Anne S

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Works in Progress

Christmas Treat Bag

5 December, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

As you can obviously tell, I’ve been busy this morning, going by all the separate posts. I finally finished off two pin pillow tutorials that have been languishing since last weekend, and I’ve been listening to my flatmate clean up the flat in readiness for her mother arriving this afternoon. It seems she’s worked out how to use both the mop and vacuum cleaner, all that is needed now is to work out how to take the recycling down to the rubbish bins, and it’ll be a perfect day from my perspective! 😛

This afternoon I’ll be hibernating in my room all afternoon catching up on some of my own housework while I finish off the last DVD of Criminal Minds Season 1 – then I can take it back to its owner and trade it in for Season 2. There may not be any more stitching done this weekend, but yesterday I did manage to finish up a little cutie – as per normal I’ve managed to misplace my bags of charms that I know I had in my hot little hands last weekend, so hence the tidy-up in my room that is well and truly needed.

“Christmas Treat Bag” by Shepherd’s Bush
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch
~ in colour “Little Boy Blue” (Kiwi Illusions)
with recommended DMC and Mill Hill beads

Then yesterday I started another Christmas ornie that was already kitted up and ready to go … but I looked at the fabric already cut out and thought ‘what a waste’ – after a quick measuring up with a ruler, I decided if I was frugal enough I could just get two ornies out of it, so lo and behold my stitching session is now seeing two ornies grow side by side instead of the one! It’s a bit slow going on the stitching front, but at least it’s a start! And as I’ve already stitched this one before for myself, these are eventually going to reside with family or friends some time next year.

I seem to have forgotten all about Christmas ornies this year, so doubt there’ll be any to be sent out this year. Last year I didn’t even manage to post out Christmas cards, so at least I’m ahead of the game this time, and have a pile ready to be posted out over the next week or two.

And on that note, I’d better haul it and get my A into G! 😀

Cross Stitch, pillows, pincushions, Stitching Smalls, Tutorials

Pin Pillow Tutorial #2

5 December, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

You will need:

Stitching for the centre of the cushion
Coordinating fabric(s) for side strips and backing
Sewing machine with coordinating sewing machine thread to match your fabric(s)
Scissors/rotary cutter and mat
Pins
Ribbon/lace/button embellishments (optional)
Polyfil stuffing (or something similar)
Sewing needle and thread to close up the seam opening

1. First of all trim your stitched piece, and cut your coordinating fabric to your preferred length and the approximate width of your sewing project. In my case I have chosen to have my coordinating fabric at the bottom of my stitched piece, and I prefer to have the quilting fabric slightly smaller than my stitched piece so it doesn’t take too much attention from the stitching – I have, however, seen some stunning pillows with the stitching taking up just a small amount of room at the top of the pillow. The only difference is down to your preference, as the finishing process is exactly the same.

2. Pin the fabrics together, with right sides facing, and stitch a normal seam allowance (alternatively you may prefer to just a quilters 1/4″ seam).

3. At this point I cut off my excess fabrics on each side, and trim my seams to 1/4″. This is also the time when you should open up the seam(s) and give a quick pressing with the iron.

4. If you have decided to have fabric on both sides of your stitching (either top and bottom, or left and right) this you will need to repeat the above process a second time for the additional piece of fabric. Once you’ve finished attaching the coordinating fabrics, check the edges to ensure they’re all even, and give it a quick trim with the rotary cutter if needed.

5. At this point I add any seam embellishments to the pillow front. For this particular pillow I just wanted to add one row of matching ric-a-rac. This can either be attached by the sewing machine or by hand (I ended up adding this one by hand, as I didn’t have a matching brown sewing machine thread). This is also a good time to add any buttons or other trims you want to add, prior to constructing the pillow itself. Alternatively, you can add your ribbon at the very end once the pillow is finished, but just wrapping it around the pillow and tying a bow to hold it in place 🙂

6. Now you need to cut your backing fabric the same size as your finished article, and pin them together with right sides facing together (the right side of the stitching will be on the inside of the sandwich).

7. Stitch a seam allowance around the edges, but leave an opening at the bottom so that you can turn your pillow inside-out. I tend to leave about 1 1/2″ opening and that’s normally enough room to allow for turning.

8. I use a chopstick to help push the corners into a nice shape from the outside – you just have to be careful not to force the seam stitching too much! Once you have turned your pillow inside out, it should look something like this. Now all you have to do is stuff it to your preferred thickness with your favourite stuffing.

9. I close my pillow openings with a ladder stitch – and the following is taken from a previous Christmas ornament tutorial, but is the exact same instruction for closing the pillows.

As you can see from the photo below, I start off by slipping my needle into the seam of the backing fabric, then coming back out about 1/4″ along the seam (about 3mm) and bring my needle out.

I then take my needle directly opposite where I just came out of the backing fabric and slip my needle into the linen and follow the seam along for about 3mm and bring the needle back out again.

I’ve left the stitches nice and loose in the photo below to help illustrate how the stitches follow along opposite each other, like rungs of a ladder.

When you pull the thread tighter, the stitches almost disappear into the fabric, giving a really nice clean finish – this is definitely my favourite stitch for closing up openings for that reason!

Once you reach the end of the seam opening, you need to finish off your thread with a couple of teeny stitches – I then bury the needle into the seam and come out somewhere about an inch way and bring the needle back out again – then clip the thread close to the fabric so that my thread tail does’t appear easily.

And here’s the final seam all finished off – see now nice and tidy that ladder stitch is in the opening?

10. And that is the final step in your beautiful new pin pillow coming to life. Now all you need to do is to find somewhere to display it where it can be admired by everyone 😀

Cross Stitch, pillows, pincushions, Stitching Smalls, Tutorials

Pin Pillow Tutorial #1

5 December, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

While I was finishing my wee pillows last weekend, I took a series of photos to create some basic tutorials. Here is the first one:

PILLOW/PIN PILLOW TUTORIAL #1

You will need:

Stitching for the centre of the cushion
Coordinating fabric(s) for side strips and backing
Sewing machine with coordinating sewing machine thread to match your fabric(s)
Scissors/rotary cutter and mat
Pins
Embellishments (optional)
Polyfil stuffing (or something similar)
Sewing needle and thread to close up the seam opening

1. First of all cut your coordinating fabric into equal width strips, and approximate width of your sewing project. In my case I have chosen to have two different fabrics on the front of my pillow, and have started with a narrow strip of bright rust fabric for the inner border.

Pin the first strip with right sides facing to your stitching (I prefer to start with the pieces attached to the left and right sides, but you may prefer to start with the top and bottom sections first), and stitch a normal seam allowance (alternatively you may prefer to just a quilters 1/4″ seam).

Once you have stitched the first seam, attach the 2nd strip of fabric to the opposite side of your stitching and stitch another seam.

2. At this point I cut off my excess fabrics on each side, and trim my seams to 1/4″ – I usually prefer to do this because I don’t trust myself to get things right the first time!

3. You finish with nice tidy edges, ready to attach the last two sides of fabric.

4. Before we do that, though, we need to open the fabric sides up and give them a quick press with the iron so that they sit nicely. If you want to you can also do a row of top-stitching to assist with holding the fabric nicely, but I don’t normally bother.

5. Now we attach the top and bottom sides in exactly the same way as we did with the first two sides. Once all sides have finished, I normally check the side strips to ensure they’re nice and tidy and even, and if not I give them a quick trim all round with the rotary cutter.

6. In my case I decided to just have a narrow strip of bright rust fabric as a contrasting focal point, then added some wider strips of fabric for the outside edges. These are attached in exactly the same way as the rust strips, they are just cut into wider pieces. You just need to remember to add the next lot of strips in the same order as you did previously, which was in my case left and right first, followed by top and bottom. Once I had ironed my finished strips I decided that little buttons would be nice in the corners, so I added these before adding the backing fabric.

7. Now you need to cut your backing fabric the same size as your finished article, and pin them together with right sides facing together (the right side of the stitching will be on the inside of the sandwich).

8. Stitch a seam allowance around the edges, but leave an opening at the bottom so that you can turn your pillow inside-out. I tend to leave about 1 1/2″ opening and that’s normally enough room to allow for turning.

9. I use a chopstick to help push the corners into a nice shape from the outside – you just have to be careful not to force the seam stitching too much! Once you have turned your pillow inside out, it should look something like this. Now all you have to do is stuff it to your preferred thickness with your favourite stuffing.

10. I close my pillow openings with a ladder stitch – and the following is taken from a previous Christmas ornament tutorial, but is the exact same instruction for closing the pillows.

As you can see from the photo below, I start off by slipping my needle into the seam of the backing fabric, then coming back out about 1/4″ along the seam (about 3mm) and bring my needle out.

I then take my needle directly opposite where I just came out of the backing fabric and slip my needle into the linen and follow the seam along for about 3mm and bring the needle back out again.

I’ve left the stitches nice and loose in the photo below to help illustrate how the stitches follow along opposite each other, like rungs of a ladder.

When you pull the thread tighter, the stitches almost disappear into the fabric, giving a really nice clean finish – this is definitely my favourite stitch for closing up openings for that reason!

And here’s the final seam all finished off – see now nice and tidy that ladder stitch is in the opening?

11. And that is the final step in your beautiful new pin pillow coming to life. Now all you need to do is to find somewhere to display it where it can be admired by everyone 😀

Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt

Photo Hunt – Hard to Find

5 December, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is ”Hard to Find” and I figure a double rainbow fits that category (even if the photo isn’t that crash hot!).

Athens, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, Travel - Greece

Photo Hunt – Written

29 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is ”Written” my choice is a guard (Evzone) in Syntagma Square, Athens, Greece at the tomb of the unknown solder.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Halloween, Just Nan, Little House Needleworks, pillows, Twisted Threads

Pillows Galore!

28 November, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

The title sounds a little bit like a James Bond girl – however 007 has nothing to do with the title whatsoever … it DOES have to do with a mini finishing frenzy I’ve had this weekend (well, just today really). This is what part of the sofa looked like earlier today as I was planning out the backing fabrics etc:

And here are the results of my efforts today – not quite everything finished yet, but still a lot closer to that goal than when I started (including three ornies that weren’t in the above photo). Unfortunately the weather is rainy and revolting today and it was really dark in the lounge, so I couldn’t get really nice crisp light photos. The first pillow is probably my favourite with the little black buttons – but truth is I’m pretty pleased with them all 😀

The rest of today was spent doing a mercy run across the road for some serious junk food to stave off my cravings (definite proof of what time it is for this female, as if I hadn’t worked it out already) … and helping my elderly neighbour by climbing up on a chair and lifting her suitcases etc back up into the top of her wardrobe (I got them all down for her yesterday so she could go through them and throw out what she didn’t want – tonight’s job was to put all the cases and bags back up again).

I haven’t done any stitching at all over the last few days – just too tired at the end of the day, I think … which is probably why today was so satisfying to me, as it was proof of still doing something stitchy even without actually stitching.

Anyway, I’ll sign off by saying thanks so much to everyone for sharing their stories and comments from my previous post – it felt really wonderful to hear such positivity and helped me to keep my spirits high this week, higher than they’ve been in months! Thanks again everyone for your candour and your acceptance 😀

And on that note I’m skulking back off into the lounge to do a bit of a tidy-up session before Katie comes back from being out of town (which is usually the only time I get into ‘finishing mode’) … and to polish off a bit more of that junk food 😛

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

A small gesture can change a life

24 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

Warning: This post is about homosexuality – if this offends you, I suggest you stop reading now 🙂

I would also appreciate it that if you find anything offensive, or wish to share any negative thoughts, that you don’t p0st your feelings on the matter in the comments, but that you keep those thoughts to yourself. While you’re also entitled to your opinions, inflammatory comments will be immediately deleted.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Tonight on Facebook I followed a link published by a gay colleague to a YouTube video by Pixar (“It Gets Better”). In this video clip numerous gay people, both male and female, told how they struggled in their youth with bullying etc, and reinforcing that things will get better, for young people struggling with this issue today to look forward to a brighter future as “it will get better” over time.

I have been struggling with my own personal demons this year, which came to a head a couple of months ago, and perhaps it’s just the frame of mind I’m in tonight, but something resonated with me tonight with this YouTube video. No, I’m not saying that I’m gay (not that that would be a bad thing) … but I have numerous gay friends, and in fact most of my friends from high school have turned out to be gay (both male and female) – in fact, I think my best friend and I have ended up being the only straight ones in the entire group! But I did have one story growing up that has always stuck with me …

I met Roseanne at work when I was in my early-mid 20’s, and we used to go out nightclubbing etc on a semi-regular basis, and checked out guys like most other girls. ‘Rox’ was my closest friend at work, and when we’d had a particularly tough day at work we’d head off to the ‘local family restaurant/pub’ up the road and share a bit plate of chips/french fries and have a game of pool. One particular day she said to me very earnestly that she had something to say to me, and that she hoped I’d take it OK … my immediate reaction was to say the most outrageous thing that came to my mind … “oh don’t tell me, you’re a raving lesbian!”. When her jaw hit the ground, I took one look at her face then my jaw joined hers … when she said “well, that was easy”, we both cracked up and howled! To be honest my initial reaction was “wow, how do I feel about this?” – in a split second my mind had already worked out that she was the same person she was 10 seconds ago, so why should her sexuality make any difference?

She only ever confided in myself and her best friend – they had been best friends since the beginning of time. After that announcement that particular friend (I use that term loosely) to this day has never spoken to her again – her religious beliefs were paramount to their friendship, all 15-20 years of it. Apologies to anyone who fosters these same beliefs, I don’t mean to offend, but that’s an alien thought for me, as it’s not the way I’ve been brought up. I’ve always been brought up to accept people for who they are – that’s not to say I’m perfect in that regard in any shape or form, but I’ve certainly tried to foster those feelings as I’ve grown up into the mature old biddy that I am today.

I’ve had a few discussions with people when they have made statements that homosexuality is something an individual chooses. I have a very simplistic view of this – why on earth would someone choose to invite ridicule, bullying and non-acceptance in society if they had a choice? I know gay people who have struggled with acceptance, and put up with listening to bigoted comments from some people when I was living in Melbourne in particular – these feelings are just so alien to how I’ve been brought up, I struggle to understand this stance. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I accept that not everyone can have the same viewpoint, but it still saddens me to see people ridiculed and pigeonholed for one aspect of their lives and a very small part of who they are as people.

Anyway, that video clip brought me to tears tonight – when I think of all the people out there growing up without a support system as they struggle to come to grips with their sexuality, or being ‘outside the norm’ and not in society’s perfect mould … I remember those days at work when Rox and I kept her secret for a number of years before she felt comfortable with making it more public (including telling her parents). Many conversations were had about her boyfriend Don (who was in fact her girlfriend Donna) – and my Mum, bless her soul, accepted Rox with open arms (as well as Donna at our dinner table occasionally). It makes me reflect tonight how different Rox’s struggle may have been without having at least one person as a support during that difficult time, especially as she had already been spurned by the closest friend she had growing up.

I sit here reflecting tonight, as I feel fed up in some aspects of my life (mainly during the working week) … that a simple gesture of acceptance and caring has the potential to have a huge impact on another life. This simple act that costs nothing at the time can make a huge difference to someone … and quite frankly, knowing that feels good. While we’ve never discussed it outright, I’d like to hope that my acceptance and support 20 years ago made a positive impact for Rox. I do know that she is an incredibly caring person who is very much at peace with herself (as is her family), and it’s a pleasure to still call her friend, even if we haven’t seen each other for about about 5 years.

And on that note of melancholy and reflection, I also want to give a massive vote of thanks to my Mum by raising me to have an open mind and not judging people for their race, colour, religion or anything else. I am reminded of the many kindnesses that my mother has shown to everyone who has touched her path during her lifetime – she is the most caring soul who never has a bad word to say about anyone (well, OK, barring her husband occasionally) … and now in her 70’s she’s started volunteering at the local rest home to give the elderly residents some company and assistance. Your caring and nurturing nature never ceases to amaze me, Mum! If I end my life as being only one-tenth as compassionate and caring as my Mum has been all my life, I will deem that as a successful and ethical life well lived. Mum, you are truly my role model, and I am blessed and proud to call you my Mum xx 😀

See, I told you it was a very reflective mood tonight! But in a good way, as I’m trying to retain a positive demeanour during the working week, and reminding me of life’s goodness helps to retain that balance! 😀

And I promise the next post I’ll be back to my stitching posts again! 😛

Cross Stitch, Heart in Hand Needleart, Works in Progress

Murphy’s Law appears yet again

23 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I decided to have a break from Halloween stitching this afternoon and picked up a half-kitted-up project … I thought I had all the threads for this one, but as luck would have it (Murphy, seriously, you’re a pain in the neck!!) my skein of WDW Cocoa has gone walkabouts and I didn’t have enough of the WDW Lancaster Red so I ran out halfway through. Pfffft 😦

The good news, though, is that the missing threads are really common which means I’ve been able to order them from a local source – and Janine at Colours Down Under is usually really quick with shipping, so hopefully they’ll be in my hot little hands in a week or so, then I can finish this project off 😀

In the meantime, though, I now have to decide what to stitch on next … I’m thinking perhaps a bit of Sapphire Star is in order – it would be nice to get this one finished by year’s end, so I really should pull my finger out now I’ve decided on which substitute threads to use 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010, Halloween, Homespun Elegance, Twisted Threads

Halloween continues

23 November, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Thanks to the dreaded lurgy I’ve taken one extra day off work to catch up on some R&R, and catch up on some stitching. I have to admit it was the best thing I could’ve done, as I feel 10 times better already just by relaxing and chilling out in/on my bed. When I haven’t been sleeping, I’ve been stitching, and have managed to get another two small finishes under my belt.

“October Boo Mini Gingham” by Twisted Threads
stitched on 28ct beige/cream checked Graziano linen
with recommended GAST threads
(except Black Crow which I substituted with DMC 310)

“Boo Tyme” freebie by Homespun Elegance (available here)
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Lugana by Countrystitch – in colour “Acorn”
with the following thread choices:
Crescent Colours – Cocoa Bean
Crescent Colours – Pumpkin Harvest
GAST – Brandy

Cross Stitch, Halloween, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, The Trilogy, Works in Progress

Dreaded lurgy

22 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I was feeling off-colour most of the day yesterday, and even ended up having a 3-hour nanna nap in the afternoon because I felt so exhausted – when I woke up I had a raging sore throat, and sure enough today it has hung around and I managed to add super-sensitive hearing to the mix. After croaking my way through a one-hour meeting at work, my boss has sent me home with my tail between my legs to rest up for the afternoon … and truth be told it didn’t take much convincing, ‘cos I’m feeling ‘not too flash’ on the whole. Everyone at work was driving me crazy noise-wise, so I think it’s very clever that I not stay around any longer or my patience threshold may not survive … yikes!

Last night, though, even though I was feeling crappy I did manage to get a few stitches into a new start – I have about 6-8 Halloween/Autumn projects that I kitted up with the fabrics all cut up, and the threads pulled, so I’ve decided I should continue working my way through those until they’re finished before I move on to something more challenging (and then I can put the threads away again!). Last night I started The Trilogy’s “October Boo” from their Mini Gingham series – I don’t think it’ll take too long to finish this one off, and it was a really nice change from Just Nan and her squillions of colour changes in one small space! This one is designed to be stitched over-one, but I cut my fabric larger and I’m stitching it over-two instead.

I’ve been tossing up whether to join a new challenge in 2011, where you pull 15 new-start projects and stitch on a new one every day for the first 15 days of January, then aim to have them all completed by the year’s end. I love this idea (hey, who wouldn’t love all those new starts? haha), but because I use Q-snaps etc I don’t think this would work for me, because it’d be a right royal pain pulling them apart every night after just doing a few stitches. Instead, I’m thinking of just pulling 15 new-start projects and kitting them up, then sitting them in a separate bag/basket and making them my challenge to be completed during the year … it’s food for thought anyway!

I have to admit I find it so much better when I have projects fully kitted and ready to be picked up – I’m a real procrastinator when it comes to new starts, and I can go for days on end without starting anything just because I hate cutting up the fabrics and pulling all the threads out … having a basket of ‘ready-to-stitch’ projects means I don’t have to think about it, I can just put my hand into the basket, pull out a new project, and just pretty much start stitching straightaway! Of course, I do have to get motivated on at least one day to get the projects kitted up in the first place, but I truly do think it’s doable … in fact, I think I may even start working through my list of projects and find at least 15 projects that I really really want to stitch, and find out if I have all the threads (I’m always getting caught out by starting projects and finding out a thread is missing pffft). In fact, I think that’s a perfect job for this afternoon when I’m vegetating out at home feeling sorry for myself … although just thinking about it has worn me out … so perhaps I should leave the decisions for another day LOL.