A bit of a rant!

After posting a piccie of my stitching finish “Picanini Can Can”, someone ‘kindly’ left a link to Wikipedia in my comments area which essentially states the term “Pickaninny” is offensive and racist.  Am I to interpret that link to insinuate either my stitching or myself is offensive and racist??  Who knows, as the person who left the link has not responded to my personal email to her.  All I can say is, seriously, GET A GRIP!!!!!

Quite frankly it’s picking on one of the least racist ‘white chicks’ you can meet - I used to tell Fraze off all the time for his racist comments and actions against Asian races … and I have always had friends ‘of colour’ - Asian, Indian, Maori and Fijian … not to mention I was apparently the only kid in the street growing up in England who used to play with the ‘coloured children’ (the term I was taught to use growing up) - as far as I was concerned there was no colour difference … as someone once said, “we are the same people in different packaging - we all bleed the same blood”.

I’ll end with a photo of the last relationship I was in … racist?  I think not! (by the way, it’s the guy on the right) 

Mutter mutter mutter …

I can only say one thing, in the form of my latest stitching finish - my Christmas ornie for June … “PEACE”!!!

“Peace” ornament by Country Cottage Needleworks
from 2007 JCS Christmas Ornament magazine
Stitched on 28ct Water Lily Jobelan
with recommended DMC (except substitute plain white for DMC 3865 which was AWOL)

Yet another crappy photo that doesn’t show the colours up too well - the fabric is a lovely soft green!  Like others before me, I think this is way too big to be an ornie, so I’m keen to finish it as a flanged pillow … with a pastel pink fabric for the flange … yeah, I know, ME … PINK!!!!!

PEACE !!!

Lots of stitching to share

… but not a single thing stitched by me! 

All the following stitching is what my Mum (aka June, aka The Dragon) has stitched so far this year - she’s crazy about Christmas ornaments, as you can tell - these are a mix of well known designers (namely Prairie Schooler), magazine designs and freebies 

Believe it or not, there’s also a similar sized pile of ornies that are almost finished - she’s an ornie machine!!

Also, here’s proof that Mum has stitched a bookmark kit that Sharon gifted her with as we were leaving Melbourne … it still has to be finished into the bookmark itself, but all the stitching has been done now.

It’s amazing how much Mum’s stitching has improved over the last 12 months - she has only been stitching since she turned 70, and her stitching is great (and I’m very proud to now have a pile of her Christmas ornies left here to grace my tree … although I’m not too sure about the fact I have to finish-finish them haha).

Mum flew home yesterday morning, so the flat is quiet once again … I’ve brought work home the last two nights so that’s taken my mind off being sad for too long.  Fingers crossed we’ll get another chance to catch up before the end of the year

Now it’s time to get a few more things done before I hit the hay for the night …  Don’t expect as much stitching from me for a while as work is frantic, and it will just continue to get worse between now and the end of June - ah, I miss the days when we got paid overtime back in the call centre for the extra hours {sigh}

Ornie finish … and WIP

Here’s my latest ’small finish’ that I put the final stitches into yesterday (this was my holiday stitching piece that had an attack of the frogs the first night):

“Christmas Tree” by Twisted Oaks Designs
from 2005 JCS Christmas Ornie magazine
Stitched on 28ct opalescent white Cashel linen
Some substituted threads - instead of NN Lemon Delight I used
Carrie’s Creation Gold Glow, and instead of DMC 349 for
the hearts I used Carrie’s Creation Scarlet

Also my progress from yesterday after finishing the ornament … I chose something already kitted up and ready to be picked up at a moment’s notice … this is the stitching of part 2 of the Stitching Leporello by Chatelaine … perhaps I will finish it today?  Or perhaps not … :)  (sorry for the bad photo but I took it after midnight last night and can’t be bothered taking another one)
 

May’s Christmas Ornie

Yesterday I started and finished my Christmas ornament for the monthly challenge on XSers Yahoo group.  Unfortunately I chose to stitch on 32ct instead of 28ct, which means my teeny buttons look overpowering on it, so I’m not bothering to put them on … I may still add larger red ones to the corners when it’s eventually made up into an ornie though - in fact, I think I’m due to have a large ornie-finishing session soon!

“Spool Ornament” by Sue Hillis Design
from 2007 Just Cross Stitch Ornament magazine
Stitched on 32ct white Belfast linen with DMC

Bleary-eyed finish

I’ve been stitching madly over the last two nights trying to meet the deadline for the monthly ornie challenge on XSers Yahoo Group - unfortunately I missed the deadline by 1 hour, but it still felt good to get another ornie finished.  I’ve been stitching until 12.30pm and 1.00am respectively the last two nights - the amount of stitching in those one was quite deceiving, especially all the backstitching!

“Checking It Twice” by Dragon Dreams, Inc
from 2007 Just Cross Stitch Ornament magazine
stitched on 28ct hand-dyed Dried Thyme Jobelan
using DMC only (substituted RG Fuzzy Stuff with white DMC)
(sorry for the poor photo, but it was taken at 1.00am - the
colours look so much richer in real life!)

Next month I think I’ll start my ornie stitching much earlier to save the sleepless nights!  My May ornie choice is Spool Ornament by Sue Hillis Designs.

Small ornie finish

Still feeling like cr*p, so I took another day off work today to blob out … and managed to start and finish this ornie for this month’s SAL challenge on the XSers Yahoo group.

Poinsettia by Brittercup Designs
from 2007 JCS Christmas Ornament magazine
Stitched on 28ct mystery linen
Substituted threads with those in my stash - used GAST Gold Leaf, Crescent Colours Cupid and Weeping Willow

The Nurofen I’ve been chewing every day has been doing wonders for my foot, if nothing else!  Probably helped by the fact I’ve been sat on my fat backside all day on my bed …

A small happy dance

Yesterday’s plan of taking the day/afternoon off was a perfect one!  I did a lot of tidying up in my bedroom late at night, then today I’ve pulled out all stops and almost finished off the kitchen by packing away all the Tupperware and baking trays etc (believe me, the Tupperware in itself is a massive feat haha).  I also rearranged the lounge furniture today, and ironed the duvet and pillowcases to make Lisa’s bed up for her arriving tonight.  She won’t be arriving until about 8pm, after spending the entire day driving from Melbourne on her own, so at least she doesn’t have to worry about where she’s going to sleep when she arrives.  I’m also going to cook a roast chicken and baked potatoes with a salad ready for her arriving - and the wine has been chilling ever since the first day the fridge was switched on

Anyway, following is the sum of my stitching efforts yesterday - it was a bit hampered by the fact my threads were all over the place, so I had to ‘un-kit’ a project to find the DMC 814.  The only GAST threads I had were Flax and Raspberry Parfait, everything else was substituted with a DMC equivalent.  It’s stitched on 28ct mystery Cashel linen (in a light taupe colour) from my stash - which means I’m now up-t0-date with the Christmas Ornie SAL on the XSers Yahoo group - yay

“Fill With Love”
Designs by Cathy Jean
2007 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue

I’m unsure what the next project will be … I should probably finish the Sweetheart Tree needleroll I started last week, then I think a wee LHN or CCN project might be in order before I start committing myself to my CA Wells class pieces - now I (will soon) have my own stitching space again, I guess it’s time to start tackling those class pieces when I can concentrate on them properly

Hopefully next week I’ll also have time to start sitting down and catching up on everyone’s blogs again!

A bit of Christmas stitching

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day - here in Sydney I spent a lovely day with Brenda & Nigel, and Brenda’s sisters, nieces and cousin.  As always Nigel did an awesome job with the food, and we all ate like Kings.  The rest of the day was spent, in my case, stitching in front of the TV while we watched Scrooged and the final episodes of the Vicar of Dibley.  I’m glad I went prepared and took a wee LHN design to start - it gave me something to do while everyone else was snoozing at odd times during the afternoon.  And if I’d got all the DMC threads to hand, I would have almost finished it!!  My needles were definitely smoking yesterday (and until 3am when I got back ‘home’ as I still couldn’t put it down).  Here’s my progress so far - I just need to buy some more DMC (3371, 739 and 3011) then I can get it finished.  Unfortunately I took a drive out to the shops today, forgetting that everything is still closed for Boxing Day, so it will be sitting unfinished for a wee while now as I’m back to work tomorrow.

Necessities Sampler by Little House Needleworks

Seeing as I can’t finish my LHN piece, I have no choice but to start one of my CA Wells pieces … which means I have to start concentrating on my stitching again yikes!!

On Christmas Eve I managed to finally put the finishing touches to a couple of ornies that were stitched during the first part of last year.  I really really need to get back into my stitching routine so I can stitch a few more for next year!  Anyway, here are the latest ornies in their finished state (I forgot to take a photo of one, which I gave to Kerrie at the weekend).

And here are two that Mum stitched for me, that I’ve also finally finished into ornies:

I’ll finish this post with photos of my friendly flatmates right now - they’re both so incredibly friendly and cuddly … the photos were taken from their visit onto my bed this morning

Oh heck - I made a big boo-boo!!!

Note to self - don’t post your new address on the blog until you’re 100% concentrating and awake!!!  My address is NOT PO Box 1306, but rather PO Box 688!!!  Sorry ’bout that - a seriously major blonde moment!!  Now you know why I don’t blog at the moment - I’m usually too shattered to think about it … and that’s the result!!  Doh!!!

Anyway, just a really quick post again, to post some stitching piccies while I get the chance - I finally managed to put the finishing touches to these FUFO’s a week ago:

That may end up being the only ornie finished by me this year … such is life I guess …

Also, here’s the latest two finished blocks of Snapperville, plus the teensy start on block #5 - you’d never believe it’s taken two weeks to stitch just this part, would you?  Yep, smokin’ needles is definitely a thing of the past for me for the timebeing - the only stitching I’ve been getting is about 2 hours on Sunday night ho-hum

Two more small “finishes”

I managed to get a couple more small finishes done last night - as well as taking a better photo of my finished needleroll today (so I’ll replace the photo in yesterday’s post). I’m finally trying to make up a close pal’s gift that is months overdue, so I did this as a trial run first - definitely not my finest finishing ever done, but it’ll do …

Then I sat and finished off my Pansy Magnet Pillow into a finished pillow. I just adore this piece - it’s a shame to see it go into storage now it’s finished, as I just want to sit and admire it … I just love looking and playing with all the beads in the fringe!

Lucky last, I used the sewing machine to stitch the binding on my oldest quilting UFO, and it’s all pinned ready to do the hand-stitching on the back of the binding - I’m coming up to almost 4 weeks of late shifts, so I thought it could be the perfect project for the office on the overnight shift. Mind you, one week will be spent training a new person on the Hotline, so I might not get quite as much done as expected hmmm. No piccies yet until the whole thing is finished anyway … I have no idea what I’ll do with it when it’s finished!

Rightio, back to packing up … so far I’ve cleaned out my car boot ready for loading everything into it again - done the laundry washing for the week, all apart from my bedding which I’ll probably do next week in Seaford, and most of my stitching is put away again. My sewing machine will be packed away tonight, in readiness to going back into storage again either tomorrow or Saturday before work. Only two more sleeps left before I head back to Seaford again for another week, then off to Edithvale for 3 weeks.