Quiet morning to myself ...

... a rare occasion in this house LOL.

I took advantage of it and finished the last prize for the show, it's completed and in plenty of time, the show isn't till 30th August. I'm pleased with the way this turned out in the end after a lot of planning and wondering what to put on it. I hope the winner likes it!


I haven't any deadline stitching/exchanges to do right now, i'm all up to date apart from the latest parts of the Papillon SAL so kitted up a new start. I've chosen Elizabeth Designs ~ Autumn, the weather is more autumnal than summer and i really would like to have the set of 4 completed this year LOL. This week should see the SAL with Karen finished too, so another new start to look forward to as well!!

UFO night reminder for the girls at JA, hope you all have a long night of stitching planned **snigger**

It's Monday!

Can you spot the thief?
He's such a charming little chap, DH even made him a nice little box with a lift up lid (you can just see it at the top of the pic) so he could have his own store of nuts. We then bought a 'squirrel proof nut feeder' as described in nice large red writing on the label. Its made of stainless steel and the top screws on really tight, even i can't get it off, and it wasn't cheap either!!! It hangs on the end of a spindly branch in the pear tree. Today, when i go to hang my washing out there is said feeder on the floor, nuts all over the place and Mr Crafty Little Rodent (are squirrels rodents??) half way up the left hand side of the tree, nut in mouth, off to fill his box. How did he get it unscrewed? did he have help? are there fairies at the bottom of my garden who help squirrels? It was fun to sit and watch him chasing up and down the tree, pausing every so often to check that he was in the clear and the garden police weren't about to tie him to the tree and hold him to ransom LOL

I was looking for a stitching frame chart, it didn't turn up! Karen suggested using the CasaMia angel with the stitching frame, how clever is that girl? it was the perfect size and i put my hands on it immediately. Here's the front all finished after yesterdays stitching 1x1 adding the camera. I decided on an old fashioned type to add colour instead of the plain black/grey of a modern one. The sections included on the schedule for the show are painting/drawing, needlework, cross stitch, embroidery, knitting/macrame etc, photography then of course the obligatory 'any other craft not listed' i think this covers all of that. I just need to put the wording on the back and do the fiddly making up into the biscornu.

Some more good guesses for my knitted toy. No Elisa not a donkey or Rachael a spider. Christine i like yours, you are along the right lines but not quite....

Biscornu reveal day ..

For the biscornu exchange at JA we each received from the person we sent to and Rachel was my partner. She's a history teacher so i wanted something that looked a bit historical for her.

I looked at lots of designs for biscornus but couldn't quite find what i was looking for. Eventually i decided on this complimentary design
'Peacock Tapestry Ornament' by Teresa Wentzler. Fabric was 26ct oatmeal as i wanted it to be a little bigger than on the chart and threads were DMC. On the back i stitched both our names and the date but i forgot to take a pic of that side.

Rachel stitched these lovely butterflies for me and included the lovely WDW threads. Thank you Rachel it's really pretty and i love the green fabric you chose, i have a fondness for green. I've put it into my basket of stitched gifts.

Knitted toy - no correct guesses yet, 2 good answers though, not much longer and it'll be finished and the suspense will be over LOL

No LHN SAL stitching yesterday, i spent most of the day looking for a chart in a magazine that i know i have but it seems to have ran away to the safe place. I wanted it for the new start Midge was telling you about which is ...

... the last prize for the show for Best Exhibit in the hobbies/handicraft section and will accompany the new silver salver our stitching group has donated. Two of us always stitch a prize to go with the trophies as they have to be given back each year and its nice to have something to keep as a reminder of your win. In the past we've done aprons, journals, gardening gloves, caps and lots more things. You've already seen the bookmark for the cookery section. We thought a biscornu seemed a good thing for this one and in each corner will be a different hobby to incorporate whats in this section. So far there's a paintbox and a knitted sock.

Shari has kindly awarded me with a Kreativ Blogger Award. I am supposed to choose 5 blogs that i read but i can't. I'm going to be a rule breaker and award it to all the blogs i read. They all inspire me in different ways.
Here are the rules i should have followed:-
1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.
3. Nominate 5 blogs
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees

Rachael-you asked about the pelleted poultry manure, you can buy it at most garden centres and at Wilkinsons, it comes in a box and you just sprinkle it around the shrubs etc to feed them.

Thank you for stopping by, enjoy your weekend and Happy Stitching

Cat-ching your attention...

"When i stand on the footstool it means everyone should take note and listen to me, i am hungry or want the door opening, or maybe a nice cuddle... meeooww." Mum says i look like Yul Bryner in The King and I and expects me to say "no one should be higher than me"

I've seen her get something new out of the big cupboard and the nice coloured thread was all over the floor, i guess she's finished that exchange thing i saw when i was comfy on her knee. The fabric was out too, i tried to settle down to sleep on it but she moved me onto my cushion and mumbled something about cat fluff everywhere - spoilsport! I'll ask her to tell you what she's doing next time she's here .... Big purrs to you all from Midge

Sigh of relief ...

No stitching pics to show you as i have been busy with the redwork/monochrome exchange for JA. I re-checked the instructions and thankfully what i'd started will be fine. You know how it is, you suddenly get this thought and panic or in my case a DH who makes a smart alec comment when he asks what you are doing and tells you it might be wrong. I've also been knitting bits for my toy, it now has 4 arms - does that give you a better clue what it might be ....

Thought i would share my rambling rose with you, shes called Dorothy Perkins and has been in my garden for over 15 years. This is by far the best show of flowers we have ever had. I think it must be the wet weather we've had or its the poultry manure DH has been feeding it LOL