Stitched a little

Did a little more stitching tonight after I got home from work. Wanted to at least finish the butterfly. It's so cute! Had to put up with my youngest cat, Charlotte, sitting on my knee at the same time though. Yes, I know I could have kicked her off, but I do love the times we share together. Even if it does hinder my stitching progress.

Quaker Garden - 27 May 2008

Not sure what part I'll work on next. I could go in any direction. Choices, choices...

A new start

Yesterday I started working on Blackbird Designs Quaker Garden. I didn't get a lot done, very minimal as a matter of fact. This is why...

One of my workmates was wanting to get into cross stitching. I told her I could help her out by showing her the basics to get her started. So yesterday she came over to my place. She had a little kit with her (a heart design by Dimensions) including cloth, threads and pattern. The cloth was more like a tablecloth linen but the design was printed on the fabric to show where the crosses were to go. So I showed her how to start off and away she went.

Meanwhile I'd already started on Quaker Garden, waiting for her to arrive at my place, earlier. So I continued with that. Well, instead of stitching, we ended up talking for most of the time! It was quite lovely but not very productive. I really didn't help her much either with finishing off threads, starting with a different colour or anything. So when she left I said to her that she'd have to come over another day, allowing more time than what we had yesterday, and I'd help her out a bit more.

So this is all I have to show of my start on QG.

BLACKBIRD DESIGNS - Quaker Garden started 25 May 2008

I've started in the centre, then I thought I'd stitch the butterfly, which I think is one of my favourite parts of the design. I'm liking the colours of this one.

Quaker Garden with threads - WDW Red Pear, Palomino, Dolphin, Caper, and GAS Shaker White

Til next time...

Oh no! Not more stash!!!

Oops, I did it again... as the song goes. Yes, I've got some more stash in the mail. Believe it or not, I just wanted to get some threads for Quaker Garden which I'm going to work on next. One insight about me though - I never end up getting just threads! This is what I got...

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BENT CREEK - The Big Tree kit

BLACKBIRD DESIGNS - Be Kind and True & Maude Eloise 1891 charts

THE SAMPLER COMPANY - Kind Fond Love & HOMESPUN ELEGANCE - Bee Watchers charts

CCN - Raspberry Patch

LHN - Plant Kindness, Nature's Beauty, Blackbird Inn, Rose Sampler, Schoolgirl Lessons, and ABC123 charts

Oh yes, and those threads I wanted, plus a few more! There's also a piece of Vintage Lentil Lakeside Linen 28ct underneath.

Needlecraft Corner had 25% off everything I ordered, and not being able to resist a sale, I had to make it worth my while.:) You'd think I'd have enough stash, but no, there's always more things you discover you want.

I'm looking forward to starting on Quaker Garden. The threads I received for it look terrific. Sometimes you get the recommended threads for a design and they turn out a different shade to what you're expecting, but these ones look pretty similar to what you see in the chart. There's only five different colours in the pattern too.

BLACKBIRD DESIGNS - Quaker Garden (kitted with 32ct Permin Linen Prairie Grain, along with WDW & GAS threads).

I'm hoping to get some stitching time in tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Snowy Morn finished!

Finally got Snowy Morn finished this afternoon which I'm very happy about. The outer border was holding me up as I needed some proper daylight to complete it. The thread colour was disappearing into the fabric otherwise. I'm quite pleased with how it's all turned out. My favourite area is still the inner border with the feathering effect of the threads.

SHEPHERD'S BUSH - Snowy Morn

Started 25 April 2008

Finished 18 May 2008

Stitched on 32ct Dirty Linen

Using Au Ver A Soie & Thread Gatherer Silk Threads

Beads and charm included with kit

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The next project I think will be Blackbird Designs Quaker Garden. I'm waiting on threads for it to arrive in the mail this week (I hope!).

Stash!!!

Boy, when I order stash, do I go overboard sometimes! My way of thinking is that if I order a lot of things at the one time, I save on postage. Plus there's too many lovely things out there and I do find it hard to wait for them.

This leads me to the picture below. I did a big order from Stitching Bits and Bobs and most of it arrived in the mail today.

Parcel from Stitching Bits and Bobs

I've just taken a quick photo of it all. I got some fabrics, charts, and threads. I'm mad for Blackbird Designs at the moment, so there's a few of their patterns. The threads are mainly for these charts. Some more LHN/CCN - I don't seem to do an order lately without getting more of their designs. There's also some Prairie Schooler charts which I'm not normally into, but the odd one has caught my eye lately.


I dropped my camera on the floor tonight trying to take a photo of my stash parcel. I must have been so excited to receive my stash! Thankfully my camera seems to be ok. I was so annoyed with myself for not being more careful.

I better hop off this computer soon and head off to bed. Can't stay up too late as tomorrow's a work day. Before I go I'll show you a pic of Snowy Morn. I did some work on it last weekend but the light was getting bad for me to continue with the outer border. Will try to finish it this Sunday if I can when I've got some proper daylight. The colour of the thread against the fabric was making it hard to see where I was putting my stitches.

Snowy Morn - 11 May 2008

Til next time...

Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day today and I just wanted to wish all the wonderful mothers out there a lovely day. I haven't been able to see my mother today because she's on holiday in Tasmania and will get back tomorrow. I hope to see her tomorrow night though after I get home from work. I'll go and visit her and give her the present I bought. Thought I'd take a picture of it wrapped because it looks so lovely with the bow I put on it.

Mum's Mother's Day present

I ended up getting her a book on an Australian gardener born in the late 1800's named Edna Walling by Sarah Hardy. The book is called The Unusual Life Of Edna Walling and is about her interesting life as a landscape gardener. Mum loves her style of gardening.

Along with the book I got her a cross stitch chart which includes buttons and thread by Erica Michaels called Button, Button. She'll be able to pick out a small piece of fabric of her choice left over from her stash to do this one.

I've also popped in her gift a Mary Engelbreit collectible needle card called 'For You Mother', which has 25 assorted needles and a needle threader inside.

A selection of things which I know she'll love. Happy Mother's Day Mum!

Another WIP pic to show

I got some more work done on Snowy Morn today. Here's my latest pic...

Snowy Morn - 10 May 2008

All that's left now to do is the last block on the inner border, then I've got the outer border to do including four corner blocks, and the last thing I'll do is add the beads to the inner border. It will probably take me another two more sessions to finish.

I really like this design. It's not a very big one, but more in it than you would think. The four inner corner blocks are done over one thread which I haven't done before. You need good lighting for this as it's quite intricate work. Trying to decide whether to order Jill Rensel's mat once I finish it. It would really do it justice I think.

Homespun Elegance

I've been searching a few designer websites lately, which I know I shouldn't because I keep seeing new designs that I like! I've got three stash orders on the go at the moment (four actually, but that's another story for some other time) so do you think I need to go looking to see more things I want to get? Of course not. But that's never stopped me before.:)

I was looking at Homespun Elegance site the other day and spotted this new chart.

Homespun Elegance - May Our Handworks Fulfill Our Hearts' Desire

I think this one's gorgeous. It's got an olde world look to it. So naturally it's going on my next stash order. It doesn't matter how many charts and kits you have, there's always room for a few more!

Little House Needleworks have on their site the titles of upcoming releases this month. They're called Embroidery Guild and The Rain Fell. I'm hanging out to see what they're like. I keep checking their site every day to see if they have pictures up. Not yet.:( The suspense is killing me!

Quaker Garden

Lately I've been getting interested in Blackbird Designs' charts. The more I hunt the net looking at what they've released, the more I like them. Their Loose Feathers designs I like too, but they're only available for a certain time I've discovered, then they get retired and hard to find.

This is the case with the #19 pattern called Quaker Garden. I've checked out a few needlework shops in the US on the net and none of them have it anymore. So I Googled and came up with a place in Australia funnily enough, called The Home Patch, that had the chart on their site. So I went ahead and ordered it, and when more than a week had passed with no sign of the chart arriving in the mail, I gave them a call to find out what was going on. They said they were out of stock on it but were waiting for more to come in. Well, I told them I didn't like their chances of getting it as I thought it was an out of print design. I ended the call with them telling me they would let me know when it arrived (which I was assured wouldn't be too long). So the next day they left a message on my home phone telling me it had arrived and they were putting it in the mail that day (Friday 2 May).

BLACKBIRD DESIGNS - Quaker Garden

Today I got home and what should I see in my letter box? My Quaker Garden chart! I still can't believe it arrived. It's been selling on eBay for more than I paid for it here. I'm really happy with the pattern and have even got a piece of fabric just right for it. I bought it while I was on leave in March when I went out to a few needlework shops one day. It's a 32ct Permin Linen in the colour of Prairie Grain. Looks like a similar colour to what you see in the chart photo. Now all I have to do is get a few threads for it and it's ready to go.

Quaker Garden with 32ct Permin Linen Prairie Grain

There's so many patterns I have that I'm wanting to stitch, but can't do them all at once. This one though, I may start in the near future.

I love receiving stash in the mail, it just makes my day!

Another pic to show

Thought I'd try scanning my latest WIP picture instead of taking a photo with my camera. I think it's turned out much clearer. Lately I've been using my camera because it's so easy to grab, and neglecting the fact that my scanner can do good pictures too. As usual I didn't get a lot done today with Snowy Morn, but any progress is good progress in my opinion.

Snowy Morn - 3 May 2008 (scanned image)

I've started doing one of the outside borders. It's a simple process of stitches but looks really effective. It's my favourite part of the design. When you see the finished picture, this border seems to draw your eye to it.

I'm not getting good quality stitching time at the moment. Just a couple of hours here and there, so I'm trying to get done what I can, when I can. I don't have a deadline, so there's no hurry. I don't like it if I have to have something finished by a certain date anyway. I like to just take my time (not just with stitching too). That's just my nature.