Morning Cuppa
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Well it’s been a wonderful week and I thought it was time to pull up chair and share a cuppa so pass the biscuits and settle back. A bit of time off has been fun. It’s spring here, the sun is mild and I have had some relaxing days pottering about the garden. It has needed it as it has not been touched for a long time. Actually I have not done any real work out there since I was sick earlier in the year.

Jerry who was also on leave, in the meanwhile has been in the shed turning pens. This is one he made for me.

There is a new blog on the block Au Fil du Jardin. Some readers and students will know Vero already. She plans to blog about textiles and her garden. Pop over and check it out, leave a comment and make her feel welcome.

The postman bought me lovely surprise too! Not one, not two, but three books by Linn Skinner of The Embroideress

The first I flicked open was Alphabets from a little red book . Regular readers will be aware that I am a bit of a needlework sampler freak. I just love them. If you are not a needlework sampler freak you will not understand the fascination sampler enthusiasts have for charted alphabets. They love them and I include myself in the group.
Next out of the parcel was Another 100 blackwork charts which is another total delight and many of the small motifs I can see being used in crazy quilting. Traditionalists will probably blanch at this but you can use waste canvas on crazy quilting and include small motifs that are normally worked on evenweave fabrics.

The Final book did me in. In Bands from Hans Hoffer’s pattern book Linn has charted many of the designs from a book printed in 1545. Anyone interested in historical embroidery will love this.

Unfortunately it bought on a crisis for me. I have a confession to make. I suffer from an affliction – I can not for the life of me follow a pattern. Technically I can follow a pattern but I always get a little way into a project someone else has designed and invariably have to change it. It’s like this with everything. I was one of those kids that got ‘can’t follow instructions’ written on their report card. It was not can’t but wont. I can’t follow a recipe I have to change it, add something else or substitute this ingredient for another. It has lead to some outrageous successes in the kitchen but also many failures. It’s the same with knitting patterns – I start and then decide that if I try it this way or that way it would be more ‘interesting’. Well I have made some ‘interesting’ garments as a result! Crochet is the same which is why I love freeform crochet.

Now for at least the last decade I have wanted to stitch an reproduction sampler. I have done oodles of test pieces to master various techniques but I know what will happen if I try and work one of these. Within 20% of stitching I will be redesigning it, which defeats the purpose of a reproduction some what! But with Linns books I could piece together my own sampler picking and choosing odd bands and motifs along the way. It would not be a historic sampler as such because it would have a contemporary twist to it but it might satisfy a very bad urge! Perhaps this urge will pass, but I don’t think so, particularly since I have thought of a way to do it that fits my personality… Enough said. Thanks Linn for the crisis!

Sharon waddles away dreaming about sampler sayings, alphabets and blackwork bands … shakes head and says no I have too many projects on the go … a little voice says but you LOVE samplers … shakes head again, and says to self, NO you have too much on right now … but … you love samplers the little voice whispers… stamps foot and states quite categorically no you are working too many things now … but … but… but!