Swan Stitcher's Etuis and Petit Carnet d'Ouvrages, Livre I by Catherine

It seems only fitting on Bastille Day, July 14th, to share some photos with you from Catherine ("Catherine abc" as she is known on the internet) from France. Those of you who know Catherine know what an incredible stitcher and finisher she is.

Over the years, thanks to the internet, we have become friends. I was so excited when I was finally able to meet her in person two years ago at the Ackworth seminar in England. Catherine is such a lovely person, and her works are more exquisite in person than in photos.

The first photos are of Catherine's Swan Stitcher's Etuis. The word "etuis" is plural in the product title because there are charts for two different etuis in the same package. You can see photos of both versions here.

This photo shows the front of Catherine's etui and scissors weight.

Look at the swan threadholder, scissors, and waxer that she found.

This photo shows the back of her etui and scissors weight.

And this photo shows the inside with the needlepage. Isn't the

toile lining fabric Catherine chose perfect for this project?

Catherine wrote, "I've used the recommended Bordeaux Weeks Dye Workes thread on sand linen and absolutely loved it. It was my very first project stitched from you years ago, and after I had stitched it, it took me at less two more years before being brave enough to try to figure out about the finishing. But thanks to your excellent instructions, it's been a fast finish and I told myself it was a real pity that I waited so long to sew it all together ! :-)"

Next is Catherine's Petit Carnet d'Ouvrages, Livre I. Catherine wrote, "As to the Petit Carnet d'Ouvrages, Livre I... it is a VERY special project for me, and a memory that I'd always cherish. As a fan of yours, I was thrilled when you asked me to be your "test stitcher" for it before its release. I think that is still a major moment in my stitcher's life... I was free to choose my color and I used the Cranberry Luminescence thread from Gloriana. My first try with Luminescence thread, but not my last one, I loved it !"

Didn't Catherine do a beautiful job with both her stitching (all over one linen thread) and the finishing? I love the Lady's Companion on the left of her little book and the threadwinder on the right.

Here are two views of Catherine's book opened.

As you can see from the photos, Catherine likes red as much as I do blue.

Thank you, Catherine, ma chère amie, for sharing photographs of your beautiful work. Also thank you for test stitching some of my designs.

I stitch all of my own models, but sometimes I like to use a test stitcher also. Catherine has done this on several occasions. I find this step particularly important if I know that a project is going to use multiple skeins of one thread color. We all know how important it is to have enough thread in the same dyelot. For example, this project required 3, 40-yard spools of Luminescence thread. I am not always good at keeping track of how much thread I use on a project, and that is why Catherine's input was so valuable. Merci beaucoup, Catherine!