A finish or two!

Hi all

Well these past couple of weeks have been fairly productive! I managed a couple of finishes and worked on 2 of my wip's, received an exchange parcel and went to a craft show with Anne and Alison!

First up here's my purchases from the craft show, it was only a small show and I had a limited budget but still managed to pick up some bargains!

Here's 2 charts from my wish list and some cute scissors for my collection.Here's some ribbon & cording for finishing. Some felt to make scissor pouches for my new scissors, some cute bee finishing fabric, dragonfly charms and Shepherds Bush Halloween needleroll which I got for a good price! I also got a couple of packs of buttons, some small yellow stars and some snowflakes which I forgot to include in the pic!

Here's a pic of the great spring/easter exchange parcel I received from Cheryl (no blog) unfortunately the chocolates which included melted a bit on the treat bag but luckily not on the actual stitching. Chocolates are in the fridge so aren't included in the pic, but they 2 little bees & 2 little ladybugs! Thanks again Cheryl I love it!
Ok now here's my last couple of finishes, one I only finished last night!

JBW Designs - Plum Pudding

28ct tea dyed monaco with DMC & WDW. stitching completed March 14, 2010.

Prairie Schooler 2010 Spring freebie. All colours changed!

Stitched with DMC on 28ct "primitive"hand-dyed linen from silkweavers. Stitching completed March 19, 2010.

In addition to the 2 finishes I also made some good progress on my Ink Circles - Blackstone Fantasy Garden and got a bit more done on Drawn Thread - An Open Heart but I haven't taken pics of them yet. will do that for my next post.

This week I'm planning on doing this month's ornament (yet to be decided exaclty which one it will be) and I hope to make some progress on at least one or more of my other wip's too!

Thanks in advance for looking, I appreciate all your comments.

Happy Stitching

Amanda

Cube finished!

Oh my, 2 posts in 2 days, that's got to be a first for me!! I had to show a pic though as I "finished" my cube last night for an upcoming exchange!! This took quite a while as there's lots of whip stitching involed but I really love how it turned out! It will be hard to send it off to my partner but I have told myself I can always make another! So without further ado, here's my cube!

It's stuffed with a combination of poly pellets & fibrefill. The pellets are to give it a bit of weight. I meant to sew one of those charms on the top which say hand made etc but forgot. Had a cute butterfy one too, oh well, next time! So you can get an idea of the size, it's stitched on 28ct jobelan and the whipstitching was 36 stitches each side and measures 2.5"square. I backed each side with the stiffest iron on interfacing I could find.

Thanks in adance for looking at my blog, your comments spur me on!

Happy Stitching

hugs

Amanda

January 1st piece progress & exchange update

Hi all

Well I have finished the 4 stitched squares for my exchange piece and plan on doing the other 2 sides this afternoon , and hopefully "finishing" it tomorrow or tonight! Here's how it looks so far

Stitched as charted apart from the beehive, I subbed WDW whiskey for the DMC. Threads used are WDW, GAST & DMC. Stitching completed March 4, 2010.

Next up is my progress on my January 1st piece, Just Nan's Needle In A Garden, I'm just over a quarter of the way on this one now.

Well that's all I've managed the past 2 weeks, been putting in long hours at work as we have been so busy. Bonus is, I will get a couple of days off from the extra hours!

So far my no stash buying is going pretty good, I've only succumbed once and grabbed an Ink Circles designs ornament - Reindeer Huddle! I'm still getting my JCS mags too. Going to a craft show with some friends next week though and I'm sure I'll find something I can't live without!

Well that's it for me, need to go stitch the other 2 squares for my cube so I can get the finishing done!

Happy Stitching all

hugs

Amanda

A finish & some w.i.p pics!

Hi all

Well I finally remembered to post a pic of my ornament for January and I manged the finishing Sunflower Sampler too! I started a new project this week, well 2 actually but 1 is my Valentine's project and I really don't have enough done to show yet. The other piece is for a Spring/Easter exchange.

First up here's my ornament:

My Mark Designs - Be Merry

2008 JCS ornament issue.

Stitched over 1 with recommended threads on 25ct antique white lugana

Stitching completed Feb 7, 2010

And here's my "finished"sunflower sampler needleroll

Country Cottage Needleworks - Sunflower Sampler

Finished as a needleroll Feb 14, 2010

Here's my new wip, I plan on finishing this as a cube which should be interesting! Hope it works out!

Hollis Designs - Budding Littles

progress as at 14 February 2010.

Thanks in advance for looking. Hope everyone has had a wonderful Valentine's day. DH & I went out for lunch which was nice. It's been a very wet weekend here which has brought some much needed relief from the awful humidity we have had, been almost too hot to stitch! Thank goodness for fans & airconditioners! I think we could do with some of the snow that our friends in the northern hemisphere have been experiencing!



Happy Stitching



hugs
Amanda

Some guilt free finishes

Hi all

Well I finished couple of my guilt free January starts, one was actually finished at the end of January but I didn't get a chance to post a pic.

First up is Jeanette Douglas Designs - Tiny Christmas biscornu. This was my final January start and I finished it January 31st.

Jeanette Douglas Designs - Tiny Christmas biscornu

Stitched as charted with DMC on 32ct lambswool jobelan

Stitching completed January 31st, 2010

Here's my other finish, it's Country Cottage Needleworks - Sunflower Sampler. I plan on finishing it as a needleroll so have left the border off. It's already for the final finishing, just need to get the sewing machine out which will hopefully be today.

Country Cottage Needleworks - Sunflower Sampler

Stitched as charted (minus border) with DMC & WDW on 32ct waterlily jobelan

Stitching completed February 5th, 2010.

Next up to stitch is my ornament for this month and a valentine's piece. As I've already started the ornament, I'm hoping it will be done today, might even manage 2 posts in 1 day, that will be a first!


Thanks for looking


hugs

Amanda

A Guilt-free finish!

Hi all

Well I have finished one of my guilt free January starts already! It's Brittercup Designs - Raising Hooves. As this one is for my youngest daughter, she wasn't going to let me leave this one languishing in the wip pile for too long!! As I was enjoying stitching it, I just kept on going and before I knew it, it was finished!

Brittercup Designs - Raising Hooves. Stitched as charted with WDW & GAST on recommended fabric, 32ct Queen Annes Lace hand dyed jobelan. Stitching completed January 22, 2010.

Here's another pic "pre finishing"of the fob from Indigo Rose Designs - Forget Me Knots. I finished this one the other day. I just have the needleroll & needlebook to go, lol!

Indigo Rose Designs - Forget Me Knots fob. Stitched as charted with DMC on 32ct antique ivory belfast. Stitching completed January 18, 2010.

Thanks for looking

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