2011 Wrap up

Well, 2011 is now drawing to a close and I can post my traditional end of year wrap up. This year I struggled out of my stitching slump and while I'm still not back to my stitching best, I managed to get 11 finishes this year. Most of these - no - ALL of these are small finishes but that's what it took to drag me out of the slump. However, I am currently working on something bigger as you all probably know, Lizzie*Kate's 6 Fat Men and I am LOVING it! Look for another WIP pic soon.

My goals for 2011 were to get back into stitching & have more than 8 finishes so I've managed to accomplish both of those. For 2012 I'd like to finish Earth Gatherers and do some more of my mantelpiece. I think I can manage both of those.

So...onto my now traditional collage.

Next installment of the 6 Fat Men

I was going to post this update earlier but wanted to finish this section. Wow..there's a lot of white! I think I've almost used a whole skein (I'm using DMC white rather than the WDW). I also had a little mistake on this one but you can't notice it & it doesn't affect anything luckily. There's one pink cross too many in the top & bottom of the frame. Oh well.

6 Fat Men!

I had to start this one cos I'm so in love with it! I decided to stitch them all on one piece of linen. I'm using 32ct R&R Autumn Leaves (or is it Antique Cotton? I can't remember) which I had in my stash. It just fits on a fat quarter so that's handy. :) I'm also using my Q snaps which is a bit of a change for me but it slows me down somewhat. Sometimes I take it off to go back to my 'in hand' stitching.

This is what I've done so far (in about a week or so).

Another ornament for the finishing pile

My latest effort for the finishing pile. I suppose now that it's November I'll have to get onto that too. :)

Now that this one is finished I can start the 6 Fat Men series. I'm planning on stitching them on one piece of fabric. Just need a couple more threads & I'm set to go. Should be fun!

Snow Happy

Designer: Glory Bee

Fabric: 28ct Crystal Woodland by Picture This Plus

Threads: DMC

Started: November 2 2011

Finished: November 12 2011

But wait...there's more

Yes, I'm still stitching! This is another ornament from the 2010 JCS ornament edition that I kitted up a couple of weekends ago. It took a while to do all that over 1 especially when I had to frog a bit but I'm loving the end result.

Peace on Earth

Designer: Blue Ribbon Designs

Fabric: 32ct Dirty Linen

Threads: DMC

Now I need to find something else to stitch. I'm off on Sunday to a friend's place for a stitchin' and eatin' and chattin' day. We haven't had a GTG since the traditional yearly Lindt cafe visit back in June so we're way overdue. Can't wait.

Bathurst weekend

2 weekends ago was the Bathurst V8 car races which we always watch. I actually stitched this year and ended up with 2 finishes. Yay! I originally though I would stitch on one of my BAPs but decided to go with quickies. Mind you, the second one wasn't as quick as I thought.

The first one is December 25 by Lizzie*Kate from the JCS 2010 ornament issue. I'd only stitched one ornament from this issue and since I just got this year's edition, I thought it was high time to do some more. So both of my finishes are from this mag.

December 25

Designer: Lizzie*Kate

Fabric: 32ct Natural linen

Threads: DMC

Started & finished Oct 8 2010

This one is the Prairie Schooler design. I love their charts and had looked at their new ornament chart but it didn't do it for me so I haven't bought it. However, I did stitch this. It took me a while! Oh & I noticed they have recycled the names. I have another ornament with the same name (without the S on 'Nights') from another JCS edition.

Snowy Nights

Designer: The Prairie Schooler

Fabric: 32ct Summer Khaki linen

Threads: DMC

Started: 8 Oct 2010

Finished: 18 Oct 2010

Two small finishes

I can see some light at the end of the stitching slump tunnel! I finished off these two fobs yesterday...well, one's a pin cushion actually. The pin cushion was started in January according to my note on the chart but I must admit, it's been sitting waiting to be finished properly for a while. The other I started reasonably recently. Probably a few months though.

I just did an order from Lois and got 3 more small SB pieces to do. Simple Joys Pin Cushion, Tiny Garden needle roll (which matches this fob) and Sweet Stitches Fob although I'm not particularly fussed with the colour of the ribbon. It's bright aqua and while I love that colour, it just doesn't do it for me on that fob. But we shall see when it's stitched (which could be a while LOL). I also got the latest Lizzie*Kate Tiny Tidings. I just looove LK and her things are so quick to stitch so you may see a couple of those before Christmas. It just depends how I'm feeling.

So...onto the pics.

Our Hearts Pin Cushion

Designer: Shepherd's Bush

Fabric: 32ct French Vanilla linen

Threads: AVAS and Silk 'n' Colors

Started: 6 Jan 2011

Finished: 2 Oct 2011

Tiny Garden Scissor Fob

Designer: Shepherd's Bush

Fabric: 32ct Smoky White linen

Threads: DMC & WDW

Finished: 2 Oct 2011

Safe Keeping Scissor Fob

I had a bit of TV time in the past couple of days so rather than sitting there looking bored & eating which I do *a lot*, I thought I'd stitch. Novel idea I know. I went looking for a couple of fobs that I have half done somewhere but couldn't find them. I did, however, find this fob so sorted the threads & stitched it up in 2 sessions. The finishing was done this morning while watching one of my favourite shows, Air Crash Investigations! LOL. Yes, I know...I'm morbid.

Safe Keeping Scissor Fob

Designer: Shepherd's Bush

Fabric: 32ct French Vanilla linen

Threads: AVAS & an overdyed

Started: 22 July 2011

Finished: 24 July 2011

Who would've thought??

I've got a finish! I started this ornament sometime in December last year so it's been a while as a WIP. I stitched it on 36 count and it almost did my head in. This morning, after not stitching for weeks, I picked it up & realised it didn't have much to go so I watched Midsomer Murders that I'd taped and finished it up. Happy dance!

In other news, I found my SB retreat magnet from 2004! It went missing ages ago...I'm talking years. I think my Burmese cat played with it & it disappeared, along with another one that I can't even remember what it looked like! Anyway, I tipped my stitching chair up to find something else, noticed a whole lot of dust, vaccumed it away, found some DMC, LOL and finally discovered this where I thought it would be all along, stuck to a bit of the chair underside. It was hiding really well. So now I just need to find the other one. Wonder what it looked like? :)

Love And Joy

Designer: Plum Street Samplers

Fabric: 36ct Tan from Silkweavers

Threads: DMC

Started: sometime in December 2010

Finished: 9 July 2011

Framing

Remember these SB shop exclusives that I stitched & the frames I bought for them when I was in Ogden recently? Well, they're now framed! I had a stitching GTG yesterday with the Sydney gals & rather than stitching, I framed instead. I'm very happy to get these out of the pile & onto the wall.

A Winter's Sheep

Mistress Mary

Autumn Harvest

Merry Day

Another Lizzie Kate finish

This is the one that I was using Wisper on & hating it. Well, I put on my big girl panties & sucked it up and now the bugger's finished. Thank goodness! I'll need to do a big finishing session to get all these made up. I want to do flat folds as I think they're too big to hang on the Christmas tree.

Santa's Got The Goods

Designer: Lizzie Kate

Fabric: 32ct unknown linen

Threads: DMC, WDW

Started: 24 Jan 2011

Finished: 23 April 2011

I'm now back to working on the ornament I was doing before I started my LK phase. It's on 36 count & it was hard going back then but I seem to be OK with it now. Go figure. So when that's finished, I can put away all these skeins of WDW & DMC, start with a clean slate (or even a clean table) & get back to one of my BAPs. Maybe the mantel. What?? I hear you say. That old chestnut?? LOL.

Done like a dinner

I finally have a finish. It's a Lizzie Kate that I took with me on my trip. It was all kitted up ready to stitch & when I got on the plane I realised I'd left one of the colours out. Which one? Oh the white of course! LOL. Anyway, I just bought a skein while I was away. I have to admit that most of this was done at home though. Isn't that always the way? But I had to take something otherwise I'd be tearing out my hair, sitting at airports and on planes.

Tis the Season - Santa 07

Designer: Lizzie Kate

Fabric: 32ct natural linen

Threads: DMC & WDW

Started: 25 Feb 2011

Finished: 15 April 2011

Meeting up with axe murderer friends!

Yes, another post about my trip!

I thought I'd pop in & talk about all the axe murderers I met up with while I was away. First there was Mel. We had arranged to have dinner on our first night in the US but she had to pull out at the last minute due to illness. But we did catch up as I had a present for her & she had something that I'd ordered on-line. Unfortunately, though...I think she passed on to me whatever lurgy she had which I then had for the rest of the trip!

We did catch up at the end as we spent 2 days in Buena Park which is not far from Mel's place. So we did a quick visit to the beach (I wanted to see the water!!), had some dinner, did some shopping & generally hung out. I managed to meet Brandi, Mel's cat and Mel did my friend a huge favour when we discovered she was in the line at the Apple store. Yes, she bought an Ipad 2 for my friend. A very impulsive buy there!

Also on this trip, I managed to finally meet Michele. I've been to Seattle twice & not met her so I messaged her ages ago & we arranged to meet for dinner. I got her a little present of a Starbucks Australian coffee cup and some Tim Tams. We had a great night & it was fabulous to meet her.

Vera Bradley

I thought I'd pop in with another photo or two from my trip. I managed to suck my friend Sharon into the Vera Bradley void a few months ago and so one of our stops in the trip was a visit to the actual real Vera Bradley store in Roseville, CA. It involved a rather long drive from Oakland airport (thanks to the GPS and me both being off our heads) but we made it there with 15 mins before they closed. But of course, we had big plans to return the next morning. :)

I was so tempted by the Purple Punch rolling carry on bag. But you know what? $200 is A LOT to spend on a bag like that even if it is reduced by 25%. But it was just so gorgeous! And I have no photo of it!

I ended up only spending $100 there (mind you, we had visited a couple of other stores that had Vera & I had purchased in both of the other stores LOL). I got a Night & Day mini hipster, a Purple Punch sunglasses case, a Kiss & Make Up in Purple Punch and a Euro wallet in Lemon Parfait for DD. My previous purchases included a tote in Very Berry Paisley & a Tech Case in Make Me Blush (both for my friend Tracey) plus a slim case (think that's what they're called) also in VB Paisley, a mini zip wallet in Night & Day and a tech case in Blue Lagoon for DD.

This is the store from the outside. That's our funky rental car in the pic....an almost brand new Chevy HHR. It made up for the crappy Kia we had in SLC!

Here's a pic of the inside of the store with my friend browsing. Absolutely gorgeous stuff and I could have bought it all! Loved the stationery too but I would never use it cos it's so beautiful.

LOL.

I'm back!

So I'm back from my trip! It was fabulous. I managed to visit both Shepherd's Bush & Elegant Stitch. Didn't make it to Needle in a Haystack. I was very restrained with my stash shopping (although my sewing shopping was another story) and didn't spend more than $100 on myself, not counting the Jill Rensel frames I got. I managed to spend some money for Anne....but don't think you'll see any of that cos it's a surprise for her.

It was very exciting going on the new Airbus A380 although a little worrying after Qantas's incident last year. If you don't know, one of the engines blew up over Indonesia & took out part of the wing. People on the ground originally thought the plane had crashed! But all was well and the plane trip was fine. I managed to get some sleep, stitch some & watch some TV.

This is the view you can watch from the seat back TV.

Salt Lake City put on a lovely (not) snow storm for us the night we arrived. Of course, I had arranged to meet a sewing axe murderer for dinner so I had to drive in the dratted snow. This is what our car looked like after 1 hr sitting while we ate.

We managed to scrape the snow from the car and drive an hour up the freeway (well actually it was longer than that) without incident. Well, except for the windscreen wipers stopping. I thought they'd broken but my pal Sharon said it was just the weight of the snow that stopped them. Lucky she was there!! We just pulled over & scraped it off. Phew!

The snow stopped overnight & this was the view from our hotel window the next morning. Much better!
So up to SB we went. We had a lovely time visiting with Tina & Teri & met up with Cathy & had lunch. A perfect day!

We then flew to CA & drove up to Elegant Stitch. Lois was such a doll....she offered to arrange shipping for our excess baggage! Luckily we didn't need to after a little re-arranging and the purchase of a new rolling carry on bag.

So...onto the stash photos. Here is my total stitching stash pic.

And these are the frames I got at Jill Rensel's. They are all for SB shop exclusives. Now I just need to frame them.

Oh & this is the cute little pin that Teri gave us at SB. Another one for my collection!

My current WIP

Just thought I'd pop in and do a quick update on my current WIP. This is Lizzie Kate's Santa's Got the Goods which I'm enjoying stitching. Well, I was until I hit that #^$@ wisper! Note to self: don't use wisper on the next LK! It shreds and is hard to thread into the needle and then it gets chunky so I went completely off the correct thread. Egh. Hence this is how he currently looks.

I'm hoping to get a bit more done this morning as I'm off to the hairdresser for a much-needed cut & colour (I recently discovered I have grey hairs!!).

I've kitted up another LK for my plane trip. Cannot actually believe that I fly off on FRIDAY! Yes, 3 more sleeps then I'm off in a huge plane (A380) to LA where, hopefully, we will be having dinner with Mel. We're only staying 1 night in LA and then flying to Portland, OR for shopping! Woot! Can I say smoking credit card? Actually I got one of those pre-paid Visa travel cards (not sure if you have them in the USA) where I buy my US dollars pre-loaded on the card. Then I can use it in shops like a credit card or get cash from an ATM. Fabulous! Plus you get a spare one in case you lose it.

Anyway, if I finish this LK I'll update before I leave but otherwise, see you on the other side!

Hang on to your hats

Holly & Berries

Little House Needleworks

Fabric: 32ct Dirty linen

Thread: DMC

Started: who knows

Finished: 5 Feb 2011

It's another finish! I went to a GTG yesterday at Amanda's with Karen, Row, Sophia & Anne. I took my camera but it never made it out of the bag. However, we stitched! This is a strange event for us....we never stitch at GTGs. Normally we roll in other people's stash & do show & tell. Well, we still did that but stitching occurred as well. So luckily I had this piece in my show & tell bag. I made a mistake on it and was totally blocked about finishing. But it didn't need much so Amanda gave me DMC floss & off I went. Finished by 5.30pm. :)

It's been horrendously hot here for the past week. In fact, a record for Sydney. 7 days over 30C in the city & much more out here in the burbs. Last night was the worst. 36C at midnight. I'm sitting here waiting for the much touted cool change to arrive, something's going on cos the wind has picked up and a few spots of rain are happening. Please come soon coolness!

Actually my wishing for coolness is a tad ironic when I will be flying to the US in a little under 3 weeks. Soon I will be swanning around in Portland & Seattle in 6C coolness, probably freezing my bit fat butt off. LOL. But I think I can cope. ;)

First finish of 2011

I picked up this little kit on New Year's Day & put the finishing touches on this afternoon. It's supposed to be a pin but I've just added a DMC hanger & made it into an ornament. I'm not sure if I should call this my January ornament cos at this stage, there may not be any more! LOL. But it seems that I'm sliding back into the cross-stitch void so we can only hope.

Gifts Galore

Mill Hill

Started: 1 Jan 2011

Finished: 5 Jan 2011