Back to block 3 of FMTM cyberclass

Hi everyone,
Yep I finally bit the bullet and undid block number three. It knew it would take as long to undo as it did to stitch so I had been procrastinating for quite a while. Funny though once undone the restitching wasn't as painful as I expected and it hummed along quite nicely. Here is the completed block 3.

Block 3 From Molehill to Mountain, Pam Gardner
Cyberclass thru Scarlet Thread

And this is how it looks so far.

Progress So Far - the paper is hiding
the next block try-out

The next block is lots of eyelets and stars with the background colour green. I have been surprised how the light purple I chose turns to a pink when combined with the other colours, but I am not going to change it now, I will just keep this in mind for later projects and add it to my must remember list. 


Happy stitching from a cold and rainy Australian day, bye for now Carol

In the mood for tiny stitching

Hi everyone,
Yes I have been quietly stitching and here is a little proof. I thought while I was in the teeny tiny mode I had better stitch up some pieces ready for our Christmas exchanges. The little biscornu is stitched on 28count lugana with sparkly bits added to the fabric, the tiny strawberries are stitched on 35count linen with one strand of overdyed Threadworx cotton and the Green and blue  piece is a Keslyns design Turquoise Gold stitched on 28count coloured lugana with overdyed cotton one over one. The little pincushion hiding behind the tiny strawberries is my latest release chart called Circles which comes with the instructions for a scissor keeper as well as the pincushion.

Pincushion- Copyright Carol J Young Designs 2012

Today was the final trip to the travel agent for details. We have had to book on a coach-tour to be able to fit in everything we wanted to see at a reasonable price that fitted our budget. So Philadelphia here we come. Woo Hoo. My to-do list is getting smaller so there may be some catch up canvas stitching coming up very soon.
Here are some lovely threads that came in the mail recently, my threads of the month club from Stitchers Workshop and a skein of Painters Thread from Dee in the UK.

Lots of goodies to play with for a confirmed Threadaholic.
Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Fantastic exhibit from Westtown School during ANG Seminar time

Hi everyone,


Just a quick note.


While I was investigating Philadelphia I came across an exhibition of Quaker samplers, pinballs etc on display while the ANG Seminar is being held. The exhibition is call "In Stitches" and is being held at the West Chester Historical Society building in West Chester 25 miles from Philadelphia. Ellen from the Society let me know that they can be visited using public transport from 69th Street bus stop. The opening hours are Wednesday to Saturday 9.30 to 4.30pm until the 7th September 2012. For a sneek peak Ellen Chester of "With my Needle" fame has posted room photos of the pieces after gaining permission from the organisers. Click here to take a look. This is a once in a lifetime chance to see many of the Quaker samplers from the Westtown School all in one place. If you are attending the Seminar see if you can find the time and let others know of this delight.


Bye for now, Carol

Canvas or linen? Why not both

Hi everyone,
Do you have the same internal arguments with yourself about what you want to stitch. I find being torn between counted canvas and linen stitching quite exhausting sometimes. Well there is a solution.

Stitchers Web, Keslyns
28count hand dyed evenweave
Threads by Stef Francis

Thanks to Lynda Keske of Keslyn's here is a pattern using 'Hilton stitches' on 28 count hand coloured Lugana fabric. If you add a medium weight iron on interfacing to the back of the fabric and use a sharp needle to stitch the piece it helps the linen/evenweave stay unbuckled when removed from the hoop for framing etc. This design I stitched using a 6" bound embroidery hoop. The design size is 4.46" x 4.50" stitched with one strand of thread over one fabric thread. The whole piece only took 1 week to stitch and was great nighttime stitching. I enjoyed this one so much I have already started the next piece called Turquoise Gold by Keslyn's.


The weather in South Australia has turned really cold, nights are around 4degC and days about 12degC, so great weather for snuggling up in your stitching chair in a warm room with the cat/dog by your side for company,(without guilt).


My travel plans are still ongoing. The agent that was handling my file moved to another job so I have had to backtrack and work with another agent. So I hope to have some more news soon and a better idea of a timetable so I can pad it out more. The Australian dollar is taking a downward dip so I have decided to stop looking at the exchange rate as it adds more to the cost of everything we chose. Oh well, money is made to go around and if we worried too much about such things we would never do anything and miss out on so much. 


PS. I still haven't undone my third square of FMTM. Maybe tonight?


Bye for now, Happy stitching, Carol