Cross Stitch – Page 28 – Feather Stitching

Oops … I forgot …

27 June, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I’ve had a couple of questions about my old UFO in my recent post, wondering what the project is. This is what it will grow up to become (apologies for the piccie, I just ‘stole’ it from an overseas Ebay site, ‘cos I can’t be bothered finding my original copy and scanning it!):

This is “Le Jardin Silk Sampler” from really old issues of JCS magazine (it was originally printed in two parts) – the designer is Sandy Orton.

As you can see, I’m a looooong way from a finish on this one – from memory I completed one 10-hour rotation on it, then my rotation went out the window when I packed everything up to go into storage, and I haven’t picked it up since (not to mention I’m absolutely detesting one of the Kreinik silks, which also put me off stitching it). Time to “suck it up, Princess” and get on with making some headway with it … it’s got plenty of specialty stitches thrown in with the XS to give some challenges along the way (not to mention that grotty revolting silk thread which provides a challenge on by itself!).

Cross Stitch, Food, Works in Progress

Last day of the weekend

27 June, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

Darnit, I’m sure someone stole some hours from this weekend, ‘cos even with an extra day it’s absolutely flown past! Mind you, at least I have something to show for it … a freezer full of the following:

Banana and Date Muffins

Spicy Apple Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Plus I have 3 servings of Spaghetti Bolognese in the freezer now ready for upcoming dinners, and 2 servings of Rice Pudding in the fridge (of which 1 is about to be consumed, leaving 1 more for tomorrow night – yummo).

While I’ve been busy in the kitchen, I’ve been listening to another book – Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. It’s very slow starting, but starting to get a bit more interesting, I guess. I’m almost halfway through the book now – I’ve really enjoyed having the book nattering away in the background while I’ve been busy.

Last night I put a few teeny tiny stitches into my Quaker Huswif, but not much more to show for it – this will be a loooong project, as I don’t often have time to stitch in bed on an evening, but I want to leave it here in my bedroom as my ‘bed project’.

Tomorrow it’s back to work again … {{sigh}} 😛

Cross Stitch, Food, Mirabilia, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, Works in Progress

Photo Hunt & Halloween Fairy WIP

26 June, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I flew down to Melbourne with work on Wednesday, which meant a 4.30am wake-up call and being on the road at 5.00am … getting home a 7.30pm … yikes. Being absolutely shattered, and on the first day of my ‘cycle’, I thought it would be best for all concerned at work if I took yesterday off as an RDO as my mood would be FAR from perky yesterday morning 😛

Anyway, on Thursday I came home from work and was in bed by 6.30pm as Katie flew home that night … and I curled up with book 2 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series (Lover Eternal – Rhage’s story). I didn’t put the book down again until I’d consumed the very last sentence – I’m now starting book 3 (Lover Awakened – Zsadist’s story), which I’ve been told is possibly the best book of the series to date.

I’ve tried to ignore the new book calling to me, though, and yesterday spent the entire day in my PJs sat in my stitching chair watching DVDs (Hart’s War with Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell, and disc 3 of season one of The Unit) and clearing the DVR of TV shows that Katie doesn’t watch. That meant a relatively big chunk of stitching time on Halloween Fairy – I’m almost at the point where I can’t stitch anymore until my two missing metallic threads turn up (they’re on back order), and I need to run to Spotlight to pick up one pack of Mill Hill beads that I apparently don’t have in my stash. Here is the updated piccie in the meantime – I probably won’t take another piccie until I receive my threads and beads and manage to finish her off. Oops, just noticed the photo isn’t quite in focus … I took it in the not-too-well-lit lounge with no lights on … ah well, you can kind of see the fabric better this way, though – it’s being stitched on 28ct Desert Sky hand-dyed linen by Silkweaver. I was originally a bit worried it would be a bit pale for the stitching, but actually I really like it!

Today I’ve been relatively busy after having a lazy day yesterday – the morning has been spent attacking the bathroom tiles with Exit Mould and scrubbing the grouting with a toothbrush. Then I popped a load of washing into the machine before heading across the road to grab a bit of grocery shopping so I can bake some muffins – and picked up a large skim cappuccino as an afternoon treat. Now I’m awaiting the next load of laundry to finish it’s cycle so I can throw the final one in for the night. Then I’m thinking of dragging an old UFO out of the ‘bin’ to work on in the lounge while I’m waiting for my Halloween Fairy supplies to turn up … I woke up thinking about this piece, so perhaps it’s only right that I finish it off.

Then I need to kit up my final two PIFs, along with two exchanges that need to be stitched over the next couple of weeks – that could keep me out of trouble for a while! Plus I have a couple of picture frames that I still haven’t put together, although I may save those until next weekend.

I’ll finish off my saga for the day by doing this week’s Photo Hunt …

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is ”Purple” – and this week I’ve chosen a spot of purple from Robyn Drayton’s winery in the Hunter Valley, NSW.

Cross Stitch, Stash, Works in Progress

Sydney Craft Show

21 June, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

On Saturday I spent most of the day with some of my stitching buddies – Alison, Amanda, Rowena and Karen … and as per usual it was a day filled with good times and laughter, and a teeny bit of stash enhancement. I actually felt like I was buying things left, right and centre, but when I got home I was sadly mistaken … but the wallet was much, much thinner, so I think I did alright!

I actually didn’t buy too much – in fact, this is a photo of my entire spoils from the day: Some acid-free double-sided tape, 11″ Q-snaps and extender kit, Yazzi bag (the colour sucked me in and I couldn’t resist!!), Issue 61 Inspirations magazine, pair of turquoise scissors, 1m of large black ric-a-rac, a packet of Bohin quilting pins, some Christmas glass beads for fobs or something, a ‘tombie’ thread winder from The Gift of Stitching, a piece of 36ct hand-dyed linen from Stitches & Spice, and a scrummy heart pendant made of Apatite.

The only thing I wanted but couldn’t find was a nice thread substitute for the Rainbow Gallery nightmare thread to finish off Sapphire Star … but I did get two things in particular that I really wanted to buy … some more Q-snaps and some 36ct hand-dyed linen for Sampler Cove’s Quaker Huswif (a chart that KarenV gifted me with quite some time ago). I’ve been hankering to make a start on this one for a while and some weeks ago made a start on 32ct natural linen but didn’t like the thread coverage, then tried again on 36ct hand-dyed Pipi linen from Countrystitch but didn’t like the colour … now it’s like Goldilocks, this new linen is “just right”. There was another fabric that was probably slightly better, but it was a mix of blues and pinks, and it was just a tad too pink for me, so I went in a different direction.

The one I ended up choosing is a dove grey colour from Stitches & Spice (thanks to the girls for helping me decide), and it suits the thread colour just beautifully (I’m using a premium silk floss by Hand-Dyed Fibers in the colour of “Midnight”). I couldn’t wait to try it out, so late last night I put a few stitches into the fabric to start it off again, and went to sleep with a smile on my face 😛

Tonight I stitched more of the pumpkins on Halloween Fairy, and I’ve completed all the DMC stitches and now have to stitch the metallics … I can’t say that’s being my favourite part of the stitching really – I’m looking forward to having all the metallics stitched so I can get on and do the beading, which in my eyes is much more fun! Seeing as there isn’t a great deal of progress, I’ll hold off taking a progress piccie for another day or two 🙂

Country Cottage Needleworks, Cross Stitch, Friends & Family, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, skiing, snow, Wishlist

New to the wishlist & Photo Hunt

19 June, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

Oh boy, I just browsed a blog or two while I was waking up, and found the latest design by Country Cottage Needleworks … I sooooo HAVE to have this one!!! Hmmm, I wonder if they’ll let me add it to my order from NIAH?? 😀

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is ”Six” and following on from yesterday’s theme, here are six of us braving the elements on Tukino skifield once again. Dunno why, but I just love this photo – it’s quite candid, and I love the ‘whiteout’ effect from the falling snow 😀 (I’m the one in the blue jacket in the middle … I adored that jacket, but alas so did the thieves that broke into our home one day boohoo.)

Cross Stitch, Mirabilia, Works in Progress

Halloween Fairy update

18 June, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I may not get another chance to post this weekend with an update piccie, so here goes with a really quick drive-by post and piccie – I’m moving along slowly but surely with Mirabilia’s Halloween Fairy. Once I’ve finished the pumpkins I’ll be able to complete the green swirls on the bottom half of the design and perhaps some of the beads, then I’ll be flipping her over onto her ‘head’ to start stitching her upside down to complete her upper body … then she’ll have to sit on the shelf until her missing threads arrive, as I think it’ll be at least a month before they turn up …

Books & Reading, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Sweetheart Tree

Dark Lover and a Simple Sampler

14 June, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

The joys of having a public holiday today means today I could be totally selfish and lazy and not get out of bed or get dressed until the afternoon! Instead I spent the morning reading half of J.R. Ward’s “Dark Lover” and getting it finished … and have to admit I’m looking forward to book number 2 of this series, “Lover Eternal”.

After being relatively disappointed with the Twilight vampire series, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with this book … although with the ‘adult’ scenes, it certainly isn’t comparing apples with apples with the Twilight series … I think the only similarity is that they both contain vampires! It’s taken me literally a couple of months to read this book, mainly because I keep putting my stitching first – I get the impression from the end of the book, though, that my book reading may soon have to take a priority on the odd weekend and my stitching will have to take a back seat! That’s the only downside to reading a ‘real’ paperback, I can’t do both of my passions at the same time 😛

The rest of the morning has been spent finishing off my Sweetheart Tree project that I started last night – it took longer than expected, as I’d forgotten just how much of a nightmare all that backstitching is … but worth it in the long run! I managed to watch 4 episodes of The Ghost Whisperer (3rd season) while I stitched. Sorry for the crappy photo, as it certainly doesn’t show up the nice warm buttery linen!

“A Simple Sampler” (kit) by The Sweetheart Tree
stitched on 32ct cream Belfast linen
with DMC threads and Mill Hill petite beads

Offer: Seeing as I’ll never ever stitch this one again, I’m happy to offer up the chart to anyone who wants it. If you leave a comment in this post that you’d like to go into the draw for this chart, I’ll draw a name out at the end of the week. I’ll also send the leftover beads – I’m pretty sure there are enough left over to complete the project again.

Now it’s time to finally shake off the cobwebs and jump in the shower and get dressed – I need to pop over the road to the supermarket to buy supplies to bake some banana muffins … then it’ll almost be time for bed again LOL.

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes

New start/finish

13 June, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Unfortunately my back was killing me while I was out shopping yesterday, so I drove Katie over to Epping for the 50th birthday, but I left after 1 1/2 hours so I could come home and put my back to bed early. After chewing Nurofen last night/this morning the edge has been taken off the discomfort and I’ve been sat up in bed this morning with my needle in hand clearing TV shows off the TiVo. Here is the end result of a few hours not moving:

“Reindeer” by JBW Designs (Christmas Keepsakes II)
stitched on 32ct natural Belfast linen
with a mix of GAST, WDW and DMC threads

That means I’ve now stitched all three designs from the Christmas Keepsakes II chart – I’ve really enjoyed stitching these ones up.

As for what’s next, I’m considering picking up Sapphire Star again this afternoon and looking at thread choices to substitute for the horrible one that made me put this one on hold. I’m thinking of just using a DMC pearl cotton, but I’m not entirely sure whether it will look OK …

Otherwise I’m tossing up between two new starts for my bedroom – “Sky Blue” Sampler Accent by Periwinkle Promises or “A Simple Sampler” by The Sweetheart Tree, both of which are ready and waiting and all kitted up for starting. Plus of course I still have my little birth sampler to stitch for my work colleague, and I’ve finally made my decision for my next PIF victim 😀

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes, Mirabilia, scissor pockets, scissors, Stitching Smalls, The Cat's Whiskers, Works in Progress

Weekly Update

12 June, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Another week has gone by, and not much stitching has been completed in that time – the only thing I’ve been working on this week has been my Halloween Fairy with a few more stitches put in Mon-Thu this week. I’ve made OK progress on this one, but it’ll be a few weeks yet before she’s finished (not just stitching-wise, but I realised I’m missing two Kreinik braids which I’ve had to order and wait because they’re out of stock – I had a store credit to use up with Needle in a Haystack, so I decided to put it to good use with my braids). I have to admit I’m enjoying stitching her with her decent sized blocks of colour 🙂

The only other news is that my Scissor Pocket Exchange arrived safely at its destination during the week, and thankfully Lillie likes it, which is the important thing 🙂 It was supposed to be a no-extras exchange (love those exchanges), but I couldn’t resist adding a little pair of scissors that I’d bought at the last craft fair we went to, which I used as my basis to choose a thread from my stash to match. I didn’t think to take a photo of the inside flap, where I stitched both our initials, so I’ve borrowed one of Lillie’s photos (hope she doesn’t mind).

“Alyssum 2007 Ltd Ed Scissor Pocket” by The Cat’s Whiskers
stitched on 32ct Bo-Beep Pink Belfast linen
with Needle Necessities thread 196

Rightio, time to head off and do something – I need to kit up a Lizzie*Kate Welcome Baby sampler for a colleague’s new daughter, and find a Halloween cape in the depths of the garage for an upcoming fancy dress party for Katie, as well as head out to a shopping mall to actually find a top to wear tonight!

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Just Nan

Ladybug Santa

6 June, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I’ve been working on this little piece in my bedroom over the last week – it never ceases to amaze me how long it takes to stitch up such a little project, but that over-one stitching and all those colour changes really slows things down. All-in-all, though, I’m quite pleased with this one, and now all that is left is to finish-finish it into its little WhimZi Frame.

“Ladybug Santa” by Just Nan
stitched on 28ct Misty Blue Cashel linen
with recommended threads (DMC & Kreinik #4 braid)

That’s the entire stitching update for this weekend – the rest of the weekend was spent having a handyman come to visit to put the hot-water tap back on in the shower, then driving over to the other side of the world for a few hours to visit with my best friend’s Mum, Doreen, who’s here visiting for a couple of weeks. As we have a ‘date’ tonight, and we’re out Fri/Sat next weekend, this was the only opportunity I had to say hello – it was really lovely to see her again, albeit briefly 🙂

Tonight we’re off to the movies with a couple of hot guys … the most sexy and gorgeous gay couple we know (beautiful both inside and out) … first up is a quick bite to eat, then we’re off to see the Prince of Persia. The two boys and Katie can drool over Jake Gyllenhaal while I just enjoy the action (Jake just doesn’t do it for me, alas … although even I have to admit he looks better than normal in the trailer for this movie).

As for what else is happening – my new job finally got announced last Thursday night, and I went to my first offsite meeting with my new team members on Friday morning. Even though I don’t take on my new role officially until 1 July, it was good to get a heads-up of projects that are currently underway that I’ll be involved with when I start.

Weatherwise we’re all pretty sick of the torrential rains this week in Sydney – I don’t usually mind it too much (and it’s been raining on and off for a few weeks now), but this week has been especially horrendous. Have to admit, if we weren’t meeting Peter and John tonight, I would be very tempted to bail on going out to the movies … it’s totally yucky outside!

Anyway, there’s just enough time to watch another old episode of The Mentalist before I have to start getting ready … so I’d best get cracking …