I had plenty of stitching time on my holiday 🙂
The net result is that amongst other things, I’ve finished the fan border that runs under the letters on my large blue sampler. There was one slight mishap while I worked on my chair in the sun a few metres from the beach. A neighbouring camper came over with his dog to say hello and find out what I was working on. His lovely dog had been rootling in the sand dune behind us, and had a dirty nose, which she stuck in my lap in her friendly way. I now have a decorative muddy smudge on one side of the sampler, which fortunately doesn’t show within the frame of the pattern. The camper was mortified, but I’m not too worried. It’ll wash out when I’ve finished.
Here’s the pre-holiday piece:
And here’s the version with the finished fan border, with dog snot just out of frame on the right…
As always, the others in the group are working on fabulous projects which you can see by clicking on the links below. We’re in different time zones and post at different times on the same day, but if there’s nothing new there the first time you check, it’ll be well worth your while going back for a second look.
Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Jess, Sue,
Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,
Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Catherine, Wendy,
Mary Margaret, Timothy
See you next time, on 4th June 🙂
talltalesfromchiconia 
Looking brilliant Kate
Thanks! I’m looking forward to the next bit a lot, I just have to decide whether to start with the bit on the left, the right or in the middle!
The detail of your work is stunning, Kate. I can imagine how aghast the dog owner was!
He was pretty embarrassed, but I laughed it off. It’d have been a different story if the smear was bang in the middle. And she was a very sweet and friendly dog…
Love the fan border, looks great 🙂
It does, but I’m a bit glad it’s over as it’s a tricky one to stitch… lots of counting. The next bit is going to be fun, though!
Dog snot aside and it could have been worse with doggy dribble, this is looking great.
Thank you! I’m just lucky the fairly small brown smear is off to the right and can be cropped off the photo. It was so lovely sitting and stitching in the sun…
looking great Kate. I hope the dog snout print washes out
It should do, she didn’t grind it in! I didn’t let her owner scold her, she didn’t know what she’d done, she was just being friendly.
The more this grows the more I love it.
Thank you! It’s got about another 40% to go…
The fans look lovely. Is there more black or does it go back to blue now? Looking forward to see what happens next.
It’s actually a very, very dark blue. Yes, there’ll be more of it; I find it adds visual interest compared with all one solid colour.
Yes I’m loving the contrast
Oh dear, reminds me of the time I was out cycling. A dog owner threw a stick for her dog which landed slap bang in the spokes of my back wheel. She was mortified too but I didn’t break any bones. You’ve made loads of progress an it’s looking great.
I think I might have had a go at that owner, who should have known better than to chuck sticks where people were cycling!
Yes, I was on the cycle track. I honestly don’t think she’d ever do it again. I was more worried about my bike at the time.
It looks great! Being a dog owner I know the troubles they can cause at times. You certainly had a productive holiday!
Having time, peace and ample sunshine certainly didn’t hurt my progress!
I love the fans, it’s looking fantastic
Thanks, I think it’s one of my favourite bits!
I have had a cat walking over my embroidery! There is a dirty spot from a paw in the upper left corner, but I guess (hope) it will go away easily 🙂
Your fan parade is very beautiful!!!!!
Ah, animals… So messy, but what would we do without them? Glad you like the fans, hope you like the next section too!
You were very kind to not be upset at that friendly dog!
She didn’t know she was making a mess, she was just saying hello.
Love the fan border and the contrast in colours looks great.
Shame about the dog snot but as you say, it’ll wash out and dogs will be dogs, eh?
I’ll regard it as her seal of approval 🙂
I think the fan border is my favorite thus far, but I’m holding out for the next installment! I haven’t had any snout issues of late; Max is too busy “guarding” to check out my work, but there seems to be a considerable battle with dog hair, which seems to jump out of his coat constantly!!
Oh, I hear you! The Dowager’s cat seemed to have a talent for leaving a fur mat wherever she sat down… Luckily that problem is no longer with us!
😂
😆 funny story, luckily the smudge is out of frame. Congrats on the fan finish, I really loved how they turned out!
It is lucky, isn’t it, otherwise I just know that smudge would annoy me right until the end 🙂
The fans look fabulous. I’m so curious to see what the rest of this sampler looks like!
I’ll be making a start soon on the first of the three larger blocks of pattern that happen next.
I laughed out loud at your dog snot comment! Hysterical! The project is lovely!
Poor girl, she was terribly puzzled about what she’d done wrong, she was just being friendly. I’m not sweating it, the smear will wash out, and if it doesn’t, well, it’ll probably be hidden by whatever I do for framing.