123 Stitch Stash

Here is the list of stash that I received from 123stitch'

Lemon Meringue Sampler by Casey Bounaugurio

Antique Ivory Cashel, quarter yard

Yellow Creme Glass Bead for Lemon Meringue Sampler

Spring Row by Bent Creek

Ice Cream Sundae by Country Cottage Needleworks

Holly & Ivy Sampler by Country Cottage Needleworks

Flower Shop by Country Cottage Neddleworks

The Bookshelf, by Little House Needleworks

Ladybug Ladybug by Little House Needleworks

Music & Books by Little House Needleworks

Nature's Beauty by Little House Needleworks

Fairy Flora by Miribilia

Lady Of The Mist by Miribilia

Lt. Mocha Cashel (18x27)

Clay Cashel (18x27)

32 Ct. Natural Linen (27x36)

Blossom Time by Papillon Creations

Three Little Words by Papillon Creations

Here are the pictures,

There is a story (excuse) behind me getting the Lemon Meringue Sampler, especially when I saw how beautifully Michelles' looked. My hubby's favourite dessert is Lemon Meringue pie and a good friend of mine makes one that is to die for. This is the same friend that offered to have the kids on the Wednesday of the school holidays doing Luke out of some pocket money. When I picked the kids up after work she had very kindly made a pasta dish for our dinner and a lemon meringue pie for dessert. This was around the same time that Michelle had shown her finished and framed Lemon Meringue Sampler. What is a girl to do, but to get her clicky finger working. I of course had to get it and went through my HUGE list of ONS and I found it at 123 Stitch, and 'of course' I had to justify the overseas order by ordering other things. I needed some neutral fabric, had to get the beads, and the charts, well, they just 'appeared' in my cart HEHE. I blame it on my friend and Michelle ;) LOL.

Happy stitching everyone and stay safe.

I Am Still Here

Hi everyone, as the title says I am still here, have just been busy.

My assignment is finished WOOHOO at long last and when I last checked with my uni, it had been sent to the assessor for assessment, so should have it back in the next week or so. Hubby didn't get the job in Melbourne. It was with the Australian Cricket Board, but he has four interviews today in Ballarat, two with employment consultants and two for actual jobs. There is another in the pipeline which would mean relocating to Tasmania, this would be fine as it is located in Devonport which is where the Spirit of Tasmania (ferry between Melbourne and Tasmania) docks. It is able to carry cars as well as passengers, and as all of our families and friends are in Victoria or southern New South Wales it means that it is not too difficult to reach them, or of course we could also fly. This prospect is exciting for me as Tassie is the only state in Australia that I haven't been to, what better way to check it out while living there. But we shall wait and see.

I have been stitching and I owe a few progress pictures so here they are:

First is There is no Place Like Home, before and after. Not a huge amount of progress, but still progress. I was concentrating on my assignment so stitching had to take a back seat. Not to worry.

Next in my rotation was And A Forest Grew, before and after.

Again not much progress, the three small trees are out of position my a stitch, I didn't rip them out as the position of their neighbouring motifs is not affected, I may decide to 'fix' them, or I may just leave them.

I did stitch on CdC over the weekend and made some good progress and will post of picture of it soon. My clicky finger has been at it again, this time I put in an order with 123stitch, How fast are they? I placed my order on the 11th, it was shipped on the 11th, and I received it on the 19th. I will post what I ordered and pictures later on.

Thank you everyone for you comments, they are very much appreciated. Happy stitching.

Time for an Update.

Last Friday saw the end of my rotation for The Castle.

I stitched all of the bushes that needed finishing and made a start on the castle. Teresa is quite the genius when she works out her blends. I love the way they look. But I don't know that I will ever stitch another of her designs even though there are a few that I do like. But then you never know, we can all change our minds, can't we.

On the week-end I made a start on Ink Circles Cirque des Cercles. I am stitching it on 28ct Navy Jobelan with Dinky Dyes silk in Desert Sand. Here is a picture. The fabric looks more purple in this photo and I think IRL the threads are a richer colour. Never mind, still gives all of you an idea of what it looks like. I am loving the silks they are so soft and pleasant to stitch with.

I would like to thank all of you for your support in my decision to concentrate on my studies and appreciate that you will still look forward to seeing my progress on my wips.

Hubby has a job interview on Monday for the position of Chief Finance Officer for a major sporting association in Melbourne. At this stage any job would be good. I grew up in Melbourne, but have not lived there for 10 years now, and I would prefer to be in the country. But we have to go where the jobs are for hubby.

We are all fine and into the second week of term break, finding care for the two littlies has been interesting. Wednesday last week Luke actually looked after them with strict instructions to 'actually' watch them, and not get engrossed in television shows or the computer, which he is inclined to do, as I suppose all 12 year olds do. He did a great job and was extremely pleased when he received $20 for his work. I would never let him do this if we were not so close. Hubby and I made phone calls at different times of the day to make sure they were all okay and Luke knows all of our contact numbers, and we could be home in less than five minutes. This Wednesday a girlfriend of mine has offered to have Joel and Caitlyn and Luke was disappointed as he would not get paid again. Oh well Luke, you can always help Mum with the house work.

I had better go now and hopefully get closer to finishing my long over due assignment, 700 words to go, including conclussion of about 500 words and which I generally find easy to write. Happy stitching everyone and stay safe.

What's happening in my little piece of the world......

When I decided to not finish the study unit for semester one this year, I still thought that I would keep my options open and see how I felt after a couple of weeks break, and applied for special consideration so that I could have a chance to sit my exam again. I didn't think that it would be approved, but it has been. So I am having another go at getting this horrid assignment finished, 900 words to go, and sit my exam in mid August.

A few things helped me change my mind; I am so close to having the assignment and this unit finished that it seemed such a shame to not complete it. I received my course work for next semester (which begins 16th July) and the content is something that interests me a whole lot more. By completing these two units it will put me at a quarter through my studies, a milestone I have been hoping too get to. So I will not be applying to defer next semester, call me crazy, even with an imminent move in the not too distant future.

With these time constraints upon me, something has to give. As much as this 'hurts' me I have decided that I have to spend less time reading and writing blogs, and sniff sniff stitching. I will still be stitching, perhaps for only an hour a night, and will endeavour to keep posting my update photos once a week, and keeping you up to date with other general things. As for blog reading I will still try to read them, but I feel that my bloglines might get out of hand, never mind (taking deep breath) at least all of your posts will still be there for me to read when I get a spare few minutes.

As far as stitching goes for this past week; I stitched on The Castle for five nights and on the week-end I started Cirque des Cercles, it is quite fun, and those silk threads WOWZA. Now I understand how stitchers become silk snobs. LOL Will post progress pictures possibly Tuesday. Until then everyone stay safe and happy stitching.

P.S. I would also like to thank everyone that takes the time to read my blog and to leave comments. I love reading your comments and I appreciate them all very much.

WIP Update

Here is Drawn Threads Game Board Sampler. A new start this rotation. I enjoyed this one. I am stitching it on 32ct Driftwood, the designer actually suggests 25ct Driftwood but the piece I ordered was too small, but I am happy with how it is looking on the 32ct.

Next in my rotation is something that I started some time ago. I wouldn't really call it a UFO at this stage as I have always intended to finish it. I asked my three sisters to choose a design each and that I would stitch it for them. I have completed one of their choices but I can't remember the details, but it was of three teddy bears sitting on and around various patch work quilts. The next sister asked for a dragon and one day I spotted a magazine with TW The Castle on the front and I just had to buy it. Not knowing what TW's were like back then and not knowing about linen and evenweave, I did this piece a huge injustice and started it on (cringe cringe) aida. I know, how could I do that???!!! Anyway, there is no turning back now, I am not going to restart it as it is almost 3/4 done. Here is a picture: sorry for the cruddy photos, I took these on my computer desk and was crammed for room. The design in the magazine is on four pages and I have nearly completed the third. In the last few days I have managed to fill in the 'empty' spaces with green and have been surprised how quickly they filled in. Well I will leave my posting here for now as I have to get ready to go to work. I start at ten today but I go back in at just before four so that I can see the balancing procedure. Work is only five minutes from home, the first time I have ever lived so close the where I work.

Bye for now, and happy stitching everyone.

Stash

In an earlier post I said I was going to place an order with Stitching Obsession to get a bigger piece of navy fabric for Ink Circles Cirque des Cercles, well it arrived today. That was super quick. I, of course, had to justify my order (any excuse) and also ordered a subscription for The Gift of Stitching, and a With My Needle chart called Petit Carnet d'Ouvrages, Livre II.



I have been wanting the subcription for a while now, I have liked so many designs that have been posted to blogs in the past that I couldn't wait any longer. I usually by Just Cross Stitch every two months, but have recently found that there is not much that I would like to stitch, so I have stopped buying that, except for the ornament issue every year. I will actually save money as my subscription is less than two issues of JCS.



Here is a picture of what I got:












I have finished the rotation for Drawn Thread Game Board Sampler and will post a wip picture hopefully tomorrow. Next in my rotation is TW The Castle, I will tell you more about this tomorrow also and post a picture of where I am up to with it.

Happy stitching everyone.

Reed's Stocking update

Here are my before and after pictures of Reed's Stocking. This is a fun stitch and it does go quickly. I am doing it on 18ct floba using DMC perle cottons as suggested by the designer.

I was able to purchase all of the perle cottons, for all five stocking patterns that I am planning on doing for all of us, from an ONS which was closing down earlier this year. I was sad to see the ONS close but I was happy to buy these at a reduced price.

I have also taken some pictures from the stash that I received from Jenna.

Here are LHN and CC collaborations packs; Wisdom, Goodwill and Believe.

These one's are Peace, Faith and Love and Faithfulness.

And finally these are Patience, and Tree of Life.

The threads in this picture are all Dinky Dyes silks. The middle bundle is for Cats Whiskers Blessed With Happiness, and the other color, Desert Sands which came from StitchingObsession, is for Ink Circles Cirque des Cercles.

I would like to thank everyone who left comments about hubbies job. He has still got a job until the end of August, this is when his contract runs out, so we are not panicking too much. In today's paper there are a number of suitable jobs for him, so he will be busy next week applying for them.

My job is still going well, the kids are all well so we are truely blessed in so many ways.

Happy stitching everyone.