Enjoying a sense of peace one stitch at a time
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 …
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:
Then back to the beginning again …
Round 3 would then be:
And finally:
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” … 😉
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
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).
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’ 🙂
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.
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)
The Drawn Thread’s Autumn Arbor
Shepherd’s Bush Bee Scissor Fob
The Drawn Thread’s It’s Halloween
Lanarte’s Sea Life
(not actually this sampler, but a set of 4 designs using a lot of these elements plus a few more)
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 😉
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 😀
(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 ***
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
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 – 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.
In fact, not much of anything going on!! I’m on my final shift today of 4 weeks of late shifts (6pms, overnights, 4pms, etc) – and as usual in this part of the roster I’m fighting a migraine and feeling quite generally like death warmed up, and have been all week 😦
Even though I haven’t been online too much, I haven’t been stitching a great deal over the last few days either – I do, however, have a stitching progress piccie from the other day that I can post … I was hoping it would be a finish I would be posting by now, but this will have to do. This is the infamous plastic canvas project – and I have to admit I’ve hated every single stitch I’ve put into this damned thing! After getting RSI years ago, I’ve found if I hold a hoop etc in my hand for very long, my hand cramps up (I now stitch using a lap or floor frame with scroll bars) … well, holding plastic canvas is worse for me. Even though I got suckered into stitching this one for my friend, I did say I’d do it, so here I am finally getting it out of the way – I have a day off work tomorrow, so I think I might just stay in my PJ’s all day and sit and get it finished. Then I just have to stitch her Winnie the Pooh bookmark (which isn’t even started yet) then my commitment is all over red rover … phew! (Mind you, I have to pick up some more DMC 702 to finish this one off – because I’m stitching it all with a tent stitch type stitch, I’m using more thread – but it’s the only way I can get my needle under the back of the threads without having a temper tantrum!!)
Emails have still been arriving, though, while I’ve been offline – which is making my wishlist grow ever longer haha. Here’s some more enabling for you {{insert evil laugh here}}. Here’s the latest collaboration piece from The Cat’s Whiskers & Dinky Dyes – I love it!
Also for those that I’m starting to enable towards the Group Correspondence Courses at the Embroiderers Guild of America, here’s the link to the entire education page of GCC’s {{insert second evil laugh}}. I’ve just succumbed to getting one more project (yeah, as if I need any more!!) – this one has been on my wishlist for a few years now, and it’s finally retiring at the end of December to make way for new classes starting up … well, I could hardly NOT sign up for it now it’s my final chance ever, right? Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! ;P
GCC Florentine Christmas Ornaments
I’m actually a member of the Cyberstitchers Chapter of EGA, and because we’re a very spread out group, we get many many opportunities to sign up for GCC’s throughout the year (everything is mailed out, and a Yahoo group set up to chat about the project and discuss any problems etc) – as well as a chatty Yahoo group to keep in contact with everyone in general. If you don’t have an EGA Chapter near you to attend face-to-face meetings, I’d highly recommend it – and they take PayPal for the membership dues and course fees, which is awesome for those of us “across the pond” 🙂
I’ll finish off my quick post with a shot of Ally cat (she’s a real lady, too, Ally just like you! – definitely a perfect housemate!!). Ally doesn’t even meeow, never mind hiss … and she enjoys a quiet cuddle every now and then, but mostly she’s left to her own devices and spends most of the time dozing around the house. The house is a beautiful villa, and I spent a lovely morning at the start of the week sitting on the front porch in the sun with my stitching before I went to work … sheer heaven.
And on that note, I’d better start making tracks ready for today’s day at work. I need to drive by my storage unit to pick up some DMC that the local store didn’t have (for the infamous plastic canvas) – luckily it just means driving a bit of a roundabout way to work, it’s not majorly out of the way. I’m also dumping my duvet inner back into storage for a wee while too ‘cos it fills my car boot up and I end up having to put my suitcase etc on the back seat … I should actually take a photo of my travelling kit … I always feel quite sad when I look at it and think about all my lovely stuff in storage – but it’s a means to an end, I guess, and I just have to keep remembering that!
Rightio, onward and upward – into the shower I go then off to work … did I mention, it’s the LAST ONE?? WOOHOO!!!! Apart from the 4 hours overnight on Sunday night, of course, but that’s my own doing … I’ll be kicking myself later, I’m sure, but at the moment I’m putting my name down for overtime left right and centre to try to give the finances an extra kick (buying all these GCC’s aren’t really helping the cause – thanks overtime for giving me the option though!).
We just heard word via the WTC Quilt Yahoo group, that the quilt has been travelling around, and has been visited by a number of relatives of the deceased, as well as visiting the US President. Mary, our leader and coordinator, wrote a very touching tale of these events – and I have to say I feel very proud and blessed to have been part of this project. While the tragedy took place on US soil, it’s effects were felt right around the world, and still are today.
The quilt was taken to the White House on 16 April 2007 to visit with President George W. Bush where both of the Kentucky Senators, Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell, were present. Everyone loved it, and the President wanted it to hang in the Presidential Library – before this could happen, though, it was taken back to visit the families. The quilt is 15ft wide by 26ft long, and travelled by train on 7 September to NYC. There was a forum held on 10 September, but because the quilt is so large there was no way to hang it properly – instead it was partially hung, with the rest of the quilt laid on tabletops. Family members were able to find their loved ones name and touch it, and have photos taken with it.
Soon the quilt will be heading back to the Presidential Library, where it will have a permanent home. While I’m not a religious person, I have to say Mary’s final words in her post touched me very much …
“The Lord gave me the scripture verse before I spoke to the family members: Matthew 5:4: Blessed are those who mourn, they will be comforted. Through God’s mercy and grace we comforted those family members. God bless each one of you. It’s not how many panel’s you stitched that counts. It’s how many hearts you touched.”
Bless you, Mary, for organising this memorial – I, for one, am supremely proud to have been part of this experience! Here’s a photo taken at the White House.
I forgot to say the other day that my first CA Wells kit arrived, along with the latest two of my Group Correspondence Courses from the EGA. Here is the kit for CA Wells’ Sailor’s Valentine:
The latest projects to arrive from the Embroiderers Guild are as follows:
GCC Winterspring by Judith D Gulick
I must say these Group Correspondence Classes through the EGA are really good value for money – as well as being some exquisite projects, they are a perfect addition to any library, as the instructions are really useful (and extremely thorough) for other projects. I have two more yet to arrive later in the year, which are:
GCC Swiss Sampler by Ilse Altherr
GCC More Options in Hardanger by Dale Sokolow
And I’ve got numerous projects in the wings from previous years … I really must pull my finger out and get cracking on some of these! As well as the following, I also have a class on Schwalmwork and one on Ukrainian Whitework (which are both retired now, so I can’t find a piccie to share).
GCC Beginner’s Hardanger by Marion Scoular
GCC Options in Hardanger by Dale Sokolow
GCC Casalguidi & Lavender by Barbara Kershaw
GCC Crewel Confidence by Judy Jeroy
GCC Finishing with Flair by Marion Scoular
GCC Gracie by Ganet Burr
These next three are the only ones I’ve completed to date:
GCC Lace Ribbons by Dakota Rogers
GCC Blackwork in Red and Green by Ginger Gouger Miller
and my absolute favourite to date:
GCC Chess Anyone? by Dale Sokolow
(I really do need to try and take a better photo of this one as the piccie does no justice to it whatsoever)
As you can see, there’s still no stitching progress to be had … I’ve been spending the day cuddled up in my PJ’s in front of the computer screen, preparing the next round of Photo Hunt posts – apart from two weeks, I’m now totally prepared right up until the end of February, yippee.
Stitching-wise, I just put the final stitches into outside border of the French Monogram Collection III biscornu by Judith Tuttle (Twisted Oaks designs) last night at work … only to find out I’m out somewhere and the final corner doesn’t line up – let’s just say I’m going to ignore it for a short while, ‘cos I hate to think how much frogging that’s going to entail … especially as I’m stitching in DMC 115 and the colour seems to stick to the fabric a wee bit ho-hum. Note to self, when doing a design like this, stitch a grid from all four sides and all four corners to save your sanity!! 😦
Oh well, at least I still have plenty of projects on hand to choose from instead … I was about to say I might head of now and put a few stitches in, but it’s now well after midnight … the joys of coming off of nightshifts, trying to get settled back into a ‘normal’ routine hmmm. Mind you, I’m on 4pm-midnight shifts all next week as well, so perhaps it’s a good thing to keep in ‘evening’ mode …
Rightio, on that note I’m off to play for an hour with a needle and thread … and dratted plastic canvas!
Feather Stitching 