Category: Cross Stitch

Cross Stitch, Exchanges

Redwork exchange received

Anne S

Just a quick note to upload some piccies, and say a HUGE thank you to Leslie for my Redwork exchange piece … isn’t this the most gorgeous thing? I just love it! It’s just so rich and scrummy … I have most definitely fallen in love with redwork – I just can’t get enough of it now! (Don’t worry, though, I’m still most definitely a blue girl at heart, and that won’t change LOL.) As well as the beautiful stitched ornament (which I adore), Leslie also sent some extra goodies along – some GAST threads and a fat 1/4 of some lovely quilting fabric … all very very useful! 😀 As well as that, she also sent the chart and remaining charms that she stitched mine from – which I also love, and it’s going to be very very handy as you’ve just given me a great idea for an upcoming gift 🙂 This poor exchange has been sitting at the Post Office since just before last weekend, but this is the first time I’ve been anywhere near work during daylight hours to pick it up.

Before I forget, for Cindy – I used the flat-fold instructions from Judy Odell’s book, which is wonderful … but Kim has put very good instructions on her website here – the only major difference is that Judy attaches her ribbon before the pieces are put together, and she stitches the pieces together instead of using glue, using a ladder stitch – hope that helps 😀

And here is the before and after photo of the Kitty Pi Mum knitted for me … I’ve conned her into making another one (one for the lounge, and one for the bedroom), but I’ve found where I can buy the proper wool (ie Noro Kureyon) here in Melbourne, so we’re going to get some of the ‘Real McCoy’ to use next time. As you can see, the ducks are seriously impressed with it! 😉 Just for a change, I thought we’d go “blue” LOLOL – the actual colour is more muted than the photo looks.

As for today, nothing much done except for housework – the lounge is tidy now (including my stitching corner, will miracles never cease??) … the next job is the dining table which is a pigsty, but I figure just doing a bit every day will eventually get the clutter put away – after that, I start decluttering the bedrooms, and that’s a full-time job haha. I had a shocking night’s sleep last night due to horrendously high winds making a racket, so I’m just taking it very very easy today, and I’ll have an early night tonight … hmmm, I wonder what rocket fuel cocktail I could make tonight to knock me out? LOL. Other than that today I managed to get Zohrah’s replacement mail art exchange in the mail … I haven’t felt too creative this week, so I’ve just re-done the original mail art I did (praying this one turns up, as I don’t think I could stitch it three times!!).

I think this arvo I’m going to drag out the Dratteds and put a few stitches into them … I really wanted to get them finished by Christmas, and that date is looming really really quickly!! After that, I think Egyptian Garden Mandala will be replacing them as my focus piece on my rotation … I can’t wait to stitch on this one again 🙂

Finishes, Works in Progress

Small ‘finishing finish’

Anne S

Another quiet day … even though it sounds like I’ve been very busy, I’ve actually been very relaxed and lazy all day – I did a small load of washing, and felted my Kitti Pi bed (thanks to Jo for putting that on her blog) that Mum knit for my four-legged friend that hasn’t arrived yet … it’s currently drying on top of my washing basket, so I’ll show the before and after piccies when it’s finished.

Aside from that I did a very tiny bit of stitching on my Bordeaux Sampler this evening, so here’s this week’s progress piccie … the only difference to last week is a tiny part of the right-hand border, a bit of gold, and two groups of those dratted over-one grapes. I’m soooo tempted to leave all those until the end, but if I did that I know it’d never ever get finished, so I’m forcing myself to stitch them as I go, and complete each band … I still have the four little grapes on the first dividing band to stitch yet, though.

The final thing I did today was to finally finish my Stars are Brightly Shining ‘ornament’ (by SamSarah Designs in the JCS 2005 ornie issue), and make my first ever flat-fold … I don’t have any suitable ribbon, so no embellishments are on it yet – I’ll probably add some red cording and a red ribbon bow on the top, but not entirely 100% sure of that yet. Oh well, that’s one thing crossed off my to-do lists for the year, as a flat-fold was one of my key goals for 2006 (the rest of my list is a bit of a whitewash, though!). Even though the curved needle had a mind of its own for a while, eventually I managed to tame it enough to do a fairly decent job of doing the ladder stitch joining up the sides 🙂 (The first piccie is a better representation of the actual colour – it’s a Country Stitch Kiwi Pearl, so not named, and it’s absolutely divine!) It’s shocking that it’s taken me so long to finish this off … it’s been sitting there just waiting to have its carrot nose stitched on, and that’s it! {shaking head} We didn’t have a button the right size, so Mum and I made one out of Fimo last Christmas (yes, it’s really been sitting here that long! LOL).

Tomorrow will see my final day of being lazy, as it’s back to work on Saturday again … thankfully to decent shifts this week of 8am-4pm for a few days – followed by 5am-1pm shifts … I’ll just have to make doubly sure I get all my sleep regularly for that 🙂 And I’m back to taking the Voltaren again to try and get my back pain under control – I stopped after just 3 days last week, which was a bit dumb … this week I’m determined to get it all fixed up and get my health back under control 🙂

And before I forget … for Nicki – I really loved the World’s Fastest Indian … what a wonderful feel-good movie, I can definitely recommend it! The only thing that took some getting used to was Anthony Hopkins’ weird ‘Southland’ accent … sounded a bit more like something out of Cornwall, rather than Invercargill, but then again it’s been a long time since I’ve been in Dunedin/Invercargill 😉

Finishes

1 out of 50 Projects Completed

Anne S

It took me forever to do just a tiny bit of stitching last night … I’m still struggling to get my needles active again – but I persevered until the final stitches were put into my little bee project … “Bumble the Bee: Waxer Pocket” by Moss Creek Designs. I only had the beads and chain stitch left to do on the main piece, and the whole of the name label. It might be a while before it’s actually finished into the pocket itself, but at least the stitching’s finished 🙂

The pictures are totally out of proportion, too … the little name label on the right is actually only marginally over an inch in size! When I cropped it on the scanner, it automatically resized it hmmm.

Now I’m off to have a quiet day again … I’ve had a couple of minor dizzy spells today, so I’m taking it majorly easy and just pottering … not sure whether my needles will see the light of day today … time will tell.

Stitching Smalls

Photo for Tessa

Anne S

Just to satisfy Tessa’s curiosity … here’s my basket of ‘smalls’ – in fact, here’s a “before” and “after” shot haha … the first photo is from when I first started blogging just over a year ago – and the 2nd is the result after a year’s worth of stitching to fill it up! I eventually want to find a nice long narrow basket especially just for my needlerolls, which will give a bit more space to my pincushions again, but for now this will suffice. It’s sitting on top of my new Ikea cabinet I made last month which houses my glasses, and is the first thing you walk past when you come into my wee flat. I can’t believe how full that basket has got recently … me thinks perhaps I’m going to have to find another one to fill again soon too 😉

before ……………………….. after
Aside from that, nothing to post about really – I’ve been feeling really down and homesick today, so a phone call home helped a bit before settling down for the night. I’ve just been moping around for the last two days, perhaps because I haven’t been at work so haven’t had the distraction of chatting to other people there, and I’ve really been missing Mum since she’s been gone. Oh well, it’s back to work again tomorrow for 4 nights of 6pm starts (my least favourite shift – yuk!!), so I’ll have plenty of things to keep my busy then … I might even sneak in a small stitching project for work too, seeing as every now and then we get a quiet night and can get a few stitches in between phone calls 😛 This time I’ll make sure it’s not a Lorri Birmingham kit, so there shouldn’t be any errors for me not to notice!

And I’ll soon be meeting Katrina face-to-face when she’s over visiting Melbourne during the next couple of weeks, so that’ll be a great cheer-me-up and something to look forward to 😀 Then on 30 Sep I’m hosting my very first dinner party since I’ve moved out on my own … which is a huge big deal for me, as I’m inviting 4 people from work phew! I’m really nervous about it, but really looking forward to it as well – two of the ladies are definitely staying over for the night too, as they have a long way to drive, so it will be a fun social weekend, as we’ll be finishing off with brekkie at St Kilda before they head off home. I’m not really social on the whole, as I’m quite shy, and having people from work in my home is a biggie … I’m just nervous that people can be quite judgmental, but I feel secure enough with my surroundings now to make the move and invite people round …

Over the next week I’m hoping to catch up on blog reading, as I’m usually little miss cranky pants during the day and don’t get any stitching done on these shifts (I can’t usually get to sleep until about 4am, and don’t get a good unbroken sleep) … I’ve decided I’m fed up with Newsgator now showing piccies on the subscription feeds, so I’m moving everything over to Bloglines, and I’m catching up on each blog at the same time as copying over the subscription details – unfortunately, though, it’s going to take me quite some time to do it all, so my apologies if it’s a while before I get to ‘your’ blog 🙂

Rightio, back into the kitchen again to finish cooking dinner … a very boring Tuna Bake, that’s going to last me for the next 3 nights …

Stash, Works in Progress

WIP updates

Anne S

I was originally going to post a piccie once I’d got my latest project entirely finished, but it’s been slow going so I thought I’d post a progress piccie instead. This is the first time I’ve ever tried doing nun’s stitch, and I’m amazed at how slooooooowly that wee stitch goes … can’t say I’m a huge fan, although it looks OK. I still have to add the little bead eyes and do a broad chain stitch across the centre fold line – then I have to do the little separate name label before putting it all together … and being ‘finishing challenged’, I’m going goggle-eyed reading the instructions already – hopefully it will all slot into place once I have the actual finished articles and lining etc in front of me! This is “Bumble the Bee’s Wax Pocket” kit by Moss Creek Designs … I just love the little bee 😀 I wasn’t so fond, however, by the over-one stitching hmmm.

In fact, seeing as I’m not a great over-one fan, I’m definitely getting plenty of experience with my current/future projects … this one, plus the Bordeaux Sampler (all the verses plus the next band has oodles of over-one grapes), and the Lavender Rose Sewing Case (next on my list of smalls to stitch, seeing as I missed the SAL) … I’m either going to enjoy over-one more after all that practice, or detest it further … only time will tell …

And seeing as it’s almost Friday, I can finally post a progress piccie of the Bordeaux Sampler with my start of band number 2 … I haven’t touched this since coming home from Hong Kong, so I caught up a bit by putting 4 hours into it earlier in the week – and it’s time to get it back into a regular stitching slot each week. I’m looking forward to seeing Carol’s progress too 😀

Other than that, I have another mail art to be done as the original one went AWOL … have to admit, this is definitely not a stitching highlight for the week 😦

I do have to admit to a slight lapse off the Wagon last week too – just realised I’d forgotten to post a public announcement of my lapse, as well as a piccie of my spoils … Ashleigh was selling off a bundle of her stash on Ebay, and I’ve been dying to try some of the Periwinkle Promises little cushion kits, so I couldn’t resist trying some at a reasonable price to see if I like them … and after receiving them, I think I see more of them arriving on my doorstep in the future … after I’ve been on the Wagon a bit longer 😉

Now it’s off to bed for the night after a very inactive day … mind you, I can see the lounge room floor again, so I obviously got a bit of housework done today ;P

Finishes

Empty flat once again …

Anne S

I just walked in from dropping Mum off at the airport, and the flat seems awfully quiet and empty … it looks like a tornado hit, though, so I’ll be keeping busy tidying things up – there’s stuff everywhere! LOL. Thanks for all your comments too about Mum and I … I have to admit, we’re very lucky in that the relationship we have is very close – I certainly wasn’t ready to have her go home yet tonight.

For Mum’s last day we spent our time making up a couple of ornaments, and we went through my Christmas fabrics and cut off enough fabric for each one of Mum’s stitched ornaments for her to finish them off when she gets home. Mum reckons I’m being a very generous daughter, but then again I’m just giving a bit back for all the things she’s done tirelessly for me over the years 🙂 Mum made a very good comment the other day, in that I’ve hardly done any stitching while she’s been here, apart from the commitment stitching … and she’s right. Never mind, I’m sure I’ll get back into the swing of things again soon. On the other hand, Mum’s been stitching enough for both of us … as well as the ‘finished’ ones, here are Mum’s ornies that she’s stitched:


As for me, I finished up my ornament that was Mum’s gift this year, so she could take it home with her – and I managed to quickly finish off my Sweetheart Tree Strawberry Needleroll from my finishing pile while I was waiting for us to head to the airport this afternoon.

I was originally going to get cracking and do some more finishing when I got home, but I’m not entirely sure how keen I feel now … I feel really tired and flat, and could do with some ‘down time’. I’ve been having a lot of pain in my right shoulder blade area, and been using anti-inflammatory cream for the last week or so to try and ease it … today I’ve started taking some Voltaren tablets to see if that helps, as it’s been so painful it’s been keeping me from sleeping properly each night as the pain wakes me up. If it keeps up in a week’s time, I’ll have to see a GP about it as it’s really getting me down, and it’s been niggling ever since we did our spot of DIY after the Hong Kong trip.

Anyway, off to tidy up a bit so I can at least see a small portion of the lounge floor …

Cross Stitch, Exchanges

Needleroll exchange from Sylvie

Anne S

WOW!!!!! That’s what came out of my mouth as I stood on the pavement at the back of the Post Office today … I was too impatient to get home to open up my parcel, so Mum and I opened it up together there and then 😉 Inside the parcel was my needleroll exchange from Sylvie, and I can honestly and truthfully say I am totally blown away by it all – I just adore everything! The needleroll is stitched and finished so beautifully, and the design and colours are incredible … I’m lost for words as to how beautiful I think it is 😀 And if that wasn’t enough, inside the gorgeous bag (that is going to be oh-so-useful for my stitching bits and bobs next to my chair) there were Gloriana silks in the most dreamy and heavenly colours for a blue girl like me … serious drool material – I adore Gloriana silks! But there was even more yet … a lovely little address book, and cute turquoise bracelet, and a postcard from Normandie … and I love it all!! I still can’t believe that I get to keep it all, that it’s all mine! I’ll say it again … “WOW”!! 😀 Thanks heaps and heaps Sylvie for an exceptional exchange 😀 {{hugs}}
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
(I give up on Blogger tonight, so I’m using Photobucket mutter mutter mutter)

The other squishy mail I had today was my next round robin piece – this is Lynn’s seasonal round robin … I’m really enjoying stitching on these, and I’ve been looking forward to the next one arriving. Now I just have to decide which season to stitch, Winter or Spring … oh decisions, decisions … 😉

Rightio, off to work I go again … but not ‘real’ work, though … Mum and I are going to try ornamentifying a few of her stitched ornies so she knows how to do it when she gets home. Which will be interesting, as I’ve only ever made the two square ones last year … we’ll be dragging out the magazines again to get some ideas, I think – mind you, seeing as Mum’s flying out tomorrow, I don’t think we’ll be getting too creative – nothing like leaving it until the last minute haha. We’re going to finish off her holiday tonight with king prawns (on sale at Safeway today), and breakfast out at St Kilda tomorrow morning and a trip into the city for some last-minute sightseeing/shopping … thank goodness for stitching, ‘cos I’ll be feeling a bit lost for a few days afterwards having the place to myself again … not for long, though, as I’ll be kept busy catching up on all the blogs!! 😀

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes

Redwork exchange

Anne S

Just a quick note to say my redwork exchange on the SBEBB has been received by Nancy, so I can unveil it now … I used the Quaker Swan Case as my instructions, but used an online freebie as my basis for the stitching. As the stitching chart was wayyyyy too big, I deleted a few elements and played around with the flower leaves for a while until it fitted my measurements OK. It’s stitched with DMC 115, which I really love, on a 32ct hand-dyed Lugana from Country Stitch. I was really really disappointed with my finishing, as I found the ribbon ‘hinges’ too long, and it just flopped around when it was all put together, so I ended up putting a little line of backstitches on the two side hinges to keep it more ‘together’ – which also means now that you can hang it on a hanger on display … which I really love the idea of it, and may now do that with mine when I get around to stitching it too 🙂 I also wasn’t too pleased with how the inside hearts are attached (the red ones), so when I do mine I think I’ll modify that a bit too. I’m really glad Nancy liked it, though, as I was a bit worried about it … I didn’t take a photo of it with the ‘tweaking’ of the hinges, or with the goodies I sent, and I don’t think Nancy updates her blog anymore, but at least you can see the needlecase 😀

Seeing as it’s Mum’s last full day here today, we’re off out shopping … so no stitching for me until tonight. I do have a progress piccie to share, but I’ll wait until tomorrow or Thursday, when it’ll be a finished piccie hopefully 😀

Finishes, Needlerolls

Needleroll SAL

Anne S

Even though I worked all weekend, on Friday and today I was on a 6am shift, so got home early enough in the afternoon to get some decent stitching in (especially tonight) … I thought I’d get one Shepherd’s Bush needleroll finished (“Thisbe’s Needleroll”), but I ended up taking a Lorri Birmingham one into work as well (“A Stitcher’s Needleroll”), and managed to finish them both tonight – yippee!! As per usual, there was an error on the LB chart, and because I was distracted by calls etc, didn’t pick it up until it was all finished! I can’t be bothered unpicking it, so it will remain as it is … if anyone else is thinking of stitching this, check the chart, as the very top band only had one space below it and the first border, whereas the bottom band has two … I have decided I absolutely detest LB kits for that exact reason – I’ve stitched 3 different ones now, and every single one has had a major error … mutter mutter mutter. I’ll do the actual finishing another day.

Only 3 more days to go, and life will be back to normal here at home, as Mum will have headed back over the oceans where she’ll be staying until February, then I have the pleasure of her company again probably for another six weeks. I’ve told her I’m going to start charging her rent, as she’s here 1/4 of the year hahaha. I love having her here, though, and it’s really no hassle 🙂 It means at the end of next week I can catch up with blog reading again without feeling guilty and self-conscious … I can’t wait to see what I’ve been missing out on! 😀

Rightio, that’s all for me tonight – just a quick post for the needleroll SAL piccies 😀

Exchanges, Finishes, Needlerolls

Needleroll exchange

Anne S

Just a quick post before I head to work, as my needleroll exchange (on the Robin’s Nest BB) has been received by Nicki … as soon as I received Nicki’s name, I decided I now had two redwork exchanges to do, as I know Nicki loves red 😉 And I also knew I wanted to have something about cats on it … after trawling my stitching stash, and a couple of online freebies, I sat down at the computer and cranked open the XS designing software, and came up with the following needleroll.

It’s a combination of loads of different bits and pieces – the top band came from a Just Nan chart “A Summer’s Day”, the little fish bone skeletons I designed myself, and just used a row of herringbone stitches next. The band above and below the cat band is from the “Peace needleroll ornament” by Jeannette Douglas Designs. The blackwork cats are from Just Nan’s “Catnip Tea”, the blackwork fishies are from an online freebie by Kristine Herber, and the row of watery waves are from “Summer at the Ocean” needleroll by Jeannette Douglas Designs. I’d worked 4 different versions online before I finally decided on this final one, and I was really really pleased with the result – and I’m glad to hear Nicki likes it 😀 It was stitched on 32ct Maritime by Lakeside Linens.