Challenges & SALs – Page 12 – Feather Stitching

WIPocalypse Update for February

7 February, 201225 February, 2012 Anne S

We are currently experiencing a hideous turn in weather with grey skies and rain forecast for at least another month – I think it’s my fault because I’ve been stitching the last two weekends! This last Sunday is the first time in over 2 months that I’ve been driven by a burning desire to stitch … and it felt really good!

It also means some decent progress on two of my WIPs for this month’s WIPocalypse update. First up is Bent Creek’s Winter Snapperland … taking the progress up to about 40% completion.

And next is Jardin Prive’s Christmas … taking the progress up to about 70% completion (I’m hoping to see this one finished by the end of the month – although that’s only if the stitching bug stays!)

Other than that nothing else to write about really – still working hard and still loving my new car … Same old, same old really … Except for one thing, that one of my resolutions for this year was to treat Sydney as if I was on holiday. When I was younger I would go traveling all the time on my own and eat out at restaurants etc on my own, either taking a book to read or my trip diary to write. I have missed out a lot over the last few years by not going to places because I don’t have people around me that share same interests – or I have made assumptions that way. This year I am putting my confident traveling mind back in place and going to things on my own if I really want to go 🙂

My first experience was about 2 weeks ago when I bought a ticket to see Ronan Keating in concert, along with Sharon Corr as support act … Oh boy am I glad I did, it was a superb night out!! Then next week I’m taking myself off to see Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera … Watch out world the confident Anne is slowly returning!!!

Later in the year I also have tickets to see the Australian Chamber Orchestra perform a baroque concert but Mum is flying over to join me for that one 🙂 Who knows what else the year will bring? Whatever it is I’m definitely open to all possibilities 😀

And on that note, it’s time to sign off for the day and I’m off to put another strand of thread into another WIP … wow, maybe we’ll starting getting snow in Sydney!! 😛

2012 WIPocalypse, Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

WIPocalypse update

8 January, 201225 February, 2012 Anne S

It seems that the first update post is due tomorrow, but it’s unlikely I’ll have much time when I get home from work – instead I’ve taken a quick photo tonight in advance … I didn’t get a huge deal of stitching done tonight, but it’s an awful lot more than I’ve done over the last month in total!!

Hopefully this will be finished by the end of next weekend … if I manage to stay home much … because this coming weekend I’ll be picking up this little beauty as my HUGE treat to myself at the start of 2012! This has been my dream car for quite a number of years now, and finally I’m biting the bullet and getting rid of that old stupid burgundy lemon that I detest and putting myself into further debt to buy this little dream. The only thing that isn’t my dream part is that it’s the hatchback version instead of the sedan, but in fact I’ve been tossing up whether to get a hatchback recently anyway …

We went to a car sales yard just to get an idea of prices when I was visiting friends on the other side of Sydney last weekend. When we were asked what we were looking for, I said “not negotiable is Mazda, and a preference of a Mazda 3 or smaller” – when asked whether I have a preference for auto or manual, I said I didn’t really care, although I prefer a manual to drive … he said “sorry, but we only have one car on the lot at the moment as a used car – which is that BLUE Mazda 3 hatchback over there, which is a manual” … after about an hour or so dickering around and having a general chat about finance etc, I ended up signing a contract and I’ll be picking it up this coming Friday. The only changes I made to it were having iPod connectivity installed and have protection sprayed on the upholstery and paintwork etc … as I intend this car to be with me for many many years, I want it to continue looking good for as long as possible, so hopefully that will prove to be a good investment.

And on that note, I suppose I really should sign off for the night and get some sleep – I spent the day cleaning out our garage so that I don’t have to park it in the driveway, so I’m a little bit tired … I only managed to get some stitching done because the update deadline for the WIPocalypse was tomorrow!!

2012 WIPocalypse

6 January, 201225 February, 2012 Anne S

Time to drag out all those WIP/UFO photos from the archives and dust them off ready for the 2012 WIPocalypse. I’m not entirely sure which ones I want to focus on with 100% certainly, although I’ve listed my top 5 at the top of the list … but I reserve the right to change my mind on a whim!!

These are all projects that have been started prior to 2012 commencing – a couple won’t take long to finish off, but others will take substantially longer. The first series of piccies has got some of the actual chart designs shown as well as the progress to date, but the 2nd set of piccies is purely WIP progress only. Details of the actual designs themselves follow in a list format, with approximate percentage of completion done.

List of current WIPs/UFOs awaiting attack during the WIPocalypse:

Christmas Tree Quilt ornament – Handblessings Patterns (40% completed)
Tiger Reflections – Dimensions (15% completed)
With My Needle – The Goode Huswife (10% completed)
Winter Snapperland – Bent Creek (1% completed)
Christmas – Jardin Prive (25% completed)
Halloween Fob – The Sweetheart Tree (45% completed)
Flight of the Bumblebees – Ruth Schmuff (5% completed)
Egyptian Garden Mandala – Chatelaine (25% completed)
Enchanted Mermaid -Mirabilia (5% completed)
Crimson Fire Sampler – The Victoria Sampler (5% completed)
Raphael’s Raspberries – Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches (5% completed)
Schwalmwork Pinkeep – Moss Creek Designs (5% completed)
Gracie stumpwork – EGA (35% completed)
Mystery Sampler design – Debbie Draper (30% completed)
Hussif – Monica Hunt (95% completed)
Sailors Valentine – CA Wells (85% completed)
Stumpwork Needlework Accessories (thimble pip) – Jane Nicholas (80% completed)
Cottage Etui – CA Wells (75% completed)
Nature’s Resting Place – Stoney Creek (70% completed)
Mediterranean Village Scene (70% completed)
Dragonfly stumpwork – Jane Nicholas (70% completed)
Honesty & Heartsease – Jane Nicholas (70% completed)
Apricot Elegance – Cindy Valentine (65% completed)
Berry Delightful Bag (60% completed)
Beaded Fish #1 (50% completed)
Beaded Fish #2 (50% completed)
Pyramid Etui – CA Wells (50% completed)
Wool hotwater bottle cover (50% completed)
Summer Fruits pincushion (40% completed)
Oriental Poppy stumpwork – Jane Nicholas (40% completed)
Pomegranates and Beetle stumpwork – Jane Nicholas (35% completed)
Noah’s Ark – Teresa Wentzler (35% completed)
Wool beehive needlebook (35% completed)
English Garden Sampler – Teresa Wentzler (15% completed)
Goldwork Pea (15% completed)
Le Jardin Silk Sampler – JCS magazine (10% completed)
Longstitch frogs (5% completed)
Hussif – Martha Schmidt (5% completed)
Macaw – Ross Originals (5% completed)
Topiary Tree bookmark – Textile Heritage (5% completed)

There will be other items being stitched during the year as well, namely more Christmas ornaments and gifts, but they will be stitched on a whim 😀

2012 WIPocalypse, Challenges & SALs, Christmas Ornaments, Crazy January 2011 Challenge, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Les grilles de Maryse, The Drawn Thread, The Goode Huswife, Works in Progress, Works in Progress

Where did the time go???

6 January, 20126 April, 2014 Anne S

First of all Happy New Year everyone!! I hope you all (if there’s still anyone out there) had a lovely Christmas and New Year, and that 2012 is treating you well so far!!

I don’t honestly know where the last 2 months have gone, but I do know that it is my record for non-blogging – I have ended up having a true blogging break, although it was never intended, so I have neglected both the updating of my blog as well as the reading of your blogs! Since I came home for the Rugby World Cup final (go the All Blacks!!!) work has been hectic, my social life has been more active, and my stitching has pretty much been non-existent. I have barely lifted a needle over the last month or so, and the month prior to that very little stitching was done either. But there was just enough activity to see one old WIP finished …

“Joyeux Noel” by The Drawn Thread
Stitched on 36ct hand-dyed Edinburgh linen by Silkweaver ~ colour Golden Harvest
with a mix of recommended and substituted threads

Then I managed to squeeze in one last finish for 2011 – and a nice simple design that would normally be completed in a day of stitching took me about two weeks!!

“The Red Noel Ornament” by Maryse Dupont of Les grilles de Maryse
stitched on mystery 32ct hand-dyed linen
with Threadworx thread

I managed to put a few more stitches into my Goode Huswife design that I started as part of the 2011 Crazy January Challenge … it no longer looks like a gherkin, but still not much closer to a finish! Pretty much how the entire January Challenge went for me last year – with my change in jobs, and 3 hours commuting each day, it meant my stitching time was very minimal … and I’m certainly not going to be signing up for any major challenges this year knowing this is something that will not be changing!

I did manage, however, to put a few more stitches into another of my Crazy January Challenge pieces, although yet again very far from being close to finished.

This year I am signing up for a challenge, but one that I can easily fit in with my new “hardly any time for stitching” lifestyle – I’m joining in with Measi’s 2012 WIPocalypse challenge. Seeing as you just have to show progress with your WIPs on a monthly basis, I figure that even I should be able to do that! Well, I’ll be giving it a go anyway!! As I also want to remove the pressure from what pieces to work on, I have decided to list all my outstanding WIPs and UFOs and my goal is to just work on them this year with a couple of new starts/Christmas ornaments during the year as well to keep me motivated. It means the remainder of my unfinished pieces from the 2011 January challenge will be leading the list … plus I have plenty of old UFOs already listed in my sidebar to keep them company!! When I get my act together, I’ll upload the full list into a new post.

In the meantime, here is my pitiful display of stitching finishes for 2011:

Christmas Ornaments, Crazy January 2011 Challenge, Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Lizzie Kate, Stash, Works in Progress

Still in the land of the living

11 September, 201125 February, 2012 Anne S

Sadly a number of shocking migraines and some late working hours have seen my stitching mojo fly out the window over the last month … yesterday, however, I decided to catch up on last week’s recorded TV shows (seeing as I didn’t switch the TV on at all during the week) and managed to put a few stitches into a commitment piece – I need to quickly get this one finished so I can get it framed for a birthday gift. I managed to do a fair bit last Saturday just before I started getting a throw-up migraine, and after yesterday’s efforts I can almost see the end in sight. There are still a bunch of bears to stitch on the left-hand side, but at least I’m about 2/3 finished now. It’s the first time in ages that I’ve stitched something that requires such a lot of back-stitching … not my favourite part of stitching, but it sure does make those blobs of stitching look wonderful once it’s done, and I’m glad to have got the first 2/3 of back-stitching completed before tackling the last section of the design! This is one of my Crazy January Challenge projects:

P1040491 — Here's how it looked back on 10 January

How it looked at the end of last weekend

How it looks now - a day in bed stitching in my PJs was worthwhile!

Last Monday I received an absolutely awesome ornie from my good friend Carol for our HoE Lizzie*Kate ornie exchange. I love the reason why Carol chose to stitch this one, as moose are indigenous in NH this is a wonderful personalised ornie with a taste of Carol’s home. I absolutely love it, and the stitching and finishing are as always perfect! Thank again Carol for another fantabulous exchange that I will treasure! 😀 I apologise in advance for the quality of all the photos today, as they had to be taken with my iPhone thanks to a flat camera battery that I just keep forgetting to charge up! Sadly moose ornie didn’t come up at all well on the iPhone 😦

My Lizzie*Kate ornie exchange received from Carol - I love it!

I also heard a while back that Joke had received the ornie I had sent to her – unfortunately I was late in posting, so I sent a little extra beaded scissor fob to apologise for the delay. I can’t remember taking a photo of the fob I sent, but you can see it in Joke’s post if you want to see it.

P1050086 — Lizzie*Kate ornie exchange sent to Joke

The only other thing I have to share is a wonderful surprise parcel in the mail I received from Orna Willis – I’ve been a fan of Orna’s canvaswork designs for years now, and have been a follower on her blog since she started it up. Orna has recently been having giveaways of thread/embellishment packs for some of her followers (just chosen randomly from the list of followers), and I was surprised one day to see my name up in lights on the blog … I had won one of the giveaways. I just had to take a photo of the way that everything was packaged up, aren’t they lovely in their own special little tin? I should probably take a photo of the contents separately as there are lots of little treats hiding in that tin, but I’ll do that on the day that I take them out to put them away 🙂

And that probably covers all the stitching news that I have. Nothing else has been happening really except for work, work, and more work – it’s been quite difficult trying to close off and start pieces of work for my current job while learning my new job one day a week, plus still attending many meetings and having to teach a work colleague aspects of my job. Hopefully after next week I’ll start getting back into a normal routine of only one job, although sadly 2 hours travelling time each day will probably eat most of my week’s stitching time that I normally have … it just means that I’ll have to plan my weekends so I can at least get ‘some’ stitching in every weekend 🙂

One great thing about working in the city now, though, is that last Wednesday after work I wandered over to the city swimming pool and did a workout in the hydrotherapy pool. My leg has been giving me a lot of pain lately so I knew I needed to make an effort to get those exercises happening again – and by the time I was ready to get on the train most of the peak hour people had gone home already … mind you, it meant not getting home until 9pm but what the heck, it felt good! 😉

Autumn, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010, Halloween, peacocks, Piece and Plenty, pillows, Quilting, scissor fobs, Stitching Smalls, valentines

Weekend finishing frenzy

11 July, 20116 April, 2014 Anne S

I had planned to get acquainted with my sewing machine over the weekend, but the end results weren’t actually what I’d planned … for some reason I got a serious urge to get some of my finished projects sewn up into pillows etc – it ended up being an exceptionally productive weekend on that score, with 9 pillows and a scissor fob completed, along with a little mini-quilt that just needs the binding to be hand-stitched … plus I also made some minor amendments to a lovely wall-hanging that Sylvia gave me years ago. Anyway, here are the end results – I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:

This one just needs the binding to be stitched down 🙂

Sadly Sylvia’s lovely wall-hanging was folding up due to the high humidity, so I chopped up the hanger into pieces and stitched it in 4 places directly onto a pretty wee wire hanger 🙂

2066036870047689748QjuOfx_fs

This is what first got me into “sewing machine mode” – the first month’s BOTM fabrics and instructions for my Piece and Plenty quilt … sadly it doesn’t come with any specific instructions for each block, and I’ve ended up spending a fair bit of time rummaging through my quilting books and online tutorials trying to work out how to do paper piecing – once I’ve got a bit more comfortable with my sewing machine I’ll be ready to start this one 😀

2130461710047689748JTKeNO_fs

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!

6 June, 20116 April, 2014 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:

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

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

“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!)

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 🙂

101 things in 1001 days, Cross Stitch, Food, Heartstrings, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Little House Needleworks, Works in Progress

The week that was

20 February, 201125 February, 2012 Anne S

Alas, it’s been a very loooong week workwise, so not much stitching at all has been done, and not much of anything else. I had a couple of 9pm finishes at work, then got sick on Thursday and haven’t been firing on all cylinders since. My leg has been giving me a lot of pain lately, but after 2 months being on a waiting list for physio, I FINALLY have an appointment tomorrow morning so I can start discussing some appropriate exercises for my back (I have some degeneration in the discs of my lower back which is causing swelling and therefore compression of the nerves … which is leading to me walking like an old lady when I get up and horrendous pains in my left knee). Mind you, with the current heatwave back in Sydney, going to bed with an ice compress on my knee has been blissful 😉

What I did do yesterday, though, was to dust off the grime from the top of the breadmaker and threw in some flour and rolled oats into it … 4 hours later and I was able to sample the results – a very slight sweetness to it, which I’m not a huge fan of, it’s still quite a nice loaf, and it’s given me the urge to get some milk powder and other ingredients in to start sampling a few more recipes (and also therefore cleaning up another one of my 101 things in 1001 days items). Anyway, here is the result of my Oatmeal Walnut Bread, which is one more recipe book that I can tick off the list of my 101 things (“The Bread Machine Book” by Marjie Lambert):

The only stitching I managed to do during the week was to put a few touches to Bittersweet Season – it’s really hard to pick up the metallics and beads, as my macro camera battery has died and I can’t find the charger so I’ve had to use my Nikon SLR whose Macro setting is crap … oh well, I’m halfway through adding the embellishments, which means I just have the remaining half of the pumpkin’s beads and metallics to stitch, then stitching the metallic half-moon at the top and the pumpkin stalk.

Last night I sat in the lounge and caught up on some taped TV and put a couple of stitches into this month’s ornament – this will eventually be “He’s a Flake” by LHN … sorry for the blurry picture, but there isnt’ too much to see really anway so I guess it doesn’t matter 😉

And on that note, I’m going to take a break from the PC and grab another slice of that bread to make a sandwich …

Crazy January 2011 Challenge, Cross Stitch, Shepherd's Bush, Works in Progress

More Baby Bug Ball

18 January, 201125 February, 2012 Anne S

Sorry, but this is probably all you’ll be seeing until it’s finished … although I’m very worried about one thread, as I have only one and a bit strands left, and I still have an entire wing done with a full XS in that thread (all the others are done with 1/2 XS), so I’m pretty positive I’m going to run out … ah, yes, I do so detest kits … but even that still can’t remove the positive feeling I feel about this piece – I’m still in love with it! 😀 (apologies for the handshake this morning – was obviously in a hurry to quickly take a happy snap before getting dressed for work – for which I’m now running late … oops)

Crazy January 2011 Challenge, Cross Stitch, Shepherd's Bush, Works in Progress

Baby Bug Ball progress

16 January, 201125 February, 2012 Anne S

Not quite as intended, I spent the entire day today stitching … oops, so much for the housework I had intended completing haha. I haven’t moved far from the front of the electric fan other than getting food and water throughout the day (more so the water than the food). I must say I didn’t want to put this one down today – I think if I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow I’d have been tempted to continue further into the night stitching (as it is I’ve already stitched a bit of the 3rd bug since taking this photo!). Hopefully I’ll get chance to finish this off this week some time, or if not this week, then next weekend 🙂