Category: Cross Stitch

Jardin Prive, Lavender & Lace, Rotation, Works in Progress

Great start with my rotation

Anne S

I’ve been working really well with my rotation so far this year – much better than any other recent attempts … perhaps this time I really will stick to it!

After washing poor old Angel of Love after the hand sanitizer accident, I put her back on the scroll bars to finish my rotation slot (10 hours each slot) … after stitching a fair bit, I had yet another accident with her!!  My sinuses were blocked up so I reached for my little jar of Tiger Balm so I could spread a bit under my nose to help to clear it … only to find when I tipped up the jar to dip my little finger in that the whole top of the jar had melted in the high heat in my bedroom, and dripped onto my stitching 😦  Now dropping hand sanitizer on it is one thing, but melted Tiger Balm that contains eucalyptus oil as well as other things is a whole different kettle of fish … I had ‘lovely’ splotches on my fabric all the way down in a little row thanks to it leaching through every fabric layer on the scroll bar!  Back she went into an overnight tub soak with some Orvus – the marks haven’t come out 100%, but almost … there will probably only be one part that may not be covered by stitching, but thankfully it looks like a bit of fabric mottling now so I should be able to get away with it.

Anyway, here she is looking sparkly clean after her many washes, at the end of her first rotation slot – the fabric is a lot lighter than it once was before I started stitching and washing her, but it still looks OK I think:

Angel of Love 1

Next up was the medium-sized projects slot, and I have just finished those 10 hours this afternoon – my choice for this slot is Eiffel Quaker, and it’s been lovely stitching on something so simplistic … nice easy blocks of only 3 colours … it’s stitched with one strand of Au Ver A Soie Soie d’Alger thread on a 36ct evenweave.  The hardest thing is putting it down to move on to my next rotation slot … one for UFOs …  I have a feeling the next 10 hours won’t go quite so quickly LOL.  In the meantime, though, here is my Eiffel Quaker as it goes to the back of the rotation tub:

Eiffel Quaker 1

Cross Stitch, Finishes, JBW Designs

First finish for 2014

Anne S

Yesterday I spent the afternoon getting all my first rotation projects onto scroll rods and Qsnaps and they’re now sitting in a but with their charts and threads … maybe my rotation is finally off to a good start this year!!

I made a tiny start on L&L’s Angel of Love, but had a slight mishap so she had to be put away for a while … it was super humid here yesterday in my room, which for me means having to get up and wash my hands regularly … well I was in the middle of a TV show so I was too lazy to get up and go to the bathroom, and grabbed some hand sanitizer to keep me going until the next ad break … or that was the plan!  I ended up accidentally dropped 3 gloops onto my stitching!!  Thankfully I had only done a teeny bit of stitching, and it was DMC threads only, so I rinsed the area under the tap and popped it onto the balcony to dry.  A few hours later I went out to check on the progress, only to now find I had a lovely ‘tide mark’ where the water had spread.  Time for the whole thing to come off the scroll bars and it went for a thorough dunking in cold water, and once again put out on the balcony for an overnight drying spell.  It looks OK this morning, and has been ironed ready to go back onto the scroll bars once again.  Guess who will put my TV show on “pause” next time instead of taking a supposed “shortcut”?!!!  I had managed to get a teeny bit more than the below shows, but it’s still not really worth warranting a photo … but I figure at least it’s a start!! 😉

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After yesterday’s stitching disaster I decided this morning to finish off JBW’s Plum Pudding … freeing up the last set of Qsnaps I need for my Christmas Ornaments rotation slot.  This means this is my first finish for 2014, and it’s time to get back to my rotation again (but not until I’ve pulled my finger out and got some housework done, seeing as it’s laundry day for me … gotta love having dedicated laundry days in our shared laundry).

Plum Pudding by JBW Designs

“Plum Pudding” by JBW Designs
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast by Countrystitch ~ colour Pipi
with my own choice of threads:
GAST Roasted Chestnut, DMC White, Needle Necessities 153, WDW Holly

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Dragon Dreams, Elizabeth's Designs, Finishes, Freebies, Glory Bee, JBW Designs, Little House Needleworks, Works in Progress

Last finishes for 2013, and Christmas at home

Anne S

First of all I should say a rip-roaring and resounding “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” to everyone … as we kick off a new year with the first day of 2014.  I know I’m not the only one that had some struggles in 2013, so personally I’m certainly not sorry to see it finish!  Let’s hope that 2014 is a brighter year for everyone who had a crappy 2013, and that it continues on a positive vein for those who had an awesome 2013 🙂

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I just returned home this morning from two weeks holiday with my parents in New Zealand.  I say “holiday”, but in truth it’s never really a holiday when I go home … there’s usually a list of chores that my folks want me to complete … and I have to admit I’m generally really happy to help out as much as I can when I go home.  This year the chore was to take Dad out to buy a new mobile phone … and teach him how to use it … the first part was pretty simple, and the second part saw me practising “patience” substantially, let’s say! LOL.  Then we went out to buy a Panasonic digital recorder (DVR) for both Mum and Dad and set it all up for them in their respective rooms.  Sadly Mum’s was a real challenge due to not having a good aerial set-up, so unfortunately they’ll need to call in someone to add a new aerial on the roof for Mum so she can get it working 100%.

Dad has to drink something similar to protein shakes daily, and he’s been really bad at drinking them – he told me he’d missed one whole day because Mum was sick and she couldn’t make them for him … my response was that he shouldn’t have to wait for Mum to do everything for him, why couldn’t he just make them himself?  He shouldn’t have to rely on Mum for everything, if she got sick then he’d be stuffed!  You could have knocked me over with a feather the next day when Mum told me Dad has asked her to teach him how to make his shakes … and that he needs to be more “independent”.  I didn’t expect my little chat to have such a big impact … but I got a HUGE resounding vote of thanks from Mum, as that’s helped to relieve some of the pressure from her every day having to do everything for Mum (and I know it’s been getting her down).  I hadn’t expected him to do that, but it’s a very good thing, I think!

While I was in NZ I managed to meet a dear online/blogging pal that I hadn’t managed to meet before.  Zeb had chatted to me briefly just after I moved to Aussie to live, wishing she knew stitchers in the local area to have GTGs etc … it seems all these years later there is now an active group of stitchers in Auckland that meet up, and we managed to ‘gate-crash’ the party for an afternoon!  I’d called out to the Auckland stitchers to see if anyone was interested in getting together while I was in NZ, and Zeb arranged a stitching day at The Ribbon Rose – what a perfect choice for the venue!!!  Not only did we (Mum and I, ‘cos I dragged her along for a change in scenery and a different group of people to chat to to give her a break) get to meet some lovely people on the day, but we managed to kill two birds with one stone by completing a small stash enhancement onsite.  I always drag Mum into The Ribbon Rose each trip, so it was extra special this time!  I managed to get a group photo in the afternoon, but unfortunately a few of the group disappeared and left while Mum and I were browsing around the store, so the photo doesn’t include everyone that was there 😦  (UPDATED: Photo now removed by request of someone in it.)

 

Now we’re back onto the subject of stitching, I did manage to get quite a lot of stitching done while I was away – mainly because we couldn’t really go far from home because of Dad, and I made it a priority to do ‘the family thing’ while we could.  Dad still has to have two surgeries yet in 2014, and as awful as it sounds I wanted to spend as much time as I could while I could … obviously we all have positive thoughts that he’ll come through the surgeries just fine, but I don’t want to have any regrets if it doesn’t …

Anyway, back to the stitching again … these are the little pieces that I started and finished while I’ve been away – I think I impressed myself which the stitching progress this time round!!  Admittedly two days sat in front of the TV in Mum’s room watching Catherine Cookson DVDs really helped … while I’m generally very very patient, and wanted to spend as much time with Dad as I could, we still needed to have a wee break just for sanity’s sake!!  Dad has a tendency to make comments that are less than positive and can be quite derogative, so I needed to recharge my little positivity bubble for a couple of days …

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“Never Too Big” by Dragon Dreams (2004 JCS ornie issue)
stitched with recommended DMC and Kreinik threads and JABC button
on 28ct light taupe linen (sorry, didn’t write the details down when I kitted it up!)

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“Full Moon” freebie by Elizabeth’s Designs
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Lugana by Countrystitch ~ colour Little Boy Blue??
with recommended DMC and WDW threads
(really love those little sheepies, even if they don’t have legs! LOL)

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“Seasons Greetings” by Glory Bee (2005 JCS ornie issue)
stitched on 28ct natural linen
with my choice of threads:
Lettering in Crescent Colours Cupid, Kreinik #4 braid for the star (#002),
DMC for the rest – white, 502 or 503 (can’t remember) and 500

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“Gourmet Garden” by Little House Needleworks
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed linen by Countrystitch ~ colour Pipi
with recommended DMC threads

I did start one last project that I hoped to see finished by the end of 2013, but it just wasn’t to be … this one will only take an hour or two of love and it’ll be finished, so it’s likely to be my first finish for 2014.  I really did want to start my rotation tomorrow, though, so I’ll have to make a decision whether to finish this one off now, or to wait until the “small projects” section of my rotation … I’m pretty sure I know what will win out tomorrow! 😛

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Just have the holly leaves and lettering to go on this one before there is another “F word” … “Finish”

And on that note I’d better call it a night, I think … I managed to pick up a few healthy groceries in readiness for one of my New Year’s Resolutions, that to be healthier and happier.  Hopefully all the salads will offset the half a suitcase full of chocolate goodies and Gingernut biscuits that Mum sent me home with! haha.

As to the rest of my New Year’s Resolutions and stitching plans/goals for 2014, well I guess that’ll have to come later once I’ve made some decisions … watch this space … just maybe not for a wee while 😛

Cross Stitch, Mirabilia, Works in Progress

Update on “Flossy”

Anne S

In  my last post I forgot to include an update on “Flossy” … she of the candy-floss sickly pink dress …

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Well sadly this is how she is going to stay for the foreseeable future as Hoffman sadly didn’t provide enough Kreinik #4 braid in the kit (and quite frankly paying $50 for a kit I would have expected more from them!!) to complete her, and it’s not a colour I have floating around in my stash, albeit a quite sizeable stash … and Hoffman don’t seem to be willing to respond to my online query about getting a replacement thread sent out.

I do have to admit that she’s grown on me over the weeks she’s spent lolling around the bedroom … I don’t think we’ll ever be BFFs, but she doesn’t make me want to puke quite as much as she used to!  Anyway, she’s just going to have to sit and taunt me for a while longer, as I’ve already put in a thread order to Nordic Needle prior to running out … and quite frankly I don’t really want to fork out for an entire spool of thread that I’ll never use in a million lifetimes after Flossy is finished … so there you have it …  I still have to frog and re-do her legs, thanks to an old dye-lot of DMC … but in truth I can’t bring myself to do it yet knowing that I still can’t finish her off … poor old Flossy, here she will sit unfinished and unloved for the foreseeable future!!  I still haven’t decided what to do with her once she’s finished … I may even keep her … maybe … I will decide later I guess … 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes, M Designs, Needlerolls

Thistle Needleroll

Anne S

I’ve been planning projects for a formal rotation, but truthfully haven’t had the mental energy to put it all into place as yet … I need to put everything onto Qsnaps and/or scrollbars and to ensure everything is kitted up properly before putting it all in order into a designated project ‘tub’.  In truth I get more enjoyment about of sorting through my stash to narrow down the potential suspects for the year rather than doing the stitching itself … but I’m sure over the New Year I’ll find some mental space to do it all properly and get the rotation kicked off for real 🙂

For now, though, I snuck in a new start over the last week, and did most of the stitching over the weekend to finish it off.  This was supposed to be the next project for my ‘small to medium sized projects’ in my rotation, but it jumped out at me early – probably only because I had the fabric and threads ready to go (including the fabric being nicely ironed in advance) … so what’s a girl to do?  I actually have the 2nd needleroll ready to go as well, but might wait for a couple of rotation slots before starting that one again so soon – this version is the “vibrant” colourway, and I still have the pastel version to complete.

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“Thistle Needleroll” by M Designs (vibrant colourway)
stitched on 28ct Lugana ~ colour Miracle Mint
with recommended threads (except used DMC alternatives for Anchor 898 and Olde Willow Antique Violet)

I won’t get around to doing the “finishing” of this one until the New Year, so for now it’s been added to the ever-mounting finishing pile.  As for what to start stitching next, that’s a very good question!

Seeing as I’m only in Oz for another working day (hopefully), my next new start will take place in NZ while I’m visiting with my folks.  I’m probably going to just take a couple of small ornaments and/or kits with me to work on, as I doubt I’ll get much stitching time in … but fingers crossed I’ll get to hang out with a group of lovely stitching ladies in Auckland on Sunday at a LNS.  I say fingers crossed, because it all depends on whether I can actually GET to NZ … the joys of staff travel and being on stand-by, and the flights are all almost 100% full to capacity as it is.  I’m limiting myself to 2 full days sitting at the airport – after that I’m going to stay home and try again on Christmas Day … but in the meantime I’m hoping for a miracle that a few people sleep in and miss their flights (very selfish of me, I know!).  Time will tell … and in the meantime I’m off to go choose a couple of projects to throw into my bag with me … if I choose something small enough I can get some stitching done at the airport, especially as it’s likely I’ll be there for the entire day each day!!  And otherwise I’ll be making sure my Kindle is full charged up, along with my iPhone … if nothing else I’ll be able to keep myself amused somehow, that’s for sure! 🙂

Canvaswork, Crazy January 2013 Challenge, Finishes, Little House Needleworks, Northern Pine Designs

Not one but TWO finishes!

Anne S

I lived up to my word and poor old Flossy (well, she’s a babe really, to say she’s only been around for a week or two!) has been put on the shelf for now … the urge got to me yesterday and I spent the afternoon catching up on recorded TV while finishing off two of my WIPs I mentioned in my last post.

First up is Ebb Tide by Northern Pine Designs.  Oh boy, this was a fun design to stitch!  I can’t say I’ll be in a hurry to stitch with Rachel thread again, but once I got clever and used some nail polish across the top of the thread where I cut it, it was a lot easier to use!  It’s the first time I’ve ever done Jessica stitches, and they’re really quite cute, and easy to do once you get the hang of them!  I did them slightly differently to how the instructions told you to do them, as I’d seen them done on some other needlepoint blogs … by tucking the last two stitches inside and underneath the previous stitches, so they sit perfectly.  All-in-all I’m thrilled this one is finally finished … and I spent no time at all popping the next Northern Pine design onto the bars to start a new one!

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“Ebb Tide” by Northern Pine Designs
stitched on Leventeen Blue canvas
with recommended threads

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While I was trying to take a photo last night my camera was struggling a bit to focus … imagine my delight at the colours showing on the viewing screen when it will still a blur … it made me smile so I captured the image! 🙂

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Here is the next design ready for starting … just need to find a couple of the missing threads (geez I hope I actually have bought these ones, otherwise I guess it won’t be started soon! LOL).  If not, I’ll just have to find another canvaswork design to throw onto some bars … I think I always need to have a piece of canvaswork ready to go at a moment’s notice, it gives me such pleasure! 🙂

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Then I decided to put the final stitches into LHN’s Acorn Hill – it didn’t take too long at all to pop the final words into place, and it became my second finish yesterday evening.

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“Acorn Hill” by Little House Needleworks
stitched on 28ct antique ivory coloured Jobelan 
with recommended Crescent Colours cotton floss

After that I decided to go back to old Flossy, and managed to put a few more stitches into the top wings – I didn’t bother taking a progress piccie as there wasn’t really too much to show … perhaps the next time you see her she will be finished … or maybe not … LOL.

Stash, Works in Progress

I take it all back … sorry Flossy!!

Anne S

I thought today I’d be stitching merrily away all day, but truth is I’m just not in a stitching mood … and seeing as my foot is only slightly tender today I decided to check my PO Box … also not conducive to finishing off Flossy!  You see the contents unexpectedly contained my last order from 123stitch – which means the missing threads I’ve needed to finish off two earlier (loved) projects that had to be put to one side until the threads arrived.  So now I’m REALLY torn between treating myself to some self-indulgent stitching with projects I love …  Perhaps I’ll quickly finish off Acorn Hill while I have the lounge to myself this afternoon, then back to Flossy this evening after the flatmate returns home … oh decisions, decisions!!

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The two projects I can now finish are LHN’s Acorn Hill, and Northern Pine’s Ebb Tide … plus I now have the proper beads for Victoria Sampler’s Fire Sampler, so I have no excuse not to go back and pick that one up again either … I now just have to suck up the mental energy and confidence to go back into that one and withdraw threads ready for the next drawn thread band.  This is how they all look now, while waiting to be returned to the stitching frame:

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I really need to get my confidence back in my stitching, there are so many of the projects that I have to work on that I find intimidating now, and I NEVER used to let my stitching intimidate me … I really do want to get back into my non-XS stitching and back to doing some class pieces again.  We had a stitching get-together with friends on Sunday, and Rowena was stitching on a piece doing hardanger and whitework, and I had a real yearning to get back into it myself.  I think I’ve just got so over-tired and overwhelmed this year with work and home that I’ve felt permanently drained.  One of the things I’m really excited about is that the department that I work for is moving back to Mascot to join the rest of the corporate departments, meaning my 2-3 hours a day commuting will be reduced to 1 hour maximum.  That in itself is brightening up my mind, and it’s bursting at the seams thinking of all the possibilities that opens up and getting back into my old routines.

Hopefully the latest cortisone shot did the trick as well, which also means I can get back to walking before or after work once again and start burning off some excess weight and getting fresh air … there will soon be no excuses I can fall back on!!  So time to suck it up Shackles and get cracking on getting life back on track once again, both with my stitching and my health!! 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Mirabilia, Mum's stitching, Works in Progress

Miss Valentine, aka “Flossy”

Anne S

I don’t know what possessed me … I purchased Miss Valentine by Mirabilia when I truly dislike the colour pink.  Her dress on the cover picture looks extremely pale, with just a hint of pink really, so for some reason she appeals to me.  Even though she’s not my usual choice, I thought she was lovely, truly delightful … until I started stitching her this week.  I feel like I’ve just pushed myself through the gates of hell … stitching hell …  OK, perhaps an exaggeration, but I seriously didn’t expect the vomit-inspiring candy floss pink to be the main colour of her dress … I’m hoping like heck that when the other colours are added that the colour will tone down somewhat!  The way I’m looking at her now is that she may just end up on Etsy or something at the end of all this!!  Poor Flossy, I do hope she tones down a little bit … I guess the alternative is that I just suck it up and unpick what I’ve done and do an entire colour conversion … which I suppose is kind of early enough to do this … or to finish her off and put her up for sale on Etsy … or gift her to a dear stitching friend when it’s finished … oh decisions decisions, what to do!  Poor old Flossy, I don’t mean to be so cruel to her, but she’s … well … she’s just not “blue”!!  Or lilac … Or frankly any other colour that’s not putrid, poxy, candy floss pink … !!

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After my little whinge, I’ll brighten up a bit to share what I did two weekends ago, and hadn’t realised that I haven’t shared yet.  While getting the scissor fob tutorials ready, and making up cording for the tutorial, I also dragged out a few pieces that are half-finished but just waiting for cording to be done and had a major cord-making session.  I now have a bunch of ornaments etc that have cording all ready to go … but, um, yeah, they’re still sitting in the finishing pile the same as they were before {{cough}}.  But they have cording now, so that’s closer to being finished than before, right?

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I also managed to sit up one evening and quickly completed the ladder stitch closures on this bunch of ornaments.  Some of these were stitched by my Mum and I did the finishing of them all.  Not entirely sure I’ll bother putting up the Christmas tree this year seeing as I won’t be here, and I don’t spend any time in the lounge any more with the flatmate taking it over, so they may not see the light of day until next year … but at least they’re finally out of the finishing pile and into the ornie box!

Here are Mum’s ornaments:

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And mine:

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Finishes, Freebies, Lizzie Kate

A few small finishes

Anne S

Not much housework was done over the last weekend … instead I spent the weekend stitching a few small freebie designs, and a wee spot of baking on Sunday.  I’d been doing a bit of baking recently – Red Velvet Cupcakes last Monday to welcome my colleague back to work (and to celebrate being able to go back to a single person’s workload once again!).  Then I found out the same colleague has his birthday on Halloween, so I spent a few mid-week cooking hours in the kitchen making two fruit flans.  After this week’s delicious baking attempts I’ve now been officially dubbed “Team Chef” … but not entirely sure I want that title!! LOL.

Last week I also managed to stitch a small chart I’ve had kitted up for a long time:

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“Duckling” freebie by Lesley Teare
(was on http://www.cross-stitching.com, but no longer there sorry!)
stitched on 28ct hand-dyed ‘sky’ Jobelan
with recommended DMC threads

Then this weekend I decided to stitch a letter “A” on the same fabric to use as a backing for a scissor fob:

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Freebie chart from an old french Sajou chart (Sajou 361) – chart still available here
stitched on 28ct hand-dyed ‘Sky’ Jobelan
with DMC floss

The other freebie stitching I managed to finish was as follows:

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“Spring” freebie by Lindy Lane Designs
(sadly it seems they are no longer in business, so I can’t provide a link to this one)
stitched on 28ct hand-dyed ‘sky’ Jobelan

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“Bloom” freebie by Lizzie*Kate
Chart still available here (scroll down to the middle of the page)
stitched on 28ct hand-dyed Lugana (not sure by who, it’s a VERY tight weave!!)
with recommended GAST/WDW threads, with the exception of Harvest Moon
(I subbed with a Ltd Edition GAST thread)

As for what’s next?  I need to do one more scissor fob tutorial quite quickly to help out a fellow stitcher with a specific finishing method … otherwise I just might have to pick up a new start!  My latest order is on its way from 123stitch, which means my replacement thread for LHN’s Acorn Hill is on it’s way – I figure I can probably sneak in one more new start/finish before it arrives and I ‘have to’ concentrate on my WIP … haha, first time I’ve said that, that’s for sure!! 😛

 

Cross Stitch, Enchanted Mermaid, Finishes, Little House Needleworks, Mirabilia, Works in Progress

Major Happy Dance!!

Anne S

I can’t believe the time has come when I have FINALLY put the last lot of beads into Enchanted Mermaid!  Unfortunately my camera is playing up so I can only use my iPhone at the moment for a photo, and it does her no justice whatsoever … she is without doubt the most blingey cross stitch project I’ve ever worked on.  In real life she really sparkles with all the treasures and beads she’s adorned with!

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“Enchanted Mermaid” by Mirabilia
Started October 2009 ~ Finished 20 October 2013
Stitched on 28ct hand-dyed Cashel by Picture This Plus ~ colour Fathom
with recommended threads and Mill Hill beads/treasures (squillions of them!)

Next up I continue to stitch as much as I could today on Acorn Hill … this has to be put aside for now while I wait for a replacement thread to arrive.  I’ve stitched all the other colours, so I have to wait now for more Brown Sugar to arrive, then it’s just a case of finishing up the lettering which won’t take too long at all 🙂

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I think my next BAP focus piece will continue to be TW’s English Garden Sampler.  I’m so close to a finish with that one, it doesn’t make sense to stop … although it’s a real challenging piece for me stitching in the evenings, so it’ll continue to be stitched within a semi-rotation with easier projects during the week.  It would be nice to get it finished before the end of the year, but I’m not entirely sure that’s do-able now unless I stitch on that solely … which for my sanity just isn’t going to happen!

Then I really need to pull my finger out and get a very overdue wedding sampler started … with any luck they’ll get it before their 10th wedding anniversary!! 😉