Crafts – Needlework – Page 20

Beading, Boo Club, Cross Stitch, Lizzie Kate, Works in Progress

Another round of Boo Club

17 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

My little needles have been turbo-charged over the last couple of days – and today is the first day that I’ve woken up and actually thought through all the housework that needs to be done etc … signs of this blasted bug finally getting out of my system. While I’m still quite wheezy and trundling through the tissues, I feel much brighter within myself, and ready to start getting out of my stitching chair for more than 5 minutes at a time – yippee 😀

In the meantime I’ll leave you with a latest photo of my progress on Lizzie*Kate’s Boo Club – here are parts 1-4, which leaves me with just 9-12 to go (although in honesty I’ve almost finished part 9, with the exception of the broom handle).

Time to put my rotation to one side briefly, though, as the final round of our Friendship Quaker RR has arrived on my doorstep so I really need to get cracking and get that one finished soon! Mind you, I also have two little gifts that are well overdue being stitched, so those will have to be slotted in as well – oh so many things to stitch, so little time 😛

I’ll finish up with photos of a beaded fish that I made once at a class in Melbourne. I’ve never been able to take a good photo of it, but now my Panasonic Lumix has a fantastic macro setting, I thought I’d give it another shot while it was just sitting there! You probably can’t tell, but it’s hollow all the way through to the tail – I just adore this little fella …

I really need to get the instructions out again and brush up my beading skills so I can get these little guys out of the ‘filleted’ stage and into the finished stage, which will knock off another two UFOs! (UnFinished Objects for those of you who are searching for actual UFOs in this post) In this photo you can clearly see how the little fishies are constructed … I only hope I can work out how to do the beaded stitch once again, as it’s been quite some time since I took the class! 😀

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

A lot of illness and not much stitching…

14 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Unfortunately when I was finishing off my Acorn Needlebook on Saturday, I was also fighting off a viral infection/flu-bug that had been kicking me for a couple of days last week. On Sunday it hit me full force on the side of the head, and I spent 3 full days in bed either in my bedroom or on the sofabed in the lounge – a high fever and blinding headaches as well as a beautifully phlegmy chest and nasal congestion have put paid to any major stitching on my days off work … I hate being so sick you can’t even stitch! 😦

Today, though, I finally managed to stay upright all day, albeit in my stitching chair and not wandering around. Still feel pretty grotty, but certainly not as bad as I have over the last few days. I did, however, manage to get a little bit of stitching in today. I forgot to take an ‘in progress’ photo of this piece that I started weeks ago, so you can’t see the minimal stitching I’ve actually managed, but I’ve now stitched as far as I can until a skein of Crescent Colours Cocoa Bean turns up … sorry, but the photography is really bad as I had my stitching light directly over it and it’s washed the colours out really badly.

Then I started on my next rotation slot (WIPs/UFOs), and picked up an old UFO and added a few beads, as well as doing a spot of unstitching of the satin stitch band ‘cos I’d miscounted the last time I touched it – 1 3/4 years ago sitting on the floor of my empty flat here while I was waiting for the removalists from hell to deliver my furniture days later than planned. This is the “before” picture, but I won’t bother taking the “after” picture yet as there’s really not much to show aside from a few beads – with luck it won’t be long before you see the finished product – the way I’m feeling, I think I won’t be doing a great deal over the weekend, just taking it easy and continuing to recuperate and recharge the batteries again … Hopefully then I can get a better photo!

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Finishing, Stitching Smalls

Acorn Needlebook all finished

10 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

A very big happy dance today as I not only put the final stitches into my Acorn Needlebook, but I also spent the entire day curled up in my stitching chair doing the actual finishing – not 100% perfect by any stretch of the imagination, as this is my first attempt at this style of finishing, but I’m pretty pleased with the end result 😀

So, without any further ado, here is my Acorn Needlebook by Periwinkle Promises…

Beading, Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Updated pic of Acorn Needlebook

6 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Here’s a better view of the finished section of Periwinkle Promises’ Acorn Needlebook:

You may/may not be able to tell, but the different green is in the final leaf on the top right of the centre acorn section, along with the backstitching on the top half of the same stem.

So far no more stitching done tonight as I ended up taking photos of my scissors fobs (I’d actually made more over the weekend than I remembered) – and I made another two identical copies of one of them tonight as I love the blend of the beads together … unfortunately I’ve now run out of those beads, which is a shame 😦

And I’ve also run out of camera battery … now all I have to do is find my battery charger … LOL – I feel like I’m living in the Bermuda Triangle right about now!!! 😛

Before my battery ran out, though, I did manage to grab a really quick of two pairs of earrings I made for myself recently too … there just may be a few more pairs in the making soon too – I’d forgotten just how much fun making jewellery can be! 😀

P1020814

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

A bit of a Rotation happening

6 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Today has been the perfect weather for being lazy and having a ‘crafty’ day – I spent a few hours making some more scissor fobs and working on my stitching rotation while watching Season 1 of Buffy (I’m new to Buffy – my flatmate left me the whole series to watch while she’s away, bless her). The weather has been shocking all weekend, with wind and rain present for prety much the entire long weekend, but it brought out some lovely rainbows in the late afternoon today 🙂

Stitching-wise I finished my first rotation slot by completing 4 sections of Boo Club – these are sections 5-8 … unfortunately I still haven’t put my hands on my little camera that I use for all my macro/stitching work, so the photos are really bad (not to mention they’re taken at night) – the colours in these one are WAY different to the piece in real life. With any luck I’ll find my camera before I finish it all … I’m really missing my little Lumix!!

After I put Boo Club away, I managed to put a few more stitches into my Acorn Needlebook by Periwinkle Promises, finishing the main piece of stitching. This was put on hold originally because I ran out of the dark green silk in the kit. I did find, however, that the new skein of silk that finally arrived is a totally different colour to that that was in the kit … the needlebook is for me, so I just stitched it in the ‘odd’ colour – I can tell the difference, but it’ll be fine. I then stitched up the three pieces that will be the needle pages – I just have the pincushion left to be stitched, then it’s time to put it all together I guess (once again, sorry for the dreadful photos).

Not sure how much more stitching I’ll get done this week – I guess time will tell …

Finishing, Stitching Smalls, Wishlist

Pinkeep Finish & Eye Candy

13 September, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

I don’t think I’ve ever posted a photo of this finished pinkeep – this is one I’ve finished as a model for Karen to use at her shop, which has been sitting around for months before finally being placed in a bubble envelope today ready to be posted to her:

“Life’s a Stitch” by Lizzie*Kate

Also, I’m not sure if you’ve seen the following designs, but I personally think they’re all wonderful 🙂

My Lady’s Quaker by Jardine Prive; Amber Ocean Lights by Chatelaine

Afraid of the Dark; and Black Cats & Flying Bats by Blue Ribbon Designs

Born to Stitch by Glory Bee; Hearts & Flowers Casalguidi Needlebook by Half Moon Handwerks

Peacocks Rule by Milady’s Needle; Spirit of Vierlande by Vierlande Samplers

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Queensland, Travel, Works in Progress

A couple of finishes … and some holiday snaps …

31 August, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a really quick post, so I can upload some holiday snaps, as well as my latest stitching finishes. Here goes …

First up my latest finishes from yesterday and today:

“Hannah Purington, 1796” by Little House Needleworks
stitched on Ice Blue linen with DMC

“Stitching Leporello” by Chatelaine
Only one more piece to complete, and all the stitched sections will be finished 😀

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

Next up are some piccies from the Mossman Gorge in Tropical North Queensland from last week’s holiday – a wonderful spot just a short drive from Port Douglas … love, love, LOVED it there:

Next are some of the critters we came across on the same holiday … don’t scroll down any further if you don’t like crocodiles and/or snakes!!!

Kangaroos, Koala and Wombat

Fiji Crested Iguana, Frilled Neck Lizard, Iguana

Crocodiles with one lone alligator in the top centre

Black-headed Python, Pilbara Death Adder, Coastal Taipan, Green Python

More piccies will follow shortly … of the gentler feathered friends we met while away, as well as some general piccies of Cairns, Port Douglas, and the general surrounding areas 🙂

Chatelaine, Cross Stitch, Finishes, PhotoHunt, Stitching Leporello, Works in Progress

No Photo Hunt this week

12 July, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

… Because the week’s theme is “Garbage”, and to be honest I don’t feel like taking photos of rubbish bins or its contents, and I can’t think of anything clever that’s not actual rubbish … so for me this week’s theme is garbage and I’m not playing …

Instead this weekend I took Thursday and Friday off, and caught up with a friend from Melbourne on Thursday night before she flew out to Tokyo – then on Friday I managed to pick up yet ANOTHER blasted viral infection and over the last 2-3 days have had a blocked nose, raging sore throat, and today have added sore ears into the mix … never ever in all my life have I had such a rotten run with viral infections – I’m starting to think the boy in the bubble had a brilliant idea!!! At least I have plenty of cold & flu tablets left over after the last bout, so I’m well set up!

Due to feeling not too crash hot over the last few days, while my stitching has been relatively non-stop during the day, my pace has been very very slow – I have, however, managed to meet my UFO challenge for this month by completing the final of the 4 larger pieces of Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello. I have to say this is definitely my least favourite piece of all of them – I really don’t like much at all about this section. The colours, in my eyes, are quite washed out, and an odd blend, and I really detest the acorns and leaves – they seem almost ‘clumsy’ in the middle there. Unfortunately I wasn’t clever enough to try to replace them, and by that stage pretty much “over” stitching it, so I just wanted to get the darned thing finished and off the Qsnaps to be replaced by something else. Only two more ‘medium’ sized pieces to go and it’s all finished. I’m a bit tempted to just keep stitching until it’s finished, but after the totally unenjoyable stitching session I’ve just finished, I feel like something simple to cheer me up in the meantime.

I’ll leave you with photos, before I head back into the warm cozy confines of my bed once again …

Ackworth Friendship Book, Chatelaine, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, Stitching Leporello, With My Needle, Works in Progress

A Little Bit of Quaker

6 July, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

After finally charging my camera battery up on my point and shoot, I can show piccies of KarenV’s Quaker RR – this is round 3 of our RR, which means we’re just over the halfway mark, with just 2 more rounds left to go. Unfortunately not true to life colour, but the best I can do on a dark winter’s night with no natural lighting. I have to admit I found this a challenge trying to work out which bits classed as which bits for the designated colours, and it’s definitely slower to stitch this way, but it really is worth it in the end result! Karen does an awesome job of selecting colours! This is one really pretty Quaker!! 😀

(Sorry, but it’s also quite blurry … my hands obviously weren’t entirely steady at the end of the day!!)

If you want to see the other finishes for this month and previous month you can check out our blog here.

As well as taking photos of the Quaker pieces, I also snapped a couple of new photos of Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello, which are as follows (and shows the stitching and colours much more accurately):

As for what project I decided to pick up next, I opted to make a start on the final ‘large’ piece of the Stitching Leporello as this month’s UFO challenge … which I think means after this one there are only two medium-sized pieces left … and then I have the major challenge of finding some lining fabric and attempting to put it all together – perhaps a job I’ll save up for when the Dragon comes to visit next month, with an excuse to go fabric shopping 🙂

Following is the paltry start I managed on the final large section tonight – woohoo, hold me back! 😛

At the moment I’m struggling to make a decision on my new start project, and the choices in the pile are currently:

LHN – Ladybug, Ladybug
LHN – Travelling Stitcher
LHN – Home of a Needleworker 2
LHN – Dear Diary, Abigail Winslow (I think – don’t have it in front of my right now – the one with the lighthouse/ocean theme)
Sampler Cove – Quaker Huswif
Just Nan – Winter in the Square (just need to coffee dye the fabric first)

Ah, decisions, decisions … Mind you, at the rate I’m stitching these days, I’ll be lucky to get my Chatelaine square finished by month end, never mind anything else … I’m feeling a “stitching RDO” coming up (and definitely a stitching weekend away at the end of the month – yippee!!).

Anyway, time to hit the pillows for the night before the alarm clock screams its head off at 5.30am (yucky!!) – I’m loving my gym workouts already … perhaps next week we may even start doing some of the classes like body pump etc … 😀

Canvaswork, Wishlist