To join or not to join?

What do you get when you join the CSG?

You can see all the goodies you will receive when you join the CSG – Our catalogue, soon to be updated again, Stitch That, our full colour magazine and the lovely faux ivory thread organiser, all free when you take a year’s Membership. Go to Join Us to see the options.

We have been busy adding new things to our shop to do go and have a browse……

Our Faux  Ivory Thread Organiser is now available to buy, see Tools and Accessories

We have, at last, found a pair of lighted tweezers which also come with a magnifier and are just the perfect stitcher’s accessory- for helping with hemstitch and taking out fabric threads in Hardanger, they are the answer! Go to Tools and Accessories

Happy Stitching until next time

Jane Greenoff

I am sorry – it has been awful but I am back!

I am sorry I have been absent  from my Journal for so many weeks- I cannot explain all the the reasons but suffice to say, all is well here at Pinks Barn (touch wood) and I am very grateful for all the emails and messages asking if all is well. There have been computer and internet problems, I have had the flu (not swine so far!) and was left with a beastly post viral syndrome which left me somewhat lack lustre and quite unable to work. My mother, who understandably, was left devastated by my father’s death last year, has finally been found somewhere lovely to live and is being cared for by the greatest team and my mother in law has recovered from her ghastly fall and seems almost back to normal. Biggles, the baby Beardie is almost clean and dry and now only eats Laura Ashley cushions as an attention seeking device!

With luck and a forward breeze, I am back at my desk with lots of new products to load on to the web site and ideas bursting forth all over the place. Issue 76 of Stitch That with Jane Greenoff  is with the printers and will be with Members very shortly. I am going to spend today adding new things to the shop and will be back here again very soon.

Happy stitching

Jane

Stitch That Issue 75

Part Four of the Silverwood Sampler

Peacock Butterfly by Joey Herbert (CSG Member from Norway)

We have taken the decision to let our wonderful printers (Stoate & Bishop) also have the fun of packing the magazine and posting the mailing for us. It has made a profound difference to me as instead of stuffing your envelopes, I designed new things all day- I think this is the answer. I simply do not keep up with you all and I must keep ahead, at least by one stitch!

Here are some snippets from the current magazine – as a Member you should have your copy by now. If not let me know by email and I will look in to it this end.  If you are not a Member go to JoinUs

Above is Part four of the Silverwood Sampler, originally intended to be completed this issue but after seeing The Goodhart Samplers (see previous posting) I had to go further! Many thanks to Joey Herbert and Christine  Berrett for there contributions to this issue

An original sampler charted by Christine Berrett ( CSG Member)

Can it really be May already?

I am so sorry that I have been out of touch lately -  this is the beginning of a new phase here at Pinks Barn, CSG HQ. We have certainly had rather a torrid time of it but not all of it has been so bad -  Biggles is growing in to a wonderful dog and is full of mischief and affection in equal parts. I think, perhaps, he plans to go mining when he grows up or perhaps he is digging an escape tunnel. There are big holes in the garden! Bumble is not setting a very good example as he just watches with an enormous smile on his face and then hides when the balloon goes up!

Breaking through to the sunshine -that really is the dust in the air

Talking of large holes, I thought you would like to see the one in the front of Pinks Barn - you will be able to see the end result very shortly. It has made such a difference to the main sitting room here – I am now able to stitch in the sunlight – not possible before, but the dust -Oh dear-  it was simply everywhere, both upstairs and down. Roger and Phil made a marvellous job – not an easy one as the wall was nearly 2.5 feet thick in places and our bedroom had to be supported on props until the oak beams were in position.

Issue 75 of Stitch That has been posted and I know that many of you have already received your copies – I can tell by the post in our letter box and by email -I am hopeful that we will have caught up with our backlog soon and Issue 76 will be out in the middle of June and September will be on time!

Happy Stitching

Jane

The Goodhart Samplers – an extraordinary book

The Goodhart Samplers

How good it is to have broadband again! This would have been impossible with a dial up connection! I have taken delivery of my copies of The Goodhart Samplers published by Needleprint and it is such a lovely book I have taken delivery of lots more copies as I know that you will just love it. I am happy to supply by post but the book weighs 1700grams so it is not an impulse buy!

Please go to Books and Media and scroll down the page.

It a wonderful book with the best needlework photography I have ever seen. I saw Douglas’s exhibition of samplers in London many years ago and bought the little catalogue at the time, which was almost all in black & white. Douglas Goodhart collected samplers, particularly band samplers and motif samplers as a hobby and  left his collection to the nation. It is now housed at Montecute House, Somerset, England (You need to visit the house three years in sucession to see them all)

As you can see from the picture above, the dust jacket includes a detailed chart of one of the samplers illustrated in the book – a lovely touch.

The picture above shows one of the contents pages, with the band samplers illustrated with the stitchers name

Demonstrating the remarkable colour photography used throughout the book

I could go on and on but I think you must see the book for yourself!