Category: Halloween

Blackberry Lane Designs, Christmas Ornaments, Crazy January 2011 Challenge, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Halloween, Prairie Moon, Prairie Schooler, Waxing Moon Designs

No time to chat … but a few finishes completed!

Anne S

Mum has been visiting over the last couple of weeks, so I’ve been avoiding the PC like the plague and we’ve been having a blast together as I’ve taken 2 1/2 weeks off work as well to make the most of our time together.  We’ve had a great time pottering around Sydney as well as spending a wonderful day a week ago with stitching friends (Alison, Amanda and Karen) as well as Alison’s lovely Mum June.  We’ve eaten lots of good food, drank good wines, and experienced new scenery.  Every single day has seen at least one fantastic highlight.

Unfortunately the start of the holiday was overshadowed by the news of Mum’s youngest sister being admitted to hospital for what appears to be the end stages of throat and lung cancer – we’re still awaiting for the final prognosis from the oncologist, but it didn’t seem very promising two weeks ago (we’ve had no news updates from the family since).  We have still managed to have an upbeat holiday, however, and appreciated all the time we’ve had to spend together 🙂

It’ll take a few posts to put together a mosaic of where we’ve been and what we’ve seen, so I’ll probably wait until after Mum’s gone home before spending that length of time at the PC … but in the meantime I’ll show the various stitching projects that have crossed the “finishing” line over the last couple of weeks:

Prairie Moon Designs-Merry Xmas

“Merry Xmas” by Prairie Moon Designs
Stitched on 32ct Thunderstorm Belfast linen
with recommended Belle Soie and NPI silks

Waxing Moon Designs-Halloween Short Stack
“Halloween Short Stack” by Waxing Moon Designs
Stitched on 28ct Misty Blue Cashel linen (I think!)
with a mix of recommended threads and DMC

Blackberry Lane Designs-Frosty Blue
“Frosty Blue” by Blueberry Lane Designs
(from the 2010 JCS Christmas Ornie issue)
Stitched on 32ct white opalescent Belfast linen
with recommended DMC threads and Mill Hill beads
(the fabric looks blue because I took the photo when it was laid on blue fabric oops!) 

Prairie Schooler-Spring freebie
Spring freebie by The Prairie Schooler
Stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen by Wichelt
with recommended DMC threads

The other finish I have is for a Snowman ornament exchange, so I can’t reveal that finish just yet – this one will be going in the mail any day now to it’s new home, but I’m definitely going to repeat stitch this one for myself!  Originally I was stitching Frosty Blue above for my exchange partner, until I saw my new choice stitched up by Amanda at our stitching GTG and I changed my mind and stitched that one up instead 🙂

And on that note I’d better sign off as Mum wants to go over to Coles so it’s time to put the walking shoes on and get some fresh air … I’ll catch up with more posts in a few days if not before 🙂

Autumn, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Halloween, JBW Designs, Waxing Moon Designs, Works in Progress

Autumn Harvest

Anne S

The last couple of weeks have been really stressful at work, so this weekend I made a special effort to chill out and relax – and spent most of the weekend with needle in hand, either catching up on recorded TV or watching DVDs in the lounge (including getting bored stiff watching the 2nd to last Harry Potter movie … yawn …).  The result is that I have one more finish from my Crazy January Challenge list, and decent headway into one more (plus a whole lot of frogging as I need to change one of the listed conversion threads to something much lighter).  Anyway, I’m a bit too tired to yap on any more, so I’ll just show the piccies … first up is my latest weekend finish:

JBW Designs-Autumn Harvest
“Autumn Harvest” by JBW Designs
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed linen in a mystery colour (perhaps Limestone)
with recommended Weeks Dye Works threads

Now on to my WIP (after frogging the outline of the ghost and cat) … I’m well about 2/3 through the stitching on this now, so it won’t be too much longer before it’s finished.

2360285950047689748cfpTOY_fs
“Halloween Short Stack” by Waxing Moon Designs

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Halloween, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Needlerolls, Shepherd's Bush

The wanderer returns

Anne S

I’ve been out of town for the last week with work, spending my time in our call centre in Brisbane (Queensland).  It was grueling work, with some days being 14 hour working days, but it was really invigorating and rewarding for me personally, and the feedback I received from the staff I worked with was inspiring.  Not to mention how wonderful it was to sleep in air-conditioned comfort for 4 nights.  This was home for 5 days – and the great thing is there was a full laundry and kitchen, so aside from self-catering to keep the bills down (and healthy food to keep the weight down) I was able to do my laundry on Thursday night so I didn’t have to do it this weekend 😉

P1040531_edited-1 P1040534_edited-1

Alas the testing didn’t quite get completed which means I have to do a bucket load more myself this week – I’d booked an RDO for this week from weeks and weeks ago stating there was no way I was going to be doing project testing on my birthday … but alas it looks like that will have to be cancelled and I will indeed be doing testing on that day (unless I put in the hard yards Mon/Tue and keep my fingers crossed both days).

Oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter really, it’s just a day, and I didn’t have anything special planned for the day anyway … the night’s different, though, Katie is treating me out for dinner on Wednesday night to a local French restaurant that I’ve been wanting to go to ever since I moved to this part of Sydney.  They have cheap mid-week set menus, and while the food certainly isn’t Weight Watchers friendly, it looks yummy and I can’t wait!!  We’re also getting a bus up as well, which means I can have a drink or three for a change 😀

I didn’t stitch at all when I was away in Brisvegas, as I was generally found glued to massive Excel spreadsheets on the laptop every night, so yesterday I refused to move from my stitching chair, and cleaned out all the TV recordings from last week (and believe me, there was a LOT) – I may have had numb-butt syndrome, but I did manage to put the finishing touches into this (just don’t ask me when the actual needleroll finishing will be taking place, ‘cos I think that’ll be some time away yet!).

Shepherds Bush-Happy Pumpkin Needle Roll

“Happy Pumpkin Needle Roll” by Shepherd’s Bush
stitched on 32ct Parkside (I think) hand-dyed linen by Silkweaver
with recommended threads
(I subbed my own button and beads as this was a 2nd-hand used chart)

Today I’m driving to the other side of Sydney to Concord for my first visit to a stitching group at the NSW Embroiderers Guild.  I signed up when Mum was over here when I was feeling really motivated about my stitching, but of course they closed over the summer holiday period and this month it is finally reopened again properly so this is the first opportunity I’ve had to pop on over.  I’ve found two groups that are mainly XSers that meet on the 2nd and 3rd Sundays of each month, so I phoned up and found out they both had spaces available … and today is my first visit to the first group.  I’m feeling extremely nervous, as I’m very shy meeting new people, but this is something I just need to push through and get over!  Hopefully it will turn out that I really enjoy it, and it gets me out of the house every once in a while 🙂

Blue Ribbon Designs, Crazy January 2011 Challenge, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Halloween, Heart in Hand Needleart, valentines, Works in Progress

Christmas finishes & Crazy January Challenge

Anne S

As mentioned in my previous post, thanks to season 1 of Fringe and a very lazy day yesterday where I didn’t even get dressed, I managed to finish both of my WIPs from Christmas:

Heart in Hand Needleart-Wee Valentine Bird
“Valentine Bird” by Heart in Hand Needleart
stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen by Wichelt
with recommended threads except subbed DMC 926 for GAST Straw Bonnet
added a gold heart charm as I didn’t have a suitable heart button

Blue Ribbon Designs-Perched on a Pumpkin
“Perched on a Pumpkin” by Blue Ribbon Designs
from JCS Halloween issue 2010
stitched on 32ct Willow Green Belfast linen
with recommended WDW threads but subbed DMC 310 for Mascara

I also had time to start one more that I’m about 2/3 through (Autumn freebie by The Stitcherhood) – another few episodes of Fringe and I’ll see this one finished as well:

Autumn freebie 27Dec10

Then it’ll be time to pick up Bittersweet Seasons once again – although I now realise that I don’t have the Mill Hill beads for this one (I really am useless!!!!!), which means I guess it won’t be a 2010 finish like I’d hoped.

I’ve also been updating my stitching list for the Crazy January Challenge 2011 – I’ve decided I might stitch Jardin Prive’s Christmas chart for Brenda and Nigel one Christmas, so I opted not to start it on Christmas Day (which was my original stitching plan), and have added it to my January stitching list as well.  I’ve also added Katie’s Christmas gift (Prairie Moon’s Christmas) and a teddy bear group that I want to stitch for Brenda’s birthday this year … not entirely sure I’ll get all these done this year, but it’ll be fun trying!  I think the hardest thing for me will be to not start any other medium/large designs until I’ve finished these ones – there are still a good dozen or so that are screaming to be started on top of this 15 (not to mention the minimum of 12 ornies I want to stitch next year!!) 😉

1. Waxing Moon Designs – Halloween Short Stack
2. The Goode Huswife – With My Needle (modified, without the wording)
3. From Nancy’s Needle – Lavender Blue Celtic Knot Quilt (canvaswork)
4. The Victoria Sampler – Crimson Fire Sampler
5. Bent Creek – Winter Snapperland
6. Dimensions kit – Tiger Reflections
7. Judy Odell – My Treasures Workstation
8. Little House Needleworks – Ladybug, Ladybug
9. Jardin Privé – Christmas
10. DMC – Baby Lorikeets
11. Prairie Moon – Christmas
12. JBW Designs – Autumn Harvest
13. Shepherd’s Bush – Baby Bug Ball
14. Leisure Arts – Teddy Bear Reunion
15. Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches – Raphael’s Raspberries

And on that note, I’d better get my A into G and get my first load of laundry into the washing machine (as it’s washing day for me today), and pick up a few groceries, as it’s back to work for me tomorrow (no rest for the wicked) … then I think I’ll just have to finish off season 1 of Fringe and finish off that Autumn freebie 🙂

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

Pillows Galore!

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 😀

Waxing Moon Designs-Boo Pumpkin freebie

Homespun Elegance-Boo Tyme

The Trilogy-Halloween Spots

LHN-Pumpkins

Just Nan-Moon Riders

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 😛

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

Halloween continues

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.

Twisted Threads-October Boo Mini Gingham
“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)

Homespun Elegance-Boo Tyme

“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

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.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010, Halloween, Just Nan

More Just Nan finishes

Anne S

I managed to get a whole heap of stitching done yesterday – I put the finishing touches into Scream Girls, then started and finished Pretty Wicked, also by Just Nan.

Just Nan-Scream Girls
“Scream Girls” by Just Nan
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch – Kiwi Illusions colour ‘Pipi’
with recommended DMC threads

Just Nan-Pretty Wicked
“Pretty Wicked!” by Just Nan
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch – Kiwi Illusions colour ‘Butterfly Dance’
stitched with recommended DMC threads

This afternoon I intend having another lazy afternoon stitching, as I’m still trying to catch up on a month’s TV viewing from when I was on holidays – hopefully by the end of today I’ll be relatively caught up!

And while I’m catching up, I just may pick up one of my old WIPs to try and get one finished (only only has buttons left to be sewn onto it!)

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010, Halloween, Just Nan

More pumpkins

Anne S

Yesterday I had a productive day that started off with planting up some parsley, thyme and chives into pots, along with a stunning velvety red pelargonium, followed by 3 loads of laundry, and finishing with a few hours of quality stitching time while sitting in front of the goggle-box clearing out some taped movies and TV shows. This is the end result of my stitching efforts last night (plus the final 15 minutes of backstitching this morning):

Just Nan-Horrified
“Horrified!” by Just Nan
Stitched on 32ct Pipi hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch
with recommended DMC threads
(but used B5200 instead of Blanc)

Then this morning I started another Just Nan ornament, which I forgot to take a photo of … it will probably only take me a couple more hours to finish it off, so I might as well wait until it’s finished now before taking piccies.  That one is called “Scream Girls” – just perfect for my Sunday Halloween SAL with Shelleen 🙂

And on that note, I’m heading off to put the electric fan on, and put my feet up in bed and stitch for a couple more hours 🙂