Crafts – Needlework – Page 25

One day down, four to go …

8 July, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

… before it’s the weekend again – I’m looking forward to another lazy one 😉

Yesterday, however, was far from lazy – I ended up being the only team member left in the office due to annual leave and sickness, so I only managed to leave my desk for two toilet breaks. Add to that the internet going down, and the credit card link through the normal system going down, it was a busy day! Because of that I decided to walk out the door at 5pm sharp … which is pretty unheard of for me! But by 5pm I felt burnt out. On the way home I picked up some grocery shopping for the week, then sat down and did a bit more stitching on the Sunflower Sampler. I’d love to get the equivalent of one row or band stitched each night, and managed OK last night for an hour or two.

I managed to get the house and bird bands finished on Sunday night (minus the ladybird beads again), then last night started on the wording. If possible I’d like to get the wording finished plus one more band during the week, then I can get the entire piece finished off over the weekend.

I have to admit I wish I’d used two strands of thread for this piece, but by the time I’d worked that out it was too late to unpick it. I’m starting to get used to the different look of one thread … just. When I started stitching I just figured “the designer knows best” … I guess I won’t be looking as closely when it’s hanging on the wall …

Cross Stitch, The Drawn Thread, Works in Progress

A few sunflowers

6 July, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Here is the result of having a lazy weekend sat in PJ’s in front of the goggle box … unfortunately I obviously did another misjudgement with the fabric size when I cut it months ago, but hopefully I’ll just have enough at the top to finish it as a bellpull … hopefully! I’m officially at the halfway mark with the sampler (although I still have to do the beads in the ladybirds), but it may be another week or so before I get to do the official happy dance when it’s entirely finished.

“Sunflower Sampler” by The Drawn Thread

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Gift of Stitching

Finally a stitching post …

21 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I’ve been stitching all day but have very litte to show for it … first up is a wee freebie finish:

Freebie by www.romyeale.blogspot.com
Stitched on 28ct antique white Lugana
with Caron Collection Waterlilies in Pine Forest

Here is the wee beastie that has taken most of the day to stitch … I had to change almost all of the colours as I didn’t have the recommended threads in my stash, but I think it turned out OK – not perfect, but I still like it. It was quite fun doing some different stitches for a change, especially doing the whipped backstitch. The sand is a mix of cross stitch and Smyrna crosses, but you can’t see that in this photo. This will eventually be a tin topper … after trying to find another design in the Gift of Stitching magazines, I came across this one and remembered I fell in love with it when I first received the issue. Well I then made up my mind to stitch a new piece rather than turn my Prairie Schooler Duck into a tin just yet. Fingers crossed the finishing will go OK for my first tin attempt! Apologies for the poor photo, but my battery just died so I can’t take another clearer one just yet …

“Waves” by Melissa Dunajski
from Gift of Stitching Magazine, Issue 17 June 2007
Stitched on 32ct Ice Blue hand-dyed Belfast by Countrystitch
using the following substitution threads:
GAST Flax = used recommended thread GAST Flax
WDW Angel Hair = substituted DMC 677
WDW Aqua = substituted DMC Variations 4020
GAST Cornflower = substituted DMC Variations 4230
GAST Oatmeal = used GAST Oatmeal
NN Bali Hai = substituted Carrie’s Threads Dillon’s Sea

Not entirely sure what to stitch next … although I guess I “should” stitch my Christmas ornie for June as I’m nearly running out of time (just for a change!) – but I really want to start something new, something like Drawn Thread’s Autumn Arbor or Sunflower Sampler … oh decisions, decisions … Or perhaps I should just put the needles away for a day and concentrate on doing some finishing … hmmmm … 😉

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

Stitching Leporello … part 8

15 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I managed to get part 8 of Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello finished today (the pincushion) – I’ve been a little hermit all weekend, and loved every minute of it. I’m all caught up with Supernatural season one, and now part-way through listening to The Kite Runner on audiobook … ah bliss 😉

I really should try to take a better photo in daylight as this one doesn’t show the colours very accurately at all …

Stitching Leporello 8 2

Chatelaine, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Prairie Schooler, Stitching Leporello, Works in Progress

Lazy day stitching

15 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

It was a perfect Saturday – sitting up on my bed all day stitching my little heart out. I started stitching The Prairie Schooler’s “Duck” last night, and put the final stitches into it today – I just love this little fella!! It’s intended to turn him into a tin topper, but I think he’d look nice in so many different finishes I’m now undecided!

After my Duck finish, I also polished off part 3 of Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello – this was just a small design, but it still took me a wee while to stitch. Thank goodness for Season 1 of Supernatural to keep me company all day (thanks to Katie at work for loaning it to me). I must say I think the colour choices for this one are quite “strange” … hmmm.

I also put a couple of stitches into part 8 of the Leporello, which will eventually be the pincushion – I might even get that one finished tomorrow, as it’s quite a small piece to stitch.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Works in Progress

Part 2 of Stitching Leporello finished

9 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Mum and I spent the day out yesterday enjoying the sights of Mittagong, Bowral and Berrima, and had a great day out! Unfortunately it’s getting down to the last couple of days of Mum’s visit … it’ll be really quiet round here after she’s gone!! I haven’t had time to sort out our photos from yesterday yet, and seeing as it’s now just after midnight here I might leave those until a later time … I will, however, share the photos of my latest stitching finish …

Here is part 2 of Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello … I had a sneak look at the finishing instructions today and nearly had a heart attack … luckily I don’t have to think about it too much for a while yet as there is still loads of stitching to be done, and I only intend to stitch these inbetween other stitching such as Winter Queen. I must say, though, that I really love this block, and in particular those little flower urns! 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Works in Progress

Ornie finish … and WIP

6 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Here’s my latest ‘small finish’ that I put the final stitches into yesterday (this was my holiday stitching piece that had an attack of the frogs the first night):

Twisted Oaks-Christmas Tree
“Christmas Tree” by Twisted Oaks Designs
from 2005 JCS Christmas Ornie magazine
Stitched on 28ct opalescent white Cashel linen
Some substituted threads – instead of NN Lemon Delight I used
Carrie’s Creation Gold Glow, and instead of DMC 349 for
the hearts I used Carrie’s Creation Scarlet

Also my progress from yesterday after finishing the ornament … I chose something already kitted up and ready to be picked up at a moment’s notice … this is the stitching of part 2 of the Stitching Leporello by Chatelaine … perhaps I will finish it today? Or perhaps not … 🙂 (sorry for the bad photo but I took it after midnight last night and can’t be bothered taking another one)

Stitching Leporello WIP 05Jun08

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

Sydney Stitchers Get-Together

5 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

We’ve been out of town for a few days, and I didn’t take the laptop with me, so I’m only now catching up on the last week’s events.

Last Sunday (1 June) I held a get-together at my place for 6 lovely Sydney stitchers (8 including Mum and myself) – even though my place is only small, it was a lovely day catching up with everyone and seeing their finished works and those that are in progress. Some even managed to do some stitching, but I certainly wasn’t one of them 😉

Here’s a photo I took on the day … apologies to those that aren’t 100% perfect in this photo but it was the best of a bad bunch! Working round the room from left to right are Robyn, Margaret, Mum (June aka the Dragon), June (Alison’s Mum), Alison, Amanda, and Karen.

I’ve also stolen Alison’s photo from her blog (hope you don’t mind Alison), as her photo is much better than mine and of course the giggler in the pink T-shirt is me (I know, ME in PINK!!! LOL) 😉

There was plenty of chatter and plenty of eating happening, and the time just flew by. Thanks again ladies for making it a really enjoyable day! Now I can’t wait for the next one to be held! 😀

One thing I did do on the day was to dismantle my scroll bars on Winter Queen so I could take a quick photo of her – not the best photo, but nice to see her in all her current glory, even if she does look washed out! I might try to take a better photo before I roll her back up again.

The rest of the week has been spent driving to Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, so I’ll document each day individually as there are quite a few piccies to share …

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Finishing, Stitching Smalls

Biscornu finish

31 May, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Did you hear a lot of muttering and cursing down under last night? If you did, it was likely to have been me!! I was all set to finish-finish my beautiful red tuffet/biscornu … and had the pieces freshly ironed ready to go, with the perle cotton and threads ready to start making wee tassels … Remember my joy in finally finishing this project??

Well, as soon as I started to thread needle through the backstitching on the sides, I thought to myself “hey, those fabrics feel totally different in hand” … and lo and behold on finer inspection and measuring they have been stitched on two different thread counts so the sides don’t match up!!! Lesson to self … do not take thread count on labels as gospel, always check before stitching!!! To say I was less than thrilled was a HUGE understatement last night – I was absolutely gutted … that means I have to either stitch the big piece again on the new fabric, which I have plenty of, or I have to try to find other fabric to match … considering I had such a bad run on stitching the main piece previously I have absolutely NO desire to stitch that again. Anyway, it’s been thrown in the corner to sit in disgrace until I decide I have the motivation to look at it again and decide what the heck to do … ho-hum 😦

Luckily I had another design ‘in reserve’ to finish as a biscornu for the Monthly Finishing Challenge that Becky has been organising … this one seemed to go relatively hitch-free, although I wish I’d left a bigger margin of “clear” fabric at the edge of the design before starting the backstitching for the whipstitch join, as it looks a little ‘busy/crowded’. Never mind, I still like it, nonetheless … So, here’s my attempt for this month, just in the nick of time! 😀

“Mystery Sampler” design by Debbie Draper
from Gift of Stitching Magazine (issues 6 and 7, 2006)
stitched with Carrie’s Creations threads
finished with seed beads from U Bead It (Sacramento, CA)

Stash, Works in Progress

Bit of Stash and Progress

28 May, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Not much has been happening over the last 24 hours – Mum and I spent the entire day at home stitching our little hearts out (I didn’t even get out of my PJ’s until we went out to buy petrol at 7.30pm!!!). I managed to quite a fair bit of stitching done on Mirabilia’s Winter Queen, which seems to be all I’ve been stitching on this month. It would be lovely to actually get her finished, but I think once I’m back to work again that goal will still be quite some time away. I’m probably just short of halfway through the stitching (you can see the full piccie in my sidebar). In the meantime you’ll just have to get bored seeing her skirt in various stages of completion! Although I may soon unroll her and take a full photo … even I haven’t seen her in all her total glory as yet! 😉

I’ve decided to take her off the floor stand for a few days, though, so I can work on a couple of smaller items for a short while – including finishing my biscornu, my monthly Christmas ornie, and something I want to stitch as a model for Karen.

Today we’re doing a bit of housework – the washing is in the machine, and the dishes are done, now we’re about to strip my bed and put freshly ironed sheets on … while it’s a pain in a patootie to iron those darned things, it’ll be sheer bliss to slip between them tonight!! They’re pure Egyptian cotton with a very heavy thread count, and unfortunately no polyester so they crease like hell in the washing machine.

Anyway, rather than bore you stupid with our mundane tasks for the day, I’ll leave you with a photo of our spoils from The Stitching Post on Monday … the only things not in the photo are the DMC skeins that Mum bought. I don’t tend to buy too much these days – although in saying that there are some items on order from Karen that haven’t arrived yet … can’t wait for them to arrive!! 😀