Roland Designs

    I was very lucky to not only find this wonderful Biblical chart in pristine condition, but to also get it on a very good discount...( The seller was not a a stitcher or she would have know that these charts are very rare )

    In the mid 1800's when Berlin woolwork was at it's peak, you could find thousands of motifs, not just flowers, but also animals, characters from Sir Walter Scotts novels, and of course Biblical pictures.

    I am at present charting this old pattern, and hope to have it finished in January. It is quite a challenge to do a large chart, even when it is in good condition, as the paint is not perfectly within the lines, and sometime ran over other colours. This pattern is hand painted in a gouache type paint, and the graph is very tiny, there are a lot of different shades of the same colour. I of course try to simplify it a little , no one wants to change thread every other stitch.

    I am 99 % sure of which story this chart is depicting. Do you know ...?

    I will send the chart free to the first few who can guess the story.

    Just leave a comment, and don't forget to add your e-mail address..

    Hint  1 : It's from the old testament.... 

    Hint  2 : The costumes are a little ' fantastic' and not at all accurate with the time period, so don't get distracted by that.....

  Here is a photo of Emilie and her first cross stitching.

  I got some really large aida,  perle cotton and a loop to get her started with embroidery.

   She likes making the little crosses, but needs a lot of help from mommy still. She is almost 5 years old, a good age to start learning to use a needle.

  Here is an example of an adorable little coin purse in tent stitch. 

  I am not sure how old it is, but the colors are very faded. Still a lovely little piece though.

   I purchased some time back this lovely little doily. It's made in fine lacis ( or filet embroidery ).

   You can see from the photos how neatly it was made. It's very fine, delicate work.

    The past month of July I have had all my children home on holidays, so I did not do any more work on charts.

    I did put an extra effort on adding to my ETSY shop, you are very welcome to take a look :

   www.rolanddesigns.etsy.com

   Now that the holidays are ending I will be adding many new charts. I have some very beautiful , large hand painted charts that are waiting for me to take the time to chart them.

    I will also be adding some of my best selling ETSY items on the site, you can purchase them directly from Roland -designs.

    Roland-designs will be celebrating it's first anniversary in September, so check back there will be many special offers, and free gifts.

   I thought you might like to see my little tiny office.

   Actually it's only a desk, and a lot of boxes, and books hidden in my cupboards.

   Here you can see I'm working on ' Red and pink roses '.

   There is usually a cup of coffee, and a kitten on the table, and often a child pulling my sleeves.....

   And yes the walls are pink.....

     After much tinkering , and trying out new things I have settled on using sterling silver as much as possible on my ETSY jewelry.

    I feel it will reflect on the quality of my craft, and make customers appreciate more the work that goes into the making the different items.

    Here are a few of my new creations, each crochet motif is neatly finished. I use a needle and carefully pull the thread through the work, I try to make it as strong as possible. There is nothing I hate more than shoddy work, there should be no loose threads, and the finished product should last for many years.

   Norway celebrates it's national day on the 17 th of Mai.

Since they had a peaceful break away from Sweden, they do not have a military themed national day. Instead they have a children parade.

    All the children parade in the streets accompanied by music bands, and everyone is dressed in their national costumes -- Bunads.

   Each region has their own interpretation of the Bunad, and you get to see some very beautiful needlework.

   One kind lady aggreed to let me post a photo of her beautiful Bunad. It is adorned in a sort of crewel embroidery . Very pretty.

    The cross stitch guild has allotted me a small space in their  magazine ' Stitch that ! ' nr.75

  In it you will get the chart and instruction for a little Victorian style coin purse I made from an old lithograph.

   To become a member of The cross stitchguild follow this link :

www.thecrossstitchguild.com

   My dear friend Orysia has started a new blog . She is an avid knitter, and has made some wonderful things for us.

    Her blog spot is : www.knit-galore.blogspot.com