Category: Cross Stitch

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Itchy and Scratchy

Anne S

Yep, this household definitely fits the bill of those two characters from The Simpsons … I’m Itchy, and Muffy is Scratchy.  I doped up the base of Muffy’s neck yesterday, although the scratching is still happening today.  Apparently it can take 3 days to show the effects, so fingers crossed by the weekend she’ll be scratching less … which hopefully means that I will be too!  Yet another broken night’s sleep last night thanks to flea bites and Muffy’s evening bladder … ho-hum 😦

I decided not to bother going driving to pick up my GAST threads today, but decided instead to send away and spend my $10 gift voucher from a previous order with Dragonfly Dreams to get Karen to send a skein of the threads I need.  I figure by the time I spent the petrol on a 1-1/2 hour round trip driving session, plus the e-tag toll price, it just wasn’t worth it … so I’ve stitched as far as I can go without the gold Kreinik and two GAST threads I’m missing, and tomorrow night I’ll start my next project.  The photo is really terrible, but you can get an idea of it anyway – at least when the threads arrive it’ll only take one night to finish the whole thing off 😀

it's-halloween-wip-2

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

WIP photos

Anne S

It seems I’ve thwarted my new mini rotation almost immediately … while stitching the first two blocks of Snapperville, I decided it would make sense to stitch the border parts surrounding them at the same time, instead of leaving all the border until the end.  Aside from not getting bored with it at the end, that means I don’t have to keep moving the Q-snaps.  Anyway, I’ve managed to complete blocks 1 and 2 before putting it away again yesterday.

Snapperville by Bent Creek
snapperville-wip-1

Then I picked up and started It’s Halloween – I was doing pretty well, too, until I realised I hadn’t packed my GAST threads that I needed … so it looks like I’m either going to have to drive out to a LNS to buy two more skeins, or make a trip to my storage unit on the other side of town (a 1-1/2 to 2 hour round trip hmmm).  What a pain in the proverbial!  I really wanted to get this one finished by the end of tomorrow boohoo.  Anyway, here’s the progress from yesterday …

It’s Halloween by The Drawn Thread
it's-halloween-wip-1

This was done while watching Season 2 of NCIS … love that show!  I was also watching Spanglish, but the DVD won’t play the last couple of scenes, so I’ll have to hire it from somewhere so I can see the ending (and also the DVD player here played it in black and white ho-hum … I’ve been playing everything on my laptop ever since).

Another semi lazy day here today – the laundry is getting done, then Muffy and I will head out for a walk before I settle down for a bit more stitching while I get the chance 🙂

(Updated to add …)

I keep forgetting to post this piccie for Mum – this is the latest Christmas fabric I’ve got for us (from a couple of weeks ago) … plus this is probably the fabric I’m going to use for the Plateau de la Brodeuse design.  It’s still a bit pink for my tastes, and I’m not entirely ‘sure’ about it, but so far it’s my current choice – I’ll keep checking out a few more patchwork stores first, though, before I pull the threads out and start stitching …

xmas-fabrics-for-mum

Also, to answer the question a couple of you have asked … the threads Nicki has chosen for her RR piece are:  Silk n Colors Cerise Noir, Dinky Dyes Jarrah, and Hand Dyed Fibers Chocolate.

 Now I’m off shopping for flea treatment and antihistamine cream … I’m covered in itchy bites compliments of that big ol’ flea bag Muffy … drove me mad trying to sleep last night … mutter mutter mutter … I have to say, though, that I’m loving having Muffy’s company.  She’s a lovely dog, and I’m even more of a dog person than a cat person (I was never allowed one as a child, but that was the ultimate pet I always wanted) – it’s lovely having her cuddled up on the sofa next to me while we watch DVD’s … until the scratching begins LOL 😉

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Round Robins

Such sweet, sweet stitching!

Anne S

Oh boy, it’s sooooo good to be stitching on linen again (insert heavy sigh of pleasure here!).  Yesterday and today I spent my stitching time on Nicki’s Quaker RR piece – unfortunately it’s at night, and I haven’t been able to take a decent photo of it, but here’s a photo none-the-less – I’ll try and take another one later during day-time.  This piece is much prettier in real life – the colours are softer and quite beautiful … lovely dusky pink and deep wine colours 🙂

(7 Oct – Updated to change the photo to a slightly clearer one.)

nicki's-quaker-rr-final

Last night I had a shocking night’s sleep … compliments of a hairy old pooch!  It seems she doesn’t like stormy weather, and I got to bed at 9pm (which is bad in itself, and I usually need to be in bed by 7.30pm on 5am shifts), only to have her whining and scratching at the door at 9.30pm.  Considering my alarm was going off at 3.45am, that didn’t bode well.  I thought Muffy was pining for Jan and the family, and tried to coax her back to her bedroom, but then she bolted under the bed with her tail between her legs and wouldn’t come back out hmmm.  I ended up leaving her there, but after an hour of listening to her tap-tapping on the floor and licking herself, I managed to talk her out from under the bed and back into her room (thankfully the thunder had stopped by then).  But then I got yet another wake-up call at 1.05am, this time for a toilet walk outside ho-hum … to say I felt like death warmed up this morning would be a MAJOR underexaggeration 😦

The other disappointment today was that I was supposed to be driving a lady around who arrived from the USA today (she’s a member of the EGA), as soon as I finished work, but they had an unexpected meeting with their tour leader at 4pm, which put paid to our plans.  Instead I just caught the train into the city and left my gifts at reception for them (2 stitchers, and 1 quilter) – I didn’t have time to stitch anything, so I put together gift bags of Tim-Tams, Cadbury chocolates, potato chips, little koalas and an Australia key-ring for each of them.  I figured if I couldn’t give a gift of stitching, I’d go with the second stitcher’s passion … chocolate LOL.

Rightio, time to head off to bed for the night – fingers crossed I get more sleep tonight!  Muffy has had a toilet stop already, and we went for a walk in the park earlier, so hopefully she’s been tuckered out enough to sleep heavily until the morning … well, I can hope, right? 😉

Katrina’s Quaker RR (the final part) is on its way in the mail to me, so I’ll start stitching that as soon as it arrives – but in the meantime the next project up for stitching is “Snapperville” by Bent Creek … I can’t wait!!! 😀

And I’m finally almost 100% caught up on Season 1 of NCIS … I can’t believe I haven’t seen any of these episodes before – I love it! 😀

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

KarenV and an interview

Anne S

Just a quick note to say “I have an interview next Friday” … yikes!!  I’m actually on days off Tue-Thu, but they said to me not to do it on my days off, they would pay for my airline ticket to fly up to Sydney on Friday and back again straight afterwards.  I think there are only two other candidates, but I could be wrong … anyway I have a week to have a nervous breakdown before the big day – because I’m TRULY dreadful at interviews (dunno why, but my brain just goes dead the minute I walk though the door to the interview room hmmm) 😉

The other thing I wanted to mention very briefly, is the situation with my good friend KarenV.  Some of you have noticed recently that Karen has removed her blog – I just wanted to put peoples minds at rest, and stop anyone worrying, as I’ve been chatting to Karen and she’s doing just fine, but is taking a sabbatical from blogging for a wee while.

As for my stitching … this may actually become a stitching blog again soon over the next few days haha … I have a day off work tomorrow, and I thought I’d settle in for the day with Season 1 of NCIS on DVD and the dratted Winnie the Pooh bookmark and get it finished … with any luck I’ll also have a “good” stitching day, which will mean getting a start on Nicki’s Quaker RR piece, so I can get it sent off to Katrina on mailing day.

Then on Saturday I’m starting 5am shifts for 3 days (yucky!) – but I’m playing chauffeur to a couple of ladies on Saturday straight after work.  I read on the EGA chat list that they wanted info on Melbourne stitching hot spots to see in one day, and I’ve offered to pick them up to drive them between venues so they can cram as much in as possible.  Hopefully all works out OK and we can do a spot of stash enhancement for them 😉

Rightio, time to head off and heat something up for dinner – I’ve arrived at my new housesitting job tonight, and Jan and family have just left for the airport … I don’t know what to do with myself, being home in ‘normal’ hours and being able to watch prime time TV – I haven’t been able to do that for over a month, it’s sheer bliss!!!  I got given a crash course in using the flash coffee machine, so I might have to go and christen it soon haha.  I’ve also been told I have to live out of Jan’s cupboards instead of buying food … and Jan is an exceptional gourmet, I may never leave!! haha.  Talking of which, I’d better go heat something up and bring my stitching in out of the boot so I can kick back and relax for the rest of the night 🙂

Hopefully tomorrow there will be a stitching piccie of some sort …

Cross Stitch, Rotation

A mini rotation of sorts

Anne S

OK, I think I have a plan … I’ve worked out a kind of mini rotation that will see me working on a few of my favourite ‘new’ projects – this is what I’ve come up with for now and the great thing is that none of them are truly “big” pieces, so there should be a couple of happy dances before the end of the year too … hopefully …

My stitching plan/rotation I’m considering is as follows:

  1. Finish the dratted Winnie the Pooh bookmark
  2. Nicki’s Friendship Quaker RR piece (better to get my commitments over with first)
  3. Blocks 1 and 2 of Snapperville (Bent Creek)
  4. It’s Halloween (through to completion) (The Drawn Thread)
  5. Side 1 of Sailor’s Valentine (CA Wells) – need to make a start on this to get it finished in time for the next project arriving
  6. Block 1 of Sea Life (Lanarte)
  7. Free choice of any small project (Xmas ornie/SB Bee fob/needleroll etc)

Then back to the beginning again …

  1. Katrina’s Friendship Quaker RR piece (or earlier, depending on how quickly I stitch all the above list)
  2. Blocks 3 and 4 of Snapperville (Bent Creek)
  3. Autumn Arbor – through to completion (The Drawn Thread)
  4. Side 2 of Sailor’s Valentine (CA Wells)
  5. Block 2 of Sea Life (Lanarte)
  6. Free choice of any small project (Xmas ornie etc)

Round 3 would then be:

  1. Blocks 5 and 6 of Snapperville (Bent Creek)
  2. Garden Recipe – through to completion (The Drawn Thread)
  3. Side 3 of Sailor’s Valentine (CA Wells)
  4. Block 3 of Sea Life (Lanarte)
  5. Part 1 of Cottage Etui (CA Wells)
  6. Free choice of any small project (Xmas ornie etc)

And finally:

  1. Block 7 and the border of Snapperville (Bent Creek) (final part)
  2. Crimson Fire Sampler – through to completion (The Victoria Sampler)
  3. Side 4 of Sailor’s Valentine (CA Wells) (final part)
  4. Block 4 of Sea Life (Lanarte) (final part)
  5. Part 2 of Cottage Etui (CA Wells)
  6. Free choice of any small project (Xmas ornie etc)

That rotation would see all the major projects to completion – I would have to amend it, though, to give more time to the CA Wells pieces if I don’t seem to be stitching through the rotation quickly enough … if that’s the case the rotation will temporarily go on hold until I get those finished.  Only time will tell if this would work – but it’s something that could work well with housesitting, if I’m still doing it by then, as there are only a handful of projects that will be carried around at any one time.  I’ve been avoiding doing any over-one stitching so far while I’m trying to get my mojo back again.  Fingers crossed my new rotation, with some beloved projects, will help kick me back into gear again as I have many more projects in the wings waiting to be stitched – these ones will keep me out of trouble for a short while anyway, and they’re all relatively simple projects without too many challenges, which suits my slow brain at the moment!

I’ll soon be starting 5am shifts again, so sometimes that gives me chance to get some stitching time in the afternoons – and Muffy is very easy care and doesn’t crave attention all day (she’s hardly moved off her bed all day today – perhaps she’s missing Mum and Dad a bit today, hmmm).  I’ll probably take her for a quick walk as soon as I get home from work, then settle down with my stitching for the rest of the afternoon.  I don’t know the area here whatsoever, and probably won’t do a great deal of exploring … I’m looking forward to having 3 lazy weeks of nothing but reading and stitching (and definitely not in that order!!)

 Anyway, better head off for work now – I’ve repacked the boot with an ‘overnight bag’ or three to go to Ali’s for 4 nights, and left my suitcase and the rest of my stuff here.  Now all I have to do is to try to get Muffy outside – she was extremely reluctant to move 1/2 an hour earlier, hence the reason I thought I’d sit here for a while longer to give her more time inside … but sorry Muffy, it’s crunch time and “it’s time for you to leave the building” … 😉

Cross Stitch

Canvaswork lovers beware!!

Anne S

Orna Willis has got a new class happening next weekend – and the chart is (in my eyes) to DIE FOR!!!  Here’s the two colourways for “Royal”, and I have to say I’m totally in LOVE with the turquoise and green version … oh man, I never should have got wireless internet, it was so much better to remain in ignorant bliss for a short while hahahaha.  And there’s a 15% off sale for it right now … gulp!  Even the kit isn’t a bad price at $65 on sale, as it normally costs an arm and a leg to kit one of these babies up from scratch (I know that from experience!).  Anyway, I just thought I’d share … 😉

ROYAL
royal-orna willis

As for my little stitching dilemma, thanks for all your input so far – I’ve found the solution … I’ll just have to stitch them all!!! LOL.  I have to admit I’ve had a MAJOR hankering to start stitching Snapperville for weeks now, and I’ve not let myself start it until I finished the dreaded plastic canvas piece, so I think that just might take precedence.  Thanks again to Cathy for sending me this project – every time I think of this project I think of you and your kindness, and always will.  The second good thing about stitching this one quickly is that it will then be going on to a new home to Barbara to stitch – Cathy offered the pack to anyone who wanted it, and both Barbara and I put our hands up … I was the lucky one to be drawn out of the hat, but I promised Barbara as soon as I stitched it, I would send her all the designs so we could both share in Cathy’s generosity 😀

I would, however, also love to get the Halloween project stitched this month, purely due to the time of the year and Halloween coming up quickly, so I thought I might do a couple of Snapperville squares, then switch to the Halloween piece, then back to Snapperville again … OR I could actually start that mini-rotation that I was thinking of doing … 10 hours on Snapperville, then 10 on It’s Halloween, then 10 on Autumn Arbor, then 10 on Sea Life … oooooh, so many choices hahaha.  These days I think it’s fantastic if I just put 10 STITCHES into a piece during one week, never mind 10 hours!! 😛

I’ll definitely have a think about a SAL with you for Sea Life, Susan, but I have to admit I’m not a very good SAL partner with my shifts etc – and probably worse now that I don’t have a permanent home anymore, it’s definitely making a huge impact on how much stitching (if any) I get done in a week.  It would be nice to stitch it at the same as someone else though (in fact it was seeing it on your blog that gave me the urge to pick it up out of storage and start stitching away on it!!).

Talking of which, time to start working out which items from my boot I’m going to leave here until Thursday – I thought I’d just leave everything here apart from an ‘overnight bag’ or two with my work clothes and toilet bag etc for the next 4 nights – seems dopey emptying the whole boot out then packing up again in 4 days time … I’m here for 3 full weeks from Thursday so it makes sense to just leave things here.  I might take Snapperville with me, though, ‘just in case’ I get the urge to stitch at Ali’s (although I don’t seem to feel comfortable stitching there, I don’t know why …).  Then I might sit and stitch for an hour or so before I have to leave for work – tomorrow is my day off this week, and I can’t wait (hence the perfect timing to catch up with Lisa for lunch etc).  I brought a DVD with me to watch (Eragon), so I just ‘might’ have chance to sit and watch the whole thing before I have to leave (3pm shift for me today, so a nice lazy start to the day).

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Um … stitching blog?

Anne S

I remember the good ole days when I was posting some stitching progress or finish every few days … it seems so very very long ago LOL.  These days there is very little stitching activity happening … and very sporadic posting too!  I must admit, though, since having my wireless access I’ve been doing a bit more blog reading than I have in the past … and … shock … horror … even the odd comment or two over the last 24 hours from me on a few blogs!! 😛

It’s going to take me forever to catch up, but having the wireless access means I can sit with the laptop on my knee in front of the TV and read to my hearts content in comfort (well, as much as my monthly allowance will allow anyway!).  Tonight I’m sharing the sofa and heater with an old pooch.  I have to admit I was a bit stressed about housesitting for a ‘bigger’ dog, but Muffy is a big old softie – I just adore doggies (even more than kitties), so it’s wonderful having some pooch company.  Here’s a photo of Muffy laying on her ‘bed’ 🙂

dsc_0400

Lisa eventually got home from Sydney, and we’re catching up on Monday so I can hand back the house keys … and she’s taking me out to lunch to say thanks for housesitting, plus give me some gifties she bought me in London and Hong Kong – spoilt or what? 😉

As for the stitching, I haven’t touched a needle for a few days – so the bookmark is nowhere near getting finished.  This is as far as I’ve managed to get … quite pitiful really! LOL.

dsc_0403

As for my planned new start – the biggest struggle I have is working out which one to start first … I’m tempted to start a mini-rotation of three projects, but seeing how little time I have for stitching these days, maybe that wouldn’t be worthwhile.  Here are the main projects I’m trying to choose between … all are screaming REALLY loudly to be started … the question is “who will scream the loudest?” 😉

I’d offer a poll to see if you can help me decide, but WP won’t allow polls on their blogs (one of the few downsides to WP in my eyes) … I’m only here tonight (2 nights in total this visit), then back to Seaford, and I don’t feel comfortable stitching there, so I’ll probably be reading for the next 4 nights instead … we’ll just have to wait and see which project pops out of the project bag next week!  Heres the list of prime candidates so far (although, I reserve the right to add and subtract on a whim LOL) … I haven’t included the Friendship Quaker RR, as that’s a commitment I need to do, not a new project choice:

Bent Creek’s Snapperville
(photo taken from a fellow stitcher’s album)
Bent Creek Snapperville

The Drawn Thread’s Autumn Arbor
autumnarbor

Shepherd’s Bush Bee Scissor Fob
beefob

The Drawn Thread’s It’s Halloween
itshalloween

Lanarte’s Sea Life
(not actually this sampler, but a set of 4 designs using a lot of these elements plus a few more)
lanarte sea life

As for the Sydney job … it turns out I sent an email one day late – it closed for applications 27 Sep … BUT, they’ve said they’d be willing to extend the date and accept my application if I’m serious about applying (not sure what to read into that one hmmm – either they have few candidates that have applied and they’re desperate, or they think I’m a good candidate LOL). I’ll make a call on Tuesday and find out more about the details (starting date and pay etc). While it’s not exactly what I want to do, it’s an insight into higher roles that would be worth putting up with it for 12 months … maybe 😉

Rightio, time to start thinking about getting off to bed … after letting Muffy out for her evening garden walk and bladder relief 😉

Cross Stitch

Oops, I forgot … more enabling! (updated)

Anne S

You can blame this little bit of enabling on Cindy – thanks for bringing it to my attention, Cindy … one more for the wishlist!! 😉

This is actually a slightly different design than the previous one by Maryse – and I have to say I think it would look exquisite in other monochrome colours as well (DMC 115 would be especially gorgeous in that rich red) … me thinks I’m going to have to cave in for this one at some stage as well – even though I’ve already bought the first one! One can never have too many trays, right?? LOL 😀

le plateau de la brodeuse monochrome

 

(Updated to add:)

*** Amy if you want to order it, there is a previous post I made about her last design, that has the ordering info on it here.
(https://shakatak66.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/le-plateau
-de-la-brodeuse-ordering-details/)
You just send a PayPal payment to Maryse (I think this one is also EUR10.00) and she emails you the chart .pdf files (they’re in French, but easy to follow).  Just don’t forget to tell her exactly which chart it is you’re wanting, as they’re both a “plateau de la brodeuse” chart … this one is the monochrome one.
Cheers,
Anne ***

Cross Stitch, Finishes

One down, one to go!

Anne S

I’m referring to my revolting commitment stitching … yes, that does indeed mean that poxy plastic canvas piece is finished, done and dusted, and out of my hair forever – woohoo!!! I’ve decided that Lisa can make it up herself into the little hanger, I’ve done the stitching on it and that will suffice … if you want to see what it will look like when finished, I’ve taken a photo of the kit cover for you. The only scissors I have on me are my Gingher’s and they sure as heck aren’t going to be used to cut plastic canvas!

Wire Welcome by Dimensions
Wire Welcome by Dimensions

welcome 1

I finished it quite late last night, and didn’t have the energy to start stitching the Winnie the Pooh bookmark straightaway – instead I figured if I’m already stitching projects I hate, I might as well keep the ball rolling … and put the final touches into a wee kit project that I started when I went into hospital to have my gallbladder removed two years ago. I only managed to stitch just under 1/2 of it at the hospital, and I finished it off in a couple of hours last night while sat up watching The Incredibles and Wallace & Gromit movies on DVD. The colours on this are quite odd, and I’m sure they put the wrong dark blue in the kit – which is one reason it’s taken so long for me to finish this … the blended stitches are really ‘obvious’.  Goodness knows what I’ll do with it … make it into a pinkeep maybe?

Morning Glory by Serendipity Designs

Morning Glory – Carolyn’s Garden, by Serendipity Designs

Today I picked up the final piece of revolting commitment stitching, and have stitched about 1/4 of the Winnie the Pooh bookmark – the shifts I’m working this week won’t give me much free time so I won’t have chance to get it stitched before I leave here in a couple of days, but at least it will go nicely into an envelope so it can be posted to Lisa down the track if necessary … no piccies of that one until it’s all finished.

Then I can move onto some “fun” commitment stitching – next up is Nicki’s Quaker Friendship RR piece … plus I’m going to start a new project to cheer me up after doing a few projects that certainly were not fun … the only question is “which one will it be??” 😉

And that’s pretty much all I have for you tonight – only two more nights left before I lose my internet access again … I still have over 600 unread feeds to plough through, but unfortunately that won’t be happening either – every time I catch up on some reading, another 50+ feeds update again 😉

Hopefully I’ll get chance for one final post before I head off into the wide blue yonder … although I’ll have to do all the housework over the next two nights quite late, as I have overtime both days for 2 hours.