Tag Archives: cross-stitch

Hot Off the Q-Snaps

celticx
May I present Elizabeth’s Designs’ Celtic Cross, aka “My first finish of 2006, and about darned time” :giggle: I started this Monday night – a new start to celebrate finishing, of course, and finished it just now. I had to really buckle down at the end, I was seriously over that border. I didn’t time this, but I’d estimate there’s about 12-15 hours stitching in it.

Not sure exactly what I’ll stitch on next – I’m planning on joining in the Monday TW SALs, first off by stitching a fob for an exchange in the Aussie GTG group, and thereafter by starting the 12 Days ornaments. But I’m going to restrict those to Mondays, so I may very well treat myself to another new start tomorrow. Or even (shock!) pull out a long-ignored WIP.

Petal At 20 Hours

mdpetal20

I finished up another ten hour slot on Petal Fairy last night. (Plus about 30 minutes to finish the brown I had started in her hair). If you need to remind yourself of what she looked like before, check here.

I’m enjoying doing this in 10 hour slots. So far she’s the only WIP I’ve started timing, but it’s working well for me. It’s probably the most structured my stitching will ever get though.

Thus far, this is the only stitching I’ve done for 2006, which is somewhat disappointing. (Summer + Studying != Lots of Stitching Time πŸ™ *) Not sure what’s up next. I have numerous deadlines to meet in the coming 3 weeks :yuk:

In more chocolate-egg related news, Mum found me peppermint eggs today, whoohoo! Not Cadbury though. A slightly inferior brand, who I won’t embarrass by naming. Still good, but not as good, so I’m still pouty. I was slightly cheered when I Googled ‘Cadbury Peppermint Eggs’ and Million Stitches popped up #3 in the results :giggle: For the time being I am transferring my loyalties to Turkish Delight eggs. Mmmmmmm.

* For the programmatically challenged, ‘!=’ is ‘not equals’ πŸ˜‰

Burn, Wagon, Burn!

πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚
You know, what sustained me while I was ‘abstinent’, was photographs like these on other people’s blogs. I’m such a voyeur! Now I get to show off my own :giggle:

Stash1Stash2Stash3

The fabric beneath the goodies in the first picture is 28-count ‘Babbling Brook’ hand-dyed Jobelan from Witchelt. It was a spur of the moment purchase because it was so inexpensive. I didn’t know how it would be, but was sure I could find a use for it. It turns out to be quite lovely for Mermaids of the Deep Blue (top-right in the same picture). The beads and Kreiniks in that pic are for kitting up that chart. The floss is courtesy of a lovely Floss Fairy in the States – Jane went shopping for me and bought these at 8/US$1 πŸ˜†

The metal finishing form is just because I’ve been wanting to try these for a while. The zip-up mesh bag is for storing WIPs in – I love these! And all of the charts had been on my wishlist. Actually, one of the things I really liked about being on the wagon was that I had time to decide whether I really liked a chart once it went on my list. I was continually refining the list, and even when I went to order, I asked myself which charts I really wanted the most.

And yes, I did have a huge splurge to end my stay on the wagon (what with fabrics from Country Stitch and Silkweaver still to arrive). But I don’t intend to continue spending at that rate, that’s for sure. I have signed up for a monthly club (fibers and beads) from SB&B, which will help me to slowly kit up various projects which are waiting in the wings, but which is a relatively small amount of money each month. For the rest, I intend to give myself goal-based rewards – meaning specifically I’m going to try not to buy charts or fabric until such time as I actually finish something! Preferably a medium to large something (which doesn’t happen all that often, as we all know). That’s going to exclude fabric for dyeing though – I’m itching to get dyeing again, both clothing and fabric, as soon as I finish off this final unit at school.

That’s all folks. As I head off to try and catch some sleep, at 10.ish pm, it is still about 30 degrees (86F) here. Tomorrow is supposed to be 43 in the city – it’s generally a degree or two higher where we are, so don’t expect big things from me. Maybe I’ll have a half-arsed attempt at that meme Laura tagged me for?

Stitchy Eye Candy

Hope you all had a wonderful time doing whatever it is that you do at this time of year:smile:. We spent the last three days traversing Victoria like mad things, and are now trying to sleep it all off. Here’s a bit of an update on things stitchy in my life lately. Clickety-click on the images for more, of course πŸ˜‰

mdwfsfrm

Item 1: The promised picture of my simply (but expensively) framed Waiting For Ships. She’s currently adorning the floor, while we contemplate potential paint colours and the state of our finances.

ED-LittleLeaf
Item 2: Probably my last finish of 2005 – Lily Pond, by Elizabeth’s Designs. I craved another finish a) before the end of the year, and b) before I go back to finish uni (on Jan 4). Thank goodness for these gorgeous Little Leaf designs, which are always handy for instant gratification! There’s more to this when you click through – the thumbnail is just of the centre of the design.

Chatelaine-Xmas

Item 3: What else I’ve been stitching – Christmas Mandala Garden, by Chatelaine. I started this one in January with last Christmas fresh in my mind. I dragged it out again after I put Petal Fairy away. Truthfully, it probably won’t see the light of day again until next Christmas. Maybe I’ll finish it then!

SBQ x 2

Two-by-two is the way I seem to be answering these lately πŸ™‚ Here’s the latest:

Do you have rules in the way you stitch? (i.e., Do you start in the middle? Do you determine which blocks to stitch first? Do you always start from the top or the bottom? Do you have special paths to prevent wasting thread?)

I always like the ‘rules of cross stitch’ I read on some BB somewhere a while ago. Rule 1: Thread goes in needle. Rule 2: Needle goes in fabric. Everything else is negotiable! That pretty much sums up the way I stitch, though my stitching has changed slightly over time – I used to care about using the least amount of floss and having neat backs. So I would take a path to accomplish those goals. Now I care much more about neat, well-formed ‘x’s, so I don’t worry so much about the backs. As to where I start, I usually start somewhere interesting :giggle: Gridding allows me to start wherever I like, but lately I’ve been a bit lazy about gridding, and have only done a few lines. I started Petal Fairy in the middle because of that. See… no rules! Just whatever suits me at the time.

Have you done any charity stitching, been in one, or would like to organize one?

Nope.

(That one was easy!)

Guilt Free Me

mdpetal10

I know there’s a bunch of stitchers out there who partake of ‘Guilt Free January’ – in which new starts are permitted without any feelings of guilt about the numbers of WIPs they may be neglecting. I think this is a fabulous idea. So much so, in fact, that I am going to be partaking of guilt free stitching from – oh, now, until whenever I so choose :giggle: Basically, my stitching time is going to be seriously curtailed for the next goodness-knows-how-long, as I slog through (a) this pregnancy, (b) the final unit in my Masters course, and then (c) sleep deprivation and all things newbabyish. So with that in mind, I’m going to enjoy what stitching I do get time for. And there is nothing I enjoy more than new starts! Not saying that’s all I’m going to do, of course. It would be lovely to even finish something once in a while. But given what I just spent on the framing of 2 pieces at the weekend (I’ve been too busy/ exhausted to do it myself), I can’t afford to finish too much anyway :giggle: So in honour of Guilt Free Me, please welcome the newest WIP to my portfolio – Mirabilia’s Petal Fairy. This is the first 10 hours of stitching – and the first time I’ve ever counted time (wonder how long that will last?!). She’s fun, and I will probably do some more on her over Christmas, I think.

Alien Child

I was planning to show you our first pic of BabeMkII. But decided I shouldn’t, because frankly, I wouldn’t want to scare you. You might think I was planning to give birth to Alien Child!

Seriously. We got a tragic picture of Finn at the first scan, too. Why are the ultrasound techs (or in this case, the doctor) so uninterested in getting us a good picture? Sigh.

But. We saw fingers (5, on at least the hand we saw. Good sign, right?!), and a heartbeat, and what little else you can see at 11 weeks. It was all rather cute. Apart from the Alien-Child-ness of it all :giggle:

BBJam
So, instead of showing you a work in progress, let me present a HD instead. Ta Da! Blackberry Jam is done, done, done. It was a lot of fun… mostly. Perhaps with the exception of all that backstitching. Which made me stall for a while, but yesterday I finally decided to buckle down and finish. So click through for the whole kaboodle, and enjoy!

Exchanges, Part Deux

SBEBB_RedR1

I came home yesterday to a package from Terri. Yay! Here is the lovely little drawstring bag and red scissors she sent me as part of the Redwork exchange. Yes, it’s true… I am no longer a sole-pair-of-scissors stitcher :giggle: On the opposite side she’s stitched a monogram for me. You can see that here. Thanks Terri for such a lovely gift, I really appreciate it πŸ™‚

SBEBB_XmasR2

Also as promised, here’s a pic of the ornament Annette stitched for me – also red! And if you look here, you can see the whole bunch o’stuff! The little reindeer fellow is for Finn, who adores all things stuffed and furry, and also adores Annette, who spoils him πŸ™‚

SBQ – Behind Again

Well, I’ve pretty much given up trying to stay on time with these questions, but fear not they will eventually be answered. I have two for you today:

How do you feel about staying totally true to a pattern? Do you feel that you have to rip out stitches to fix a mistake or do you feel it’s acceptable to incorporate a mistake into the design?

Some stitchers answered this question as two questions, and I kind of interpreted it the same way. As far as the first part goes – I am reasonably comfortable making colour changes or small design changes to a chart, though I’ve done nothing major yet. However, I don’t think that’s the major question here. I think the question is actually about fudging. If I make a mistake, usually I rip it out and fix it. If it’s only tiny, like a missed stitch or two, I might fill the stitches in with a similar colour when I’m in the area. But if it’s a real error, usually a counting error (which is why I grid), I’ve learned that it’s best to bite the bullet and go back, no matter how long it takes. I am bad at fudging. Bad, bad, bad!

Do you always sign your projects? If not, why? If so, do you use your first name, initials or what?

I’ve only signed two projects. One, the ornament I stitched for Danielle, has our initials on the back, but it’s more as part of the design, like a sampler, than a ‘signature’. I have no problem with that type of ‘signing’. The other is a piece I stitched for my Dad. He likes to sign books when he gives them as gifts, so I knew he would appreciate me putting my name to my stitching. He did. But I didn’t really like it – I just backstitched my initials and the year in small-type, in a pale colour found in the design, but to me, whenever I look at that piece on the wall, my eye is drawn immediately to the signature, and it’s not really a part of the design. I do like some people’s stitched signatures though, and perhaps one day I’ll change my mind, and design something I like better.

Belated HDs

I started my day with a wonderful package from Annette this morning. Poor girl must be quite sick of me – not only was I her partner for a whole year in the Seasonal Exchange, but then by chance she drew my name in the SBEBB Christmas Ornament Exchange as well :giggle: Anyway, the ornament she’s stitched for me is quite lovely, but will have to wait for another day (maybe tomorrow?) when I un-lazy myself for long enough to find the digital camera.

But.

SBEBB_Red1

It did remind me that I have been remiss in posting my own Exchange happy dances. So here we are. First up, here is the cushion I made for Annemiek in the Redwork Exchange. While I adore the design and the effect, I’m not sure I love stitching in one colour, there’s little to relieve the tedium. The fact that I stitched it in silk helped a little though πŸ˜‰

SBEBB_Xmas2

Nextly, we have the ornament I stitched for Danielle. This is the Prairie Schooler ornament from the 2005 JCS Ornament Issue (thanks again Cathy πŸ™‚ ) I really love the colours in this, and despite some curse words being muttered as I did the finishing (I cut the matboard insert a little bit too large, and a little bit skewiff), it turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself!

See… I do stitch! πŸ˜›