I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show on Thursday, it’s the BIG one around here, I look forward to it all year!!! Three huge halls of crafting stuff, bliss!

I always go with a budget and pretty much spend it, I have to confess I did go slightly over this year! I bought three cross-stitch kits, two of them are for embroidered boxes by a company called Nutmeg which is fairly near here up in the Yorkshire Dales, the third one is a scissor keeper. I love stitching big cross-stitch pictures, but I am beginning to run out of wall space!

I bought a set of eight fat eighths and a couple of fat quarters which I’m hoping will be the starting point for a block of the month quilt I’m hoping to do next year by Jenny of Elefantz.

I spend all day there, so whilst it’s great fun, it’s tiring too, however one place I now know to look out for is the Rowandean stand. Katrina from Rowandean designs and sells embroidery kits, they’re beautiful, I did one years ago (I’m talking 20 to 30 years!) of a blue bell wood.

At the shows she has a crafty table, for £5 you can sit and embroider a design, she preprints a basic outline and guides you on stitches to use etc, then you have free rein with a pile of chiffon scraps and embroidery threads. It’s lovely amid the hustle and bustle of a show to just sit and sew, chatting to other ladies and having a bit of a rest, it’s like a little sewing haven! If anyone is going tomorrow, she’s in hall C!Last year the design was of Echinacea.

The design this year could be lavender, bluebells, foxgloves, depending on what stitches and colours you used. Mine is a bit of a mixture but I think it looks quite pretty. As you can see, it’s all basic embroidery stitches, straight stitch for the stems, French knots and lazy daisy stitch for the flowers. The variegated threads she has are particularly effective. I have to admit I haven’t done anything with last years embroidery, but I noticed she had some made into a small cushion or wall-hanging with some log-cabin quilting to frame it. I’m tempted to do something similar.

Linking up with Super Mom No Cape for Vintage Embroidery Monday, why not have a look what everyone else has been stitching.