Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Needlerolls

A tiny spot of finishing

Today I started putting together a needleroll tutorial for use later next year on the Focus on Finishing blog – and managed to get the following needleroll completely finished (excuse the very poor photo, it was getting dark and I couldn’t get a decent shot without flooding the whole stitching with the flash), plus one more to the stage where I just need to add the ribbon and stuff it (this was actually my subject for the photos, but I realised when I got to the ribbon stage that all my ribbons are in the storage unit, except for the one I kept out for the Planted Hearts one ho-hum).  Anyway, it means this one is finally completed and can be sent on its way to a new home somewhere 😀

planted hearts needleroll finished

While I was at it, I also decided to keep going with the hemstitching, and finally put together my Thistle Bag that Tobie kindly sent me the kit for ages ago.  It’s about time I pulled my finger out and got this bag made up – and once I put my mind to it, it didn’t take too long whatsoever! 😀

Thistle Bag by M Designs

That means I can finally say I’ve contributed to the monthly Finish-a-Long on the Focus on Finishing blog, instead of just being on the sidelines cheering everyone else along 😀

I may try and squeak in one more quick ‘finish’ tonight … something that will be super quick to finish off and won’t take up much room in storage (that’s something I started taking into consideration today – I was going to make a tie-on pillow using KarenV’s tutorial, but I decided I’m probably better off leaving everything ‘flat’ rather than stuffed, as I just don’t have space for it at the moment).

Lastly here is my latest stitching finish – I completed this yesterday afternoon … and I just love the colours and shimmering gold metallic thread – the photo doesn’t do it justice whatsoever.  The red is deeper and richer, and the metallic just glistens and twinkles 🙂

christmas heart

Christmas Heart by Birds of a Feather
Stitched on 32ct white Lugana
with WDW and RG gold Petite Treasure Braid
(instead of Kreinik #4 gold braid)

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Small finish and lovely visit

Just a really quick post to show my latest small finish – I’m thinking of picking up a bigger project next, so it may be a while before there’s another finish … as well as the fact that I’ll be losing my internet connection again in a few days time.  I’ve just spent a couple of hours uploading piccies for the next couple of months for the Photo Hunts, for that exact reason – I’m not sure when I’ll be up and running for the internet again, and uploading and downloading is a tad harder at an internet cafe than it is at home … anyway, if you don’t see me online for a while soon, you’ll at least see one post a week, as I’ve uploaded posts for the Photo Hunt right up until 3 November – I know I’ve said it before, but I seriously LOVE that functionality of WordPress!!

Anyway, onto the piccie – here is my latest finish:

christmas bellpull 1

Miniature Bellpull Ornament by The Drawn Thread
from 1999 JCS Christmas ornie magazine or 10th Anniversary issue (which is where I got mine from – the 1999 JCS ornie mag is the only one I don’t own … {pout})
Stitched on 36ct summer khaki Edinborough linen
using DMC and Needle Necessities threads as recommended

In other news – my foot is perfectly fine … I had a lot of stiffness and pain in it on Saturday, and went to see a GP as I felt quite worried about it – but she said I hadn’t done any major damage and I still had relatively good mobility, so just to keep applying the ice packs.  Well, you’d never believe it, I woke up on Sunday and hardly had a twinge!!  It feels fantastic! 😀

The other great news from Sunday is that I caught up with Tannia and had a lovely relaxing stitching day (hence the reason my Drawn Thread ornie got finished – I just did a couple more hours when I got home and finished it up).  As always, Tannia is wonderful company, and it was great to just kick back and relax with needle in hand, and old movies on TV, without a care in the world.  There’s also a treat in store for you, Mum, next time you come over – Tannia has very kindly given me some Christmas ornie magazines for you 😀

Not much else to report apart from that … I’m now off to the lounge room to watch a couple more episodes of series 3 of Moonlighting while I put a few more stitches into another ornie, then tomorrow is “clean up” day when I start packing my things away again in preparation of moving out.  I have another week out in Seaford, then I’m looking after a place in Edithvale for 3 weeks with an elderly (and apparently well behaved – that’ll be a nice change) kitty.

 Rightio, time to get cracking again …

(Updated to add:)  Forgot to say, I finished reading Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows yesterday morning – couldn’t put it down in the end!  Even though I haven’t read any of the others yet, I have no regrets whatsoever for reading it.  It’s unlikely I’ll sit down and read the other books yet, and I wanted to read it before I knew what the ending was.  I’ve seen all the movies to date, so at least I knew all the characters and the terminology … although after seeing the movies, I have to say all the characters in the book were now ingrained in my head as the actors who played them … much less imagination needed haha.  Anyway, I have to say I loved it! 😀

Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Evil kitty … and squishy mail (picture heavy!)

I’m sure no-one will be greatly surprised when I recite the story of my morning yesterday … it pretty much follows the vein of the rest of the year, and if I could have seen my own face yesterday it would have had me in fits of giggles for weeks on end, I’m sure!!

So, what happened to bring all this mirth on … well, to be honest I didn’t find it particularly funny at the time – and if my day tomorrow is not pain-free I may not see the funny side yet again … but I’m getting ahead of myself already …

Yesterday was like any other day this week, except that I had a slight sleep-in – the alarm went off at 4.30am instead of 3.30am like the other days this week (thanks to Lucien swapping his 6am shift for my 5am one so he could go and play golf after work).  As per usual when I got up it was a hot and humid 4 degrees Celsius (aaarghhh), and the country was in darkness.  Being a lazy so-and-so for the first time all week I decided I couldn’t be bothered walking up to the end of the hallway to put that light on, then come back halfway up the hall to switch the other one off, I decided to just brace myself, study the layout of the hallway, and memorise the lightswitch location in my brain … considering it’s only a few steps away, it wasn’t too difficult to do … or do I thought …

Someone else had other things on his mind, though … “evil kitty” all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere – I assume it was him, but I have to say I couldn’t actually see him, and it could have been Satan himself for all I knew … all I could hear was a whole heap of meeowing going on from the area somewhere near my feet.  Now I was worried I was going to stand on the stupid cat in the middle of the hallway, so I started swinging my feet out with my footsteps … the only problem was that now I’d been distracted by trying to find the cat in the dark with my less-than-nocturnal eyesight, I also couldn’t work out where in the damned hallway I now was!  Aha, I thought – there is a grey patch over on the wall to the left, of course that must be the laundry, as the light will be reflecting through the door … let me just walk out and reach out to switch on that light which is closer than the other one … let me just take one more step and reach ……………

The next thing I know I’m stepping out into mid-air, then with a comical expression of total surprise I find myself tumbling down the couple of steps at the end of the hallway … ’twas not the laundry light at all, it was the kitchen!!  My mobile phone went crashing off across the wooden floor, but the final Harry Potter book decided to just sit crying in a heap as it wasn’t in a bouncing mood … me, I just sat there in a heap trying to work out which part hurt most, and which part of my anatomy I should try to move first … crikey, it would have been a picture and a half with that stunned look on my face!!

Luckily, though, nothing was majorly damaged – I felt a bit shaken up and a bit queasy, which I’m sure was from the shock rather than anything else.  Because I was on such an early shift I didn’t want to let my colleagues down at work, and seemed OK to drive, so I went into work – by the time I arrived, though, my right foot was throbbing like hell.  I ended up tipping a recycling box upside down and elevating my leg under the desk for a few hours, and Lucien got a great deal of mirth out of watching me get up to answer a phone call at another desk when my legs nearly buckled from underneath me … glad I could put a smile on your face Lucifer! 😉

Anyway, today I woke up feeling as though I’ve been run over by a Mack truck – the muscles in my left leg, especially my thigh, feel as though I’ve done 3 hours hard work-out at a gym and are very strained and uncomfortable.  My right foot also started really throbbing again after about 6 hours, but luckily today we were working with Bernie who’s a Nurse in her other role (she does a few hours after work to keep her qualifications current) – she had an ice pack put on it, then strapped it up for me.  I’ve been given orders, though, that if I get any more discomfort from it tomorrow I’ve got to go to the doctors as she thinks there’s a possibility of it being a hairline fracture – so far there’s only a little bit of swelling and no bruising yet … fingers crossed it doesn’t turn to anything more sinister!  I’m currently sitting here with another ice pack on, so hopefully that will help 🙂

So, that’s been the last couple of days for you … on a good note, though, I’ve had some exceptionally gorgeous gifties over the last week that I can finally share with you as I’ve sent off all my thank you emails.  I’ll show them in the order that they were received – and I have to say I love every single one of them, thank you ladies!! 😀

First up is an exquisite parcel I received from Isabelle – I must say I tried to help Isabelle and Seb out by buying one of Isabelle’s beautiful bags from her Etsy shop (I fell in love with this one hook line and sinker), after finding out what the proceeds were going towards … and Isabelle said she wanted to send something extra with it when it came time to post it out.  Here are all my goodies – am I spoilt or what??!  These were actually posted quite a while ago, and I started wondering if they’d gone missing … it turns out they had – they were found at the East Camberwell post office, after I queried it!  They’d been having a lovely quiet holiday over there, with no-one any the wiser!  No doubt Isabelle will be pleased to know they finally turned up safe and sound.  The blue bag with white lace on the left is the one I chose to buy, and the other bag is an extra one made especially for me.  Aren’t they beautiful?  Not only that, but I now have my very own French XS magazine that I’ve been spreading drool over for days – I think I could quite easily become addicted to these!  But the piece de resistance for me would have to be the little bourse at the back – this has extra special sentimental value for me, as this was made from the fabric from Isabelle’s wedding dress … I had a serious lump in my throat when I read that!  I’m going to use it as a jewellery pouch for my favourite pieces of jewellery.  Thanks again Isabelle – everything will be treasured always, my dear friend – I feel truly honoured to own some of your masterpieces!

gift from isabelle aug 07

Next up is something totally different … while Tessa was away in the UK she found this adorable, gorgeous duck and thought of me when she saw it!  I don’t know why?!! haha.  Doesn’t it have the most awesome character??  I just love it to death, and it will be a most prized possession in my collection.  In fact the day it arrived it spent all day sitting on my desk atop my computer base – it put a smile on my face every time I looked at it.  Thanks so much again Tessa – I really love it to pieces … it’s so sweet of you to think of me while you were away, especially knowing the reason you were there {{hugs}}.

gift from tessa aug07

Now last, but by no means least … I received an absolutely exquisite RAK from Dawn in the mail today!  After tumbling down the stairs yesterday, and feeling crappy for two days, this did an exceptional job of cheering me up today!  Isn’t it gorgeous?  And the colour is so scrummy, and my fave … BLUE!  Thanks again Dawn, for a wonderful RAK – I truly do feel thoroughly spoilt, and really appreciate your gift.  I can’t wait to get it on a pair of scissors!  I love the postcard too! 😀

gift from dawn townsend aug07a

Talking of work (well, I was earlier in the post anyway) … I cashed in my bonus payment this week – and bought my GPS/iPaq.  I decided to go without the WiFi and extra 1GB of memory and bought the HP iPaq 5765, and spent the extra $180 on something different … I spent the rest of the bonus money on upgrading my compact digital camera.  I’ve had my old Canon PowerShot for about 6-7 years now, and while it’s been an awesome camera, technology had most definitely improved over the years and my 3 megapixels are a bit lacking these days.  I wanted something with a better macro capability, and I considered getting a macro lens for my Nikon digital SLR, but it was out of my price range … but I got something even better – in fact it’s seems clearer than my SLR lenses, which is amazing!  Hopefully it’ll be better for taking shots of my needlework once I get my head around all the settings.  The camera make I got was a Panasonic Lumix which has a Leica lens and a 10x optical zoom … I shall say no more!! 😉

Here’s a couple of shots taken on it by Lucien … he spent more time playing with it today than I did!!  Here’s one of our office desks in the area I work in … plus one of me actually doing work while Lucien goofs off!! As you can see, it’s casual dress day today yippee!

work1 aug07

work2 aug07

Then there are a couple of shots I took on arrival home in Daniel’s garden – the close-up views when you zoom in are exceptional on the flower stamens in the 2nd photo … wow!!  So much so that Lucien is thinking of buying one now too 😉

daniels flowers 3

daniels flowers 2

daniels flowers 1

So now it’s back on the wagon again spending-wise … time to pull the horns in again and get some $ back into the bank once more.  Bless you, though, work management for giving us a wonderful gift of cash … I, for one, wholeheartedly appreciate the thought! I thought of being very responsible and putting it towards bills, but then thought “sod it” and went spending haha.  As Mum always says, “it’s money you never had, so treat yourself” 😀

Rightio, time to remove the ice pack for 20 minutes … then it’ll be time to sit back down again with it back on again – if this keeps up you might even see another stitching finish soon … I’m halfway through a Christmas ornie, so you never know your luck in a raffle! 😉

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Round Robins

Stitching progress

Just a seriously fast drive-by to upload these stitching piccies … I’m on 5am shifts at the moment, and I can hardly keep my eyes open, so I’m going to go lay down for a short time – but wanted to post these while I’ve got them on the computer screen …

First up is the latest progress shot of round 4 of our Quaker Friendship Sampler RR.  This is the piece belonging to Barbara, and as normal the photo does the actual piece no justice at all, it’s truly gorgeous!  Love the choice in colours! 😀  I can’t believe we’re actually 2/3 of the way through this RR now, with only 2 more stitching sessions left!  That means I must have Nicki’s arriving on my doorstep next, followed by the last in line (for me), Katrina’s.  I’ve loved stitching this, my very first full quaker design … and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

barbara's quaker rr

Next up is a tiny wee finish, that believe it or not took me three whole days to stitch (yep, my mojo is well and truly lost – I’d normally sit and stitch that in less than a day hmmm).  Anyway here goes – here’s Snow Faces by Just Nan:

snow faces

Sorry for the crappy photography just lately – I always seem to be taking photos at night and the lighting here is appalling … but you get the general drift.

Rightio, I’m off for a kip/reading/TV session … no doubt his nibs will be wanting to use me as a cushion as well, so I’d better get my battle gear on ready.  Not sure whether I’ll be reading the final Harry Potter book (thanks to Daniel for buying it, I’m starting my first Harry Potter book by reading the final one – dopey? probably!) … or whether I’ll be watching season 3 of Moonlighting (also compliments of Daniel and Jason – Jason especially LOVES old TV shows, so I’ve been watching seasons 1 and 2 all week) … but either way I won’t be sitting upright! 😉

The GREAT news is that I cashed in some gift vouchers at Officeworks and bought a 2GB flash drive so I’ve FINALLY been able to download this month’s Gift of Stitching magazine – the DVD/CD drive won’t let me copy files on Daniel’s PC, and I won’t have the internet after I leave here for a while … now I’m very very happy as I’ve been able to download and copy the August issue .pdf file plus a couple of online freebie charts back onto my laptop – yippee!!! 😀

Rightio … off to my sofa in the corner I go before I fall asleep in a pile of drool on the keyboard! …

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Update & technical help needed …

It’s a good job I preloaded all those Photo Hunt shots, or my blog would be looking quite bleak at the moment (well, bleaker than it really does anyway) … which reminds me, I must get a few more shots taken, as I only have two more week pre-loaded up!  I have been distinctly missing in action – and haven’t felt like blogging at the end of the day after travelling and making dinner.  I’ve tried reading a few blogs, but it’s incredibly hard work ploughing through so many and never seeming to get anywhere – I still have well over 1000 feeds to read, and that’s something that won’t be improving in the near future either, after I leave here.  It also doesn’t help that when I come into the ‘computer room’ I have to put up with Sean meeowing his head off and bouncing off the door trying to get in … but if I let him in he’s a typical cat and just wants to sit all over the keyboard, desk, or mouse, and throws a tantrum if you don’t give him 100% attention or if you move him out of the way …

I’m still looking at alternatives for replacing my mobile internet, after telling Unwired to shove their crappy service, but I’m not hastily jumping into anything this time but checking out options.  

“Three” have a new service where I can use my Nokia mobile as the modem (just have to work out how to download the software etc, as I’m going to need it on my laptop, and for some reason Daniel’s PC won’t let me save anything to disk), and I wouldn’t have to buy a new laptop modem (a USB one is $299 and a card is $399).  The connection speeds are much much lower (up to a maximum of 384 Kbps hmmm), but if it saves me $399 short term, it could be worth considering …  The costs are $29 for 1GB (which includes both downloads and uploads, which is a pain), $49 for 2GB or $69 for 3GB per month.  I think I need to think about this one some more, but I’m likely to settle with this option after looking at others, mainly because I wouldn’t have to buy a separate modem, and it’s like an ‘add-on’ to my current service, meaning I can cancel at any time without incurring costs.

Now this is where I need some technical help …

The great news is that I’m getting my GPS, thanks to my company giving us a bonus – yippee!  I’ve decided to upgrade from buying just a standard GPS on its own and get either the HP iPaq 5765 or 5965 which is a PDA with built-in TomTom GPS – for only a small difference in price, I get many more benefits (including not having to lug around a bulky diary everywhere with me with my phone contacts etc).  Now here’s my dilemma … I could pay $180 extra for the 5965 which has 2GB memory instead of 1GB, and it has WiFi (the cheaper one doesn’t) … would it be worth the extra money??  I’m thinking I could take it to a cafe in the city, and download my emails (it has Microsoft Office Mobile 5.0 loaded up) without having to lug my laptop around … then synchronise my emails to my laptop at the end of the day.  Would that actually work???  I’m thinking that way I could just sign up for wireless internet at the ‘basic’ level of 1GB downloads/uploads … as long as I had an alternative to downloading my emails if I ran out of downloads etc … ???  And I could just make a trip into the city and enjoy a coffee somewhere while downloading my emails – sounds like a dreadful proposition hahaha.

What else have I been up to?  Here’s a picture of the fur-babies I’ve been living with recently – first up is Alice and Hugo looking serene and peaceful in the sunlight (you’d think butter wouldn’t melt in Hugo’s mouth, would you?)

alice and hugo 1

Then there’s Sean … I’m very happy to report that Sean now follows me around the house like a shadow, and has ceased all of the hissing over the last few days – he’s back to being a very cuddly and friendly kitty who’s a pleasure to be around.  It’s a shame that he’ll probably be back to hissing after a single day of Daniel being home again (although I have to update that – he did it again last night after I moved him, and I got cranky with him and wouldn’t let him back up onto the sofa with me – he sat and sulked for a while on his chair, but I’m not going to put up with his temper tantrums, the little bugger!!) 😦

Anyway, here he is propping himself up on the sofa arm, waiting for me to come and join him in my stitching corner the other night! 😉

sean

Talking of stitching, here are two teeny projects I’ve finally managed to get finished.  I have to admit I’m still finding stitching a major chore, and I’m not enjoying it at all – I’ve forced myself to sit for a couple of hours over three nights this last week to try to get myself back into the swing of it, but I can’t say I’ve loved it one iota.  I’m going to try to get some more done today, and get a wee Just Nan one finished (updated … it’s now finished, but piccies will have to wait).  My Sailor’s Valentine kit will be heading over my way from Perth very soon for the CA Wells class next year, so I’d better hurry up and shape up and get my mojo back again!!!  I also need to get the latest round of the Quaker Friendship Sampler RR completed (updated … it’s 2/3 done now). Anyway, here are my two teeny finishes to date:

planted hearts needleroll 1
Planted Hearts Needleroll by Lavender Wings
Stitched on 32ct waterlily Belfast linen
using recommended threads (DMC)
replaced Mill Hill treasure with another glass bead I had to hand

biscornu side 2
Side 2 of my biscornu using Debbie Draper’s design
from Gift of Stitching Magazine
stitched using Carrie’s Creation threads in Ocean Blue and Lavender
(after Jenna’s recent comment this will always be the Jenna/Anne biscornu now!!)

I also have a gift to share but I need to contact the sender first … I’ll try to update soon with the latest stitching finishes and my gifts sooner rather than later – mind you, I’m on 5am shifts this week, so it could be a good thing to keep me awake in the afternoon! 😉

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Needlerolls, Works in Progress

Final piccies of Elwood

When I was cleaning out the last remaining boxes of ‘stuff’ for storage, I came across the following on a CD – which is great ‘cos I had to format my compact flashcard and thought I’d lost them all!  These were my final shots of my apartment in Elwood before I moved out … I miss the flat just a tiny bit, but I sure don’t miss those cracks or the window that wouldn’t close!  I wonder if they’ve manged to get new tenants into it yet or done the work on the building?  Oh well, all power to them …  Here goes with the photos:

elwood 1
You probably can’t tell from this photo, but the window sill is actually buckled – the left hand side tilts upwards, and the right hand side tilts down … just goes to show how much the building is moving I guess …

elwood 2
This is what we found behind the bookcase – all of these cracks were much more impressive (and scary) in real life … this one explains the vertical crack all along the wall, we could finally see the source!

elwood 3

elwood 4

elwood 5

Talking of photos, I thought I’d share my storage space with you, so you can see how packed to the gunnels it is … I still have one more box, plus my sewing machine, plus a small suitcase to go in there tomorrow … miracles still DO happen, don’t they? LOL.

storage-unit

On a slightly ‘down’ note, I’ve had the disappointing news a few weeks ago that the housesitting agency I was going to be doing housesitting jobs for has closed their doors for at least the next year … ho-hum.  I’ve heard bad things about some other agencies where you just don’t get work, so I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do now …  The guy I was going to housesit for has a daughter who runs an online agency, so I’ll probably sign up for that one – not sure how much business it’ll generate, though.  If not, I guess I’ll have to start thinking about moving into a new place again closer to Christmas.  At this stage I have jobs pretty much right up until the start of November – after that I’m up in the air quite a bit.  I’m going to put an ad up on the noticeboard at work to see if that generates any more business (at this stage all my housesitting jobs have come from my fellow colleagues on the Hotline).  I guess my first job now, though, will be to get $3,000 in a kitty behind me just in case I need to move into somewhere new … at least I still have housesitting until my laptop’s paid off phew! 🙂

Rightio, time to get up and start the official house cleaning … and packing my suitcase etc.  The food bags are already packed with leftover groceries (I’ve been very lax about cooking while I’ve been here, so there’s plenty of tins etc left) – and my stitching is pretty much packed up … just one more bag of ‘stuff’ to finish sorting out and everything’s ready.  It will be nice to have a free night tonight to just kick back and relax knowing all the housework is already done. 

I have to admit I had a slight panic yesterday when I came home from the storage unit to find one of the cars missing from the driveway – thankfully I called Sal’s Mum and found out her Dad had come to pick up the car for picking them up from the airport … phew!  I’m sure they’ve got the days wrong, though, as I’ve got it in my diary that they’re coming home tomorrow, not today … I guess if they’re not home by lunchtime today I’ll know I’m right.  I’ve got the table in the kitchen already laid out ready for them with their piles of mail and the bills I’ve paid for them, plus a vase of flowers, bread and milk, and a bottle of red wine sitting ready with two wine glasses and the corkscrew, plus a welcome home note – hopefully they’ll appreciate it when they arrive … I just hope all my housesitting jobs won’t expect it haha 😛

Anyway, time to start the day … I’m not sure after tomorrow what sort of reception I’ll have for my internet connection – I’m moving to Seaford on the fringe of Melbourne’s outer suburbs, and unsure whether Unwired’s coverage reaches out there or not … if not I’ll be out of action for just under two weeks until I move out to Ringwood (where I’ll be for 4 weeks).  Mind you this week the reception here has been appalling, so an improvement would be fantastic! I’ve been trying to post this for well over an hour now, but the stupid reception keeps dropping out hmmm.

In the meantime, have a great week everyone! 😀

I’ll leave you with my latest WIP – the photo is appalling, and half the wording has to be frogged due to  stupid mistake, but I’m over halfway with this needleroll …

friendship-blooms-needlerol

Cross Stitch, SBQ

SBQ’s … loads of them!

3rd note to self …

“You must remember at all times that you have a head like a sieve right now – your blondeness is truly ruling the roost in your life, and you mustn’t forget it! For example, when you think to yourself that today is Monday you really really should check and confirm to yourself that it really is … shift work and blondeness are not a good combination. The outcome is that you will pack your car up with all your stitching boxes and computer to take them into storage … only to arrive at a chained up gate at 3.15pm. Yes that’s right … if you check what day of the week it really is, you would know it was Sunday and the gates close at 2pm. That would also save you from driving all the way home to unpack the car again … to just repack everything again the next day and do it all over again! So, check … check again … and triple check again … doh!!”

4th note to self …

“If you stopped doing dopey things, you wouldn’t have to keep writing ‘notes to self’ … ;)”

*******************************************

I’m sooooo behind on answering the SBQ’s, so it’s time to catch up from before I moved out of my last flat:

10 May – This SBQ is from Ish:

“How do you choose a project for an exchange? Do you pick solely on what you know of the taste of the recipient, or are there other reasons you pick the piece you do?”

I try to get a feel for what the participant likes, then find something using that criteria that I would enjoy stitching – no point in stitching something that you’re going to hate doing. I always try to find out colour preferences, if nothing else, and work from there.

16 May – This SBQ is from Juls:

“If you could only stitch one more piece what would it be and why?”

That’s a really tough one … perhaps it would be Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello, as I think it’s an exquisite piece when it’s all finished, and functional at the end of it all.

30 May – This SBQ is from Kathryn:

“How many needles do you use during a project? Have you ever loaded up a needle for every colour? Do you use a new needle for every project, or recycle your favourite needle?”

It depends on what I’m stitching really – for example with the Bordeaux Sampler because there were only three individual colours being used, I had one needle pretty much loaded up per colour, especially if I’d only used a tiny bit of the thread before finishing it off and moving on to another colour. I’ll also use a number of needles for TW designs, mainly for the blended needles – when I’m stitching one of those I use one of the needle park gadgets to keep track of them all. As for using a new needle for every project, I don’t honestly see the sense in that – I’m pretty hard on needles and chew through them pretty quickly due to the chemicals in my skin I guess, so I’d never have a needle long enough for it to be a ‘favourite needle’ 😉 As soon as the needle starts to ‘drag’ through the fabric it goes in the bin and I grab a new one out of the packet.

6 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Ish and is:

“What has been your most challenging project and why?”

Hmmm, this is quite a difficult one to answer, and I can’t narrow it down to just one thing – The Dratteds because stitching all that monotonous colour was truly boring, and it was a huge project to stitch; the CA Wells pieces purely for the challenge of the finishing methods as I’m lacking in confidence in that area; and Bordeaux Sampler for all those dratted over-one grapes I guess. Anything that teaches me something new is a challenge, but a rewarding one J

14 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested Jennifer and is:

“How do you store your WIPs and other projects that you have kitted up?”

Before I moved all my goodies into storage, I had all my rotation pieces sitting in the lounge by my stitching chair – all my scrollbars and stretcher bars etc with my WIP’s on them were stacked up against the bookcase, within arms reach of my chair, with each of the project ‘kits’ in project envelopes, sitting in a plastic tub. They’d sit in order of my rotation, and once I’d stitched a rotation slot the project envelope got put at the back of the pile, ready to select the next project from the front of the pile. Each project envelope holds the original chart, working copy, and threads/embellishments needed for stitching. As for other kitted up projects, I have them sitting in archive boxes now with the threads, fabric and charts in zip-loc bags – and the list of each box’s contents is in a Word document.

22 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Kathryn and is:

“When you start a new work do you look for something small, do you look for another huge project or do you consider your UFOs?”

I’d have to say it depends on the mood … if I’ve just finished a BAP I’m more likely to pick up something smaller for a while to give myself a break. Also, if the guilt sets in badly that I’ve been neglecting older WIP’s I ‘might’ eventually pick up a UFO and work on it … maybe 😉

3 July – Today’s SBQ is:

“Do you consider yourself a “floss miser?”

It depends on the thread itself – if it’s silks, expensive threads, or part of a kit, yes I am – I’ll stitch down to the very last bit of the thread. If it’s DMC, even though it’s more expensive here than it is elsewhere in the world, I have to admit I’m starting to change. I used to stitch with my DMC down to the last inch (and I still will if I’m stitching a large patch etc), I won’t save scraps anymore for ‘later’, unless it’s a fairly decent length of thread.

12 July – Today’s SBQ was suggested by The Wagon and is:

“What do you love to do that many people hate? What do you hate to do, but do anyway?”

I can’t say I “love” doing it, but I don’t mind doing backstitching – it quickly ‘finishes’ a project off and you can usually see a great impact on the finished design fairly quickly. I hate French knots, but I’m learning to master them so they don’t have me running screaming from the room now as much as they used to.

19 July – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Ish and is:

“Which project (finished or in progress) are you most proud of? Explain why.”

I’d have to probably say my stumpwork pieces – they were my first foray away from cross stitch, and I still feel quite proud of them to this day. They were a huge step forward in my stitching … nothing like jumping in feet first with something simple! 😉 (talking of stumpwork, Elisabeth your comment in my Webshots album about the Lorri Birmingham fob gave me a HUGE giggle!! LOL)

Cross Stitch

2nd note to self …

Note to self:

“It doesn’t matter that your back is aching, do NOT lay down on the bed to catch up on emails and blogs in the afternoon when you’ve just finished day 4 of 5am shifts … your eyes will close involuntarily and you will wake up 3 hours later in a pool of drool feeling as though you’ve just consumed 2 bottles of red wine, and making it harder to sleep later … next time do what you normally do, and get your stitching out!!  It doesn’t matter if you need to use matchsticks to prop your eyes open, just remain vertical at all times!!”

One other thing I forgot to mention the other week too (I’m sooooo behind on things at the moment, and very very forgetful), is that I have a space confirmed for next year’s classes in Perth with CA Wells … I’m very excited! 😀  We’ll be stitching the Sailor’s Valentine, and a Cottage Etui (which is mainly in blues apparently, woohoo! – I think it may be the project pictured here).  My annual leave form is in already for April … yippee 😀  All I need to do now is pay for the classes, and as soon as the kits are received I’ll be on my way with more stitching projects to be completed (I think the SV kits are coming first ahead of the other ones).

Right, off to do some of my final packing, and get my load of washing in the machine …  With any luck I’ll have a better internet reception at the next place, in a lounge or something, so I can catch up with what’s been happening in the blogging world 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes

Just a quickie …

No time to really chat – just a brief update to show my latest finish … after posting that pitiful progress report the other day, I pulled my finger out and went out to pick up some cheap DVD’s to watch (namely the first season of Medium, and the films Music & Lyrics, Invincible, The Guardian and another one whose name escapes me that I can’t be bothered getting up to check).  Anyway, the result is this:

mini rose garden mandala 2

mini rose garden mandala 1
A Tiny Rose Garden Mandala – freebie by Chatelaine
Stitched on white linen with recommended threads

I also started a needleroll, seeing as it was the Needleroll SAL weekend this weekend just passed, although I don’t have too much to show for it.  I’ll keep stitching on it until it’s finished, though, even if it means getting it finished after I move out from this housesitting job.  I only have one more week left, and all my stash will be going into storage some time over the next couple of days boohoo.  I haven’t joined in with any of the needleroll SAL weekends to date this year, so it was nice to start it up again now.  I’m making sure I have at least one more needleroll within access from the storage container door, along with a couple of Christmas ornies to try to keep a couple of smaller projects on the go throughout the next few months.

Rightio, back to it again … no time to chat – time to get a few more chores done, and watch two of those movies before it’s bedtime.  And seeing as I bought the missing 2 DMC threads at lunchtime today, I can get back to finishing off the top half of my needleroll …

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

My body clock needs replacing!

Geez, I wish there was a shop where you could take your body clock in for fine tining … or a complete overhaul!  I dunno what’s wrong with me at the moment, but I just can’t sleep ‘normally’.  I haven’t been able to sleep before midnight (and generally 2am) over the last few nights, with plenty of tossing and turning happening.  Tonight I was supposed to be going out after work and felt really shattered, so decided to have ‘an hour’ laying down as soon as I got in at 6.30pm before I got up to get ready … only to wake up at 11.30pm!  Yikes!!  So what does that mean?  Yep, you guessed it … it’s now 3.30am and I’m struggling to get back into the swing of sleep mode again … b*gger!  I’m also working for 4 hours overtime tomorrow (actually, I guess that’s now “today”) … it’s gonna be a fun shift, I can tell already 😉

As for other things, life has been exceptionally calm and boring, which is a nice change.  I have hardly lifted a needle since I finished Bordeaux, and this is the sum total of my stitching efforts over the last few weeks … compared to what I normally achieve, this is quite a pitiful sight!  Eventually it will be a finished Mini Garden Mandala freebie by Chatelaine.

mini garden mandala 12jul07

Never mind … life goes on – I’ve been having more fun kitting up my stash in recent weeks than actually stitching, so at least I’m still keeping myself busy by immersing myself up to the elbows in threads and fabrics 🙂

Rightio, time to go back and try to sleep again … ho-hum …