When life gives you lemons…

My laptop died this week, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

I was putting the finishing touches on the first issue of the Stitch and Thimble, and had planned to upload the last Bloomin’ Marvellous pattern this weekend. But my machine won’t even switch on and my data may have been obliterated – I hope not, but am expecting the worst as it isn’t looking good.

So I’m being forced to take a break from all things digital for a while. And although I’m gutted and the thought of possibly having to redo all that work is making me feel slightly ill, I’m trying really hard to see the positive side of this dreaded machine meltdown.

For starters, I've suddenly had a whole weekend free. I’d planned to knuckle down and spend it on the computer, finishing off said projects. But I've done some embroidery instead and might get out one of my quilting UFOs and make use of my other favourite machine, the Bernina. It's overcast today, which also makes me want to crochet – and there’s another long overdue project in that department that needs attention. And at least I can still blog from my husband's computer...

My gain, though, is also a loss. I have no idea if I'll still be able to launch the Stitch and Thimble next month, which I’ve been looking forward to doing for weeks. All I can say is I’ll keep you posted, and please keep your fingers crossed and thumbs held that I haven't lost the entire issue.

Bloomin' Marvellous : 11

And so the penultimate bloom – photographed in overcast and rainy weather, so apologies for the not so great photo.


I've used woven filling stitch for the base, which is really easy but really effective. In looking for an online reference to link to, I came across Janet McCaffrey's blog, Stitch School. It's another great online library with step-by-step colour photos of a whole bunch of stitches.

Go to the useful links page on my website for stitching books and online stitch libraries, and to download the pattern for Bloomin' Marvellous 11.

Tick tock tick tock

It’s been a busy time lately. I’ve redesigned my website to reflect the fact that I seem to be heading down the embroidery road these days.


And the new issue of Inspirations has just come out, featuring four placemats that I embroidered and made up for the magazine.



Recognise the Jacobean Leaves?

Among other things on my site, you’ll see I came up with a much better solution to the paper size issue – one which had been staring me in the face for ages... So no more choosing between paper sizes, my patterns have all been resized to fit on any size paper (including the free ones).

I’ve drawn the line at 12 Bloomin’ Marvellous designs and the last two will be available shortly. I hope to start a new free series soon, perhaps once I’ve finished the first issue of my latest venture, the Stitch and Thimble.

So that’s what’s been happening in my world. And with that, it’s back to work.