Category: Crafts – Needlework

Works in Progress

Back to a Rotation

Anne S

Well, so much for my plans to grid up the Leporello last night … it was quite late, so I thought I’d just stitch on an ‘existing’ project for the rest of the night, and start the Leporello today … um, well, that was the “plan” …

In reality, I started stitching Chatelaine’s Egyptian Garden, and I couldn’t put it down … so I ended up putting an entire 10 hours into it, and thus starting back into my rotation, which is well overdue 🙂 Here’s my progress to date.

And now I may have a partner in crime stitching with the Leporello – I’d love to do a SAL with you, Jenna … I’ll drop you an email shortly and we can work out how we want to do that.

Which also reminds me, I also have to get my Macaw or Rainbow Lorikeets kitted up for a SAL with Carina … as well as the Bordeaux Sampler with Leslie and Carol, it’s gonna be a busy time coming up 🙂 But what a wonderful group of projects 😀

I’ve actually been getting over a small dose of a virus since Thursday (I had to come home from work early on Friday), so it’s been a perfect weekend just blobbing out and stitching … heavenly 🙂 But tomorrow I’m on 6am shifts, and there’s a loud party going off next door … not quite so heavenly :/ But then I look back at my Egyptian Garden, and that heavenly feeling comes back 😀

I am thankful for stitching – and all the sheer pleasure, peace and joy that comes from it.

SBQ, Works in Progress

SBQ and a bit of Bordeaux

Anne S

Thanks for all your wonderful comments about Su’s scissor fob – I’m still blushing from all the lovely words of praise 🙂

Last night I decided I still wasn’t happy to put the needles down for the night, so did a couple of hours on Bordeaux Sampler – seeing as I didn’t do my stitching on it before Friday, I figured a couple of days late would be OK 😉 For the life of me I can never get a good photo of this one – but I just have the bottom band left and the two sides, all of which are a combination of backstitched leaves/vines and Rhodes stitch grapes, then band number two is completely finished. I’ve been looking ahead to the upcoming bands and my heart is sinking already at the sight of all the over-one grapes coming up {heavy sigh} LOL. I’d really like to get this piece finished by the end of 2007, if possible.

It’s finally time to answer the week’s SBQ before the next one comes out! Today’s SBQ was suggested by Jan and is:

“How many different brands of “complete” embroidery floss sets do you own? How do you keep track of it? (ie, spread sheet program, indexcards, palm pilot, etc)”

That’s very easy to answer – the only “complete” collection I have is of DMC. I’m slowly adding to my over-dyed collections as I come across colours I need for projects, but I’ll never bother getting the entire collections, as I simply won’t use them all. I used to keep an up-to-date inventory on my Cross Magic database of my DMC, but since I gave about 80+ skeins to Mum as a gift to start up her own collection, I haven’t updated things … maybe I’ll get around to that again … one day 😉 Other than that all my other threads are catalogued in Cross Magic – it makes it very very handy when kitting up new projects, as I can see at a glance what I have/don’t have.

On a positive front, today is finally pay-day, and I’m sooooo grateful! I’ve only spent $15 on groceries over the last fortnight (and that was only recently seeing as it was close to payday and no more working days left, so I knew I could go without any further spending), and I’m looking forward to getting my car checked out tomorrow, and my tax bill paid, so I know what money (if any) I have left over for the next fortnight. I’m no longer stressing over it – I figure if the tax bill has to be paid in two hits, so be it … it would be really nice to get some fresh food this week, though 🙂

Finishes, Works in Progress

Small ‘finishing finish’

Anne S

Another quiet day … even though it sounds like I’ve been very busy, I’ve actually been very relaxed and lazy all day – I did a small load of washing, and felted my Kitti Pi bed (thanks to Jo for putting that on her blog) that Mum knit for my four-legged friend that hasn’t arrived yet … it’s currently drying on top of my washing basket, so I’ll show the before and after piccies when it’s finished.

Aside from that I did a very tiny bit of stitching on my Bordeaux Sampler this evening, so here’s this week’s progress piccie … the only difference to last week is a tiny part of the right-hand border, a bit of gold, and two groups of those dratted over-one grapes. I’m soooo tempted to leave all those until the end, but if I did that I know it’d never ever get finished, so I’m forcing myself to stitch them as I go, and complete each band … I still have the four little grapes on the first dividing band to stitch yet, though.

The final thing I did today was to finally finish my Stars are Brightly Shining ‘ornament’ (by SamSarah Designs in the JCS 2005 ornie issue), and make my first ever flat-fold … I don’t have any suitable ribbon, so no embellishments are on it yet – I’ll probably add some red cording and a red ribbon bow on the top, but not entirely 100% sure of that yet. Oh well, that’s one thing crossed off my to-do lists for the year, as a flat-fold was one of my key goals for 2006 (the rest of my list is a bit of a whitewash, though!). Even though the curved needle had a mind of its own for a while, eventually I managed to tame it enough to do a fairly decent job of doing the ladder stitch joining up the sides 🙂 (The first piccie is a better representation of the actual colour – it’s a Country Stitch Kiwi Pearl, so not named, and it’s absolutely divine!) It’s shocking that it’s taken me so long to finish this off … it’s been sitting there just waiting to have its carrot nose stitched on, and that’s it! {shaking head} We didn’t have a button the right size, so Mum and I made one out of Fimo last Christmas (yes, it’s really been sitting here that long! LOL).

Tomorrow will see my final day of being lazy, as it’s back to work on Saturday again … thankfully to decent shifts this week of 8am-4pm for a few days – followed by 5am-1pm shifts … I’ll just have to make doubly sure I get all my sleep regularly for that 🙂 And I’m back to taking the Voltaren again to try and get my back pain under control – I stopped after just 3 days last week, which was a bit dumb … this week I’m determined to get it all fixed up and get my health back under control 🙂

And before I forget … for Nicki – I really loved the World’s Fastest Indian … what a wonderful feel-good movie, I can definitely recommend it! The only thing that took some getting used to was Anthony Hopkins’ weird ‘Southland’ accent … sounded a bit more like something out of Cornwall, rather than Invercargill, but then again it’s been a long time since I’ve been in Dunedin/Invercargill 😉

Stash, Works in Progress

WIP updates

Anne S

I was originally going to post a piccie once I’d got my latest project entirely finished, but it’s been slow going so I thought I’d post a progress piccie instead. This is the first time I’ve ever tried doing nun’s stitch, and I’m amazed at how slooooooowly that wee stitch goes … can’t say I’m a huge fan, although it looks OK. I still have to add the little bead eyes and do a broad chain stitch across the centre fold line – then I have to do the little separate name label before putting it all together … and being ‘finishing challenged’, I’m going goggle-eyed reading the instructions already – hopefully it will all slot into place once I have the actual finished articles and lining etc in front of me! This is “Bumble the Bee’s Wax Pocket” kit by Moss Creek Designs … I just love the little bee 😀 I wasn’t so fond, however, by the over-one stitching hmmm.

In fact, seeing as I’m not a great over-one fan, I’m definitely getting plenty of experience with my current/future projects … this one, plus the Bordeaux Sampler (all the verses plus the next band has oodles of over-one grapes), and the Lavender Rose Sewing Case (next on my list of smalls to stitch, seeing as I missed the SAL) … I’m either going to enjoy over-one more after all that practice, or detest it further … only time will tell …

And seeing as it’s almost Friday, I can finally post a progress piccie of the Bordeaux Sampler with my start of band number 2 … I haven’t touched this since coming home from Hong Kong, so I caught up a bit by putting 4 hours into it earlier in the week – and it’s time to get it back into a regular stitching slot each week. I’m looking forward to seeing Carol’s progress too 😀

Other than that, I have another mail art to be done as the original one went AWOL … have to admit, this is definitely not a stitching highlight for the week 😦

I do have to admit to a slight lapse off the Wagon last week too – just realised I’d forgotten to post a public announcement of my lapse, as well as a piccie of my spoils … Ashleigh was selling off a bundle of her stash on Ebay, and I’ve been dying to try some of the Periwinkle Promises little cushion kits, so I couldn’t resist trying some at a reasonable price to see if I like them … and after receiving them, I think I see more of them arriving on my doorstep in the future … after I’ve been on the Wagon a bit longer 😉

Now it’s off to bed for the night after a very inactive day … mind you, I can see the lounge room floor again, so I obviously got a bit of housework done today ;P

Works in Progress

Baggage disaster …

Anne S

Today I finally unpacked one of my favourite embroidery pieces that was professionally framed, that Mum brought with her on the plane … although well packaged with a couple of layers of foamcore and bubblewrap, the airline still managed to play football with it, and we heard the sickening sounds of tinkling glass as I started unpacking the wrapping today 😦 Yep, my glass is in shattered ruins … and it’s not covered by the airline, and Mum’s insurance excess would be $75, so probably not worth claiming it back … it’s quite fitting that the SBQ came out recently about framing with glass vs non-glass (which I still haven’t gotten around to answering … blogs have been a low priority over the last two weeks again due to visitors and shifts etc hmmm) – I have to admit, I prefer to see embroidery without glass, but I know there are pros for using glass (as well as pros for not using it). Both Mum and I sat looking at my Wessex piece and both thought the same thing at the same time … the embroidery looks so much better without the glass! So, thanks to the airline, my Wessex piece will likely no longer have glass covering it 🙂 I just hope by the time we clear all the glass away that it hasn’t damaged any of the embroidery itself …

As I mentioned earlier, Mum’s flight was delayed by 5 hours in total, so we had a quiet night in on Saturday night – then Sunday we went out shopping and bought all sorts of goodies … including a VERY big purchase, except I have 19 months to pay for it thanks to Harvey Norman’s 19 months interest free and no downpayments at the moment – Mum agreed it was a very worthwhile investment, and thanks to my debt consolidation I’ll be able to make regular monthly repayments so I don’t have a big outlay at the end of the 19 months … the big purchase was a new lounge suite!! I’m so excited about it!!! No need to guess what colour it is haha … the salesman said “you’d like the same colour as the floor model?” – a resounding “NO!” from both Mum and I, then we cracked up … yep, of course it’s coming in blue! Actually it’s a very close match to my el cheapo recliner I currently stitch in. You have no idea how good it feels to have this on order – it’s made in Aussie, so we have to wait approx 4-5 weeks for it to be made up, but it has a 2.5 seater sofa bed and two chairs … AND the best thing is that for an extra $249 you get a 5-year cover for damage … including pet damage and spills (woohoo!!), at which time they’ll recover it for free … considering the new inhabitant that will be joining this household soon, I thought it was a good option haha. My current lounge suite was bought for $150 at a garage sale, and Fraze managed to somehow rip one arm of the chairs while it was under his care, as well as the sofa being the most uncomfortable saggy thing to sit on, with the sofa bed bars digging into you … I can’t wait for my new one to arrive!!!

As for the rest of the week, I’ve been working late shifts, so not much happening – managed to get my week’s stitching into Bordeaux Sampler the night that Mum arrived, and I’ve decided to post my piccie two days early, as I’ll be heading off to Hong Kong tomorrow night, and might forget to do it before I fly out (we’re supposed to post progress piccies each Friday). I just have the little red ‘cluster’ to the left of the lettering to finish, then band one is all done for me – looking forward to seeing how Carol is coming along with hers 🙂


The remaining stitching time I’ve had this week has been very sporadic, but I’ve managed to get a few stitches into my last charity quilt square – it’s due 15 August, so I’d better get cracking when I get back home again (good job I’m still on annual leave for the next two weeks haha).


I’m thinking of packing a Shepherd’s Bush needleroll or two or a Christmas ornie to take with me to stitch at the airport etc – not sure whether we’ll get much time to stitch while we’re away, especially as it’s only for 4 nights … one always has to take something ‘just in case’ though, right? LOL. I was laughing today because the first thing I’ve thought about is what stitching to take – I haven’t even started thinking about clothes etc for packing … a girl has to have her priorities!!!

And on that note I’d better sign off … we’re meeting Fraze tonight for dinner then he’s staying here the night – and he’s due to finish work soon … better go chuck my jeans on and start getting ready – scotch fillet for dinner, yummo!! 😀

Stash, Works in Progress

Bordeaux Sampler

Anne S

I’m supposed to post my update piccie on Fridays, along with Carol, but I’ve decided to cheat and put it up a day early, as I may be busy tomorrow. I managed to get a good night’s stitching (4 whole hours) into this last night, and I just have the over-one lettering and bottom band plus the rhodes grapes in the side borders to do, then part one is all finished yippee! 😀 I’m soooooo tempted to sit and do some more tonight, which would probably see part one finished, but I’m going to resist the temptation. For our SAL I said I’d stitch for one day/night or a total of 3 hours each week, depending what my shifts were like, so I guess I’ve already stitched my quota on it for this week … I have to admit, though, I really enjoyed stitching on it and I’m looking forward to finishing part one next week some time 😀 (mind you, I’m not a huge fan of over-one stitching, so that lettering band might be slow going).


I also have more stash to report – this is yet again from an order that was made a number of weeks ago, in a 30-75% off sale from Margaret Lee’s website … I never had confirmation of the final cost, or that the order was complete, so I totally forgot all about it … I was surprised to come home to a LARGE box with a postage cost of US$29 (ahem!!), just for a few charts, fabric and two pairs of scrollbar side frames – there was a long piece of ‘plastic bag’ stuff filled with air to fill out the box … would it not have been better to just parcel the damn stuff into a flatter box to save postage? It’s not as if a couple of charts etc are breakable! Oh well, the main reason I placed an order was because they had selected aida fabric on sale at 50-75% off, and I wanted to order some for Mum’s stitching stash, seeing as she’s still on a mad Christmas ornie stitching spree (go Mum!!). Still, that extra US$20 spent on postage costs has really marred the savings on the other items … oh well, c’est la vie! At least you have some more fabric, Mum 🙂

The charts in this haul were The Gathering Room by Little House Needleworks (not in the photo); Those Darn Accessories by Hillside Samplings; A Little Blackwork by Drawn Thread; Sitting Pretty by Valerie Pfeiffer; Birdie Holiday by Lizzie*Kate; Stitching Friends by Lizzie*Kate; Honey Bee by Elizabeth’s Designs; Life’s a Stitch by Lizzie*Kate; Bluebells and Violets by Shepherd’s Bush; and Teenie Hardanger III by The Sweetheart Tree.

For Mum … I also got the following aida for you – 14ct lambswool, 16ct antique ivory, and 16ct navy. This lot was all pre-Wagon spending 😉

Now it’s time to get the washing out of the machine and hang it out before settling down for the night – it’s day 6 of work today, and I feel pretty wrecked (especially as I was stitching until midnight last night oops haha), so I thought I’d give myself a good start to the weekend, by getting some housework out of the way quickly … now I’m going to be self-indulgent while watching Big Brother (sad, but true, I do enjoy it!), followed by Medium and Lost … ah, bliss! 😀

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Stash, Works in Progress

Stitching update

Anne S

I had to take a day off work yesterday just to get some stitching in … well, actually it was because I felt like cr*p, and couldn’t face work – my sore throat turned into a bit of laryngitis on Tuesday night, and I hardly slept at all. When I woke up yesterday morning I felt really groggy and as though I’d been run over. This morning I still feel pretty rough – I’m more blocked up in the nose, and my throat is sore again, but my voice isn’t quite as laryngitis-like. Fingers crossed I’ll be OK to get back to work again tomorrow. It does mean, though, that I managed to get a bit of stitching done – and a bit of frogging too ;P I still have two stitches to fix up in the vines that I noticed I managed to miss yesterday, and they’re easily added in – but I’m slowly catching up to you, Carol 😀 I’ll continue to get this panel finished (the whole of part 1), then I have to get my ducks RR done to get in the mail by 1 July … then it’s “Dratteds, here I come!!!” 😀

Just a quick post today, as my concentration at the computer isn’t great – I tried catching up on some more blog reading yesterday, but I ended up reading most things three times, and gave up. Off to have another Lemsip Cold & Flu, then cuddle up under my blanket again in my not-so-glamorous PJ’s for the day …

(Updated) Crikey, I just realised that I hadn’t posted piccies of my previous stash arrivals … for some reason I thought I’d already done it, but just checked back in my blog posts, and lo and behold nothing was there! Oops – I’d forget my head these days if it wasn’t permanently attached!! Anyway, here are the piccies of stash I received as gifts from some very generous ladies – thanks so much again Cathy and Nancy – your generosity is amazing, and I love everything (I know I’ve sent personal emails already, but just wanted to reiterate it now) 😀 Unfortunately blogger is, just for a change, having a hissy fit about adding more photos, so I’ve had to use Photobucket, which of course means you can’t click for a bigger piccie, sorry 😦

Here are my wonderful spoils from Cathy:
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And my wonderful spoils from Nancy:
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Works in Progress

Just blogging for the sake of it (updated)

Anne S

I don’t really have anything to say … just wanted to try and get back into the habit of blogging more regularly. Managed to get some blog reading done over the last two days, but many many more to go yet – hopefully by the end of the week I’ll definitely be caught up. Apologies if I’m not leaving many comments, but I’m enjoying reading everything.

Even though the curtains don’t reach the floor, I’m loving them – even just having them up gives the place some more colour and warmth … and eventually I’ll just sew some more fabric on the bottoms to help keep the cold out. I also picked up the same curtains in the sales for the main lounge window, but it’s a lot wider and more awkward to get to, so I need to wait until I’ve got an accomplice to help me … hopefully they’ll be up on 20 June, ‘cos Fraze is visiting – yup, yet another job for you Fraggle! 😀

I did a dopey thing yesterday … went with my little parcels to the Post Office before work, only to find they were closed – it was a public holiday in Australia, and I didn’t know hmmm. So I rocked up to work in my business clothes, and everyone else was in jeans 😦 Good job I took a decent coat and scarf, though, as we had two separate fire alarms go off and we had to evacuate the building twice on a very cold day in Melbourne … brrrrrrrr. It’s funny, when I lived in Auckland I owned a full-length wool coat and scarf etc, but wore it about a dozen times … since moving to Melbourne I now have a nice selection of scarves, gloves and hats – and along with my coat I actually NEED them. It has looked quite miserable a few times over the last two weeks – very bleak looking and grey all day 😦 So my lovely blue curtains help to hide the bleakness, and I get to look at some beautiful colour instead 😀

Today I’ve decided I need to start my rotation again – I honestly have a tangible physical and mental URGE to pick it up and get back into my routine … so this morning I am putting my Bordeaux Mystery Sampler (which is no longer a mystery ‘cos we have all the parts haha) onto my scroll bars, and I’m putting a few stitches in before work … after 10 hours on that, I’ll be back to picking up the Dratteds (aka Dolphins Domain) and I honestly can’t wait!!

(Updated) And just to show I really did make an effort this morning, here’s the proof of my labour … not much to show for it, but it’s a start none-the-less 🙂 I’m on 3pm shift starts all week, so it gives me a bit of time in the mornings to get a few things done – today I decided to have some “me” time for stitching instead of housework 😀 Mind you, I’ve been struggling with a bad throat and chest the last three days, so perhaps it was also a bit of pampering needed to perk me up too … I have my fingers crossed it doesn’t escalate into a full-on cold 😦
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