Tag: Cross Stitch

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Round Robins

RR and Turbo Needles

Anne S

It’s been a very busy day in my household … for my needles! Absolutely nothing else has been done, but my needles have been flying since 8am until 10pm and I totally finished Wendy’s RR piece woohoo!! 😀 It means I should be able to get it in the post next week, well and truly before the Christmas rush. Here’s a scan of my winter block, as well as a very poor photo of the whole thing finished 🙂


I should have been stitching a needleroll for this weekend’s SAL, but I just couldn’t put the RR down until I’d got it all finished. Now I have to decide which needleroll to stitch tomorrow … it’s a choice between Summer Solstice by Eventide Designs, or a freebie on Classic Stitches website – ooh, decisions decisions.

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Round Robins

RR & Exchanges … and stuff

Anne S

Thanks for all your comments and emails of support – I’m still feeling a bit ‘blue’ (which I would normally be happy about haha), but I’m getting there slowly. Anyway, I won’t dwell on my current issues now, as I’m trying hard to keep them from my mind and not brood on things. I just wanted to post a few piccies of the fantastic exchange I just received today.

I received my scissor fob exchange from Cari, and I’m seriously blown away by her generosity … not only did I receive the most exquisite fob in my fave colours, but also a pair of “Julia” Gingher’s scissors, no less, and a VC silk in the most glorious blue … I’ve been shaking my head like a stunned mullet (there’s an Aussie saying for you) ever since I opened the envelope at lunchtime – and 6 hours later still feel gobsmacked by it all. The fob is absolutely gorgeous, and Cari’s stitching and finishing is awesome … I definitely don’t feel worthy … I just LOVE everything, and it will all be treasured for years to come – thanks again so much Cari!! 😀 I’ve taken piccies of the whole kit and caboodle, as well as trying to take a close-up shot of the front and back of the fob, so here goes:


On top of that I remembered to take a photo of the recent RR’s I’ve been participating in … this one is Lynn’s RR so far, with just one more stitcher left to go (I stitched the Winter square earlier – sorry for the out of focus photo).

And this one is the latest RR I’ve received – this is Wendy’s … and I just have to stitch the Winter square on this one before it gets returned home to Canada. I’m hoping to get some quality stitching time over the next weekend, so I’ll concentrate on getting some of this stitched up then (as well as finishing a gift piece now my missing Kreinik braid has arrived). Anyway, I thought Wendy might like to see how it’s looking so far – hopefully I can whip through the stitching quickly so it can be posted back before hitting the pre-Christmas rush.

Tomorrow is a public holiday here in Melbourne – the only city I know where the entire city has a holiday for a horse race! I loved the description I just found on this website (actually the rest of the page is quite a fun read – and some of the Aussie slang is great):

“Melbourne is famous for Australia’s premier horse race “The Melbourne Cup” held the first Tuesday in November at approximately 3pm at Flemington Racecourse. It is a public holiday in Melbourne, and in the rest of Australia and now in many parts of the world people stop work just to listen to this race. Horses from all over the world come here to participate.
The Queen entered a horse in this race a few years ago – it did not win. Generally it will be won by a horse that has been bred in New Zealand.”

Personally I won’t be having the day off, as I’m working (and I’ll be very grateful for it when payday comes, as it’s a double-time day which will be exceptionally handy this coming payday!!). I do have to admit to spending $2 on a non-essential item yesterday, which in 7 days isn’t bad going 🙂 It’s pretty compulsory that you get involved with this infamous horserace and I joined the throng for the work sweepstake … very high roller this betting chick 😉 Apparently the horse that got put against my name is a relatively good one, not that that will make much difference – but it’s all a bit of fun and the entire office gets behind it. My horse is called “Efficient”.

Anyway, that’s all from me tonight – just wanted to post those couple of piccies … and say thanks for all the support – it has really helped to keep my spirits up 🙂 {{hugs}}

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED

Gift stitching … piccies

Anne S

That’s the only thing I hate about secret stitching … I can’t share piccies until after it’s been received, darn it! Seeing as it won’t give the game away, I’ve decided to show you a sneak preview of my current gift stitching, though. It’s about 2/3 finished now, but I can’t complete it until I get a spool of Kreinik braid … fingers crossed that’ll be in my first parcel from SB&B that’s on its way and should be here within a week’s time … if not, that’s the time to start panicking 😉

Actually, I just heard from Jenna that her birthday gifts have arrived safely, so I can also add an extra piccie to this post … I didn’t take photos of the extra goodies I sent, but I did take one of the lavender sachet I stitched. I haven’t done any hardanger really since I took a beginner’s class about 5-6 years ago, and haven’t tried wrapped bars before (ie just wrapping all 4 threads together), but it worked out OK – it was strange using such large count fabric and pearl cotton (#3 and #5), but the finished product is really pretty. I chose it because lavender is a natural therapy for headaches, and poor Jenna is regularly plagued with them – thankfully USA Customs restrictions aren’t as strict as here, and you can send lavender into the country, yay. The design is a freebie from the Classic Stitches website. I’m so happy it arrived safe and sound, and that Jenna likes her goodies 😀

Other than that, not much has been happening in this neck of the woods – after my appalling night’s sleep yesterday, I managed to get tuckered out and went back to bed at midday for another 3 hours – I felt much more human after that … but at least it got my kitted up projects entered into a spreadsheet, which has proved helpful already as I searched for a DMC thread for my gift stitching yesterday – I had a quick look at the spreadsheet then went straight to the right project to grab the skein out … awesome!

Tonight it’s back to early nights for sleeping, I need to be in bed by 7.30pm to try and get 8 hours before being up at 4am for work … 4 days of 5am’s this week, finished with one 9am shift at the end – only 5 days straight again, oh boy am I loving that!!

Thanks to a conversation Isabelle and I have been having, I’ve been contemplating making a patchwork quilt next year … I’ve been dreaming about it for a number of years now, but never started one for myself, and I’m thinking 2007 might be the year to try it out. I’ve been looking through my quilting books and choosing some possible designs … once I’ve narrowed my choices down I’ll share some piccies.

Rightio, back to listening to the last part of Jeffrey Deaver’s Cold Moon novel (I’m really enjoying this one) and Bordeaux Sampler (I’m giving it some well-deserved stitching time, seeing as it’s been neglected for a few weeks) … it’s OK, though, Carol, I’m not motoring too far along with it today, just enough to show some difference 😉

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Round Robins

A small finish

Anne S

By the following piccie you can no doubt guess what I did today on my first day off … stitched my little heart out! In fact, I stayed in my PJ’s all day too … such decadence! 😉 But it means Lynn’s RR block is all finished except for the one little Mill Hill bead that I can’t find right now (and after my last experience, I’m not in a major hurry to rush out just to buy one little packet LOL), and my name – other than that it’s all finished yippee 🙂 I’m not sure whether this counts towards my 50 Projects Challenge, as this wasn’t technically from my stash (apart from the DMC) …

Now I’m off to do a tiny bit of stitching on the Dratteds while watching Two Weeks Notice on TV, before heading off to bed for the night.

Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Stitching Smalls

#3 of 50 and a Special Visit

Anne S

Two reasons to celebrate today (3 if you include the fact I only have one more 5am shift left this week woohoo) … I can cross off project #3 from my 50 Projects Challenge – and the final product (with those very very expensive beads LOL) went to the lovely Katrina today 😀 Yes, it’s true, we got to meet each other face to face today, and she’s even lovelier in person than on her blog, if that’s possible! 😀 It was awesome that we got to meet up and spend some time together before she flies home – and she says a big “hi” to everyone!! She sneaked in a quick blog reading session while visiting family at the weekend, but no doubt will be catching up properly when she gets home again 🙂

I had originally planned to stitch Katrina a self-designed needleroll, but my creative juices just didn’t come together in the end with my health issues etc, and the final design still needs a bit of tweaking … a quick glance over Katrina’s wishlist and I found the Cherry Blossoms Fob by The Sweetheart Tree hiding in there, which I had in my stash all kitted up for myself … it became the perfect solution. I’m still disappointed my needleroll didn’t come to fruition, but I liked how the little fob turned out, and will definitely stitch it again for myself (even with the pinks LOL).
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Unfortunately dopey me forgot to pack my camera to take with me today (my brain doesn’t really function at 4am – it’s even slower than it normally is, and that’s saying something), so I couldn’t take a photo myself, but Katrina had hers, as did her Mum, so you can look forward to one down the track when Katrina gets home hopefully 🙂

I couldn’t bring a photo home with me, but I did get spoilt rotten and given a beautiful gift from Katrina too … this is a design I’ve been ogling for a while now, but haven’t gotten around to stitching it for myself yet, and now I don’t need to – I now have a gorgeous pinkeep to have on display, and it will always remind me of our first meeting, so it will always be treasured … I just love it!! But that’s not all, I also got a needleroll chart by Forever In My Heart, who I’d never heard of before … this chart is so versatile as you could use just about any colour combination, and I’ll definitely be stitching one of these soon (in fact my mind was ticking over with the thread possibilities as soon as I had it in my grubby little hands). I just love everything, thank you so much, my friend – and it was such a wonderful treat to meet you! {{hugs}}
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Unfortunately it’s now onto very mundane stuff, after all that excitement, as I have to get all the housework done tonight ready for a workmate arriving tomorrow evening, then tomorrow a lot of the prep needs to be done ready for Saturday night’s dinner banquet here … can’t say I’ll be even looking at a needle, never mind using one, before Sunday (if that). When I do, though, I’m thinking of throwing my rotation out the window until I get the Dratteds done completely … I would dearly love to get the Dolphins stitched by year end, and my new idea is to stitch 10 hours on them, then stitch a Christmas ornie or needleroll (just something small and quick) or do a spot of finishing, then back to 10 hours of the Dratteds and so on, until they’re finished. If I do that, I’m hoping to have them finished by the end of October, especially if I can really put some serious work into them on my days off … well, that’s the plan anyway … but you know what they say about the plans of mice and men … 😉 LOL.

So in the words of Looney Tunes’ Porky Pig … for now, “th-th-th-th-th-th-that’s all folks!” 😉

Cross Stitch, Exchanges

Mail Art Exchange

Anne S

I know Zohrah hasn’t received this yet, seeing as it only got sent out last week, but as far as I know she doesn’t read my blog, and I’ve decided to post a piccie of it anyway while I’m waiting for my dinner to reheat. Here was my 2nd attempt at the same design thanks to Mr Postman … I made a pretty crappy attempt at the buttonhole closures, and definitely need a lot more practice, but it looks OK, I think. The buttons were bought in Auckland while I was visiting in May … funnily enough, I bought 4 of them at the time … perhaps I knew something way back then!!! The names have been taken out for privacy reasons. The design was from one of the XS magazines that I can’t put my hands on right at this minute (mainly ‘cos I can’t be bothered to go looking – if anyone is desperate to know leave me a comment and I’ll track it down for you later).

(the front)

(the back)

Cross Stitch, Exchanges

Redwork exchange received

Anne S

Just a quick note to upload some piccies, and say a HUGE thank you to Leslie for my Redwork exchange piece … isn’t this the most gorgeous thing? I just love it! It’s just so rich and scrummy … I have most definitely fallen in love with redwork – I just can’t get enough of it now! (Don’t worry, though, I’m still most definitely a blue girl at heart, and that won’t change LOL.) As well as the beautiful stitched ornament (which I adore), Leslie also sent some extra goodies along – some GAST threads and a fat 1/4 of some lovely quilting fabric … all very very useful! 😀 As well as that, she also sent the chart and remaining charms that she stitched mine from – which I also love, and it’s going to be very very handy as you’ve just given me a great idea for an upcoming gift 🙂 This poor exchange has been sitting at the Post Office since just before last weekend, but this is the first time I’ve been anywhere near work during daylight hours to pick it up.

Before I forget, for Cindy – I used the flat-fold instructions from Judy Odell’s book, which is wonderful … but Kim has put very good instructions on her website here – the only major difference is that Judy attaches her ribbon before the pieces are put together, and she stitches the pieces together instead of using glue, using a ladder stitch – hope that helps 😀

And here is the before and after photo of the Kitty Pi Mum knitted for me … I’ve conned her into making another one (one for the lounge, and one for the bedroom), but I’ve found where I can buy the proper wool (ie Noro Kureyon) here in Melbourne, so we’re going to get some of the ‘Real McCoy’ to use next time. As you can see, the ducks are seriously impressed with it! 😉 Just for a change, I thought we’d go “blue” LOLOL – the actual colour is more muted than the photo looks.

As for today, nothing much done except for housework – the lounge is tidy now (including my stitching corner, will miracles never cease??) … the next job is the dining table which is a pigsty, but I figure just doing a bit every day will eventually get the clutter put away – after that, I start decluttering the bedrooms, and that’s a full-time job haha. I had a shocking night’s sleep last night due to horrendously high winds making a racket, so I’m just taking it very very easy today, and I’ll have an early night tonight … hmmm, I wonder what rocket fuel cocktail I could make tonight to knock me out? LOL. Other than that today I managed to get Zohrah’s replacement mail art exchange in the mail … I haven’t felt too creative this week, so I’ve just re-done the original mail art I did (praying this one turns up, as I don’t think I could stitch it three times!!).

I think this arvo I’m going to drag out the Dratteds and put a few stitches into them … I really wanted to get them finished by Christmas, and that date is looming really really quickly!! After that, I think Egyptian Garden Mandala will be replacing them as my focus piece on my rotation … I can’t wait to stitch on this one again 🙂

Cross Stitch, Exchanges

Needleroll exchange from Sylvie

Anne S

WOW!!!!! That’s what came out of my mouth as I stood on the pavement at the back of the Post Office today … I was too impatient to get home to open up my parcel, so Mum and I opened it up together there and then 😉 Inside the parcel was my needleroll exchange from Sylvie, and I can honestly and truthfully say I am totally blown away by it all – I just adore everything! The needleroll is stitched and finished so beautifully, and the design and colours are incredible … I’m lost for words as to how beautiful I think it is 😀 And if that wasn’t enough, inside the gorgeous bag (that is going to be oh-so-useful for my stitching bits and bobs next to my chair) there were Gloriana silks in the most dreamy and heavenly colours for a blue girl like me … serious drool material – I adore Gloriana silks! But there was even more yet … a lovely little address book, and cute turquoise bracelet, and a postcard from Normandie … and I love it all!! I still can’t believe that I get to keep it all, that it’s all mine! I’ll say it again … “WOW”!! 😀 Thanks heaps and heaps Sylvie for an exceptional exchange 😀 {{hugs}}
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(I give up on Blogger tonight, so I’m using Photobucket mutter mutter mutter)

The other squishy mail I had today was my next round robin piece – this is Lynn’s seasonal round robin … I’m really enjoying stitching on these, and I’ve been looking forward to the next one arriving. Now I just have to decide which season to stitch, Winter or Spring … oh decisions, decisions … 😉

Rightio, off to work I go again … but not ‘real’ work, though … Mum and I are going to try ornamentifying a few of her stitched ornies so she knows how to do it when she gets home. Which will be interesting, as I’ve only ever made the two square ones last year … we’ll be dragging out the magazines again to get some ideas, I think – mind you, seeing as Mum’s flying out tomorrow, I don’t think we’ll be getting too creative – nothing like leaving it until the last minute haha. We’re going to finish off her holiday tonight with king prawns (on sale at Safeway today), and breakfast out at St Kilda tomorrow morning and a trip into the city for some last-minute sightseeing/shopping … thank goodness for stitching, ‘cos I’ll be feeling a bit lost for a few days afterwards having the place to myself again … not for long, though, as I’ll be kept busy catching up on all the blogs!! 😀

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes

Redwork exchange

Anne S

Just a quick note to say my redwork exchange on the SBEBB has been received by Nancy, so I can unveil it now … I used the Quaker Swan Case as my instructions, but used an online freebie as my basis for the stitching. As the stitching chart was wayyyyy too big, I deleted a few elements and played around with the flower leaves for a while until it fitted my measurements OK. It’s stitched with DMC 115, which I really love, on a 32ct hand-dyed Lugana from Country Stitch. I was really really disappointed with my finishing, as I found the ribbon ‘hinges’ too long, and it just flopped around when it was all put together, so I ended up putting a little line of backstitches on the two side hinges to keep it more ‘together’ – which also means now that you can hang it on a hanger on display … which I really love the idea of it, and may now do that with mine when I get around to stitching it too 🙂 I also wasn’t too pleased with how the inside hearts are attached (the red ones), so when I do mine I think I’ll modify that a bit too. I’m really glad Nancy liked it, though, as I was a bit worried about it … I didn’t take a photo of it with the ‘tweaking’ of the hinges, or with the goodies I sent, and I don’t think Nancy updates her blog anymore, but at least you can see the needlecase 😀

Seeing as it’s Mum’s last full day here today, we’re off out shopping … so no stitching for me until tonight. I do have a progress piccie to share, but I’ll wait until tomorrow or Thursday, when it’ll be a finished piccie hopefully 😀

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Round Robins

One commitment done

Anne S

I can cross one “must do” off my list for the next week or so – I just put the finishing stitches into Vash’s RR … this is using the freebie “Birds & Butterflies” on the Vermillion website. The main challenge for me was stitching my XS’es in the opposite direction – I’ve never frogged so much in my entire life in such a small design … it’s just 2nd nature for me to cross my crosses my old way! I think it turned out OK, though, and it’ll be winging its way across the oceans to Canada some time over the next week.

We had a surprise phone call yesterday saying my lounge suite is ready for delivery, so we’ll be home tomorrow for that … unfortunately, though, we still have our old one here, so it’s gonna be pretty cramped until we can get rid of it. I’ve offered it to Fraze, as he and his girlfriend have just moved in together two weeks ago, and he’s accepted it … he just has to work out how to pick it up as he doesn’t have a car or trailer … if that falls down, then I’ll donate it to the Salvation Army.

Aside from that, my health has been so-so over the last day or so – after being so ‘cocky’ that I felt good the other day, we popped out for an hour or so to Ikea getting ideas for storage, and I ended up coming home with a splitting headache, and even more splitting tummy pains … no stitching for me that night, and I just spent the rest of the night curled up on the sofa feeling like death warmed up. My tummy was still gurgling last night, but thankfully no pains this time … time will tell over the next day or so, I guess, whether I’ve managed to get rid of whatever it was for good!

Now a quick question for Jess., if you’re reading – thanks for your comment about Stitchery Blue in Williamstown … I have to admit, I took a train trip out there once when I was here visiting – but I haven’t been back since I’ve moved here. My absolute favourite would probably be Lazy Daisy in Heidelberg – I also really like Bustle & Bows in Malvern (and to a certain extent the one in Surrey Hills), but I find their prices quite steep … also the last time I went in the new manager followed me around the shop like a shadow and I felt really uncomfortable – I haven’t been back since hmmm. I also like The Embroiderer in Brighton for threads, but they lack greatly in charts – they’re pretty helpful to order in items if you need them, though. You mentioned “Broderie” in Bentleigh – do you know where it is?? I haven’t heard of it before, and I’d love to track it down, especially as it’s in my neck of the woods, and I couldn’t find it in the Yellow Pages online … 😀
Well, that’ll do for today, I guess – it’s blowing a gale outside today, but it’s beautiful and sunny, and I feel like blowing the cobwebs out by going for a short walk … then we need to get furniture moved around ready for the delivery tomorrow – I can’t wait to see my new lounge suite in here yippee! 😀