After doing some exciting housework (cleaning the shower grouting and scrubbing the bathtub) I decided to treat myself with a little stitching time … I don’t normally “do” pastels nor Easter designs, but for some strange reason this one screamed out to me to be stitched, and seeing as the fabric was already cut out ready for it, all it needed was for me to track down the Mill Hill beads and start stitching (alas I didn’t have two of the colours, and neither did my local Spotlight store, so I ended up substituting the green beads for some other seed beads that seemed similar in pastel shades – thankfully they worked out OK!). Anyway, here is my Easter stitching from today after I just put the finishing touches into it (sorry about the shadows, but it’s a dark autumn night here in Aussie and the photo is taken with the lamp to the side of it):
“Beaded Easter Egg” freebie by Serendipity Designs stitched on 28ct white Cashel linen with Mill Hill beads (except for the green ones) and DMC
Unfortunately it seems the website this was originally from is no longer in business, so I can’t provide a link for this one, sorry.
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 🙂
“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.
I’ve been in a lot of physical pain with my leg this week, which has meant having to keep it elevated with an icepack on it … the perfect position being sat up in bed … which means the perfect position for stitching, and the chance to complete my canvaswork project. Â This also means finish #4 for my Crazy January Challenge for the year.
“Lavender Blue Celtic Knot Quilt” by From Nancy’s Needle canvaswork stitched with recommended threads (and the project uses almost ALL the thread skeins in total)
It also means plenty of TV viewing time so I’ve started watching season 1 of The Tudors today – along with a few other TV shows I’ve had taped from during the week … all-in-all a very lazy and relaxing couple of days! 😀
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. Â 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).
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.
“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!! Â 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).
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. Â 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!! Â 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:
“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)
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!). Â 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. Â If I get chance, I’ll post the recipes later – the Orange Liqueur Chocolate Tartlets went down an absolute treat! Â Anyway, here are the results:
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!!)
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! 🙂
As I mentioned earlier today, I went to my first Guild stitching group today.  It was a pleasant experience, and I love the fact that many of them do cross stitch or don’t actually FROWN on cross stitch!  I wasn’t entirely sure what to take with me today, but I figured I was soooo close to finishing Sapphire Star that I really should just pull my finger out and finish it off … and sure enough I managed to finish it while I was at my Guild meeting.  Unfortunately it’s very overcast here tonight, and the photo is taken directly under the bright daylight lamp, so the photo is far from the best (I’ll try to remember and take better ones next weekend) … but nevertheless it’s a finish, and I’m totally in love with it! 😀
“Sapphire Star” by Laura J Perin
using recommended threads, except substituted Pearl Cotton for
the pale blue Hi-Lights thread used in one of the borders
(I soooo have to take a better photo of this one!!!)
Alas, this wasn’t on the list of my Crazy January Challenge, so I can’t cross off another one of those projects, but it feels wonderful to get this piece finished finally after all this time. Â And of course the Shepherd’s Bush needleroll from last night was on the list, so I’m sitting relatively comfortably at 3 out of 15 finishes for the year … and 2 out of 24 Christmas ornaments …
And on that note I need to go clear the mountain of rubbish that’s currently sitting on top of my bed so I can actually get in there tonight … then I just may put a few more stitches into Bittersweet Season, as that is the other ‘WIP/UFO’ that I was working on at the Guild today – a few more nights stitching and I think this one will be finished too 😀
I’ve been out of town for the last week with work, spending my time in our call centre in Brisbane (Queensland).  It was grueling work, with some days being 14 hour working days, but it was really invigorating and rewarding for me personally, and the feedback I received from the staff I worked with was inspiring.  Not to mention how wonderful it was to sleep in air-conditioned comfort for 4 nights.  This was home for 5 days – and the great thing is there was a full laundry and kitchen, so aside from self-catering to keep the bills down (and healthy food to keep the weight down) I was able to do my laundry on Thursday night so I didn’t have to do it this weekend 😉
Alas the testing didn’t quite get completed which means I have to do a bucket load more myself this week – I’d booked an RDO for this week from weeks and weeks ago stating there was no way I was going to be doing project testing on my birthday … but alas it looks like that will have to be cancelled and I will indeed be doing testing on that day (unless I put in the hard yards Mon/Tue and keep my fingers crossed both days).
Oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter really, it’s just a day, and I didn’t have anything special planned for the day anyway … the night’s different, though, Katie is treating me out for dinner on Wednesday night to a local French restaurant that I’ve been wanting to go to ever since I moved to this part of Sydney.  They have cheap mid-week set menus, and while the food certainly isn’t Weight Watchers friendly, it looks yummy and I can’t wait!!  We’re also getting a bus up as well, which means I can have a drink or three for a change 😀
I didn’t stitch at all when I was away in Brisvegas, as I was generally found glued to massive Excel spreadsheets on the laptop every night, so yesterday I refused to move from my stitching chair, and cleaned out all the TV recordings from last week (and believe me, there was a LOT) – I may have had numb-butt syndrome, but I did manage to put the finishing touches into this (just don’t ask me when the actual needleroll finishing will be taking place, ‘cos I think that’ll be some time away yet!).
“Happy Pumpkin Needle Roll” by Shepherd’s Bush
stitched on 32ct Parkside (I think) hand-dyed linen by Silkweaver
with recommended threads
(I subbed my own button and beads as this was a 2nd-hand used chart)
Today I’m driving to the other side of Sydney to Concord for my first visit to a stitching group at the NSW Embroiderers Guild.  I signed up when Mum was over here when I was feeling really motivated about my stitching, but of course they closed over the summer holiday period and this month it is finally reopened again properly so this is the first opportunity I’ve had to pop on over.  I’ve found two groups that are mainly XSers that meet on the 2nd and 3rd Sundays of each month, so I phoned up and found out they both had spaces available … and today is my first visit to the first group.  I’m feeling extremely nervous, as I’m very shy meeting new people, but this is something I just need to push through and get over!  Hopefully it will turn out that I really enjoy it, and it gets me out of the house every once in a while 🙂
The last week has been an interesting one, but alas no needles went into fabric for the entire week until yesterday!
Last weekend I got to use my Christmas gift from Katie, tickets to Tap Dogs – alas, we thought Adam Garcia was in it (the primary reason Katie wanted to go), but it turns out he had completed his tour the previous week and returned to the UK to film his TV show. Â Unfortunately the guy who took his place might have won accolades and be a highly accredited dancer, but his stage presence was pure arrogance personified to me and it detracted from the show a little bit for me – I couldn’t stand watching him perform and quite frankly wanted to slap him stupid, he just came across as if he didn’t want to be there as well … BUT that didn’t spoil the show totally, as it meant I personally focused all my energies on the other dancers, and loved, loved, loved it. Â Every single one of the others brought their characters to the stage beautifully, and it was sheer pleasure to watch them performing. Â Unlike myself, Katie wasn’t expecting a dance show with pretty much no dialogue, but I’m glad that she too really enjoyed it and she said she would have been happy enough to go back to see it again. Â I would highly recommend it to anyone!!
The rest of the week has been spent trying to hide from the heat – it has been unbearably hot in our little flat, and not many hours of sleep to be had for the first few nights of the week, even with an electric fan going full bore throughout the night in each bedroom. Â Yesterday, so I am told, was 43C during the day, and apparently 33C indoors at midnight … yuk, yuk, yukky!
Yesterday, though, I spent the day hiding out in air-conditioned comfort at Wollongong where we had a get-together at Amanda’s place – it’s been well overdue to have a GTG and as always the day was spent drooling over people’s stitching and having a laugh.  Thanks again to Alison for the chauffeuring to the venue and the highly entertaining chats in the car (I always have to drive everywhere when I go out, so I really appreciate the times when I don’t have to drive myself) – and thanks to all the girls for the entertainment value of the day, which is always a given with this group of gals.  And shock, horror, a few of us actually stitched on the day, which is almost unheard of … and we even had two finishes – one for me and one for Alison!  (Mind you, all I did was attach the beads to Sapphire Star, and complete a couple of sections on my canvaswork Sapphire Star piece, which doesn’t particularly warrant an update piccie!)
“Sapphire Star” ornament by Patricia Ann Designs from 2004 JCS Christmas Ornament issue
stitched on white linen with recommended threads and beads, except for a bugle bead modification (I used the next size down 80000 series)
Alas I wish I had taken more notice of Heather’s changes before I went back to replace my Mill Hill bugle beads for the medium size length (which as it turns out were STILL too long). I think I like the bugle beads that both Heather and Amanda used (I saw Amanda’s in the flesh yesterday), being silver lined instead of white. To be honest I just can’t be bothered unpicking it all now, so this is how it will remain. I originally had plans to do this a couple more times for gifts, so I’ll be better prepared for theirs when I eventually get around to it … short silver bugle beads it will be!!!! Serves me right for not checking the photos first!!
Then last night I quickly threw in a load of washing just in time for laundry curfew closing, in the hope that it will get dry ready for packing. Â I’m off to Brisbane tomorrow for work – although I’m also about to head into work today to do some more in readiness for Monday morning (alas I lost access to the computer system that my work is based on for 5 hours Friday afternoon, so I’m even more behind than ever!). Â The great thing about going into work today, though, is that there is air-conditioning … ah bliss haha.
And on that note I guess I really should get my A into G and stop procrastinating and go and get that work done … the sooner it’s done, the sooner I’m home! 🙂
I was too impatient to wait for some additional light green silk, and managed to complete the final wing with just a half cross stitch – not entirely sure about it that way, I think it will look better with a full cross … but I couldn’t resist stitching it anyway!  Hopefully the replacement silk will be close in shade so I can just complete the remaining half cross … in the meantime, I guess you could say it’s ‘kinda finished’ – and I love it! 😀
Now my fabric has arrived, I guess I’ll be putting Prairie Moon’s Christmas onto Qsnaps as my lounge stitching project so that Katie can watch it grow … which means I’ll be continuing my Crazy January projects in my bedroom until Katie’s gift is finished … starting with Happy Pumpkin Roll by Shepherd’s Bush – I did a few more stitches on this a couple of nights ago, but not enough to really warrant a progress piccie.
Plus I lugged all my finished stitching down to my neighbour’s flat for a show and tell to my elderly neighbours, and ended up getting rid of one piece that I don’t particular love, but in doing so ended up saying I’d sew it into a cushion for her, so that means I now have two separate sewing jobs for Norma (not to mention another job to climb up and take her net curtains down for washing) … I really need to learn how to keep my lips together and my voice mute when I go down there! LOL 😉
Feather Stitching 