Finishes – Page 17 – Feather Stitching

Winter in the Square

29 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

I finally managed to put the final stitches into Just Nan’s Winter in the Square tonight – and I am sooooo in love with this finish, it’s ever so pretty 😀

“Winter in the Square” by Just Nan
stitched on 28ct ‘mystery’ Cashel linen, tea-dyed
with recommended threads (DMC)

Even in the late hour of the night, the photos didn’t come out too badly – I’m so glad I decided to tea-dye the fabric, as it’s added just the right level of colour to the linen and makes the white thread stand out so much more.

The next slot in my rotation is supposed to be “Large/BAP Projects”, and I’m supposed to be started Mirabilia’s Enchanted Mermaid next, but I need to empty the scroll bars first, so I’m finishing up LHN’s Home of a Needleworker Too first up, as those are the scroll bars I need. I managed to finish up the little spool of thread, and most of the letter “H”, but that’s all so I didn’t bother taking a progress piccie. Fingers crossed this weekend I’ll be able to put a few more stitches into it and perhaps get that one finished off 😀

Ackworth Friendship Book, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, With My Needle

Ackworth Friendship Books

24 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

I just realised that I haven’t shown a photo of the final round of our Ackworth Friendship Book/Quaker Friendship Round Robin. Here are the final photos of both Katrina’s and my pieces – I think they look really lovely 😀

Anne’s (my) Round Robin
“Ackworth Friendship Book” by With My Needle
Stitched on 35ct Lambswool linen by Wichelt
with Carrie’s Creation thread “Twinkle”

Katrina’s Round Robin

One thing that Katrina asked is for us all to provide a quote or two about Friendship – and I thought I’d share my choices here:

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.” – Anonymous

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” – Aristotle

“Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world.” – John Evelyn

As for me, for the first time yesterday in two whole weeks I felt closer to being back to normal healthwise, and even managed to get a fair bit of housework done during the day. I’ve continued to potter around today to try to get the lounge back to normal, so hopefully tomorrow I will just have to run around with the vacuum cleaner and mop, and finishing cleaning the bathroom. Then Monday it’s back to work – and unfortunately, being a week behind now, I will probably end up working late most nights – gotta love deadlines!

As you may have worked out by now, I opted for Mum not to come over – my first reaction to Mum’s suggestion was that I was worried she would catch this dratted flu bug, and comments received confirmed that that was the right decision to make. As much as I would have loved to have been pampered for a couple of days, I’m really not much company when I’m sick and prefer to be away from people, so it seemed a lot of money to spend for a couple of days being housemaid!

Anyway, time to walk away from the computer again and get a few more things tidied away while my washing is in the machine – I may even bake a batch of muffins tomorrow ready to start eating healthily next week! Hopefully next time I post I’ll have enough progress in my Just Nan piece to warrant a photo 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, Stitch-alongs, With My Needle

Final round of Quaker Round Robin

20 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Today saw me glued to the TV set just for a change – I’ve been stitching pretty much every hour of the day since yesterday afternoon inbetween looking up at seasons 6 and 7 of Buffy … I haven’t wept so much over a damned TV show in a long, long time, but I’ve been totally sucked into the characters (in particular Spike), and the last few days has been an emotional rollercoaster watching those DVD’s. In some ways I’m glad I haven’t seen any of the series before, as it’s been a real treasure watching one season after another, without worrying about viewing schedules or adverts! And it’s been super-conducive to my stitching, that’s for sure, particularly during my recuperation 🙂

And here’s the final piece of stitching that I’ll probably get done for a day or three – here’s the final round of our Friendship Quaker Round Robin, belonging to Katrina. I’m quite surprised at the colour of Milady’s Teal, as its a lot more grey than I would have imagined – but it looks really quite classy stitched up 🙂

Of course I now have to start putting all my pieces together now, but I think a trip to the fabric/ribbon store will be needed before I can start getting to work.

Before I started stitching this morning I finally got around to trying to tea-dye some linen fabric – this wee piece is for Just Nan’s Winter in the Square. The original linen (the same as I used for Autumn in the Square) was too pale, I felt, to really show up the white floss, so I opted to tea-dye it slightly. I didn’t want a particularly splotchy look, so I tried to move the fabric around a reasonable amount in the saucepan while it was stewing – the only sign of the original fabric is the odd splotch or two on the bottom edge, which is great as it’ll be hidden by the frame eventually. So that means that that will probably by my next project in my “small-medium projects” rotation slot, which I still have about 7 hours left of 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Lizzie Kate

One gift finished

18 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

I decided to use a few of my rotation hours for small-medium projects (my next/current rotation slot) to slay one of the gifts that has been outstanding for quite some time. I have had major problems getting the fabric from the US (the supplier will remain nameless at this time), but after having it on order for MONTHS, it finally arrived a wee while ago, and I’ve finally pulled my finger out and got it stitched up. Sorry, but at 1.30am the photography is appalling for a change, and doesn’t show up the lovely Graziano checked linen… This is a gift for my Chiropractor’s first child – all I have to do now is to frame it 😀

“Welcome Baby” by Lizzie*Kate
Stitched with a mix of WDW/GAST as recommended &
DMC for the two threads I didn’t have
on 28ct pale blue and white checked Graziano linen

The next gifts I need to stitch will take considerably more time to complete, but I think I’ll make a start on those next as both birthdays are next month yikes! There’s a good chance of getting one finished, but I’m not entirely sure about the second one…

Cross Stitch, Finishes, JBW Designs, Needlerolls, Sweetheart Tree

Anne, the UFO Slayer

15 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Thanks to my dearest flatmate leaving me her entire collection of Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD’s to watch, my eyes are now square, and I think I have almost OD’ed on Buffy over the last few days (I’m now up to Season 5 – not bad going in two weeks!). For someone who’s lasted 40+ years without having Buffy in her life, I have to say I’ve rather enjoyed it! I’ve shed tears over the ‘Angel-thing’, and laughed out loud at poor old Spike, and slobbered a bit at good ol’ Giles (who I’ve always adored as the Prime Minister in Little Britain – had I known he was in Buffy, I would have started watching years ago haha). Anyway, watching all this slaying has been good for the soul, and good for the stitching – I’ve been doing a bit of slaying of my own today, and managed to finish two old UFO’s – I’m not quite feeling up to tackling the sewing machine just yet, so the needleroll will get finish-finished later.

“Wildflower Needleroll” by The Sweetheart Tree
stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen by Wichelt
using recommended DMC threads and Mill Hill beads

This really, really old one just needed to have one heart bead attached for it to be finished (after unpicking and restitching some of the beads in the outer border), so within 1/2 an hour today this one is also finished. Unfortunately it’s really hard to get a good photo of it, as it’s all pretty much monochrome. I’m going to attempt to frame this one myself, I think 😀

“Love and Affection” by JBW Designs
stitched on 32ct antique white Lugana (I think)
using recommended threads and beads

This “rotation” business is really helping me to keep focused on my stitching goals – no more dithering between stitching sessions, I know exactly what I need to be stitching next … although right now I can’t decide whether to tackle the start of yet another UFO, as I have a few hours of my rotation left, or whether to just move on to my next slot, which is my Boo Club focus piece … ah, decisions decisions … 😀

Still not feeling 100% today, I asked my boss if I could reinstate the two days leave I’d just cancelled last week, so I have the next few days off to recuperate more fully … which means more stitching, yippee 😀

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Finishing, Stitching Smalls

Acorn Needlebook all finished

10 October, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

A very big happy dance today as I not only put the final stitches into my Acorn Needlebook, but I also spent the entire day curled up in my stitching chair doing the actual finishing – not 100% perfect by any stretch of the imagination, as this is my first attempt at this style of finishing, but I’m pretty pleased with the end result 😀

So, without any further ado, here is my Acorn Needlebook by Periwinkle Promises…

Chatelaine, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Stitching Leporello

Happy Dance

20 September, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Yippee, I just put the final stitches into Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello!! (Sorry, the colours are dreadful in this photo!)

I shouldn’t get too cocky yet, though, as I still have the actual “finishing” to go yet! 😉

The only thing I did change in the above piece is the style of alphabet used for my initials above – unfortunately Martina’s chosen alphabet just didn’t appeal to me, so I found something a lot simpler to use instead – and I opted not to do the initials over-one, mainly because I’m not a huge fan of over-one stitching with variegated thread … but I think it worked out OK anyway 😀

Here are all the pieces together in one place (sorry, some pieces are a bit ‘cut-off’ due to the shape):

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Round Robins

Barbara’s Round Robin to date

12 September, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Unfortunately I haven’t had much stitching time over the last few weeks, so my round robin has gone into the mail for this round a few days late – but here are my finished sections for this round, along with how Barbara’s piece looks so far:

Only one more final round to stitch, then they all return home to their owners again, and we have the task of putting them all together. I’ve really enjoyed seeing everyone’s choices of threads and linen, and they all look so very different – can’t wait to see them all finished! 😀

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Queensland, Travel, Works in Progress

A couple of finishes … and some holiday snaps …

31 August, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a really quick post, so I can upload some holiday snaps, as well as my latest stitching finishes. Here goes …

First up my latest finishes from yesterday and today:

“Hannah Purington, 1796” by Little House Needleworks
stitched on Ice Blue linen with DMC

“Stitching Leporello” by Chatelaine
Only one more piece to complete, and all the stitched sections will be finished 😀

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

Next up are some piccies from the Mossman Gorge in Tropical North Queensland from last week’s holiday – a wonderful spot just a short drive from Port Douglas … love, love, LOVED it there:

Next are some of the critters we came across on the same holiday … don’t scroll down any further if you don’t like crocodiles and/or snakes!!!

Kangaroos, Koala and Wombat

Fiji Crested Iguana, Frilled Neck Lizard, Iguana

Crocodiles with one lone alligator in the top centre

Black-headed Python, Pilbara Death Adder, Coastal Taipan, Green Python

More piccies will follow shortly … of the gentler feathered friends we met while away, as well as some general piccies of Cairns, Port Douglas, and the general surrounding areas 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Friends & Family, Hunter Valley, JBW Designs, Prairie Schooler, Sydney

Great weekend & A bit of stitching for a change

3 August, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

I’ve been offline most of the week thanks to feeling really crappy again during the week – this week, though, I’m making an appointment for a CT Scan for my sinuses and having some allergy tests done, so fingers crossed we can finally work out why this stupid sinus infection is hanging around for so many months and making me feel like death warmed up!

Last weekend, though, was a lovely treat for the month – I went to the Hunter Valley in NSW with Alison, Amanda and Sue for a stitching weekend away. Amanda kindly came and picked me up on Friday afternoon and chauffeured me – it was a lovely change for me, as I’m always the one driving. We arrived at about 7pm and walked into ‘our’ house to be greeted with a roaring log fire and dinner being prepped by Alison and Sue – the weekend was starting out on a blissful note already! The rest of the weekend didn’t disappoint either, it was a fantastic weekend away where we managed to combine some stitching (yes, we actually did do some), chatting, shopping, wining and dining, and I even made my very first scissor fob sale … to a lady vintner at one of my favourite vineyards up there (her white port is to die for in my opinion!). All-in-all it was a really awesome weekend, and hopefully we can make this an annual event, ‘cos I’m signing up for next year already!! Here’s a photo of our accommodation and home for the weekend, along with my fantastic company for the weekend 😀

The week before the retreat I managed to finish a little ornie stiching, and got the following ornie finished – it was supposed to be for the Yahoo group CYOO challenge, but I got a bit cranky during the month and couldn’t be bothered posting a photo on the board (and for once didn’t even bother doing the JCS monthly challenge one). I still hope to stitch an ornie a month, I just probably won’t be posting it on the board.

“Joy, Love, Peace” by JBW Designs
stitched on 32ct natural Belfast linen
with WDW Garnet and GAST Dried Thyme

During the weekend retreat I managed to put a reasonable amount of stitching into Prairie Schooler’s 2005 Limited Edition Santa, and during this weekend I’ve been able to put the final stitches into it after having a marathon stitching session on Saturday. The only thing I changed is to leave out the “2005” which is stitched in Black Coffee Crescent Colours below each side of the green letter blocks, and added a couple of random snowflakes instead.

“Here Comes Santa Claus 2005” by The Prairie Schooler
stitched on 28ct natural Cashel linen
with kit Crescent Colours threads

I love how the snowflakes lift off of the fabric – hard to see in the photo

Now I’m off to try to create my soon-to-be Etsy store, as I’ve also got a whole heap of scissor fobs to load up into the store. I had another beading session yesterday while Katie and I watched Supernatural Season 4 on DVD (that was after we had a few hours out at Miranda shopping centre where we saw the latest Harry Potter movie). I’ll do a separate post of the latest ones that I created yesterday, plus a couple of close-ups of my latest favourites …