Category: Finishes

Finished needlework

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Stitch-alongs

Christmas Ornie SAL

Anne S

This month I cheated a wee bit – instead of stitching a new ornie from scratch, I pulled out a half-finished one and put the final stitches into it.  I can now say I’ve set a new record for myself for the smallest piece stitched!  The ornie used a Just Nan charm frame, which I didn’t have, so right from the start I thought about stitching the middle part on a separate piece of fabric but using a Nun’s stitch around the sides and attaching it at the end.  Last night I stitched the wee over-one section and did the Nun’s stitch tonight before putting it all together.  Now it’s headed for the finishing pile with the rest of the ornies 🙂 


“A Little Joy” by Just Nan, Inc
from 2002 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue
stitched on 28ct Mushroom Meran, and 32ct Flax Belfast
using recommended threads and beads

Here’s a couple of photos using Mum’s hand as a model, and a packet of Piecemaker needles, to show just how tiny this little centre piece is.  I was originally giving this one away to an online stitching buddy, but I have to say I don’t think I’ll face doing that over-one section again, so I think now I’m going to be keeping this one for myself! 😉

The other stitching news is that I FINALLY finished off my Peace needleroll ornament into a needleroll – but I forgot to take piccies, so I’ll have to do that later.  It’s been pinned together for so long just waiting to have the seam stitched, I’m surprised the pins haven’t gone rusty! LOL.

Nothing else to report, really – I’m partly through my Etui stitching, but not entirely happy with my colour choices, as they seem a lot paler with just a couple of strands … I need to replace my Soie Cristale blue with something a tiny bit deeper, so tomorrow we’re hoping to drop into Bustle & Bows in Surrey Hills to check out their silk selection – ideally I’d like something similar in colour to Needle Necessities 101 floss (or just slightly darker), so fingers crossed we can find something.  It means there’ll be a bit of frogging to do, though, as I’ve almost completed 3 of the little pyramid triangles (apart from the edges, as I’m still waiting for the threads to arrive from Hand Dyed Fibers).  I won’t bother showing you a piccie until I’ve got all the colours to hand and I’ve got at least one piece totally stitched.

Rightio, off back to the TV where I’m pretty sure Mum has just fallen asleep … I think I’m going to have to start taping her favourite TV programmes for her – every night we’ve watched CSI ‘cos she loves it, she’s fallen asleep halfway through!  She’s a worry!!

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, Stitching Smalls, Works in Progress

Leporello & more birthday gifts

Anne S

As promised yesterday, I can finally share Nicki’s beautiful gift with you – every time I’ve seen one of Nicki’s gorgeous over-one stitched letters I’ve drooled … now I can drool over my very own one!  I just adore my pinkeep, it’s stitched and finished perfectly as always … and once again very scrummy colours! 😉  As well as my gorgeous pinkeep, Nicki also sent a really cute notebook too, which will come in very handy! 😀  Thanks again Nicki, I love everything and will treasure my pinkeep always! And I love the clever personalisation on the back! 😀

   

The other photos I have to share are of my Stitching Leporello – part one is now all finished.  I just realised I had the stitching on a bit of an angle, so the camera has blurred the bottom part of the ‘frontal’ photo as I used my SLR, but you get the idea … also I tried to take one photo on an angle to show up the beads.  I really need to get a tripod so I can take better photos – another challenge for the year, I think, to improve my photography skills!  In the meantime, though, these’ll have to suffice.  As usual with this sort of design, the photos don’t do the project justice whatsoever … it’s just gorgeous in real life!  Unfortunately, though, it won’t see the light of day for at least another 3 months, as my upcoming stitching time will now be spent on the CA Wells class projects plus a birthday gift or two.

 

And on that note, I’ll shut down for the day, as Mum and I are off to Healesville Sanctuary for the day – and if we have time we’ll call into Emerald Lake Park before coming home.  It will be nice to have a day out in the fresh air.

Thanks again to everyone who has left me birthday wishes – I really appreciate all the comments, e-cards, and private emails I’ve received … thanks for helping to make the day extra special {{hugs}}.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Food, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

A sip of Bordeaux (updated with finish info)

Anne S

Seeing as Carol as published her progress piccie of Bordeaux, I can now show my week’s progress as well – it’s a good thing I did my night’s stitching a couple of days ago, as I’ve been too busy yapping to Mum to concentrate on much else 🙂  This week I just managed one more little ‘man’ and a few more Rhodes grapes to complete the hanging vines, plus a couple in the border … I’m now exceptionally close to being halfway, and hopefully in about 2 weeks I’ll have met that milestone!

Mum and I just popped over to The Needle Point (old Bustle & Bows in Malvern) to find a couple of buttons, seeing as they have probably the best selection I’ve seen in Melbourne to date … unfortunately they didn’t have what I had in mind, but I managed to find a couple of charms that fit the bill quite nicely, so now I can put the final touch to my best friend’s belated birthday gift, and the last ornie I stitched.  Vicki’s birthday was in November, but that was when I had my financial meltdown and couldn’t afford to buy bread and milk, never mind parcel postage costs, so I’ve been unable to think about mailing it until recent times.  I don’t know if she reads my blog regularly, but I don’t think she’ll mind a sneak preview anyway, as it’s been long overdue … I’ll post another piccie when it’s finished-finished, as I want to make it into a quilted wallhanging (which’ll be a first for me).  But here it is, with all the stitching completed … I ended up choosing a silver heart charm instead of the recommended button/bead, and it seems to compliment the design well (you can click for a bigger piccie on this one).  On the whole I enjoyed stitching this one, but it took a lot longer to stitch than expected … the only part I didn’t enjoy was the outside borders of smyrna crosses in #8 pearl cotton (yuk!).


Friendship by Calico Crossroads
Stitched on mystery 28ct linen with recommended threads
substituted silver heart charm for Mill Hill glass treasure

You can tell Mum’s in the country … from my meagre pantry offerings from the last few months, the following plate is definitely NOT the norm, and probably won’t be seen throughout the rest of Mum’s stay (after that, that is haha) – but it was a wonderful treat for our first night 😀  Yep, we’re both prawn MAD … don’t they look scrummy? 😀  That was our snack in the afternoon … then the rest of the prawns for dinner along with some Turkish bread and a selection of dips (Tzatziki, hummus, spicy capsicum), stuffed green olives, Kalamata olives, stuffed bell peppers, grilled mushrooms and artichokes … yummo!!!

 

Now on to the awesome gifties Mum brought with her … I received a lovely sarong from Auntie Trudy in Auckland – even though it’s not blue haha, I love bright colours, so the orange has gone down a treat, especially as I love all the Hawaiian/Fijian style prints like this. 

Then of course there was the usual ‘Red Cross parcel’ from Mum – this time she came loaded up with Twisties, Griffins Gingernuts (sorry, but they beat Arnott’s gingernuts hands down in my eyes), and Malaysian style noodles packet mix that you can’t buy here … and to top it all off some NZ Cadbury chocolate – believe it or not, it’s very different to the Aussie Cadbury chocolate, and is actually a bit creamier.  Bang goes any thoughts of a diet I might have been having! haha. 

Last, but certainly not least – this is my Christmas present from my very best friend Vicki … my jaw hit the floor when I opened up this gift, and I actually felt quite overcome.  I absolutely ADORE this photo of us at Vicki’s wedding – we just look so ‘in tune’ with one another and completely at ease and loving the moment … I have to say it has been my favourite wedding ever, and it brought some wonderful memories back.  I’d just become a poor student before she got married, so I never could afford to buy some of the official wedding photos from the photographer at the time – it’s just wonderful to have one to grace my walls now.  I have to say out of everything, I adore this gift the most … it has a very special place in my heart!  Thanks so much Vicki, with all my heart!!  (Sorry about the poor photo, with the reflections from the windows etc – but it should be clickable) This is also the wedding that I promised the “Dratteds” (Dolphins Domain) as a wedding gift 😀  Also very special is the necklace I’m wearing – Vicki made that herself … the dangling part is from an earring that was her very favourite pair she bought at the Vatican – she lost one of them, and chose to give me the remaining one as part of my necklace … something I’ll always treasure, as I know how much she loved them!

The last photo I’ll show is of a few of the small gifts I gave to Mum … a couple of Christmas XS mags full of ornies for her to stitch, plus a pair of Gingher’s shears for her dressmaking (an early birthday present, even though her birthday isn’t until May it’s unlikely I’ll be seeing her again before then), plus some small Gingher’s scissors for her embroidery.  I also had a pile of Christmas fabrics for us to share, but we haven’t divvied it up yet, so no piccies. 

And on that note I’d better sign off … I’ve managed to get tomorrow off work, thank goodness, as I’m still really struggling to get over my night shifts this week, even more so than normal.  Even Mum commented how dark the circles are under my eyes today, just to cheer me up haha.  Now we’re off up the road to pick up a few more fresh groceries ready to cook dinner … the final lot of prawns we bought (we’re making a Thai Green Curry from half of them, and Garlic Aioli Prawns from the other half).  Then we’re back to having cheap food like spaghetti bolognaise for the rest of the week LOL. I actually received two other birthday parcels, but I haven’t opened them yet … I think the temptation may finally break tomorrow though! LOL.

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Stitch-alongs

Christmas Ornie SAL

Anne S

I finally put the last stitches into my Christmas ornie for this month’s SAL – I’m sorry to say for my recipient’s sake the bullion stitches aren’t exactly fantastic, but hopefully she won’t look too closely! 😉  I know I had a few of you stumped with the actual design, but I can finally reveal the details … I just have to find something to place in the ‘blank heart’ as I don’t have the button called for, then it’s ready to be officially ‘finished’ and sent off on it’s way … (I’ve removed the recipient’s initials for secrecy’s sake)


Christmas 2000 Sampler by Douglas Designs
from the 2000 JCS Christmas Ornie issue
using recommended threads, on a mystery 28ct linen

I also finally put the finishing touches into an ornie that Mum stitched for me – she just had the french knots left to do, and very kindly left me to do them, as she knows just how much I adore doing french knots! 😉  It’s supposed to have JABC star buttons, but I don’t have any left, and I think it looks just fine without it.  Thanks Mum, it looks just lovely! 😀


Rejoice by Lizzie*Kate
from the 2004 JCS Christmas Ornie issue
using 14ct red aida and recommended threads

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

“It’s good to be back …”

Anne S

A HUGE “g’day” from Elwood!!! Yep, this is actually me sitting in front of my very own PC in my very own little flat – no, Houston, we no longer have a problem – we have a phone line!!! 😀 The phone technician called this morning to see if I was home, and if he could come round … his job today still went ahead, but he finished it sooner than expected, and was able to fit me in woohoo!!! 😀 Unfortunately the phone jack is now right in front of the front window where the Christmas tree usually sits, so I’ve had to spend just under $40 for a 12 metre extension cable and double adaptor, seeing as my computer is miles away, and the double adaptor I had already got was for the geriatric phone connection originally in place – now we have a snazzy new one.

I’ve already made one call home on it, and exercised the phone line for almost 2 hours chatting to Mum … and here are some photos expressly for her – the latest on my wall cracks. The first one also includes a great shot of the newly finished phone connection (I still have to vacuum up the mess and move the furniture back), as well as the lovely new crack I have along the middle of the wall, just nicely in line with the height of the sofa.

Next up is the top corner of the same wall – the window is now so out of plumb I can’t actually close it at all, and the phone technician reckons the floor in the corner is actually on a bit of a slope now hmmm.

Next is the corner behind my bookcase which divides the lounge and dining rooms.

And lucky last is above the balcony door frame. Some of them actually look worse in real life than they do in the photo … yep, definitely a good time to be looking for somewhere new, before I end up making an unexpected visit to the downstairs neighbours by landing on their heads!!

As for stitching, not as much to report as expected … here’s the latest progress photo of Bordeaux Sampler – I stayed up last night to finish of the over-one parts, and it’s been put away again until next week. You can see by the groups of grapes down the left hand side of the border where the halfway mark is, so I’m now very very close to it 🙂 Don’t worry Carol about not being in the same place – I know you’ve been very busy doing gift stitching … it’s still nice knowing you and Leslie are stitching it as well, even though we don’t have a designated night for it 🙂

Lastly I can show the latest UFO I’ve finished – this Cream Button Bag by Shelley Warner was from a Guild weekend Retreat in Auckland … it just has to be made into a bag now, but that will happen on one of my ‘finishing’ slots in my rotation. It’s pitiful how long this has been sitting around, as it only had four leaves left to be completed and the buttons added – it only took about 1-1/2 hours to finish!

This week I also started a SAL with Carina on the Ross Originals Macaw – it’s hardly worth showing a progress piccie, as there’s only a few stitches to show for it … but by next Wednesday there should be something worth showing, as that’s our new SAL night 🙂

Rightio, now it’s time to get the icing ready for a chocolate cake I made this morning … I’m not a baker by any stretch of the imagination, but I figure my skills will never improve if I don’t give it a go, so I’m stretching myself a bit. And the guys from work are going to be my guinea pigs to help save my waistline 🙂

I also made Honey Coconut Biscuits which are quite yummy … and a case of 2nd time lucky! I was making them on Wednesday morning to take into work, but the final ingredient was self raising flour, and when I was sifting it I found a big clump of insect eggs … everything ended up in the bin. Then I finally made them again last night, and managed to have an accident with the oven tray – while taking it out of the oven the heat started coming through my right hand, so I tried to jiggle it a bit in my hand, only to have the whole thing start slipping … I automatically grabbed it with my left hand, only to remember I didn’t have an oven mitt on it – let’s say I remembered bloody quickly!! Luckily I have a heap of ice cubes ready made in the freezer, and I ran a 1/4 sink of cold water and dumped every single cube into it – the throbbing pain was insane, and it’s no wonder people sometimes don’t survive major burns due to the shock from the pain! Anyway, it seems the ice bath really helped, as today it’s only slightly tender and the blistering is thankfully in places that is letting me have full use of my hand … phew!! I even managed a bit more stitching on Bordeaux after the accident, I think more to take my mind off it than anything else 😉

I still can’t switch to (non)Beta Blogger, and I’m getting sick to death of clicking on the “we are ready for you, switch now” blurbs … this kept happening for a while before losing my phone access, and it’s still happening. It’s getting a bit annoying, but perhaps I should just ignore the prompts until it changes into something nasty, like a final demand letter 😉 Either that, or start looking at alternatives, as I understand a few people haven’t been able to comment on my blog for quite some time 😦

Well, no more chatting for me – time to get moving, as I have an early shift at work tomorrow (a mix of 8am and 5am shifts for 7 days), and I still have some housework to finish … as well as organising some rental alerts on a few suburbs, and to get that icing done.

Oh boy, it’s good to have the ‘net at home again!!! 😀 Mind you, with 1160 unread feeds, I’m sorry but I really do have to mark all as read and start from scratch – it’s just too much to handle. I hope I won’t miss too much by doing that 😦 Hope to catch up with you all again soon 😀

Finishes

First finish for 2007!

Anne S

Here goes my first finish for 2007 … this is “Spring Basket” by Beverley McNully from an Inspirations magazine. I started it last night, but didn’t get very far before I hit the hay for the night. To say I detest doing French knots is an understatement, but they were pretty simple this time using perle cotton on canvas. It just has to be turned into a pincushion during a future ‘finishing session’. Seeing as I don’t have any 18″ stretcher bars yet, I can’t start my Laura J Perin canvaswork design, so this fit in nicely into the canvaswork slot in my rotation in the meantime 😀

Now I’m off to put a few more stitches into my focus piece, Egyptian Garden. I had a shock earlier, though, when my phone line died again … this time it was just offline for about an hour, but if I go missing all of a sudden, that’s why!

Finishes, Needlerolls

Christmas Stitching

Anne S

I had a wonderful Christmas Day today – even though I worked all day, we made it a special event. We were allowed 1 hour for lunch (instead of the usual 1/2 hour) and we were treated to a meal of ham off the bone, chicken, smoked salmon, pasta salad, pumpkin and coriander salad, potato salad and Greek salad, followed by chocolate ripple cake for dessert … we could hardly walk back to our desks afterwards! It was a wonderful way to spend the day – the phones were also pretty quiet, so I’m glad I went in prepared and took some stitching. Usually the only shift I can stitch on is the overnight shift, but today was special 😉

Yesterday I put the final stitches into Bunnies in my Garden – but I won’t be finishing it for a while yet, as I need to buy some wool batting and decide on the lining fabric and ribbon for ruching. For Chelle, I have to admit I had the same thought as you, and put aside some Flax linen to use instead of the Summer Khaki, but when I put the threads against both, the Summer Khaki was much better for my skeins as it made the colour stand out more – the Flax was too pale, and the paleness of the threads just looked bland. I surprised myself and ended up using the Summer Khaki, and it looks OK.

Main body of the sewing case (most accurate colour)

Scissor fob – front (on the left) and back (on the right)
Then today I put the final stitches in my Snowfall Needleroll by Shepherd’s Bush … finally! So I guess that’s two more items off my 50 Project Challenge yippee 🙂

I was going to post my list of finishes for 2006, but perhaps I’d better hold off haha. Mind you, I’m now on 7 days straight at work, so not as much stitching will be taking place between now and the end of the year … but there might just be one more small finish yet … maybe 😉

It’s bizarre, but in the middle of summer we’ve had a weather change – they had snow in the hills not that far from us and the coldest Christmas Day on record … yep, a white Christmas in Australia, whatever next!!?

This morning I cranked up the stereo with Christmas carols, then called home and had a chat to Mum and Dad while opening my gifts. I have received some beautiful gifts from Sylvie, Nicki, Jenna and Katrina – and I’ll post some piccies of everything tomorrow … the light’s disappearing quite quickly tonight, and it’s hard to get a nice photo 😦 It’s worth waiting for, though, as they’re really lovely and everything will be treasured 😀

Rightio, time to crack open the stocking (ie the Asti that’s hiding within it), and settle in for a quiet night – I hope you’re all enjoying your day, in whatever way you celebrate! 😀

Finishes

Merry Christmas to All!

Anne S

Just a short post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and the best of wishes to you and your families for the festive season – I hope 2007 sees all of your hopes and dreams come true!

It’s been a pleasure knowing you throughout 2006, and I look forward to continuing the association in 2007!

Now, on to the WIP piccies I promised yesterday – this is my progress to date on the Chatelaine Leporello, but it’s now on hold until I touch base with Jenna to work out our SAL schedule.

Next is my latest WIP, Bunnies in my Garden by With My Needle – Chelle, I was supposed to do this with the StitchingSmalls SAL too, but didn’t find the time to fit it in … it’s actually quite a fun stitch 🙂 I switched the nun’s stitch thread from the horrible dusky pink, and replaced it with the light blue used in the bird, but in hindsight after stitching the bird I should have used a darker blue for the nun’s stitch, never mind. With the bird you’re supposed to use the light part of the skein for the belly, and the darker part for the top/main part of the bird, but my skein barely shows any difference in the colour variegation at all – in the end I pulled out my Needle Necessities threads and stitched the main part of the bird in 101 (Desdemona’s Violets), and I think it looks OK. I now just have the main piece to stitch and the scissor fob – with any luck I just might get this one finished before the end of the year 🙂


Needlepages

Pinkeep – front (left) and back (right)

Finishes

Another ornie stitched

Anne S

I can’t believe it’s been a full week since I’ve done any stitching, but today I was lazy and sat and stitched up another ornament … I don’t have the Mill Hill Treasures, but I figure it looks OK without them 🙂 That means project 18 crossed off the list – down to 32 left woohoo 😀 I also washed and ironed my cream Belfast linen ready to start the Chatelaine Leporello, now I just need to grid it up and start stitching …


Christmas Eve by Elizabeth’s Designs
from JCS 10th Anniversary Collection
stitched on 28ct lambswool linen
with recommended threads and beads

Finishes, Needlerolls, Stitching Smalls

It never rains, it pours … & I’m flooding!

Anne S

Edited to add this positive news:

Tonight I decided to start a new project, being Sapphire Star canvaswork by Laura J Perin … after getting everything out, and making a working copy of the chart, I realised I’d goofed … I thought I had everything aside from the one thread that’s still on back order from months ago, only to find I don’t have any 18″ stretcher bars … doh! Oh well, it’s not as if I don’t have any other projects to choose from …

Instead I frogged the bottom band on my A Stitcher’s Needleroll by Lorri Birmingham … actually I ended up frogging part of it twice! Firstly to fix the error in the chart by removing the extra space between the body of the design and the bottom band (it was bugging me, and I couldn’t just leave it in) … then because I’d thrown all the kit threads out, thinking it was finished at the start of September, I re-kitted using the colour key … the second bit of frogging was due to misprint in the colour key (geez, I love Lorri Birmingham designs, but I seriously HATE all the chart errors!!!) – I ended up dragging my 500 series of threads out and colour matching with the rest of the finished stitching. I also subbed the bright pink ribbon, thinking a nice purple one would blend nicely, and it’s finally finished into an actual needleroll – which means I can finally add it to my 50 Projects tally … the stitching was done just prior to signing up, but it was within the official starting date of the rules – my compromise was that I wouldn’t add it to my tally until it was finish-finished … and now I can woohoo 😀
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
A Stitcher’s Needleroll by Lorri Birmingham
stitched from the kit contents
Photo compliments of Photobucket … bah humbug Blogger!
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Well, the good times just keep on rollin’ in my neck of the woods! Today I was worried I hadn’t heard from Mum and she said she’d phone today … so I thought I’d give her a quick call, only to find the home phone not working. The phone line is fine, as my PC is working with the internet with no problems … but I can’t get a true dial tone and use my home phone. A quick test using my mobile phone and it’s ringing on my mobile, but not ringing on the home phone … which means it’s likely my home phone needs to be replaced! I just cancelled my ‘messaging’ service on my home phone to save money, so the next phone will have it’s own answerphone … I guess my new phone will be my next ‘essential’ purchase. I could actually do without a home phone if it wasn’t for keeping up to date with Mum, and that’s critically important for me.

Anyway all I can say is “bring it on!!!!” … perhaps you can think of something else to add to the ever-increasing list of crappy events before the holiday season is over … well I’m not caving in!!! OK, that’s my rant for the night … now I’m off to sulk in my stitching corner to focus on all the positive things in my life right now … I refuse to let this latest event get me down! Mind you, with the way my financial situation is going, my 50 Projects Challenge may end up as a 100 Projects Challenge haha … although I’m likely to run out of DMC by then LOL. Right, I’m off to start something new to cheer myself up!

And on another negative note, I can’t believe it, but some thieving scumbag has stolen quilts from Amitie Textiles in Bentleigh … I’m absolutely gobsmacked that someone could do this. Here’s the link to the announcement on their blog … I thought I’d mention it in case any of my Melbourne readers are interested. I’m still shaking my head in disgust!

Now I also have a request from you – do any of you have any wonderful tried-and-tested bread recipes for a breadmaking machine, that don’t use a million different ingredients (or even those that do)? I have used a couple of recipes from the machine’s instruction manual that are good, but I also have a cookbook especially for bread machines, and the three loaves I’ve made so far have been dismal, and the book’s going out in the bin! I’d love to find some good recipes out there for trialling 😀 And another apology to Mum – if you don’t hurry up and get over here for a holiday, there’ll be no beer left … I have another loaf of Wholemeal beer and mustard bread baking … my fave recipe so far – guess who’s having cheese and pickle sandwiches for lunches next week again? haha.