Category: Finishes

Seeing as there has been a bit of interest generated, I’ve scanned one of my album pages to give you an example of what I do – excuse the photo on it, one of my ink cartridges needs changing, so it’s a bit pale. Anyway, hopefully it’ll come through OK … The box at the top is the same size as a ‘normal’ printed photo, so if I wanted to I could just paste in an actual photo, instead of scanning it – and I have one template page with a vertical photo format as well, then just type in the details at the relevant points. If anyone wants a copy of the actual Word document, I’m more than happy to send it to you – it’s very very simplistic, though, so you might want to play with it a bit … just drop me an email to shakatak at iinet dot net dot au and your wish will be granted 🙂

Rightio, back to my stitching, as I’m not far off my happy dance for Summer Into Autumn – I’ve finished all the actual stitching now, and just need to add the beads, so I’ll have a piccie to post before the end of the day. Then I just have to wait for the MH treasure to arrive, before working out how the heck to finish it into a bellpull … another new finishing technique for the new year 🙂

(edited to add the following Happy Dance)
Well, as promised, here’s the finished version of Summer into Autumn by The Drawn Thread – I have to admit the ‘softer’ look of the single thread suits it well. It’s not my usual style of stitching, but I really enjoyed stitching it for the variety of stitches involved, plus such a short and quick project to stitch – it took me a sum total of 9 stitching hours!

Well, I decided not to bother finishing my 3rd tiny UFO with the re-beading – and thought I’d save it until my next UFO section on my rotation as a treat to get something finished early again. Instead I put my old “Nature’s Rest” in the Q-snaps, and I’m in the process of stitching my 10 hours into it before I move back to the Dolphins again. I figure I really do need to get this old UFO done before I do much else, as a lot of the threads that I used have since had colour changes – and without knowing, all those years ago, I was merrily using the same skeins for other projects, meaning I only have a little bit left of some of them … I think I’m safer getting this old thing done and finished, so I can then move on to something else. So that project is now officially taking residence in the UFO spot until it’s finished … at least I still have my ‘smalls’ and ‘free choice’ rotation spots to give me a break from all these big and boring projects 🙂

Anyway, here’s my other small happy dance reason – I finally put the last stitches into my folded ribbon rose class from some time in 2001 … the roses have gotten squished quite a bit during their time in storage/relocating to Aussie, but they’re passable – not a craft project I’m in a real hurry to repeat, but it’s nice to get it out of the UFO folder once and for all! I’m not entirely sure what to do with it now it’s finished, though – maybe just turn it into a pincushion … dunno, really … any suggestions would be greatly welcomed!Von, thanks for your lovely comments on my blog – do you have a blog yourself? I tried looking, and couldn’t find one … I’d love to return the favour 🙂

Thanks everyone as always for your welcomed comments – they really are appreciated and help to keep my spirits up when I’m a bit flat 🙂 You guys rock!

Well, I’m off work at GP’s orders again today, trying to get rid of these cluster migraines once and for all (apparently that’s what they are) – so now I’m doped up with anti-inflammatories etc, and I’ve been ordered to do no housework etc, just rest and relaxation … so on Dr’s orders, I’ve been sat stitching, watching the rest of the Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital series on DVD … soon to be followed by Girl with a Pearl Earring (talk about going from one end of the spectrum to the other – but that’s me to a tee!!). Anyway, I managed to force myself to complete a UFO from last year – a GCC (Group Correspondence Course) through the Embroiderers Guild of America, called “Lace & Ribbons” by Dakota Rogers. It only took 1 1/2 hours to finish it off, as I just had to do the filling stitches on the bottom band – and finally I have another set of scroll rods to use for another project ... yippee!!! I’m going to add fabric to the sides, and turn this into a folder cover for my stitching album, I think. You got to choose your own design for the ‘centre’ piece – I chose an autumn leaf, and in fact picked one up from the ground that I liked the look of on the way home from work one day while I was stitching it – it thought it would remind me of my first autumn in Melbourne, as the leaves were all falling from the trees at that time, which always makes me feel soppy – I just love the autumn colours on the trees.Now, before I forget, Cathy I do use polyfill for my pincushion stuffing – only because I use them for decoration only. When I was in NZ I used clean wool fleece, but I haven’t found a stockist for it here yet … but then again, I haven’t tried that hard either. The polyfill is not good if you want to actually use it, as I believe the pins may eventually rust in there. Another option is to cut up wool skeins (taught that by Martha Beth Lewis in a class once), eg tapestry wool.

Rightio, off to finish off another two UFO’s – the next two only have about 1/2 hour’s stitching to go on each one … one just has a few fly stitches to pop in, and the other one was finished, but it got caught on something, and I lost one of the heart beads, so I need to frog it back a bit, and restitch the beads back on again. So, fingers crossed, I’ll have another couple of happy dances by the end of the day 🙂

Well, I managed to eat something today, which is a bonus after 3 days of not eating much at all – had a lazy day of stitching and listening to most of a talking book (The Poet by Michael Connelly – a serial killer novel … nope, no girlie books for me today!). Managed to almost finish another two ornaments – just have to buy a charm/treasure for each, then I’ll have to work out how to actually finish them off. I’ll post a piccie of the finished ones later – just don’t hold your breath haha. They’re both from the 1998 JCS Ornament issue – the first one is called “Christmas Memory Tree” by Ursula Michaels Designs, and the second one is “Woodland Noel” by Heart in Hand Needleart.

Yup, Dena has finally been promoted to the finished pile … it might be a long time before it turns into an actual cushion, but I’m happy to announce all the stitching is finished. One more off the UFO list for the year – yippee!!

Not sure what is going to take its place yet – I’ve given up on my previous rotation of having a week to stitch each piece … I think instead I’d prefer to do what a lot of other stitchers do, and have a daily rotation over the week. I already have two days set aside, so it’ll be easy to plan the other days as well … might have to look at it tomorrow, when I work out what I’m going to spend my time stitching.

What can I say, apart from “yippee!!” … I can’t believe I finally got my first ever needleroll put together and finished!!! This piece has been stitched for more years than I care to mention, but I didn’t know where to start with the completion of it. Finally a website, CameoRoze’s Stitcher’s Studio, steered me in the right direction, and I felt brave enough to give the finishing a try – and I’m pretty pleased the finished result … and surprised how at easy it was!

Apart from that, I can’t say I’ve completed much stitching over the last week at all … the last two days I’ve spent a few hours making a start on my Xmas SAL (finally). I’ve almost completed my “No Humbugs Allowed” ornie from the JCS 1998 issue … not sure whether I’m going to want to give this one up, though LOL. Just have the rest of the beard to complete, the french knot eyes (yuk), and the backstitching for the strand of lights – but then I have to wait for my bulb buttons to arrive before it can be finished off.

The other piece I managed to get a bit more stitching on today – it’s a Dimensions wired ornament kit, that a colleague at work asked me to stitch for her … I seriously hate stitching this damn thing!! I was a bit ‘set up’ for accepting this task – she told me her Mum couldn’t see to stitch anymore, and gave me a kit which is a map of Australia that she thought I might like from her Mum, then showed me the other two kits she had, and asked if I would mind stitching them for her … I half-heartedly accepted, knowing I’d much prefer to do my own stitching (and I have a million of my own projects to finish), but I felt sorry that her Mum couldn’t stitch anymore. Why do I feel a bit set up? Well, a couple of days afterwards I find that this girl can actually stitch herself … hmmm. Anyway, it is a bit of a chore I’ve bound myself to by accepting to do it in the first place, but I won’t be caught out again, that’s for sure! I have difficulty stitching ‘in hand’ any more, as I get cramp in my hand from holding onto fabric/hoops etc, so that’s one issue. Also with this plastic canvas it’s extremely difficult to carry the threads underneath on the back – well, today I decided to try something different, and it’s making a lot easier – I’m using a canvaswork stitch (can’t remember if you call it tent stitch, or continental) and it gives a longer stitch on the back for me the carry the thread under … yippee, what a difference!

So, that’s all to post stitching-wise for the week … I’m on late shifts later in the week, so don’t expect to get much stitching done this week either.

Here’s my current basketful of pincushions – sorry, meant to post this before … OK, running out the door now! 🙂

Well, today I stuck to my original plans, and finished a couple of objects. I’ve had a number of pincushions stitched and ready to be ‘stuffed’ – I even had their cords already made too – but I just hadn’t got around to stitching the backing fabric on a couple of them, and just basically pulling my finger out and finishing them. Well, today brought a few projects out of that forlorn raggle-taggle pile, and they’re about to proudly join the ‘pincushion basket’ … yay, I actually managed to stitch together 6 whole pincushions today – woohoo!

I still have another three yet to be done, but one just got its face washed today, and I have to wait for it to dry – and I can’t decide how to complete the other ones – whether to turn the other one into a Christmas ornament instead of a pincushion … oh decisions, decisions. After that I have one scissor fob to be done, along with two needlecases, and one needleroll (my first ever). I might attempt to get the needleroll done tonight, but even if I don’t I’m pretty pleased with my accomplishments today.

Anyway, I’ll try to upload a piccie, along with the one from yesterday (so you can see it Mum).

Yippee, I can finally post that I have finished my Mill Hill bead sampler – from the chart “Beading for Needlework – Basics and Beyond”. I started this back at the beginning of September, but ran out of cream MH petite beads … 8 whole beads short of finishing hmmm … well, I finally got more, and put the finishing touches to this piece. I was supposed to stitch on an old UFO tonight, as it’s Tuesday, and that’s my official UFO rotation night, so I might still drag one out and pop a few stitches into it. Seeing as I put a few stitches into the dolphins this week (which is an old UFO), I figure I can happily do something different tonight, especially in light of my happy dance haha. So I think I’ll have a change of scene, and put a few stitches into my canvaswork UFO called “Dena” by the designer Orna Willis. Hopefully I’ll get one band in tonight, if nothing more … once again, though, that’s one step closer to another finish!