The Strawberry Sampler

It's been an interesting week. I was typing away at an email on Monday, and all of a sudden I hear this click and I saw something inside my computer case fall. I looked in and the heatsink had actually come away from the motherboard and landed on my graphics card!! Of course on seeing this, I immediately reached for the power button, but too late. Black screen everything shut off due to overheating.

Took it all apart, and it turns out that a little plastic lip on the bracket that holds the heatsink in place had snapped off. Seriously??? 15 year of tech support and I never, ever, saw anything like it. My biggest fear was that it had damaged the graphics card, the CPU had melted and/or shorted out the motherboard and damaged everything else.

Well after several hours of looking for the replacement part - which would have been easier if I had known what the bloody thing was called. It's a "heatsink retention bracket" and not a "plastic thingy that holds the heatsink on the CPU". Anyway, I found one, and Newegg, as usual, had it out and in my hands in less than 48 hours.

So last night Jon put it all back together - I let him do it, I was so frustrated I was afraid I might break the new one - and we fired it up. Obviously, since I'm typing this, it all works okay.

The good thing about having no computer - well no decent computer anyway - is that you can get an immense amount of stitching done when you're not surfing. lol

In stitching news, my fabric arrived for the new secret design, and so I shall be starting it momentarily. But I thought first I'd post a picture of what I've been working on in the meantime, Sampler Cove's The Strawberry Sampler.

I'm torn. I want to keep working on it!! It's so pretty! But I'm on a deadline for the new one, and I'm really excited about it. Specifics - using the called for 36ct Magnolia linen from Lakeside Linens, and most of the called for fibers except I changed the greens as previously mentioned.

And now off to start a new adventure!

Just some random ramblings :)

I started stitching my next design, but after some discussion with others, we figured it was better to do it on a lower count. It's got an awful lot of over one stitching in it, and we feared it might frighten people away on 36 ct. Soooo... after some urgent, immediate attention emails (lol) 32 ct fabric is ordered, and additional threads are on the way. :)

While that will leave me a bit pressed for time as far as getting the model done in time - not terribly, as I have holidays for two weeks starting in 7 days!!! excited!!! - but... it left me a few days to relax and just stitch for me.

I couldn't decide what to stitch! I was so excited at the prospect of a week or two of downtime that I was overwhelmed by my choices! I could have been a good girl and started on Daffodil, the next in the flower series, but hey, it was found time! Should I start Time Well Spent, which is kitted up and ready to go? Should I start Wallace/Robertson, also kitted up and ready to go? Turkish Delight? Growth Rings? Bramble and Rose? Spanish Blue? Again, all kitted, all ready to stitch. Or I could work on any one of my multitude of WIPs... but after all my hard work on Forget Me Not, I wanted a new start.

I decided I wanted to stitch something with red. Don't know why especially, but I was craving some red. And since I had this lovely piece of 36 ct Magnolia that was already out and was no longer going to get used, I decided to use it for it's original intended purpose - Sampler Cove's The Strawberry Sampler. I'm stitching this one almost the same as the model, except that I've changed the greens, because I had a whole bunch of greens from the Renaissance Green NPI range on hand. I really have to hand it to Diane. Her choice of colours is fantastic!!! If you like specialty stitches and band samplers, this one is a definite must have. No pictures today, I'm not that far in yet, but I'll post one when my materials for my model get here and I switch it out. :)

And in other news.... the reason for my holidays. My mother in law - well future mother in law - is coming to visit! I'm so excited. I miss her terribly, we haven't seen her in two years. We both always have good intentions of visiting more often, but it's not always easy to just hop on a plane and fly 3500 miles, is it? We're not planning on doing a whole lot. Maybe a day at the zoo because it's so pretty there and she'd enjoy that. And visiting with my parents and brother of course. Dinner out and some wandering around town maybe. But it's more just to get together and have some down time to relax and just see each other!! I've promised to teach her to stitch. :) I've had supplies here to send her for ages, but she wanted one on one lessons. lol

Not much else to report today, just a bit of rambling. :)

New Release - Forget Me Not

Yep, as promised in the last post, Forget Me Not is done! Have just sent the chart off to the distributor, so it will be available shortly. As always, it will be available directly through my distributor's website, European Cross Stitch, or through your favourite needlework shop. The model was stitched in Gloriana Silk floss on 40 ct Magnolia linen from Lakeside Linens. As always, I've included a DMC conversion. And for the first time - since this is my first piece that was cross stitch only - I've also included a stitch count for each colour, so that you can calculate how much floss you'll need, no matter what count you're using!! And another first - this is my first design that is suitable for any type of fabric - linen, plainweave OR aida. Hope you like it!

And now I'm off to start stitching on my new, "super secret" project. No sneak peeks of this one will be shown, everyone will have to wait until the new year to see it!

Some WIP pictures to share

But this time, they're not mine!!

I'm so proud to present these, I get so excited to see stitchers' interpretations of my designs!!

This week I have 3 pictures to share. All three are of Hearts Entwined, and all three are in entirely different colour palettes. And I love them all. :)

First, is Bhooma's start. She's chosen to stitch Hearts Entwined on 40 ct French Vanilla Linen from Sassy's Fabbys, and is using Hand Dyed Fibers in a limited edition overdyed Quince, Examplar Spinach Delight and Haystacks. It's lovely with a very rich and rustic feel to it. I can't wait to see how the deep red pink works up in the centrepiece!

Next up is Rianne's WIP. Rianne has chosen to stitch her version on 40 ct Fog from Picture This Plus, using Hand Dyed Fibers in Winterberry 1425, Rubbed Blue Green (which may be a limited edition, it's not available through the catalog as yet), and a combination of Examplar Fleckstone and BeLaced for the border. This one has a very cool wintry feel to it, and I love how the Fleckstone/BeLaced gives an antique lacy feel to the border.

And finally, Heather's version of Hearts Entwined is stitched on 38 ct Nacre from Gander Linen, and she is using Hand Dyed Fibers in Quince 1411, Primitive Barn Green, and Examplar White Chocolate. Heather stitched this over the weekend AFTER shoulder surgery, and her needles are still blazing. Heather will be adding in extra lines of text to the piece to make it into an anniversary sampler - I can't wait to see how it comes out!

My next blog update will be to show off my finish of Forget Me Not - almost there now, I'm hoping to report a finish/release by the weekend - time permitting of course. I have half the outer band to finish and I'll be done! After that, WIP pictures will be ceased for a little while as I begin work on a super secret project that will be revealed early next year. I'm seriously excited about this one and can't wait to dive head first into stitching!!!!

And now I'm off to stitch my little heart out on FMN - day off tomorrow and I shall be stitching, and stitching and stitching!!

Something odd worth mentioning...

Silkweaver Fabrics was recently bought by Needleworker's Delight, correct? Anyway, I was perusing the Silkweaver site today and noticed a major pricing discrepancy I thought was worth a mention here.

On the Silkweaver site, the price on fabrics is significantly higher than it is on the site for Needleworker's Delight. For example, the price for a fat quarter of overdyed Newcastle linen on the Silkweaver site is $26.00. On the Needleworker's Delight site, the same fat quarter, available in the same exact colours is $22.50. This gave me pause, so I investigated further. The price difference is notable in every single fabric that is available on the Silkweaver site.

So in other words, they have not only given what was once a good company a bad name and reputation, but they're now price gouging people who still order in good faith from the Silkweaver website. I find it a bit off when the same company is charging a different amount on two different websites, simply to cash in on the Silkweaver name. Why? Because the majority of people who order, will go directly to the Silkweaver website, it's what they've always done.

Check it out for yourself if you're curious.

Silkweaver website is here. Needleworker's Delight is here.

Please pass this information along to other stitchers. If you still love the colours, order from the Needleworker's Delight website instead. You'll save yourself a few bucks.