrics to Aida, very rarely do I use Aida now. I just love Hand dyed fabric and threads. Obviously the most recent thing to catch my eye is Quaker samplers, I am taking part in the Beatrix Potter SAL, which I love but the fabric I choose is a pain to stitch on!
Last year I learnt how to do Hardanger so that is something else I love doing.
My blog is here if you would like to have a look.

Right the other stuff about me~
I am 34, married to Andy,we have three children Reece(12),Lucy(9) and Jack(7)
I look forward to seeing everyone's progress on this SAL

As for Mary, I haven't decided on fabric or threads yet!

About Me

Hello and Thank You Hazel for the invite.

I'm Lindsay and I've been stitching for 18 years now, I started with the second issue of Needlecraft (anyone remember that magazine?) which I'd bought because it had Patchwork in it and decided to try the little cover kit on it. 18 years later I still haven't finished the quilt I was working on and never will because it was for my DH and we seperated 3 years ago lol.

I'm a big TW fan and will always love Dragons and Carousels but my taste changes every couple of years. Right now I'm very much into Quaker samplers so this ideal for me although with 46 WIPS right now and a desire to cut that number I really should resist and work on what I already have but I'm weak :)

And now for the general info about me......
I'm 37 and have 2 Daughters, 1 Grandson, a Cat and a Water Dragon (type of lizard). I look after my Mum who's disabled but right now my Dad is doing it as he got made redundant at the end of last week :( so I get a week off before he goes in to have his knee worked on.

As for Mary I'll be using the listed DMC but I've no idea about fabric yet, I'm going to go and play in my stash as soon as I get off here to see what I've got that's big enough otherwise I feel a trip to Willow Fabrics coming on :)

Oh and if you want to know anything else about me ask, I don't bite

Monday 1 June 2009

About me...

Just a little note to say hello. Most folks know me as Quietly Stitching and know my stitching habits but for those who don't:

My love of stitching started about 18 years ago where my first kit was a Country Companions kit. I dipped in and out of stitching for a few years and then got the bug really bad when I got on the internet.

The internet opened up a whole new world of stitching to me, especially the US market and also showed me various ways of finishing that I had never come across before.

I managed an msn stitching group for a while but things turned a tad nasty and someone who I trusted, who I made a manager, actually booted me off my own site! This put me off the internet for a while but then after a few years I discovered blogging and some of the nicest people in the world!!

The last few years have been amazing. I have been involved in exchanges, meet ups, stitch alongs, no round robins as yet (too scared), and met some lovely people in real life who have been and still are great friends. I have learned so much and added to my skills, different techniques, finishings and stitches. My stash has grown tremendously and I am an avid collector of charts and threads and fabrics.

My tastes have changed somewhat since my first CC kit. I moved from cutesy designs to Mirabilia to more traditions samplers and folksy designs from the US. I have a particular fondness for Carriage House Samplings and Exampler Dames and Blackbird Designs and Needleprint of course. I also like french designs too.

I am currently running the Beatrix Potter SAL which is full. This has been a wonderful experience and I love seeing all the different pieces together. The girls are working ever so hard on it and "these" samplers are no small feat! I can tell you from experience they are no walk in the park. This is why it is so good to be part of an SAL so you can watch and be encouraged by each others' progress. That is what this SAL is about. I am honoured to have been asked to host this blog for the UK and will strive to encourage everyone to keep going with Mary.

Speaking of Mary, I will be using the given, specified threads on either 36 or 40 count fabric over 2. Not decided which yet.

Other info about me: Married with two children - daughter aged 6 and son aged 16 months. Christian. Live a simple life. I am a stay at home mum. I used to teach secondary English but gave up to look after my dd.

So that's me. What about you??

Please post us a little about yourself so we can get to know one another a little better. xx