Margaret Gibson

Well, my Margaret is now finished. She is quite beautiful and I thoughly enjoyed stitching her. I have bought a nice frame for her and hopeful over the next few days or so I will be able to sit down and do all the necessary work to frame her.

This is a closer view of the bottom. I think the border is quite unusual. I know that one of the flowers looks like a Tudor Rose. I haven't figured out what the other one is. Could be a Honeysuckle, I don't know. Anyway she turned out beautiful. I started working on her when my Mum passed away in October, so when I look at her I think of my lovely Mum.

I have now started on a sampler that I fell in love with the moment I saw it. It is of course, Beatrix Potter. I love the Quaker samplers and this one is special to me as I have always loved Beatrix Potter. In fact as soon as I found out that I was expecting my eldest son I bought and collected all the little Beatrix Potter books and the special wooden bookcase. I am working my BP on white 32ct linenover one with 498 and white DMC thread.

Below is a couple of BP books and things that I have. I think that the one called "The Art of Beatrix Potter" is a collectors book. The collection of cards celebrating Peter Rabbits 100th Birthday was a special gift from a dear friend who went to England in 1993 and visited Hill Top Farm. She knew that I loved BP so she kindly bought this special collection for me along with a postcard of Beatrix Potter when she was an old lady.

I was watching the English Antiques Roadshow one day and there was a man who had a huge collection of original Beatrix Potter drawings which by the way turned out to be an absolute fortune and he had the original paintings of the Rabbits Christmas Party. They are really beautiful and if I remember I will take a photo of a couple of them the next time I add something to my blog. My cameras batteries need charging up at the moment.

It is very cold in the Mountains now. Today it is only 1 degree C. Yesterday we had light fall of snow that melted as it touched the ground. This cold weather spell came quite fast. Earlier in the day we were getting around in short sleeved tops. Around 4 p.m. the wind came up along with the cold. Before the cold snap came, we went for a lovely drive up to Mount Wilson where there are a lot of beautiful big gardens. All the beautiful maples, liquidambers etc. have changed colour and the trees were looking absolutely beautiful. As usuall I didn't have my camera with me to take a photo to show you.

My poor youngest son has returned to school today (yay she says LOL) after 2 weeks holiday. The day he goes back although it is very cold at least the sun is shining. The poor thing the whole time he was off we had heavy rain for 13 days straight. Where I live most of the time when we have a lot of rain we also have a lot of heavy mist where you can't see much in front of you. I always feel very sorry for the poor tourists who travel up to the mountains to see the 3 Sisters and the beautiful views. When the mist comes in you are lucky to be able to see the hand in front of your face.

Well I hope you all have a lovely week and that the weather is kind to all of us.

A Belated Update

I thought I'd better add something new to my blog otherwise you might all be thinking that I have fallen off my perch (LOL). I have just been pottering around doing my usual thing. You know, housework, sewing, housework, reading housework.

I have nearly finished Margaret Gibson. I only have the side and bottom border to go then she is finished. She is looking beautiful.

I have also been making myself some tote bags. I changed my usual design a little by adding some antique lace and pin keep medallions. I think they look quite good.
These are my first attempt at making pin keeps. I think they came out ok. I added tiny beads all around the edges.
This is another one that I made. As you can see I have a thing for toile.
Each bag has different pin keep medallions.

I have been doing a lot of reading since my last blog. I have fallen in love again with David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I also have the BBC DVD and it is like Pride and Prejudice. A movie that you can watch over and over again. I am currently collecting Charles Dickens books. I currently have 8 and over the next few weeks I hope to get some more. I am very lucky where I live as there quite a few antique and second hand book shops and I am able to get the lesser known books.

Well until next time, I hope you all have a lovely weekend and for my friends in the Northern Hemisphere that the weather is starting to be kinder to you. The weather in the Southern Hemisphere is getting cooler everyday. I keep asking my sons and husband are they cold (so I can light the fire) or is it just me.