Holidays and Stitching

We've had a lovely break, We stayed in a cottage on the National Trust Estate of Coleton Fishacre - Kingswear, Devon. It was lovely as there was a bottle of milk, tea bags/coffee and biscuits for you to have a drink on arrival, it was so quiet too. Greenway was close by in Dartmouth which was the holiday home of Agatha Christie, it is now owned by the National Trust. You have to pre-book parking if going by car but it was a fascinating house to visit. We crossed the river Dart by the historic ferry and wandered the streets of Dartmouth. We lunched in the station restaurant and on our walk along the sea front stopped to watch the children crab fishing. Babbacombe model village was a very interesting place to visit, they have even created the 2012 London Olympics construction site amongst all the other dioramas. On our final day we visited Brixham and stopped for lunch at Tiffany's. Al is an Audrey Hepburn fan so was delighted to have "Breakfast at Tiffanys"

My Holiday Stitching

I have stitched a gift for a friend who is leaving work to study to become a Vicar in the Church of England. I chose the prayer by Saint Francis of Assisi - Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace as the verse with other motifs of family and trains. I also stitched the two sides of a stork scissor Biscornu from a pattern by xstitch happy I haven't found time yet to sew it together. Then I moved on to a biscornu pattern I had saved from The world of Cross Stitching Magazine, that is also awaiting stitching up. Finally I designed a biscornu as a gift for one of Em's Guiders as she got married in July and Em together with five other guides formed a Guard of Honour with arches of ivy as the Bride and Groom came out of church. I used Jo Verso's hearts for the centre but the rest of the designs were mine. (I have blanked out the surnames to protect their privacy) The reverse will have the girls names and the ivy clad arches that they held. Finally I have started to stitch Mary Wigham Quaker Sampler from Ackworth School, Yorkshire. The pattern and SAL can be found on the Needleprint Blog.

A Busy Week

It has been a busy week and I hadn't realised that my previous post was last Tuesday. The first of my friends at school, who is expecting her baby this week, finished last Friday. So, we had a get together at lunchtime for a gift giving. I slipped in the star blanket I had made earlier in the year. It was a hit and well recieved which was a huge relief. Emily lost a tooth and had a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Each time the Tooth Fairy visits, Em always leaves her a little letter and this time was no exception. The Tooth Fairy duly collected the tooth and left a £1 together with a reply to Em's note. Now, all the fairies that have visited so far have had pets. In the last few years we've had: Sarah & her cat Toffee; Gabriella & her puppy Ralph; Lady Lucy and her pet sheep Lucy Lamb and, this visit Serena and her pet puppy Charlie, a cocker spaniel. All was fine until she let slip that not all fairies have pets some have teddybears to keep them company on their night time journeys. Em turned to me and said I think this is a Mummy fairy (oops, I'm a big fan of TB's). I smiled and said me? A fairy? I'm too big! I wouldn't fit the costume. It made her giggle!

On Tuesday we returned to the hospital to see the consultant following on from the biopsy at the end of June. Although the results haven't returned from the hospital in London - have they lost them? We have established during the holidays that it was dairy produce making Em so ill, as soon as we stopped dairy foods the problem stopped immediately. So, Em has been discharged, hoorah!
Being dairy free may seem easy but it is fraught with problems. She can't eat butter, milk, yoghurt, cream or creme fraiche from cow, sheep or goat due to the lactose content. But then there's all the hidden dairy in sauces, cooked meats (why?) cakes, biscuits, pastry etc.
We have found soya: milk, desserts, yoghurts, Parmesan cheese substitute, free from dairy cakes and biscuits in the supermarkets. But the most difficult thing has been cheese Soya cheesly has not been a success because Em doesn't like the texture. So if you know of a different cheese which is dairy free, we'd love to know please.
Finally some stitching, I have made another Biscornu. This time its slightly larger than a 50p coin and is my own design using the DMC variegated threads. Happy crafting Jane x

Stitching and Giveaway

In our old house I had a sewing corner which I shared with the model railway, then the railway expanded, and I put my machine in the cupboard! Emily arrived and my machine had to live in the bottom of the wardrobe as the hobbie room became her bedroom. When Alice moved out I put a small table into her room and used that as my sewing base. But now Tony has put up some shelves for me to keep my sewing on (the rest is in the cupboard) It is lovely and so much easier having everything to hand. I didn't convert the whole room as I still want Ali to come home to visit (when she's not at Uni or my parents) and I share the room with Em's computer, and the model railway is hiding on a board under the bed :-)

During the last few weeks of holiday I have been cross stitching a biscornu which is a french eight sided cushion, I found: Own Two Hands, Finishing School, and The Floss Box most helpful although if you google it there are lots of links to free patterns and tutorials for making one up.
I enjoyed it so much I plan to make some more in the future.

I have finally finished the pincushions I was making, although there are a few more I'd like to try I'm running out of holiday as we return to school on the 4th September. I made a daisy pincushion, then I stacked a couple together

Then I made a thumb cushion and an ordinary cushion.



























For the giveaway I made a needlecase and matching cushion, so if you'd like a chance to win this matching pair please leave a comment and I will have a draw in a weeks time. I hope you have a lovely weekend. Jane x