Cross Stitch – Page 46 – Feather Stitching

Happy Dance

29 June, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

Yippee, I managed to get my ducks square complete for my round robin – they’re just gorgeous, if I say so myself … of course I have to say that, though, as they’re ducks!! (These ones are called Redheads) 😀 It’s stitched on 32ct ivory Lugana, and the way I envisage it all is framed, with the four squares with a darkish green matt so each individual square will be surrounded in the matt – does that make sense? The whole thing is square in size, with two ducks on the top, and two on the bottom. Unfortunately I didn’t have a piece of fabric the ideal size, so I’ve had to scrimp on the side edges of this – but I’m going to attach a strip of fabric to each side to allow the framing when it arrives home again. I hope everyone enjoys stitching on it as much as I have (but of course I’m biased, ‘cos I’m duck-mad!).

Aside from that, nothing to post about really … I’m a bit braindead today, after not getting much sleep last night. Fraze came over and I took him out for a belated birthday dinner, then we had a few drinks at home before hitting the hay at about 1am – I was awake at 5am, and took forever to get back to sleep again, then the alarm went off at 7am for Fraze to go to work. If nothing else, it’ll get me back into early bed mode tonight ready for my early start at work myself tomorrow 🙂

The next slot on my rotation is smalls/ornaments, so I think I’ll try to get an ornament stitched up, seeing as I haven’t met my monthly commitments yet with that. I was hoping to stitch the Quaker Christmas Bulb from a JCS ornie issue, but my three WDW threads still haven’t arrived in the mail (I still have a backorder from SB&B waiting for a French chart to arrive, along with some threads I’m desperate for), so that’s a no-go yet … I still have one ornament to stitch from my Ornament Round Robin group, so that’ll probably be what I’ll end up stitching next …

Thanks again for all your supportive comments about my privacy intrusion – I’ve managed to get over it, and don’t intend changing at all. I’m hoping it was just a once-off, and life will be back to its scheduled programming with no changes … after all, this is who I am and this is my private space 😀

Cross Stitch, Round Robins

Last night shift yippee!

25 June, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

Can’t wait for tonight to all be over … it’s my final 9pm-5am shift, then I get three full days off to catch up on my sleep etc and get my body clock back into order (technically it’s 4 days off, but I won’t be out of bed until the afternoon tomorrow, so I don’t count that one). I haven’t had the energy to sit at my PC the last couple of days, so I’ve been sat working on my round robin piece. I haven’t been too stressed over the deadline for this one, as I knew I had this shift coming up, and I usually get plenty of stitching time in … so I can finally show a stitching piccie that’s worth seeing – with luck this will be ready to get in the mail by the middle of the week 🙂

Just a quick post before I head off to work again …

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Stash, Works in Progress

Stitching update

15 June, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

I had to take a day off work yesterday just to get some stitching in … well, actually it was because I felt like cr*p, and couldn’t face work – my sore throat turned into a bit of laryngitis on Tuesday night, and I hardly slept at all. When I woke up yesterday morning I felt really groggy and as though I’d been run over. This morning I still feel pretty rough – I’m more blocked up in the nose, and my throat is sore again, but my voice isn’t quite as laryngitis-like. Fingers crossed I’ll be OK to get back to work again tomorrow. It does mean, though, that I managed to get a bit of stitching done – and a bit of frogging too ;P I still have two stitches to fix up in the vines that I noticed I managed to miss yesterday, and they’re easily added in – but I’m slowly catching up to you, Carol 😀 I’ll continue to get this panel finished (the whole of part 1), then I have to get my ducks RR done to get in the mail by 1 July … then it’s “Dratteds, here I come!!!” 😀

Just a quick post today, as my concentration at the computer isn’t great – I tried catching up on some more blog reading yesterday, but I ended up reading most things three times, and gave up. Off to have another Lemsip Cold & Flu, then cuddle up under my blanket again in my not-so-glamorous PJ’s for the day …

(Updated) Crikey, I just realised that I hadn’t posted piccies of my previous stash arrivals … for some reason I thought I’d already done it, but just checked back in my blog posts, and lo and behold nothing was there! Oops – I’d forget my head these days if it wasn’t permanently attached!! Anyway, here are the piccies of stash I received as gifts from some very generous ladies – thanks so much again Cathy and Nancy – your generosity is amazing, and I love everything (I know I’ve sent personal emails already, but just wanted to reiterate it now) 😀 Unfortunately blogger is, just for a change, having a hissy fit about adding more photos, so I’ve had to use Photobucket, which of course means you can’t click for a bigger piccie, sorry 😦

Here are my wonderful spoils from Cathy:

And my wonderful spoils from Nancy:

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes, SBQ, Stitching Smalls

SBQ’s and a very quick update

10 June, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

And still no stash photos – just haven’t had time … have hardly spent any time at my PC all week, but have been working hard to get my exchanges finished instead, as well as trying to unpack after my holiday, and tidy up a bit (my little flat looks like a bomb has exploded in it).

Anyway, just quickly I’ve managed to get my scissors fob exchange into the mail to Nicola (I’m safe to post piccies, because she doesn’t read my blog) – the stitching was all finished before I flew to NZ, I just had to whipstitch it, make the tassel and cording, and put it together … then while I was in NZ I just never got around to getting it done, and ended up bringing it back home with me (geez, I’m useless!!). Anyway, it’s finally in its little envelope and on its way back to NZ again phew!! And just for a change, blogger is having a hissy fit about posting photos, so I’m giving up … here are photos uploaded from Photobucket – and if you want to see a close-up of the front click here, and the back is here.

My mail art is all finished with the stitching – I hope the recipient likes it, but I have to admit to being a bit worried about it … I think I struggled as I couldn’t work out the recipient’s preferences, as there is no online album that I could find, or wishlist, so I feel like I’ve been stitching ‘blind’. Today I have the job of putting it all together into it’s envelope shape etc – I was going to do it yesterday, but it was day 7 of work, after doing the last 3 days with 5am shifts, and I was worried with my tiredness I’d stuff it up … best to leave it until today … although I still feel half asleep, so I don’t know … haha.

This weekend is our needleroll SAL, but I don’t know whether I’m going to manage to get one stitched, as I really do need to get that mail art 100% finished – maybe I’ll get some time tomorrow to put a few stitches in. If I do, I think I’ll be working on my half-finished ‘sample’ one I was making for the Melanie’s Exchange, and try to get a little bit more stitched on it.

Rightio, lastly on to the SBQ’s before I sign off … I now have 4 SBQ’s to catch up on, so I thought I’d bite the bullet and get them all out of the way today, ‘cos before I know it there’ll be another one being posted 😛 I’ve decided to just answer the first 3 initially, as the other one needs photos, and I’m not yet organised for that one.

17 May – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Jenna and is:

“Lately, it seems that many stitching bloggers have experienced a loss of their stitching mojo. Have you ever lost your stitching mojo? If so, how did you get it back and how long did it take?”

I lost my mojo when I first moved to Melbourne, due to appalling living conditions that just weren’t conducive to stitching – but as soon as I moved out with Fraze and we got our own place I bought a cheap recliner, set up my stitching station, and never looked back … in fact I’ve stitched more in the last 24 months than I’ve ever stitched, I think 🙂 I did get a bit overwhelmed with my commitment stitching etc over the last couple of months, which has been detrimental to my overall stitching … I think sometimes it’s a bit of a carry-over from when I had concussion years ago – even now if I get over-tired, I struggle to ‘focus’ on things – I find I have to make lists etc to keep on track, but when I get overwhelmed with ‘stuff’ my head almost gets too cluttered and I lose track. I can sit in a chair, knowing I have lots of things I must get done, but half an hour later I’m still sat there, and don’t know where the time has gone hmmm. Now I’m realising that I need to be more realistic with my stitching time, especially as sometimes I get really tired with my shift work, so I can be more in control.

24 May – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Nancy and is:

“What is your favorite specialty stitch? Which one is your least favorite? Why?”

I don’t know what my favourite stitch is at the moment – I enjoy doing Rhodes stitches in whatever shape or form (which is probably a good thing, seeing as there are so many in the Bordeaux Mystery Sampler!), and I really enjoyed doing the Waffle stitch for my Melanie’s Exchange needleroll – I just enjoy the variety of loads of different stitches. Probably my least favourite would have to be bullion knots and french knots … definitely a lot easier to answer! haha.

31 May – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Carol and is:

“Do you collect charts by one particular designer, yet have never stitched anything by that designer? If so, which designer and why do you collect the charts but have not yet stitched any of them?”

Perhaps the designs that come to mind here are Teresa Wentzler … I went through a phase where I had to buy every single design that TW had put out, and continued to do so for quite some time, including trading and tracking down copies all over the world (prior to knowing about Ebay!). I’ve never actually stitched any of them in their entirety, although I do have two of them that are currently UFO’s, so I do expect to eventually finish them both. I doubt I’ll stitch much of my collection, but it’s the only one I’ll be hard pushed to part with. Even if I never stitch them, I love flicking through the charts in my folder like a book of fine art – it’s uplifting for the soul to just feast your eyes on such beauty 🙂

I also started doing the same with Mirabilia charts, and used to received her new charts automatically – but the designs changed and I no longer loved them as I used to, so I stopped … I’ll still buy one if I fall in love with it, but it’s more rare these days, and I’ve even been putting a few up for trade that I know I’ll never stitch in a month of Sundays. They’re probably the main two designers I’m guilty of collecting.

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Stash

My boot runneth over …

2 June, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

… and so does my lounge room now, as my freight is home (well actually, four boxes are still in the boot of my car – I could only face bringing 5 of them up 3 floors today – the rest can wait)! My car is still living so far … the RACV man jump-started my car yesterday, and the run to the Post Office charged the battery up enough to keep it going … if it was dead again this morning I had to get a new battery, but luckily it’s managed to last the distance and I got to the airport without any problems. The freight guys all had a good laugh at my car, and even made a special trip out of the building to see it … hmmm. You see, my car is parked underneath a tree that has possums in it – and they must have had a field day while I was away, inviting all the possums in the neighbourhood over to play … you see my car is now covered in possum poo and heaven knows what else haha. The motorway trip managed to dislodge a lot of it, but it still looks a disgrace – it will have to wait until I can get to a valet … I think in this case it’ll definitely be worth the expense to have someone else wash it haha. Now, on to stitchy stuff …

My poor postman had a bit of a workout yesterday when I went to the Post Office – he had to carry my parcels out with both arms … and it totally filled one of my shopping bags. There were a few items that I was expecting, but there were also some surprises in there – all I can say is “WOW!!” I won’t overpower today’s post with oodles of piccies, but I’ll post a couple, with more to follow later. Here’s the list of goodies that came:

Options in Hardanger Group Correspondence Course (through CyberStitchers branch of the EGA)
Melanie’s Exchange from Jenna
Biscornu Exchange from Melissa and Danielle
Goodie parcel from Nancy
Goodie parcel from Cathy
Monthly Mystery Bits from SB&B
Parcels from SB&B
Eventide needleroll chart from Ebay win
Threads from Village Mountain Stitchery sale
Finishing kits from Jackie du Plessis (Strawberries So Faire and Quaker needleroll)

The piccies I’ll share today are of my exchanges that I received from the SBEBB – then tomorrow I’ll post the piccies of my goodies from Nancy and Cathy.

The first one is my Melanie’s Exchange from Jenna … it’s a freebie design by Martina Weber of Chatelaine fame, and it’s absolutely exquisite – the finishing and stitching is amazing, and I totally adore it! It’s currently sitting on a ‘plate stand’ I’d had sitting around just waiting for something to go in it … and it’s sitting by my blue vase with sunflowers, right opposite where I sit and stitch, so I can see it every night 🙂 And along with the exchange piece I also got spoilt rotten with a couple of pieces of fabbie (what a scrummy blue!), some makeup and nail clippers (also in yummy blue – you know me very well, Jenna! haha), and a lovely card, as well as the exchange leftovers … I just love everything!

Blogger is giving me the “proverbials”, because it won’t upload the piccies, so I’ve had to resort to Photobucket, and can’t work out how to add links to the photos for the main photos – if you want to see the larger piccie of the photos click on the links … photo 1 here, and photo 2 here.

The next photos are of my Biscornu Exchange – unfortunately my exchange partner wasn’t able to stitch something for me so Melissa and Danielle came to the rescue and kindly sent some exchange pieces. Melissa stitched a beautiful biscornu – isn’t it adorable? I just love the design used, and the buttons are the most perfect finishing touch – you did a great job, Melissa – thanks so much for stitching a biscornu for me, that was really sweet 🙂 And Danielle sent me a parcel of goodies too – full of amazing little treats! There is the new chart by Just Nan called Mermaid Heart, along with the embellishments and charm for it (and it’s going to be a great companion piece to Beach Roses, that I just received from SB&B!) – that would have been plenty all on its own, but there is also a packet of needles, some Needle Necessities flosses, and some gorgeous little stationery pads (I adore stationery!) … I just love everything in there. Thanks also to you, Danielle, for putting a little goodie parcel together on top of your own exchange commitments – it was very sweet of you, and the thought is much appreciated 🙂

And again, the photo links are following – photo 1 here, photo 2 here, and photo 3 here.

Both the exchanges were great fun – and it definitely won’t be the last time I participate … in fact, I’m about to commit myself to the Redwork one on the SBEBB, and waiting for the Hardanger one (hopefully much later haha), plus I’m already signed up for the Needleroll exchange on Renee’s Robin’s Nest BB.

Talking of Hardanger … one of the other parcels I received is for a hardanger correspondence course (Options in Hardanger – click on the link for the piccie) by Dale Sokolow – but first I want to complete the Beginner’s Hardanger (and click again) class by Marion Scoular. I signed up for the Beginner’s one just before I moved to Melbourne, but my less-than-perfect living conditions when I got here meant no stitching done for almost 8 months, so it got put to one side … I had the opportunity to take one class for reduced costs through CyberStitchers branch of the EGA this year, so I chose the Options in Hardanger class – I won’t have time to stitch it for evaluation, but it will be something to pick up in the future and stitch, and will hopefully be a good resource.

OK, I suppose I’ve waffled on enough for now, so I’ll just quickly answer a couple of questions that have been asked in the comments recently, then I’ll post again tomorrow with an update of the postal goodies 🙂

For Margaret and Andie – funnily enough, I nearly got to the South Island … I had staff tickets for Mum and I to fly down to then drive to Nelson to see my best friend, but we ran out of time to fit it in – maybe on the next trip over I’ll have to make it a compulsory stop 🙂

For Carin – the Pacific Pohutukawa chart is by Jen’s Jems (Jennifer Griffin), a New Zealand designer. You can buy her designs from Nancy’s Embroidery Shop in Wellington 🙂 They don’t have a great deal on display on their website, but you could always email them to see what designs they have in stock. Hope that helps 🙂

For moomoo – unfortunately the design for the biscornu is one that I put together myself. The blackwork part is from an Indigo Rose online freebie that is still on the Caron Collection website – the mosaic border I just made up myself – and the beaded border is from an old Stitcher’s World magazine. I can help you with the thread colour, though – it’s an Anchor variegated thread, number 1349 … just love those colours! Sorry I can’t be more help with that one.

One quick last comment … I ate myself silly with a big plate of feijoas every couple of days at home, but now I have my own version here so I don’t have to miss them too much – I bought a bottle of Feijoa Vodka in duty free teehee … it really really smells like the real thing, and is divine with ‘lemon, lime & bitters’ … yummo – doesn’t go too well with stitching though ;P

Back to work tomorrow – civilised hours, though … 8am starts for 3 days – then 4 days of 5am starts yuk! ;P

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes

Down, Down Under

26 May, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

Well, I managed to arrive safe and sound on the shores of Auckland city at 3am on Monday morning … which was absolutely exhausting seeing as I’d worked a 6am shift on Sunday and hadn’t had any sleep at all since then (as well as working 6 days straight) – unfortunately the plane was late leaving Melbourne, so a late arrival into Auckland. Got into bed at about 4am and managed to get about 4 1/2 hours sleep before an unexpected wakeup call hmmm. Let’s just say I was a bit of a zombie, and to be honest I still feel quite wrecked 3 days later! I’ve slept for 10 hours both the last two nights … fingers crossed I’ll be starting to feel a bit more ‘normal’ again soon …

I haven’t managed to get much done … although my priority has been to parcel up all my XS charts etc, ready for freighting, and I’ve nearly accomplished the mission – still have to go through my books as well … and I think there will be quite a number of charts heading over to Ebay when I get them home. There are LOADS of rip outs from magazines that I know I’ll never stitch in a month of Sundays, so they’ll all be free to a good home for the cost of the postage if anyone wants them …

The rest of my time has been spent trying not to get Dad’s blood on the carpet … to say it’s been “trying” at times would be a serious understatement. I had to jump in the shower last night before I lost my cool at him. I love my Dad ‘cos he’s my Dad, but I don’t always like him very much. I’d forgotten when I come home that usually by the 2nd day here my tension levels are sky high, and my patience levels are very slim. Mum and I went out for dinner in Auckland city last night for her birthday, which was lovely … and much to my Mum’s disgust it was my shout yay. Dad, of course, being the miserable sod that he is, refused to come out with us, even though we chose a steak restaurant that he would have enjoyed. Considering we had a party for his 70th birthday two years ago, Mum had already been warned we weren’t allowed to have one for her … I’ll leave my comments unwritten on that score, but I think it’s pretty poor … but then again, that’s my Dad to a T – very very selfish. Oh well, we still had a good time out, and to be honest it was probably more enjoyable with just the two of us …

As for stitching, I didn’t even get out of my PJ’s on Monday, so did a bit of stitching instead to try to keep my eyelids open … I started Santa’s Stash by Full Circle Designs, as part of the Ornament challenge/SAL on the Welcome Friends BB. But I forgot to pack the Mill Hill beads, and needed to buy some buttons and two of the DMC colours before I could finish it, so Mum and I popped out to Spotlight on Tuesday, and by midnight Tuesday night the final stitches were put into place.

If you were wondering why there are amazing shifts in weather patterns at the moment, you can blame my Mum! At the grand old age of 70 she’s finally decided she wants to learn how to XS haha. So we bought her a little kit of Frangipani (gee whizz, I wonder who chose that?!!), and she managed to put a few stitches in before I got chance to teach her … she’s keen! I bought some aida cloth offcuts over for her to try stitching on, and we’ve been looking for some easy Christmas designs for her to stitch some ornaments – now I’ll have to start hiding my stash from her teehee. She used to do tapestries and she knits, so she’ll be just fine 🙂

Mum’s dial-up connection is absolutely appalling, but I finally managed to get Blogger to upload more piccies – I just have to share these before I get home … these photos are of a scissor fob that Pauline stitched for me as part of the StitchNZ scissor fob exchange, and posted to Mum’s address … it is the most awesomely exquisite fob ever! The colours are just to die for … they are so “ME” … totally stunning! I will always treasure it – thanks so much Pauline 😀

Rightio, I suppose it’s back to the salt mines again … aka “the garage” … groan … Mind you, by the sounds of it, Dad’s already brought more boxes into the lounge for me to sort through – a less than subtle hint! haha. If I manage to find my way out again, I’ll see if I get time to post again – otherwise it won’t be until I get home again. I think I need an entire month to go through all my stuff – I’m starting to wonder how in heck I’m going to get everything done that I’d planned 😦

Hope everyone is having a good week 🙂

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes

Three sleeps to go & an exchange (updated)

18 May, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

(Updated to add the following piccie etc) Just quickly popped over to see if any new exchanges had been received on the SBEBB, and it looks like Annette has received the biscornu I stitched for her … as I mentioned before, it turned out to be a lot bigger than I expected, but it still looks OK. I used a DMC variegated thread (which is one of my favourite colourways) and added some beads for extra effect. It’s another conglomeration of a few designs – the infamous Indigo Rose freebie that I can’t seem to get enough of just lately (you may recognise elements from my pinkeep in the centre) – as well as part of a cushion design in a Stitchers World magazine from years ago (Earth Laughs by designer Anne Stanton). I ended up leaving off the tassels because it looked too fussy. Here is the photo of the finished front, and the actual stitching (I won’t bother showing the back).

I can’t believe that’s all there is to go now, before I fly out – 3 sleeps, woohoo!! And during my visit I’ll hopefully be meeting Nicki and Kerry from the blogging world in Auckland – that will be wonderful! 😀 As well as that, I’ve got an appointment set up already for me to see my old Physiotherapist, who is going to manipulate my back/neck and hopefully help to get it back in alignment again – I used to see him just for 1 or 2 visits yearly, and that would get me through the whole next year … but I haven’t been for 2 years now, and my neck has been giving me grief for months now – every morning I wake up with neck pain and feel like I haven’t slept properly … and sometimes the pain wakes me up during the night … can’t wait to get that ‘clicked’ back in again, it’s going to be sheer bliss!!

Nothing really to report – there will be no blog reading tonight (or stitching, for that matter), as I’m on a short turnaround time for my shifts, ie I finish work at 6pm (and won’t be home until about 7pm), and have to be asleep by 9pm at the latest in order to try and get 8 hours sleep, as I move to my 6am shifts. I think I’ll be sleeping my first 24 hours in NZ haha.

No stitching or blogging done yesterday either, as I forgot I had a training day in the city from 9-5, and met up with a friend for drinks after we finished, as she works in the same building as the training – we then decided to have dinner at the Rose Garden in Elizabeth Street … a very cheap and ‘nasty’ Asian eating place that has very very nice food – it was a great treat, and a wonderful night catching up. Unfortunately Hayles has decided to move to Perth, though, so she will be winging her way over to the west coast in July. Just means I’ll have to make an effort and go for a holiday over there – which I’d love to do, as I’ve always wanted to visit Perth.

I also managed to visit the Post Office the other day, and picked up my stitching treat that was sitting there waiting for me – it was the M Designs Christmas needleroll from Katrina from a recent trade … woohoo, another one to stitch for my collection! Thanks heaps Katrina! 😀

I’m still waiting for my SB&B orders to arrive – using my birthday money, plus a second treat in the next sale not long after … in both cases there is just one thing that is out of stock – one item has been “in transit from the supplier” for quite some time now (I didn’t realise you still use the Pony Express in the US haha), and the other one still on back order … there were some items in there I wanted for my last two exchanges, plus I’m getting a bit impatient, so I’ve asked for everything else to be shipped, and have the others sent later with some extra fabric I’ve just ordered (a fat 1/4 each of 32ct and 28ct Lavender Bliss). Hopefully they’ll arrive some time soon after I get home from NZ.

Anyway, time to shut up and get ready for work – I’m really rambling on about nothing just to wake up, I think, and I didn’t sleep too well last night … maybe I should head to work early and pick up a cappuccino on the way to truly wake up!

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes, Needlerolls, Stitch-alongs

Finally able to post a piccie :) (updated)

14 May, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

It appears from the SBEBB that Paula has received her Melanie’s Exchange I stitched for her, so I can post a piccie. I have to admit, I really really struggled with the choice for this one … I was originally going to stitch a pinkeep for Paula, and had the design all mapped out, then Jo beat me to it by stitching a pinkeep for the Spring exchange (which was beautiful!), so it was back to the drawing board again (but at least I got to keep the mock run one, which you’ve now seen!) … in the end I decided on a needleroll, and the design is a collaboration I made from various design sources – there are bands from Just Nan’s Evening Star, Dragonfly Stitches freebie needleroll (for the blackwork ‘flowers’ and other bands), Indigo Rose online freebie for the Rhodes hearts, as well as another freebie online chart for inspiration for the beaded bands. The only thing is that I struggled to find some narrow ribbon to match for it, and ended up using something that I had on hand … and I wished I’d waited to check out a few more stores before posting – but it looks OK. Here’s a photo of the actual stitching, and the finished needleroll. I tried stitching our names inside the back ‘flowers’, but it’s very teeny tiny LOL. I really enjoyed stitching it 🙂

I should also have another photo to share a bit later on today – I’m in the middle of stitching The Sweetheart Tree Strawberry needleroll, for our weekend needleroll SAL … I started it last night, and slept in this morning so missed the charity walk (oops! – mind you, it turns out we were all doing it ‘on our own’ so it probably doesn’t matter – the money is still being donated anyway) … so I’ve been sitting up in bed catching up on taped TV programmes from during the week and doing a bit more stitching. I was originally going to start a Shepherd’s Bush one, but I needed to stitch some calico to the sides as the fabric is quite small, and I can’t stitch in hand … the Strawberry fob was the only one basted up and ready to go 🙂 It also means that I’m now inadvertently copying Katrina, as that’s the needleroll she’s planning on stitching too 🙂 It’s really pretty so far – the colours are lovely … the DMC 816 is such a rich red, it’s gorgeous! I’m about 2/3 finished, so should be able to post a piccie by the end of the day 🙂

I should be stitching my fob for the scissor fob exchange on StitchNZ, but I just wanted to take some ‘time out’ from commitment stitching and stitching something else – and the needleroll SAL is the perfect thing to a quick “me” stitch 🙂

(Update before day’s end) And here’s the final piccie for today – the finished stitching of my strawberry needleroll … which also means I met the 24 hour challenge on the FGBB as well yippee! 😀 Leaves me tomorrow free for working out my scissor fob yay 🙂

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Stitching Smalls

Another day gone …

10 March, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

… and still no needle in sight …

We have, however, uncovered the answer to the mystery of the weird-looking creature in my previous post – Sharon, you’re spot on, thank you!! I did a Google on “case moth” and found the following link, with some interesting info. Also, glad to know it’s harmless … and not a relative of the dreaded 8-legged Huntsman or something daft – quite fascinating to see it, and it’s the second one I’ve seen now, so the curiosity got the better of me this time … there you go, Mum, now we know! 😀 The male moth is quite spectacular when it emerges … typical, though, the female has to spend all its life cooped up in that cocoon ;P

And I’m glad to hear my last piece of stitching finally reached its destination, so I can finally release the full picture from the teaser I put out earlier – I stitched a small token of friendship for Jenna, to help to cheer her up after going through so much just lately … Jenna was one of the first people to comment on my blog when I started, and the comments she made had a big impact on my self-esteem, and that started to help me deal with things that had caused me personal pain last year – it was just a few kind words at just the right time … and it helped open my eyes to a whole big world out there, and start to appreciate who I am, and get back my caring nature. So, this little token was just my way of saying “thanks for everything – your friendship means a lot to me” 😀 Funnily enough, I’d already started stitching this when Jenna answered a previous SBQ about what the perfect project would be … the answer was “My perfect project would probably be a star-themed design, since I’m so nuts about stars. It would have some purple in it somewhere, or at least some blue. Kreiniks, of course, or another brand of metallic, to make the stars sparkle. And stitched on a gorgeous, rich hand-dyed fabric with luscious overdyed silk threads.” Amazingly, without trying, I think I almost nailed every point! haha. Glad you like it, Jenna – you deserve it! 😀

And it looks like my previous post has brought to the fore more Little Britain fans haha – now I know which of you have the craziest sense of humour haha. We’re always mimicking the characters … I mentioned to Rosa that last year I had my gallbladder removed, and while I was in hospital I was in a room with 4 beds – opposite me was an older lady who was a bit hard of hearing, and to the right of me was a younger lady who had her husband/partner visiting (we all had our curtains drawn) … anyway, the nurse came in a couple of times, and the hard-of-hearing lady was called Margaret … she’d come in and call out “Margaret … Margaret …” – I nearly wet myself, especially when a male voice pipes up from the next bed “… have we got any pirate memory games?” – I could hardly contain myself from giggling my head off … that programme has got so many people hooked, it’s great!

Anway, off to do something else for my final two hours before beddy-byes … I’m going in to work an hour earlier for overtime tomorrow, then I’ve amazingly managed to get 4 hours overtime on Sunday … the extra money will come in more handy than having the day off, I’ve decided! And it’s so rare to get overtime just lately, you grab it when you can!

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED

Survived the day … just!

21 February, 200625 February, 2012 Anne S

I have to say you all should have come round for a stitchalong yesterday – my little flat was the perfect location … everyone would have had perfect stitching, as I’d swallowed all the frogs!! To say I woke up with a croaky voice was probably an understatement – a little touch of laryngitis was in order. I’ve had this in the past when I’ve overindulged and been dancing etc for a lengthy time among a lot of smokers. Thanks for the offer of the Berocca, Katrina, that would have been lovely yesterday LOL. Have to admit, I woke up feeling OK, although I didn’t get much sleep, waking up every hour – but I can honestly say that’s been the hardest day of work I’ve done in ages … the after-effects decided to wait until the afternoon to arrive. Luckily that was more in the form of a splitting headache and fatigue, and nothing else … can’t complain, though, as it was worth it for such a good day out LOL. I have a small amount of sunburn which has given me a healthy glow, and slightly aching calves from all the dancing – and it feels great! 🙂

Anyway, back to stitching news – can’t say there has been a lot of it happening for the last week or so … I started stitching something the same night I finished the M Designs’ Thistle Treasure Bag, but it’s a small gift for someone … and to say it’s small, it’s taking me forever to stitch! I think a lot of it is that it’s on a very small count linen (or it seems that way) with a darkish colour, and I’m using metallics for the whole thing. Hopefully on my next days off (Mon/Tue next week) I will be able to get my WTC quilt panel finished as well as putting the final touches into this little piece. I can’t resist putting a teaser picture up – but there’s not much to tease you with LOL.

The other stitching news is the very small gift I sent to Becky for her birthday – I was a bit disappointed with how it turned out, but I couldn’t find much within my stash that had a suitable design for that little mirror. In hindsight, I probably should have used a slightly darker brown for the backstitching. It was well received by Becky, though, and I guess that’s the important thing. If you haven’t seen these before, they’re made by Framecraft, a UK company, and they’re quite neat little items.

Rightio, that’s all for today, I guess – except to say, thanks again to all of you for your kind words of support during my ‘blue day’ … it really does mean a lot to me, and made it easier to ‘roll with the punches’. {{hugs}}

Now I’m off to start preparing for my interview tomorrow, and have to sift through my poor old brain for real-life on-the-job scenarios for when I’ve had to deal with complaints (gee, it’ll be hard to find one of those LOL), gone above-and-beyond with customer service, etc etc … I feel quite ‘OK’ about this interview – I’m going in with the expectation that I won’t get it, as there are some top calibre candidates again, and it’s helping to keep my nerves down. I refuse to let it affect me like it did last time … que sera sera, what will be will be 🙂

Ooh, one last thing … a big Happy Birthday to Danielle – hope you have a wonderful day, Danielle, full of everything that your heart desires!!