Tag: Cross Stitch

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 🙂

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Enough Bordeaux for a hangover

Anne S

I’ve been stitching like a woman possessed today – and I’ve loved every single minute of it! I managed to get the current band of the Bordeaux Sampler finished as hoped, but then I exceeded even my own expectations by taking the plunge and stitching all those pesky individual over-one grapes in the previous band … which means I just have two more bands to complete and then it’s all finished (and I already have a slight head start on the border for the next band too). I truly can’t wait to see this one finished. The photos in no way do this project justice, it’s awesome in real life … I must say, though, today was my personal record for stitching of Rhodes stitches – I don’t want to see another one for a day or two 😉

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Come in EGM, your time is up!

Anne S

Yippee, I finally finished my 10 hours rotation slot with Egyptian Garden Mandala – I struggled at the beginning working on this, but I have to admit today I really enjoyed the stitching, and finally found my needles getting momentum again.  Hopefully that’ll continue for a while as I pick up my next pieces.  Here are my before and after photos, mainly for my own motivation – I feel as though I haven’t achieved much over these 10 hours of stitching, so this serves as a reminder that there really is some progress 🙂

I was originally thinking of doing some ornie stitching for the rest of today, but I don’t have anything kitted up, so I think I may pick up Bordeaux and do my week’s stitching on it a day early … I’m really keen to finish off this band, and seeing as I’m on days off I thought I’d spend some decent time on it and meet that goal … hopefully.  Then tonight I’ll start kitting up some small ornies that are quick to stitch, ready to pick up over the next couple of days – I’ve missed the last two months of the Christmas Ornie SAL, so I need to catch up, or before I know it it’ll be November and I’ll have nothing stitched!

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Sleeping like a baby

Anne S

I’ve been exhausted the last couple of days, and I have to admit yesterday I struggled a bit at work, watching the clock very closely until hometime!  When I got home I finally succumbed to my body’s chatter instead of ignoring it and listening to my brain tell me when I should call it a day.  My eyes were struggling to remain open at 6pm, so by 7pm I gave up and just went straight to bed … although I woke up a few times during the night, I went straight back to sleep again and only just woke up properly with my alarm going off at 6.35am … yikes, that’s nearly 12 hours!!  Oh well, I guess I needed it!

As you can probably guess with my level of tiredness there hasn’t been much stitching happening.  I managed a total of 2 more hours of Egyptian Garden Mandala, which means I’m now halfway through this rotation slot.  I know when I’m finally on my days off (ie Tuesday), I’ll probably finish the rest of the 5 hours in one sitting.  It may just be because I’ve been so tired with my shifts this week, but I can’t say I’ve been enjoying stitching it … or perhaps it’s just this little band itself that I’m not enjoying.  Oh well, it’ll soon be over and I can move on to the next bit 😀

If nothing else, it’s nice to see the little boxes slowly getting filled up on my rotation checklist – although how slowly I’m stitching EGM, I think I may need to re-think how many boxes I’ve allocated to it LOL.  Now if you never thought I was ‘anal’ before, this will surely change your mind haha.  These are the little pages I charted up in December some time especially for my rotation.  Originally I just had one Excel spreadsheet with all the projects listed down the side, but I thought it was messier when you completed one project and had to add one, so I came up with my own version in a Word document.  Now I can print a new page any time I want, and I have them all held together on a clipboard that stays beside my stitching chair.  It’s really easy to work out when the 10 hours slot is finished as I’ve separated the 10 hours into their own little spaces, and each page is for one rotation slot.  Once I’ve stitched my 10 hours on one slot, I take the page out, and move it to the back, and just start straight on the next page.  I find it easier this way to work out where I’m at in my rotation at any time, ‘cos the current project is always on top.  With my Focus Piece I just have the one slip of paper (as below) that sits in a little pocket of the clipboard, then I have another page that just says “Focus Piece” in the actual rotation slot in the pile of pages. It seems to work well for me anyway, anal or not (although I forgot to add my stitching time that I worked on the Leporello when Mum was here, and I keep forgetting to add my stitching times for Bordeaux … oh well)  😉

 

Not much else has been happening really – I went to check my mail yesterday ‘cos I forgot it was Saturday, and there’s a parcel sitting in there … hmmm, I’m not expecting anything … I’ve just received KarenV’s Quaker RR, so I know it’s not that, and I know there’s something wee coming from Judith, but it shouldn’t be here yet unless they’ve brought the Concorde back into service for Australian Post, so I don’t think so 😉 Luckily I’m going into work again tomorrow for 4 hours overtime so I’ll have chance to pick it up and solve the mystery.  Maybe it’s just a really large bill! 😉 

Talking of which, I suppose I should start thinking about breakfast and getting ready for work … today is day 7 straight, although my personal choice.  I have 4 hours overtime today and tomorrow (originally these were my days off) … while I’m not thrilled to be going in, I’ll be more thrilled in 2 1/2 weeks time when the money is sitting in my pay packet! 😉

Ooh, I just received an email to say I’ve won a door prize drawing from the Online Needlework Show – how cool, I never win anything!!  Woohoo!!!  I’ve won a chart of my choice by Heartfelt Designs … how I’ve just got to choose something, which is gonna be difficult!  So far I’ve narrowed it down from 8 possibilities to 4 … hmmm, better think about it a bit more tonight …  Here are the four I’m trying to decide between:

  

 

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

The Quilting Conspiracy

Anne S

OK, I am starting to get a bit paranoid that there really is some kind of quilting conspiracy happening around here … quilting is everywhere!!  And places where it just really shouldn’t be!! 

Today I received the May newsletter for the Embroiderers Guild … and what do I find in there but the following advert:  “The Patchworkers’ and Quilters’ Guild of Victoria is holding its annual quilt exhibition at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery, on the corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads, Glen Iris, dates 17-20 May, between 10am-5pm.”  Not only that, but I just flicked quickly through a few blogs on my Newsgator feeds that I lurk on, and wander over to read the new post by Beadlust – normally amazing eye candy of arty beading projects, today it’s full of quilting projects (like journal quilts) from a recent exhibition … hmmm, do you think someone is trying to tell me something?? LOL.

It’s almost like when I first bought my current heap of cr*p car when I moved to Aussie – my dream car at the time was a Mazda Protege 323 … I actually found one that I really liked on the same car lot that I bought the infamous heap of cr*p Nissan, but it was $1000 more than my Nissan, and a few years older, so I didn’t think it was worth the extra expense.  When I told Frazier’s best mate “S” about the car is really wanted (ie the Mazda) he talked me out of it as supposedly it was hard to get parts in Aussie for them as they’re imported and you don’t see that many around … now, “S” really knows his stuff about cars (or so I thought), so I took him at his word, and started looking at alternatives to my beloved Mazda (I actually think my last Mazda cost me less in about 13 years of driving than this Nissan has cost me in 3, and my Dad is still driving it to this day!!).  It was, of course, Murphy’s Law that the very next day after signing the contracts and driving my new heap of cr*p car that every third car that I drove past in the street was a Mazda!  Let’s just say that to this very day “S’s” name is Mud with a capital M (as well as for many many other reasons that are more personal, but I digress …).

These days, of course, I’m stuck with the heap of cr*p Nissan for a while longer yet … my goal is that I only have to put up with it for another 3 years, as that’s when I’d really love to be in a better position to upgrade to something I really love.  And there’s no points for guessing which car it will be … not a Protege, but definitely a ‘323’ (or as they now call it, a Mazda “3”) … this one is without a doubt my absolute dream car, and has been for a couple of years now – the colour is not negotiable, of course … if I had one of these I think I’d even sleep with it, I love it so much!!! My heart melts every time I see one on the road {{heavy sigh}}.  I really need to win Lotto!  Mind you, I suppose if I actually bought a ticket it’d increase my chances of winning somewhat 😉

 

Oh boy, I could sit and look at that picture all night!!!  But in fact I have much more important things to do … I have stitching to do!!  And I’d better hurry up and do it soon, as my energy levels are flagging rapidly – doing a 10-hour shift on a 5am start used to be so easy when I did overtime regularly, but it nearly killed me today … I’d better keep busy so I don’t get lulled into having a nanna nap, otherwise I’ll never sleep tonight.  I’ll update later when I have a progress piccie to share, as it’s Bordeaux night for me (I did another 1 1/2 hours on EGM last night, not that you can tell so I won’t bother with a piccie of that for now).

I can’t remember whether I’ve done this meme before, but the results turned out to be pretty accurate … and at least it didn’t mention quilting! 😉 

Your Element Is Water

A bit of a contradiction, you can seem both lighthearted and serious.
That’s because you’re good at going with the flow – but you also are deep.Highly intuitive, you tune in to people’s emotions and moods easily.
You are able to tap into deep emotional connections and connect with others.You prefer a smooth, harmonious life – but you can navigate your way around waves.
You have a knack for getting people to get along and making life a little more peaceful.

What’s Your Element?

Updated to add a piccie of Bordeaux … I only had 1/2 hour left to stitch tonight as I forgot I needed to cook dinner … but the TV has been to blame thank for extra stitching time.  It’s the Biggest Loser final tonight – and I made the HUGE mistake of leaving the TV on while I set the video taping for Mum to watch later … and started watching it … well, I could hardly go to bed without seeing the rest of it huh?  I didn’t want anyone at work to tell me who won … so I’ll be Miss Cranky Pants tomorrow as I’ll be going to bed 2 hours later than I should be … oops 😉

It’s my hope to totally finish this band during next week’s session, but I’m not 100% sure I can reach that goal … I’ll have fun trying, though 🙂