Last post for 2008

I wanted to squueze in these pics before leaving on holidays.

I stitched these ornaments last year and left them with my DD who lives in Melbourne, and has the sewing machine. She arrived yesterday off the plane and gave me the finished products. They are much brighter in real life. I am yet to master the art of good stitchy photography!

Since the last post I have had a couple of great GTG's with the ladies here, culminating in a Christmas dinner at Marilyn's last Saturday evening. We had a great time and had a "Secret Santa" gift giving. I was the lucky recipient of some "Six Strand Sweets" which I have never even seen in real life before, and a piece of gorgeous dark blue linen.

I have not got much stitching done, but I am very hopeful for 2009. I have had to put away all my stitching things in a bit of a rush this week. While we are away, my SIL and BIL are staying here, with their two children. A toddler will be sleeping in my stitching room, so everything is out of sight. I am looking forward to re-organising it all in the New Year, and making some plans for stitching progress. I will be working full time next year, but I think it will make more MORE organised and I may find I get more done than when I have all day to swan about!

Let's hope anyway!

To anyone reading my blog, have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I hope you and your families stay well and safe. We are heading for a white Christmas in Europe. I'm looking forward to the New Year, and all it will bring.

Love to you all, and happy stitching,

Susan.

Another GTG

Last Saturday Janine held another GTG at her house. Cathy and Diane were there, and Marilyn came later. I remembered my camera this time. When I arrived Cathy was busy trying out Diane's Lowry frame, and she is borrowing it for a while to see if she wants to get one of her own. Cathy stitched on about 3 different projects while she was there. I still can't master the talk AND stitch thing.

Diane was continuing her work on the Mira RR piece. Marilyn arrived later after feeding hordes of family members of all ages, and brought no stitching with her!

Janine made cups of tea, heated pies and brought in lots of new stash for us to look at, and also provided the ultimate enabling service by having her laptop on and ready to go if we needed to see a new chart pic, or look up something.

I did try and stitch a little. I brought with me Petal Fairy, all the threads etc- but not the chart! Luckily I also brought Live Each Season, and managed to put in about 20 stitches- I really can't concentrate when I'm so distracted by chat and lovely stash. I did take Trick or Treat to show the ladies, but I couldn't see well enough to work on her while I was there. I'm more and more dependent on my Daylight lamp for some projects.

T or T is nearly done- NOT finished by Halloween as was the plan- but then I never am good with stitching deadlines!

I bought two charts by a designer that is new to me-"Scholehouse for the Needle". Wee Bit Samplers 4 and 5.

I really must stop buying new stash for a while- well charts anyway. I have so many projects I want to do, and I'm running out of space to store my stash. There is also an element of guilt- financially I should not be spending at the rate I am, when I have so many lovely charts, fabrics and supplies ready to go in my stash cupboard. I'm going to try and go on a stash only stitching diet(AGAIN), but it is very difficult when your GTG's are at the LNS!

We are planning another GTG next weekend. I am going to make an effort to stitch and make progress on something.

Bye for now,

Susan.

Old WIP No. 2

Well this is another old WIP, TW's 'The Castle'.

I started this one on 3rd May, 2002, so it is over 6 years old. My son chose this piece, and he was 15 at the time. He is 21 now, but unlike his sister, he still likes The Castle, so he will have it when it is done. This was my first TW. I did stitch "Stretch" first to see if I could manage her style, and found I enjoyed it, challenging as it is, and particularly enjoy the amazing use of colour. Like most of my WIP's, it is close to being finished.

I am only sorry that I started this one before I knew hand dyed fabrics existed, because I would have loved to do this on a 'stormy sky' kind of background. I can't see myself stitching it a second time though, so this is how it will be! I will have to try and employ some clever framing instead.

Anyway- OLD WIP NO. 2- out of the closet!

Susan.

Old WIP's

Well, this is Mirabilia's Fairy Flora. I started her so long ago that I can't even remember the year. My daughter was about 14 I think, and now she is 24, so maybe 1998?
This is the first Mirabilia I ever bought. My DD and I saw it in a patchwork shop of all places, in the South West of W.A. while we were on holidays. I had never seen anything like it. It took me years to get up the courage to start stitching her. For a start, I had never stitched on linen. Secondly, I had never use metallics or beads. And I had no idea where to get the supplies. ( I was told that "grey" linen could not be got in Australia).
Well, this chart started a long and steep learning curve!

I started a Just Nan on linen to practice before I started stitching the large piece.(Ebony Heart, which is also a WIP). My Mum was visiting Sydney and happened to pass Tapestry Craft where she saw a model of Fairy Flora in the window. After a phone call to me she bought up all the supplies including the required Barnwood linen! What a great Mum! I would never have thought back then to alter the fabric from the recommended colour. As it happens, I really like this pattern on the barnwood.

My DD has moved on from wanting this piece on her bedroom wall- especially as she has left home and shares her bedroom with a guy who probably doesn't want a fairy anywhere! (Her current request is for Deco Spirits). I do like FF, although she is VERY colourful. I stopped stitching her because the fabric is very slubby, and one of the slubby bits is right in the middle of her face, and it seems a bit distorted to me. I'm sure after being washed it will look o.k. but it did put me off for a LONG time. The point of airing some of my old WIP's here is to spur me into some action.

So maybe sometime soon I will post a pic with some progress. I am better at managing large projects like this now. I have started quite a few Mira's since. Once I had this chart in my hands I found the website online, and the rest is history as they say! I enjoy beading. The blending filament is bit of a pain, and the wings are huge. The newer Mira charts seem to use braid rather than BF.

Anyway, that's "old WIP" number 1. (Maybe she is even in vintage category!) She's not a UFO. I would like to get her done. As I continue my pictorial record keeping(I don't have photos of most of my stitching) I will give you a virtual look through my WIP shelf. If nothing else the experience will make you feel very productive and well organised- I don't know too many people with WIP's as old as mine!

Happy stitching,

Susan.

Ain't she sweet!

This is Nora Corbett's "Halloween Fairy" (an odd name as she has no fairy attributes, like wings!) which is in the September edition of Cross Stitch and Needlework.(Not to be confused with the other Halloween Fairy that came in a kit)

I had to have this as soon as I saw it online, and Janine kindly ordered in the mag for me. I have since seen it stitched on some of the forums and it is really sweet. I am enjoying stitching it so much. I did not have any suitable hand dyed fabric but I am very happy with this piece of Jobelan which is a mauvy colour- I don't know the name. On this pic it looks a dirty grey but it is definitely a pretty purply colour!

Another stiticher online has left off some of the beads around the skirt, and I think I will do this too. Goodness this really is an awful photo. It has lots of braid and is quite sparkly in real life. Next time I'll try to get it right!

I started this piece last Tuesday after I found my fabric and pulled out all the DMC etc. The magazine was proudly brought home last weekend from a GTG at Janine's. Diane and Cathy were there too. Not Marilyn this time as she was unwell. We made it an all day affair this time, and it was fabulous. Plenty of time to stitch and gossip and shop AND have lunch. What more could you ask? Janine has some photos on her blog. Next time I will remember my camera. Diane showed us another great Mirabilia RR, and Cathy stitched diligently on her lovely purply sampler which is an online mystery thing.(pics on her blog with a MUCH better description!) We all did lots of shopping- it's great to see what other people buy- there's always a designer you have never heard of or a chart you have never seen, just waiting to claim your attention.

I purchased the afformentioned mag, some DMC(got to play in the big cabinet-pic in previous blog),a Little House Needleworks chart "Morning Berries",Loose Feathers "Beyond My Heart" and the Graziano linen for Just Nan's "Needle in a Garden".

I had never wanted to use the called for linen before- the checks didn't appeal to me. But the design really does belong on that linen(I now believe) so I needed a piece. Now, apparently the squares aren't 'square', so to speak, and Janine had to make sure she cut me a piece that went the right way. Eventually she said " stitch it that way, and if it doesn't fit, stitch it the other way". What sage advice from the LNS owner! Could it be any clearer? At the time it was very funny, and Janine may never live it down.

Hopefully the little Trick or Treat girl(she is NOT a fairy) will be finished by Halloween, and I will try to post a pic that shows how pretty she is. There are a couple of FABULOUS pumpkins and some spider webs and a sparkly moon to add yet, but I am enjoying it immensely so I'm quite motivated.

Till next time, happy stitching,

Susan.

What I have been working on...

A whole month has gone so quickly! I haven't done a great deal of stitching, but I will show what I have done.

Early in September I had a hankering to do something small and actually FINISH it, as in not just the stitching, but the actual finishing as well.I don't usually stitch small projects. I started "Halloween Kitty"(Cat's Whiskers) which I bought from Janine recently. I used DMC for the colours on the pumpkin. I didn't have the required Dinky Dyes, and WDW Carrot, which I thought would be o.k, was a bit insipid when stitched. So I used DMC 720 and 355. I used a piece of Belfast which may be Lilac, I'm not sure. I'm happy with the result.

I followed Janie's instructions for stitching up a fob. I have never done it the way she suggests- whip stitching the rows of backstitching together, but it does turn out neatly. I tried to have the cord(which I made from DMC) come out at a corner, but alas! it is really just an off centre cord! Anyway, it is for my use, so I am happy enough, and I will improve my finishing techniques as I do more of them.

Here's the front-

And the back(I love the cute little cat bottom!)-

Whilst in the mood, I also stitched the front and back of Ned Kelly Kitty

and also started the "Purrfect Bookmark". I will get back to finishing them another time.

The other project I worked on is the 2007 Mirabilia Christmas Tree. It looked like an awful blob until I added backstitching on the birds. Now it is a recognisable blob. The colours are really more lovely than the photo suggests. I like using the Crescent Colours- they cover well and change colour in a very satisfying way. I found I had to start beading as things were becoming a tad confusing. I now have a working copy and I'm using highlighters to help keep track. It's not a hard stitch though.

This week I pulled out Celtic Banner. I am trying to catch up on border stitching. I find working with the Caron Wildflowers on Jubilee and on such a large piece of fabric is quite painful for my hands(osteo) so I can only do this piece in small increments. I can't wait to see this on my wall one day though. I have just the spot waiting for it!



That's it! I missed a GTG at Janine's on Monday(public holiday here) and I'm really sorry about that. DH was in Sydney and my DD1 who has been visiting (for work) was flying out the next day so the timing wasn't good for me. I've read on Cathy's blog that a good time was had by all. Oh well, next time!

Thanks everyone for the comments on my last entries.

Happy stitching all!

Susan.

GTG news

This is the second blog entry for the afternoon. Why?

Yesterday I went to a wonderful stitching GTG at Janine's and caught up with Diane, Marilyn and Cathy also. The girls told me I must get back to my blogging.So I did. The previous post was written in July, but I didn't know how to get the pics on screen so I didn't publish it. It was finally sorted today, even though it is dated 21st July!
Now I want to add some more recent info.


I'm sure you will all salivate when you see this photo, taken at Janine's yesterday
Yes, this is a brand spanking new DMC display chest, full of skeins. Isn't it gorgeous? It is yet to be moved into the Colours Downunder room. We thought it looked good as a decoration in the sitting room.( N.B. also the plate of Tim Tams- a requirement for GTG's.)
Anyway, it was lovely catching up with the ladies. Diane brought along her latest Mirabilia RR, which is back home and finished apart from beading. Really beautiful. All ladies heads- I think ten of them. Some of them have never taken my fancy before. A number of us agree this is a good way to stitch Mirabilia's. I don't really want a dozen enormous Mira's on the walls, but a well designed group of 'heads' or torsos, or even long rectangular"snapshots" is a lot more do-able.
As usual Marilyn, Janine and Cathy had some lovely Wip's and finishes to show off. I have no new finishes since that last post in July although I have made some progress on a variety of big and small projects. I have made one new start- Shepherd's Bush "Bee Garden"(thankyou Janine!)which is delightful to stitch. I am trying to get through some tricky over one bits, and then I will post a pic.

I was very subdued with my spending yesterday. I picked up the Cat's Whiskers new Kitty- Halloween Kitty, to make a fob, and one skein of Dinky Dyes. That's all- amazing! I did fondle a lot of silk though.

My oldest DD has been visiting from Melbourne, and as her brother is now in her old room, she stayed in the stitching room. As a result I didn't do any stitching really while she was here(2 weeks). I'm looking forward to some serious stitching time this week, maybe on one of my TW's, which I have been craving recently.

Thanks girls for prodding me into blogdom again.

Till next blog,

Susan.

Long time, no blog.

I have just been reading Jennifer Aikman-Smith's(Dragon Dreams) blog, and can sympathise with her statement...."When the going gets tough, sometimes I just get quiet".

Yes, well. I haven't added to my blog for a good half a year. But I have been stitching, and keeping up with other blogs and all online stitching news. Life has thrown a few challenges at me this year, and adding to the blog seemed a supreme effort. Ridiculous, I know! But as this is a stitching blog, and not a whingeing blog, I will get down to stitchy info.

I have had a couple of recent finishes.

Firstly, Just Nan's "September Song". Like other JN's I started and finished in a couple of weeks, without getting bored before the end. Maybe it's the right size combined with the different colours and stitches?Whatever the reason, it is good for the morale!

Secondly, Blackbird Designs "Their Song", one of the Loose Feathers designs. This was a delight. I had not used "Vintage" linen before, but I really enjoyed stitching on it(and I'm an evenweave girl) and I like the way it complements this design. I put the last stitches in at a GTG at Janine's. EVERYONE should GTG with a friend who owns a LNS! I can recommend it! I just popped into the Colours Downunder room for a skein of WDW that had run out, as you do, and was able to get it done. What a treat!

I have continued to make progress on Blackstone Fantasy Garden, Convent's Herbal Garden(yes, I have a thing about gardens and birds and seasons),Enchantment of Winter(Dimples), and Berry Patch Rabbit(Cedar Hill). I can feel a TW burst coming on. A nice bit of border...hmmmm.

I had a great time at the Craft fair in May- especially as I got to help out at Colours Downunder's stall. Janine's stall looked gorgeous- absolutely wonderful- a stitcher's dream, and it was such fun to spend time there. I did have a spend up on the last day, both at Colours Downunder and at a number of other stalls. I have 2 Japanese quilt kits- but no sewing machine- mustn't let little things like that stop us right?! I bought the Dragonfly Jewels Box from Cat's Whiskers. Janie Hubble was at Janine's stall for a day, and is a lovely lady. It's great to meet designers. I'm afraid I've also fallen for some of the quaker designs, and bought Wiehenburg's "Quaker Heart- Susan" (of course!) and the enormous "A Quaker Christmas" from Bygone Stitches. Janine helped convince me I could finish it in my lifetime- and I have on order the silk pack from Vikki Clayton.

In March I started "St Sylvestre"( Long Dog). I first saw this pattern on one of the Sydney GTG's. The lovely June had purchased it, and in no time had stitched it up using ordinary variegated DMC to great affect. In memory of June, who passed away at the end of February, and I know is still sorely missed by the shell shocked TWGTG group, I am stitching this on white linen in DMC. Simple but effective.

Enough said. I'll be off now, and hopefully get into the blogging habit. I love to read stitching blogs- Janine's, Cathy's, Alison's(especially for the Shepherd's Bush stuff- keep it coming Alison!), Gill's, Junette's. Others too.So inspirational.

'Til next blog,

Susan.

A Wonderful Day

Last Monday(Australia Day holiday) I went to Janine's for a stitching GTG.

Diane, Marilyn and Cathy were there, and also another Cathy, Margaret and Sue who I had not met before. When I arrived everyone was stitching. Usually at our small GTG's at Janine's we show and tell, and talk a GREAT deal and shop, but we don't stitch. This was a different format however, and although I didn't hold out much hope for myself, I actually did stitch and made some progress to boot!

Diane brought all her wonderful finishes for us to drool over again(the Minstrel, and her Mira Queens RR particularly). Janine's finished St Sophia is really beautiful. Cathy K almost finished a piece while she was there, and completed it that evening. I am always too distracted by what everyone else is doing to work that effectively. All the ladies were making lovely progress with their pieces.

I stitched on Bent Creek's "Brownbird Sampler". I have done the other 3 in the set, so when this is done I will be off to the framer.

Diane did not have any stitching with her to do, so I welcomed the opportunity to have her stitch on something of mine. Diane does beautiful stitching, and it is a treat to think she has contributed to one of my pieces- like an ultra-mini RR! She made great progress too- finished the line of shell stitches for me, and stitched all the green in the violet panel of DT's "Alpine Sampler".

Some charts I had ordered earlier had come in

and so I brought them home of course, plus 3 others which I came across in the process of looking through the new stock. The charts I ordered were La-D-Da's "Beauty Is", "The Blessing", and "Garden Angel". The 3 charts I also found were Plum Street Sampler's "Gather", "Give", and "Gobble". I'm a sucker for sets!

It was a lovely day. All the ladies are so nice. Thankyou Janine for having us all and feeding us too. When school is back I may be able to join the stitching ladies more often, which will be a real treat. The rest of this week and weekend will be taken up with the preparations for DH's 50th, so I don't think much stitching will be done. If I get into the stitching room though, I will try and finish off Brownbird Sampler. I would love to have those 4 Bent Creek's on my wall.

Happy stitching to all,

Susan.

Progress Report

The last week or so I have been concentrating on Convent's Herbal Garden(Chatelaine), and here is my progress.




I have finished the central motif minus the over one in the very centre. The colours are lovely, I have really enjoyed working with the Caron Waterlillies. Also since my last post I have put a few stitches into Bent Creek's "Brownbird Sampler" and also some lengths of thread into "Blackstone Fantasy Garden"( Ink Circles).

I have also acquired some stash, as a result of visiting Janine(Colours Downunder) last Friday. I needed to call in and pick up the required Waterlillies to finish the CHG section, and managed to see some of her new stock. I bought these four charts

They are from Victoria Sampler. I first saw the Bunny, but of course as there was a set, I had to get them all, and now I can't make up my mind which is my favourite.I also had to buy some of the WDW's and GAST's that are needed for them. It is so much fun looking through the rings of colours. I also have plans for some of the lovely opalescent fabric Janine has just got in. I know I have a smallish chart somewhere that I want to use opalescent for, and if I find it is o.k to stitch on, I will get some for TW's "Companions".

I did also enjoy catching up with Janine, and also Marilyn briefly(and her extremely cute granddaughter Patience). We hadn't seen each other since our GTG before Christmas. We will hopefully have another W.A. GTG in February. Janine is very busy with her ever expanding business. I saw some of the photos from her 50th birthday last September, and also laid eyes on the new gorgeous kitty, but Harry the Somali remains my favourite, which is quite a feat for him as I really am not into cats. But I would take him home.

I haven't seen any "must have" charts recently, although I do like the new L & L "Isabella's Garden". Blackbird Design's new Loose Feather is a bit hard to see in the online photo, so I will reserve my judgement on that one. I have seen the thread pack from Carrie's Threads for Ink Circles "Garden Stars". I bought that chart with the intention of using the motifs individually, but now I have seen the selection of threads in the pack, I think it would be gorgeous. The colours for BFG are also Carrie's Threads and they are lovely. Needless to say, Janine is going to get them in for me, and that will be yet ANOTHER large project on my top do list.

Now that Janine has helped me work out which colour goes where on the next part of CHG(she has a colour chart) I will probably continue with that. But I also feel a hankering to start one of my Blackbird Designs. I have " Live Each Season","Their Song" and "Wake the Dawning Day" to choose from. I have fabric picked out for two of them.

Thankyou for the lovely comments on my first blog entry. It took me a few days to realise that there were comments. I'm so new at this, and I still curse and swear during the whole process because I can't get the colour or font right, and I still can't put pics where I want them without help. I like to see progress pics though, so I guess I will persist.

Enjoy the rest of January. Happy stitching!

Susan.

First post!

Welcome to my blog. I have wanted to start a blog for a good while now, but not being computer savvy, I have procrastinated, as always. I need to thank my DD for helping me get started. Many of my stitching friends have blogs which are a delight to read, and I think it's wonderful to have a record of stitching progress, and to be able to share it. I keep a stitching journal, the old fashioned sort in a book, but I can't share any of that information, or add pictures, so this will be an extension of that.

I have started the New Year with a new start(of course!). As Janine was so kind to give me a piece of Antique White Jubilee as a Xmas gift, especially cut to size, I was able to start "Convent's Herbal Garden"(Chatelaine). I had been slowly building up the required stash- there are still a couple of silks to get, and the beads- and was itching to make a start, so this last week I have been enjoying the beautiful Waterlillies silks and watching the pattern grow.

Prior to that all my energy went into "Blackstone Fantasy Garden"(Ink Circles). The outlining of the knots in green and brown is nearly done. I have found the counting a bit challenging- lots of checking and re-checking and re-re-checking! Filling in the knots with the variegated thread will be a delight I think, and then the coloured blackwork is something I am looking forward to.

I have always worked on a kind of "screaming rotation". Whatever calls to me I stitch, whether it be an old WIP or a new start. However as my WIP's now number over 30, and some are big pieces, I would like to make an effort to finish some of them this year. The same DD who helped me set up this blog would like me to make a list of goals including rules about "no new starts" etc. I'm not sure I'm prepared to put any such thing in writing. I think I will just have a general aim to reduce my pile of WIP's. Motivation enough is that I want some of them on my wall. Perhaps in a later posting I will find the gumption to list my WIP's.