Cross Stitch – Page 24 – Feather Stitching

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Victoria Sampler

Mini Happy Dance

4 April, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

One more small finish for me for the year – I really enjoyed stitching this one … I was craving some ‘specialty stitches’ and this fit the bill in a small way. Unfortunately they were stitches I’ve already done before, so I didn’t really learn anything new, but it made a nice change to doing all cross stitch! And I just LOVE the colours on this one. It took longer than expected to stitch the top part, but I did manage to put the final stitches into it before midnight last night, so the entire thing was stitched in one day 🙂

“Lavender Bag” by The Victoria Sampler
Stitched using kit fabric, threads and beads

I’m thinking of trying to finally get acquainted with my new sewing machine later this afternoon if I get time, or on my return from my visit home, so I’m looking forward to finally getting some actual ‘finishing’ done (including the quilted wallhanging of Just Nan’s Evening Star, so it can go to its new loving home).

Now I’m off into the office for an hour or two to check my emails, and make a quick phone call to Tucson and Los Angeles if I need to … fingers crossed, though, they’ve got things sorted in my absence now the Manager is back in the office!

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Threads Through Time, Works in Progress

Joy to the World

3 April, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

I managed to put the final stitches into my Christmas ornie last night:

“Joy to the World” by Threads Through Time
from 2001 Just Cross Stitch ornie magazine
Stitched on 32ct white Lugana
using recommended DMC

And today started a new quick project – Lavender Bag by The Victoria Sampler (sorry, it’s a bad photo!):

Hopefully I’ll get chance to finish off the stitching tonight, as there isn’t a great deal more left to stitch, and no more bands with loads of colour changes 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Stash, Works in Progress

Yay, I have a car that locks!

2 April, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

What a relief that is to finally have a car with locking functionality once again – my heart’s been skipping a beat every time I walk out of the apartment block and the work carpark to see if my car is still there!

Anyhoo, a bit of tweaking with the electrics, a major service overhaul with 2 new ‘belts’ and a CV cover, and 4 brand spanking new tyres … and $1100 later … and my car is like a new model all over again. I still think it’s a heap of scrap metal, but at least it’s more pleasurable to drive now! LOL.

The joy of being stuck at the mechanics 1 1/2 hours away from home, and being in the middle of an industrial area, means nothing to do but sit on a chair in the corner of a wee office, listen to an audiobook until the iPod battery runs out, and do a teensy bit of stitching … doesn’t get much better than that really (OK, if we’re to be totally truthful, I guess sitting in my own stitching recliner in front of Supernatural on TV with a glass of vino to help keep down the internal humidity would be better … but hey, beggars can’t be choosers!).

I managed to quickly dive into the Craft Depot at Pennant Hills seeing as I wasn’t very far away on the way home, and picked up a couple of fabrics … and lo and behold the weather may change tomorrow, so expect snow and blizzards … I came out with a couple of finishing fabrics and not a single ONE was blue!!! {{swoon}}

Anyway, enough waffling … time to go sit in front of the TV and catch up on this week’s programmes with that well-earned glass of vino … I’ll leave you with today’s tiny bit of stitching effort (sorry, I forgot to use the flash, so it’s a crappy dark photo that even the editing software doesn’t want to play with!).

In fact, before I sit in front of the TV I think I’ll drag out my EGA Correspondence class booklets – I’m getting a serious urge to start something that is “new” and that will teach me something … or perhaps I should drag out one of my old WIP’s with challenging stitches on them … hmmm, decisions, decisions … 😉

Ackworth Friendship Book, Cross Stitch, Food, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, With My Needle, Works in Progress

A bit of Quaker

29 March, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

I finally managed to put the final stitches into Part 2 of my Quaker RR:

And here’s a comparison of mine and Nickis pieces hanging out together this evening – this photo is quite deceiving, as Nicki’s piece is quite a bit smaller than mine, I should take a photo of them side by side properly so you can see the difference, it’s awesome!:

Then I started part 3, which is part 1 of 2 that I’m stitching on Nicki’s RR. I have to admit I struggled a bit stitching this tonight, as the fabric’s high count is really hard to see … thank goodness for my Ott-Lite, or I don’t think I would be attempting it! It will look really pretty once it’s stitched, though … it just might take me a bit longer than normal to stitch it! 😉

The highlight for me this weekend was having my ex-flatmate up to stay for the night in Sydney. She flew off overseas this morning, but before she went we managed to have a great day out yesterday. We drove out to Bondi Junction, which is a first for me – the Westfield shopping centre out there is awesome! I totally fell in love with Norton St Grocers, and filled my basket up with wonderful fresh and healthy produce … thankfully my basket was too full by the time we came across the deli section, so I couldn’t stock up on non-healthy options … but, I’ll be back LOL.

Tonight I really enjoyed the fresh figs I’d bought yesterday … I can’t believe the difference between dried and fresh figs – fresh figs rock!!! 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Country Cottage Needleworks, Cross Stitch, Finishes

March ornie finish

23 March, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Here’s my latest small finish … which has taken me the last two weeks to stitch …

“Let It Snow” by Country Cottage Needleworks
Stitched on 32ct Natural Belfast Linen
with DMC and Kreinik #4 metallic braid
(from 2008 JCS Christmas Ornie magazine)

Cross Stitch, Stash, Wishlist

Stash arriving any day now …

20 March, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

I received my receipt in the mail today from Needlecraft Corner, which means my parcel should be arriving any day now! Sorry Mum it was too late to add some Floss-away bags for you 😦

Here’s the list of goodies coming to Australia very very soon from my personal birthday splurge (from left to right, top to bottom):

January Box & finishing Kit – Cherished Stitches
Cirque des Carreaux – Ink Circles
Scissors By Any Other Name – The Cat’s Whiskers
Victorian Memories Chaise Lounge – The Cat’s Whiskers
Rhapsody in Red part 3 – Sampler Cove
Rhapsody in Red part 4 – Sampler Cove
Rhapsody in Red part 2 – Sampler Cove
Quaker Motif Sewing Kit – Fancy Work

Along with the charts, I also have the following on their way:

1 skein of Gloriana silk (Grannie Smith Green)
1 spool of Kreinik #4 Braid (684)
8 packets of Mill Hill beads
3 packets of Mill Hill treasures
Juniper WDW Felt (for WMN’s Quaker Turtles)
1 skein of WDW #5 perle cotton
Phew!! 😀

Of course there’s still plenty more still on the wishlist – and just to prove a stitcher can never truly have enough stash, I’ve recently added the following beauties to the list. Thank goodness there wasn’t too much to tempt me at Nashville this year!! And those things that did tempt me are already on their way here (The Cat’s Whiskers and Cherished Stitches pieces above) … although I wish I’d known about the latest two LHN designs below when I’d placed my order, or they would have been smack bang on the order list too! … oh well, the year is young ;P

Once again from left to right, top to bottom, the details are:

Travelling Stitcher – LHN
Sunflower Inn – LHN (I ADORE this one!)
It’s Cold Outside – Blue Ribbon Designs
She Sells Seashells – CCN
Lavender Blossoms Biscornu – Sweetheart Tree
Lavender Blossoms Fob – Sweetheart Tree
Cupcakes Glorious Cupcakes – The Cat’s Whiskers
Simply Christmas Tree – Whispered by the Wind
Beach Cottage – CCN
Bayside Bungalows – CCN
Fruits of the Harvest – The Cat’s Whiskers

Yep, there’s no hope for me!! 😛

And seeing as I have no new stitching to show off yet (although I’m about halfway through my March ornie for the Xmas ornie challenge), I thought you might enjoy the eye candy as much as I did 😀

Ackworth Friendship Book, Cherished Stitches, Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, With My Needle, Works in Progress

Back briefly

9 March, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a quick note before I hit the hay for the night … I’ve obviously been ‘AWOL’ for a while, thanks to an extremely demanding and exhausting (and not much fun, quite frankly) job … and I owe a ton of emails to some wonderfully kind and generous ladies for some exquisite birthday gifts from last month – once I send emails of thank you I’ll post some piccies of their incredible generosity.

I have been AWOL not just from blogging, but from emails as well – I have a new record of 1900+ unread blog feeds and 522 unread emails … don’t think I’ll be getting through the backlog in a great hurry!! Anyway, I have stitched in little spurts now and then just to keep my sanity – usually when I’ve fallen in a heap after a week of 12 hour shifts, and working weekends … and Katie and I have popped in our Supernatural DVD’s for the ultimate in chick relaxation … along with a bottle of something alcoholic. I swear before this year’s out, I’ll be signing up for AA meetings!!!

Following are the results of my stitching over the last month – not a great deal to show for it, but then again I’ve hardly been home long enough to put needle to fabric … and this last weekend is the first one in well over a month that I haven’t worked, and spent it all recovering from an exceptional hangover! We cut loose in a BIG way on Thursday night, and suffered well for it afterwards, but it was a great way to let off steam after being so exceptionally stressed all these weeks.

Anyway, on to the sparse stitching – then in the morning I’ll get those thank you emails shipped off, and I can do a longer post, perhaps (I have taken tomorrow off – in lieu of all the extra unpaid hours I’ve done).

First of all here’s the latest update photo of Mirabilia’s Winter Queen … starting with the last progress photo taken:

And what she looks like now (I took a full length photo as I needed to roll up the scroll bars for the, hopefully, final stitching at the bottom). I have to admit I’ve made some good headway with her, more from some serious stitching on Sunday afternoons than anything else – just to force myself to relax and chill out.

Then I had two Christmas ornie finishes last month, just in the nick of time (with 30 minutes to spare) for last month’s Christmas ornie challenge on a Yahoo group. The photos are terrible as I took them just before midnight!

Followed by Part 1 of my Quaker Friendship Round Robin that I’m stitching with a group of some of my closest online pals. Unfortunately I didn’t get Part 2 finished in time for mailing, but as I’ve stitched mine on individual pieces of fabric it doesn’t really matter.

And on that note I’ll sign off as my eyes feel like sandpaper – I’ll try to pop online again in the morning to catch up on my personal emails, and thank yous … I can’t guarantee I’ll be blogging regularly again for a while, though, as work is still feral for a while longer … plus I’ve decided to go home for 2 weeks with the family again – just what I need when I’m fed up at work 🙂

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Bad update photo of Winter Queen

10 February, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Seeing as I’m not sure if I’ll get anymore stitching done until the weekend, I thought I’d quickly jump on and upload my latest WIP piccie of Winter Queen … for once you can see some substantial improvements in the last piccie! Can’t wait to get her finished so I can unroll her from the scroll bars and see her in all her glory … also so I can move on to something else 😉

As previously done, here’s the before and after pics:

Before (closer to the actual colours of the threads!)

After (dunno what happened to the colours in his one!!)

I think the next “major” BAP I’ll focus on after Winter Queen is finished is Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello … so much for my rotation this year, I just want to keep stitching on WQ until she’s done … of course I’m female, and therefore reserve the right to change my mind on a whim! ;P

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Winter Queen update

3 February, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

After getting my hair done on Saturday I sat and stitched for a few hours on Winter Queen. Sunday was spent at work the whole day, and yesterday was spent in agony hobbling around at work with an agonising back. Thankfully I had a chiro appointment last night, so I was sent home with instructions to put an ice pack on my lower back followed by some Anti-Flamme ointment, and today thankfully it is quite a bit better. I was so chirpy last week ‘cos I’ve had more energy than I’ve had for at least 6 months … but apparently this is to be expected in the initial stages of the therapy. Still, I feel so much better within myself, the $1000 is worth every cent so far! 🙂

As for Winter Queen, she’s grown a wee bit since the last photo, and I put a teeny bit more into her again last night too as Katie and I sat and watched another 2 episodes of Supernatural Seas0n 1 … just can’t get enough of that show! Anyway, just before I jump in the shower, here’s a quick update piccie – sorry but these update piccies are quite boring, as you can hardly see that much improvement thanks to the lovely blocks of white … can’t wait to get to a nice blue to stitch with 😉

Now for my own benefit, to make me feel like I’ve actually made some progress, I’ve included the before and after shots again… starting with the “after”:

Before

Country Cottage Needleworks, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Works in Progress

Quick Drive-By

29 January, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Life is downright hectic at the moment – the weekend was taken up with moving and cleaning, and yesterday I did a 14 hour day at work … and no sign of that letting up for a while. We’re down to two staff members in our team (with one new start, but she’s not trained up yet), with our Supervisor now on annual leave for two weeks – we’re so flat out with our day-to-day work and operational actions that our project work is struggling to get completed (hence the late hours) … even my poor stitching has been suffering, although I have managed to get a couple of stitches in over the weekend … (so much for my New Year’s goals though hmmm)

On Saturday night Katie and I sat in front of the TV in the lounge and watched a few episodes of Supernatural (we’re both massive fans), while I sat and stitched in my recliner. I’ve been stitching while sitting up in bed over the last few months, so it was really nice to get my stitching station set up again in the lounge. The night I managed to get the last stitches put into Cottage Garden, so I have one more finish under my belt. (Sorry about the dark photo.)

“Cottage Garden” by Country Cottage Needleworks
stitched on 32ct cream linen
with recommended threads

Then on Monday night I picked up Winter Queen again and put her back on the floor stand – if you can work out the differences between the last time I left her in May 2008 and now, with the minimal amount of stitches I managed on Monday night, you’re doing fantastic … ‘cos there’s very little to show for my efforts haha. But every stitch is better than none, right? (And if you give up, they’re on the left hand side LOL) 🙂

Before:

After:

Anyway, time to jump in the shower and head off to work – I’m having a slightly later start today ‘cos of my late finish (we’ve been leaving home just after 7am this week) … Roll on 5pm is all I can say, ‘cos I’m off to the Chiropractor and I can’t stay late (yippee!!).