Cross Stitch – Page 23 – Feather Stitching

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Halloween, Just Nan, Little House Needleworks, pillows, Twisted Threads

Pillows Galore!

28 November, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

The title sounds a little bit like a James Bond girl – however 007 has nothing to do with the title whatsoever … it DOES have to do with a mini finishing frenzy I’ve had this weekend (well, just today really). This is what part of the sofa looked like earlier today as I was planning out the backing fabrics etc:

And here are the results of my efforts today – not quite everything finished yet, but still a lot closer to that goal than when I started (including three ornies that weren’t in the above photo). Unfortunately the weather is rainy and revolting today and it was really dark in the lounge, so I couldn’t get really nice crisp light photos. The first pillow is probably my favourite with the little black buttons – but truth is I’m pretty pleased with them all 😀

The rest of today was spent doing a mercy run across the road for some serious junk food to stave off my cravings (definite proof of what time it is for this female, as if I hadn’t worked it out already) … and helping my elderly neighbour by climbing up on a chair and lifting her suitcases etc back up into the top of her wardrobe (I got them all down for her yesterday so she could go through them and throw out what she didn’t want – tonight’s job was to put all the cases and bags back up again).

I haven’t done any stitching at all over the last few days – just too tired at the end of the day, I think … which is probably why today was so satisfying to me, as it was proof of still doing something stitchy even without actually stitching.

Anyway, I’ll sign off by saying thanks so much to everyone for sharing their stories and comments from my previous post – it felt really wonderful to hear such positivity and helped me to keep my spirits high this week, higher than they’ve been in months! Thanks again everyone for your candour and your acceptance 😀

And on that note I’m skulking back off into the lounge to do a bit of a tidy-up session before Katie comes back from being out of town (which is usually the only time I get into ‘finishing mode’) … and to polish off a bit more of that junk food 😛

Cross Stitch, Heart in Hand Needleart, Works in Progress

Murphy’s Law appears yet again

23 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I decided to have a break from Halloween stitching this afternoon and picked up a half-kitted-up project … I thought I had all the threads for this one, but as luck would have it (Murphy, seriously, you’re a pain in the neck!!) my skein of WDW Cocoa has gone walkabouts and I didn’t have enough of the WDW Lancaster Red so I ran out halfway through. Pfffft 😦

The good news, though, is that the missing threads are really common which means I’ve been able to order them from a local source – and Janine at Colours Down Under is usually really quick with shipping, so hopefully they’ll be in my hot little hands in a week or so, then I can finish this project off 😀

In the meantime, though, I now have to decide what to stitch on next … I’m thinking perhaps a bit of Sapphire Star is in order – it would be nice to get this one finished by year’s end, so I really should pull my finger out now I’ve decided on which substitute threads to use 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010, Halloween, Homespun Elegance, Twisted Threads

Halloween continues

23 November, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Thanks to the dreaded lurgy I’ve taken one extra day off work to catch up on some R&R, and catch up on some stitching. I have to admit it was the best thing I could’ve done, as I feel 10 times better already just by relaxing and chilling out in/on my bed. When I haven’t been sleeping, I’ve been stitching, and have managed to get another two small finishes under my belt.

“October Boo Mini Gingham” by Twisted Threads
stitched on 28ct beige/cream checked Graziano linen
with recommended GAST threads
(except Black Crow which I substituted with DMC 310)

“Boo Tyme” freebie by Homespun Elegance (available here)
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Lugana by Countrystitch – in colour “Acorn”
with the following thread choices:
Crescent Colours – Cocoa Bean
Crescent Colours – Pumpkin Harvest
GAST – Brandy

Cross Stitch, Halloween, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, The Trilogy, Works in Progress

Dreaded lurgy

22 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I was feeling off-colour most of the day yesterday, and even ended up having a 3-hour nanna nap in the afternoon because I felt so exhausted – when I woke up I had a raging sore throat, and sure enough today it has hung around and I managed to add super-sensitive hearing to the mix. After croaking my way through a one-hour meeting at work, my boss has sent me home with my tail between my legs to rest up for the afternoon … and truth be told it didn’t take much convincing, ‘cos I’m feeling ‘not too flash’ on the whole. Everyone at work was driving me crazy noise-wise, so I think it’s very clever that I not stay around any longer or my patience threshold may not survive … yikes!

Last night, though, even though I was feeling crappy I did manage to get a few stitches into a new start – I have about 6-8 Halloween/Autumn projects that I kitted up with the fabrics all cut up, and the threads pulled, so I’ve decided I should continue working my way through those until they’re finished before I move on to something more challenging (and then I can put the threads away again!). Last night I started The Trilogy’s “October Boo” from their Mini Gingham series – I don’t think it’ll take too long to finish this one off, and it was a really nice change from Just Nan and her squillions of colour changes in one small space! This one is designed to be stitched over-one, but I cut my fabric larger and I’m stitching it over-two instead.

I’ve been tossing up whether to join a new challenge in 2011, where you pull 15 new-start projects and stitch on a new one every day for the first 15 days of January, then aim to have them all completed by the year’s end. I love this idea (hey, who wouldn’t love all those new starts? haha), but because I use Q-snaps etc I don’t think this would work for me, because it’d be a right royal pain pulling them apart every night after just doing a few stitches. Instead, I’m thinking of just pulling 15 new-start projects and kitting them up, then sitting them in a separate bag/basket and making them my challenge to be completed during the year … it’s food for thought anyway!

I have to admit I find it so much better when I have projects fully kitted and ready to be picked up – I’m a real procrastinator when it comes to new starts, and I can go for days on end without starting anything just because I hate cutting up the fabrics and pulling all the threads out … having a basket of ‘ready-to-stitch’ projects means I don’t have to think about it, I can just put my hand into the basket, pull out a new project, and just pretty much start stitching straightaway! Of course, I do have to get motivated on at least one day to get the projects kitted up in the first place, but I truly do think it’s doable … in fact, I think I may even start working through my list of projects and find at least 15 projects that I really really want to stitch, and find out if I have all the threads (I’m always getting caught out by starting projects and finding out a thread is missing pffft). In fact, I think that’s a perfect job for this afternoon when I’m vegetating out at home feeling sorry for myself … although just thinking about it has worn me out … so perhaps I should leave the decisions for another day LOL.

Bent Creek, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Summer Snapperland

Summer Snapperland – finally finito!

21 November, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

After waiting for 9 months to finally receive the little buttons needed to finish off Bent Creek’s Summer Snapperland, I then kept forgetting to blow off the dust and put the finishing touches into this little beauty. I finally pulled my finger out today and stitched on the 4 little sand-dollar and seashell buttons and this piece is now finish-finished. I’m totally thrilled with this piece – I adore the fabric I chose (a hand-dyed lugana), and the colours of the project itself … it won’t be long before I get this one framed, I think, after Christmas 😀

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010, Halloween, Just Nan

More Just Nan finishes

21 November, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I managed to get a whole heap of stitching done yesterday – I put the finishing touches into Scream Girls, then started and finished Pretty Wicked, also by Just Nan.

“Scream Girls” by Just Nan
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch – Kiwi Illusions colour ‘Pipi’
with recommended DMC threads

“Pretty Wicked!” by Just Nan
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch – Kiwi Illusions colour ‘Butterfly Dance’
stitched with recommended DMC threads

This afternoon I intend having another lazy afternoon stitching, as I’m still trying to catch up on a month’s TV viewing from when I was on holidays – hopefully by the end of today I’ll be relatively caught up!

And while I’m catching up, I just may pick up one of my old WIPs to try and get one finished (only only has buttons left to be sewn onto it!)

Cross Stitch, Heartstrings, Just Nan, Works in Progress

As slow as a wet week …

19 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

That’s how my stitching has been going this week … very VERY slowly. Last weekend I only had a couple of hours stitching left on Scream Girls, and it STILL isn’t finished an entire working week later … pffft! Oh well, it’s the weekend, and I just cashed in some “time off work” certificates so I could leave an hour earlier than usual, so it’s time for some self-indulgent time spent in the lounge with stitching in one hand, and a glass of sparkling Shiraz in the other, and some not-necessarily-quality TV on the gogglebox 😛

The piece being worked on tonight, though, won’t be Scream Girls just yet, as I’m still working on Bittersweet Season as my lounge stitching project … by the time I finish this pumpkin my threads just may have arrived hahaha 😛 (Sorry about the fuzziness of the photo, in particular with the bottom section … and that’s even BEFORE the sparkling Shiraz!!)

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Needlerolls, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, Travel - New Zealand

Photo Hunt – Stripes (9 October)

18 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

The theme on 9 October was ”Stripes” and here are some stripes on the skirts of a Maori cultural group in Rotorua, New Zealand. The Maori name for the skirt is “piupiu”, and it is a traditional item of clothing made from flax leaves. I love the swishing sound it makes when it swirls and the dried flax hit each other. If you want to see some traditional piupiu, you can find some here on the Te Papa Museum website.

And in keeping with trying to find stitching/needlework examples of the weekly themes, here is the unmade needleroll that I stitched for an exchange years ago – it was a self-made design by using some elements from other designs and making some parts up … I was quite pleased with the end result.

Cross Stitch, Entertainment & Activities, Mirabilia, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, Winter Queen

Photo Hunt – Sparkle(s) (5 June)

17 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

On 5 June the theme was ”Sparkle(s)” and this ‘lady’ sure was covered in them!! He/she was part of the evening’s entertainment at a work Christmas party that had a “Carnival” theme.

Then of course there is always those lovely stitching projects that have lots of sparkly beads and metallic braids offering extra sparkle 🙂

Cross Stitch, Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, Uncategorized

Photo Hunt – Miniature (16 October)

14 November, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

The theme for 16 October was ”Miniature” and here’s one of the smallest pieces of stitching I’ve completed – and most definitely the smallest I’ve ever had framed (and the smallest the framer had ever completed, they found it quite a challenge!). The stitching is just over an inch tall and just under 2 inches wide 🙂 (The bottom photo is the closest to the actual colour of the fabric etc.)