FOR JAN

..................Love of the present, interwoven with memories of the past and dreams of the future............

 

 

This photo of Jan taken many years ago is a favourite one of mine  for it tells a story to me of a young girl  who loved ballet and dancing,  but never to be a star pupil, but her special moment came when she wrote a ballet story for a competition and won, her prize was  two tickets to see the Tchaikovsky Ballet Company perform. Later her story was produced as a ballet by her ballet teacher  and she danced the leading role.

 All mother's hold treasured memories of their children, Jan now many years later has just celebrated her 48th Birthday and so I have 48 years of special memories.

Last year I asked my family to each chose something they would like me to stitch for them- something they might treasure, Jan's was the last of these pieces to be stitched and she chose the Needle roll from With My needle design Miss Trenner's needlework Academy.

 

I changed one word  making it daughter instead of teacher  It was a lovely piece to stitch, I used 35 count Charles craft  linen and stitched with the recommended DMC colours, and have used Doctor Flannel on the inside.  Had fun stitching the little rabbits at night as the thread looked decidedly green to me but knew I was using the right number, next morning in the daylight they had changed to light brown.!

My trip across to Napier to stay with my sister and her husband was so I could attend the class with Ellen Chester of With My Needle, I went across by bus on the Tuesday and had a couple of quiet days before the class which I knew would be a long day the class being from 9am-5pm. Sherelyn of Heirlooms organised the class and she did everything just perfectly it was more than a class it was a special event. Held at the Mission Estate Winery, how appropriate we were stitching Ellen's design Fruits of the Vine. The class was held upstairs in the library and we came down to the restaurant on the front lawn for our lunch and dined in style. Visit  Ellen's blog and you will see the photos she took during the class. The day after the class I made some progress on the needle roll  but there has been no time to stitch on this piece since then.

  

 

 On the Sunday following the class we went on to Tauranga, this was the only wet day during my time away. I stayed with Olwen and Bill till the Friday and these were days catching up with each other , out to lunch one day and a brows in some special shops. a little shopping! a day visit with the Tauranga Guild and here again was meeting up with some very old friends, including Doreen who was one of the first members of the Tokoroa Embroiderers Guild when that Guild was formed in about 1982. Some of the guild memebers are stitching  my mystery sampler and the white work one, one lady brought her work for me to see the progress.

 Another day we went for a drive to Makatu  Beach and enjoyed fish and chips for lunch, The lovely warm weather meant that we could sit out side for breakfast each morning  and by the time I returned home the weather here had that cooler Autumn feel to it.

 I notice the number of followers to my blog have jumped up- welcome to everyone, I hope you will find something of interest from time to time in my postings.

 

The quote at the top of this posting comes from a gift Jan shared with me sometime ago,  I finish with the full quote 

 

The Love between a mother and daughter is a bond

of the strongest kind. it is the love of the present,

interwoven with memories of the past

 and dreams of the future.

It is the wanting of only the best for each other

and wanting to help anytime there is a need.

It is making time for each other to be together

and knowing just what to do and say.

It is an unconditional, forever kind of love.

HOME AGAIN

 

I arrived home on Friday after a 8 hour bus trip and in time to register for IHSW, my project for the weekend was to start and stitch as much as possible of  the needle roll from With My needles  design- Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy. I have previously stitched  one of the box panels from this set  and made it into a lavender cushion for my sister.

This time I am stitching for my daughter Jan's birthday gift, and the needle roll was her choice, here is my progress after the weekend.

  

 

I'm off to continue stitching her birthday is this week, back soon to share news of my trip and '

Ellen Chester's class in Napier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BIT OF SELF INDULGENCE

 

 

Nothing beautiful in this world is ever lost,

All things beloved live on in our hearts....forever

 

 

I love needle work accessories and having recently decide to  put into use the violet set stitched 20 years ago   The violet set was designed and stitched for a book that was published in 1995, I was allocated 8 pages  and although that sounds a lot by the time one includes charts, photos and instructions it did limit what the set could be made up of,

 

 

Here are the original set, I have replaced the silk tassels that were looking a little tatty , added some trims to the needle book and made a new scissor fob. then I decided to make all the extra pieces  I would love to have, and made them to match, of course there was a retractable tape measure, ruled out  for the first set as I could only include items that one could be sure anyone anywhere could get so there was a small bag with a tape measure rolled up inside it, this I am now using filled with lavender to keep my work nicely scented. 

 

 Some of the new pieces have included a pin whimsy, notebook and pencil, the note book cover is quite old and has been recycled with a new design on the front and the pencil has a beaded fob intended for a pair of scissors that Annette in USA sent me and its just the most perfect colour match. a small pin cushion in a walnut shell, a tiny orts box that folds up flat when not in use and a floss ring tag. Annette from californiastitcher.blog made me a lovely big zipped  pouch to carry needle work in, it was a fun project sending her the material I was using and a piece of my embroidery, and  some weeks later this lovely piece came back to me.

 

 More stitching and help from another embroiderer friend and I now have a stitcher's tray to match,  This piece was made up with my embroidery by Diane of Didi's beaded goodies I love the finish Diane gets with her trays they are really neat and flat and have pelmet Vilene inside so that they are washable. She also made another one for me recently which I sent to Annette as a thank you for making my pouch, you can see that one on her blog

 

 

I have not quite finished I can think of a couple more items that would be useful to have meanwhile here is the collection at this point of time..