This month's (very) small finish

As apart of the Small SAL I finished this little coaster for a friend of mine who is a collector of scissors

The design is taken from a needlecase kit I bought from Itching to Stitch at the Craft Show I attended last week.

I used DMC on some tea dyed linen.

It wasn't the smalls project I intended to stitch for September but the piece I started is for me and of course the gift for my friend took priority.    I will be passing it over tomorrow - hope she likes it.

Some goodies I bought at a recent Craft Show

Had a lovely day out at a Craft Show.  Met a few stitching/crafting buddies for lunch and at the end but most of the time we went our separate ways.

One of my favourite stands was a new cross stitch designer Itching to Stitch who had some lovely charts and kits, many of which could be personalised.  I loved that the kits came with linen and overdyed threads and I couldn't resist this gorgeous needlecase design.

The version I bought isn't on this picture but here is the kit showing the lovely blue linen

I would love to stitch this for myself and for friends.   Just need to locate those missing hours in the day.   "Eight Days a Week" always was one of my favourite Beatles songs and it's definitely what I need.

This Christmas Carol sampler also leapt into my hand - isn't it wonderful the way it can be personalised

Sew Enchanting from Devon always tempts me with their delightful range of fabrics and patterns for quilts and stitchery.   Lynette Anderson has a new range of fabric which I love called Pocketful of Daisies

Another stall selling Lynette Anderson goodies was Patchwork Chicks.  They had a wonderful advent stockings design which had sold out almost immediately.

I bought this pattern for a cushion

Also the pattern and the purse for this fabulous design

and this pattern with initials which I think will be very useful for small stitchy gifts

I am still in the process of going through and drooling over the goodies I bought so I will be updating this post later.

World of Cross Stitching magazine

It doesn't seem like 4 weeks since the last issue of WOCS dropped onto my mat but it must be.

It isn't my favourite magazine as many of the designs are too "cutesy" for my taste but I still enjoying looking through it.

The free gift this month is 3 Christmas (!) designs by Margaret Sherry which I like and would consider stitching for an ornament or a coaster or as a card for a fellow stitcher that I knew would appreciate it and not discard it with the rest of the Christmas cards.  I've done a Christmas card exchange the past couple of years so these designs could be considered for this year as there are quite a few Margaret Sherry fans in the group.

The only other design I earmarked for possible future stitching was an Assisi alphabet using variegated thread (lovely).  I like the font used so I could see lots of possibilities for this - personalised coasters, scissor fobs, needlecases, fragrance sachets etc.