The next stitch is the TAST week 4 , Cretan Stitch.
Cretan Stitch is a versatile all time favourite stitch, to start with I am doing the variations that I did years ago as teaching samples, of which I have done the first 3 today.
The top row of on my sampler is the basic Cretan stitch done with 3 strands of cotton floss.
Second row is Cretan stitch done with cotton pearl thread and trimmed with Colonial knots done with a rayon thread.
Third row is Cretan stitch done with rayon thread and trimmed with 2 detached chain stitches (2 strands cotton) on each arm of the stitch.
Bottom row is Cretan stitch done with 2 strands cotton and trimmed with a single detached chain stitch (3 strands cotton) on each arm of the stitch
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I love detached chain stitch but it is a stop start stitch and I was finding it hard to get a flow of stitching which slowed down my productivity and combined with the added distraction of having my son home and the additional time that we have been spending in the garden the progress on my band sampler slowed and came to a halt over the last couple of weeks.
When I visited Sharon this afternoon she asked me if I knew that April 2008 was 50 years since the Ban the Bomb Peace Sign was designed,
 On her mind tracks blog Sharon has links to a photo essay and an article on the history of the peace sign…I didn’t know but the peace sign was a part of my youth and worth stitching it into my sampler their and then.
 I have also photographed the last section of my sampler to show you how the last few additions fit together.
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We still have to clean the cement of the top of some of the stones and polish them up a bit but even as they are our castle floor is looking good.
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14 bags of cement later and our castle floor is coming along nicely but we need to buy more concrete mix to finish it.
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The next step for paving the floor of my castle turret was to find the pieces of slate that I am using for the floor of the castle…We have layed the pieces of slate into a circle next to where they will be layed, so that we could make sure that we had enough pavers and to get a rough idea of where to lay them…
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A Beautiful sunny autumn Day….Perfect for a drive in the country with a friend, going to visit with other crazy quilting friends, A lovely lunch, even a visit to the local art gallery to see a quilt exhibition…It was a lovely day.
I have done no stitching but have chosen my threads for the Take It Further April Colours…This month I have decided to go minimalist with the thread colours and have chosen just one thread of each colour.
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1969 was my first year at high school, the year that I learnt to use a sewing machine, the year I learnt to sew and one of my first non school sewing projects was to make ‘quilted’ pencil cases for my self, brothers and sister…My eldest brother looks after his things, he used his for the next 25 odd years and when he did retire it he kept it still and now 39 years after giving it to him he has given it back to me, it was a real blast from the past when I opened the package that the postman delivered.
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Some time ago I showed the castle ruin that I am building in my front yard, what I showed was a tempery structure to get the effect, I love the effect but I didn’t position it wisely, I left enough room to park my car but everyone else has bigger cars and with my son home and wanting a car space it is time to move my castle…And time to build the permanent structure, we have now got the ground leveled and the concrete purchased for the floor.
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 I have used 2 coloured detached chain stitch to hold the ring in place…It is much the same as I did on a block I made last year.
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 It was a buzy day, I had a visit from a quilting friend, who was passing through town, and we had lots of catching up and quilt talk to do…as well my son had a visit from a friend and her 4 year old twins.
The egg painting stuff is still out on the table and I thought it would be nice to let them paint an egg, I found painting smocks and as it was a lovely sunny day they sat outside to paint their first eggs…
I photographed their eggs in the garden because they had both come and told me that I had a lovely garden because it had lots of hiding places for the fairies.
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