Finishes, Needlerolls

Christmas Stitching

Anne S

I had a wonderful Christmas Day today – even though I worked all day, we made it a special event. We were allowed 1 hour for lunch (instead of the usual 1/2 hour) and we were treated to a meal of ham off the bone, chicken, smoked salmon, pasta salad, pumpkin and coriander salad, potato salad and Greek salad, followed by chocolate ripple cake for dessert … we could hardly walk back to our desks afterwards! It was a wonderful way to spend the day – the phones were also pretty quiet, so I’m glad I went in prepared and took some stitching. Usually the only shift I can stitch on is the overnight shift, but today was special 😉

Yesterday I put the final stitches into Bunnies in my Garden – but I won’t be finishing it for a while yet, as I need to buy some wool batting and decide on the lining fabric and ribbon for ruching. For Chelle, I have to admit I had the same thought as you, and put aside some Flax linen to use instead of the Summer Khaki, but when I put the threads against both, the Summer Khaki was much better for my skeins as it made the colour stand out more – the Flax was too pale, and the paleness of the threads just looked bland. I surprised myself and ended up using the Summer Khaki, and it looks OK.

Main body of the sewing case (most accurate colour)

Scissor fob – front (on the left) and back (on the right)
Then today I put the final stitches in my Snowfall Needleroll by Shepherd’s Bush … finally! So I guess that’s two more items off my 50 Project Challenge yippee 🙂

I was going to post my list of finishes for 2006, but perhaps I’d better hold off haha. Mind you, I’m now on 7 days straight at work, so not as much stitching will be taking place between now and the end of the year … but there might just be one more small finish yet … maybe 😉

It’s bizarre, but in the middle of summer we’ve had a weather change – they had snow in the hills not that far from us and the coldest Christmas Day on record … yep, a white Christmas in Australia, whatever next!!?

This morning I cranked up the stereo with Christmas carols, then called home and had a chat to Mum and Dad while opening my gifts. I have received some beautiful gifts from Sylvie, Nicki, Jenna and Katrina – and I’ll post some piccies of everything tomorrow … the light’s disappearing quite quickly tonight, and it’s hard to get a nice photo 😦 It’s worth waiting for, though, as they’re really lovely and everything will be treasured 😀

Rightio, time to crack open the stocking (ie the Asti that’s hiding within it), and settle in for a quiet night – I hope you’re all enjoying your day, in whatever way you celebrate! 😀

Finishes

Merry Christmas to All!

Anne S

Just a short post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and the best of wishes to you and your families for the festive season – I hope 2007 sees all of your hopes and dreams come true!

It’s been a pleasure knowing you throughout 2006, and I look forward to continuing the association in 2007!

Now, on to the WIP piccies I promised yesterday – this is my progress to date on the Chatelaine Leporello, but it’s now on hold until I touch base with Jenna to work out our SAL schedule.

Next is my latest WIP, Bunnies in my Garden by With My Needle – Chelle, I was supposed to do this with the StitchingSmalls SAL too, but didn’t find the time to fit it in … it’s actually quite a fun stitch 🙂 I switched the nun’s stitch thread from the horrible dusky pink, and replaced it with the light blue used in the bird, but in hindsight after stitching the bird I should have used a darker blue for the nun’s stitch, never mind. With the bird you’re supposed to use the light part of the skein for the belly, and the darker part for the top/main part of the bird, but my skein barely shows any difference in the colour variegation at all – in the end I pulled out my Needle Necessities threads and stitched the main part of the bird in 101 (Desdemona’s Violets), and I think it looks OK. I now just have the main piece to stitch and the scissor fob – with any luck I just might get this one finished before the end of the year 🙂


Needlepages

Pinkeep – front (left) and back (right)

Gifts TO BE FIXED

Spoilt rotten … piccies galore

Anne S

I have so much to show and tell from the last week or so, I just don’t know where to start! I do want to say, though, a huge thanks to everyone for their friendship and support, especially during recent times – you’ve all helped me to stay positive and keep my head up above the water line, and I’m extremely grateful 😀 Thanks also to all the ladies who have spoilt me rotten lately … and here are the spoils … (to try and placate Blogger I decided to use the ‘small’ photo settings – just click on each one for the bigger piccie)

Dearest Carol, who sent me the beads for AoL I needed … as well as a most exquisite fob with a beautiful wee blue bird on it – on Christmas Day they will be sitting on my Alyssa Gingher’s in prime position 🙂 I’m also considering using the darker DMC variegated thread for a Quaker RR I’m about to start with some wonderful blogging pals 😀 I love everything, thank you Carol 😀

Thanks also to Christine, who sent me the most gorgeous Santa ornament – and look, he’s in blue!!! 😀 I just love him to death, and he went straight onto the tree as soon as he arrived 🙂 Thank you so much for your caring thought, it’s awesome and he’ll be treasured every year when he graces my tree! 😀

Thanks also to Nicole (aka Elanor) for this wonderful parcel of goodies … how awesome is that fabric??? I think I’m going to try and make a quilted wall hanging out of the duckie squares … I just love it! And another exquisite ornie that’s now gracing my tree – a beautiful quaker in my favourite colours that will be hanging from my computer desk year-round until next Christmas. But if that wasn’t enough, which it was, there was also some scrummy threads and beads, and {{drool}} choccies (although please note the numbers in that bag have seriously dwindled since taking the piccie haha). Thanks again Nicole!

And last, but certainly not least, I was gobsmacked by a parcel from KarenV yesterday – I have to admit I knew this one was coming (although it still surprised me when it did), and I knew there was something off my wishlist in it … but I was floored when I opened the envelope and found a HUGE selection off my wishlist. LHN’s Winter Wonderland was pretty much at the top of my wishlist when I saw it recently, and I may just have to start that one as my 1st project for 2007 – and the Beehive NR has been on my wishlist for quite some time now. And the threads are almost all for a specific ornie both Mum and I wanted to stitch, so Mum and I will have to do a SAL when she arrives in February. Once again, I’m gobsmacked, and I really love everything thanks Karen! {{hugs}}

Seeing as there are so many goodies to share, I thought I’d have a separate post for them – tomorrow I’ll do the stitching updates (not that there’s much to show haha). The other gifties I received were wrapped up, so they’re sitting under the tree until Christmas Day … although the temptation is getting harder and harder to resist LOL.

Thanks again to everyone for their gifts – I feel a bit bad that I couldn’t reciprocate this year, but I am very grateful for your friendship and support and I just adore everything! {{hugs}}.

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I’m Baaaaaack!!!!!

Anne S

Just in the nick of time before Christmas … the phone technician very kindly came in to visit me on his day off, just so he can try to rectify my problems before Santa’s visitations, and because it could be quite some time before my shifts allow him to come see me inbetween public holidays. Anyway, we thought we were up for a major rewriting job, then at the last moment he managed to access a line, and I have phone access again. Woohoo 😀

This is just a really quick post to let you know I’m back online again, but it will take me a while to catch up on the 460+ unread feeds, and 200+ new emails, so please bear with me 🙂 I’ll post properly when I’m a bit better organised … I don’t have much stitching to show for my ‘spare time’ – what is that about “the best laid plans…”? haha. I did do a tiny bit on the Leporello, but didn’t want to do too much as that would spoil the SAL with Jenna … but I just couldn’t resist making a tiny start 😉 So instead I put a few stitches into Bunnies in my Garden …

Anyway, I’ll post more tomorrow with piccies, as well as piccies of all the lovely gifties I’ve been receiving this week. I’ve been grinning from ear to ear all week from all the lovely items that have been appearing, and my spirits are positively soaring! 😀 More details to follow tomorrow …

Now I’m off to kick back with some egg nog (first time I’ve tried it, and I think I’m hooked!! – but this is the Aussie version, on loads of ice! :D), and an old DVD (as an aside, oh what a blessing, I can access the TV Guide online again now woohoo), and my stitching … life is good! Especially as I now have two days off, the supervisor on duty also let us Hotliners go home 1/2 hour early tonight, and I got two more Luv Ya Work awards today … life really IS good 😀

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Great news for a change!

Anne S

Sorry about the really rushed post yesterday – I’ve managed to book a spot at the library today, and have a whole 30 minutes to play with woohoo 😉

First up a big thank you for Christine D … sorry, but I forgot to bring your email addy with me to the library … I wanted to say thanks so much for your beautiful ornie – I love it! It’s look stunning on my little ornie tree … I’ll post a piccie as soon as I get up and running properly again. Just wanted to let you know it arrived safe and sound, and it’s awesome 😀

The way I’m going my first post after Christmas is gonna be laden with piccies haha.

Now, on to the GREAT news … I couldn’t wait until later to announce it to the world haha. Today I was told I was one of the nominees for an “Excel Award” – which is basically when people think you’ve gone ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ and given excellence in service … and I won it! I don’t know who nominated me yet, but apparently that also gets me nominated for the overall yearly award (I doubt I’ll get that though) … and the best thing of all, I get a $150 gift voucher from David Jones to spend, as well as a certificate of excellence. How cool is that? Can you tell I’m rapt?? LOL. After struggling so much financially these last two months, it’s going to be wonderful going shopping for something totally non-essential yippee … and I think I may have already spent it in my mind. I’ve been dying to get an iPod for ages, and they’ve come down in price recently, so I think that’s what I’ll get … I’m grinning from ear to ear! 😀

I also heard from the phone technician today – he wanted to come and visit this morning, but of course I was at work – he’s going to ‘try’ to get to my place late tomorrow afternoon, but no guarantees. That’ll pretty much be the last chance he’ll get before Christmas, so my fingers are seriously crossed he can make it … that would be just awesome!

Aside from that I got a whole hour of stitching done last night on the Leporello … it took me two nights gridding the fabric (not helped by Silkweaver cutting the edges on an angle, so I had difficulty getting everything in OK) … so right now I just have a tiny blue blob on the fabric – by the time I’m internet-ready again, I might have something worth seeing 😉

Rightio, better run – I still need to do some internet banking and email reading, and my minutes are counting down rapidly … (PS: Ally, I might have to check into your options of McD’s – will have to check the yellow pages to see if any of them here have internet access … I’m sure I could survive buying something to surf for a while LOL.)

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Out of Action

Anne S

Unfortunately my phone line at home is as dead as a dodo … so I can’t access emails or the internet/blogs … fingers crossed it will be fixed before Christmas, but I’m not holding my breath 😦

If this doesn’t work, and doesn’t post, I’ll try to access the internet from a library or something somewhere … what am I going to do at home now?? I guess I’ll have lots of stitching piccies to show and tell by the time I get back! LOL.

Updated:

My apologies to those of you who read the previous post and got all the info about my work 😦 Obviously that’s something I won’t be repeating … but at least I know it works!!

It turns out it’s unlikely I can get the phone line checked before Christmas, which means I won’t be able to access blogs etc very easily without going to an internet cafe or library (which is where I am now). If you need to contact me urgently regarding the RAK Registry or anything else, please try contacting Nicki (Plush) or Carol (Garden of Stitches) and they could let you know my work email address. Otherwise I’ll try to pop into a cafe or library once a week to check incoming emails.

Apologies for the quick post, but I only have 15 minutes of access allowed here, and need to pop into my ISP website to see if I can access my emails. If I don’t get chance to say so beforehand, all the very best to all of you and your families for a wonderful festive season!

I’ll quickly close saying I have received a wonderful giftie today from Carol (Garden of Stitches) … and I adore it! I’ll post properly when I get chance, but Carol will no doubt give you a taste of the contents on her blog 😀 I’m sorry this isn’t a proper thanks, but I’ll write more when I have more time 😀 (Luv ya Carol!)

Works in Progress

Back to a Rotation

Anne S

Well, so much for my plans to grid up the Leporello last night … it was quite late, so I thought I’d just stitch on an ‘existing’ project for the rest of the night, and start the Leporello today … um, well, that was the “plan” …

In reality, I started stitching Chatelaine’s Egyptian Garden, and I couldn’t put it down … so I ended up putting an entire 10 hours into it, and thus starting back into my rotation, which is well overdue 🙂 Here’s my progress to date.

And now I may have a partner in crime stitching with the Leporello – I’d love to do a SAL with you, Jenna … I’ll drop you an email shortly and we can work out how we want to do that.

Which also reminds me, I also have to get my Macaw or Rainbow Lorikeets kitted up for a SAL with Carina … as well as the Bordeaux Sampler with Leslie and Carol, it’s gonna be a busy time coming up 🙂 But what a wonderful group of projects 😀

I’ve actually been getting over a small dose of a virus since Thursday (I had to come home from work early on Friday), so it’s been a perfect weekend just blobbing out and stitching … heavenly 🙂 But tomorrow I’m on 6am shifts, and there’s a loud party going off next door … not quite so heavenly :/ But then I look back at my Egyptian Garden, and that heavenly feeling comes back 😀

I am thankful for stitching – and all the sheer pleasure, peace and joy that comes from it.

Finishes

Another ornie stitched

Anne S

I can’t believe it’s been a full week since I’ve done any stitching, but today I was lazy and sat and stitched up another ornament … I don’t have the Mill Hill Treasures, but I figure it looks OK without them 🙂 That means project 18 crossed off the list – down to 32 left woohoo 😀 I also washed and ironed my cream Belfast linen ready to start the Chatelaine Leporello, now I just need to grid it up and start stitching …


Christmas Eve by Elizabeth’s Designs
from JCS 10th Anniversary Collection
stitched on 28ct lambswool linen
with recommended threads and beads

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Take THAT Beta Blogger!

Anne S

Aha, I think I’ve finally worked out the very simple solution to be able to post on Beta blogs … after giving up trying to post on many blogs (some would allow anonymous comments, some wouldn’t etc) … I finally opened up a Google account, which was super simple, and it’s allowed me to comment everywhere so far … although I have to admit I’ve only made a few comments so far this morning before work. Anyway, anyone who’s still having problems commenting might want to try doing that.

After seeing Nicki’s blogs copy across just fine, I decided to bite the bullet last night and migrate mine … but apparently one of my blogs can’t be migrated yet, so I have to wait in line for longer – I don’t mind at all ;P

Nothing else to post today, really …

Except to say today I’m thankful for fresh clean sheets and bedding … how lovely is it to slip into bed when you’ve just changed all the linen? Ah, heaven 🙂

Gifts TO BE FIXED, RAK Registry

Ornies and RAK

Anne S

I was thinking what a great mix of nationalities we have so far in the RAK Registry database, and just in case you were interested I thought I’d share … so far we have a total of 38 stitching bloggers taking part, and they’re from the following nations:

15 – USA
4 – Canada
4 – United Kingdom
4 – The Netherlands
3 – New Zealand
3 – France
2 – Australia
1 – South Africa
1 – Switzerland
1 – Finland

A couple of quick replies for Nicki and Lisa … the dress isn’t that ‘light’ to wear, I have to admit – it has a separate skirt underneath with curtain wire hoops. Mind you, I said yesterday if I keep filling out my body any more than it currently is, I soon won’t be needing the hoops! ROFL. The dress itself was made from some plain green homespun cotton fabric by Mum, then I added all the decorations onto it – in fact the tinsel needs to be replaced now, I think. The tinsel and string of balls are pinned on from the inside with safety pins, so it can be removed for washing – next year, though, I’m going to superglue the caps to the balls, as a couple of the new ornaments I put on this year to replace missing ones aren’t as robust. I do love it, though, and I have another stupid idea in the back of my brain as well … making some felt ‘boots’ that have a flat inner section up my calf, with the outside part pushing out, so when I stand with my feet together, it looks like a plant pot … or hanging some presents from the hoops … yup, gotta love that festive season, it really does bring out the child in me! ;P

Now on to really FUN stuff … I was given the OK by Katrina to open one of my little gifties from under the tree – and now I understand why … I am now the proud owner of the most gorgeous ornie with beautiful stitching and finishing, and I’m absolutely thrilled with it! Thank you so much Katrina, I truly do adore it! And it’s on my little ‘ornie tree’ already! 😀 Doesn’t that sad little tree look so much better now? Mind you I still have to make up the two ornies Mum gave me (she did the stitching, and I’m doing the finishing), and then that’ll possibly be it for the year … depends how keen I get between now and Christmas hmmm.

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Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

The next two days are going to be quite social – we have a team meeting for all us ‘Hotliners’ (Seniors), and we’re doing it over breakfast for our Christmas get-together. Brekky is at 8am and I don’t start work until noon, but I thought I’d potter around in the neighbourhood until then, as there’s no point coming all the way home again. Then on Saturday I’ve been invited to a friend’s place for a party (J), and I’m driving to B’s house first then we’re going there together, then I’m staying at B’s house for the night – which means we can let our hair down for the night … it’ll do me good, I think 😀

Today I’m thankful for my best friend’s Mum Doreen – her apricot slice went down a treat yesterday, with a few people coming up to me especially to say how yummy it was (most people brought in supermarket cakes, so I guess the home-made stuff really stood out LOL) … I’m also thankful that I made a double batch and that I still have some sitting in my fridge (my hips won’t be thankful though) … but not just that, I’m thankful for Doreen for giving me so many wonderful childhood (and adult) memories, and being one of the people that has helped shape me into the person I am today – I love you loads, Doreen!! 😀