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

Some new threads from England

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for all the offers of help with my travel plans and it is lovely to hear from others that will be at the Seminar, I will contact you shortly with a few questions. At the moment I have given the travel agent a rough idea of where we would like to go and she is working on a plan at the moment, so soon as I have the basics we can start to add a little more substance to the trip. Here is how it is at the moment. Arrive LAX travel to Philadelphia a couple of days before the seminar, week at seminar then on to Boston, travel around neighbouring states then to Quebec, train to around Niagara Falls area, back to New York then LAX and back to Australia. If this doesn't work we may look at going South towards Virginia and Washington DC areas. There is just so much to see so something will have to be missed out I am sure.


I had a lovely parcel arrive from England this week from my friend Dee. Here is what was inside.

Overdyed threads from 21stCenturyyarns.com

The threads are from 21stcenturyyarns.com I bought a few of these threads about 8 years ago and was very impressed with the quality and colours. the 11 threads on the left are overdyed cotton which have 4 plys to each strand. The twist is tight and very even so when stitched it sits beautifully on the linen. The 4 threads on the right are 3 weights of overdyed perle cotton and 1 overdyed chenille. The colours range is fantastic with names like Kingfisher, Heather and Harvest. They also dye fabric, so take a peek at their website when you have a minute but please don't blame me if the exceed the budget. Enjoy. 


Had some good news this week. My submission for a project to be published in Inspirations magazine has been accepted and will be published in Issue 76 in October 2012.


Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

A bit of this and that

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much to the girls who answered my query on travelling in the Mid Atlantic states. I am in a haze there is just so much to see. Having looked at Boston's accommodation rates this idea of staying in Boston any length of time needs a little rethink and replanning, so off to the travel agent today to try and work out something that will fit into our available timetable and budget.
Anne and I are waiting for the next part of the seminar experience to arrive. The kit for the pre-class work. I am not sure when it will arrive but we hope it will be soon. I have visions of still stitching the night before we leave for the flights to USA, hopefully I will be a little more organised than that, but you know how it goes sometimes (best intentions etc).
I have been stitching a little but these travel plans have stalled my progress so not much to show for the few hours available. So here is a photo of the beautiful rose in my back garden.

Rose Arbor, my garden on a beautiful day

Bye the bye Cindy your parcel is winging its way to you. It generally takes about 2 weeks for post from Australia to the USA enjoy.


Bye for now, Carol

A near finish

Hi everyone,
Wow I have been a busy little person this week. After booking the airfares and accommodation for the Philadelphia ANG Seminar and finalising some notes for a submission to a magazine I finally found some time to stitch a little on Tweensy Weensy, here is the progress so far. Its a near finish but I still have to add the Painters names to the squares to complete it.

Note to self: Do not get ahead in a cyberclass as this will create unstitching.


Ohhh Dear. Square 3 of my FMTM will have to be undone. If I had waited for the class notes which tell you to reduce the number of threads on the edge stitches of part of the pattern so that it does not encroach on the next block I could have saved myself this extra work. Well this is why we take classes isnt it? This will be a lesson well learned. There is not much more of my other cyberclass Moorish Splendor yet but it is planned that I work on that one later this week, so there should be some more photos soon.


A big thank you to Carol for her bear naming help. There will be a surprise package posted this week to your home. It was so nice to hear you have a clementine tree in your yard as Clementine is the name I decided suited my special bear the best.


Also it was great to hear from Nancy about attending the ANG Seminar, I hope to catch up and have coffee with as many people as I can while there. 


Does anyone have any ideas about travelling in the neighboring states around Boston? My DH and I love scenery and I think this area would be just right for us. Is it necessary to hire a car to get about the Mid Atlantic states? Any help would be appreciated.


Happy stitching, bye for now Carol