Despite the fact that someone is trying to accuse me of pinching her design and finishing - I can assure you that is untrue and the fact that she thinks that she managed to come up with lacing sides together is laughable !  There are many many designs out there, including needlebooks, which have been finished this way for years ....  I have one I stitched around 10 years ago - plus I have also found 'your' design on other non English blogs - slightly different perhaps but also came out before yours did ...

I have designs also and I don't care who wants to stitch them, alter them or pass them on

I know said person will read this, or at least one of her friends will report back as I know this is happening - so for goodness sake woman grow up and move on - your actions on Friendly Stitchers lost you friends and no doubt would have lost you many more if the truths had been made public - but we preferred not to let people know ....  but that does not mean that I will not print on here some of the e-mails that came our way

.... and this will be my last word - at least on here -

Val - also known as one of the   'negative ninnies'   

ASAW SAL

As for the  'nod'  in someones direction regarding my stitched gifts to friends ...... I woulds also like to point out that thge 52 week ASAW SAL designed for members of Friendly Stitchers'  was not one persons designs but also mine and as such anyone can use mine just for the asking - actually this design was for members of FS and FS still exists ...

Statement

For the record - these needlebooks are NOT Abi Gurden's design.   These are completely different - and if the  'Anonymous' poster had been lucky enough to receive one of these they would see clearly that it is not.

There are many similar designs out there - you only have to go look for them.

I could of course have deleted the post but prefer to leave it on my blog 

This was what was posted about me :

(QUOTE)  I would like to take this opportunity to state for the record that all of my designs are entirely original, from concept to completion. It is a source of great sadness to me that certain people have deliberately set rumours into motion suggesting that a piece I hoped to use to help a deserving charity, "Stitching Together", was a 'poor copy' of a piece by Victoria Sampler. I admire many other designers' works, including VS among others, and whilst I am often inspired by them, I do not copy or plagiarize other designers' work.




I suggest to these people that they look to their own design skills, before they start criticizing mine - especially when one of them feels it is acceptable to use my finishing ideas for her own designs without so much as a nod in my direction!   (UN-QUOTE)

Snow yet again !!

Snowing again - fed up with it - but has given me time for stitching !  I have finished two needleboooks ( my own design) for fellow mods and another half way through !  Will get it to you in the new year Gillie  xx

Snow, snow, snow !!



It has now been snowing heavily here for the past nine days !! Getting fed up with it now - far too dangerous ..... at times we have been unable to get out of the street and once we got out but had to dig to get back in after shopping !!

Can you spot the monster's eyes in one of the videos ?????

Thursday and no let up with the snow

Can hardly believe the amount of snow which has dropped on us here in my part of the North East and still snowing !!

Harrogate meet-up

Had a great weekend in Harrogate for the members of our group  'Friendly Stitchers' which included staying at a hotel for a couple of nights and also going stash shopping at the Knitting and Stitching Show !! When I left my part of the North East there was already a fall of snow - but when we got to Harrogate it was sunshine and blue skies !!  I had planned to stay on the Friday night but come home after dinner on the Saturday night - weather changed alll that ! Had a great day shopping on Friday and will post a pic of the stash I managed to buy - not nearly as much as me and my sister used to buy years ago !

Went back to hotel and had a chat with all the members then went and had a really excellent dinner in the hotel - I can definately recommend the Grants Hotel in Harrogate -  we also had a beautiful little girl with us - Isla - courtesy of Nancy

The next morning we woke to a covering of snow !  Checked the news on TV and saw that the weather was worsening in my area so phoned my husband and asked him to come early for me - before dinner - so we could be sure of getting home !

I met up with my friend Linda on the Saturday morning - she lives in Skelton but we have been friends since childhood when we lived in Great Yarmouth ....she also had bad weather where she had come from .... some of us decided we had enough and were tired so went back to the hotel around lunchtime and ordered some sandwiches - the weather was getting worse and I phoned my husband to ask him to come and get me as soon as possible - he phoned back and said he was already on his way as the North East had been badly hit ....  he arrived within the hour and I was really glad to leave for home but sorry to have to leave the group early. After a horrendous drive home we finallly managed to get into our estate and home safe and sound ! Still, all in all, a grreat couple of days and I know we will be doing it again next year ! Before I left I gave the members a small gift each- I had been making some counting pins and little embroidered cushions to put them on

Snow !!

We have had soooo much snow here in my part of the North East - somewhere between Sunderland and Durham - at least 10 inches and not much chance of getting out anywhere ....  here are just a few pics .... just can't seem to get the pics to move next to each other !!

Harrogate here we come !!

On Friday some members of our online stitching group ( Friendly Stitchers)  will be meeting up for the weekend in Harrogate which ties in nicely with the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show !
We did this last year and stayed at a lovley hotel - and doing the same thing this year - always great to meet up with friends and members, have a chat over dinner - see how the group is going and perhaps let members in on some of the things we have planned for 2011 - including new charts and SAL's - so watch this space ....

Stitching framed at last

            This is the Woodland Fairie from Mirabilia finally framed  -another lovely design to stitch .... still have two more of these lovely designs to do when I get round to them !

Another one finished and framed is the Random thoughts sampler - hope to find a similar one at Harrogate next weekend !                                                                                                                 

Harrogate Stitching Show

It will soon be time for the Harrogate Stitching Show !!
Once again our online stitching group will be there for the weekend. Last year we stayed at a nice hotel just over the road from the International Halls where the show is held. We had a great time and if I remember correctly, there were around 12 of us. We have again arranged a 2 day stay at the same hotel and it will be great to meet up with stitching pals again and of course, do some stash shopping !
Harrogate is a lovely town and there are some lovely places to visit including the famous  'Betty's Tea Rooms'  -  always worth a visit.
After stash shopping on both days, we will all meet up for dinner in the hotel , exchange news, show stash and generally have a good natter ....

Anniversary sampler

In September my best friend's mum and dad celebrated 60 years of marriage so I stitched them a sampler

Congrats to Nan and John

Long overdue update

Well it has been quite a while since I updated this blog so lets get started ....

First of all I have been quite busy designing ( and stitching) the charts for this years xmas freebie charts for our onlne stitching group 'Friendly Stitchers' so here is what is available to the members for this year

A needleroll (with a matching coaster but no image available)

A beaded biscorno, a couple of humbugs and a hanging xmas ornament

I have also finished stitching a lovely xmas pendeloque from Faby Reilly Designs.

This seemed a bit tricky at first but very easy once you get going - check out her

website - she has some fantastic designs

www.fabyreilly.com

Today is grey, dull and wet !! ...... as we head into Summer, the plants in the greenhouse are doing well as are the ones in the garden. I am getting a handfull of raspberries every day !! along with some strawberries ... not much hope for the cherry tree this year and the few apples on the tree are dwindling down every couple of days as strong winds cutting across the garden are blowing the apples off before they are ready for eating !!

On the stitching front - I have stitched another couple of biscornos - lovley designs from Fabby-Reilly : one of poppies and one of cornflowers:

I have also done some work on my latest project which is Scarlet Wizard a design from Dimensions - which was a gift from my sister a couple of years ago ..... should be stitched on black, but my eyesight won't let that happen ! Now being stitched on Polstitches fabric - 'hurricane' ....

Catch up

Been a while since I added to my blog .... lots happening at the moment - but I have had time to get my Random Thoughts sampler finished .... thanks to a little help from my friend Val, who helped out with the tiny bits of one over one 'cos these old eyes can no longer see properly ! It has been a lovely sampler to stitch and now is ready and waiting for the framer when I can afford it ! ...

We have had some nice weather here in my part of the North East - some quite hot and sunny days which have livened up the garden ...

The raspberry bush is in flower as are the strawberries, blueberries and potatoes .... in the greenhouse I have a few different tomatoe plants and they are also flowering along with carrots , lettuce and beetroots now growing strongly........

Joseph's sunflowers are shooting up as are the sweet red peppers - so hopefully a good crop this year .... almost forgot - the apple and cherry tree are also flowering ! ....

Advent calendar

My sister Linda is a very good cross-stitcher, but not so good at making things up when finished ! I usually get them sent to me to make into cushions etc .... she has just completed an advent calendar and sent it up for me to make into a hanging - so here it is !

Progress on Random Thoughts

I have made further progress on the Random Thoughts Sampler so won't be long before this is finished !

Fresh Bread !!

Bought myself a bread making machine a few days ago because I can no longer knead the dough as long as necessary ...... made a lovely wholemeal loaf this morning - lovely size and flavour and soooooo easy ......

My little grandson Joseph is now 5 and three quarters .... getting bigger every day - time flies by and it seems hardly any time at all since he was born ....

An update - 21 April 2010

At last I have got round to remembering I have a blog ! .... since the last time I have been doing some work on my Random Thoughts sampler which was a birthday gift from my fellow mods on the Friendly Stitchers group .... I am almost half way there and it has been nice to stitch ....

I am also happy to say I have finally got a small greenhouse ! ..... wanted one for ages cos the small plastic one I had for a year was really not much good .... decided to get one which has plastic glass or perspex or whatever it is called - safety glass stuff. It only measures 6' x 6' but all I could afford and I only have a small patio out back to put it on ....... it took my son and DH almost a week to construct due to extremely bad instructions and faulty parts which had to be exchanged .... I won't be buying from this particular company again ! I now have some plants started - carrots, tomatoes and some flowers plus a pomegranate seed which my little grandson planted and it is shooting away !

Been a few weeks now since I last updated this blog .... haven't done quite as much stitching as usual as I have been busy with other things .... however I did manage to finish a birth sampler for my friend's grand-daughters ... wrapped it up and gave it to her - forgot to take a picture !! It was a sampler I made myself using various flower fairies ....
Still looking after daughter's little puppy during the day - but DD and partner are moving next week and after that we will see how little puppy gets on - but still think it too early for her to be left alone all day while they work ... we will miss her when she finally goes :(

Sat 6th March

Finally finished my ASAW SAL .... perhaps now I can get started on my Mirabilia project or even The Scarlet Wizard - having to do this one again - I started it on the black but it is 16 count and difficult for my eyes to see - only had about a quarter of it done - so will start it again on cream or something ....

I am still trying to figure out how to have my pictures not land on top of the writing at the top of my blog ! If anyone can help, please let me know .... unless this post sorts it out !

well I deleted the info at the top of the page but now don't know where to add the info !!!!

A couple of days ago I finished a needlebook for Sandra - think this is about nine so far ! Hope she likes it - not sure what to stitch now .... I need to start re-stitching myScarlet Wizard - it didn't work out on black 16 count - too small for these old eyes lol .... so am re-starting it on cream and hope I can match the threads used ... also have another Mirabilia fairy to start ... will have a couple of days breather and finish one of the books I am currently reading .... thanks for dropping by ....

OK got a bit mixed up with the last post but can't find anyway of changing it .... here is the latest on my 52 week SAL which still needs a few squares to finish it off ..... this SAL was designed by Abi and some by myself for members of Friendly Stitchers .... I will post a pic and see if it works properly this time ...

This is a pic of my daughters little staffie puppie - she is only 12 weeks old but daughter and partner both work all day sp we are taking care of pup until she is properly house trained, not needing a mid day meal, and old enough to be left - her name is Maya ....

Friday 26th Feb 2010

Decided I would have to add a little to this blog or folks would get bored !!
Today here in the North East it is absolutely chucking it down so am staying home ... that will give me a little extra time for stitching ... at the moment I am finishing off my ninth needlebook! These have been given to friends - thanks to Abi Gurden for a lovely design which was a surprise for all of us who met last November for the Harrogate Stitching Show ..... here are a few pics of some of them I have already stitched ...