Crafts – Needlework – Page 26

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

Wonderful day …

26 May, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Well, the Dragon definitely celebrated her birthday in style this year! I’ve provided a small sample of snapshots from each part of the day …

We started off by popping into Spotlight to stock up on DMC that Mum needed, along with some fabric to make me some cheap pyjama bottoms … then we parked the car and hopped on the train into the city. We headed straight to Darling Harbour, starting with the Chinese Garden of Friendship, which Mum really wanted to see during this visit. They were really lovely to walk around, and we were lucky with the weather, as it had been raining earlier in the day. It was a very pleasant way to spend an hour or so.

Next up was back over to Cockle Bay Wharf (still at Darling Harbour) where we headed to the Lindt Cafe to stock up on naughty goodies (I’ve fallen in love with Lindt’s Delices … oh my goodness, they’re divine!!!). Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of them before they were demolished, but another blog has a photo here.

Then we popped next door to Nick’s 103 Cafe where Mum had a lovely prawn and avocado salad for lunch. Here’s a photo of Mum tucking into her lunch, with her Lindt goodie bag sitting under her guard and watchful eye … and even though she doesn’t look it, she’s really enjoying her day out! 😉

Afterwards we had to hustle a bit to wander over to the Star City Casino and Lyric Threatre, where we saw the Phantom of the Opera. What a wonderful show – the stage settings, costumes and music were all truly haunting and magical, and Mum really loved every single minute of it, or so she told me afterwards. I’ve seen it before, but still really loved it myself … and a couple of the songs never fail to take my breath away! As photography is banned in the theatre, I’ve borrowed these files shots from a Phantom of the Opera website …

After the show we took a slow walk around Darling Harbour and over to the QVB Building to catch the train home while we reminisced about the day and the show. When we got home we finished the day off with a bit of stitching (on my part anyway), a glass of wine for me and a botte of Corona for Mum, and a couple of episodes of NCIS while munching away on our Lindt delicacies …

Here’s a quick shot of Cockle Bay Wharf at night:

And to finish off, here’s my latest photo of my progress on Mirabilia’s Winter Queen (geez, I’m soooo loving that white and Wisper thread … not!). Sorry she’s now headless, but I can never be bothered unrolling the towel and taking a full photo of her!

Ah, such a blissful day … those are the things that dreams are made of!!! 😀

Cross Stitch, PhotoHunt, Works in Progress

Photo Hunt – Candy & some stitching

17 May, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I’ve been a lazy slob today curling up on my bed with my laptop headphones on listening to another audiobook while stitching some more on Mirabilia’s Winter Queen. The book I’m reading now is “Dark Horse” by Tami Hoag … aside from the occasional bursts of language that have even ME turning grey, it’s an OK book so far – not the best I’ve ever read, but it’s kept me awake and stitching. I’ve been running downstairs to the laundry doing my week’s washing inbetween stitching and reading. I’ve managed to get to a stage on Winter Queen when I’m about to roll up the fabric on the scroll bars so I thought I’d take a WIP photo before I do … sorry but the quality is dreadful as it’s at night and I can’t find the battery charger of my ‘stitching camera’. Oh well, at least some of that dreadful white-on-white stitching has been done … almost one skein down, four left to go 😉

Mind you, the white may not be the death of me … it’s more likely to be the revolting Wisper thread – geez I detest that stuff!!! But, hey, I only need 2 cards of the stuff for my Queen … 2 cards too many

At least her knees will be warm while she’s waiting to be finished! 😉

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

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is “Candy” and I have to admit I almost didn’t bother posting because I couldn’t be bothered finding a photo or taking a new one – then as I was loading the WIP photo of Winter Queen I remembered the photo of the Peeps that Monique kindly sent me … et voila, you have Candy!! 🙂

Cross Stitch, Uncategorized, Works in Progress

A bit of royal stitching

15 May, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I’ve been managing to get a few stitches into Winter Queen this week … I suppose any little bit is better than nothing! This is how she looked before I put her away in January 2007:

And this is how she looks now (minus her head, ‘cos that’s now hiding under my scroll bar!):

I’m glad to see the beading all done, but now I’m facing the eternal swirls of the skirt part of her dress … endless miles of white stitching on white linen – I’d better start stocking up on wine in readiness!!! 😉

Cross Stitch, Uncategorized, Works in Progress

Rhapsody in Red … enabling post

13 May, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a very very quick public service announcement that Sampler Cove have released the photos of the next design in the Rhapsody in Red series … yep, yet another design for the wishlist!!! 😀

Rhapsody in Red by Sampler Cove

Aside from that, not much happening in this neck of the woods that’s worth showing you – I’ve done about 3 hours worth of stitching on Mirabilia’s Winter Queen, including frogging an entire section of beads three whole times last night … hmmm. Hopefully by the end of the week there’ll be enough progress to warrant a photo. I can’t believe I haven’t touched this WIP/UFO since January 2007!!! That’s a crying shame, and one wrong that’s being put right – I am to get this one finished before the end of the year 🙂

No stitching at all tonight, as we went to the movies straight after work to see “Made of Honour” – personally not a movie I would have chosen to see (Lisa is a HUGE Patrick Dempsey fan, so that was her choice!), but I have to admit I really enjoyed it, and had a blast. It’s a bit stressful at work right now, so it was really good to chill out afterwards and have a good belly laugh 😀

I’m also a bit of a hermit at home right now while listening to an audiobook and stitching … poor Lisa will wonder if she has a flatmate this week – I’m listening to The Red Dahlia by Lynda la Plante, and really enjoying it 🙂

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

Accident in the kitchen

4 May, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Well, the pumpkin soup is essentially finished, but not put through the blender yet … I ended up getting Lisa to heat up a can of soup for me to eat with some homemade damper fresh from the oven. It didn’t get finished because Lisa couldn’t stand the smell of the soup (it has a teaspoon of cumin in it, and she can’t bear the smell apparently!). Anyway, the reason I couldn’t get to finish it myself is because I had a small accident in the kitchen with the meat cleaver!

All limbs are still attached, but I did manage to slice right through the nail in the middle of my finger (the finger next to my little finger, thankfully on my left hand) … luckily my reflexes kicked in a bit so I managed to not take the top of my finger off! Needless to say there was a fair bit of blood, and I broke out in a nauseous sweat thinking I was going to pass out. But after I stopped the bleeding, I called out to Lisa to give me a hand with some Savlon and a large band-aid. She wanted to take me to see a doctor, but I figured the bleeding had stopped, and they could hardly stitch it, so there was no point. The nail itself seems to be sliced right through, but as long as I keep something covering it while it grows out, I figure it should be alright (although perhaps a tetanus shot may be worthwhile hmmm).

The pain was pretty intense for a while, but my nursemaid Lisa made me sit down and drink a soft drink to give me some sugar and fluids in my system (apparently I was as pale as a ghost). I then had something to eat and took a couple of Nurofen and eventually the pain eased off, and is so far OK as long as I don’t touch the nail with anything. I got stir-crazy and sat looking at my hand, and figured I just might be able to stitch (much to Lisa’s amazement as I’d been ordered to sit down and rest without doing anything … but I just couldn’t do it). Anyway, sure enough it was a bit uncomfortable at first getting used to holding the needle differently so I didn’t touch that finger, but I actually managed to get a fair bit stitched tonight! I think it helped to calm me and take my mind off my injury more than anything else!

Here’s the result of my stitching efforts tonight … I’m now hitting the hay after taking another couple of Nurofen to help me rest during the night. Fingers crossed tomorrow it will still be relatively painfree, otherwise I just might have to make a visit to the local medical centre …

French Monogram III by Twisted Oaks Designs
Tuffet – front
stitched in DMC 115, on 32ct cream Belfast linen
(as usual at 1.30am the colours are not true to life)

C A Wells, Cross Stitch, needlework TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

Final post before I fly to Perth

21 April, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I haven’t decided whether or not to take my laptop with me to Perth … I guess it depends on how much other luggage I end up taking. Anyway, I’ve almost finished my CA Wells projects apart from the fusing of the interfacing and remaining eyelets and miniscule bits of stitching. I have to admit I’ve really detested stitching the Sailor’s Valentine piece and these last few days have been spent doing squillions of over-one stitching … even less enjoyable when it’s a project you’re not enjoying anyway! Every single stitch has been painful, and definitely NOT a labour of love!

Well, I’ve finally managed to finish them anyway … although I noticed I was two threads out on part of the ship panel – seeing as that panel has given me major grief over the last 2-3 days I was sure as heck not unpicking all that over-one stitching and re-doing it, so fingers crossed those two fabric threads on each won’t make any difference! It’s my own fault, I regraphed the whole panel onto my XS computer program and copied them into the wrong place! I must say, though, it was sooooo much easier stitching it from my own chart than from CA’s … much much easier in colour and nice and large on the screen 🙂

I think the thing I really hate about this piece is the dreadful pink thread … the photos don’t actually show the colours up truthfully – in real life it looks more brown and rusty looking – it just looks like ‘dead flowers’ to me, particularly on the Roses panel … oh well, c’est la vie – I’ll probably choose to put this panel on the back so I don’t have to look at it if I have a choice 😉

And don’t get me started on the thread colour for the ship! The model photo shows nice variegated browns and a hit of blue … not pink, green and gold!!! Unfortunately we were given the teeniest skimpiest strand of this silk so I couldn’t even cut it to a preferred blend of colours … by this stage I was so ‘over’ the whole design I couldn’t be bothered hunting through my thread stash for a replacement and just stitched it ‘as is’ … but it really is a bizarre colour choice 😦

Here are piccies of the finished sides (all apart from those final ‘fused’ bits of stitching) – I changed the longitude and latitude coordinates to be from the suburb where I’m now living. There are a couple of photos of the over-one stitching as well (those are clickable, not that you’d really want to see them any more ‘up close and personal’ than what they already are, but the others are non-clickable as a courtesy to the designer.

Tomorrow morning I will be sitting on a plane for 5 hours heading to Perth, then on Wed/Thu this week I will be in the classroom with CA Wells and other luvverly ladies (including one lady who is flying all the way from Japan to be there!). Hopefully the next time you see these projects they’ll be finished (well, the Sailor’s Valentine one anyway – I still have to stitch the rooftop of the cottage, so that one will take a bit longer!).

Now it’s time to start contemplating what I need to pack to take with me … something super simple to stitch on the plane, me thinks, and my iPod loaded up with a talking book – I can’t remember whether they show a movie on the flight or not, so I want to be prepared ‘just in case’ … actually I’d better pack a normal book just in case I’m now allowed to stitch! Rightio, time is a wastin’ … time to get my A into G!!

Canvaswork

Bad, bad girl

18 April, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I take a day off work to do some ‘cramming stitching’ for my CA Wells class … and what do I do instead? I forget to switch my phone alarm off so I get awoken early then feel like death all day and end up spending the entire day (so far anyway) joining up for more internet groups for canvaswork designs and getting itchy feet to start a new project or 50!! There is just no hope for me!!!

I’m getting a serious urge to pick up some canvaswork projects again … I have one or two in my stash still waiting to be stitched, but now I’m drooling over some new class projects as well … Check this one out by Jim Wurth … oh my goodness, I SOOOOO want this one!!!!! I’ve sent him an email to work out how to pay for it, if overseas students are allowed (it’s basically a correspondence course) … isn’t it to die for??? Its called Study in Gold and Silver, and available through the Shining Needle Society (email to sign up for registration – no membership fee for the Yahoo group).

Then there’s a new Mystery project by Gay Ann Rogers – check out her blog post here to see the first part. Some of the suggested colour combinations put together in other posts are totally exquisite! (Once again, this is run via the above Yahoo group.)

Then, of course, there’s the few canvaswork projects that I already have that are actually pretty much kitted up ready to be started in my existing stash – Sapphire Star by Laura J Perin (who has her own blog I’ve just discovere today), and Lavender Blue Celtic Knot Quilt by From Nancy’s Needle, and Baroque by Jean Hilton:

As well as the designs I already own by Orna Willis (who also now has her own blog but I’ve known about that one since she started it), that aren’t quite kitted up yet (the only real downside to canvaswork is the multitude of ‘weird’ and uncommon threads needed).

A Summer Drink (you’ll need to click on the pictures to go to the website to see the full piccie – the turquoise one is stunning!)

Reflections of Joy (in the bright colours), Equilibrium (in the purple colourway), Grace (in the colourway shown, or perhaps I’d attempt to change the entire colours to turquoise and navy yet hmmm) – again, you have to click on the piccies to see all the colourway choices

Add to that the one of hers I don’t actually own yet, but still continue to drool over – Royal:

And finished off by the multitude still on my wishlist by Laura J Perin and Northern Pine Designs …

Perhaps I should just console myself with the piece I’ve already started – Flight of the Bumblebee by Ruth Schmuff:

… but stitching on something already started spoils all the fun … haha.

I also have a couple of other canvaswork designs in my stash, but I can’t remember the exact designer names off the top of my head … and I think I’ve disgraced myself enough with this post! 😉

And of course that’s not even mentioning the millions of XS designs that are currently screaming my name to be started! Why is it, that as soon as I have a stitching commitment and deadline, that commitment project is the very last thing that I want to stitch, and the urge to start 50 different projects is sooooo strong?

So, what am I doing now instead of stitching? Sitting here posting about my sorry addiction … ah, there really is no hope for me! 😉

It will soon be time to head out the door to get my hair cut, and I’ll be walking out after not stitching a single solitary stitch … just pitiful!! But I’ve been having so much fun dreaming … 😉

Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

Peeps have arrived in Oz! (plus a bit of stitching)

16 April, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

… or at least they DID arrive, but alas they had to be destroyed due to possible cross-breeding with the local bunnies. The destruction was quick and painless, as I chomped them to death throughout the day at work! 😉

Thanks so much to Monique for this little act of kindness – I’d mentioned to Monique on her blog that I’d never seen what a peep looked like, so it was great to see her photo of them after hearing so much about them for years … Monique took pity on me and sent me this wonderful sample! People must have thought I was bonkers leaving the Post Office, as I changed from being very perplexed at a strange parcel arriving, to cackling like a banshee with a huge grin on my face after opening it up and seeing the contents. Thanks again Monique for making my week! 😀

As for my stitching, I’ve done really well over the weekend and the last couple of nights – I have finished all my Cottage Etui pieces, except for the rooftop, and except for tiny bits of stitching that are done after the interfacing is fused on (eyelets and satin stitches). Now I’ve moved on to the Sailor’s Valentine, and I’ve managed to complete one more side (once again, except for the backstitching of the word “Love” once the interfacing is fused on) – now I’m concentrating on the smallest side of the lot (not much stitching, although a bit of over one) which has a whale’s tail on it and compass markings. That then just leaves me with the boat side to be done (oodles of over-one so it will take me forever!) and the ribbon bands, plus the personalisation (again over-one) on the Roses side … then I can attempt to get the Cottage rooftop started.

Here’s just a wee taste of the “Love” side (CA isn’t keen on full-screen progress photos online as far as I understand it, so I’m trying to be considerate but still share a little bit!):

I’m really looking forward to heading over to Perth again next week for the class – I’m staying with one of the organiser’s lady friends for the two nights of the class, then I’m off to spend 3 nights with Hayley, a good friend of mine. Apparently we’re getting up on Thursday for the dawn service on ANZAC Day, then we have 3 full days to potter around and actually see a bit of Perth this time – it’s going to be great to have some quality time with Hayles and Pete, as they have a long weekend off work yay!

Of GREAT note is the fact that as of late last night we have ADSL BROADBAND AT HOME!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I AM screaming … with sheer joy!!!!! We’ve managed to get my modem set up with Lisa’s wireless router, and we can both connect – in a couple of weeks time you actually might get to see me more online again (and maybe even answering emails, unlike having a humungous backlog like I do now)!! 😀

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

Market garden kitchen and etui update

12 April, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Well, true to form, I’ve been lounging around in my PJ equivalent all day – trackpants and PJ top … and I’ve been stitching merrily away on my Cottage Etui. Here’s a sneak preview of how far along I am so far … I’m pretty confident that I’ll get all the pieces finished by the end of tomorrow that I want to (I’m not bothering about getting the rooftop stitched yet – but if I get time before I fly out, I’ll try to start).

While stitching the Etui, it also reminded me that I haven’t shown you my latest stash purchases yet either – as soon as I took them out of the envelope, my Cottage Etui threads went straight onto one of them. Monique makes the most gorgeous threadholders, and I truly adore them! Small enough to be super portable, and no thread snags … plus they look so darned cute!!! 😀 What’s betting a certain senior citizen who will be visiting in May will try to snaffle one of them for herself??? haha.

I also forgot to show your healthy spoils from a morning trip to Paddy’s Market in Flemington last weekend (before my friends arrived). Lisa has bought a juicer and we’ve been having fresh fruit and vege juices every morning this last week … this is just a small sample of what is residing in our kitchen right now … boxes and boxes and lovely fruit and vege (some will be juiced and frozen).

Lovely peaches, with a tray of nectarines hiding underneath … plus boxes of pears, apples and oranges.

There is also a box full of Tahitian limes (just perfect for the bottles of Corona in the fridge), and melons galore, not to mention the pile of pumpkins and butternuts hiding underneath!

And this one is for Mum … a box of Australian feijoas (which I’m sorry to say are really tiny and picked well before they are ripe, so they’re a bit disappointing … I really miss our feijoa tree from home – poor Mum has so many she doesn’t know what to do with them, and she keeps making me jealous talking about them!).

Rightio, my dinner has finished nuking in the microwave, so it’s time to head back to my stitching position for the evening stitch-a-thon 🙂

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

Busy Little Beaver!

30 March, 20089 August, 2024 Anne S

I can’t believe how much I managed to cram into one day yesterday … it’s most unlike me, as I’m the Queen of time wasting at the weekends!! First up I decided to get the garage tidied up and out of the way, and I was surprised I managed to complete the entire thing in less than 2 hours woohoo (well, apart from Lisa’s futon mattress that I can’t move on my own)! That means we can finally park one of the cars in there, and we won’t get told off for hogging more than one carspace!

Next up, my downstairs neighbour (70 yr old Barbara) hollered out that she had finished with the laundry, so I could get my washing done early yay – once I’d filled the machine to capacity and set it going, I came back upstairs and spoke to Mum on the phone for 2 hours … minus 15 minutes when I ran back downstairs to put the washing out on the line and put the last few towels in to wash.

After chatting to Mum I cooked up a pot of Hearty Minestrone Soup from a recent Weight Watchers cookbook ready for lunches, followed by the making of a low-calorie orange and mango jelly, and a vanilla blancmange … just that word “blancmange” makes me go weak at the knees and start salivating!! You can tell I’m actually a Brit by birth, as you can’t buy blancmange over here (although come to think of it, you can probably get it in the UK import shops, I’ll have to check it out!) … this batch is from a previous donation from my Aunt in the UK, and I’ve never got around to making it. Well, yesterday I made my very first blancmange, and couldn’t wait to sink my spoon into it after it set … yummo! The great thing about WW is that I can still eat these things in moderation if I get the urge, and just work it into the daily points total … although that’s also one reason for making the soup, ‘cos it’s very very low in points but very filling – blancmange and soup, the perfect balance! As of yesterday it’s ‘that time of the month’ when I get some serious sweet cravings, so I also figure eating blancmange is better than eating a big block of chocolate or packet of Tim Tams!! 😉

Here’s a photo of the soup simmering (dunno why I took a photo really) – but no photo of the blancmange, as it didn’t sit still long enough in one piece to get one haha.

I can’t believe what a fantastic day I had yesterday – I’m LOVING this weekend, and LOVING having energy again after feeling so crappy for so long … I feel as though I had a new lease of life yesterday 🙂

The next job I tackled was to glue together 5 Christmas ornies just sitting ready to be finished (they were already laced onto the mattboard etc) – they’re currently sitting under a pile of books after drying overnight and just have to have cording added (which might be a while yet before I do that). Then I cut up strips of calico and neatened the edges with the overlocker, ready to stitch onto the edges of my CA Wells project (there is only about 1-2 cm space at each edge, and I can’t stitch in hand), plus I made quite a few more strips ready for other kitted up projects that I can’t wait to start.

Before I started my stitching for the night, though, I finally did the finishing of two needlerolls that were just waiting to be ribboned and stuffed … and they are now sitting here in all their finished glory 🙂

“Summer Solstice Needleroll” by Eventide Designs
Stitched on 28ct hand-dyed Dried Thyme Jobelan with recommended threads
but changed the months to be Dec-Jan-Feb to be in line with the southern hemisphere seasons

“Snow Fall Roll” by Shepherd’s Bush (kit)

Feeling the best I’ve felt in months, I also brought out a teeny tiny pinkeep (about 2″ in width) that I meant to finish for Becky last year (!!), and finally did the finishing … originally this was designed to be a scissor fob, but then I changed my mind once I read Becky adores pinkeeps. Even if I say so myself, it looks really cute! I still have a needlebook to finish yet to go with it, so it won’t be posted for a while yet … but at least I can see it happening this year!! 😉

After all that activity, I finally sat down in my stitching chair, switched off the goggle box, and cranked open a talking book for a couple of hours (The Twelfth Card by Jeffery Deaver – love his books!) … and FINALLY put the first stitches into my Cottage Etui piece for the CA Wells class. OK, I have to admit, it’s not much so far, but at least I’ll have one thing that can be finish-finished in class if nothing else haha. This will eventually either be a scissor fob, or if I manage to get some more stitching done, it will be the pincushion/thimble pip ends. I must say I really do like the choice of Gloriana silk for this pice – very rich and scrummy colours in there, with even a hint of yummy blues 😉

And that concludes my wonderful day yesterday – today I’ve woken up quite tired, but still positive, and I’ve decided to sit and stitch a short while this morning on some more CA Wells before tackling any housework … on the first day of my cycle I always feel ‘blah’ so that seems like a perfect day to me yet again!