Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay!  Over 100 followers!  Although in true Blogger style they seem to think I have 102 followers but there are actually only 101.  So Hello Pam Grouette who is number 100.  And how fitting that number 101 is Giovanna who has been a reader of the blog since the very beginning and was actually the very first person to comment and now is an official follower.

As promised there is going to be a Giveaway.  But you have to put your thinking caps on for this one.  Remember the Victorian Doll's House I stitched?  There were four sets of initials (in the path, Joysze!) which represented hubby, myself, the large boy and the small boy.  So what I want to know is:

What are our middle names?

Here is a picture of the house to remind you:

Hubby's initial and mine are both "M"

Large boy's is "J" and

Small boy's is "Z"

All our names are normal English names, the boys do not have Jumper or Zebra as middle names!

There will be 3 different prizes. 

The first option is the Doll's House chart, one small caveat, the key just lists colours not numbers so you will have to choose your own colours.  The cover picture is very clear and will make it easy.

The second option is "The Cute Collection" as shown below.  Over the years I have collected several cute charts which are not really my thing, so here they are altogether.  There is a Somebunny calendar, Tatty Teddy, Forever Friends, Newton, Fizzy Moon, 2 Margeret Sherrys and a button booklet.

The third option is the "Mystery Option", basically if you aren't likely to stitch either of the above then I'll try choose something you will like.

As well as the charts there will be a random selection of things, such as fabric, trimmings, embellishments, something stitched, a postcard, anything I think "oooo, she'll like that".

So, to enter:

You must be a follower

Leave a comment with your 4 guessed names

Let me know which prize you would like.

I have enabled "blog owner approval" on all comments so no-one can copy the girl in front!  All comments will be displayed when the Giveaway finishes which will be next Wednesday 14th September noon BST (British Summer Time).  The first winner will be randomly chosen from the people who get the most names right.  The second winner will be chosen at random from all the people who chose different prize options to the winner.  (for exampler - If the first winner chooses the Cute collection, I draw the second winner from the Doll's House and Mystery people).  So even if you don't get any names right you're still in with a chance of a prize.  Fair to everyone? 

If you are an overseas person and do not understand what middle names are, then please email and I'll explain!

Award Season over, normal blogging resumes

I've been having a little framing session this weekend.  I inherited some needlework pictures from my Great Aunt via my Mum.  Great-Aunt Daisy passed away nearly 25 years ago with no children so her precious things were inherited by my Grandad (her brother) and my other Great Aunt.  They were then passed onto the nieces, nephews and great nieces/nephews.  I already have a cute set of playing cards in a leather case, a lovely brooch and now these two pictures which were stitched in the late 1930s.

I reframed them but did not attempt to clean them.  I was too worried I would make more of a mess!  The edges are the dirtiest but the stitching is quite clean and the colours are still true and fairly unfaded compared to the back.  The stitches are a mixture of straight stitch, satin stitch, lazy daisy and loads of french knots.

They are now hanging in my bedroom.  BTW my brother and I decided if the collective term for brother/sisters is siblings then the term for nieces/nephews is niblings.

The next framed piece is a kit I bought many years ago and decided to stitch as a birth sampler during my last pregnancy convinced I was expecting a girl.  The small boy appeared, and not so small at 9lbs 14.5oz!!  So I finished it off with our initials and it's now hanging in the lounge while Celtic Christmas is having a rest after 12 years of display.  This was great fun to stitch, I love all the little rooms.

 
After that I finished off a Joan Elliot flower in a pot to match the previous JE flower in a pot.  The frames were cover gifts from Cross Stitch Collection mag but I didn't like the pictures suggested so stitched these two JE designs from the free WOCS booklet - the best free gift EVER.

In the evenings I've been stitching a RR from the WWRR Yuku board, my first ever RR.  I sent my piece off and thanks for the Canadian postal strike it took 2 weeks to get there, while mine arrived from Australia in less than 1.  It's very nerve-wracking stitching on someone else's piece especially as this one has been round the world once already and has some gorgeous work on it.

The theme for the RR is Band Samplers and this one is all Teresa Wentzler designs.  Sophia has sent some borders for ideas but luckily I have two books of TW designs already and have chosen a great one (I think).  I have been super careful to railroad every stitch, every end is tucked in extra neatly, frogged threads thrown away and NOT reused, my hands are scrubbed clean and the small boy is not allowed within 20 feet of it!  Being a TW design there are 4 different blended colours already and I've only stitched 4 rows and some background lines!

The WIPS on my stash chest were Bluebeard's Mermaid (the blue fabric was a BIG clue) and the Dark Alphabet (you could just see the chart under it).  Congrats to Mouse for getting one point!