Tag: Cross Stitch

Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Needlerolls

Birthday Gifts

Anne S

This is just a quick post, as Mum and I are busy today … but I just wanted to share the beautiful gifts I received in the mail this week from a couple of dear online friends.  I’ll be floating around on cloud nine all day today grinning like a banshee, as I love my gifts very very much!

First of all, from Becky I received this gorgeous needleroll – it’s one of my favourite needleroll designs, and I just adore it!  I was actually going to stitch this one for myself at some stage, but now I don’t need to 😀 And the extra stationery goodies are wonderful too, as I just adore stationery items.  I love everything, thank you so much Becky … and I’ll always treasure my needleroll stitched by you!

  

Next up is the gorgeous book I received from sweet Isabelle … reading how I’ve been wanting to try my hand at Cartonnage, she chose a cartonnage book that is filled with wonderful projects for stitchers … how perfect is that?  I’m really keen to stitch the button box on the cover, and my head is now getting filled with ideas.  I can’t wait until I can start making one of these!  I really love my gift, Isabelle – as I said to you in my email, it was a perfect choice! 😀

Now I just have to apologise in advance, that I’m not getting much chance to read blogs at the moment while Mum’s here.  I’ll keep popping online every now and then to read, so I can try to keep semi-up-to-date, but I may not be leaving many comments.  As Barbara said in a comment, I need to enjoy the time during Mum’s visit, so my online time will be more limited over the next few weeks.  I’ll pop in and post every now and then when I’ve got something to share though 😀

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

A sip of Bordeaux (updated with finish info)

Anne S

Seeing as Carol as published her progress piccie of Bordeaux, I can now show my week’s progress as well – it’s a good thing I did my night’s stitching a couple of days ago, as I’ve been too busy yapping to Mum to concentrate on much else 🙂  This week I just managed one more little ‘man’ and a few more Rhodes grapes to complete the hanging vines, plus a couple in the border … I’m now exceptionally close to being halfway, and hopefully in about 2 weeks I’ll have met that milestone!

Mum and I just popped over to The Needle Point (old Bustle & Bows in Malvern) to find a couple of buttons, seeing as they have probably the best selection I’ve seen in Melbourne to date … unfortunately they didn’t have what I had in mind, but I managed to find a couple of charms that fit the bill quite nicely, so now I can put the final touch to my best friend’s belated birthday gift, and the last ornie I stitched.  Vicki’s birthday was in November, but that was when I had my financial meltdown and couldn’t afford to buy bread and milk, never mind parcel postage costs, so I’ve been unable to think about mailing it until recent times.  I don’t know if she reads my blog regularly, but I don’t think she’ll mind a sneak preview anyway, as it’s been long overdue … I’ll post another piccie when it’s finished-finished, as I want to make it into a quilted wallhanging (which’ll be a first for me).  But here it is, with all the stitching completed … I ended up choosing a silver heart charm instead of the recommended button/bead, and it seems to compliment the design well (you can click for a bigger piccie on this one).  On the whole I enjoyed stitching this one, but it took a lot longer to stitch than expected … the only part I didn’t enjoy was the outside borders of smyrna crosses in #8 pearl cotton (yuk!).


Friendship by Calico Crossroads
Stitched on mystery 28ct linen with recommended threads
substituted silver heart charm for Mill Hill glass treasure

You can tell Mum’s in the country … from my meagre pantry offerings from the last few months, the following plate is definitely NOT the norm, and probably won’t be seen throughout the rest of Mum’s stay (after that, that is haha) – but it was a wonderful treat for our first night 😀  Yep, we’re both prawn MAD … don’t they look scrummy? 😀  That was our snack in the afternoon … then the rest of the prawns for dinner along with some Turkish bread and a selection of dips (Tzatziki, hummus, spicy capsicum), stuffed green olives, Kalamata olives, stuffed bell peppers, grilled mushrooms and artichokes … yummo!!!

 

Now on to the awesome gifties Mum brought with her … I received a lovely sarong from Auntie Trudy in Auckland – even though it’s not blue haha, I love bright colours, so the orange has gone down a treat, especially as I love all the Hawaiian/Fijian style prints like this. 

Then of course there was the usual ‘Red Cross parcel’ from Mum – this time she came loaded up with Twisties, Griffins Gingernuts (sorry, but they beat Arnott’s gingernuts hands down in my eyes), and Malaysian style noodles packet mix that you can’t buy here … and to top it all off some NZ Cadbury chocolate – believe it or not, it’s very different to the Aussie Cadbury chocolate, and is actually a bit creamier.  Bang goes any thoughts of a diet I might have been having! haha. 

Last, but certainly not least – this is my Christmas present from my very best friend Vicki … my jaw hit the floor when I opened up this gift, and I actually felt quite overcome.  I absolutely ADORE this photo of us at Vicki’s wedding – we just look so ‘in tune’ with one another and completely at ease and loving the moment … I have to say it has been my favourite wedding ever, and it brought some wonderful memories back.  I’d just become a poor student before she got married, so I never could afford to buy some of the official wedding photos from the photographer at the time – it’s just wonderful to have one to grace my walls now.  I have to say out of everything, I adore this gift the most … it has a very special place in my heart!  Thanks so much Vicki, with all my heart!!  (Sorry about the poor photo, with the reflections from the windows etc – but it should be clickable) This is also the wedding that I promised the “Dratteds” (Dolphins Domain) as a wedding gift 😀  Also very special is the necklace I’m wearing – Vicki made that herself … the dangling part is from an earring that was her very favourite pair she bought at the Vatican – she lost one of them, and chose to give me the remaining one as part of my necklace … something I’ll always treasure, as I know how much she loved them!

The last photo I’ll show is of a few of the small gifts I gave to Mum … a couple of Christmas XS mags full of ornies for her to stitch, plus a pair of Gingher’s shears for her dressmaking (an early birthday present, even though her birthday isn’t until May it’s unlikely I’ll be seeing her again before then), plus some small Gingher’s scissors for her embroidery.  I also had a pile of Christmas fabrics for us to share, but we haven’t divvied it up yet, so no piccies. 

And on that note I’d better sign off … I’ve managed to get tomorrow off work, thank goodness, as I’m still really struggling to get over my night shifts this week, even more so than normal.  Even Mum commented how dark the circles are under my eyes today, just to cheer me up haha.  Now we’re off up the road to pick up a few more fresh groceries ready to cook dinner … the final lot of prawns we bought (we’re making a Thai Green Curry from half of them, and Garlic Aioli Prawns from the other half).  Then we’re back to having cheap food like spaghetti bolognaise for the rest of the week LOL. I actually received two other birthday parcels, but I haven’t opened them yet … I think the temptation may finally break tomorrow though! LOL.

Cross Stitch, PhotoHunt, Stitch-alongs, Works in Progress

PhotoHunt – Gross, & Bordeaux Update

Anne S


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It’s that time of the week again … well, almost … seeing as I’m starting night shifts tonight, and I have to get up to do a house inspection at lunchtime tomorrow, I didn’t think I’d be much in the mood for posting tomorrow … so here’s this week’s contribution to the Photo Hunt Saturday. The topic is “Gross”, and I was stuck a bit for choices yet again … but I thought these grasshoppers being on sale at the bird market in Hong Kong was quite gross, so I couldn’t resist taking a photo! (Hopefully I’ve linked it OK so you can click on it for a slightly bigger piccie.)

I also managed to get a couple of stitches into the Bordeaux Sampler today while I watched my Dodgeball DVD for the umpteenth time … I still crack up every time they start throwing the wrenches and dodging cars 😉 Next up is my Macaw SAL – I want to at least get an hour into this piece, because I know my eyes won’t handle the over-one stitching once I start my night shifts … Anyway, here’s my pitiful progress on Bordeaux for the week (the only difference from last week is the bottom row of long-arm XS and the backstitched vines for the 2nd lot of Rhodes grapes):

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Round Robins

Round Robin idea

Anne S

I might be mad, but I’ve just added my name to the latest RR list on the Robin’s Nest BB – even though I haven’t received mine back yet, I’ve still really enjoyed joining in with our RR group and stitching some designs I never would have stitched before.  If I ended up joining the Seasonal RR I’ve chosen Passione Ricamo’s freebie topiaries … but if I end up in a ‘general’ RR I have this idea, and wonder if it would work as a RR choice?

I’ve got these four designs that I bought last year called “Who’s Hiding in the Garden?” by Patricia Ann Designs.  My idea is to have each of the designs stitched individually, with the MH button stitched onto the front of the ‘main’ design, rather than on the back, and having each stitcher add their name and location on the ‘back square’ instead.  Then I thought I’d finish each individual design into an ornie, and have them hanging in a row from a board that’s like a key/coathook kinda thing … what do you think?  The designs would be pretty quick to stitch up (which would make up for my last one!), and I think they might look quite cute that way 🙂

   

In other news I’ve found out at least three people are cancelling their annual leave in April for the three days prior to the CA Wells weekend, so I’m committing myself 100% now.  I’m off to organise a bank cheque today, and the kits are going to be winging their way across to me probably on Friday …

I’m almost feeling quite light-headed from all the excitement lately – heading off to Sydney for the Awards ceremony, and now Perth for CA Wells … not to mention the Little Britain show that I’m still on cloud 9 about (and close friends from work are going tonight, then Ali and I are working overnights together tomorrow night, so guess what we’ll be talking about all night? LOL) … then I receive an email saying a friend from work in Auckland is visiting this week and wants to catch up, and then catching up soon with Nicki before she crosses the Pacific back home again … “life is good” 😀

I have to admit, it will be nice to have some company when I start flatting with Sheree – obviously there are some things that will be a major adjustment for me after living on my own for 1 1/2 years, but I realised recently how much I miss having a chat at home, and more importantly having a laugh … deep down I’m quite a shy person and have definite hermit tendencies, and it’s very easy for me to just immerse myself in my stitching and ignore the outside world to some extent … and now I’m looking forward to being brought back out of my shell again and getting out to enjoy the world a bit more.  I do miss the fun Fraze and I used to have around the flat when we were living together – we’d be giggling with laughter teasing and joking with each other every night like a couple of kids, and it always kept me upbeat … and that only changed when “A” moved in with us.  “Why do you treat Fraze so differently to me, you’re always joking around with him, why don’t you joke like that with me, I feel like a third wheel sometimes …” hmmmm, because you don’t have a wacky sense of humour and I haven’t known you for more than 10 minutes … OK, let’s get back off that train of thought, back to my original thoughts … and I will finish there, ‘cos I’m starting to waffle!

In conclusion … “Life is Good” 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Stitch-alongs

Christmas Ornie SAL

Anne S

I finally put the last stitches into my Christmas ornie for this month’s SAL – I’m sorry to say for my recipient’s sake the bullion stitches aren’t exactly fantastic, but hopefully she won’t look too closely! 😉  I know I had a few of you stumped with the actual design, but I can finally reveal the details … I just have to find something to place in the ‘blank heart’ as I don’t have the button called for, then it’s ready to be officially ‘finished’ and sent off on it’s way … (I’ve removed the recipient’s initials for secrecy’s sake)


Christmas 2000 Sampler by Douglas Designs
from the 2000 JCS Christmas Ornie issue
using recommended threads, on a mystery 28ct linen

I also finally put the finishing touches into an ornie that Mum stitched for me – she just had the french knots left to do, and very kindly left me to do them, as she knows just how much I adore doing french knots! 😉  It’s supposed to have JABC star buttons, but I don’t have any left, and I think it looks just fine without it.  Thanks Mum, it looks just lovely! 😀


Rejoice by Lizzie*Kate
from the 2004 JCS Christmas Ornie issue
using 14ct red aida and recommended threads

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

The verdict is almost in …

Anne S

Within the next 12 hours I will find out if I can get to Perth for the CA Wells classes. That means one thing for sure … the iPod is put on hold! 😉 I’d previously requested a DVD (Mission Impossible 3 or Pirates of the Caribbean 2) or CD (Loreena McKennit’s latest one) for my birthday from Mum, but after chatting to her last night, she’s going to give me money instead if the class all goes ahead as planned. I received an email yesterday from the Perth organiser saying there are spaces in both the Pyramid Etui (only 2 left) and the Peacock Needle and Scissor Case (4 left) classes, so I jumped in and said a tentative “yes” to both, subject to getting annual leave approved from work.  You see we’re only allowed 2-3 people off at any one time on the Hotline, and if someone has already got those days off, I’m stuck!  But I’ll find out today what the leave register is looking like … I’ll be moving heaven and earth to get the days off, that’s for sure!  So my Christmas money from Mum & Dad and Heather are now put aside for the classes … sorry iPod, you’ll just have to wait a bit longer, you see I have changed my priorities!! 😉 Mind you, there is a helluva LOT of pre-work to be done for that Pyramid Etui, so my stitching priorities will also have to be jiggled quite a bit too … meaning my rotation will likely go out the door – talking of which, I’d better get cracking on a couple of gifts and my Quaker Sampler RR, ‘cos I soon won’t have much time for it (I hope!).

And the other great news is that I heard from Brenda today – she’s my best friend’s SIL, who is a good personal friend as well, and I was supposed to go to her 40th birthday bash in Sydney in November, but had to cancel due to finances … well, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to invite her as my partner to the eXcel award night in Sydney, giving me a fun companion for the night, and chance to have a girl’s night out and catch up – I’m really looking forward to it so much now!  I haven’t seen her for about 2 years, so I can’t wait! 😀  I’m also on days off just prior to the ceremony as well, so I might also try to wangle a flight up 1-2 nights early so I can catch up with Nigel as well, and actually see something of Sydney itself, as I’ve never really been there to visit 😀

Unfortunately no stitching updates today – I had hoped to finish my Christmas ornie for the weekend SAL, but the Dragon (aka Mum) decided to phone me for nearly 2 hours, and I didn’t get off the phone until 9.30pm … so no stitching done.  I just have the bottom band to finish, plus the bullion stitches (I have to admit, if I’d realised there were bullion knots on this thing I wouldn’t have been as excited to start it haha – but it’s intended as a gift for someone, so it has to be done!).  I should be able to finish it tomorrow, as I have a day off.

And a quick answer for Annemarie – yes, I do take a small stitching project with me on night shifts … that’s the only shift we can get away with it.  The only difficulty is that it depends on which staff are on for the night whether you get inundated with calls/questions, or if there are any dramas happening overseas.  One of the great tricks is for the UK to release sales fares over the weekends for example, when the UK call centre is closed – and we get all the calls here … but our guys aren’t supposed to quote fares ex other countries, it has to be quoted through the “Fares Desk” (ie me!), which means it could be a busy night.  Same thing if an airport gets closed due to fog etc … like the European weather last week, we got the call to help out Heathrow airport at 5am our time, with minimal staffing (although I got an official/personal thank you from the “big boss” in Sydney the other day, which is awesome). Between 11pm-2am there are just two of us on the fares/help desk (aka Senior Hotline), and between 2am-5am just one of us … so if you get stuck on a call everyone else gets backed up in the queue. 

Oops, sorry, that was supposed to be a QUICK answer … I must have mislaid my dictionary and forgot the true meaning of the word haha.  I usually just take small projects because I may only get one or two stitches in between the next call, and it’s really easy to lose your place etc – but then again I’ve also had a few nights when it’s been really experienced people on duty and no dramas happening and I’ve managed to get a fair bit done … but I’m also quite tired as well, and it’s easier to miscount and make mistakes, so I leave anything I have to ‘think about’ at home.  Funnily enough, I just started thinking about projects to kit up and take with me this week! 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Stitch-alongs

CA Wells in Melbourne

Anne S

I sent an email off to the Perth organiser this morning to find out whether any spots are available for the CA Wells classes over there in April … fingers crossed.  (I’d managed to get the wrong contact person previously, so hopefully it’s not too late.)

But there’s also a possibility of her coming to Melbourne for an additional class in April, date to be advised, if there is enough interest.  Georgie is organising this, so if you’re in the area and you’re interested, drop her a quick line and let her know – apparently we need 20 people in total to sign up so it can go ahead, and at this stage there are still a huge 16 spots left to fill.  It would definitely be a wonderful opportunity 🙂

Now, something else I’ve been thinking about for a wee while now … I want to try my hand at Cartonnage … for those of you who’ve never heard of it before, there is one blog that is the ‘ultimate’ reference for Cartonnage … Cartonnage et Compagnie!!  Some of the pieces presented are just magnificent – you definitely have to check out the archives to see some of the amazing projects.  The main thing I personally want to make is something that holds all of my Kreinik metallic threads … something like a bigger version of the teabag holder in this blog here, with little individual compartments.  At the moment I’ve been using my little Ikea drawers, but it’s a pain when you buy a new colour and have to rearrange every single row just to add one little spool into the mix!  Actually what would probably work is to have internal segments inside my longer Ikea drawer, which would allow me to utilise the entire space of the drawer, as well as the flexibility to add new colours as they’re needed (although these days there aren’t that many I still need!), as well as keeping most of my stitching stash in one place.

I’d also love to make a proper teabag holder (a bigger version), as at the moment I’m using my old stitching floss box that I no longer use, and it would be much better for the tea if it was closed in with a lid … perhaps that will be a challenge for 2008! 😉

And if that wasn’t enough, check out this gorgeous sewing caddy … just gorgeous! 😀

And on that note, I’m off to bed!  I still felt a bit squiffy earlier today, but tonight I feel a fair bit better, so I’m hoping to get to work tomorrow … It was supposed to be my weekend off, but I swapped with someone to help them out so they could get the day off, and I’ll be taking Tuesday off instead – just in time to start my overnight shifts yuk!  I didn’t quite get my Christmas ornie finished this weekend for the SAL, but I might try and add a few more stitches into it tomorrow night before the weekend is over …

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Long Live the Queen

Anne S

What happens when you finish the end of your 10-hour rotation and you don’t want to put it down?  You throw in the Lord of the Rings trilogy on DVD, plonk yourself back down in the stitching chair, and just keep right on going 😀  I finally decided to bead as I go, as there some seriously large blank spaces where the beads go, so I couldn’t resist it before putting her away, and sat for a few hours tonight adding beads and that revolting Wisper thread.  At least now I’m filling in all the gaps, I can cut away the finished parts of my working copy to make it more manageable … and she really does look so much better with some of her white gaps all filled in!  Alas, though, now the scroll bar has been removed from the floor stand, to be replaced with something smaller – it’s the Christmas Ornie SAL weekend, so tomorrow I’ll be stitching a new ornie, or finishing some I’ve already started …

In the meantime, here’s the final shot of Winter Queen before she was removed … she looks even lovelier with her backstitched face and beads 😀

Cross Stitch, Rotation, SBQ, Stitch-alongs, Works in Progress

Bordeaux, Winter Queen and SBQ

Anne S

Australia Day logo

To my fellow Aussies, Happy Australia Day to you all – thanks for letting me stay in your beautiful country and letting me call it my new adopted home 😀

Australian flag

Here’s my latest progress piccie of Bordeaux Sampler – I’m loving stitching on this more regularly each week, and normally have difficulty putting it down after my two-hour stint working on it.  Yesterday, though, it was a bit easier due to the fact my concentration wasn’t really up to par.  Unfortunately I won’t be reaching the halfway mark by the end of the month like I’d hoped, as I’d forgotten this band has more of that wonderful over-one lettering … mind you, that’s not as bad as those darned over-one single grapes floating around in the middle of the band … grumble grumble 😉  Please note I still haven’t frogged those golden leaves from the previous band, either … that’s a chore for one day when I’m more in the mood … at some stage before I finish band 7 😀 (Sorry, but this photo is quite dark, as the flash wouldn’t work!)

Bordeaux at 25Jan07

I’ve also finally managed to finish my 10 hours rotation slot on Winter Queen.  Here’s the “before and after” shot – I did my first 10 hours on this back in November 2005, and it hasn’t been touched since, which is shocking … it’s nice to see her come back out of the woodwork again.

Before
 Winter Queen at 24Nov05

After
Winter Queen 26Jan07

I think the 10-hour rotation really works for me on the whole – I tried doing one project per night, and it just doesn’t work with my shifts, and I feel as if I’ve only just picked something up when I have to put it down again.  At least with 10 hours you can really see some progress at the end of it, and the 10 hours can be spread out over a weekend, or a full week, but you have time to get into a rhythm with the project.  I still give myself some flexibility with those 10 hours, and they’re not always 100% rigid at that mark – if I get close to the 10 hours and I’m still loving the project and don’t want to put it down, then I’ll keep doing an hour or so more before I move on to the next project.  Having my little ‘tub’ of WIPs next to my stitching area has also helped with that too, with everything ready to start again for the next rotation.

  Now, on to the SBQ’s that I’ve been seriously neglecting for the last 3 weeks:

“Do you dream of running your own LNS/ONS? If so, tell us about your dream. If not, tell us about your cross stitch dream … maybe you dream of designing, dyeing your own floss or fabric, etc.”

Nope, I can’t say I’ve ever had the desire of running my own LNS/ONS – working in one, perhaps, but not running it.  To be honest I figure running one would entail so much work that it would impact on my stitching time, and that’s more important to me.  I have to admit, though, that I was having a few ideas about designing my own needlerolls before Christmas, but if I ever do that I’ll offer it as a freebie online here instead of doing it ‘properly’ – but I’d love to learn how to dye my own fabric and floss one day, especially floss!  My main dream is to be able to give up work and still have an income and stitch to my heart’s content every day … hey, we can dream, can’t we? 😉

“Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that talks about it.) If not, when do you predict it will be?”

Yep, that was done on New Year’s Day … the post is here.

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Danielle and is:

“What company produces your favorite hand-dyed fabric? Are there any companies whose hand-dyed fabric you do not like? If so, why?”

I like Silkweaver fabrics, but the one I have for Egyptian Garden has quite a lot of fluff on it, and I’m forever having to pull off pils etc from it while I’m stitching, which is really frustrating.  The only other fabric I’ve tried is from Country Stitch, and I have to admit between the two I really love Linda’s fabric (Country Stitch) the most.  Her customer service is awesome, and she’s a sweetheart to deal with – it’s one of the few things I refused to give up during my penniless phase, my FOTM from Country Stitch.  Her fabrics have a lovely feel to them, and the colours aren’t blotchy but subtly blended … love them! 😀  Unfortunately I haven’t tried other products yet, so can’t compare.

And to finish, another quote I really like:

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

Cross Stitch, Quilting, Stitch-alongs

Case of the Blah’s

Anne S

I managed to get 4-5 hours sleep last night (I didn’t get to sleep until nearly 3am thanks to my snoozing yesterday afternoon), and still feel like a train wreck. My ears are sore, and I still have the queasy feeling, as well as just wanting to sleep all day again, so I’m about to take myself off for a wander up to the local doctors. It annoys me having to go, because I know there’s nothing they can do about it if it’s a virus, but I need to get a doctors note for work, I guess. C’est la vie … another $30+ down the tubes ho-hum. At least the Woolworth’s bladder has eased off quite a bit, and it’s relatively cool in the flat, which makes it a bit more pleasant. 

I can’t wait until next week, though, when there’ll finally be something worth watching on TV … thank goodness for my DVD player and home library of cheap DVD’s, that’s all I can say!  Not being a sports fan, it kills me to look through the TV Guide to see the selection this week … at the moment one channel has the cricket, one has the tennis, and one I never watch anyway, leaving one channel to choose from – and because of the cricket/tennis my fave programs aren’t on … But as always there’s a silver lining – I’m getting to watch movies I haven’t seen in months, and I also have some audio books I haven’t listened to yet either (although I have a splitting headache at the moment, so that’s not a great option).  Actually, I’ve just remembered I’m on night shifts next week, so I’d better get ready to videotape all my fave shows that are coming back on again (House, Medium, and NCIS especially).

I’ve made a tiny bit of progress on Bordeaux today, by adding one golden ‘basket’ and about 6 Rhodes grapes, but that’s it – I’ll probably do the last Rhodes grape on the left-hand side, then call it a day … I’m trying to do about 2 hours work on it each week so I don’t jump too far ahead, and I’ve done those 2 hours today already … albeit very slow stitching!  I’ll post a progress piccie later on.

Something else I meant to show a few days ago, and that’s two new quilt designs that I really like … I’m seriously going to have to try doing one quilt at least this year, or at least start one anyway – I’ll have to look through my fabrics and see if I’ve got anything appropriate already, without having to buy too much more … but that’ll be another day when I feel more up to it.  I don’t need to tell you, I’m sure, that of course my quilt will be in blue fabrics 😉

December Rose quilt
December Rose quilt

Winter Carnival quilt
Winter Carnival quilt

Now it’s time to throw some clothes on and wander on over to the GP’s office … although the way I’m feeling, perhaps it’d be safer to drive hmmm …

(Updated to add GP results – I’m now off work until Sunday, and if I don’t feel OK on Sunday then I just go back to see him on Monday … also I may have an added bonus of a bladder or kidney infection, so I’ve done a mid-stream urine test as well – at least I can now relax and not think about having to go back to work for two days, and just focus on relaxing and chilling out.  Fingers crossed it’s nothing but a virus, although he also talked about diabetes as well hmmm.  time will tell, I guess.  I was very naughty and treated myself to hiring two new release DVD’s from the video store nextdoor to the GP’s – something I haven’t done for months and months … I thought it would a nice cheer-me-up to help with my stitching.  Even though I’m not getting too much done, a few stitches is better than nothing!)