Chewed Away

Tusal

2012-01-24T09:17:00.002+11:00

Time for my first TUSAL ort report! (Detail's on Daffycat's blog if you somehow missed what this is all about!)

These are mostly from Froth & Bubble, with a smidgen from the end of Quaker Diamonds. I'll have to find something a little more glamorous than an old coffee jar to keep them in, huh? LOL! I didn't get as much stitching done as I would have liked over the last couple of weeks, because I've been coming home from work exhausted and falling asleep in my stitching chair instead of stitching...

An update, and some stash

2012-01-19T14:45:00.000+11:00

Still plugging away at Froth and Bubble - I seem to have slipped into being a One At A Timer! This is a fun piece to stitch, and pretty quick too, as once the outlines are done I don't even have to look at the chart for most o the motifs.

More new stash - a couple of charts and the NPIs for Ann Dale. I just love that chart for Sergei. I think I might start him after I finish F&B. And I'm finding it hard to resist starting Nicola Sabiel too...I suspect another new start might be looming on my horizon!

2012-01-12T08:29:00.002+11:00

Here is a quick update on Froth and Bubble. I'd hoped to get more done by now but this has been a busy week for me. Since my promotion I never seem to have enough hours in the day!

We went to watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie last night. Pete sprung a surprise on us by taking us to the Gold Class cinema...very nice it was too! Big plush recliner seats, waiter service...the film was good fun too!

My first WIPocalypse finish

2012-01-08T09:45:00.001+11:00

I had a finish! Quaker Diamonds was the first thing I wanted to finish for my WIPocalypse goals, and as expected I finished it a couple of days ago. It feels good to have a large finish so early in the year!

So then to celebrate, I started one of the new pieces on my list - Long Dog's Froth and Bubble. Only a little progress on this so far due to my heavy work schedule this week. This is stitched in a mixture of the recommended GAST and some HDF silk...

TUSAL

2012-01-01T15:02:00.000+11:00

I've signed up for the 2012 Totally useless Stitchalong (TUSAL) over on Daffycat's blog, so I'll be collecting my Orts all year. But I'll let you in on a little secret...I haven't thrown my orts away for years. Here's a picture of the Ort mountain to prove it...

The Summer Snapperland cube is there to give some perspective of size. And a lot of these orts are compressed down - if I floofed them up it would look even worse.This somewhat inexplicable habit started some years back, when, out of curiosity, I decided to see how many orts I actually had after a year's worth of stitching. Then I kept going the year after. Once the pile reached a certain size it seemed somehow wrong to just turf it in the bin, and so it just kept growing. I think it's reaching critical mass now. I keep telling myself I should do something with them, but I'm slightly at a loss. Really, what can you do with an enormous pile of snipped off floss? They'd be hopeless as cushion stuffing because they squish down into a solid, lumpy mass. Ornament stuffing maybe, but then I really don't stitch that many ornaments and I'm not going to start simply to use up my ort mountain. Suggestions on a postcard, please! LOL

2011-12-31T16:23:00.000+11:00

As January approaches, I'm getting ready for the WIPocalypse. I hardly think there can be any stitcher in the blogosphere who doesn't know what this is all about, but if you've somehow managed to miss it mosey on over to Measi's blog and have a poke around...all the info is there.

Anyway, I've been making a list of things I want to stitch for it. Some of them are existing wips, and some are new starts...

Quaker Diamonds (Rosewood Manor) (I'll finish this in early January though)
Bois le Duc (Long Dog)
Desert Mandala (Chatelaine)
Japanese Garden (Chatelaine)
Medieval Octagon (Chatelaine)

and the new starts -

Ann Dale Big & Beautiful (Shakespeare's Peddler)
Sergei (Plum Street Samplers)
And A Forest Grew (Rosewood Manor) (this is a re-start)
Three Things (Moira Blackburn)
Octopus Treasure Cave (Chatelaine)
Castle Moyland (Chatelaine)
Froth and Bubble (Long Dog)

There's a whole bunch of other things I want to start too, so this list will probably be subject to change, but it'll do to begin with. I've just downloaded the first part of Castle Moyland and I'm resisting the urge to start it before I've finished Quaker Diamonds.

I also spent a happy couple of hours organising my fabric stash, which is considerable but was unfortunately in considerable disarray. I've got most of it nicely labelled now with the count when I know what it is, and the dimensions. There are a lot of hand dyeds there that I rarely use these days buth I'm loathe to part with them because...well, you never know.

2011-12-30T14:44:00.000+11:00

Bored with Quaker Diamonds yet? I'm not...in fact I'm zooming through it at a rate of knots. This is only about nine day's worth of stitching - can you believe that? I should have this finished quite early in the New Year. It will be quite satisfying to have a HD so quickly after so many of my wips have dragged on all year. I think I've just burnt out a bit on Mirabilias and Joan Elliotts etc, so my poor wips are languishing unloved...and they are going to stay that way - for now at least - because all I want to stitch on is samplers right now. And you can see the push it has given my mojo to have finally admitted that and put away the dragging wips.

I finally succumbed and bought the new Long Dog book today (L'Arbre de Noe). I found some more pictures online of some of the contents, and I'm a big fan of Long Dog anyway so this book represents outstanding value - LDs tend to be expensive and there are about ten designs in the book, all new. It's coming from Amazon France and I can decipher enough French to gingerly feel my way around the website. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long to get here - deliveries from France tend to be pretty quick!

Disaster!

2011-12-27T13:23:00.000+11:00

My PC died on Christmas day. Pete tried in vain to resuscitate it, but alas, it was terminal. My poor old PC is deceased, it has shuffled of this mortal coil and gone to join the choir invisible. This was worrisome, to say the least. in the end, the only thing that he could do was wipe it and reinstall everything, but of course this meant everything on it was gone. We managed to get into the external hard drive today, and thankfully I had backed up nearly all my DSotM charts, all my Chatelaines, and some of my pictures. unfortunately I lost a lot of pictures because when I thought I was backing them up, it only saved the main folder and not the dozens of sub folders inside it...so several years worth of family photos are gone. I'm heartbroken.

As I said, most of my charts are ok, but I've lost the last, finished version of my new mermaid, Anemone. I can't alter the version I have either, because all my PCStitch files are gone. At this point, I don't know what I'm going to do.

I'm going to switch over to a Mac sometime this week (posting from my iPad at the moment) so hopefully that will be less susceptible to viruses etc...

Anyway, on a brighter note, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Progress and new stash

2011-12-24T18:40:00.000+11:00

I've been chugging right along on Quaker Diamonds. I had to put it down to go to work (and I've pulled a couple of ten hour shifts this week) which ate into my stitching time, but I think I've made reasonable progress considering my work schedule and the fact that I need to sleep occasionally. The motifs near the top are one thread out but by the time I discovered the mistake I'd done heaps and I'm certainly not going to rip it all out for the sake of a one-thread mistake.

And because I obviously don't have enough stash, ;-p I've had a bit of a splurge recently...to tell the truth I've bought very little in the way of charts over the last couple of years, but just lately I've been seeing a lot to tempt me. It might be because my tastes have evolved and I'm heavily into samplers now. These are some that I've bought in the last couple of weeks...there are more on the way, including the huge and awesome Ann Dale, plus fabric and threads.

I've got five days off work now, and I plan to get lots of stitching in!

Merry Christmas!

A start on Quaker Diamonds

2011-12-21T16:08:00.001+11:00

As promised, here's my start on Quaker Diamonds, stitched in HDF silks on Stitches & Spice 'Celtic'. I'm loving stitching this - it's hard to put it down to go to bed/work/eat. I'm really into samplers right now and I'm a big fan of some of these Rosewood manor charts.

The silks are delicious and so easy to stitch with. I might stitch all my samplers with them from now on!

You may or may not know I had a promotion and transfer at work recently. I started at my new site a couple of days ago, and so far it's going really well although there was a lot of clearing up of stuff my predecessor had left undone. Two more shifts to go and then I have five days off for Christmas!

2011-12-17T13:54:00.002+11:00

Oh wow, it's been two years since I last wrote anything. Seriously? Wow. Well, real life kind of got crazy...I went back to work, and more recently had a promotion with a lot more responsibility. But I have been stitching throughout...I just haven't been showing it here. I'm getting back into a Blogging headspace though, so I'll try to update from now on.Aaaaanyway, this is my last two finishes, completed just a day apart...This is CCN 'Daisy Sampler'. The chart was gifted to me ages ago, and it's stitched on a little remnant of green evenweave, but I can't be more specific as to what that fabric is. This was a really quick, fun little finish.

And this is Couchman Creations Map of Australia. This has been a wip for a couple of years, and just recently I decided to pull it out and actually get it done. It stitches up pretty quickly once you get into it because there's a lot of half stitch and backstitch in it.

I also had another, kinda/sorta finish. Facebook friends will have seen this - which is a sewing case I made from the wreckage of my And A Forest Grew. There's a story behind this. I started stitching it about four years ago. I was about a third of the way through when we moved house. Somewhere in all the chaos, I lost the chart. I looked everywhere for it - I must have checked my stash and the wip pile 50 times, but to no avail. Now, I know the smart thing to do would have been to put it away until it showed up, or even invest in another chart. Nope. In a fit of...well, I don't really know what it was a fit of...I took a pair of scissors to it. I recycled the unused fabric, and made the stitched remnant into a cushion. It was, frankly, a bit crap, and ended up in a cupboard, gathering dust. Skip forward to yesterday, when - tada! - the chart turned up in the bottom of my tub of finished pieces. I'll almost certainly restart it because I really do want to stitch it, but in the meantime it prompted me to pull out my poor, sad wreckage of the original. I looked at it and thought "I can do better than that", and ripped the cushion apart. I remodelled it into this sewing case. I've decided I don't like the ribbon closure so I'm going to remove that and use a button and loop instead... To celebrate these finishes, I started something new! I put a few stitches into Rosewood Manor's Quaker Diamonds and I'll post a picture once there is something worth showing.

Ch..ch..changes...

2009-10-29T14:11:00.002+11:00

Seems like I just can't leave this one 'as charted'. hehe...The chart calls for little gold stars, but rather than trawl the interwebs looking for them I decided to lob on some swarovski crystal bicones instead. As always, crappy photo sparklies don't show up blah blah... ;-)

2009-10-23T21:14:00.003+11:00

I've been putting some more time into Christmas Sampler. For some reason I'm really into Christmas stitching at the moment, which is kinda odd because I'm not feeling remotely festive in any other sense! There's some pretty white beads on there now although they don't show how sparkly they are on the photo. I used delicas instead of Mill Hills.

2009-10-22T11:05:00.002+11:00

Having so many WIPs already, obviously what I really needed to do was...start yet another one! LOL This is my start on Stoney Creek's 2009 Christmas Sampler. I've made some changes here...some intentional and some...er, not! ;-) Rather than buy more threads when I already have so many, I went stash diving to see what I could come up with, and so except for the GAST Poinsettia all the overdyes have been replaced with Vikki Clayton mystery silks. I had a bit of an oopsie though and accidentally mixed up the 2 greens in the top section. I think it looks ok though 'as is' so I won't be ripping it out and doing it again. I'll make sure I get it right for the rest of the design though! I also haven't added blending filament to the white bits, mostly just cos I don't like stitching with the stuff. There's still some swirly backstitch to add to the top...

2009-10-20T18:34:00.002+11:00

Continuing with the Gingerbread house - a window and a whole bunch of backstitch...

And in line with my current 'quick and fun' mood, I dug out an old UFO...I started these a couple of years ago and got as far as April. I put it down and just neglected to pick it back up again...sigh. I have too many WIPs! Anyway, I've now added May and June. The seasons are all back to front for me of course, but that's pretty much true of all seasonal or month projects. The flash has washed the picture out - the white bits show up better in real life although the fabric is a bit light for this project - I had to go round the white bits with backstitch to make them stand out! I left the beehive off May because I like it better without...

2009-10-17T18:51:00.003+11:00

Well, I'm delighted to be able to tell you that, after having been missing for 5 days and worrying us half to death, Chequers strolled in - right as rain, completely unconcerned. A bit hungry, but none the worse for wherever he's been. I doubt we'll ever know, but he's been sticking very close to home since he got back, so I don't think it was intentional...

A little more of my gingerbread house. No backstitch or anything yet though. I love gingerbread designs, and I've had this one in my stash for ages. It was in one of the UK mags a few years ago but the chart photo wasn't too good - the fabric and the mats they used to frame it kinda took away from the design. I have to say that stitching this on an opalescent lugana has reminded me of just why I prefer my opals to be linen...

And I thought you might like to see an up to date picture of Suki, now 11 weeks old -

2009-10-14T10:02:00.006+11:00

Still no sign of Chequers...he's been missing 3 nights now. I'm getting really worried about him. Ringo is missing his pal too, and sits staring out of the window waiting for him... :(

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed by my WIPs lately...I have so many big projects on the go with no end in sight for any of them. So I decided to start something smaller, something cute and fun...I will be extremely surprised if anyone guesses this one correctly -

Stitched on a pink opalescent SW Solo.

In other news, much of my weekend time has been eaten up with helping Pete to dismantle the ...er, 'thing' at the back of the house. I'm not quite sure what to call it - it started life as a pergola, but some previous owner roofed it over with mismatched oddments of corrugated green fibreglass, and filled in the sides with old doors and bits of plastic sheeting. The whole thing was rotten through and through and leaked like a tap whenever it rained, so we decided down it had to come and we'll be replacing it with a nice verandah.

This is how it looked before we started work - (note the plants actually hide a lot of the horribleness)

That's astroturf on the floor - mouldy and faded and generally yeuch...we decided to keep the fountain but we've moved it further into a corner. It's so heavy we had to use an engine hoist!

Here's Pete most of the way through dismantling it...

And here's how it is at the moment (we left the..er...'railings' for the moment to stop Suki accidentally going over the edge - there's a 4 foot drop to the terrace)

And when it's finally done, it will look something like this (except the posts on ours are cream. The gutters are still red)

Ours is 7 x 8 metres though...we had to lug it all from the front lawn where the delivery men left it all the way through the garage to the back. You wouldn't believe how heavy those roofing sheets are, let alone the roof beams!

Some WIP progress

2009-10-13T11:16:00.005+11:00

Well, the frogs have been and gone,and I started to restitch but I'd had enough by this point so I put it away again. At least when I come back to it there will be no frogs waiting for me and it shouldn't take long to get back to where I was. I tink I'm going to leave the medallion alone because I really don't think it'll be all that noticeable by the time I've finished and to be honest I don't have the heart to rip all that out as well.

It's been a while since you've seen this one I think...

I keep picking it up and plodding away at it a little at a time. It gets kinda old kinda quick stitching in plain black, but I will finish this if it kills me!

Even longer since you've seen this one!

It's been over 2 years since I last worked on this!! Too much over one stitching in this one to hold my interest for long, but every now and again it gets a little love. I've finished the sword block (except for the beads) and made a start on Arthur. I changed the yellow DMC in the crowns behind the sword for metallic...I have far too many long term WIPs like this one.

My tuxedo kitty Chequers is missing :( He hasn't been seen for 48 hours now. This isn't the first time he's gone AWOL - you might remember he went missing a year or so ago and turned up after a couple of days safe and sound, so we're hoping that's what'll happen this time. Please keep your fingers crossed that he turns up soon!

Welcome to frogging Hell. Population - me

2009-10-10T11:47:00.002+11:00

Last night I found a mammoth error in Pompeji. Well, actually the error was just one stitch, but it was one of those silly little mistakes that turns around and bites you on the arse. I knew there'd been a small mistake but - more fool me - I fudged and thought no more of it. Last night I realised that I was going to have to remove nearly a quarter of the total border. Yes, you did read that right. And maybe the corner medallion, which will be one stitch too far to the left once I re-do the border, but I'll wait and see if it's really noticeable before I rip all that out too. I feel like just putting the whole thing away (well truthfully I feel like crying...) but I know if I do Pompeji will end up forever a UFO, so no prizes for guessing what I'll be doing all weekend....

2009-10-03T12:16:00.005+10:00

I finally finished April's Blue Diamond Fairy last night. It feels ike this has been a WIP for a very long time, although really if I think about the hours I actually spent stitching on it, it wasn't particularly time consuming. It just spent a lot of time languishing in the WIP basket. The beads took a long time to sew on, and the butterflies were a PITA because there's no holes to attach them with so I ended up looping the thread round the narrow part. This fairy deserves more attention because she's very pretty IRL, and the chart photo really does her no justice. Even Pete commented how pretty she is.

Stitched on SW Charisma lugana -

And I would like to introduce you to my new baby, Suki. She's 9 weeks old and we've had her for 2 weeks now. She's a Staffie x Cattle Dog and a very, very smart pup. She's learning fast - I'd say she's about 90% housetrained (she knows she has to go outside, but just very occasionally she'll forget) I've already taught her 'sit' and 'down' and she's just starting to get the idea that she mustn't jump up at people. She also understands 'leave it' although she doesn't always 'leave it' for long! lol. She's very sweet and cuddly and full of mischief -she has a 'thing' for my shoes in particular. If I forget to put them away I find her in her basket chewing away at them! She's trying to make friends with the cats, they are getting used to her although Chequers has given her a few good smacks when she gets too much!

Happy Dancing today!

2009-09-09T08:49:00.003+10:00

I put the last few beads on to the model for 'The Letter' late last night...so here she is! I hope you like her!

Let a single teardrop roll down the cheeks of time...

2009-09-03T17:34:00.004+10:00

...as Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote of the Taj Mahal. I've always thought it was a beautiful line so as I'm currently working on the Taj I thought I would share it.

I'm so in love with this design, I can't tell you. The more I stitch on it the more I adore it. I started it as a SAL and as I've discovered, SALs and I do not get along. If I have an obligation to stitch on something on a particular day, you can bet your last buck I won't want to do it. So the Taj got put aside. But it shouldn't have been, because this has to be one of Martina's most beautiful designs. I'm using the recommended Ray of Light Belfast, and the silks just glow on it. I've said it before and I'll doubtless say it again, but it has never been more true than with this piece - the photos do not do it justice. At all. The colours are simply scrumptious.

Anyway, enough babbling - photos. Here's where it was when I picked it up -

and here's where I'm at, although I'm not ready to put it down again just yet. As you can see, I frogged the scroll work in the frame around the Taj itself - I decided I liked it better without. The photos are rubbish, took 'em in artificial light and the flash washed a lot of the colours out. Next update I'll try to get a better shot.

2009-08-27T08:40:00.003+10:00

Wow, look at that - another post within a week! lol

I seem to be cycling back into a Chatelaine phase. My poor old Chats have been quite neglected for a while, and if I worked on them it was because I forced myself to. But now I'm stitching on Pompeji again and can hardly bear to put it down!! Yesterday I worked on this corner...

It doesn't really show in the photo, but those little boxes are really sparkly with loads of metallics. Lots of beads to go on yet too. Unfortunately my renewed Chatelaine enthusiasm has led me into perusing the Chat bulletin board...I hadn't been there in quite a while but now I'm finding all sorts of things I want - quite apart from Caribbean which I mentioned before, now I also want Desert Landscapes and German Ostsee...>>sigh<< Never mind, they both have quite a long time still to run, so no rush!

2009-08-24T10:46:00.004+10:00

Well hello...long time no, er...blog! OMG, has it really been...wow. April. What can I say? Life's been pretty busy. And at least you were spared the tedious saga of us selling our old house and buying our present one. Much happier here, away from that sucky house in that sucky street with those sucky neighbours. The kittehs think all their Christmases have come at once, with a great big jungly backyard to fossick around in. We've discovered that they like paddling...we can't keep them out of this thing! I tried to get a pic of him actually in the water but he wouldn't co-operate.

So yeah...stitching. Apart from doing lots of designing I've still been stitching on other stuff when I get the time.

First up, a small Happy Dance...I finished this last night. It's 'Boys & Bugs' from Country Cottage Needleworks, on PTP 'Confetti' cashel. On reflection it probably wasn't the best fabric choice for this piece but meh...it only took 3 days to stitch. I really should add more quickie designs to my stash to give me a fast HD when I start burning out on big designs.

April's Blue Diamond's up next. Remember this one? I thought that white was gonna kill me. Seriously. Is it possible to die from boredom? But she's getting close to a finish and she was worth the tedium...she's really pretty in real life, so sparkly. And I haven't even put any beads on yet! There's about a gazillon to go on...next time she's out on the Qsnaps I should have a finish. Only a ribbon, a few flowers, some backstitch and the beads to go!

Small progress on Pompeii...it feels like this has been a WIP forever. I'm absolutely determined that it won't become a UFO though. I really DO want to finish it. Not least so I can justify starting another Chatelaine. I thought it might move faster once I got that last damned villa out of the way, but noooo. I've been pretty good at resisting them lately, but I'm blown away by Caribbean Mandala - I'm hoping to get the kit for Christmas! Meanwhile I still have Evening In The Park and a couple of others kitted up and waiting...not to mention my poor neglected Taj...

2009-04-20T13:35:00.005+10:00

I have some very exciting news to share with you today. And it explains why I haven't been blogging recently too...you may have heard this yesterday on the Mirabilia Stitchers board...

I've started my own cross stitch design company! It's called Dark Side of the Moon and I'm currently arranging shipping charts out to stores. I'm 'going live' with 2 designs -
Spring Serenade

and Lady Anne

And there are lots more designs on the way! We're currently working on the website too so I'll post a link to that once it's up and running! Gosh I'm excited!

2009-02-05T11:04:00.004+11:00

Happy dancing today! This is my first finish of the year - Passione Ricamo 'Dawn Fairy' on SW Seaside Melody lugana. Some small changes...I didn't like the 03031 beads so swapped them for 02025, left out the floating beads and the butterfly over her head. I wish you could see how sparkly she is but I just couldn't get a photo that shows it.

And...disaster! My Lowery stand is kaput! The thread on the screw has worn and it won't tighten. Actually this has happened before so I'm fairly confident DH will be able to fix it, but until he gets a chance to deal with it it'll be a PITA trying to stitch without...I'm so used to stitching two handed!

2009-01-31T12:08:00.005+11:00

Long time no see! I thought it about time I updated this as it seems I haven't made a stitchy update in....ohhh...centuries. And yes, I have been stitching some, despite being wrapped up in my drawing tablet (there's a link to my art album in my sidebar by the way...if you're interested!) So here's what I've been stitching on (Blogger's being a bitch and won't let me upload piccies, so I've had to fall back on good ole Photobucket for these - clickable thumbnails) -

First up, a little progress on Dawn Fairy...not a whole lot, but I finished off the bottom of her skirt, one sleeve and the butterflies -

Progress on Pompeii Garden. I'm determined I'm going to finish this damn thing this year or die in the attempt! I've done the top left corner with the pillars and sky and stuff, and most of the top right corner too...

And finally, Forgiveness. This is so much prettier in real life than it looks in the pic. Unfortunately I find I get bored quite quickly when I'm working on it so progress isn't fast.

I desperately want a new start, but I've decided I want to finish some stuff first. I felt my WIPs were getting out of hand last year - I know some people have dozens and don't worry about it, but it was making me uncomfortable so I've been trying to whittle them down.

I'll try not to leave it so long before the next update!

2009-01-07T23:27:00.002+11:00

Hi everyone, sorry 'bout the prolonged absence...since Chrimbo I haven't been doing a whole lot of stitching. I had a Wacom tablet for Christmas so I've been spending much of my time doing digital drawing. In the absence of stitchy updates I thought I might show you a couple of my sketches...

(elfquest (c) Wendy & Richard Pini)

The characters are all from Elfquest and yes, their heads are supposed to be that big! ;-) I hadn't done any drawing for years prior to this...

Ta Daaa

2008-12-14T23:59:00.001+11:00

This could very well be my last happy dance of the year! Nice and quick this one...she only took a week. I made some changes - left off the wings, halo, and most of the snowflakes.

2008-12-09T07:48:00.003+11:00

Alright, as no one seems to have recognised it, I won't keep you in suspenders any longer...this design is another Joan Elliott piece called Christmas Spirit, and she was published in UK Cross Stitcher last year. Here's where I'm at with her as of right this minute...

And this is how she's supposed to look. As you can see, she was designed as an angel, but I'm leaving off her wings and halo because I like her better without them.

She's quite small (by my standards anyway - lol) and fits on a fat eighth. Oh, and the fabric I'm using is SMF Violets In The Shade...

A New Start

2008-12-08T08:42:00.002+11:00

After three big finishes in quick succession I think I deserved one - wouldn't you agree? I wonder how many people will recognise this one?

Finished all my Christmas shopping this weekend. All the shops are having huge sales at the moment to try to get people spending, so we got some fantastic bargains! We got the decorations up yesterday too, and thankfully the cats aren't mithering the tree like they did last year. I guess they've finally outgrown kittenhood!

And another one!

2008-12-04T17:36:00.003+11:00

I'm on a roll here! Yet another HD before the year's end...this one is Joan Elliott's 'Sea Goddess'. There are about a million beads on her that don't show up too well on my picture. Last time I posted this as a WIP Joan Elliott herself left a comment, which I thought was pretty cool.

Look look look!!

2008-11-24T09:47:00.002+11:00

How happy am I? Two big happy dances within a week! This one is, of course, Cirque des Cercles by Ink Circles. I decided to have one last big push on it and got it finished! The last bit actually went much quicker than I thought...I presumed it would take a couple of rounds with it to get it done, but I was happy to be proved wrong!

Mirabella's finished!!

2008-11-20T13:24:00.003+11:00

So happy with this one! She's sooo pretty in the flesh...

Couple of changes...I used one strand for the BS on the skin, instead of the recommended two, and I used delicas for the magnificas...she's stitched on Stitches & Spice 'Ocean Waves' opal cashel.

More from the "Weird Cat" files...

2008-11-14T19:00:00.002+11:00

Time for another update, methinks. She is so much more vibrant in real life than she looks on the chart photo.

I decided 2 strands was too heavy for the backstitch on her skin, so I'm only using one. I might be subbing the magnifica beads too, as I have loads of delicas already...

2008-11-12T09:55:00.003+11:00

Fishy is coming along nicely, so I thought you might like to see where she's at...

The tail is slower going than you might think, because it's quite 'bitty' with no big blocks of colour. I now have the missing silk (thanks Stacey!) so nothing's holding her up now.

My cat has a drinking problem...

This is Ringo's 'paddling pool'. He can't just drink it, he has to paddle in it first. Cats are weird.

2008-11-07T17:03:00.004+11:00

Yes I know...another new start. Bite me...

This little mermaid has an odd little face, but I adore her anime hair colours! She shouldn't take too long to stitch up, except that *Australia* appears to be out of stock of the 226 & 229 Waterlilies! Can you believe that??! Nowhere I've checked has them in stock! Anyway, I'm stitching her on a nice piece of Stitches & Spice 'Ocean Waves' opalescent Cashel which is more vibrant in real life than it looks in the photo...as usual. I'm going to stick with her for a while because I'm having so much fun with her. Well, as much fun as you can have with half a fish...

2008-11-01T00:10:00.002+11:00

Fair progress on Cirque I think....

I'm going to put this down now for a while. But another two or three rounds with this piece should see it off.

2008-10-28T16:43:00.002+11:00

Look what's back! It was a relief, as it always is, when the border joined up...although to be honest I'd have been astonished if it hadn't on this piece as all the circles down the left, bottom and right had already joined up. I think I might stick with this a little longer...

2008-10-25T13:05:00.002+11:00

And yet another new start....there's just no end to them this month, is there? hehe
This one is Mirabilia 'Maidens of the Seasons - Summer' stitched on SW Antique Gold Belfast.

I've also been trying to stitch on April's Blue Diamond, but all that white doesn't inspire me much so I didn't make much progress. Certainly not enough to be worth taking a picture.

2008-10-16T10:06:00.003+11:00

Thanks for your thoughts on the initials. After thinking it over I made a decision. It was complicated a little by the fact I discoved the initials on the personalisation chart weren't big enough to replace them, which was a bit strange. I decided to use my kids initials instead - goodness knows they've all had to be 'forgiven' for stuff often enough! LOL. I had to wing it as they weren't charted in the right size. I hope they look ok, I think they do. I haven't quite finished that big motif on the right...

2008-10-15T13:39:00.005+11:00

I would appreciate your input on something. Go and have a look at the cover pic of Forgiveness in my last post...see the 3 lower case letters at the bottom right - vcb? That's the designer's initials, so clearly that's where the personalisation goes, and obviously I'll put my own initials there when I get to that point. Now, see those other 3 upper case letters at centre right - AJS...to me, that also looks like it should be someone's initials. It doesn't quite look like the random letters elsewhere on the piece. So what's supposed to go there? Do I just stitch AJS? To me, that would just look like I'd stitched someone else's initials. And there's a personalisation alphabet chart with both upper and lower case letters included in the chart pack. On the other hand, if I repeat my own initials again, wouldn't that just look odd? Colour me confused...what do you think I should put there?

What is this - Guilt Free October?

2008-10-14T09:06:00.006+11:00

It's been quite a rough few days here at chez us...there's been a bit of a gastro outbreak locally, and first Little Pete and then I have had it. Luckily not both at the same time. I was so ill yesterday DH had to take a day off work to look after me. I'm feeling a bit better today - still washed out and tired, but ok. Fingers crossed that no one else comes down with it!

No stitching at all yesterday, for obvious reasons, but before I got sick I made another new start - Examplar Dames 'Forgiveness'....

Stitched in DMC, one over two on 36 count Cream linen (which looks white in the photo, IRL it's a much warmer colour)...

This is what Forgiveness looks like, in case you're not familiar with it....

2008-10-11T13:35:00.003+11:00

Just a quickie update today...

A bit more of Rose Sampler. I've been enjoying stitching this, which has surprised me somewhat considering my usual aversion to florals... LOL I'm moving on to something else now before my enthusiasm wanes...that way hopefully I'll be keen to pick it up again soon....

I can't get the fabric colour to show up properly. It's a fresh minty green I hand dyed myself. In every pic I've taken it looks kinda grey...

2008-10-08T14:37:00.004+11:00

I've been in one of my restless, fidgetty moods again with my stitching. There are plenty of things I could be stitching on...there are things I should be stitching on...like Pompeii for example -

This thing has been a WIP for far too long. I did make a little progress...I finally finished all the cross stitch on that blasted final, fourth villa. Just some backstitch and a handful of rhodes stitches left on that part. Man that thing has dragged on. And I did a little bit of sky etc in the top left corner. But then I found myself finding things to do rather than stitch on it...like ironing fer crying out loud! Ironing!! You know it's bad when you'd rather do the ironing than stitch on a thing! So I decided to go through my stash and see what called to me. Not much did. Lots of yummy charts, but nothing crying out to be stitched. And then I found something I'd forgotten I had...a kit that was a gift from little Pete a year or two back. This thing is so far removed from my usual taste it got tucked away and forgotten. Anyone who knows me knows I don't 'do' florals. But for some reason, I felt the urge to pull it out and make a start on it. I had to swap out the fabric of course because I most definitely don't 'do' aida...

It's called Rose Sampler by Sandy Orton, and this is what it'll look like once it's finished...

2008-10-01T16:31:00.002+10:00

Going through my WIP basket, trying to decide what to stitch next, I came across Dawn Fairy....I started her last year and then...forgot her. She hasn't been worked on since December. My bad. So, that's what I've been doing. As it's been so long since you saw her last, I'll post a 'before' to refresh your memory...

...and where I'm putting her down again. Hopefully it won't be another 10 months before I pull her again, but I'm making no promises....hehe

2008-09-22T20:07:00.002+10:00

I've got another Happy Dance for ya! I've been working on a shop model for the last couple of weeks...well, 17 days to be precise. So here, without further ado, is Shimmering Mermaid on PTP Crystal Jazz. And she really does shimmer when the light hits her!

Happy Dance with me!!!

2008-09-05T16:45:00.001+10:00

The Dreamer is finished!!!

2008-08-30T17:34:00.003+10:00

I've finally dusted off the Dreamer and made some good progress on her. I'm hoping to get this finished before too much longer....

This is my start on Scent of Old Roses for the over one SAL. I think I made quite a good start, but had to have a break...I can only take so much over one stitching in one hit! She's on SMF Winter Meadow - the flash has washed the colour out a bit. It's the SAL again next weekend so I'll prolly pick this back up again then.

And finally - a little more on Beloved....

2008-08-10T12:57:00.005+10:00

I'm trying hard to work through my pile of neglected wips at the moment, so here is my latest pic of Cirque Des Cercles....everything up the far right is new.

Rachel and Olenka have both very kindly given my blog an award - thank you both so much, I'm really flattered!

Now according to the rules I have to nominate 7 blogs for this award. I'm going to cheat a bit and award the same 7 for both, else I'll be here all day...LOL. It's a tough choice though because there are so many fabulous bloggers out there...
Carol
Sally
Daffycat
Amy
Yany
Andie
Kathy

Whew..that was harder than I thought!

I've been sucked into participating in the over-one SAL on the Mirabilia Stitcher's board...I'll be stitching Scent of Old Roses on SMF Winter Meadow. Oh noes...what have I let myself in for??? LOL Come and join us if you're up for it!

2008-08-04T07:44:00.001+10:00

Just a quick post today to show you my finished Trick Or Treat Wingless Fairy...hehe

Stitched on a SW Solo opalescent lugana....

2008-07-28T16:44:00.002+10:00

Hello peeps! I had a big gap with no stitching going on due to a massive flare-up of bursitis in my shoulder...hence no updates in a while. I'm now gritting my teeth and stitching regardless - I hate not stitching! So I now have stuffs to show you! Apologies for the crappy photos - it's dull and rainy today so all my pics are dismal.

A Happy Dance to start off with -

Thriller is done. My mum hates it, Pete doesn't think much of it, but I like it and so does Louise, so I don't care! I'll hang it in the Room Of Stash when I eventually frame it.

More on Sea Goddess...

And a start on the new Mirabilia Trick Or Treat Fairy (Fairy?!! Where's her wings??) from Cross Stitch & Needlework magazine - stitched on a SW Solo opalescent which is more peachy than it looks in the pic. Apologies for the shadow too...

2008-06-10T19:28:00.003+10:00

I've been stitching like a demon these last few days...we've been having internet troubles so I haven't been online very much. Amazing how much stitching you get done when you don't spend half your time on the 'puter! LOL

As you can see April has come on in leaps and bounds. I'm going to have to order another reel of Kreinik for this one...annoying as there's nowhere within a reasonable driving distance (especially with petrol prices being the way they are!!) that sells Kreinik and I really don't need to be buying anything else right now just to justify the postage. It's quite hard to tell from the photo but she's really quite sparkly - and I haven't even put any beads on her yet! For a long time I didn't really care for any of the Birthstone Fairies, but seeing a couple of them stitched up in real life turned my opinion right round....they are very pretty when you see them for real. The terrible Mirabilia chart photo strikes again!

I think I'm going to put her down for a while now though and get back to Thriller. Red and black as a break from white and blue!

Back to square one then...

2008-06-06T11:19:00.002+10:00

Well, I'm back. Blogger may have more bugs than an Indiana Jones movie (never let it be said this blog isn't topical! lol) but at least I know how things work here!

I made a new start last night. After finishing my Mirabilia RR (which I'll show you at a later date) I was in the mood to stitch a Mira...but the only Mira WIP in the pile was ComaGirl, AKA The Dreamer, and I'm not feeling motivated to stitch on her at the moment (hence the nickname! lol). So - introducing April's Blue Diamond Fairy. Not much to look at yet - just a white blob right now. I'm stitching her on SW Charisma lugana. I spent ages going through my fabrics trying to decide what to stitch her on - I didn't want to spend $$ I can't really spare on a new piece for her but I was amazed at how few fabrics I have that she would work on considering how many fabrics I actually have!

I also wanted to show you this little needlebook I made for Carol - you might have already seen it on her blog, but just in case you haven't I'm posting it here too. This is from a little freebie design from Casey Buonaugurio - there's a little waterlily (?) on the back of the needlebook too. All the little froggy toes are done with french knots!

2008-06-03T23:18:00.001+10:00

Hi all, just letting you know that Chewed Away has moved to Wordpress! I got tired of fighting with Blogger all the time so finally decided to jump. Don't forget to update your blogroll!

'On wicked wings she rides'...

2008-05-31T19:51:00.002+10:00

Hooray! I've finished the verse! There are still 3 pattern bands beneath this but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I'm approximately two thirds done.

Judging from the cover photo I wasn't 100% convinced the blackwork band worked, but now I've stitched it I'm sold.

Here's a closeup so you can see...

Compared to the band before it this one seemed to stitch up really quickly!

And now...stashy yumminess! Lookee what showed up yesterday -

I got Ink Circles 'Hanky Pysanky' and 'Quackworth', Examplar Dames 'Forgiveness' and I also managed to pick up the magazine with the Happy Home Sampler in it from my local Borders. It always seems a bit 'hit and miss' with this magazine in there, but it might be that they get limited copies so you have to get in quickly or you miss out. I was obviously lucky! Yay me!! LOL

2008-05-27T15:25:00.002+10:00

You know, looking at this photo, it doesn't look like a whole heap of progress since my last update. This band seemed to just go on and on and on. Each day I would think "I'll finish this today" and then I wouldn't. I think partly it's because the Bursitis in my shoulder has been particularly bad so I haven't stitched as much as usual, and partly because I've also been stitching on a small gift that - for obvious reasons - I can't show you yet. That's in the mail now so I can concentrate on Thriller again. I just wish my shoulder would settle down again. I really should go back to see the doctor about it again, it's just a case of getting a round tuit....

2008-05-22T23:25:00.001+10:00

It's finished - WooHoo! Unfortunately the white doesn't show up very well in the photo - I'll try to get a better shot tomorrow in daylight.

2008-05-22T11:01:00.004+10:00

I got lots done on Geranium House...just the border and a few letters to go. I should get this finished today. I might have had it finished already, except at one point I was frogging nearly as much as I was stitching. It felt that way anyway. That'll teach me not to stitch when I'm tired. I love that little robin on the flowerpot, don't you?

Forgive a 'proud mum' moment but I just have to share - Louise came home yesterday with a certificate for coming top of her year in a science exam!! I'm so proud of her!

No Thriller today. Since the puds haven't made an appearance on da blog for a while, you'll have to make do with a photo of them instead. Big lads now, aren't they? It's hard to believe they were such tiny fluffy kittens only..er..yesterday? It can't have been over a year..surely?

2008-05-21T08:59:00.002+10:00

I succumbed to another new start. Naughty I know, but I am unashamed... It's only a little one after all...

This is my start on CCN Geranium House...I love CCN & LHN charts, they give me nice 'new start' fix when I'm stitching large projects and don't take long to finish. I'm doing this one on a piece of Lemon Meringue belfast which was a limited edition from Kiwi Illusions, I got it in one of the Dyers Collaboration packs. I can't get a decent shot of the colour though - this is the closest I could manage. This design only calls for one skein of Crescent Colours (Pomegranate), but I've subbed it with one of the DMC Colour Variations that I already had (4200 - Wildfire). I think it works pretty well as a substitute...

And just in case you're not fed up to the back teeth with Thriller - a little more progress..

2008-05-18T12:41:00.002+10:00

Hip, hip, hooray! The Space Invaders are done! lol....Actually, I can't believe how fast this design is stitching up! Tina commented the other day that she wouldn't have believed how nice this piece is from the cover photo, and I have to agree with her. I always liked it because I like the verse, but I've been quite surprised at just how pretty it actually is. Personally I think the somewhat brighter red I'm using makes a big difference because the recommended one looks kind of gloomy. Which, come to think of it, is probably the point. But I still think the red I'm using carries the 'spooky' point well enough without looking dull.

And just a heads up that I've added a few more charts to my trade blog..and a big thank you to everyone I've traded with!

Ch..ch..changes...

2008-05-17T12:20:00.005+10:00

Do not adjust your set...you are indeed at Chewed Away! You know me, I like to ring in the changes every now and again...keep things fresh..plus I was having a few problems with the old skin, like it would no longer allow me to add page elements. So - time to move on.

I'm feeling really pleased with the progress I made on Sea Goddess over the last couple of days...this one seems to really shift once I get stuck in to it. When I picked this up I had barely started the tail...

Now - back to the Space Invaders...

2008-05-15T17:31:00.005+10:00

Just for a change of scenery - I've been working on Sea Goddess again. Much as I'm enjoying Thriller, I was in need of a break from black and red! I'm currently working my way down her tail...

A few people have asked me where this design is from - it's in a book called A Woman's World In Cross Stitch by Joan Elliott. I've been told it's also been printed recently in one of the British cross stitch mags - Cross Stitch Collection. I believe it was the May issue.

And talking of Thriller - I'm now on the 'Space Invader' band! lol....Go on, admit it - don't they look like Space Invaders to you?

We had a little visitor to our garden yesterday. While I was fetching in the washing I saw a flash of black and white...my first thought was that Chequers had got out, but then I realised it was a rabbit! As soon as it saw me it bolted under the fence into the front yard. I was concerned about it getting onto the road so my next door neighbour and I spent 20 minutes trying to catch it. I eventually succeeded with the help of a piece of apple, and the sweet little thing was quite content to lie in my arms and be cuddled - it was obviously someone's pet. I couldn't take it in because my two cats would have thought all their Christmases had come at once, so my neighbour has taken it in and is trying to find out who it belongs to...

2008-05-12T18:59:00.002+10:00

I've now finished the 2 Mirabilia RRs and sent them off in the mail. Now I just need to decide what to stitch on mine. At the moment I'm wavering between Adia, Cottage Garden Fairy and Scent Of Old Roses. Hmm...decisions, decisions...

In the meantime, here is my latest progress on Thriller...

I'm just loving this one so much!

2008-05-06T21:51:00.003+10:00

I've finished one of the blocks for the Mira RR, I hope it's owner likes it! I can't show it to you yet because she won't see it until it returns home. Now onto the second one!

I can show you my progress on Beloved though....

I've finished the verse now, a bit more of the left border and another urn. Between this and Thriller I'm using a lot of black floss at the moment - amazing how much fun you can have with black floss! Seriously.Who knew?

Feeling human again...

2008-05-04T11:30:00.003+10:00

Thanks for the good wishes everyone, they were much appreciated...my cold, nasty though it was, turned out to be short and sharp. Very, very, sharp, but thankfully also very short lived. I had one very rough day on Friday followed by a fretful, feverish night, but by Saturday morning it had more or less burnt itself out and I felt about 90% better.

So, yesterday I felt up to stitching again (you know I must be ill indeed if I don't want to stitch! LOL) and managed to complete the top band on Thriller....

I've also made a start on one of the RRs, but obviously I can't show you that at the moment. Someone asked about the fabric used for my RR - no, it wasn't Rainbow Sparkle, although I can see why you might think that. It is in fact SMF Summer Romance, which I think is a very pretty fabric indeed. Perfect for fairies!

2008-05-02T12:04:00.003+10:00

No new stitching from me today...I've come down with the mother of all colds and don't feel much like stitching - I feel pretty crappy all round. But something brightened an otherwise miserable day today....

I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but I'm doing a Mini Mirabilia RR with a couple of friends. Today my RR came home, along with the other 2 ladies' pieces for me to stitch on. This is what Vanessa & Shannon stitched for me -

Isn't it wonderful? So a huge Thank You to both of them for their lovely work! Now I just need to make a decision about what I'm going to stitch on theirs, and what to add as the final block on mine....

Moonlight casts an eerie glow....

2008-05-01T10:45:00.004+10:00

I'm having a whale of a time with this piece! It's just flying along at the moment. You get a better idea of the fabric colour in this picture.

I've decided to retire a couple of my WIPs....you know how when you look at a project and just don't feel the love any more? When you can't bear to stitch on it? That's Cinderella. I don't know why but I have zero urge to work on it. In fact I would go so far as to say I have an active urge to NOT stitch on it. The other retiree is Camelot Sampler. This one I DO still love...in theory at least. But I've discovered that I'm not a big fan of over-one stitching. I have the utmost admiration for anyone who can stick with huge projects done over one...but it's not for me. I don't mind a little bit every now and again, but big chunks of it give me the heebie jeebies. So, into the UFO drawer they both go.....

2008-04-30T08:52:00.002+10:00

I didn't participate in Guilt Free January this year, but instead I'm having my own little Guilt Free April instead....who knows, it may even turn into Guilt Free May the way things are going! LOL

This is last night's start on Thriller by Sampler Cove....

I'm stitching it on Silkweavers Sudden Storm, in DMC threads to keep the cost down. It's only stitched in 2 colours so I'm using one of the DMC variegateds for the blood red - I'm too lazy to go check which one it is at the moment.

A finish....or not?

2008-04-29T08:44:00.002+10:00

Hmmmm....I'm not sure about the pink. When I picked it out in artificial light (yeah, yeah, I should know better) and stitched it last night, I thought it looked great. In the cold light of day I'm not so sure. It doesn't look as washed out in real life as it does in the photo, but I'm still thinking it's a bit pale. I think I'll leave it a while and then come back to it and see what I think looking at it with fresh eyes....either that or only display it after dark! LOL

The Forest Is Growing...

2008-04-28T10:46:00.004+10:00

Sorry for the blurry photo...I'm not sure what happened there. I used macro and everything. Meh. Anyway, the forest now has a lemon tree and a few other little bits and pieces. That tree seemed to take a disproportionate amount of time, although that's probably more to do with the fact I was up and down helping DH all day instead of having a long stretch of uninterrupted stitching....

And Startitis hits again!

Mini Quaker - a freebie by Carinne - Stitched with Weeks Dye Works.

This shouldn't take long to stitch though - a couple of days at most. I won't even add it to the WIP list.

I wanted to add a quick 'Thank You' to all the lovely ladies I've done trades with in the last few weeks - you have all been great to trade with!

If you haven't looked recently, I've added heaps more stuff to my trade blog - please take a look!

2008-04-26T11:56:00.006+10:00

Two posts in two days - what on earth's got into me? LOL While browsing round the shops yesterday, I came across this cute little box. It followed me home....

This is why -

What a great project box! It holds enough floss for most projects, those compartments are just the right size for my floss bobbins, and it has a handy drawer for my bits and pieces. It's also better at keeping the kitty cats out than the plastic floss boxes are - bonus!!

More Beloved....

Have you heard the alarming news about DMC? Apparently they are in serious financial trouble, and may possibly be announcing bankruptcy on Tuesday!! The news sounds very bad indeed - what will we all do if DMC disappears? Even most of the hand dyeds use DMC as a base!

2008-04-25T08:24:00.009+10:00

I've been working on Beloved for the last couple of days...we have a cherub (little Pete finds the naked child highly amusing...to say nothing of the 'boobies' on the right! lol The things that tickle a 10 year old boy!) and an urn full of flowers. I think the border might get old fast, despite the boobs!

Beloved (A Stitcher's Hands)
Legacy linen 34 count - Cafe au Lait,
DMC 310

I'm kicking myself a little bit - last night I realised that when I made my working copy I'd forgotten to put the original page 1 back in the packet, and I've been marking off the original in highlighter! D'oh!

I guess my tastes are shifting - a couple of years ago I wouldn't have looked twice at monochromatic designs but at the moment I can't seem to get enough of them...speaking of which, here's a picture of more new stash - ok Quaker Christmas isn't quite mono but it's close, as is Quaker Virtues by the same designer which I'm also expecting. The CCN chart and the fabric are from trades (thank you Ladies, you know who you are)....

Stash in the mail....

2008-04-21T21:06:00.007+10:00

Since I got home I've been working on Sea Goddess...I've missed my WIPs! Her purple scarf thing has grown...

And I had some nice, stashy packages waiting for me too when I got home - some of these are from trades, and a couple I bought...

I got LHN 'Daisy Sampler' & 'Gingerbread Cottage', Rosewood Manor 'Great British Sampler', Sampler Cove 'Thriller' (I just love the verse on this one!)Long Dog 'Froth & Bubble', and some threads.

I've been weeding out my stash a bit more and added lots more charts to my Trade blog. I've added some Miras, L&L, With My Needle and lots more...

Home again, home again, jiggety jig....

2008-04-20T18:26:00.005+10:00

I ended up spending longer than originally planned at Mum & Dad's...but I'm home again and have a stitchy update for you. I was a bit naughty and didn't take any of my existing WIPs, so the wip list has grown while I was away...

This is Drawn Thread's Marriage Of Minds. Mum & Dad will celebrate their 50th Anniversary later this year so I figured that deserved a sampler....

And this is my start on A Stitcher's Hands 'Beloved', which DH picked out last time I was in The Stitching Post (formerly Dragonfly Dreams - my not-so-LNS). He doesn't often express a preference for a particular design so I thought I'd stitch this for him. The design is huge though - the stitch count is 520 x 200!

And this is a bookmark I made for Peter. It should have been longer by another dragon panel, but I got bored and 'abbreviated' it!

Another quick finish...

2008-04-08T23:47:00.002+10:00

I'm on a roll! This is LHN Willow Tree Inn. I started it on Sunday afternoon and have just now finished it. I have no idea what the fabric is...it's an anonymous offcut I found in my fabbie drawer...

And talking of LHN, look what turned up in my mailbox this afternoon - very kindly sent to me by Cathy - thanks Cathy! I'm really into LHN designs at the moment!

I won't be around much for a few days - I have to head up to my parents' house. Dad's going into hospital and Mum doesn't drive, so I've offered to go up there and ferry her to and from the hospital etc for the duration of his hospital stay.

2008-04-05T18:51:00.003+11:00

So much for not blogging....as soon as I banned myself from doing it, sraightaway I find myself with lots of stuff to show you! So ok, I won't promise to be either regular or consistent, but I'll blog when I have something to show.

This is Rose Watercolour Butterfly from Rosewood Manor, which I finished this afternoon. It took 5 days to stitch....

I've stitched another page of And A Forest Grew...

A needlebook I made for my StepDD while she was over here...

This is a piece called Sea Goddess by Joan Elliott. It was started by Vanessa (Magicmonster), but she decided she wanted to start over on a different fabric and very kindly gifted me the wip and the book the design was in! Vanessa stitched the bodice, some of the purple on the left, a bit of the chest and the partial arm on the right of the photo...I've finished her chest and stitched her head/hair, the arm on the left and some more of the purple.

2008-04-02T09:54:00.001+11:00

Just popping on quickly to say I've started a new blog with charts I have for trade. Please take a look (link in the sidebar) and let me know if there's anything you're interested in!

2008-03-30T12:02:00.001+11:00

I've decided to take a bit of a break from blogging.....I just don't feel like I have anything to say at the moment so blogging has become a bit of a chore. Hopefully, once I've had a break and recharged my batteries for a while, I'll be back!

2008-03-24T10:30:00.003+11:00

I haven't been stitching as much as usual lately...I've been doing quite a bit of knitting instead for a change. Yesterday though, I completed both a scarf for Peter and my Aussie version of Summer Sampler....

I made lots of changes - I changed the music to Advance Australia Fair, put the Aussie flag behind the child, changed the ribbon to Australia's sporting colours (green & gold), and below the 'paradise' block I changed the flag and the airmail sticker. I'm quite pleased with how it came out.

2008-03-06T08:11:00.005+11:00

This past week has been uncharacteristically unproductive for me....apart from some good progress on CdC last Friday (piccy below) I have hardly stitched at all! At the weekend we went up to my parents' and went out on the boat on Tuggerah Lake. It was great fun, and the kids loved it...until the outboard cut out right smack bang in the middle of the lake! Pete had to take the cover off and repair it right there in the water - it's a good thing he's mechanically minded! I even managed to get a little sunburned, despite being under the bimini (that's a boat canopy to you or I - no, I didn't know that's what you call it either) the whole time. Ah well, lesson learned - I'll use plenty of sunblock next time. I did manage to finish one sock while I was up there....but unfortunately I accidentally left it behind at my parents'!

On Monday I was crazy-busy... No Taj on Tuesday because we had to take little Pete for his Cardiology appointment and then in the evening I had a migraine, yesterday I was busy again although I did manage just a little on The Dreamer last night, but not enough to be worth showing. So this Cirque pic is it.....

I haven't even had time to move my stash yet! I have a theory about stash you know...I think once your stash reaches a certain level (Critical Mass) it becomes self aware...alive...and the stash wants to be stitched. It's the stash's whole raison d'etre. This is why stitchers talk about designs screaming at them - it's not imaginary! And this self awareness then extends to things that are not yet even in your stash - which is why we talk about things 'jumping into my basket'. I wrote and asked the government for a grant to fund my research into this phenomenon - I'm still awaiting their response.....

2008-02-29T15:12:00.003+11:00

In the next few days, I have to find a new home for my Stash.....but Don't Panic! I'm not getting rid of it or anything. My StepDD Leigh is coming over to visit from England, and we need the room. The Stash (I think it warrants the capitals, don't you?) usually lives in the spare room....now, 99.9% of the time, this room is my room. Not where I sleep or anything (Pete and I are still happily married, thankyouverymuch) but where I keep all my stuff. My dollshouses are in there, my sewing machine and work table, The Stash of course, and a big, squashy, and surprisingly comfortable sofabed (it's a miracle of sofabedishness actually, most of them are like a little taste of hell. I still get nightmares about the one I slept on one night in Spalding {{shudder}}. This one is actually comfortable as a sofa and a bed). No one else ever ventures in there unless they're looking for me. It's where I go when I want to be alone. But, as Leigh will be staying for the best part of 3 weeks, it all has to go somewhere else. Now, Leigh is, herself, a stitcher, and she would no doubt enjoy sleeping surrounded by all my stashy goodness. Who wouldn't? It would probably induce cosy dreams of hand dyed fabrics and silken threads. But unless I take action, there would be just room enough for Leigh, and My Stuff. The girl needs room to actually breathe in and out, you know? Either that or she'd have to sleep on the sofa in the lounge, and I suspect I'd feel a teensy bit guilty about that...

Progress on the Taj after Taj Tuesday (and Taj Wednesday and a smidge of Taj Thursday if I'm being honest....)It needs a little backstitching on the Taj herself and of course on the pink frame....thing. I've come to the conclusion that I hate sheaf stitches....there was a whole lot of swearing going on that evening, let me tell you. If I never saw another it would be too soon. Unfortunately, I've got another 3 sides to go....

2008-02-26T09:03:00.004+11:00

I've heard that Christy has received the ornie I made her for the Mirabilia Stitchers 2008 Christmas Ornie exchange, so I can now show you a photo. I've heard it said that you put a piece of yourself into every piece you make...if that's true there's a very bad piece of me in this. We had words, this ornie and I. Some of them were Very Bad Words Indeed. Not the stitching you understand...the stitching was a joy. But it was my first attempt at using a hot glue gun for the finishing. My glue gun only has one heat setting - thermo nuclear - and I managed to burn my fingers. Repeatedly. I was a mass of blisters for days. Anyway, I think it turned out ok and Christy likes it, which is what counts.

More of The Dreamer...I was getting a little bored with this, but once I took it off the Qsnaps and started a new area I got my mojo back.

I don't buy much stash these days because finances are tight, so I'm disproportionately and pathetically pleased to have just bought this off Ebay -

I'm slowly trying to fill in the gaps in my Mirabilia collection. I'm not trying to get all of them, only the ones I like. I've still to get Queen Mermaid and Maidens Of The Seasons 2...

Talking of Mirabilias...I'm quite excited to be taking part in a mini Mirabilia RR with Vanessa and Shannon - I sent my fabric off yesterday! I thought I'd taken a photo but it turns out I didn't...I'm putting my RR on SMF Summer Romance, with the boxes outlined in Petite Treasure Braid PB02. I can't wait to receive Shannon's fabric and make a start on hers!!

2008-02-20T11:43:00.003+11:00

Tuesday is Taj day, so for your viewing pleasure here is yesterday's progress on Da Taj....

I loved working with the Frangipani Waterlilies...so pretty! There's backstitching to go over the pink though which I'll probably do next week.

And because I haven't shown you a Cirque update in a while....

And finally, just because,...

2008-02-18T18:40:00.002+11:00

At last I can show you needlebook I made for the exchange on the Mirabilia Stitchers board....

The fabric was a piece of unnamed opalescent linen from Stab & Stash, and I stitched part of Shimmering Mermaid. I found a lovely piece of dolphin patterned fabric for the inside, which I thought went well with the mermaid on the front!

Stuff....

2008-02-15T16:30:00.003+11:00

A few random bits and pieces today...

Lookee what I got for Valentines Day! Aren't they lovely? I couldn't get a photo without Chequers in it...my cat has a cellophane fetish! He likes to lick it for some strange reason...as soon as I took the wrapper off he left them alone.

My Portrait Of Caroline made the finalists in the Silkweaver Showcase small category!! It's the first time I've managed to get into the finalists!

You probably don't know, but many years ago knitting used to be my main hobby, until I severed a tendon in my hand about 15 years ago...surgeons managed to repair my hand but it's never been quite right since. I have done a few knitted bits and pieces since, but generally I find holding a knitting needle quite uncomfortable in that hand. For the same reason my handwriting has badly deteriorated...anyway, I digress...I have knitted all sorts of things, but have never made a pair of socks. So this week I thought I might give it a burl...and here is the beginnings of a sock on my DPNs...purple, of course!

And finally, progress on the Taj after this week's SAL...

2008-02-12T07:57:00.000+11:00

I've been doing a lot of exchange stitching recently for the Mirabilia Stitchers Needlebook and Ornie exchanges, which for obvious reasons I can't show you yet. In the meantime here's a bit more on The Dreamer. I've reluctantly put her down for today to work on the Taj.....

2008-02-06T16:12:00.000+11:00

Time for another update! I seem to have accidentally settled into a rotation of three, which is working really well for me. I'm seeing enough progress on each to keep me happy, I don't get burnt out on any of them...and the two SALs I'm in are keeping me focussed!

Here's Taj after this week's SAL - I love the Peach Cobbler Waterlilies around the edge there - good enough to eat! It's supposed to be a woven stitch there but I didn't like it so I'm just satin stitching it instead, and I'm much happier with that.

Here's some progress on The Dreamer. This seems to have become my focus piece - I'm working on it between SALs.

2008-02-02T13:15:00.000+11:00

As promised, here's the latest CdC picture after yesterday's SAL -

2008-02-01T11:28:00.000+11:00

This week, I've been working on a needlebook for the Mirabilia Stitchers needlebook exchange, and the latest UFO RR piece, neither of which I can show you at the moment. But I still have some progress on these two to show you -

Here's Taj after Tuesday's SAL....

And a bit more on The Dreamer....

The chart photo colours on this one are way off - the cape over her shoulder looks blue on the chart, but as you can see here it's actually green, in the DMC 500 range.

I'll have another Cirque pic for you soon too!

2008-01-25T20:10:00.000+11:00

Most of my stitching time this week has been devoted to The Dreamer - I'm really enjoying stitching this pretty lady! I wish I could get a better photo of the fabric (how many times have I said that?) In real life it really picks up the colours in her dress. She now has a face...I'll be moving on to her hair next -

And here's this weeks progress on the Taj SAL -

2008-01-21T11:56:00.000+11:00

My poor old blog has been a bit neglected of late. I'm also very behind in my blog reading, so my apologies for that. As some of you may know, I've been heavily involved in setting up the new Mirabilia Stitchers Board with Vanessa and Shannon, which has been a bit of a time sink for the last week or so. If you would like to pop in and say hello, we would love to see you over there!

As a result of all that, my stitching has taken a bit of a back seat. Although I've got 3 pics to show you, they don't represent much actual stitching for a fortnight's worth!
First up is CdC, which I'm doing as a SAL with Yany...

Next is my progress on Taj, which is also a SAL (see earlier post for details)...

And finally, to celebrate the new Mirabilia board, a new start - The Dreamer...

...not much to see yet I know. I'm using a nice SW Solo for this one! And that's it for now. I'll try not to leave it so long between posts next time!

First 2008 finish...and some other stuff

2008-01-06T21:07:00.000+11:00

A little late...too bad I couldn't finish it for Christmas! But here's Frosty Nights finished -

I worked on Cinderelly a bit, but I couldn't really get into a groove with it this time so there's not a lot of progress....

I've also started the Taj SAL with Sam and Kathy, although Kathy couldn't start yet because she was waiting for threads...we'll be working on this every Tuesday so I'll probably bore you rigid with it.

And finally, I still need your addresses Jacqui & Heidi! My email addy is a couple of posts down...

My 2007 Finishes...

2008-01-01T21:35:00.000+11:00

2007-12-27T12:43:00.000+11:00

Well, that's Christmas over for another year....Christmas Day itself was pretty quiet, just us and the kids. Mum & Dad had been supposed to be coming but changed their minds a few weeks ago. We had a pleasant day though. Little Pete was extremely excited about the whole thing, and the kitties got a bit hyper. Boxing Day we drove up to my parent's place...what a nightmare - we live at the furthest southern tip of Sydney and my parents live about an hour's drive north of the top end of the city, so we have to drive right through Sydney. The trip normally takes a couple of hours but the traffic was diabolical! It was nice when we finally got there, both brothers and their families were there and we had another Christmas dinner, sitting outside on the patio.

Stitching hasn't been on the agenda much for the past week, so my latest pic shows pathetically little progress (for me) on Pompeii Garden....I've been working on the house on the right. Sorry about the crumpled look - it could use a good iron but I won't bother till it's finished. This piece has become a bit of a chore, but I'm determined to finish it. Apart from anything else, the kit was too expensive to allow it to become a UFO. And I do like it, I just don't like stitching on it.

Jacqui and Heidi, I need your snail mail addresses....you can email me at gillianaldus @ yahoo. com. au (remove the spaces)

2007-12-25T09:44:00.000+11:00

Just popping on quickly to wish you all a
VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

2007-12-18T18:27:00.000+11:00

Now that Susan has seen this, I can show you what I've done on this round of the UFO RR.

This is TW 'Flowers' in wool cross, and this is how I received it -

and this is how I will be sending it on -

I've had no takers yet for the Pay It Forward....anyone??

2007-12-17T12:52:00.000+11:00

I seem to have a bad case of Startitis at the moment....I started Lavender Wings 'Frosty Nights' in the mistaken belief that it would be a nice quick finish before Christmas. Hmmmm....these two little houses have taken me days to finish! The problem is all the blending filament it uses - this design calls for heaps of it and it really slows you down. And the really, really, really annoying thing is, I can't get any of the sparkle to show up at all in the photo. I must have taken 20 different shots in lots of different lighting conditions, with flash and without, and it hasn't made a jot of difference! I had hoped for a little HD before Christmas, but I feel the need for a break from blending filament so unless Santa finishes it for me I doubt it's going to happen!

I've just signed up for another round of Pay It Forward on Chiloe's blog. This one is a little different from the last one I did. The first three stitchers to leave a comment to say they would like to join in will receive a gift from me...but you must then 'pay it forward' on your own blog and send a gift to 3 more. This time the gift does not necessarily have to be something stitched (although it might be!), it might be something stitching related, something from where you live, or just something to make the other person happy (like bath products, chocolate etc). I would prefer to keep this to regular readers please, or people who's blogs I visit (you know who you are!).

2007-12-12T21:33:00.000+11:00

Some progress on Cirque...

I love this design! I've seen this done in so many different colourways, and every one has been beautiful. It's such a fun design to stitch too - you just get into a kind of rhythm with it, no stopping to change colours or anything so it moves along quite quickly.

We're all ready for Christmas here now...little Pete and I put the tree up a couple of days ago, the presents are all wrapped and the cards written and sent. All that's left to do is the final, fresh food shop just before the big day. I was worried we might have some trouble with the cats and the decorations, but other than Ringo pulling off one piece of tinsel, and Chequers trying to chew one of the tree's branches, they've been remarkably good!

2007-12-10T22:31:00.000+11:00

I'm so weak. And so predictable... after my last post I did stitch on the RR, and made good progress on it. But afterwards I didn't stitch on either Pompeii or AAFG. I had a new start....

I'm sure I don't need to tell you which design this is - people are stitching this thing all over the place. I'm sure I've mentioned before that stitching on black isn't my favourite thing...but for me, this just had to go on black. And yes, you can see the floorboards through the fabric! I started this on Friday, but didn't stitch much over the weekend because we went up to Mum & Dad's so Pete could go over the boat, and I didn't take any stitching. This is a picture of The Petes giving the boat a good wash - it's been standing unused for over a year and was a bit grubby. We're getting a towbar fitted to the car this week, and will drive back up the coast to fetch it next weekend. We've decided to rename it. Some previous owner had stuck the name 'Kingfish' on the side made up with little pieces of black tape - urgh. So that's coming off and we're trying to think of a good name. Any suggestions?