Finishes – Page 18 – Feather Stitching

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 …

Beading, Finishes, scissor fobs

Scissor fobs (part 2)

19 July, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Here are the next group of fobs that have been completed – I’m just in the middle of creating a few more then the bead boxes will be going away for a while and it’ll back to stitching again:

Beading, Finishes, scissor fobs

Scissor fobs galore (picture heavy)

19 July, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Here are the latest collection of beaded fobs for the collection – some of these will be winging their way to friends home soon, but some may end up in an Etsy shop … maybe …

The next group will go into a separate post.

Chatelaine, Cross Stitch, Finishes, PhotoHunt, Stitching Leporello, Works in Progress

No Photo Hunt this week

12 July, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

… Because the week’s theme is “Garbage”, and to be honest I don’t feel like taking photos of rubbish bins or its contents, and I can’t think of anything clever that’s not actual rubbish … so for me this week’s theme is garbage and I’m not playing …

Instead this weekend I took Thursday and Friday off, and caught up with a friend from Melbourne on Thursday night before she flew out to Tokyo – then on Friday I managed to pick up yet ANOTHER blasted viral infection and over the last 2-3 days have had a blocked nose, raging sore throat, and today have added sore ears into the mix … never ever in all my life have I had such a rotten run with viral infections – I’m starting to think the boy in the bubble had a brilliant idea!!! At least I have plenty of cold & flu tablets left over after the last bout, so I’m well set up!

Due to feeling not too crash hot over the last few days, while my stitching has been relatively non-stop during the day, my pace has been very very slow – I have, however, managed to meet my UFO challenge for this month by completing the final of the 4 larger pieces of Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello. I have to say this is definitely my least favourite piece of all of them – I really don’t like much at all about this section. The colours, in my eyes, are quite washed out, and an odd blend, and I really detest the acorns and leaves – they seem almost ‘clumsy’ in the middle there. Unfortunately I wasn’t clever enough to try to replace them, and by that stage pretty much “over” stitching it, so I just wanted to get the darned thing finished and off the Qsnaps to be replaced by something else. Only two more ‘medium’ sized pieces to go and it’s all finished. I’m a bit tempted to just keep stitching until it’s finished, but after the totally unenjoyable stitching session I’ve just finished, I feel like something simple to cheer me up in the meantime.

I’ll leave you with photos, before I head back into the warm cozy confines of my bed once again …

Ackworth Friendship Book, Chatelaine, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, Stitching Leporello, With My Needle, Works in Progress

A Little Bit of Quaker

6 July, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

After finally charging my camera battery up on my point and shoot, I can show piccies of KarenV’s Quaker RR – this is round 3 of our RR, which means we’re just over the halfway mark, with just 2 more rounds left to go. Unfortunately not true to life colour, but the best I can do on a dark winter’s night with no natural lighting. I have to admit I found this a challenge trying to work out which bits classed as which bits for the designated colours, and it’s definitely slower to stitch this way, but it really is worth it in the end result! Karen does an awesome job of selecting colours! This is one really pretty Quaker!! 😀

(Sorry, but it’s also quite blurry … my hands obviously weren’t entirely steady at the end of the day!!)

If you want to see the other finishes for this month and previous month you can check out our blog here.

As well as taking photos of the Quaker pieces, I also snapped a couple of new photos of Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello, which are as follows (and shows the stitching and colours much more accurately):

As for what project I decided to pick up next, I opted to make a start on the final ‘large’ piece of the Stitching Leporello as this month’s UFO challenge … which I think means after this one there are only two medium-sized pieces left … and then I have the major challenge of finding some lining fabric and attempting to put it all together – perhaps a job I’ll save up for when the Dragon comes to visit next month, with an excuse to go fabric shopping 🙂

Following is the paltry start I managed on the final large section tonight – woohoo, hold me back! 😛

At the moment I’m struggling to make a decision on my new start project, and the choices in the pile are currently:

LHN – Ladybug, Ladybug
LHN – Travelling Stitcher
LHN – Home of a Needleworker 2
LHN – Dear Diary, Abigail Winslow (I think – don’t have it in front of my right now – the one with the lighthouse/ocean theme)
Sampler Cove – Quaker Huswif
Just Nan – Winter in the Square (just need to coffee dye the fabric first)

Ah, decisions, decisions … Mind you, at the rate I’m stitching these days, I’ll be lucky to get my Chatelaine square finished by month end, never mind anything else … I’m feeling a “stitching RDO” coming up (and definitely a stitching weekend away at the end of the month – yippee!!).

Anyway, time to hit the pillows for the night before the alarm clock screams its head off at 5.30am (yucky!!) – I’m loving my gym workouts already … perhaps next week we may even start doing some of the classes like body pump etc … 😀