Category: Works in Progress

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Mill Hill, Prairie Moon, The Drawn Thread, Works in Progress

Works in Progress and an Ornie finish

Anne S

Not much to say today … I struggled with a migraine all of last week, with two full days spent in bed, so my computer time has been limited last week and I’m way behind with emails etc – hopefully I’ll manage to catch up over Easter 🙂

While I’ve been away from the PC, I’ve also been away from the TV this week, so yesterday was spent curled up in bed catching up on taped programs … then today I’ve been curled up in bed once again but this time watching Seasons 1 and 2 of The Tudors – such hardship 😉

Following are the latest WIP progress piccies of projects that are “on the go” …

A very blurry progress piccie of Merry Xmas by Prairie Moon

Joyeux Noel by The Drawn Thread (I added the snowman and started the border today)

And finally a small victory today compliments of The Tudors – a start and finish in one day, with another ornie hitting the “to be finished into ornies” pile 🙂

Mill Hill-Poinsettia Tiny Treasured Diamond
“Poinsettia – Tiny Treasured Diamond” by Mill Hill
stitched as kitted, with recommended fabric, thread and beads

And of course there’s also some commitment stitching that I can’t show just yet, until it’s been received, so here’s just a little teaser … and on that note it’s time to switch off for the night as it’s going to be a huge week at work this week thanks to skeleton staffing levels and more project deadlines that need to be completed prior to the Easter break.

Cross Stitch, Food, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Prairie Moon, Works in Progress

Profitable day and gifts

Anne S

I’ll start the post off by showing off some exquisite knitting that I received from my beautiful and talented friend Nicki as my birthday gift – and I totally adore it!!  How could I not?  The knitting is perfection itself, and the colour is so very “me” – it’ll be perfect for our Sydney winter for that extra bit of neck warmth.  Thanks again Nicki 😀

Also, I just realised that I haven’t posted my earlier birthday gifts yet – they arrived while I was flat out at work in February, and didn’t realise I hadn’t uploaded the piccie yet!  That doesn’t mean I love the gifts any less, ‘cos I absolutely adore everything … they’re all duckies!!!  I can’t believe Tessa found all these little lovelies on her travels – they’re fantastic additions to my duck collection, and they really put a smile on my face.  Thanks once again Tessa, for your beautiful and thoughtful gifts – I especially adore the framed duckie button, that’s an awesome idea, it’s just wonderful 😀

Both Nicki and Tessa were initially online friends, but then became real-life friends after meeting face-to-face (Nicki in Auckland, and Tessa in Melbourne) … life is a much brighter place with friends such as these lovely ladies 😀

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Now, before I get on to today’s achievements, here’s the latest stitching update of Merry Xmas by Prairie Moon – not sure if they look more like aliens rather than skeletons with those big eye sockets haha … alas I need a skein of Old Crow before I can fill those eyes in, so I’ll have to continue sticking with the white, cream, pink and red for a while longer 🙂

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After spending the day yesterday blobbing out playing computer games, watching TV and doing a little bit of stitching, today was a different story … partly helped by the extra hour in bed thanks to the clocks going back last night.  Today there has been no stitching to be had, but instead plenty of time spent in the kitchen … baking of all things!  Trying to use up some cupboard stocks (why on earth I have two big bags of coconut, etc I do not know!), I opted to bake items where I had to buy next-to-nothing and came up with the following (I know, Mum, this is ME … baking … whatever next?!!!):

Cinnamon Ginger Cake ready to go into the oven

Cinnamon Ginger Cake keeping company with Caramel Walnut Slice

The ultimate sin … cutting the cake before it’s 100% cold … but oh so scrummy!!!  😀
Another 1/4 of the cake went to my elderly downstairs neighbour as a treat

Then another quick trip over to the supermarket for some ‘odd’ items I didn’t have in stock, I sliced up some rump steak and whipped up some Asian-style marinade so it can stew in the fridge overnight … which means I’m having stir-fry tomorrow night – yum (admittedly the pre-mixed beef doesn’t quite look so yummy in the photo thanks to lumps of lemon grass and garlic LOL) 🙂

I can’t wait to cook this up tomorrow night!!! 😀

And to top the kitchen chores off, I pulled my finger out and prepared a couple of salad lunches for work Mon/Tue this week, and also chopped up some honeydew melon and rockmelon … hmmm, me thinks that a good start to eating more healthily this week! 😀

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Quick drive-by posting

Anne S

As normal, I’m running late this morning, so this is just a really quick posting with my latest WIP piccies – one a commitment piece for Katie’s Christmas gift (2010!), and another of my Crazy January Challenge pieces (LHN’s Ladybug Ladybug) – alas the LHN piece needs one of the small leaves to be frogged due to my own stupidity and stitching when I’m too tired … but that won’t take long.  Mum’s been asking after my stitching, so I’ve made an effort to take a couple of quick piccies 🙂

I have more commitment stitching to do this weekend for gifts/exchanges, so alas I may not have much stitching to show for a while … and on that note, really gotta run … 🙂

Canvaswork, From Nancy's Needle, Works in Progress

Canvaswork updae

Anne S

My weekend plans didn’t quite go as planned, so instead I sat in my room and got some ‘needle’ practice in … and loved every little stitch.  Here’s how my canvaswork piece looks like after a full day today and a few hours yesterday (inbetween sleeping half the day) … another 1-2 weeks and this one will be finished 🙂

From-Nancy's-Needle-13Mar11
“Lavender Blue Celtic Knot Quilt” by Nancy’s Needle

And after that quick little preview, it’s time to settle in for the night and my final 1/2 hour of stitching … then it’s back to hydrotherapy in the morning 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Heartstrings, Works in Progress

Stitching update

Anne S

I’ve managed a tiny bit of stitching over the last few nights, including finishing all the actual stitching on Bittersweet Seasons – all I need now is to buy some little gold embellishments for it (a tiny gold star and bell) then it’s totally finished.  It’s hard to pick up the little details such as the beads and metallics, but I’ve tried to capture it as well as I can in the below photos (although when I do compilations there is a lot of quality lost in the conversion).

Bittersweet-Season

Then, after a trip to Spotlight yesterday afternoon to pick up the DMC thread I have mislaid (so, what’s new??), I put the finishing stitches into the Autumn freebie that I started last year.

The Stitcherhood-Autumn freebie

“Autumn” freebie by The Stitcherhood LLC
Stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch ~ colour Merino
with recommended DMC threads
(the chart is still available here)

I’m not sure what happened to the photo of this one – the fabric is a beautiful mottled creamy fabric, not the putty-like colour that is showing in the above photo!!  I hope to turn this into a little pillow soon, which is timely considering we are now officially in the first week of Autumn here “down under” and it’ll be nice to have it on display (gee I’m so sorry to say farewell to Sydney’s summer … not …).

Now I guess it’s back to the Drawn Thread Joyeux Noel, although I have to admit I’m really not enjoying stitching that one in the slightest – which is disappointing, as I’ve had the urge to stitch this one for the longest time … I’m tempted, instead, to do an hour or so of one of my Crazy January Challenge projects, as unfortunately they’ve been taking a back seat just lately while I’ve been finishing up some older WIPs … I’m starting to think I have bitten off more than I can chew this year what with both the CJC and my personal challenge of two ornies per month ho-hum (not to mention some other commitment pieces that aren’t able to form part of my CJC!) 😦

Talking of which, I also need to kit up my two March Christmas ornies, and make a start on Katie’s Christmas gift from last year plus get cracking on my outstanding PIFs from last year.

In the meantime, though, it feels really good to finally get a couple of WIPs from last year into the finishing pile (even if one does still need its embellishments).

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Food, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Little House Needleworks, Works in Progress

Quick drive-by posting

Anne S

The last few weeks have been absolutely mental at work – another project that hasn’t gone as well as planned thanks to an unstable testing platform, code not delivered as planned, and another department totally not delivering their side of the requirements.  Testing is supposed to take 2 weeks, this time it took the entire month of February … and I’m sure I don’t need to say how much I was “over it” by the end!!  But thankfully March is now here, and testing is mostly behind me … except now I have to do more to help out the other department now they’re implementing their side of it … pfffft.

Alas that means there hasn’t been much motivation to do anything other than sleep in my spare time, and not much stitching.  Then when I did do some stitching both my camera batteries died … and I lost my Lumix charger.  The charger turned up a few days ago, then I lost my memory card … I decided to just buy a cheap replacement online (and found a store by doing so that offers really healthy discounts on top brand cards!!), then of course found the original one stuck in the front of the computer this morning … after I had checked there the other night!  Oh well, I needed a spare anyway, and now I have loads and loads of memory on the cards for my next holidays 😀

That also means I’ve managed to take a couple of quick snaps this morning – even if they’re not great quality in the overcast morning light, here is my current stitching update … one finish and one work in progress:

LHN-He's a Flake
“He’s a Flake” by Little House Needleworks
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch ~ colour Kina
with recommended threads (Crescent Colours and DMC)

2605948540047689748pszEZV_fs
WIP – “Joyeux Noel” by The Drawn Thread
(I’m using DMC 3865 instead of 739 for the snow etc for more contrast on the fabric)

I would have done more stitching on Wednesday night, but at 7pm I remembered I was supposed to bake for morning tea the next day, so chose something I’d never done before that was a bit of a challenge (including making my own pastry, which I haven’t done for years!).  Alas it took me all night (literally) and 1 1/2 hours the next morning to get everything finished, but I was just ‘in the mood’ for kitchen time, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  If I get chance, I’ll post the recipes later – the Orange Liqueur Chocolate Tartlets went down an absolute treat!  Anyway, here are the results:

Cheese-Crisps
Cheese Crisps (with Havarti & Basil filling)
(these are only about 1.5cm in diameter … like little cheesy burgers
for Ken and Barbie! LOL – and for me very more-ish!!)

Orange-Liqueur-Chocolate-Ta
Orange Liqueur Chocolate Tartlets (simply divine!)

On a health side, I’ve been going to Physio twice a week since last week, and had my first hydrotherapy session on Wednesday – hopefully it will help to loosen up my lower back and stop the knee pains … when it gets really bad, unfortunately the pain keeps me awake at night – and it’s been the worst lately when spending long hours in the office 😦

And on that note I really should get my A into G and get my carcass into that office – today I have a meeting with our Occupational Health & Safety assessor to find out if my employer will cough up for a new chair for me … otherwise I’m going shopping to buy myself one.  Not quite the most exciting of shopping, but a very worthwhile investment if I do have to do it myself! 🙂

101 things in 1001 days, Cross Stitch, Food, Heartstrings, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Little House Needleworks, Works in Progress

The week that was

Anne S

Alas, it’s been a very loooong week workwise, so not much stitching at all has been done, and not much of anything else.  I had a couple of 9pm finishes at work, then got sick on Thursday and haven’t been firing on all cylinders since.  My leg has been giving me a lot of pain lately, but after 2 months being on a waiting list for physio, I FINALLY have an appointment tomorrow morning so I can start discussing some appropriate exercises for my back (I have some degeneration in the discs of my lower back which is causing swelling and therefore compression of the nerves … which is leading to me walking like an old lady when I get up and horrendous pains in my left knee).  Mind you, with the current heatwave back in Sydney, going to bed with an ice compress on my knee has been blissful 😉

What I did do yesterday, though, was to dust off the grime from the top of the breadmaker and threw in some flour and rolled oats into it … 4 hours later and I was able to sample the results – a very slight sweetness to it, which I’m not a huge fan of, it’s still quite a nice loaf, and it’s given me the urge to get some milk powder and other ingredients in to start sampling a few more recipes (and also therefore cleaning up another one of my 101 things in 1001 days items).  Anyway, here is the result of my Oatmeal Walnut Bread, which is one more recipe book that I can tick off the list of my 101 things (“The Bread Machine Book” by Marjie Lambert):

The only stitching I managed to do during the week was to put a few touches to Bittersweet Season – it’s really hard to pick up the metallics and beads, as my macro camera battery has died and I can’t find the charger so I’ve had to use my Nikon SLR whose Macro setting is crap … oh well, I’m halfway through adding the embellishments, which means I just have the remaining half of the pumpkin’s beads and metallics to stitch, then stitching the metallic half-moon at the top and the pumpkin stalk.

Last night I sat in the lounge and caught up on some taped TV and put a couple of stitches into this month’s ornament – this will eventually be “He’s a Flake” by LHN … sorry for the blurry picture, but there isnt’ too much to see really anway so I guess it doesn’t matter 😉

And on that note, I’m going to take a break from the PC and grab another slice of that bread to make a sandwich …

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

A bit of Sapphire Star

Anne S

… the ornie, that is, not my canvaswork that has been languishing way too long as a UFO!!!  I managed to get a bit of stitching done yesterday, and hoped to actually get this one finished as it’s a relatively quick stitch … but alas, in fine form I find that yet again I’m missing one of the main components of the stitching – no bugle beads!  I’m starting to think that *I* am missing one of the key components of my brain, as I’m doing this way too often just lately!!!  Or perhaps there’s some hidden side of me that just loves to have a million unfinished pieces sitting around the bedroom while waiting for that ‘one little item’ … !!

Anyway, this is how it currently stands until I can pick up some white bugle beads … and now I’m just going to have to grab another ornie out of my ‘to-do pile’ and kit it up so I can meet my self-imposed deadline of two ornies each month (with luck).  I have a whole heap of photocopied working copies from when my stitching stash was in storage, along with the fabrics cut up ready, and I just have to add threads and beads, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hardship 🙂

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

More Baby Bug Ball and squishy mail

Anne S

I don’t know where the hold-ups have been, but Christmas mail this year has been absolutely shocking – this week I received an Air Mail Christmas card from the UK that was posted 18 December (!) … just crazy!  Yesterday’s mail, though, brought lots of lovely squishy mail – my final outstanding order from SB&B, which left in early December – and a couple of wonderful fabrics from Sandra.  The fabrics were totally unexpected, and I absolutely adore them!  I can’t wait to find the perfect project to use these on!  Thanks so much Sandra for really making my day yesterday! 😀

The expected mail contents were as follows – and this was in many ways a treat for me too, as I couldn’t remember what I’d ordered (I threw in some things in their sale bin that weren’t on my wishlist).  It’s hard to see the contents in the photo, so I’ve broken it down underneath:

32ct Thunderstorm Belfast linen (for Prairie Moon’s Christmas chart for Katie)
~ Halloween and Christmas buttons from JABC
~ Kreinik metallic threads mainly for canvaswork designs
~ Mill Hill beads so I can finish Bittersweet Season (yippee!!) + a packet of Treasures
~ A couple of WDW and GAST threads
~ 4 x Lizzie*Kate embellishment packs mainly for Christmas ornies
~ Whimzi frame for Just Nan’s Pretty Wicked (I stitched mine from a gifted used chart)
~ Ghosts and Goblins by Dinky-Dyes Designs
~ Heart In Hand wee birdies ~ Summer, Autumn, Spring, St Patrick, Halloween, Easter
and the final splurge that I just couldn’t resist……
~ Just Nan’s Spooky Spirits of Tombstone Hill

And lucky last, here’s the latest update piccie of the final pudgy bug in Baby Bug Ball – not much stitching left to go on this one now – not entirely sure I’ll get it finished this weekend, though, as it’s a busy one … thanks to Alison and Amanda for offering up their stash to help me out with the silk thread, that’s a fantastic help, thank you!!!

And now it’s time to get back to the grindstone and get off to work …

 

Crazy January 2011 Challenge, Cross Stitch, Shepherd's Bush, Works in Progress

More Baby Bug Ball

Anne S

Sorry, but this is probably all you’ll be seeing until it’s finished … although I’m very worried about one thread, as I have only one and a bit strands left, and I still have an entire wing done with a full XS in that thread (all the others are done with 1/2 XS), so I’m pretty positive I’m going to run out … ah, yes, I do so detest kits … but even that still can’t remove the positive feeling I feel about this piece – I’m still in love with it! 😀  (apologies for the handshake this morning – was obviously in a hurry to quickly take a happy snap before getting dressed for work – for which I’m now running late … oops)