I've been busy

Hi all

Well I've been busy lately and have a few finishes to share amongst other thing!

A couple of weekends ago I caught up with a good friend who is also a stitching buddy from Scotland who's in Australia visiting her family. We didn't get to go to any LNS's as they were all closed, so decided to find some antique shops instead! I managed to pick up this great "flower frog"for my scissors, actually my friend purchased it for me as a really early Christmas present! Here's a pic with my latest 2 scissor purchases!

Here's a closer pic of just the flower frog

Here's some pics of my latest stitching finishes.Eventide Designs - By The Sea needleroll

Stitching completed May 2010. Stitched as charted with DMC & Mill Hill beads on 28ct Bay leaf jobelan. Charm from stash substituted for charted button. The finishing has been done on this too, pic below. It's for an exchange and I love it so will definitely be stitching it again for me!The Sweetheart Tree - Holly ornament (2009 JCS ornament issue)

Stitching completed 2nd June, 2010. Stitched with charted DMC on 32ct antique white lugana. Blackbird Designs - Tulip Border stocking (May)

Stitching completed June 5, 2010. Stitched with Crescent Colours - Pea Pod & Needle Necessities #148 on 28ct tea dyed monaco.

I also manged to get the finishing done on the 2 needlerolls I stitched recently.

Shepherds Bush - Bee Hive needleroll

Finishing completed June 5, 2010

Eventide Designs - By The Sea Needleroll

Finishing completed June 5, 2010.

Well that's all from me for today. I plan on stitching up a little freebie ornament tonight and then getting back to my wip's.

Happy Stitching all

hugs

Amanda

It's been too long...

Wow I didn't realise it had been so long since I posted! This year I resolve to post more often!!

Had a great Christmas & New Years and spent a couple of weeks with my parents which was great as I hadn't seen them since last Christmas! The girls & I drove down to their house on the Hume Highway (the short route) and as Daryl joined us on New Years eve, we drove back the coast road (long way) and visited Philip Island and a number of coastal towns which I hadn't been to before. We even went to 2 cheese factories, yum!! We also stopped at Mogo zoo which my youngest daughter had been wanting to got to for a long time! Mogo zoo is only a small zoo but it's quite good as you can get pretty close to the animals. Here's a couple of shots of the beautiful scenery we saw on the way.This was taken at "Nobbies" on Philip Island, you can see the seals on the far island through telescopes & binoculars. This was taken at Eden on the far south coast of NSW it was about 7am!Here's a shot of the giraffe at Mogo Zoo, he came right up to the fence, almost close enough to touch!!

On the stitching front, my "mojo"has returned!! Yippee!!!!!!! I have a couple of finishes to share and a new wip or 2 for guilt-free January!

I finally finished a small Sweetheart Tree piece which should have been finished in 2009 but seemed to take me weeks! Would have been finished while I was at my parents house but I inadvertently left the chart at home!! Here's a pic:Sweetheart Tree - Pirouette In Purple, stitched as charted with kit supplies, DMC & Needle Necessities. Stitching completed January 10, 2010.

Next up is an ornament freebie which I had intended to be my December ornament but that didn't happen!!Plum Pudding Needleart - Fa La La. Stitched as charted on 28ct tea dyed monaco. Stitching completed January 14, 2010.

Here's a wip pic of my January 1st new start piece.Just Nan - Needle in a Garden. I'm stitching this one as charted on the recommended fabric.

Here's a list of my planned "guilt-free"January starts.

Brittercup Designs - Raising Hooves (started this one on January 15 and am almost done with it!)

Indigo Rose - Forget Me Knots (started this one and have finished the stitching on the fob)

The following I plan on starting but haven't done so yet!

Victoria Sampler - Ravenhill Herb Farm

JBW Designs - Plum Pudding

Country Cottage Needleworks - Sunflower Sampler

Elizabeth's Designs - In The Garden of My Heart

Look for some wip pics of these pieces soon!!

Well that's it for me for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Happy stitching

Amanda

I have been stitching......

Well a bit anyway, but not as much as usual. Been distracted by computer games of late! Here's a couple of finishes from the past 3 weeks.

First up here's Just Nan - Joyous Ark which was stitched as charted.

Next up is The Sweetheart Tree - By The Sea Sampler, stitched as charted from kit supplies.

Finally is a little Indigo Rose freebie - Spring Garden. I swapped out the blue thread for a darker purple as the blue just wasn't showing up on my fabric, which is 28ct waterlily jobelan.

It was my youngest daughter's 9th birthday last Thursday and as she was having a party, a cake was required! She requested a rainbow butterfly please Mum! Here's a pic of the cake mix in the tin prior to baking and a pic of the finished product! Cake decorating is not really one of my skills but she was happy!

Well yesterday was spent in very pleasant company indeed and a great day was had by all. I went to the annual Sydney Quilt & Craft Fair yesterday along with Anne, Alison, Karen & Row. Many laughs were had and some very yummy cakes were enjoyed at the Lindt Cafe afterwards. Thanks for a great day ladies!!

Happy Stitching all

Amanda

January summary! (Pic heavy)

Hi all

Well "guilt free January" is over now so I thought you might like to see what I got up to! I managed to start 13 new projects and finished 2!!

Here's my progress pics on all the new starts, in order:

Jeanette Douglas Designs - Winter Stitches

Fabric - 36 ct sand Edinburgh linen

Threads - recommended (thread pack)

The Trilogy - Family

Fabric - 28 ct jobelan (not sure of colour)

Threads - recommended WDW & DMC

The Drawn Thread - Acorn Sampler

Fabric - 32ct Cream Belfast linen

Threads - recommended NPI silks

Little House Needleworks - Reading

Fabric - 28ct Antique White jobelan

Threads - recommended Crescent Colours

scan is not so good on this one, it's really brighter than this.

The Sweetheart Tree - By The Sea Sampler

Fabric - from kit - 32ct Confederate Grey belfast linen

Threads - from kit - DMC & WDW

Shepherds Bush - Spooky Spots Sampler

Fabric - from kit - 32ct Autumn Blush hand-dyed linen

Threads - from kit - AVAS, Gloriana & Silk n Colors silks

Just Nan - Joyous Ark

Fabric - 32ct opalescent natural Belfast

Threads - recommended DMC & Kreinik

Elizabeth's Designs - Four Seasons Stitching club - Summer

Fabric - 28ct antique ivory cashel linen

Threads - recommended DMC & Needle Necessities

Homespun Elegance - Ho Ho Tired

Fabric - 28 English Rose jobelan

Threads - recommended Gentle Arts Sampler threads

Passione Riccamo - Winter ornament (freebie)

Fabric - 32ct hand-dyed Powder Blue Reflections Belfast linen (Silkweavers)

Threads - recommended DMC

Here's my completed ornament for this month too. The finishing on this is not great, I would not reccomend doing a star like this again unless it was bigger! It's only for me though so am not too bothered!

Homespun Elegance - Starry Santa

from 1997 JCS Ornament Issue

fabric & threads changed!

I also put some time into one of my existing wip's. I managed the name at the top and the first set of clothes down the bottom!

Bucilla - Paper Doll Teddy progress as at 31 January 2009

Well I think this ismy longest post yet so you are probably all bored and falling asleep by now!! Anyway, February is "Finish It" month. Not sure that too much of that will be happening but we will see! My long term goal for this year is to finish up all my wip's including these new ones!! First up is my oldest project, Black Swan's - Dragon Heart which is at about the 50% mark!

I won't be starting any more new projects for a while now and will have to survive with just a new start on an ornament a month!

Happy Stitching all

hugs

Amanda

A Happy Dance

Hi everyone


Wow 2 posts in as many days, who'd have thunk it, lol!!



Anyway, last night I managed another finish. This one is for my DH. I just need to work out how I'm going to finish it now!



Here's a pic:

Sweetheart Tree - Celtic Cross

Fabric: hand-dyed jubilee from Country Stitch

Recommended threads and beads.

Tonight the plan is to do this month's ornament so look for another finish soon!

Happy Stitching all

hugs


Amanda

Weekend finish pic!

Hi all

Well no progress pics on my wip's as I haven't had a chance to take a pic, didn't get to pick up my Black Swan piece either. We went away for the weekend to see my DH's sons and it really wasn't conducive to stitching on complex large pieces. Instead I went through the stash and picked up a small project to do instead. Started it while I was there and finished it last night, here's a pic:

The Sweetheart Tree - Blue Mountain Bunny

Stitched as charted with Dinky Dyes silk - Blue Mountains

Fabric: 28ct lavender linen

Stitching completed October 6, 2008

Now it's back to my wip's and hopefully I'll make some decent progress this week!

Happy Stitching
Amanda