Cross Stitch – Page 34 – Feather Stitching

Thanks … and stash

10 February, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

First of all, thanks so much for your offers of getting the thread I need for Sapphire Star, it’s greatly appreciated. I have decided, however, to make a small order with Stitching Bits & Bobs as they are showing the thread in stock (or at least they sell it, can’t say it’s actually in stock really). As I have a couple of Rainbow Gallery threads that I need, I thought I’d order the others that SB&B stock plus a few bead kits while the Superbowl sale is still on (at least I hope it’s still on!) … and I just might have to fall off The Wagon for this little beauty, compliments of Nashville new releases … OMG, I’m drooling all over my keyboard!!!

This is Snow Queens Slipper with Accessories by Carolina House Designs … {{sigh}}

I’ve decided that seeing as I’m not really celebrating my birthday this year (although I may decide last minute to go to the movies on my birthday night) I thought I’d make myself a little birthday gift of this little beauty … well, I have to make the postage cost worthwhile right? LOL. Then it’s back on the stash wagon once again (there really is no hope for me, is there?) 😉

Thanks also for your comments about my fabric cutting experience over the weekend – I had a blast, and have started stitching one of the little freebies already. With luck I should get it finished in time for Sunday … maybe … I should show you a list of the other projects that have had their fabric cut up for a while now (when everything went into storage 2 1/2 years ago) – there are some stunning projects in there, and over the last two years with a small number of exceptions that’s what I’ve been pulling my stitching from. There are still loads in there yet (um, probably twice the number of the list I added over the weekend), but some of the projects are quite huge and time-consuming. There are also loads of needlerolls, so I really should get back into gear and start stitching some of those up – I have the fabric cut up for pretty much all the Sweetheart Tree needlerolls, and they’d look so pretty in a basket with my others … ah, so much stitching, so little time …

And on that note, I’d better jump in the shower so I can go do that thing that makes an occasional stitching stash enhancement possible … work!

Cross Stitch

Cut up fabrics galore…

7 February, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I now have two piles of new projects that have their fabrics all cut out ready for stitching … I have to admit I really enjoyed the process of getting all the fabrics out of the drawers, picking out a ‘few’ charts, and attacking everything with the scissors. Of course it’ll take me forever to stitch everything, and I already have a few drawers of projects semi-kitted up from when my stash was all in storage … but now there are even more yummy projects to choose from, including some sweet little freebies.

The projects that have now joined the semi-kitted pile are:

Anita Diamond (GoS) – Quaker Flowers Strawberry Emery
Blackbird Designs – Strawberry Garden
Cherished Stitches – A January Box
Cindy Valentine – Arabesque needleroll
Cmon Monde – Ma Boîte à Trésors
Cmon Monde – Trousse aux Fleurs Bleues
Country Cottage Needleworks – Cherry Hill
Country Cottage Needleworks – Little Ballerinas
Elizabeth’s Designs – Hummingbird
Erica Michaels – Random Hearts
Handblessings Patterns – Christmas Tree Quilt Ornament
Heart in Hand – Christmas Bird
Heart in Hand – Valentine’s Bird
Indigo Rose – Four Little Strawberries
JBW Designs – English Plum Pudding
Just Nan – Dragonfly Scissor Purse
Just Nan – Ladybug Santa
Just Nan – Pretty Wicked!
Just Nan – Scream Girls
Little House Needleworks – Acorn Hill
Little House Needleworks – Blossoms & Blackbirds
Little House Needleworks – Gourmet Garden
Little House Needleworks – Moon and Stars
Lizzie*Kate – Christmas Flip-It
Lizzie*Kate – Fall Crazy
Lizzie*Kate – My Favourite Time
Northern Pine Designs – Blue Bayou (canvaswork – although missing one thread again!)
Serendipity Designs – Beaded Easter Egg
Shepherd’s Bush – Christmas Treat Bag
The Cat’s Whiskers – Happy Holidays
The Drawn Thread – Joyous Christmas
The Prairie Schooler – Autumn Leaves
The Prairie Schooler – Boo To You
The Prairie Schooler – Christmas Eve
The Prairie Schooler – Fall Fields (just the Duck one)
The Prairie Schooler – When Witches Go Riding
The Sweetheart Tree – Blackberry Fob
The Sweetheart Tree – Butterfly Scissor Fob
With My Needle – Maidens of the Sea
With My Needle – Quaker Samplings I

Plus a few online freebies and one chart for a gift 🙂

Of course I haven’t put a single stitch into fabric all weekend, but I had an absolute ball, and it was just what the doctor ordered 🙂

One other thing I managed this afternoon was to set up my old TV in my bedroom with a DVR – my old DVR in the lounge died about 6 months ago, and I replaced it a few months ago … the only problem is that it’s the same brand as my DVD player in the lounge and every time we switch on the DVD player the DVR switches on as well, and when we pause a DVD it switches to the other player and it takes forever to go back again … I’ve been wanting something in my room to record those shows that Katie doesn’t watch, so I can watch while I’m stitching in bed, and now it’s all set up and a few shows are ready for taping … The Mentalist, Cold Case, Medium, House, and So You Think You Can Dance – I’ve missed loads of The Mentalist since we didn’t have enough recording options when my last DVR died (and I had no TV in my room), so now I can start watching those old favourites again – yippee!! 😀

And now I’m off into the kitchen to sew on a couple of muslin strips to my little bits of fabric, then dig out the necessary threads, and then I’m ready to start stitching a couple of seasonal pieces of my new semi-kitted stash 😀

Cross Stitch, Exchanges

Exchanges are back in fashion

7 February, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

It’s been a while since I participated in any Exchanges, but I decided to join Becky and her group of followers in a Pin Pillow exchange, mailing date 1 April. I just received my recipient’s name this morning, and the first thing I did was to check out her blog to see what sort of designs she likes and if I could find her favourite colour – anything to help me choose something that he/she is more likely to appreciate.

Anyway, this got me thinking about anyone who doesn’t know me who has my name in an exchange – it would be difficult for them to find the same information in my blog … especially as these days that I’m not stitching as prolifically. So, I decided to uplift some of the information from my RAK Registry post, and tweak it a bit, and have now added that as an extra page here – my “Likes” page. Hopefully this will help any future exchange partners to find the information they need! 🙂

And now I’m off to continue cutting up some more fabrics for the two dozen or so new projects that I dragged out of the stash pile last night … I won’t kit them up with their DMC etc yet, or I might find myself in trouble, but at least the fabric will be cut up ready, as that’s my usual drawback when I’m starting something new … of course it will take me the entire year and beyond to stitch them all, but at the moment for me the fun is in the planning 😉

Canvaswork, Cross Stitch, Wishlist, Works in Progress

Frog stitching

30 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

Well, I finally bit the bullet last night and sat down in front of Dawson’s Creek (over halfway of the whole series now, thank goodness … the end seems so much closer now LOL), and mindlessly frog-stitched Sapphire Star. This is one of those cases when the “before” and “after” pics seem to be so, so wrong! 😛

BEFORE …………………………………………………… AFTER

Instead of starting my stitching on it again, though, I thought I’d wait until I had a day of concentration available so I didn’t cock it up again, and added just a couple of stitches into my other WIP. Unfortunately I didn’t really enjoy stitching this one the first time round, and I can’t say why but things haven’t changed much, so it’ll be a long-time WIP I think – even though there isn’t a great deal of stitching, I get fed up with it really quickly … even if I only get an hour’s stitching inbetween other WIPs I think I’ll be happy enough. I’m also disappointed that the purple thread isn’t as dark as my original one, so the bright turquoise seems to be more overpowering, rather than equal in colour intensity … but hopefully when more gets added it’ll be OK.

Ooh, before I forget though, I have to say I’ve just seen yet ANOTHER chart that has gone STRAIGHT to my wishlist … loving everything “Paris” this one just HAS to come to Mama at some stage:

In fact there have been a few designs over recent months that have appealed and probably need to go officially on my wishlist … I’m not sure if I’ve shared these already, but perhaps I will just to share the love and to spruce up this post? Here are many more designs that have tickled my fancy recently:

Blackbird Designs-Summer Iris; Cherished Stitches-Tulip Collection; Bent Creek-July Sings

Bent Creek-Joyous Noel; The Cat’s Whiskers-Noel Natural; JBW Designs-Tis the Season

Lizzie*Kate-3 Blox kit; Dessins DHC-White Christmas; Milady’s Needle-Christmas Elegance

Lizzie*Kate-Jolly Holiday; Rosewood Manor-Ring in Christmas; The Trilogy-Snow Treats!

The Victoria Sampler-Christmas Village; Stitching Treasures-Thistle Stitcher’s Purse Kit; Stitching Treasures-Antebellum Sewing Kit

Chatelaine-Peacock Mandala Mystery; Cross-Eyed Cricket-A Summer Place; Dessins DHC-Laura’s Embroidery

From Nancy’s Needle-Shades of Winter; It’s Fine-ally Finished-Percy kit; Needles Prayse-English Whitework Sampler

Primitive Needle-Witches Hollow; Rosewood Manor-Quaker Diamonds; Stitcher’s Hands-Funky Frank

Twisted Threads-Mini Gingham October Boo; The Trilogy-Halloween Spot; Shepherd’s Bush-We Will Go A-Haunting

Shepherd’s Bush-Spooky Halloween; Shepherd’s Bush-October; Glendon Place-Witching it was Halloween

Heart in Hand-Halloween Markings; Hinzeit-Charmed Peek-a-Boo

Glendon Place-Monster March; Cross Eyed Cricket-Skeleton Crew

Now after sharing a very eclectic mix of designs, I’m off into the HTML code of my blog to yet again fix up the silly sidebars that every so often (after no changes from me, mind you) expand themselves so they drop to the bottom of the page. I wonder if it’s when they do a new ‘refresh’ of WP? Anyway, perhaps this time I’ll learn and do a copy and paste into a Word document of my blog code so I can just copy and paste it back again later when it happens again … ‘cos it’s like the Pantene ad, it may not happen overnight but it WILL happen (again … and again … and again).

Angels, Cross Stitch, Finishing, Lavender & Lace, pinkeeps

A spot of finishing

26 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

This has been sitting in my finishing for a couple of years – awaiting the back to be personalised … I managed to finally do the personalisation before Christmas when I was housesitting across the other side of Sydney, but I then misplaced the backing board which was already cut out with batting attached. Finally today all the pieces came together … literally … and I put the finishing touches to my pinkeep for a stitching pal that I haven’t seen for quite some time. The name has been removed to keep the surprise, but hopefully it will be in the mail some time soon 🙂

This is a freebie angel by Lavender and Lace, stitched on 32ct Waterlily linen by Wichelt.

Canvaswork, Cross Stitch, Laura J Perin, Sapphire Star, Works in Progress

Update to Sapphire Star

26 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I have to admit to growing a little tired of Dawson’s tonight – the endless squabbles and melodramas of a group of teenagers is finally wearing on my nerves … BUT I swore I’d sit and watch the entire collection of DVD’s and I will continue to do so even if it kills me or drives me to the booze cabinet! The GREAT thing, though, is that it’s good to stitch by, ‘cos you don’t really have to look up all that often and can just listen to them all drivel on amongst themselves on the TV screen 😀

Which means, therefore, there’s some reasonable stitching progress from tonight … the close-up shows the colours relatively well, considering it was taken in a darkened room, directly under my Ott-Lite … unfortunately the ‘whole’ photo looks exceptionally washed out thanks to the Ott-Lite 😦

Tomorrow is a public holiday for Australia Day (well, I guess technically that is now “today”, so happy Australia Day to all my Aussie friends!!) … I said I would join the throng of hooligans at The Rocks for a free music concert, but truth is I really just want to sit around all afternoon in front of the goggle box with my honking great tapestry needle in hand, working away on getting some more colour into my Sapphire Star … sounds like a blissful plan … all I need now is some really bad weather to force me indoors 😛

Bent Creek, Cross Stitch, Finishes, JBW Designs, Summer Snapperland, Works in Progress

First finish for 2010 & Snapperland

16 January, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Well, I have gone as far as I can with Summer Snapperland – the stitching was completed last night, and now I have to sit and wait for the buttons and snaps to arrive so it can be ‘finish-finished’ … then I will throw it place it gently into the framing pile for a few months time when I can hopefully afford to order some more frames and mattboards 🙂

After I finished the stitching of Summer Snapperland last night, I pulled out a Christmas ornie I started stitching in about November time, and did a couple of stitches in when I was in Auckland at Christmas … I figured enough was enough, time to get it finished, as it’s only a wee thing – and sure enough two episodes of Dawson’s Creek later and it was all finished … FINALLY an actual “finish” for the year 😛

“Tiny Motif Tree” from Christmas Keepsakes II by JBW Designs
Stitched 2 over 2 on 32ct natural Belfast linen
with WDW Garnet and GAST Dried Thyme
Stitch count 41W x 45H

Bent Creek, Cross Stitch, Summer Snapperland, Works in Progress

Summer Snapperland progress

4 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

Yesterday my lack of sleep caught up on me, I think, and I didn’t do any stitching all day – but tonight I sat down for an hour or so after a healthy dinner (scotch fillet steak, mushrooms, fresh asparagus, carrots and baked potato wedges – yummo) to sit and watch a bit of TV with Katie … which means I got to put a few stitches into Summer Snapperland. I’ve now completed 3 of the 4 blocks, with just one block and the border left to go.

Unfortunately I only have one strand of Brethren Blue left, which won’t be enough to complete the border, so I’ll just replace it with the DMC equivalent in the chart … I also miscalculated quite badly the side margins of the fabric and there will be about 2 inches left on the left and right hand sides, yikes! To be honest, I think I may have made a judgement call when I originally chose that fabric from my stash, as I thought it would be perfect for it, and didn’t want to have to buy any more … and I figure I can add a strip of calico to each side to allow me room for lacing and a mattboard or two 🙂

The photos look really washed out as it’s taken under my daylight bulb which is quite close to the fabric – I’ll take another photo in daylight once it’s all finished, as the colour of the fabric is really pretty 🙂

Right now it’s time to hit the hay for the night for another day at the mill tomorrow – but gee it’s nice to see a photo of stitching for a change 😛

Cross Stitch, Finishes

2009 Finishes & 2010 Goals

2 January, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Instead of providing my usual list of finishes for the year, I decided to follow Su’s lead and provide a montage of photos of this year’s finishes – thanks to Picnik and Webshots for making this so much easier to do! I’m just missing one Christmas ornie that for love nor money will not display, so I ended up leaving it off …

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Here are my goals for 2010, a little bit expanded from my previous thoughts – I’ve been mulling things over the last couple of days, and figure I might as well chuck them into the mix:

Complete at least 3 of my existing WIP/UFO projects (Works in Progress/UnFinished Objects)
Complete at least 10 of my kitted up projects (or charts I already own)
Complete at least 12 Christmas ornaments
Complete the finishing of at least 12 items – either by framing them or doing the actual finishing (excludes Christmas ornaments)
Send at least 6 RAK’s (Random Acts of Kindness) ‘just because’
De-stash my old charts/books – either via Ebay or giving them away
Join the New South Wales Embroiderers Guild
Start at least one EGA correspondence class project (please note I didn’t say “finish” here LOL)
Comment more regularly again on all your blogs – after all, we all need encouragement every now and then 🙂

OK, I think that does me for the year – hopefully the goals aren’t too lofty and I’m able to meet the challenge.

I’m currently working on getting my first finish for 2010 completed, which will be Bent Creek’s Summer Snapperland – so far I’ve managed to complete two blocks yesterday evening, and made a start on the third block. I’m about to have my shower and settle into my stitching chair for a while, so hopefully that means seeing the finish of block #3 today, as it has a lot less stitching than the other blocks 😀

Bent Creek, Cross Stitch, Enchanted Mermaid, Mirabilia, Works in Progress

A bit of stitching

21 December, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

WOW, did you see the snow in Sydney yesterday? Yep, I caused so many miracles yesterday, I even made it snow! The first miracle was that I actually put needle to fabric and did a few stitches on Saturday … and in the end, more than a few, by the time last night came around!

Unfortunately my poor Mirabilia Mermaid has been neglected, and my stitching slump has seen my 10-hour rotation slot dragged out across two entire months … here’s the progress over the last two months – just pitiful! First up on the left is how she looked on 31 October – followed by how she looked a month later on 22 November:

And now, how I left her before I put her away on Saturday night – I figure I’ve pretty much completed my 10 hours stitching on her, and fingers crossed the next time I pick her up my stitching mojo will have returned a bit more and I’ll get a few more stitches done in my next 10 hours!

After I put her away, I managed to get a LOT more stitching done on Bent Creek’s Summer Snapperland – I’m really loving stitching on this one, although I’m not overly keen on the fabric, as it’s quite ‘stretchy’ on my scrollrods. I do, however, really love the colour (the 2nd photo is a lot nearer the actual colour as I took that this morning in semi-daylight), and think it’s a much better choice than the ugly one recommended in the chart. I can’t guarantee this one will be finished in 2009, as I’ll be pretty close to my 10 hours on it soon – I figure, though, that I’ll keep working on it a bit longer, as so far I’m really enjoying it … I’ll probably stop after completing both of the ‘boxes’ on the right … maybe 🙂

I haven’t quite met my stitching goals this year, in the fact that I have only stitched 10 out of planned 12 ornies … but who knows, maybe I can squeak in a couple of quick ones before the year’s end, heck I have a whole week left to do it in! LOL – yeah, sure … maybe not.

I think my goals this year were relatively realistic, and were as follows:

Complete at least 3 of my existing WIP/UFO projects (Works in Progress/UnFinished Objects) – DONE – Completed 5 projects 🙂
Complete at least 10 of my kitted up projects – DONE – Completed 11 projects 🙂
Complete at least 12 Christmas ornaments – FAILED – Completed 10 out of 12 as at 21Dec09 😦

Next year I think I’ll keep the same goals, as they seemed to give me the freedom to stitch what I wanted to stitch, with a mix of both new and old projects … and I probably would have met the final goal if I’d been stitching as ‘normal’ over the last two months.

It has to be said, though, that any amount of stitching that gets some actual stitches into fabric is a positive year, all-in-all, and I’ve had some pretty decent finishes over the course of the year, even if the last two months has seen a major decline in stitching action 😀