Challenges & SALs – Page 15 – Feather Stitching

Cross Stitch, Goals, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

January 1 and feeling good!

1 January, 201125 February, 2012 Anne S

I feel really good that I stuck to my guns and didn’t go out last night among the thousands of people celebrating New Year’s in Sydney – I woke up this morning at 6am and feel fantastic! Those who know me well know that that’s a minor miracle in itself, as I don’t “do” 6am’s or any early mornings particularly well … but today I just feel, well, kinda “good” about the world and everything in it 🙂

My only resolution this year is to get my health on track – I signed up for Weight Watchers (again) a couple of weeks ago just so I would have the tools to start properly again, and have been improving my diet since my return to work last Wednesday. I’m constantly amazed at how quickly you can put a healthy meal together during the week with the help of quickly steamed veges done in the microwave with a piece of fish, chicken or steak. My dinner last night, for example, was just a bed of mixed lettuce leaves, sliced capsicum and mini roma tomatoes, with some steamed snow peas, fresh asparagus and lightly sautéed mushrooms, topped with half a dozen sautéed scallops and a balsamic dressing … perfect and light and beautifully healthy. I felt very virtuous just tucking my fork into it’s richly nutrient and healthy goodness! 🙂

The other good thing is that I finally have a diagnosis I can work with that is causing my leg and back pains – I am showing some degeneration and arthrosis in my lower back (I’m obviously going to look forward to some decent arthritis there in my upcoming years darn it) … that’s causing inflammation, which is causing swelling to constrict the nerves, and causing my problems elsewhere. And because of the pains I haven’t been walking regularly etc, which means the muscle has weakened badly, so it’s a catch 22. It means that I now need to build up the strength in my lower back and get more exercise to loosen up the discs – I have some physio sessions to book in for to help with the loosening up, then I need to get back into the gym for some gentle sessions on the bike for a while (and my return was always in the cards for early this year). With any luck getting rid of the constant pain and stiffness will really help with my overall demeanour – but at the moment it just feels good knowing what I’m dealing with 🙂

Which brings me on to the fun part of the year … on 1-1-11 (love that date!) I guess I should be setting stitching/crafty goals for the year, so here goes … I hereby declare I will complete the following by the end of the year … hopefully … 😉

Complete the Crazy January 2011 Challenge (15 new starts and finishes) – the list is up in my sidebar, along with progress bars
Complete at least 24 Christmas ornaments (this might be a challenge, seeing as I didn’t even get 12 finished last year LOL)
Complete another 5 projects over and above those completed in the Crazy January Challenge (can be WIPs from 2010 or new starts)
Make a full-sized quilt for my bed (yikes, that will be a challenge in itself!!)
Complete at least one of my UFOs
Complete a non-cross stitch project (eg stumpwork, hardanger, schwalmwork)
Finish-finish a minimum of 12 items (including framing, but excluding Christmas ornaments)

And that’s pretty much it for the year – it’ll be interesting to see how much got completed when I look back on 31 Dec 2011! 😀

And on that note, I think it’s time to crack open the Crazy January project bag, and pull the first project out for stitching. I’m thinking of starting one of the smaller ones first, so that I can have an early finish … also the great thing about starting the challenge on a long weekend means I have 3 days of perfect stitching time to make a decent dent into 3 of the projects … all I have to do is work out which ones to start first!

Actually, I forgot I do have one other thing to share, which is for my Mum … here’s a comparison of my frangipani plants sitting on the balcony – please excuse the dead plants and empty pots in the bottom photo! haha. Believe it or not these were bought at about the same time, from the same shop, and both get fed and watered at the same time … what a huge difference between the two! I think the larger plant is getting more sun hours during the late afternoon, and seems to be thriving on it! I do absolutely ADORE frangipani flowers, and have my fingers crossed the bigger plant will provide a few more this year (I got one whole flower last year) – I also really adore my geranium there, that was a recent addition to my plant family 🙂

Now, where’s Season 2 of Fringe to keep me entertained while I’m stitching??? 😀

Cross Stitch, Goals, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, New Year

Happy New Year everyone!!!

31 December, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

My eyelids are drooping, so I’ll be seeing the New Year in by looking at the back of my eyelids very soon – but I wanted to quickly jump on and wish everyone a very happy New Year. Thanks for your friendship and support throughout 2010 – here’s hoping 2011 is the year where all your hopes and dreams come true (all those that are legal, anyway!). I look forward to spending 2011 with you once again 😀

As for stitching, I don’t think I got anywhere near reaching my 2010 stitching goals, and haven’t even thought about 2011 goals yet – there’s plenty of time for that tomorrow. Here’s how I went with my 2010 goals:

Complete at least 3 of my existing WIP/UFO projects (Works in Progress/UnFinished Objects) (4 WIPs and 0 UFOs completed – technically I met this goal, but really wanted to include at least 1 UFO in there)
Complete at least 10 projects in the kits/charts stash pile (21 completed)
Complete at least 12 Christmas ornaments (minor fail with only 11 completed)
Complete the finishing of at least 12 items – either framing or actual finishing (excludes Christmas ornaments) (12 completed from my ‘old’ finishing pile, plus 4 pillows with new Halloween/pumpkin finishes)
Start at least one EGA correspondence class project (please note I didn’t say “finish” here LOL) (started “Gracie” stumpwork GCC)

In hindsight, I actually did well with my goals, and met all of them except for the Christmas ornaments. And to finish off the year, here’s a pictorial sampling of all those 2010 finishes 😀

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

Christmas finishes & Crazy January Challenge

28 December, 20106 April, 2014 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:

“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

“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:

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 🙂

Crazy January 2011 Challenge, Cross Stitch

Crazy January 2011 Challenge

13 December, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Yep, I’ve decided to throw my hat into the ring and complete the Crazy January 2011 Challenge, as started by Minna. I’ve chosen designs that are a reasonable mix of designers and stitching styles, and also of medium size so that the challenge is do-able. I’m hoping that these projects will also still allow me the flexibility and time to work on some existing WIPs at the same time, plus at least one Christmas ornament a month, as that’s another challenge I’m picking up again next year.

Anyway, without any more waffling, here are the current choices for my 15 projects for January – I can’t say with 100% certainty that one or two won’t change before January 1st, but I’m relatively happy with this list so far. And here they are:

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. Little House Needleworks – Ladybug, Ladybug
6. Dimensions kit – Tiger Reflections
7. Judy Odell – My Treasures Workstation
8. Bent Creek – Winter Snapperland
9. JBW Designs – Autumn Harvest
10. DMC – Baby Lorikeets
11. The Prairie Schooler – When Witches Go Riding
12. Just Nan – Trick or Treat Box
13. Shepherd’s Bush – Happy Pumpkin Needle Roll
14. Shepherd’s Bush – Baby Bug Ball
15. Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches – Raphael’s Raspberries

On the short list are also the following that I’ve love to complete sooner rather than later:

Rosewood Manor – Quaker Diamonds
JBW Designs – English Plum Pudding
Lizzie*Kate – Needle Nick
Linda Barry – Elizabethan Treasures
Northern Pine Designs – Ebb Tide
Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches – Golden Garden Sweet Bag
Fancy Work – Lavender Rose Sewing Case

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

More Just Nan finishes

21 November, 20106 April, 2014 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.

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

“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

14 November, 20106 April, 2014 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):

“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 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010, Halloween, Just Nan, Little House Needleworks, Lizzie Kate

More pumpkins … but no chatting time

19 October, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Sorry for the drive-by post, but here are my latest pumpkin finishes for the Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010 while spending a week away from the computer away from home … I’ll update the blog more later when I have time to sit down properly, in the meantime here are the latest round of teeny finishes:

“Boo Squared” by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on 32ct Flax Belfast linen
with recommended Weeks Dye Works thread (except for Lucky,
which was substituted with recommended DMC)

“Jinx ~ Moon Riders” by Just Nan
stitched on 32ct Silver Birch hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch
with recommended DMC threads

“Jack ~ Moon Riders” by Just Nan
stitched on 32ct Silver Birch hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch
with recommended DMC threads

“Jasper ~ Moon Riders” by Just Nan
stitched on 32ct Silver Birch hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch
with recommended DMC threads

“Pumpkins” by Little House Needleworks
stitched on 32ct Merino hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch
with recommended Crescent Colours threads

Cross Stitch, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010, Prairie Schooler

Pumpkins Galore

7 October, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I have to say I’m really enjoying doing the Great Pumpkin Challenge – it’s getting many little designs stitched up that I’ve been wanting to stitch for ages … and just perfect little sizes to do while on holiday. This afternoon has been spent throwing more items into a box for the Salvo’s followed by a couple of DVD’s while doing a spot of stitching (The Bone Collector followed by Pirates of the Caribbean-Curse of the Black Pearl). Life is trotting along at a nice leisurely pace down here 🙂 This one will be made into a floss tag for projects. I absolutely adore the floss tag that Carol made for me, so much so that I’ve been meaning to make some more for myself for ages – and some of these designs are the perfect size for that! 😀

A snippet taken from the “October” design booklet by The Prairie Schooler
stitched on 32ct Merino hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch
with recommended DMC threads

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010

One more little pumpkin

6 October, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

As you can see I have been sat on my backside all afternoon, and have managed to start and finish another wee pumpkin for the Great Pumpkin Challenge 😀 This will probably get turned into a scissor fob, which is what it’s designed to be … either that or an ornie … I’ll decide when I get home and have my finishing fabrics etc within reach.

“Jack-O-Lantern Scissors Fob” freebie by Casey Buonaugurio Designs
stitched on 32ct dirty Belfast linen (from my mystery linen bag)
with recommended DMC threads

This was originally suggested to be stitched on light purple fabric … I think I may just have to restitch this one again as I think that would really make the colours pop even more than they do now! The threads are really bright in real life, so once again my late night photography efforts under the Ott-lite have washed the fabric and thread colours out.