Tag: Cross Stitch

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Time to be a ‘wino’ with some Bordeaux

Anne S

After being very unproductive on the stitching scene the last few weeks, I packed a punch with my needle yesterday … after completing the LHN freebie, I put a few more stitches into what will eventually become a biscornu that I started on the airplane a week last Friday on the way to Perth.  The colours are pretty ‘out there’, but I absolutely LOVE it 😀  The design is from the July and August issues of Gift of Stitching, by Debbie Draper Designs – and when I received some Carrie’s Threads last year and saw the bright turquoise and purple I’ve been itching to use them together in a design ever since … this is the end result.  It will take a while before I complete it, as I have a few other commitments to get done first, but I thought I’d show a WIP photo of how it stands to date … I think it’s scrummy and it actually looks a wee bit brighter in real life 🙂

 

After my biscornu stitching I thought I really must put a few stitches into my Bordeaux Sampler, seeing as I didn’t do my normal stitching on it during the week (I was just too tired to concentrate on it) – and no, I still haven’t done those pesky over-one grapes in the previous band yet … do you sense a feeling of reluctance about those?  Yep … I’ll say no more about it LOL.  This week I move from 6am shifts to 5am shifts, so my concentration will no doubt be even less this week – depending whether I can get a quality sleep during the night or not, so there may be little progress this next week, but I’m pretty pleased with how it’s looking so far – hopefully I’ll get this whole band finished within another two weeks of stitching 🙂  I sneaked a look at the next band, as it looked to be very basic and simple … my heart sank when I saw squillions of over-one grapes aaaarghhhhh!  Thankfully, though, they’re all in bunches, and not little individual ones like the previous band … phew! 😉

 

I have to say my 4 hours overtime were interesting today – they left me on ‘supervisor’ calls today as they were short-staffed, and it was quite draining emotionally as I dealt with an escalated call for about 1 1/2 hours about a custody case issue with an abusive spouse in the US … without going into details, all I can say is sometimes things like that make you realise that your life is pretty mundane in the scheme of things, and to continue to be grateful for the smaller trials and tribulations of your daily life.  While I’m having personal issues of my own at the moment, I’m not a mother worrying every day that her daughter isn’t going to return home, or if she does it’ll be in a body bag … awful stuff!  Sometimes it’s good to get a reminder to be grateful for the ‘small stuff’ … 

And on that note I’ll sign off 😀

(Updated to add …)

If you like monochrome designs, you might like these freebies by Debbie Draper Designs … check them out – A Bouquet for Cheryl, and Hearts Desire.

Cross Stitch, Finishes

Two Sheep grazing

Anne S

A tiny stitching triumph today – I put the final stitches into Two Sheep, a freebie by LHN … I really like how this one turned out, but I’m amazed how long it took me to stitch it!  Usually I have turbo needles, but it’s taken me almost an entire week just for one wee freebie! 😉

 

(Updated to add this was a printed freebie I received from Stitching Bits & Bobs with my monthly ‘bits’ – I don’t think it’s available as a download anywhere, at least not on their website anyway.)

Next up is some time to be spent on Bordeaux, seeing as I’m really late stitching on this with Carol and Leslie this week, thanks to a zero desire to stitch.  Anyway, hopefully I can make a small dent in it today 🙂  I’m a very bad SAL partner just lately!

Cross Stitch

Starting to feel a bit brighter

Anne S

It seems I may have picked up a bit of a bug after Perth, which helps to explain why I’ve been feeling so blue … I’ve struggled with exhaustion this week, and finally succumbed to it yesterday and lay dozing on the couch for two hours – I woke up just before 5pm with chronic stomach pains, very reminiscent of my gallstone days, which didn’t ease off until about 9.30pm … after that I got a new lease on life and even picked up my stitching for 2 hours before hitting the hay at 11.30pm and getting almost a full 8 hours sleep, only waking up once during the night.  I feel so much brighter today … and seeing as today is my only ‘free day’ during the weekend, I’m about to go pick up my needle again and finish a small freebie I started during the week … the reason I only have a one-day weekend?  I have 4 hours overtime tomorrow – yippee!!  Fingers crossed I’ll also get a couple of hours during the next week.  While I’m not particularly keen to do the extra hours, the cash will come in very handy so it’s a small sacrifice to be made for the better good 🙂

While I felt miserable last night I ploughed my way through about 600+ unread feeds in my newsreader … I haven’t been leaving comments, even when I really wanted to, just so I can get through them all and not miss out on anything exciting, and I have to admit it felt good to do it that way rather than marking all as read.  Once I get back to ‘zero’ I’ll get back to commenting and blogging like the good ol’ days again 🙂

In the meantime, though, shame on you out there for enabling … I’ve also found some new designs that of course I’ve fallen in love with … so what to do when you’re still on the 50 Project Challenge?  Why, keep adding to your wishlist, of course! 😉

Here are the latest additions … I think these are all just wonderful!

AMAP-Victoria's Quaker
AMAP’s Victoria’s Quaker
(I just adore the colours in this one!)

LHN-Cherry Tree Inn
LHN’s Cherry Tree Inn

LHN-Ladybug, Ladybug
LHN’s Ladybug, Ladybug

LHN-The Sampler Lady
LHN’s The Sampler Lady
(not my usual style, so I suprised myself by liking this one)

Plus of course the latest two collaboration thread packs in the fruit series by CC/LHN, Strawberries and Plums:

LHN-Strawberries LHN-Plums

As for my stitching, I hope to have a small finish I can share soon, as I’m off to pick up a needle and hope to have a small happy dance in a couple of hours when I get this freebie finished 😀

Cross Stitch

Test post for piccie purposes

Anne S

I’ve recently been playing with my Webshots albums and using their links for posting piccies in this blog … I have to say I’ve been really impressed with them, in that it’s really quite quick to upload the piccies to the album, and resizing the piccie is an absolute breeze!  I’m thinking of using them instead of Photobucket (which I originally created solely for the purposes of blog posting).  It makes so much more sense to have everything in one place, especially as I pay for my annual Webshots membership so I can keep scores of piccies online.  Anyway, I just want to test how to post a clickable piccie using Webshots, to see if it works … here goes … (unfortunately the largest size is nowhere as big as Photobucket, but for everyday stitching piccies, I think it’s probably OK).

 

OK, that worked pretty well considering … hmmm …

The thing that takes so much time in Photobucket is that I’ve been uploading the piccies twice, once at each size required, and the upload takes forever … with Webshots you just upload the photo once (which is heaps quicker in comparison anyway), and select which size photo you’d like the URL for, then you can just reselect another size and within a second the new URL is right in front of you … I love it! 😀  This is going to save sooooo much time online when uploading WIP and finish piccies yippee 😀

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Peacock needlecase happy dance

Anne S

Aside from the satin/buttonhole stitches for the scissor sheath (which gets done last after the stiffening is ironed on), the stitching for the Peacock Needlecase for the CA Wells class is all done – yippee! 😀 

I had a slight distraction by a phone call this arvo, which took me a while to get back into stitching mode afterwards, but I managed to squeak in with the stitching just before midnight 😀

Sorry about the poor photography, but I can’t be bothered playing with my editing software much more tonight.  At least now I have enough stitched of both projects to at least get some of the finishing done during the class next weekend).

peacock-08apr07

Cross Stitch

Charts for sale/trade

Anne S

I’m slowly working through my piles of charts that I know I’ll never stitch in this lifetime, so I’ll be gradually adding them to my list for sale or trade.  I’ve set up a new page on this blog here (you can also see the new tab at the top of the screen), where I’ll be adding new items as I come to them.  I’m also adding them to my Webshots for sale/trade album as well, where you can see a full piccie of the chart.

I’d prefer to trade for items off my wishlist, or happy to trade for DMC/Mill Hill beads, fat quarters of fabric (either stitching or quilting fabrics).  If you prefer to buy anything, I’d be asking 1/2 of what the normal retail price is – just drop me a line and we can work something out.  Depending on the item, I may also request coverage of the postage costs as well, particularly if the item is not being traded for another chart (for example the E&XS and Inspirations magazines are costly to post, so I’d need to factor that in for any sales).

Rightio, now that’s given me chance to wake up, it’s time to get back to some stitching … 😉

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Round Robins

Peaks and troughs (aka highs and lows)

Anne S

It’s been a week of differing emotions – and challenges – but also also of some extreme highs.

First up I had an emotional low dealing with public transport for my night shifts … it wasn’t much fun leaving home at 7.15pm for a 9pm start (I’d usually leave just before 8.30pm in my car), and sitting around the ‘transfer’ train station for 20 minutes in the cold and dark … crikey, it’s only been a couple of days, and I miss my car dearly already!  It actually wouldn’t normally be too bad, but the shifts I’m on at the moment make it a pain in the a***.  Thankfully I managed to get a lift to work and home and again for last night’s shift, which was a blessing.

I arrived at work on Wednesday night feeling very flat (the first full day without my car) … but I arrived 1/2 hour early for work, so I walked down to the PO Box to check the mail.  There’s a ‘parcel slip’ in there, but I can’t get that until Tuesday when I will be back at work during their opening hours, so I just have to sit patiently until then when I can find out what’s hiding in there.  There was, however, a wonderful surprise sitting in there, and the contents put a huge smile on my face all the way back to work!

Virpi very kindly sent me some feathered friends through the mail, along with some stationery items, in thanks for a chart I sent her as a RAK last month.  Talk about arriving at the perfect time!  I sat the wee ducks on my desk and they kept my spirits up throughout the whole night 🙂  Aren’t they the cutest things?  I just adore them!  Thank you so much Virpi for a wonderful gift … they’re definitely in a loving home, and they seem to be getting on very well with all their extended family 😉

RAK-from-Virpi

Unfortunately after that shift I had a crappy complaint call before I left work, and it was almost 8am before I got to sleep … that was really bad timing as I’d agreed to meet up with Tessa, so the poor thing had to put up with me looking like Frankenstein’s bride after only getting about 5 hours sleep before meeting.  I have to say, though, after a coffee and some wonderful conversation I felt fantastic … and it was a real pleasure to meet up – I certainly hope it won’t be the last time, as Tessa is a gorgeous person and wonderful to spend time with.  It’s always a good sign when the time passes so quickly, and there was never a lull in the conversation.  Unfortunately I’d had a minor catastrophe with part of Tessa’s gift – the stitching had been finished ready to be made into a pinkeep, but on coming home from Sydney I realised I didn’t have any pins that actually matched in colour … no problem, I think to myself, I can pick some up during the day while I’m on overnight shifts … hmmm, that was good in theory, but of course then my car broke down and I wasn’t able to pick any up – so my gift will now have to be posted … I did, however, take it to show Tessa a quick sneak peek.

Quaker for Tessa

My gift, though, totally pales in comparison to the treasures that Tessa gave me … I was absolutely floored by Tessa’s generosity, and the amazing gifts.  First of all I received some beautiful lilies (which I haven’t taken a photo of yet – I’ll try to remember to take one when they’re all open), and some Haig’s choccies … I’d only tried Haig’s chocolate once before when Mum and I visited Adelaide two years ago, and it’s totally divine!  Then there was a box wrapped in the most scrummy blue and white fabric – what a fantastic wrapping idea, and the fabric is just awesome!  As Tessa said, it’s very “me” 🙂  The piece de la resistance, though, was the amazing bourse Tessa stitched for me … my jaw nearly hit the floor when I opened the box and saw what was inside – I absolutely adore it!  I had to have a lesson how to re-close it, though, as I’d never seen one before in real life … isn’t it amazing?  I just love and treasure everything – you have spoilt me rotten Tessa, and I truly love it all – they’re very special gifts 😀  Neither of us brought a camera, so we’ve taken photos on our phones … unfortunately, though, I have no idea how to upload it to my PC, but once I find my cable and work it out, I’ll post a piccie of the two of us 😀

gift-from-tessa-05apr07

gift-from-Tessa-05Apr07-bou

I have to say that I’ve been really amazed how comfortable I’ve felt meeting up with my fellow bloggers.  Usually I’m incredibly shy, and hardly say a word around strangers (especially in large group settings), but when I meet my fellow bloggers I can’t shut up! haha.  Perhaps it’s having the common thread of stitching to chat about, or the fact that we’ve already started to get to know each other through our blogs, I’m not sure … but I must say blogging for me really is making the world a smaller, kinder and warmer place 😀

During the night shift this week I forced myself to pick up a needle and put a few stitches into a freebie – something quick that I didn’t have to think too much about.  I chose the Quaker Hedgehog freebie from The Workbasket – in hindsight I wish I’d used a different thread, as this one turned out quite streaky, but it did the trick and got me stitching again.

quaker hedgehog

I continued with my stitching trend last night at work and started Becky’s part of our Friendship Quaker Round Robin – I got almost all of one motif stitched last night, then sat all day today in my PJ’s and finished the rest (mind you, I got a pretty good sleep today … I was in bed at 6.30am, and after waking up occasionally I finally woke up enough to actually get out of bed at 2.30pm – woohoo!! – that sounds really lazy, but actually it just meant I managed to get 8 hours sleep for a change).

becky's-RR

I’m not sure what’s on the cards for tomorrow – I need to work on my Peacock Needlecase, though, so I think that’ll be my priority.  Until then, I’m just happy I’ve managed to get a few stitches into ‘something’ this week after a couple of weeks of no stitching 🙂

Cross Stitch, Stitch-alongs, Works in Progress

Back on the wine … Bordeaux, that is!

Anne S

I feel as though my stitching mojo has disappeared … I think I got so burnt out just focusing on the CA Wells projects and ignoring everything else that it’s affected my motivation on the whole where stitching’s concerned. This week I’m on overnight shifts, and the first night is always the worst as you’ve almost been up for 24 hours by the time you get home.  To make things worse I only slept for 5 hours today as well, so my energy levels are pretty minimal today.

What to do with myself?  I know I should have been working on my CA Wells pieces, but to be honest my heart just wasn’t in it … instead I dragged out my Bordeaux Sampler and put a few stitches into it, so I’m almost at the same place as Carol – I’ve really missed stitching this over the last few weeks, and it felt really good to sit down and work on it again for a few hours.  Just a few more over-one grapes left to go and I’m finished with this band … but I think I’ll start the next band and do a few grapes at the start of each session so I don’t get too fed up with it.  And I think it’s important for me to get back into stitching on this each week … to make me feel more ‘normal’.

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

A quick update before I fly out

Anne S

It’s been an interesting week in many ways – after the stresses of last week Mum and I cleared the air on Friday morning and went shopping … I found a top to wear to the eXcel function at Target of all places for a very cheap price, meaning I also didn’t have to undertake the lengthy drive to Dandenong.  We then had lunch with Fraze in the city before heading to Myer department store where I found a pair of black shoes for my outfit … I feel so much better now!  I’ll take photos later of the whole outfit if I get chance 🙂  It was a really lovely last day for Mum, and one that we enjoyed immensely.

Unfortunately the flight loadings weren’t looking too fantastic, so Mum had to be dropped off at the airport before work on Saturday – I could’ve cried when the alarm clock went off at 5.30am, and I have to say it was the longest shift in history to get through to my 5pm finish time … but poor Mum was sat at the airport for 4 hours before her flight – I’m not sure which was worse!!  Eventually, though, she got home OK … and I have to admit the flat felt very empty when I got home that evening – but I got busy and cooked up a beef in red wine casserole, did a load of laundry washing, and some parcelling up of RAK’s, and it helped to fill in the time.

 Talking of RAK’s, I was glad to hear over the last week or so that my last lot of post I sent to people have now all been received … I’ve been scouring wishlists and sending off charts from my “I no longer love it” pile and sending them off to someone else that will give it a more loving home 🙂  Some of the recipients have been on the blog-circuit, but others are from The Wagon BB – TW’s Lily Maiden and Spring Faerie are now being loved, as is HIH’s Steeple Sampler, and Barbara & Cheryl’s City Collection, plus Marbek’s Regency Angel … and there is a small pile of the next round ready to be posted out to new homes … plus a few others that yet have to be parcelled up.  I was originally thinking of putting them on Ebay or Trademe, but to be honest I can’t be bothered with the hassle of either (although the money would have been nice LOL) – it feels so much nicer to give them as a small RAK knowing that it will be well received 😀  Here’s the latest round ready to go … will one be coming to YOUR door? 😀

I’ll finish with a quick update piccie of my Peacock Needlecase … still nowhere near being finished, and unfortunately my hissy dramas over the evening outfit threw all my plans out the window, and I’m now waaaay behind schedule with this project as I haven’t touched a needle in just over a week.  But I still have two weeks to go before the class, and miracles do still happen … right? … OK, maybe not 😉 (sorry for the crappy photo … and for those of you with eagle eyes, yes I still have one row of chain stitches on the bottom right-hand side yet to complete)

Only one more day before I fly out to Sydney, then I’ll be out of blogging/email action until at least next weekend.  Tonight I had a phone call from the best friend in NZ – which was a wonderful pick-me-up, and definitely what the doctor ordered … and in two short days I’ll be living it up with her brother and beautiful SIL in Sydney – yippee!! 😀

Hope everyone is healthy and happy … I hope to get back to reading what you’ve all been up to when I get home 😀