The UK weather has been a mix of brilliant sunshine and sudden dowpours, and consequently everything is growing at a fair old rate!  Things have been hectic, as DS is applying to Universities (he wants to study Medicine - one VERY proud Mum, here ), and most weekends have been taken up arranging visits to various campus-sites up and down the UK. 

Something else growing has been Part 6 of Papillon Creation's Mystery Sampler, How Does Your Garden Grow?  Here it is - minus the blue beads yet, as I'm not sure if something is going to be designed for the centre of this, and I don't want to keep catching my silk on the beads if it is.

The flowers were made using variations of eyelet stitches, queen stitch and rhodes stitch combinations.  These, against the flat, satin-stitch leaves, gives the piece a lovely 3-dimensional effect.  It is a little confusing checking which colour goes where, but so long as you work slowly and methodically it all seems to come together very well.  In my opinion, it's the mark of a very talented designer that all she needs to say is 'choose 4 floral colours, and 2 shades of green', and everything just comes together!

I've been working on Spring Patches, too, but ran out of one of the Gentle Art Sampler Threads - it uses a lot more than you'd think, as some of the fabric-counts require four strands or more!  I ordered more, but had to wait a week as they were out of stock; however it arrived today and so I am back working on it again.

My good friend Mouse is coming to stay next week, and we are off to Jane Greenoff's lovely home for a stitching class.  I can't wait!  Mouse and I have known each other for years and as we share a love of stitching and crafting, we spend many happy hours in each other's company.  We are also very good at helping each other to budget where our stitching and crafting is concerned . . .   Hm, well.  Maybe not!

Friendly Stitchers is seven years old this week!  If you would like to join us, click on the link to the left.  We will send you a questionnaire to fill out about your stitching likes/habits, and once you send it back, you are made a member of our friendly, chatty, email-family! 

Happy stitching everyone!
Buzzzzzzing off . . . . .