Category: Finishes

Finished needlework

Finishes

Where does the time fly?

Anne S

I can’t believe it’s November already!! I’ve been looking at all my planned stitching goals for 2006 and realised I’ve hardly touched them … oops. Can’t say I’m in a major hurry to complete many of them before year end, and will just push them into 2007 for stitching ‘whenever’. They’ll get placed into my rotation at some stage, I’m sure …

Well, today was the first day of the new pastime of packed lunches – I used to take a home-made lunch every day, but got out of the habit months ago. Last night I made a loaf of bread in my breadmaker (Wholemeal Beer and Mustard Loaf … yummo), and had a bit of a ‘ploughmans’ thing going today – I slapped some crumbly cheddar cheese and piccalilli between a couple of slices, and it was scrummy. I’d forgotten how satisfying it is to eat something that you’ve totally made from scratch (ie the bread, not the rest of it) … it’s quite a good feeling 🙂

When I parked my car this morning it made a funny noise again … and I noticed my dashboard clock was out of synch – I’m pretty sure I readjusted the clock yesterday before driving home, but can’t be 100% positive. If I did, then it means my problem still isn’t resolved, and it could be something to do with the wiring or alarm that’s draining my battery … I’ll have to check it again over the next couple of days. Mind you, if there’s anywhere I need to go to before Saturday I’ll be doing it on foot to save on the petrol! I’ll be acting quite the miser before month-end 😉 Anyway, this photo is especially for Mum – it seems the breadmaker is working just fine, and the last disasters were obviously related to the recipe itself … this one turned out gloriously!

As for my stitching, I managed to get the final stitches put into my Halloween freebie before bed, but was too tired to make it into an ornie … oh well, there’s always next year 😉 Now I’m off to scour the recipe books for something that uses tinned tomatoes (I have about 8 cans in the cupboard from a cheap sale months ago, so it’s finally time to find a good use for them) with either chicken breasts or tinned tuna. Then I’m settling in with a glass of wine straight from the fridge, with my stitching, to watch ER … a bit of personal pampering is in order (and hey, it’s all free!). I might even do something very very decadent and start a new project!! Rotation? … WHAT rotation??? LOL.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED

Gift stitching … piccies

Anne S

That’s the only thing I hate about secret stitching … I can’t share piccies until after it’s been received, darn it! Seeing as it won’t give the game away, I’ve decided to show you a sneak preview of my current gift stitching, though. It’s about 2/3 finished now, but I can’t complete it until I get a spool of Kreinik braid … fingers crossed that’ll be in my first parcel from SB&B that’s on its way and should be here within a week’s time … if not, that’s the time to start panicking 😉

Actually, I just heard from Jenna that her birthday gifts have arrived safely, so I can also add an extra piccie to this post … I didn’t take photos of the extra goodies I sent, but I did take one of the lavender sachet I stitched. I haven’t done any hardanger really since I took a beginner’s class about 5-6 years ago, and haven’t tried wrapped bars before (ie just wrapping all 4 threads together), but it worked out OK – it was strange using such large count fabric and pearl cotton (#3 and #5), but the finished product is really pretty. I chose it because lavender is a natural therapy for headaches, and poor Jenna is regularly plagued with them – thankfully USA Customs restrictions aren’t as strict as here, and you can send lavender into the country, yay. The design is a freebie from the Classic Stitches website. I’m so happy it arrived safe and sound, and that Jenna likes her goodies 😀

Other than that, not much has been happening in this neck of the woods – after my appalling night’s sleep yesterday, I managed to get tuckered out and went back to bed at midday for another 3 hours – I felt much more human after that … but at least it got my kitted up projects entered into a spreadsheet, which has proved helpful already as I searched for a DMC thread for my gift stitching yesterday – I had a quick look at the spreadsheet then went straight to the right project to grab the skein out … awesome!

Tonight it’s back to early nights for sleeping, I need to be in bed by 7.30pm to try and get 8 hours before being up at 4am for work … 4 days of 5am’s this week, finished with one 9am shift at the end – only 5 days straight again, oh boy am I loving that!!

Thanks to a conversation Isabelle and I have been having, I’ve been contemplating making a patchwork quilt next year … I’ve been dreaming about it for a number of years now, but never started one for myself, and I’m thinking 2007 might be the year to try it out. I’ve been looking through my quilting books and choosing some possible designs … once I’ve narrowed my choices down I’ll share some piccies.

Rightio, back to listening to the last part of Jeffrey Deaver’s Cold Moon novel (I’m really enjoying this one) and Bordeaux Sampler (I’m giving it some well-deserved stitching time, seeing as it’s been neglected for a few weeks) … it’s OK, though, Carol, I’m not motoring too far along with it today, just enough to show some difference 😉

Finishes, Needlerolls

Better Dratteds piccie

Anne S

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments about my Dolphins Domain … I have to admit, I really out-did myself with the amount of stitching I crammed into the final couple of days – it’s amazing what sheer determination and bloody-mindedness can make you do! 😉 Mind you, the pile of dishes in the sink and general mess around here shows I really did do nothing else but stitch for every waking moment for a couple of days – and on my day off sick I literally sat down with needle in hand at about 9am and didn’t put it down again until almost midnight, and did the same thing yesterday until it was finished. And for those of you who’ve asked for it, here’s a much better photo of the Dratteds (and it’s clickable) – I think the colours are a bit more accurate too, as it was taken in front of the window with no flash this time (and with my good SLR camera).

I’d just downloaded an anti-phishing software that came with my renewal for SpyNet, and it was playing havoc with my PC, especially blogger … so today I uninstalled it and voila I have Blogger piccies again without crashing the entire system yippee!! 😀

Last night was my first night shift (affectionately known as the Doggoes – apparently this came from the old days when night shifts were known as the ‘dogwatch’), and I really loved it – I was wide awake all night, in that I didn’t feel tired once … although tonight may be a different story, as I never sleep properly during the day (and of course yesterday I was awake almost 24 hours by the time I got to bed). Anyway, the calls were a bit quiet for a few hours, so I managed to put in a few stitches for the Needleroll SAL with Katrina et al inbetween answering queries/calls – this month I’ve chosen the Snowman Needleroll by Shepherd’s Bush, and here’s my progress to date.

As for “what now?” after the Dratteds are finished … I’m debating between a couple of choices for my newly opened focus piece slot in my rotation – high up the list is Egyptian Garden Mandala by Chatelaine, or possibly one of my TW UFO’s (English Garden Sampler or Noah’s Ark). I have to say, due to the sheer size of it, that Egyptian Garden is likely to win out. Originally I was holding off doing this so I could SAL with Carol, but we agree that she’s pretty much Chatelained-out with her stitching in that area this year, so I’ve opted to pick it back up again and get cracking on it. In fact there you go, my decision has been made … EGM is my new focus piece! 😀 Seeing as I coughed up all that money for the kit, I really should get that beauty finished!

Next up, though, is my scissor fob exchange, as the deadline is drawing ever nearer – then a small gift for someone, and a couple of Christmas ornies … if nothing else, there’s always something in the pipelines waiting to be stitched, so I’ll never have a problem running out of a project! ;P

Have a great weekend everyone 😀

Finishes, Uncategorized

Farewell to the Dratteds!

Anne S

Yup, you read the title right … I haven’t been much online over the last couple of days, but rather I’ve been spending almost every waking moment with my needle in hand sat in front of the Dratteds. And compliments of having a day off work sick yesterday (with a splitting headache and the chills – just a cold thankfully), I managed to put the final stitches into them tonight (just in time for going to work on the overnight shift). After all these years, they’re finally done! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!

I feel very relieved to have them finished finally … but in some ways a bit sad that they’ll be leaving ‘home’ soon – even if I say it myself, they’re gorgeous in real life 😀 Hope you like them, John and Vicki, ‘cos your wedding present is finally stitched up for you. Now all I have to do is save up for the framing 😀

So, here they are in all their glory 😀 (Sorry, but the photo is from Photobucket as Blogger photos kept crashing my system, so you can’t click for a bigger piccie)
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Dolphins Domain by Cross My Heart
(from Orcas and Dolphins leaflet)
Started in August 1999 – Completed 13 October 2006

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Round Robins

A small finish

Anne S

By the following piccie you can no doubt guess what I did today on my first day off … stitched my little heart out! In fact, I stayed in my PJ’s all day too … such decadence! 😉 But it means Lynn’s RR block is all finished except for the one little Mill Hill bead that I can’t find right now (and after my last experience, I’m not in a major hurry to rush out just to buy one little packet LOL), and my name – other than that it’s all finished yippee 🙂 I’m not sure whether this counts towards my 50 Projects Challenge, as this wasn’t technically from my stash (apart from the DMC) …

Now I’m off to do a tiny bit of stitching on the Dratteds while watching Two Weeks Notice on TV, before heading off to bed for the night.

Finishes, Needlerolls

Project #2 out of 50 totally finished

Anne S

This one is a bit of a cheat … the actual challenge started on 1 September, so I get to include my two needlerolls that I finished the stitching of last week. My personal criteria, though, is that I’m not allowed to include them as part of the 50 Project Challenge until they’re “finished” into needlerolls (seeing as I’d already done the stitching before I personally accepted the challenge) … and I’m pleased to say “1 down, 1 to go”. I just couldn’t get motivated in the afternoon to stitch, but rather my finishing pile screamed to me louder! I popped into Spotlight on the way back from the PO, and picked up some Christmas fabric for ornie backings – I might even get organised enough to get some finished off during the next two months 😉

I did my finishing while watching another DVD rental – Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School … it was a pretty good ‘chick flick’, and perfect for my equivalent of a Sunday afternoon (yeah, I know it’s only Friday, but it was the end of my personal weekend as I’m back to work again, hence my Sunday). Today was an interesting day, as I just wasn’t in the mood to be back there again – not helped by the fact that Sandra that I work with told me I looked awfully pale this morning hmmm 😦 Oh well, at least I survived the day in one piece 😉

Not sure what I’ll do tonight – I managed to get a couple of hours stitching into Dolphins Domain (aka The Dratteds) last night, which I have to admit I really enjoyed, even though it took me much longer to stitch than normal. I won’t bother posting a progress piccie until I’ve stitched a bit more on them. Once I’ve finished my 10 hours rotation I’ll get my current RR piece stitched, then I need to work on my final exchange for a while – the scissor fob exchange on the Robin’s Nest BB. Then in the New Year I’m committed to another Quaker RR with some close online buddies, so I won’t be taking on any other stitching commitments while that’s underway.

Rightio, off to get dinner cracking, then the dishes, then kitting up a new small project for a gift … the Dratteds can wait a day or so 😉

Finishes, Works in Progress

Small ‘finishing finish’

Anne S

Another quiet day … even though it sounds like I’ve been very busy, I’ve actually been very relaxed and lazy all day – I did a small load of washing, and felted my Kitti Pi bed (thanks to Jo for putting that on her blog) that Mum knit for my four-legged friend that hasn’t arrived yet … it’s currently drying on top of my washing basket, so I’ll show the before and after piccies when it’s finished.

Aside from that I did a very tiny bit of stitching on my Bordeaux Sampler this evening, so here’s this week’s progress piccie … the only difference to last week is a tiny part of the right-hand border, a bit of gold, and two groups of those dratted over-one grapes. I’m soooo tempted to leave all those until the end, but if I did that I know it’d never ever get finished, so I’m forcing myself to stitch them as I go, and complete each band … I still have the four little grapes on the first dividing band to stitch yet, though.

The final thing I did today was to finally finish my Stars are Brightly Shining ‘ornament’ (by SamSarah Designs in the JCS 2005 ornie issue), and make my first ever flat-fold … I don’t have any suitable ribbon, so no embellishments are on it yet – I’ll probably add some red cording and a red ribbon bow on the top, but not entirely 100% sure of that yet. Oh well, that’s one thing crossed off my to-do lists for the year, as a flat-fold was one of my key goals for 2006 (the rest of my list is a bit of a whitewash, though!). Even though the curved needle had a mind of its own for a while, eventually I managed to tame it enough to do a fairly decent job of doing the ladder stitch joining up the sides 🙂 (The first piccie is a better representation of the actual colour – it’s a Country Stitch Kiwi Pearl, so not named, and it’s absolutely divine!) It’s shocking that it’s taken me so long to finish this off … it’s been sitting there just waiting to have its carrot nose stitched on, and that’s it! {shaking head} We didn’t have a button the right size, so Mum and I made one out of Fimo last Christmas (yes, it’s really been sitting here that long! LOL).

Tomorrow will see my final day of being lazy, as it’s back to work on Saturday again … thankfully to decent shifts this week of 8am-4pm for a few days – followed by 5am-1pm shifts … I’ll just have to make doubly sure I get all my sleep regularly for that 🙂 And I’m back to taking the Voltaren again to try and get my back pain under control – I stopped after just 3 days last week, which was a bit dumb … this week I’m determined to get it all fixed up and get my health back under control 🙂

And before I forget … for Nicki – I really loved the World’s Fastest Indian … what a wonderful feel-good movie, I can definitely recommend it! The only thing that took some getting used to was Anthony Hopkins’ weird ‘Southland’ accent … sounded a bit more like something out of Cornwall, rather than Invercargill, but then again it’s been a long time since I’ve been in Dunedin/Invercargill 😉

Finishes

1 out of 50 Projects Completed

Anne S

It took me forever to do just a tiny bit of stitching last night … I’m still struggling to get my needles active again – but I persevered until the final stitches were put into my little bee project … “Bumble the Bee: Waxer Pocket” by Moss Creek Designs. I only had the beads and chain stitch left to do on the main piece, and the whole of the name label. It might be a while before it’s actually finished into the pocket itself, but at least the stitching’s finished 🙂

The pictures are totally out of proportion, too … the little name label on the right is actually only marginally over an inch in size! When I cropped it on the scanner, it automatically resized it hmmm.

Now I’m off to have a quiet day again … I’ve had a couple of minor dizzy spells today, so I’m taking it majorly easy and just pottering … not sure whether my needles will see the light of day today … time will tell.

Finishes

Empty flat once again …

Anne S

I just walked in from dropping Mum off at the airport, and the flat seems awfully quiet and empty … it looks like a tornado hit, though, so I’ll be keeping busy tidying things up – there’s stuff everywhere! LOL. Thanks for all your comments too about Mum and I … I have to admit, we’re very lucky in that the relationship we have is very close – I certainly wasn’t ready to have her go home yet tonight.

For Mum’s last day we spent our time making up a couple of ornaments, and we went through my Christmas fabrics and cut off enough fabric for each one of Mum’s stitched ornaments for her to finish them off when she gets home. Mum reckons I’m being a very generous daughter, but then again I’m just giving a bit back for all the things she’s done tirelessly for me over the years 🙂 Mum made a very good comment the other day, in that I’ve hardly done any stitching while she’s been here, apart from the commitment stitching … and she’s right. Never mind, I’m sure I’ll get back into the swing of things again soon. On the other hand, Mum’s been stitching enough for both of us … as well as the ‘finished’ ones, here are Mum’s ornies that she’s stitched:


As for me, I finished up my ornament that was Mum’s gift this year, so she could take it home with her – and I managed to quickly finish off my Sweetheart Tree Strawberry Needleroll from my finishing pile while I was waiting for us to head to the airport this afternoon.

I was originally going to get cracking and do some more finishing when I got home, but I’m not entirely sure how keen I feel now … I feel really tired and flat, and could do with some ‘down time’. I’ve been having a lot of pain in my right shoulder blade area, and been using anti-inflammatory cream for the last week or so to try and ease it … today I’ve started taking some Voltaren tablets to see if that helps, as it’s been so painful it’s been keeping me from sleeping properly each night as the pain wakes me up. If it keeps up in a week’s time, I’ll have to see a GP about it as it’s really getting me down, and it’s been niggling ever since we did our spot of DIY after the Hong Kong trip.

Anyway, off to tidy up a bit so I can at least see a small portion of the lounge floor …

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes

Redwork exchange

Anne S

Just a quick note to say my redwork exchange on the SBEBB has been received by Nancy, so I can unveil it now … I used the Quaker Swan Case as my instructions, but used an online freebie as my basis for the stitching. As the stitching chart was wayyyyy too big, I deleted a few elements and played around with the flower leaves for a while until it fitted my measurements OK. It’s stitched with DMC 115, which I really love, on a 32ct hand-dyed Lugana from Country Stitch. I was really really disappointed with my finishing, as I found the ribbon ‘hinges’ too long, and it just flopped around when it was all put together, so I ended up putting a little line of backstitches on the two side hinges to keep it more ‘together’ – which also means now that you can hang it on a hanger on display … which I really love the idea of it, and may now do that with mine when I get around to stitching it too 🙂 I also wasn’t too pleased with how the inside hearts are attached (the red ones), so when I do mine I think I’ll modify that a bit too. I’m really glad Nancy liked it, though, as I was a bit worried about it … I didn’t take a photo of it with the ‘tweaking’ of the hinges, or with the goodies I sent, and I don’t think Nancy updates her blog anymore, but at least you can see the needlecase 😀

Seeing as it’s Mum’s last full day here today, we’re off out shopping … so no stitching for me until tonight. I do have a progress piccie to share, but I’ll wait until tomorrow or Thursday, when it’ll be a finished piccie hopefully 😀