Tag: Cross Stitch

Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

There is an Angel out there …

Anne S

… and her name is Tobie!! I hope Tobie doesn’t mind, but I have to share something that happened to me today … Work today has been exceptionally difficult, in that I started at 4am – that means the alarm went off at 3am … and I’ve really really struggled to get through my day until 2pm this afternoon. They were needing people for overtime from 4am-7am to help with handling ex-London calls … deciding I really need the money for my birthday dinner, I put my hand up … never, ever again will I do that! My rostered 5am starts are bad enough, 4am is just WRONG! LOL.

So, today I left work like a rat up a drainpipe as soon as the clock hit 2pm … I felt like death warmed up, and probably looked it too! Anyway, my PO Box is a short 5 minute walk from work (I figured that was a more stable address than my home living situation when I first moved here, so that made more sense having one near work … but I digress …) – I made my daily pilgrimage to post my mail, and pick up the day’s bills … only to get the surprise of my life – sitting in that little PO Box was a parcel … thinking it was my Silkweaver FOTM finally arriving, I thought ‘that’s nice’ and wandered out the PO again. Then I started looking at the envelope thinking it was quite large for SW – then I looked more closely … it was NOT from SW – it was from an angel in the name of Tobie. Now I have to admit I knew a gift was coming from Tobie … which you can see from the following piccies:


Before (my current snippet ‘bag’)

After (my new, beautiful snippet bag!)
However, that envelope seemed awfully large for a little snippet bag (and if you haven’t seen these on Tobie’s blog beforehand, you’re really missing out!) … Sure enough, Tobie didn’t stop there – inside that envelope/parcel was a little stitcher’s treasure trove, and my jaw hasn’t been removed from the floor ever since I opened it! Inside was the snippet bag (in a beautiful blue, of course!), along with a kit of the Thistle Bag from M Designs (which was on my wishlist) – not only that, but also the fabric that is suggested on the chart (a lovely Lakeside linen) … but she didn’t even stop there – tucked inside the snippet bag was the most adorable hand-dyed threads by an Oklahoma designer called Windy Hill Designs … WOW!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t know what I did to deserve all that spoiling, but I feel very very blessed. Thanks again, Tobie, from the bottom of my heart! You’re a real sweetheart!! {{hugs}}


I did manage to pick my jaw up for 1 1/2 hours tonight, though, to take me 1/4 of the way through my 10 hour rotation slot for a new piece – Le Jardin Silk Sampler from some 1998 JCS magazines … just to prove it, here’s the progress piccie – not too much to show for it though – I think I was so boggle-eyed with tiredness tonight, I was stitching at about half speed haha. And I’m an hour late getting to bed, so I’ll be moaning again tomorrow when the alarm goes off at 4am … {groan}

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED

The Secret can be shared!

Anne S

Yay, I received an email from the secret recipient of my gift piece to say it has finally arrived safely, so I can now reveal all! This little piece was meant as a cheer-up gift for our beloved BeckySC months ago – unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way, as I was trying to do it while I was really sick, and had a number of mishaps with it … when I ‘melted’ the blending filament on the wings, it was the final straw, and I couldn’t face it again for ages due to feeling so disappointed about it – but it finally got resurrected and fixed up, and got sent on its merry way to its intended recipient … I’m so so happy that it finally managed to reach Becky – better late than never 😉 Anyway, here is the piccie from the scanner – try as hard as I might, I couldn’t get a clear photo on the camera … perhaps Becky will manage a better one 🙂 It’s the first time I’ve ever sent a stitched gift to another stitcher, so I was a bit nervous – but pleased with the overall result 🙂

Lana, good luck with stitching Dolphins Domain – I have to admit, it’s lovely when it’s stitched, but it can be pretty hard going with all those greys … I’m finding the best way to stitch it is to mix it in as a rotation with other smaller/brighter/more fun pieces. Looking forward to seeing it totally finished, though – it will be hard to part with it once it’s done, I think, but hopefully Vicki and John will love it seeing as they chose it as their wedding present years ago 🙂

Sharon, if you want it, you’re more than welcome to my copy of Dolphins Domain when I’ve finished with it … hope you’re not in a huge hurry LOL. Seriously, though, I’m unlikely to ever stitch these critters again in this lifetime, even if I do think they’re lovely stitched.

For Cathy and Christine – “champers and panettone” is something new for us at Christmas this year … “champers” is just sparkling wine/champagne, and “panettone” is a traditional Italian Christmas cake – considering we have not a single ounce of Italian heritage in us, that was something new to try this year – it’s like the consistency of bread, with the fruit and peel in it, and is just lovely. We have a large Italian population in Melbourne, and I work with quite a few of them, and one of the guys at work said I had to try Panettone with Champagne, as that’s the best way to eat it … who was I to go against orders from an expert? LOL. I have to admit to disliking traditional fruit cake intensely, so I love the panettone!

Thanks everyone for your lovely and kind comments about my first ornaments. I have to admit, Bine, I did follow some instructions – I bought the Judy Odell/Just A Thought book, but didn’t find it as helpful without pictures (I’m a very visual person), so I backed her notes up with a trip to a website by CameoRoze as she has a step-by-step tutorial. It was pretty simple once I started the process. And I had so many wonderful examples that others had stitched for inspiration. At least next year I won’t be quite as phased by it all, and I’m going to try to stitch at least one ornament a month, so I’m ready for Christmas early in 2006 … well, that’s the plan anyway haha.

Mum’s hounding me to do the flat-fold finish of the Stars are Brightly Shining … we made some carrot noses out of Fimo before Christmas and she’s dying to see it made up! I decided I was too impatient to wait for ordering more buttons, and thought we’d give it a try in Fimo – looks pretty good, even if I say so myself … now I’m starting to think about trying other shapes with it too hmmm. Maybe on my next days off we’ll have another finishing session – but I need to buy some different batting first 🙂

Kali, I can’t wait to see your outfit when you’re all dressed up as Cindy Lou Who … that sounds like a real hoot and a half!!

Rightio, off to do a bit of stitching before I have to go to work – I didn’t get much sleep last night, so I’m up early … the bonus is that I have more play time before work yippee 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED

Happy Mail Day!!

Anne S


Just a quick post to say “I got mail” today … I received the first ever stitched item from someone else. I was very lucky to be the recipient of one of Jenna‘s ornaments – the Peace needleroll … I adore it! The blue is gorgeous, and the stitching and finishing beautiful 🙂 I can only apologise for the poor photo I took – my camera just wouldn’t get focused on it properly in the bad light tonight … and I was too impatient to wait until tomorrow to take a photo! It is also the first ever stitched ornament I’ve owned … since my own first efforts still sit unfinished hmmm. And the great thing about this ornament is that it won’t look out of place sitting in my stitching smalls basket, so I can enjoy it year-round. Thanks again, Jenna – you’re a real sweetheart!! :)) I also can’t believe that mine arrived at the same time some of the ones are arriving in the USA – Australia Post rocks! 😉 So tonight it is sitting pride of place on the very front of my little Christmas tree, and it looks lovely :)) Jenna also sent along some threads that she used to stitch a needleroll that she has in her photo album that I fell in love with – yet another very generous gift … the colours are stunning!! I really, really adore them – the Blue Lagoon threads by the Caron Collection are to die for, and the Blue Lavender Waterlilies is truly beautiful 🙂 I can’t wait to stitch with these threads – yummo!!!

Re the carrot saga – I have to admit, Carol (in PA), I actually bought some orange Fimo to try making a carrot nose myself, but then I saw the buttons while I was ordering some opalescent fabric I needed for an ornament exchange I’ve joined – seeing I was ordering the fabric anyway, I figured I might as well pop those into the envelope too. As it is, I’ve got a FOTM order still with Country Stitch, so I’ll probably still order the medium one – but I may have a go and make the Fimo one too and make my decision later. Regardless, it won’t be finished ready for this Christmas, as I’ve decided to make it into a flat-fold finish, and don’t have the time or energy to do that just yet … might as well make use of that Fimo, though 😉

We’re having a ‘Hotline’ breakfast tomorrow – I’m on a 5am shift still, so it will coincide nicely with my lunch break yummo … Eggs Benedict sounds like a wonderful lunch at 9am LOL.

Might have found one thing to buy with my Christmas money – Mum and I were shopping at Camberwell after work today, and popped into the local sewing machine shop for Mum to get a reel of cotton, and I spied some beautiful Klasse scissors in the window … I had a blonde moment earlier in the year and had my beautiful Gingher scissors confiscated at the airport (I forgot I’d taken 2 pairs with me to NZ, and only remembered to put 1 pair into my suitcase, with my good Gingher ones in my carry-on … hmmm, bye-bye scissors!! – pretty blonde thing to do considering I work for an airline haha). So, Mum suggested I buy myself some good scissors again – great idea … I get to buy something related to stitching as well as being practical – and so much prettier than an iron 😉 LOL.

Anyway, off to bed I go … just a quick post, as I’m running late with everything – and it’s almost 8pm, past my bed time yikes!