Tag: Cross Stitch

Blogging Memes, Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED

A great visit and a tagging

Anne S

First of all, I have to say a huge “Hi” and thank you to Tannia for being such a wonderful hostess with the mostest last Sunday (crikey, I can’t believe it was a whole week ago today as well – time flies when you’re having fun!) … it was lovely to finally put a face to the name and meet for the first time!  It was also really lovely to put faces to the other guests as well – it was great to meet Mel and Junette also for the first time (thanks Mel for mentioning the link on Tannia’s blog, as I now have another great blog to read!), and of course Tannia’s other half – it was great to spend time with wonderful ladies (and gents) and wonderful company, and I certainly hope this will be the first of many visits 😀

I got spoilt rotten by both Mel and Tannia – Mel kindly brought some unloved stash along, and we got to choose any items from the piles that we’d like to give a good home … I came home with two items from my wishlist – a Beyond XS chart by The Victoria Sampler (level 3, number 4 – blackwork … and yes, Mum, I know you’re going to want that one too ‘cos it’s a Christmas one!! haha), and Hummingbird by Elizabeth’s Designs … woohoo!  Thanks again Mel for sharing with us – I’d actually meant to do the same thing myself, and forgot to take the bag into work with me … hopefully next time we meet again I’ll remember, and I can return the favour!!

Tannia spoilt me by giving me an absolutely gorgeous fob she’d stitched … I’d actually been drooling over it as it was sitting on display on the set of drawers in the lounge, as it is stitched in one of my all-time favourite threads (an Anchor variegated one) … I was absolutely stunned when Tannia handed it over to me saying it was for me – thanks again Tannia, I really adore it, and it was on a pair of scissors within hours the next day.  Here are photos of the front and back so you too can now drool, if you haven’t already seen it on Tannia’s blog 😀

fob-from-tannia

fob-from-tannia-back

I went to the get-together straight from work after a 5am shift, which I normally don’t do because I’m not usually the perkiest person to be around – but I really didn’t want to pass up the opportunity of meeting this great bunch of ladies, so I’m glad I made the effort.  All-in-all Melbourne is becoming an even friendlier place all the time – I’ve truly met some wonderful ladies through the blogs from within my own city, and it brings an extra glimmer of warmth to living here 😀

Onto other things … I got a shock when I logged into WordPress today and saw the “hair” photo for the Photo Hunt … I’d forgotten that I’d already set up a couple of months worth of Photo Hunt photos in case I couldn’t get to an internet connection in advance.  I can’t remember which themes are coming up, or what photos I selected, so it’s as much of a surprise for me as it is for you at the moment LOL.

Now, before I forget, I have to apologise to Georgie for not posting about this earlier – unfortunately I got tagged while I was in the middle of packing up etc, and the timing wasn’t great, but I still like to complete the tags when I get them, so here’s my response albeit a month late!!

Here’s how to play:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. In my teen years I used to have dozens of penpals, after advertising for one in a UK magazine (but unfortunately don’t keep in touch with any of them now)
2. I dislike babies and have absolutely no urge to pick one up and cuddle … but once they turn into little terrors (or ‘real people’ as I call it) at the age of 2, I’m happy to spend time with them (I definitely don’t take after Mum, who will happily cuddle any baby regardless of who it belongs to)
3. I love walking around in bare feet – which is probably why I now have very wide, hard-to-buy-shoes-for feet!
4. I used to be the Editor of a Car Club magazine for post-war vintage cars (the Armstrong-Siddeley Car Club)
5. I love trying new foods – and love almost every cuisine … just don’t serve me up boiled limp cabbage or octopus tentacles, and we’ll all be happy (they’re pretty much the only things that leave me cold … although with the exception of kidneys and liver, I can’t say I’m too keen to eat offal such as tripe etc … gag …)
6. I sponsored a child in Sri Lanka before they closed the project down, then sponsored a child in South America for a few years – the only reason I stopped is because I moved here and couldn’t afford to keep it up … I still have regrets and wonder how Aline is doing now …
7. I love nothing better than curling up in front of a DVD (or preferably more than one) with my stitching … and have a DVD player that has slots for 5 DVD’s at once … it’s not unusual for me to work my way through all 5 in one marathon stitching session 😉
8. I used to work behind the Bar of the Marist Brothers Old Boys Rugby Football Club in Auckland, and met a few of the All Blacks because of … including a memorable session of dancing behind the bar with ZinZan Brooke after an all-nighter when our senior team won the championship

Rightio, I think that’ll do it for now … I may have already said a few of those things, I can’t remember … and I won’t bother tagging anyone as I think I’m the last person on the planet not to have completed it (especially as I got tagged back on 11 May!!).

I’m also super behind with the SBQ’s again, with I think about 4 questions outstanding, but I’ll save those for another day, as I think I’ve waffled on enough again 😀  Now I might pop over and do some internet banking while I still have a connection, then with luck I may get chance to check out a couple of blogs … I apologise though that I may not be commenting, as I notice there are currently 911 unread feeds yikes!!

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

I’m Baaaack … !!!

Anne S

[Please note this was actually written up 3 whole days ago, but I’m not going to edit it any further … my connection died after just over an hour or so, and I’ve only just managed to get a connection back again hmmm.  With any luck I’ll be able to upload the photos this time round before it dies yet again …] 

And I have to say I’m a LOT chirpier than I was the last time I wrote a week ago! 😀  What I didn’t tell you in my last looong post is that I had a small melt-down at work the day after I finished moving.  I had to pick up a few extra items that I just couldn’t cram into the car on the last night, and just put them on the back seat for the day, and when I got to work I managed 2 whole hours before my whole body started reacting … the only way I can describe it is that it’s as if it went into shock … I started getting the shakes, and my mind just couldn’t concentrate on anything – I think it was finally reacting to the fact that it was “all over”, and a release from all the immense tension and stress I’d been under.  I think it’s amazing how much your body can cope with when it has to, but I guess it all has to give way at some time or another, and that day was mine!

Today, though, I’m much much brighter.  I’m settled nicely into housesitting and today is my 3rd day of a 3-day break.  The first day was spent doing exciting things like doing the laundry ‘cos I’d run out of clothes already (underclothes anyway), and doing a few chores that I needed to do like getting a few more boxes for parcelling the final bundles of storage stuff into (which is still not sorted out, but I’ve got 5 weeks left to get it done by LOL).  I also got my new cordless mouse replaced, and picked up a cheap card reader that fits into the USB port, so hopefully I should be able to get photos uploaded soon (I have a couple to add to this post, so we’ll soon see if it works! …) [edited to add that the card reader just keeps freezing my PC up, so it’s getting returned for a refund – luckily I still have my old PC set up on the table, so I’ve uploaded my photos to disk while I can] … as well as spending more money!

I’ve been struggling with one pair of jeans ever since I’ve had them, as it’s too tight in the waist, and I have to leave the top button open (it’s got a button fly), but I always end up with tummy pains by the end of the day.  Anyway, I finally decided ‘enough was enough’ and I splurged on some new jeans from Target, plus two new (blue haha) long-sleeve T-shirts that are more ‘trendy’.  Yes, there are a few new changes on the Shacks homefront, all for the better.  Next month will see new lingerie being bought as well … crikey, will there be no stopping me now? LOL.  I won’t know myself soon!! 😉

Yesterday the entire day (and I mean the ENTIRE day to 2am!!) was spent transferring files from my old PC to my laptop – the contacts folders didn’t copy across at all properly, so I had to update those which took hours, plus for some reason Outlook won’t run at all on this PC, and the Help section doesn’t help much at all, as it says Outlook is now phased out with Windows Mail taking over from Outlook Express hmmm – for love nor money I can’t copy across any of my emails at all from my old PC … not one single one of the 4000+ emails sitting in there (yes, you’re right, that’s ridiculous … and a good chance to “cull”).  So, if I’m missing sending anyone an email reply from before I moved I’m really sorry, but it’s likely you might have to re-email me again, as it’s a bit overwhelming ploughing through the files hmmm (especially as I have no way of printing them or re-emailing them to myself as both modem/printer are now in storage).

Last night was the most bitterly freezing night I think I’ve ever endured sleeping in Melbourne … I do have to say I miss my electric blanket dearly, and even with two duvets on the bed last night I still couldn’t get warm – tonight if it’s the same I’m going to be sleeping in my trackpant bottoms with my long-sleeved thermals on … and I really do have to find that hot water bottle I brought with me somewhere! 😉 I did have another rather large splurge, though, which is a winter weight duvet that has half of it made of wool, which is a lot warmer but thinner so it’ll take much less room in the car when travelling … I should be able to find room for the old one by throwing it on top of the storage boxes 😉

Today I’ve finally succumbed to signing up to the Unwired network, so I can access my emails and internet at home.  I’ve managed to find a position sat at the breakfast bench in the granny flat that gets an OK reception, so here I am online again 😀  I don’t have an ‘unlimited’ account, so I probably won’t be spending as much time online as I used to, but it’s wonderful to know that I can jump online and do my internet banking etc without having to trek halfway around Melbourne to an internet cafe (although admittedly I think the closest one to here is in Carnegie, about 15 mins drive away). The weather’s been dreadful over the last couple of days, so it’s hasn’t inspired me to leave home at all, never mind to go internet cafe shopping.

As to what else I’ve been up to … not much in the stitching department, that’s for sure!  I’ve managed to get a bit of Bordeaux done, and I’m concentrating on that now until it’s finished – after that’s done, I’m not sure which project to work on next.  I have to say that Snapperville is screaming quite loudly to me right now as a new start (followed by Winter Snapperland once I work out which fabric to use) – then I should be concentrating on one of my WIP’s again, and that’s likely to be either Stitching Leporello or the Pyramid Etui … but I reserve the right to change my mind on a whim 😉  I’ve been spending my time reading more than stitching this last week, and managed to finally finish reading Warlock by Wilbur Smith … not as good as some of his books, but I really enjoy the historical content of his Egyptian series … and I have Quest, the 4th in the series, on Audible ready to listen to at my leisure (another pain is that I’ve had to save all my Audible books to disk to be able to play them on the new laptop – for some reason the files didn’t copy across too well).

I haven’t unrolled the scrollbars on Bordeaux since I worked on it the other night, so you’ll just have to imagine the previous band – the light in here isn’t fantastically conducive to over-one stitching, so I gave band #6 a rest, and I’ve been working on band #7 instead to have a break.  Only a couple more weeks will see this finished, me thinks 🙂

While I was packing up the spare bedroom to go into storage, I have to say I was quite disgusted with myself for the state of the following UFO’s … I started going to quilting classes quite a number of years ago (at least 7 anyway), and did an applique quilt class – I wasn’t thrilled with the project we did, but I figured it would teach me the basics of applique quilting.  Anyway, it was all machine appliqued using Vliesofix, and I couldn’t believe how close I’d come to finishing this off before putting it to one side!  Needless to say I’ve brought it with me, along with my new sewing machine (that cheapo one that I managed to pick up before we did the big move), so I can finally get it finished – all it has to have done is the binding finished, and even that’s almost 3/4 stitched on!!! {hanging head in shame …}

Next up is the first patchwork project I attempted after trying the applique class – this was from a craft magazine and was supposed to be for a cot quilt … well, I thought it had turned out to be too big, so Mum kindly unpicked the sides for me to make it smaller, then it’s sat there ever since as I thought I might as well just leave it bigger so it will get more use as the child recipient gets older (don’t even go there and ask which child this was for as a baby, and what age he is now!! LOL) … so now I need to unpick the borders again and restitch it all together, then it’s ready for the backing and to be quilted (let’s just say the backing fabric I originally had ordered got stuck with the cancelled freight services after September 11 … yup, you get the idea about how old this is!!).

Lucky last for the quilting UFO’s, here’s a bag I started from yet another class project … I panicked when I saw the diagram of how it’s all got to go together, as I’ve lost my confidence with machine sewing, then I was thrilled and disgusted at the same time when I opened all the pieces out and realised I’d already stitched the pockets etc into the bag pieces, and yet again it just pretty much as to be stitched together and have the seams bound … yep, my head is almost on my knees now from hanging in shame … yikes! 😉 This bag is designed to be a “quilting bag” where you keep your cutting board and rotary cutter etc in … I have to admit I’m quite proud of myself that I managed to get all the little pockets etc on so nicely … but I wonder how on earth I ever managed it! (I’m such a finishing wuss these days, it’s not funny!!)  Goodness knows where all the gung-ho confidence has disappeared to where finishing is concerned!!  Eventually, though, this bag will be an actual bag, complete with two big outside pockets (not pictured), and it’s supposed to have dowling rods as handles (although I may substitute something else for handles, I’m not too sure yet).

So, my challenge once I’ve sorted out my PC issues (which is now pretty much just the email issue) is to sit down one day on my days off and become friends with my sewing machine and get some of these items actually finished!

I also have something else to share as well, from a recent visit to a beautiful stitching pal’s home … but I’ll do a separate post so it doesn’t get lost in this one (and I’ve been waffling on for ages as it is!! – can’t you tell I’ve been without a chatting outlet for a while? LOL).

In the meantime, I’ll close this post in saying it feels fantastic to be out of my old flat – things are hopefully on the up and up on the homefront … I’ve just heard I’ve got the OK for another 4 weeks housesitting from 4 August, which means I’ll just have a one-week stay out in Seaford between the two housesitting jobs, and I may have another 4 weeks straight after that, which is in Seaford itself … and both these later two jobs have furbabies … I’m going to be in 7th heaven – Daniel has one kitty who is really smoochy apparently, and Ali has two kitties that are admittedly not smoochy, but it’ll still be great to be around kitties again yippee!! 😀  [Plus I also now may have another short stint for a lady at work with a dog … woohoo!!]

Cross Stitch, Stash

More goodies in the mail

Anne S

But before I show you my other spoils from yesterday, I have to apologise for the many many spelling and grammatical errors in last night’s post.  I’d only had 4 hours sleep the previous two nights, and after spending a few frantic hours packing, I was feeling really exhausted, and could hardly string two sentences together … I think that showed!! 😉  It actually took me a whole hour to write that, when it would normally have taken half that time haha.

We’ve woken up this morning to a freezing morning out here – I was almost expecting icicles forming from the curtain rails in the lounge … Mum has put on her thermal undies to survive, as it’s sooooooo cold in here!  Just being able to close that darned window would be soooo nice.  Oh well, only 2 more nights and the furniture and boxes will all be gone … leaving us with a few boxes of ‘rubbish’ to get sorted through, as well as my stitching (I want to kit up a few more projects and I’ve run out of time to get it done before the big moving day).  Mum and I will be sleeping on air mattresses and sitting on fold-up camping chairs for a couple of nights – but one of the Supervisors at work was concerned for us yesterday and is bringing in a portable TV for us to watch, bless her heart 😀

On Friday after the big moving day Mum’s decided it’s “I’m not doing anything else” day, so we’re having an afternoon/night of R&R and heading out to the movies to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 … can’t wait!  Then I’m back at work again on Saturday, so Mum’s going to start the scrubbing and cleaning while I’m away – then we have Sunday/Monday to finish off (I have those days off work), before Mum will have to fly home Monday night.

Anyway, I’d better get off this PC and start getting my clothes sorted into piles before I have to jump in the shower … but before I do, I have to share the rest of my wonderful mail day yesterday …

I want to thank Leslie for sending me her Barnabee’s Quest charts – after me drooling over this project while she was completing the recent SAL, she offered to send them to me once she’d finished with them … and they’ve arrived in perfect timing, so I can kit it up and add it to my ‘future projects box’.  Thanks again Leslie, you’re wonderful! 😀

Last, but certainly not least, was a lovely generous parcel from Andrea.  This was totally unexpected, and I was blown away by the contents.  Andrea stitched me a divine scissor fob – how could I not start drooling with that scrummy turquoise colour?  Even Mum was eyeing it up … I’m going to have to frisk her before she leaves to make sure she hasn’t pocketed it! 😉  This was in thanks for sending a DT chart to her, but personally I think I got the better part of the deal 😉 Not only the fob was there, but I was also spoilt rotten by a few items off my wishlist – the SB Schoolhouse needleroll, and threads, as well as some really scrummy blue fabric … I’m seriously blown away by everything.  That NR is another project that is getting kitted up this weekend so it can be stitched sooner rather than later.  Thanks again Andrea for a really wonderful and unexpected gift! 😀

 

Rightio, time to head off and pack … now I’m awake 😉

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

Sod Murphy and his bl**dy Law!! ;)

Anne S

After being so incredibly positive yesterday to Mum, saying we were going to have a marathon packing effort today because it was my last early shift and we could stay up later packing as I could sleep in, my plans were of course foiled.  I should’ve known Murphy and his sodding Law would come and interfere with our perfect plans!!

The last couple of days my car has been playing up … yet again … I do have to admit that I even used the dreaded “F” word in front of Mum tonight in my sheer frustration with it – but she was feeling magnanimous and didn’t offer to wash my mouth out with soap for a change LOL.  Anyway, those of you who’ve been reading my drivel for a while now may remember I had some ‘electrical’ problems before Christmas, when I had to buy a new battery, continued to have problems, and had a ‘supposed’ auto electrician look at my car, who couldn’t find anything wrong.  Since then I’ve been leaving my car alarm off overnight, so just the disabler was operating, and my battery has been OK since then and remaining charged up.  Well, a couple of days ago it started playing up again by making ‘chirping’ noises from the alarm when switching the ignition off …

Today it finally fell into a heap when I got home, and the central locking died, with a really sad noise emitting from the alarm.  Seeing as my car is pretty critical this week, I had no choice but to call up a mobile auto electrician who came out to look at it within the hour (bless him!) … it turns out I was right the entire time, and the problem was that the alarm was ‘taking over’ my electrical system – so we agreed to just disable the entire thing.  Of course, today Melbourne decided to break the huge drought we’ve been having, and we got stuck in such a deluge of rain that my trousers with literally squelching wet – because of the laneway access still closed, we couldn’t put the car under shelter to be fixed … in the end we opted to drive down to St Kilda to the Coles carpark, which is undercover, and the mechanic spent an hour ripping disassembling the wiring of my car alarm – he also fixed another wiring problem with the dashboard light not operating as well.  Anyway, $200 later (didn’t really need that this week, but c’est la vie – at least there are no other big bills yet to come this payday), and my car is behaving perfectly for a change.  I’m not even going to guess how long it will stay that way, but for now I’m going to enjoy that bit of bliss 😉

I do have to say, though, that if you haven’t heard it before, I soooooooo HATE my car!!  Even Mum suggested while I’m off housesitting that I should save up and get a new one … which is something I’ve been considering myself over the last couple of days!

Anyway, the day wasn’t entirely all bad … we got evacuated from our work building today while we had the Police, fire trucks and an ambulance in active attendance – it turned out to be an air conditioning motor burning out and polluting the entire building with fumes, so we had 1 1/2 hours off work … and because it was so cold out there today (we’ve had gale force winds across parts of Victoria) they even let us head off to the shops for a coffee to warm up … we pushed the boundaries and sat and had a cooked breakfast (it was 9am by this time, and time for my lunchtime anyway, so it was perfect for me!).

After we’d eaten, I managed to quickly duck across the road to clear the PO Box before heading back to work, and I had a wonderful parcel of goodies waiting for me (actually there were a couple that arrived today, but I still have two thank you emails to send yet, so I’ll post those tomorrow and keep you in suspense LOL).

I have to share with you today a most wonderful bag that KarenV stitched for me – isn’t this the most gorgeous fabric ever?!!  I just ADORE it!!  As soon as I opened the envelope, it put a huge grin on my face 😀  I told Mum I’m going to take it with me housesitting to add some cheer to my day every day – it’s just lovely.  Thanks so much Karen for a gorgeous gift – it’s absolutely perfect for me! 😀

 

To finish today’s post/drivel I’ll end with what will be my final progress piccie of Bordeaux for a wee while – I’ve managed to put a few grapes into it, and as you can I’ve finally decided to just stitch the grapes in each ‘gap’ rather than the date.  I think, instead, I may add a very small backstitched initials and year in the bottom left and right corners of the sampler at the end.  The next time I get access to posting piccies it’s likely this will be finished (at least I hope so!) 🙂

 

And now it’s time to hit the hay for the night.  There’ll be precious little packing happening tomorrow thanks to my shifts, and only two nights left … but I’m trying not to think about it 😉  In the meantime I’m going to enjoy a good night’s sleep, as I’ve had two real shockers the last two nights, and enjoy the last few days of our week 🙂  It will be nice to cuddle under the duvet tonight, as our lounge room is back to being like the Arctic Circle (I have my work clothes on still, complete with dressing gown over the top, it’s so cold!).  Mum and I are counting down the sleeps to the official handing back of the keys … poor Mum was quite scared in the flat today, as the wind was quite strong and making the walls creak and groan more than normal … I have to say, too, the cracks are definitely worse in here now as well, if that was possible!  Oh well, only 6 more sleeps … 😉

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Biscornu design details

Anne S

I forgot to include the information about the design I’m using for my biscornu, so I thought I’d better do that for anyone that’s interested …

Part 2 of Mystery Sampler by Debbie Draper
from Gift of Stitching e-magazine, Issue 7 August 2006
Stitched with Carrie’s Threads in Ocean Blue and Lavender

The full design from the Gift of Stitching magazine started with part 1 in Issue 6 July 2006 – this is what the whole thing looks like … but I’ve chosen to use the two ‘square’ parts just for a biscornu, and totally altered the colour scheme to my wacky tastes.

Nothing else to report really – I survived my final night shift, and slept reasonably OK off and on (thanks to construction works of some sort behind us), but feel pretty bleary-eyed today.  This weekend and next week is the only time I can do some decent packing, so it’s going to be full-on between now and then – I’m working 4pm-midnight shifts next week, but it means if I can get to bed/asleep relatively quickly when I get home, at least I’ll have a few hours around lunchtime that can be spend packing … the following (and last) week I’m on 11am-7pm shifts, which isn’t really conducive to doing much of anything.  Oh well, things will work out, I’m sure, especially with Mum home during the day to help out 🙂

No stitching time today – time to start packing/organising in the spare bedroom (aka the junk room) to give us room to start packing tea chests in there … then we’ll be taking the legs off the dining table to give us stacking space in the dining area as well.  Once the actual packing starts earnestly I don’t think it’ll take that long to do, it’s just the ‘sorting out’ and de-cluttering prior to packing that’s taking the time.  Talking of which, I’d better go get some brekkie (it’s now 3pm and I’m getting a bit peckish) and make a start on something …

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Last night shift with some Bordeaux

Anne S

I managed to get 6 solid hours of sleep today, which was just wonderful – I feel so much better, and even picked up my needle for some decent stitching for a few hours while Mum and I caught up on the week’s TV viewing.  It’s the last night shift for me tonight, so hopefully my sleep patterns will improve more over the next couple of nights.

I still haven’t thought much about my living situation – I’m just going to wait to see what Sheree comes back with, as I sent her an email last night touching base, and testing the water to see if she’ll actually come out and tell me herself about her plans … I think I’ve reached saturation point right now with everything negative that’s been happening lately, and I’m just feeling ‘numb’ about everything now, for want of a better way of describing it.  I guess that’s just my coping mechanism kicking in … and it’s easier to deal with it with Mum being here – I’d probably be in a bigger heap if she wasn’t!

Anyway, on to brighter things – here’s my latest update piccie of the Bordeaux Sampler … which is good timing seeing as it’s actually our SAL night.  I think this project is one that’s coming with me when I go housesitting, so it just might be finished by the end of June as my rotation is no longer existent (mainly because I won’t have all my projects with me, a lot will be in storage).

 

Next up is side one of my biscornu that I’ve been putting a few stitches into at work – I’ve only put about 20 stitches into side two, so there’s no point in a progress piccie just yet.  Fingers crossed I’ll manage a few more stitches tonight at work, as this is the only time I’ve been stitching on it.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

For the Birds finished

Anne S

Just a quick post, as I’m still not really in blogging or chatting mode right now.  I woke up feeling the best I had all week, and headache-free which is a minor miracle this week … then a phone call from Fraze’s Dad killed all that, my thoughts are back in turmoil, and my headache has returned … roll on GP visit, is all I can say, ‘cos it didn’t take much at all to knock me back down again!  Today at work is not going to be a fun shift for my first day back!

Anyway, here’s my finished For the Birds – the chart will be winging its way to a blogging pal soon, as I know she loves DT designs, and doesn’t have this one.  The colours are a bit more ‘drab’ in real life than I would have liked, but it’s still a nice project – not sure how I’ll finish it, probably just add it to the ‘framing pile’ for later, I guess.

 
For the Birds – the Drawn Thread
Fabric:  32ct natural Belfast linen
Threads:  As recommended (Needle Necessities & DMC)

Tomorrow Mum arrives, and we’re having a Mother’s Day lunch as soon as we get home from the airport, before I head off to work.  Then next week it’s ‘all go’ I guess … although I’m on overnight shifts, so it might be a week of going slowly.  And now I need to go visit Fraze’s Mum next week some time as well, as she’s in hospital at the moment, so I’m not sure how I’m going to fit that in as well, as it’s on the outskirts of the city at the other end of town, and I’d have to come home again to drop Mum off before going back into work – oh well, something will work itself out.  I also need to go there when I’m feeling really good, as sometimes it can be hard work smiling through the moaning and carry-on even when I feel 100% perky (I won’t go into further details here).

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

Decisions are made …

Anne S

I ended up not doing any stitching aside from two whole lengths of thread today … instead I’ve been pondering my situation and talking things over with Mum for 2 hours, and a close friend from work for another 1 1/2 hours. 

The upshot of everything today is that I’ve typed up my month’s notice for my landlord … I’ve decided the best thing I can do for my mental health is to just pack up and move on, whether the housesitting comes through or not.  While it breaks my heart in some ways to move on, I know it has to be done for both financial and physical reasons.  Now I’ve made the decision, it feels like part of a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  Tomorrow I’ll start the ball rolling officially by dropping off my notice to vacate (actually, I may just phone them, then pop the letter in the post to save the petrol costs) … then I’m heading out to a relatively local self storage company to pick up about 6 boxes and ask about storage space costs etc.  At least that way it’s not very far for the truck to drive from here, so it will cut down the costs somewhat.  I’ve just paid my rent for the next month, so I should have no further outlay except for the final utility costs.  I’m also going to approach Freecycle to see if someone has more boxes that I can pick up … as well as the Dan Murphy’s option as well.

Unfortunately I won’t be taking up your suggestion of picking up some Chardonnay from Dan’s, though Ally … I will, however, be chucking some more in the fridge from my home selection … aside from the fact it’s nice at the end of the day, it means something else that doesn’t have to be packed … any excuse is a good one 😉  Mum and I joked about that earlier today too – I just polished off the rest of a cask of port last night (the only thing I can generally drink from a cask … I’m actually impressed by the quality of the Penfolds casked port!) … and we both said, oh well one less thing to pack haha.

For the first time today I shared the photos with one of my close friends at work – she was absolutely shocked, and phoned tonight to tell me I’ve got to get out of there this week and move in with her straightaway, what a sweetheart.  Anyway, we had a great talk, and it helped get things set in concrete in my head.  Over the next couple of weeks I’ll spend up to a maximum of 3 hours a day packing, with at least 1 hour a day on ‘down time’ such as my stitching etc.  Seeing as I’m picking up some boxes tomorrow, it’ll give me a head start doing a bit of packing this week once my back is fixed and back to normal.

Closer to the time of moving I’ll send an email to all RAK Registry participants to give you my work address, as I won’t have email/computer access for a while.  My computer will likely go into storage, and I’ll have to rely on internet cafes/libraries for a while … but that’s all 3-4 weeks away yet, so there’s still time.  I’m also in the middle of moving the Registry over to WordPress, so I’ll try to concentrate some time on doing that this week 🙂

That reminds me to add Iinet to my ‘to do list’ for the week – to find out options for my emails … wondering whether I can move to a dial-up account for a month or so to keep the costs down, then I can work out alternatives such as a wireless provider etc (geez I wish I had a laptop not this 10-tonne brick of a PC to lug around!!).  Talking of which, do any of you out here in Aussie-land use a wireless provider already, and if so can you recommend them?  Actually, I think I should start typing up an official to-do list so I don’t forget when I wake up! (my head has been on another planet for the last couple of months, never mind just this week!!)

Anyway, I’ll sign off for the night … and leave you with my latest WIP, For the Birds by the Drawn Thread.  Hopefully I’ll get this finished over the next couple of days inbetween doing everything else (please excuse the blurry photo). Mind you, hopefully the next stitching session will see more than 2 lengths of thread being stitched!  So much for getting this finished today – all I ended up doing was the green border 😉 

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, SBQ

SBQ and another ornie

Anne S

Thanks for the words of advice and comments about my shoulder – I tried Nurofen and stretching etc for the first 24 hours, but it didn’t do anything.  The last time this happened I put up with it for a couple of weeks and felt like a wreck due to the lack of sleep etc – I eventually got the name of a ‘nerve manipulator’ in Heidelberg, and she fixed it.  It’s not very pleasant while she’s manipulating it, but it’s all over with in a couple of minutes and well worth every single cent spent.  I checked yesterday, though, and I had a crappy pay (my overtime comes on next payday) so things will be extremely tight for the next fortnight … mind you, Jan (the manipulator) told me that if you don’t treat a trapped nerve it can eventually affect your breathing and you could end up being hospitalised, so now I’m more educated about it I’m happy to get it fixed as soon as it happens (but I’ll always give it 24-48 hours to see if it clears itself first).  It just means I’ll stocking up on essential food only for a fortnight again 😦

Anyway, I sat and had a glass of sparkling wine last night to help ease the pain (yeah, OK, the truth is I just really really felt like having one! LOL) … and I managed to finish one last ornie for the day (even I have to admit my needles have been smoking the last 2 days!). This one is so much prettier in real life in the magazine photo – the DMC 498 is so rich and scrummy, I love it! 😀

Elizabeths-Design-Christmas-Rose-a-02May07

“Christmas Rose” by Elizabeth’s Designs
from 2002 JCS Christmas ornie issue
Stitched on the same 28ct ‘mystery’ evenweave as yesterday using the recommended threads

  Now, before I head off and do some tidying up and general housework for the day, I’ll answer the last two SBQ’s, ‘cos as per normal I’m behind in answering …

2 May – Today’s SBQ was suggested Kathryn and is:

How many WIPs do you have? How many UFOs do you have? When does a WIP become a UFO?

Hmmm, good question … first of all I guess I class a project as a UFO when I haven’t touched it for about a year.  As for how many WIP’s I have, I’d say 8 in my current rotation, although three of those technically became UFO’s as I hadn’t touched them for just over 12 months (Egyptian Garden Mandala, Winter Queen and Le Jardin Silk Sampler) … as for other UFO’s, I’ve managed to finish a few over the last two years, and I’m down to a sum total of 30 now – but there is a pretty big mix of what type of project they are, ie they’re not all XS.  Breaking them up into categories, I have:

  • 5 Stumpwork (all by Jane Nicholas) – Needlework Accessories set; Dragonfly; Pomegranates and Beetle; Honesty and Heartsease; Oriental Poppy
  • 13 Cross Stitch/Counted Thread – TW’s English Garden Sampler; Mediterranean village scene; Love and Affection by JBW Designs; TW’s Noah’s Ark; Nature’s Resting Place by Stoney Creek; Topiary Tree bookmark by Textile Heritage; Christmas Welcome on plastic canvas; Butterflies & Hearts needleroll by Lorri Birmingham (I’m going to unpick and change the colours); Apricot Elegance by Cindy Valentine; Hussif by Martha Schmidt (class project); Egyptian Garden Mandala by Chatelaine; Winter Queen by Mirabilia; Le Jardin Silk Sampler from JCS magazines
  • 1 Beading – 3-dimensional beaded fish
  • 2 Quilting – Golliwog applique quilt (from a class – just has the binding to be finished, but I can’t remember how to do it); cot quilt (my first attempt – I really need to get this finished!!)
  • 1 Goldwork – Goldwork pea (class project)
  • 6 Surface/Wool Embroidery – Summer Fruits pincushion from Inspirations magazine; Hussif by Monica Hunt (class project); Bullion rose facecloth (likely to just unpick and start using it!); Wool hotwater bottle cover (class project); Berry Delightful Bag (class project); Wool beehive needlebook from Inspirations magazine
  • 2 Canvaswork – Frogs in longstitch; Ornamental Delights (Group Correspondence Course through EGA)

19 Apr – Today’s SBQ was suggested Danielle and is:

Are you on “The Wagon?” If so, how long have you been on and how “serious” are you about it? If not, have you considered it?

I’ve been on The Wagon for about a year now – more for financial reasons than anything else.  I’ll occasionally buy something if I truly truly love it, but I haven’t been buying charts for a while now.  Once I complete my 50 Project Challenge, though (if finances permit), I’ll be doing one reasonable sized order … the key thing being “finances permitting”.  I have been buying any threads for charts already in my stash that I can’t find a substitution for.  In the meantime I’ve been really enjoying stitching from my stash and re-discovering the awesome charts I already have 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes

Christmas is finally here

Anne S

Well, maybe not Christmas itself, but the Christmas ornie SAL is here anyway … I’ve finally managed to get an ornie stitched up … in fact TWO ornies to make up for lost time (I’m only a week late!). I managed to hit these out in 5 1/2 hours today while listening to an Audible book – I’m tempted to try put the starting stitches into one more, but I’ll see how I feel once I’ve cooked dinner. It was annoying that both of these charts had minor errors in them … which I only found out later, so both ornies had a small amount of frog-stitching hmmmm. 

 
Cardinal Snowflake by The Victoria Sampler
from 2004 JCS Christmas ornie magazine
Stitched on 28ct Kiwi Illusions Jubliee in Alpine Spring (Countrystitch)
using my substitute threads from my stash
(this is such a teeny little ornie – very cute!)


Merry Christmas by Glory Bee
from 2003 JCS Christmas ornie magazine
Stitched on 28ct mystery evenweave
using recommended threads except substituting Crescent Colors Toasted Marshmallow for GAST Porcelain

I managed to trap a nerve in my shoulder blade during the night two nights ago, and I must have aggravated it doing so much stitching yesterday so I had a bad night’s sleep last night thanks to it … perhaps it’ll do me good to have a relaxing night with a break from the needles … but maybe not 😉

Thanks for all your wonderful comments as always – your visits and words are always very much appreciated 🙂