Cross Stitch – Page 32 – Feather Stitching

Canvaswork, Chatelaine, Cross Stitch, Egyptian Garden Mandala, Laura J Perin, Sapphire Star, Works in Progress

Resurfacing old U.F.O.

28 March, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

We spent the evening watching some TV and Supernatural episodes while I split my time between trying to resurrect my laptop (it keeps dying) and my stitching. I managed to stitch as far as I could on Sapphire Star, and realised I am missing yet another thread somehow … will have to check my stash to make sure I haven’t just forgotten to add it to the ‘kit’. Anyway, it’s looking great, if I say so myself!

Then I decided not to start anything new, but to pick up a very VERY old UFO that hasn’t been touched since … um … well … since April 2007 … yikes!!! I haven’t touched any of my old UFOs since I finished Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello last year, so I decided it was time to put a few stitches into it … I didn’t manage a great deal, but did manage to finish the stitching of the ‘bird band’ on the outside. I still hate the over-one section in the middle, and would dearly love someone to wave a magic wand over it to make it be “finished” … perhaps I’ll make myself do one strand of over-one stitching each time I pick it up before I stitch more on the fun parts – but then again that may put me off picking it up full stop – hmmm, maybe I should just leave it until the end, so it has to be done before the beading, that should be incentive enough! The “Before” picture shows the fabric colour more accurately.

Before

After

Today I’ve been struggling on and off all day with a nauseous migraine, so have been in bed most of the afternoon. I was getting restless so thought I’d tempt fate and sit up for a few minutes – but now I think it’s time to go back to bed again …

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Rosewood Manor

Last finish for a while

22 March, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I think I may be at the end of my record-breaking run of wee finishes now … I stayed up late tonight to put the final beads onto my little ornie, making 4 finishes in as many days – woohoo! 😀

“Red Berries” by Rosewood Manor
from Issue 11, December 2006, Gift of Stitching magazine
with DMC 221 and Hand Dyed Fibers premium silk “Jewel Weed”
stitched on 28ct white Cashel linen

I really should learn to take photos in daylight, instead of 11.30pm under bright light globes! It really doesn’t do this piece justice, as the beads are a beautiful metallic red. I have to admit, though, if I were to do this piece again, I would probably forget about the ‘star/snowflake’ things in the corners, as it seems a bit overcrowded and overpowering to me … but all in all I’m relatively happy with it 🙂

Now I have the quandary of what to work on next … I’m pretty keen to work on a number of projects, and the main ones that are calling me are probably the following:

Ghastly Ghostly Ghouls – Just Nan
Hocus Pocus – Lizzie*Kate
Winter Snapperland – Bent Creek
Ladybug, Ladybug – Little House Needleworks
2008 Halloween Fairy – Mirabilia (magazine chart)
Halloween Needleroll – Shepherd’s Bush
Quaker Huswif – Sampler Cove

And the list goes on … and on … and on …

Ah, decisions, decisions … 😛

Cross Stitch, Finishes, The Drawn Thread, Works in Progress

Crikey!!!

21 March, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

The needles have been flying tonight – although to be honest there really wasn’t much stitching left to do on this one. Tonight I managed to put the final stitches into Boo! My absolute favourite part of this piece is the wee scissor fob – I love, love, love it!! I need to wait for my sewing machine before I can do the finishing on this one, but I’m taking an extra two days off work after Easter, so perhaps I can get my machine back before then and have a mini finishing frenzy 🙂

“Boo! Scissor Keeper and Fob” by The Drawn Thread
stitched on 36ct Sand Edinburgh linen
with recommended NPI Silk threads (with the exception of black,
which I substituted with a Hand Dyed Fibers silk)

Before I called it a night tonight, I also started a new ornie, only ‘cos it was sitting here all kitted up in my bedroom, laying on top of a pile of books … so I figure it was as good a time as any to finally get it stitched up and out of the way! It’s supposed to be stitched with 1 strand of DMC 501, but to be honest I wasn’t thrilled with the coverage whatsoever, so I went back into my bedroom and rummaged through my silk piles … and ended up using a skein of Premium Hand Dyed Fibers silk called “Jewel Weed” which is almost identical to 501 but much, much thicker … personally I think it was a great choice, and I’m enjoying seeing this come together – I guess this will take me a couple of nights to complete this week, then I need to start thinking of what project to start next.

I have to admit I’ve really been enjoying having a bunch of small finishes – after having a bit of a ‘dry spell’, it’s been great seeing that finishing pile start to build up again over the last two months 🙂

Of course there’s still one more finish to show you, but it still hasn’t been received by my recipient yet, so I can’t share yet … geez I wish the postman would hurry up, though, ‘cos I want to share! 😛

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Periwinkle Promises

One more for the finishing pile

21 March, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I guess you can tell that I found the elusive little teeny packet of beads (they were hiding inside the chart in the stitching bag!) … which means all the stitching is now finished, and I just have to do put it all together … but that’s for another day …

“January Accent Sampler” by Periwinkle Promises
stitched with kit materials (Au Ver a Soie silk)
on 28ct natural Cashel linen

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, JBW Designs

Prancer

21 March, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Here’s my latest wee finish – I was able to complete the stitching last night after picking up the elusive DMC 368, then I put the beads on this morning. It was supposed to be stitched 1 over 1, but I wimped out and stitched it over-two on 28ct, then just increased the bead size from 40123 to 00123 instead.

“Prancer” by JBW Designs
from 2004 JCS Christmas Ornie issue
stitched on 28ct white Cashel linen
with recommended DMC and Mill Hill beads

Now I’m off to find the ever-elusive bag of beads that I’ve already lost once, then I found them last weekend and put them somewhere safe … I should have known I was in trouble at that point, as “somewhere safe” usually means the equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle … only I can lose something twice in as many weeks!!! … ho-hum

In fact, I might just hold off the search party and go and have some brunch across the road first, then I may even put together my bookcase … and then I’ll decide whether to start the search party again for my bead bag, or whether to sit in the lounge and finish off Boo! 🙂

Updated: Hmmmm, I’ve just decided to check out my camera settings to work out why all my photos seem to be washed out just lately … sure enough at some stage I’ve managed to change my exposure settings permanently … now I’ve put it back to “0” adjustment, the photos are coming out more more crisply, so I’ve re-uploaded the Prancer photos – slightly darker fabric, but definitely a lot clearer on the beading detail!

Cross Stitch

So much stitching I’m exhausted! :P

18 March, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

So much for the high hopes of completing my scissor fob stitching tonight … the sum total of my stitching entailed stitching the final 4 legs on my spider, and attaching the wee spider button body … um, and that’s it … kinda not worth taking a progress piccie really 😉

Tonight, though, was very productive from another perspective – I drove out straight from work to my old Chiropractor and FINALLY dropped off Boaz’s birth sampler gift, and as it turns out the girls are visiting Erin this weekend for Boaz’s … ahem … 1st birthday … ahem … To be fair, the fabric took a number of months to arrive, but I was also then very slow to actually get it stitched and framed, and it’s been sitting gathering dust in my bedroom for the last few months while working out how the heck I was going to drop it off! Oh well, it’s finally done and dusted, and one more ‘chore’ off the list 🙂

The 2nd stop was then to Officeworks where I picked up my little “slimline bookcase” – poor Katie had to resort to sitting in the back seat so I could fit the bookcase in my car, and I was clever enough to carry it into the apartment buiding, then took the box contents apart and brought them up in two trips up the stairs … a hernia is something I didn’t feel like tempting tonight!

Lucky last was a trip to Spotlight so Katie could pick up some cake decorating supplies, and I could pick up some ribbon and lining fabric for the With My Needle Quaker Friendship Book we did as a round robin last year. I must say, I think the fabric is VERY pretty … and while the ribbon isn’t a perfect match, it’s still very VERY scrummy … and blue, of course … “Lapis” to be exact! 😛

I also picked up one whole skein of DMC 368 that I couldn’t find at home for love nor money, which means I can now finish the latest ornie I got halfway through last weekend before having to throw in the towel. Maybe I’ll even get that finished this weekend too … although going by tonight’s stitching efforts, perhaps I should just keep quiet about my stitching goals LOL. I did manage to remember to pick up some plain white flannelette fabric that I use as lining on my metallic ornie forms, so that also means a couple more Christmas ornies can get finished soon … And finally I was able to buy 3 of the reels of sewing machine cotton that Mum wanted me to buy for her – sorry Mum, but they don’t sell the Molnycke thread any more 😦

As for now, it’s time for an early night … and fingers crossed my pin pillow exchange turns up soon, ‘cos I’m champing at the bit to post a piccie! 😛

Cross Stitch, The Drawn Thread, Works in Progress

A bit more Boo!

18 March, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I managed a tiny bit of stitching again last night, and was able to add one little ghostie to my scissors purse. I also managed to add a bit more to the fob by finishing the pumpkin vines and little black cat plus 2/3 of the wording – I’m hoping to have this one finished by the end of the weekend (stitching-wise anyway!).

Tonight I’d really like to see the scissor fob stitching finished – anything else is a bonus, although I should probably be able to get the back ‘panel’ finished on the purse as well … that just leaves the front panel to be stitched over the weekend … and the finishing – although I don’t know if I have any suitable fabric to use for the lining yet … will have to check the stash, but I’m pretty positive it’ll entail a trip to Spotlight or a quilting shop somewhere! Yep, I’m pretty sure this one will have to sit in the finishing basket for a wee while yet!

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Stash, Sydney, The Drawn Thread, Works in Progress

Boo!

16 March, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

Boo! Scissors Purse and Fob by The Drawn Thread is my current Work In Progress – so far I’ve managed to get almost halfway down the scissors purse, and about 1/4 of the scissor fob stitched. I’m still really tired in the evenings, so my stitching is going r…e…a…l…l…y s…l…o…w…l…y. Here’s my progress to date – once again, very washed out under the daylight bulb and even Photoshop Elements is struggling to get the colours right with a ton of manipulation! I started this one in about the middle of last year, but hated the feel of one strand of silk, and just never found a rhythm … I stopped halfway through completing the little pumpkin on the ‘flap’, and it’s only this last week that I’ve pulled it from the depths of my WIP basket and decided to give it a little bit of love again. And before you ask, yes, the “Boo” part at the top is supposed to be upside down … you see, it’ll fold over and then be the right way up again 😀

On Sunday I had a really lovely day out with my favourite Sydney ladies – Alison and Amanda … as always it was a riot, and much laughing and chattering was to be had. We went to the new craft show that was held out at Homebush at Sydney Olympic Park. I was on a stricter budget than normal, and there wasn’t too much to tempt me this time, but I still managed to come home with some great wee treasures … more in the shape of BIG floss rings for my threads (which are like hens teeth to find here!) and some more scissors (hey, a girl can NEVER have too many!!). I also bought a strand of beads that I think will be awesome as a scissor fob for the Gingher Roberta scissors … plus some necklace ‘thongs’ to put together some chunky style necklaces for myself and Katie. Hmmm, sorry about the green shopping bag that was used for the photography … not the best choice as a background to show off stitching scrummies! LOL.

And just LOOK at my favourite splurge of the day … I’ve been drooling over these Eiffel Tower scissors for the looooongest time, and that was my parting gesture to the show … and without doubt my very FAVOURITE purchase – I love, love, LOVE them, and don’t begrudge the AUD25.00 it took to procure them! 😀

Saturday was spent doing a bunch of tidying up in my pigsty of a bedroom, and tidying up my threads and stitching things – I finally grabbed a few of my kitted up projects that actually have DMC in the bags and entered all those threads into an Excel spreadsheet. It seems that these days I’m constantly putting projects on hold part-way through stitching ‘cos I’m one or two threads short, so hopefully this will help me know where to start rummaging when I’m hunting for an elusive thread! One other GREAT thing about tidying up my thread inventory is that I found the teeny tiny bag of embellishment beads for my January Accent Sampler by Periwinkle Promises … which also means I now have no excuse not to get it finished. All I need to do is to add the little beads, and my initials/year, and stitch the back-stitch border on the backing linen, and I’m all set to do the finishing … not much, right? … well, let’s just say it’ll get done some time soon either before or after I finish Boo! 😛

I’m hoping to take Friday off this week so I can run a couple of errands like FINALLY picking up a bookcase from Officeworks that I bought late last year (they didn’t tell me it had arrived then shipped it back to their warehouse again … bless them!) … which also then means I get to play DIY with my power drill (LOVE that thing!), and I also just might FINALLY finish unpacking those final boxes in my bedroom that are full of embroidery books etc … which will then perhaps FINALLY lead me to putting a bunch of my books I no longer want on Ebay … perhaps 😛

Work has been ‘challenging’ over the last couple of weeks – just for a change LOL. I’ve had it hinted from my boss that there could be a sort of new opportunity on the horizon that I should put my hand up for as it could be good for my career (and builds on the good relationship I already have with this group) … not really any different to what I’m doing now, just more focused on one area … time will tell if it actually pans out and goes ahead, and if so whether I get it or not, as there are obviously no guarantees. I have already stated openly to him, though, that I would be interested if it went ahead.

Anyway, talking of work, I guess I should hurry up and post this and get into beddy-byes … an extra half hour of sleep just could make all the difference for me tomorrow 😉

The next finish you see will hopefully be my Pin Pillow exchange piece, which is hurrying across the oceans as we speak, and hopefully won’t be too far away from its destination … 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Mosey 'n Me, Threads Through Time

Little finishes

11 March, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Katie and I have been hitting the lounge chairs almost as soon as we’ve walked in home at the end of each day, as we’re both a bit under the weather and really tired this week – it means we’re also now keeping on top of our TV viewing as well, and watching all our favourite shows within 24 hours of taping them … I’ve got Katie into my mindset of taping everything then watching it the next day and forwarding through the adverts … ah, bliss!

Of course all this sitting on my bottom early has meant a bit more stitching time this week … which would be great if I was stitching to my normal levels, but I’ve been stitching like an old snail this week, and it’s taken me 4 nights to complete one little ornie! Oh well, it’s better than nothing, and I have to admit it feels good to see one more kitted up finish off the pile.

“Reindeer Garden” by Threads Through Time
from 2000 JCS Christmas Ornament issue
stitched on 36ct cream Edinburgh linen with DMC

Once I’d finished Reindeer Garden, I also dragged out my Mosey n Me freebie “Love February” – I’ve never been happy with it ever since I stitched it back at the beginning of February … so I unpicked all the cream stitches and re-stitched in the pink colour, plus I was really unhappy with the green used for the rose’s stem, so out that went tonight as well, and I re-stitched the stem with a darker green. While the photo is really really washed out and bad, I’m a LOT happier with this version than the previous one, and really glad I opted to do some frog-stitching tonight! Now this one can officially join the “finished” list as well 😀

Before ……………………………………………. After

“Love February” by Mosey ‘n Me
stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen in DMC
with addition of small red heart button

As it was quite late by this stage, and I need to kit up some more charts/fabrics with their actual threads, I started stitching a simple JBW Designs Christmas ornie that was already kitted up tonight … I have a busy weekend planned, though, so no guarantees it’ll get finished until early next week … unless we have another DVD marathon tomorrow night 😉

With any luck my missing thread won’t be too far away now so I can get back to stitching my canvaswork Sapphire Star … I’ve also completed all the stitching of my Periwinkle Promises January Sampler Accent, but I’ve mislaid the teeny tiny bag of blue beads, and don’t seem to have the colour in my stash (Murphy’s Law!) … once I get a replacement packet, I just need to do the backstitching around the back piece of linen, make the corner tassels, and put it all together (I’ve obviously decided to use the linen backing instead of using the fabric for something else).

And on that note I’d better get my A into G and get some of those threads kitted up so I can jump into bed and get some shut-eye, so I’m a bit fresher for more stitching tomorrow night … and of course it’s a big day at work for a change, so I guess being fresh for work won’t go amiss either 😛

Cross Stitch, Elizabeth's Designs, Finishes, Needlebook, pinkeeps, Stitching Smalls

Gifties received

9 March, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I heard from Becky today that the Postman worked overtime over the weekend, and my little gifties arrived safe and sound. I’ve had the stitching done on these for 3 whole years (!!!) – the pinkeep has been sitting around finished ever since then, waiting for it’s companion needlebook to be finished. As soon as they became a matching pair officially (finally!!!), they were parcelled up and sent over to the US to their new Mum. Becky has a lovely photo on her blog, but here are a couple more from before they were made up into their finished versions (and these show the colours much more accurately):

As you can see, I had all intentions of getting them both finished the year they were stitched, so they still have 2007 stitched on the ‘backsides’ 😉 I have to agree I really love the little backstitched bees, but for the life of me I can’t remember which design I borrowed them from! And here’s the finished duo together all finished, just before packaging them up: