October 2008 – Feather Stitching

Quick Admin note

31 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a really quick note from work … I’ve just switched the comments option in my blog off to disallow comments in the short term until my laptop is returned. As much as I love to read your comments, and they’re always always appreciated, I have a limited quota in my webmail server account, so need to keep incoming emails to a minimum while I’m not checking them every day. I’ll also be changing all my Yahoo groups to “no mail” before I head off home as well, as my email inbox is bulging at the seams in just 3 short days!

You’ll still get to see a regular post here every Saturday as I’d already prepared the next 5 weeks worth of Photo Hunts in advance … perhaps I knew something was coming? 😉

Look forward to being back with you soon … gotta run now, ‘cos I’m not supposed to really use the internet at work for personal use …

Uncategorized

Out of action

28 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a really really quick post to say that my laptop has had to take a visit to the service centre, and will possibly not be back for up to 5 weeks. I will only be able to check personal emails sporadically at work, so if anyone needs to contact me please use my work email if you have it.

Otherwise, I won’t be posting from work apart from this little quick post … see you when I can

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Halloween, Just Nan, Stash

Frightful Finish

26 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I stitched my little heart out yesterday and didn’t leave my stitching ‘chair’ except for toilet, food and drink breaks … and this is the result of the weekend’s stitching – a new finish, just in time for Halloween 🙂

“Frightful” by Just Nan
stitched on a mystery linen
with DMC & Just Nan’s embellishment kit

I just LOVE the colours on this one … it was great fun to stitch, although at times I wondered if I’d ever get through all the backstitching …

While I was uploading the photos I also came across one that I’d forgotten to post – this was my recent stash haul from the US … I put all the various packets of MH Treasures into one container to save space – and it means I now have all the Treasures needed to complete Mirabilia’s Enchanted Mermaid (once I make a fabric decision of course).

Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, port macquarie, sculptures, seascapes

Photo Hunt – Scary

25 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is “Scary” and it was bl**dy scary having this red-bellied black snake in the house before Christmas last year!!! Thank goodness for the snake catchers! 😀

On a tamer scale we have a Scary bushwalk for kiddies at the Enchanted Maze Gardens:

And lucky last, something I found astonishing and Scary … and downright amazing that this idiot didn’t get washed into the surf! In exceptionally strong winds, this dufus was out on the rocks fishing at Port Macquarie …

Now you see him …

Now you don’t … well, if you look really really hard you can actually just see his fishing rod still …

What a moron!!! And without a doubt very, very Scary!!!

Cross Stitch, Halloween, Just Nan, Works in Progress

Update on Frightful

24 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Slowly but surely my Just Nan Halloween piece is getting stitched … the frog hasn’t reared its little head since I threw him back into the witches’ cauldron where he belongs …

… and I managed to get a few more stitches into block #2 last night. Fingers crossed I’ll get more chance of getting this closer to finished over the weekend, as I intend being a lazy slob just watching DVD’s and stitching (thanks to Katie who has just loaned me Season 3 of Supernatural to watch – woohoo!! Although it’s hard to stitch and drool over Jensen Ackles at the same time! LOL). Anyway, here’s the current update of Frightful as we lead into the weekend (yet again a crappy photo, as it doesn’t show the vibrant colours off very well – will have to take a photo outside on Sunday):

And the BEST news is that I’ve heard from Karen at The Stitching Post, and apparently Mirabilia’s new mermaid is probably due to arrive next Tuesday … which means I should have her in my hot little hands in a week’s time – woohoo! 😀

Which reminds me, I haven’t been to the post box for a week – perhaps I’d better do that on the way to work this morning to see what bills are awaiting my attention … oops …

Canvaswork, Cross Stitch, Stash, Wishlist

My 25 Project Challenge is Doomed already!

22 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I have barely got a finish under my belt and I’ve broken my vow of chastity stash dieting … but I couldn’t resist!! And two of them are rarely available for sale, so it was a case of “now or never” … as for the third one, it is just a case of ordering it quickly before I salivated myself to death in a pile of drool 😉

What am I talking about? Well, to start with I’d already been drooling BIG time seeing the latest Mirabilia mermaid on a few blogs … this one is just to DIE FOR! I was happy to add it to my wishlist, then The Stitching Post had a pre-order option in today’s email newsletter … my fingers worked to quickly on the keyboard and before I knew it and time to think, the chart was ordered and paid for … oops … LOL. Now I just have to wait for a while before I can justify getting the MH Treasures and CC Waterlilies threads. But I’m also thinking if I don’t end up using my Fathom fabric for Enchanted Mermaid, the colouring of this one could be perfect!

As for the other two splurges – Gay Ann Rogers has an e-merchandise week only once a year, and offers some of her previous class projects for sale. These two projects are ones that I fell in love with a while ago, but figured they’d be forever out of my grasp, but sure enough I was lucky enough to see them up for sale last week (although my credit card is now feeling very UNlucky, and I guess I’ll be on bread and water rations for the next month … I know I’m going to kick myself for buying them, but I just couldn’t resist!). Anyway, here are the two canvaswork designs that I fell in love with, and with pages and pages of instructions, it’ll be great to stitch these up at some stage … I was borderline about getting the 2nd design, but it was discounted to buy both together, so I figured “in for a penny, in for a pound …” – I’m totally head over heels for the first design, though (probably more so because I love the colourway chosen for this model!).

As for actual stitching, I managed to get another 2 hours stitching done last night … 1 of them spent frogging and re-stitching, then the remaining hour getting some new stitches in. I’m over halfway through the 2nd corner box, so hopefully tomorrow night I’ll get chance to finish that off … no piccies for now though 🙂

And now it’s time to climb into my thermal undies for bed … the temperatures have totally plummeted today and it’s like being back in the middle of winter again (from 30+C to 15C in the space of two days hmmm) … time to bundle up in those winter PJ’s again!!

Cross Stitch, Halloween, Just Nan, Works in Progress

Halloween Frogs

21 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Personally I don’t think Frogs should be permitted during Halloween (or any time of the year for that matter) … I noticed last night when I sat and did an hour’s stitching before bed that I’ve miscounted in the border of my Halloween piece by one stitch, so I have to rip all the right-hand side borders out (from the green stitches out) … thankfully I hadn’t managed to stitch too much, so it won’t take long to re-stitch again. I only noticed last night when stitching the spider and ran out of room for the legs … and when I did notice my face was a really good mimic of the expression on that ghosts face!! LOL. The photo is dreadful sorry – the colours really ‘pop’ in real life, and are really bright – love it, and just what the doctored ordered, I’m really loving stitching this one! 😀

This is what it will look like ‘when it’s all grown up’ 😀

Thanks everyone for helping me out with the mermaid fabric – I have to admit my gut was also leaning towards Waterfall as well … I’ve asked Catherine at Countrystitch to send me a small ‘sample/ornie’ cut of each of the two colours (Waterfall and Ocean Blue) so I can do a true floss toss and see the colours in real life before making the ultimate decision. I’ll show piccies of the various fabrics when I do so you can see the differences.

Rightio, time to start getting ready for work – it’s been raining cats and dogs so I need to find my umbrella too hmmm. My intention was to go walking before work this week, but I took one look outside and went “nah” 😉

Cross Stitch, mermaids TO BE FIXED, Mirabilia

Over my head in the ocean

20 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Over my head in Ocean fabric, that is! I’ve got Mirabilia’s Enchanted Mermaid all kitted up ready to go … except I can’t decide on the fabric to use! I had bought a plain Belfast Smokey Pearl piece especially for it, which is supposedly close to the recommended Wichelt Twilight Blue … but then I spied a piece of “Fathom” by Picture This Plus at the recent Stitches & Craft Show and picked a piece up especially for this Mermaid … however when I lay the flosses out on it, the fabric is more tealy green coloured, so now I can’t decide. To top things off I’ve just found a couple of Country Stitch fabrics that might work nicely. As this project has cost an arm and a leg in MH Treasures I want to get this one right (and I want to start stitching it relatively quickly)! 😉

Anyway, I used the online pattern/fabric viewer, and this is what the screen shots are like:

Belfast Smokey Pearl (left) and Picture This Plus Fathom (right)
(these two fabrics I already have in my stash

Country Stitch – Waterfall (left) and Ocean Blue (right)

As a matter of interest, which do you think looks best? Obviously I’d need to pick up swatches of the actual fabrics before I make the ‘ultimate’ decision, I guess, but I’d be interested in your thoughts 🙂

I’ll do a proper floss toss when I get chance …

Country Cottage Needleworks, Cross Stitch, Finishes

Home Sweet Home

19 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

One pink house with its little pink roses is now all finished – and I have to admit I really like it! I’m almost tempted to keep this one! 😀

“Home Sweet Home” by Country Cottage Needleworks
Stitched on 28ct Ivory Annabelle
with recommended threads

As for what’s next … I’ve had my heart set on stitching a Halloween project before the end of the month, and I’ve got a massive urge to get some of my UFO’s finished after publishing all the photos recently, so I’m going to re-jig my rotation projects short-term … My focus piece will be Frightful by Just Nan, and my Large/BAP project will be Mirabilia’s Winter Queen – once my Halloween piece is finished I’ll move Winter Queen into the focus piece slot until it’s finished … then I’ll start on my CA Wells pieces for next year’s class 🙂

Cross Stitch

Merry Cox class online

19 October, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Just in case anyone’s interested the “Shining Needle Society” is offering an online class with Merry Cox – Here’s some of the information received, but you’ll need to sign up for membership with the Shining Needle Society (membership is free, it’s a Yahoo Group):

“It’s October 15, which means that registration is now open for Shining Needle Society’s first class offering specifically for linen, “Americana Sewing Case” with Merry Cox.

Important class dates are as follows:

October 15 through November 15 — registration open
November 15 — last day for registration
January 1 – February 15 — online class for the stitched portion of the sewing case
Feb. 16 – March 31 — online class on hiatus to allow for completion of the stitching — online “classroom” will still be accessible and open, but teacher availability will be very limited due to other commitments
April 1 – 30 — finishing portion of the online class. Sit back and admire your completed sewing case!

Class details:

“Americana Sewing Case” class description:
This charming patriotic sewing case measures 4″ x 2 3/4″ when closed and features a girl holding the flag, an alphabet, tree, birds, flower band and a verse Merry wrote. Most of the design is stitched ‘over 1’ using overdyed cotton and silk threads. Inside is a place to store scissors, a needle threader, needles and a bodkin.
Stitches include Montenegrin stitch, satin stitch, small rococo, closed herringbone, tent stitch ‘over 1’ and nun stitch on 32-count sandstone linen.
Kit includes linen, threads, buttons, ribbon, bodkin and all finishing materials.

To see a picture of the completed project, go to: http://www.frommerrysheart.com/
Click on “online class” in the left hand column.

(snipped)

Pricing:

$110 — Includes complete kit, online instruction emails, US domestic mailing and SNS administrative fee. International orders are $8 additional to most global destinations.

$35 — if you have already taken this class from Merry at another venue and thus do not need a second kit. This fee covers Merry’s teaching fee and the SNS administrative fee.

Merry is happy to accept both checks and PayPal.”