Stash Report

Hello everyone. I hope you had a wonderful weekend :) Thank you for all the great comments about the Mermaids, they mean alot to me. I was so happy with how they turned out, especially after all the beading which I thought would never end, lol.

On Saturday I went out for the day with a bunch of friends from my stitching group to visit a few of the LNS's around our area. Our first stop was the Quilter's Cabin, which was just amazing, with all the different fabrics it was quite hard to make a selection. I could have wandered around in there all day, each time seeing a different fabric or a wall hanging, or pattern that I hadn't noticed before. Then it was onto the next LNS, where I found a few Prairie Schooler charts in the bargin bin. At lunchtime we all went our separate ways to look a few shops in Napier before heading to another LnS. I was very refrained at this one only buying some beading thread :) The last of our stops for the day was at Heirlooms. Heirlooms operates from a beautiful old villa that is currently being restored. I was in cross stitch heaven there, it was just divine and I only wish I had thought to take my camera so I could have shared some photos. Sherelyn, the owner, also has a room set aside for all things Christmas, just beautiful. I could have stayed there all day and all night.

Here's all my new goodies!







The Workbasket - Quaker Odds and Quaker Evens
Indigo Rose - the Beecharmer
Sweetheart Tree - Don't Bug me when I'm stitching
JBW Designs - Ring Pillow chart
GAST Threads - latest releases
Prairie Schooler - Farm Fresh, two Santa charts
NN threads - British Green and Passions

Everyone thorougly enjoyed their day out, especially since it was a warm sunny day in Napier.

I have had a couple of small finishes over the weekend but two are for exchanges - an ornament and a biscornu, so I won't be able to share pics until another time. This is my ornament for April, Christmas Greetings by Elizabeth Designs.

Mermaids of the Deep Blue

May I present Mermaids of the Deep Blue, all finished. Wow, that was alot of beading to do, I've been beading non stop for the past week!

Mermaids of the Deep Blue by Mirabilia, stitched on Belfast 32ct custom dye Ocean by Countrystitch.



This photo isn't the greatest as the mermaids, and the fabric, are actually really sparkly in real life, I think I used up almost three packets of Mill Hill 03050 and two pkts of 02022 as well as some glass treasures. The pebble beads are asbolutely gorgeous - this was the first time I've used them on a design. Now these "girls" off to my friend to be framed as I've already preselected a frame.

speaking of framing, thank you to those who left a comment on yesterday's post - I'll be sure to past these onto my friend J as she does such a fantastic job. Being a stitcher herself, I have no hestitation in giving her my stitching to frame - and J always has great suggestions for mouldings and mats that I would never think of myself :)

When loading up this pic to Photobucket I realised I hadn't shared a pic of the two ornaments I received from Kath earlier in the month. Kath and I are swapping ornaments every two months this year, something we've been doing for a few years now.



I love the way Kath finished the Lizzie Kate one, and what's that? another needleroll for the collection, lol, Pine Roll by Shepherds Bush. I also received a wonderful birthday gift from Kath yesterday, one of the latest Drawn Thread's, English Garden Pocket, and a Suduko book (another of my favourite past times at the moment). Thanks Kath, big hugs to you :)

Now that the Mermaid beading marathon is over, lol, I've got several small projects to work on - two exchanges coming up on the SBEBB, Kath's April ornament, and my own choice for April, Christmas Greetings by Elizabeth Designs. I also really need to get on with some "finishing" since my stitching group's annual exhibition is now only 3 weeks away - eeekkk!!

Framing HD's

I hope you had a happy, and safe Easter. We had a lovely long weekend although the four days passed very quickly.

On Saturday night Glenn and I were invited to one of my aunt's for a family dinner. I got a huge surprise as my cousin Donna was there, having flown back from Melbourne, Australia earlier in the week, surprising her parents too. Donna has been living in Melbourne for the past year but had decided to come back to NZ. Donna and I are very close, more like sisters really. She's hoping to come and stay with Glenn and I next week since its another public holiday on Tuesday.

so now onto some stitching news: all of my recent framing has been done! yay! although I don't have all the framing home yet I can share some photos since my friend always takes photos before she puts the glass in. I'm thrilled with how they've all turned out.

Celtic Winter by Lavender & Lace


Welcome Spot by the Drawn Thread


Birth Sampler Bless by Sisters & Best Friends


for some reason Blogger won't let me post a pic of the Celtic Band Sampler today so I'll try again tomorrow.

I have been catching up with everyone's blogs and the boards today and I see that Danielle and Anne have really caught the needleroll fever that seems to be doing the rounds- I'm sorry ladies! lol. There are so many wonderful designs out there that will lend themselves being turned into needlerolls. Another blogger is going to jump on board on our monthly SAL too. Cool bananas!

Two new starts

At long last I actually have some progress to share on the Blueberry Needleroll for the SAL:)



I just love this, especially since I'm using my favourite shades of DMC - 924, 926 and 927. So until the 2nd weekend of May, this has gone back into my stitching basket.

Next up is the little amount I stitched on a new start on Sunday, Little House Needlework's Coffee Menu, my birthday treat to myself, lol. I've been wanting to stitch this for absolutely ages, especially since seeing Bea's finish recently:



Stitched on 32ct Zweigart Vintage Country Mocha linen.

Our postie girl must be wondering what's going on this week after delivering parcels from around New Zealand, the US, the Netherlands and England as I also received the chart and threads from Karen yesterday for the Indigo Rose SAL we're intending to do some time together for the Peekaboo pincushion. I can't wait to start this pretty one now Karen :)

Its a long weekend for the Easter holiday coming up here - yay, so hopefully there will lots of stitching going on. I'm going to start Spring Spot for the DT SAL, concentrate on getting the beading finished on the Mermaids, and whatever else takes my fancy :)

Catch up again soon!

More Lovely Mail

I had two parcels waiting for me when I arrived home from work yesterday, my SBEBB spring exchange from Annemiek, all the way from the Netherlands. Annemiek stitched a wonderful needlebook using a design by Ewe & Eye & Friends. Its just gorgeous and I've already filled it with No.28's piecemakers :)

The front and back


The inside


and the whole exchange


and my dear friend Carol sent me these charts by Just Nan and Earth Threads, and two Silkweaver fabrics

Thanks again Carol, you are a wonderful generous friend!

Needleroll SAL

Margaret asked me to share a list of everyone participating in the needleroll SAL over the recent weekend so we can check out one another's progress. I hope I haven't missed anyone out so please drop me a note if I have:

Margaret
Andrea
Lisa P
Twisted Stitcher
Anne

I made a start on the Blueberry needleroll on Friday but because I wasn't too happy with my fabric choice, I decided to restart it last night after finding some more suitable fabric. I hope to have a pic to share in the next day or so when I've made some decent progress, lol.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes, ecards, cards and gifts. I had a lovely day on Sunday and got very spoilt by my family and friends with some wonderful gifts including some money which of course I intend to spend on some new stash :)

Karen sent me these lovely goodies - a gorgeous smelling candle, piece of fabric and two lovely postcards that have little sampler patterns on them. Thanks again Karen.



From the little kiwi group, the "Doris" ladies (aka Kath, Lisa, Pat and Wendy) I received one of my favourite body products, body butter and a fat 1/4 of a lovely green fabric - thanks ladies :)



It was a very good mail day yesterday as I also received a parcel from Barb in the US for the recent Shepherds Bush BB exchange. I received a gorgeous fob, so delicately stitched, some sampler threads and a small piece of R and R Reproductions linen.



I spent my birthday having coffee with friends in the morning, meeting up with friends for lunch in town, and then at stitching group in the afternoon. Glenn and I went to my parents Sunday night where we had a lovely family dinner with my brother, who also celebrated his birthday recently ( the big 30) and my niece.

so now for some stitching pics: ta da! I finished Welcome Spot by the Drawn Thread on Thursday night.



Stitched on 28ct Taupe Cashel linen using DMC threads and Needle Necessities.

I loved stitching this spot and its now with my friend to be framed in time for the exhibition. This week for the SAL with Cathy, Von and Kath I hope to start Spot of Spring, the last of the spots I have left to stitch.

I realised the other day that I hadn't shared a progress pic of the Mermaids of the Deep Blue in quite some time. I have only the beading left to do now, yay!



Enjoy your day/evening!

Goals and things

Firstly, a big thank you for all the wonderful comments about the needlerolls. They are quite addictive, obviously, lol. And a big hello to those of you whom are going to join in on the SAL. I hope to start on the Sweetheart Tree Blueberry roll sometime a bit later today.

now its time for a progress report from March. For March my goals were to:
1. stitch a needleroll for a friend's birthday in April - yes, Wildflowers Roll by the Sweetheart Tree
2. ornie SAL with the kiwi ladies - yes, Britty Kitty ornie
3. continue on with the Mermaids - yes
4. gift for friend's birthday - yes, Be Happy by Shepherds Bush
5. a "just because" gift for a friend - yes, Sweetheart Tree's Friendship
6. make a start on the 12 Blessings of Christmas - no, not yet
7. Drawn Thread Thursday's - yes
8. Shepherds Bush Sunday's - Wandering Shepherd - yes, started.
9. freebie for Needle and Thread board stitchalong - yes, stitched two.

My finishes for March:
Spot of Summer - Drawn Thread
Britty Kitty - Brittercup Designs
Be Happy - Shepherds Bush
Birth Sampler Bless - Sisters and Best Friends
Friendship - the Sweetheart Tree
Merry Yule - Glory Bee
Wildflowers needleroll - Sweetheart Tree
Grateful Hearts - 4 My Boys
Never Enough Stash - 4 My Boys

New starts:
Wandering Shepherd - Shepherds Bush
Welcome Spot - Drawn Thread

so for April my goals will be:

1. continue Drawn Thread SAL with Von, Kath and Cathy
2. Kiwi ornie SAL
3. Eight Sided pin cushion exchange for SBEBB
4. Finish the Mermaids
5. Friendship exchange for SBEBB
6. Ornie for Kath -April exchange
7. Needle and Thread BB freebie SAL
8. Needleroll SAL - Blueberry Roll
9. a small baby sampler for a cousin's new baby.

I'd also like to do a bit of "finishing" since our annual cross stitch exhibition is in early May.

Enjoy your weekend :)

Needlerolls, needlerolls and more needlerolls

This post is especially for Von, Flosslady and Lisa P :) May I present some of my needleroll collection:



(please excuse the upside down Autumn Spot, lol)





There's quite a few huh? LOL. Some of these I have stitched myself, or Kath has, or I have received in exchanges over the years. I have another couple that are displayed on my office shelves with some of the friendship pieces I have received. In these baskets include designs by Shepherds Bush, Eventide Designs, the Sweetheart Tree, Lizzie Kate, Just Nan and Wren Song Designs.

Andrea and I are going to start our needleroll SAL this coming weekend, and Anne is keen to participate too. Any other takers?

thanks too for the lovely comments on the exchange pieces, as always they really appreciated - I had lots of fun stitching them, and I'm finding that these exchanges are becoming quite addictive!!

A few pics to share

I have heard from Renee that she received the spring exchange parcel for the SBEB so I can share pics now :) I stitched Jeanette Douglas's Appalachian Spring needleroll for Renee, with a few slight changes



and heres the rest of the exchange


Kath has also received the "just because" friendship gift I made for her, and the ornament for our bi-monthly ornament exchange. This is the Sweetheart Tree's Teenie Tweenie "Friendship", my first ever flat fold using Judy O'dell's flat fold instructions. I don't know why I haven't tried this finishing method before :)



and lastly, Mosey 'n Me's Christmas Heart from the 2003 JCS ornaments magazine


(edited to change pic as the other was really bugging me!)

Enjoy your day/evening!

Monday

Time for a quick post before getting stuck into a big pile of invoicing to do for Glenn, and I'm also looking after my friend's daughter later until her husband finishes work.

We had a fantastic time away over the weekend for the rugby game. We left about 8.3oam Saturday morning and arrived in Wellington early afternoon to a lovely sunny day. We checked into our motel and then headed to a bar for a few drinks and snacks before catching a bus which takes you right to the stadium. Kick off was at 5.30pm and we arrived in time to see the teams do a bit of a warm up before getting underway. The Hurricanes lost 11-20 but just being there was really cool. The atmosphere was awesome and everyone was really getting into the spirit of things. You can read a report on the match here. Next time I go I've decided to go as a real team fan and borrow my brother's hurricanes rugby jersey, and buy myself a flag and yellow wig as I actually felt underdressed in my jeans and jacket!!

After the game we headed back into town but a lot of the bars close to the stadium were pretty packed full of people. We found one closer back to our motel and stayed there for a few drinks before getting something to eat and then went back to the motel about midnight. Sunday morning we went to a cafe for brunch and then started making our way home. Quite a few stops later - food, sightseeing and toilet stops :), we arrived back about 4.30pm. Good to be home.

I got my stitching out after we had unpacked our bags and got the washing done, and worked a little on Welcome Spot, well, I should say frogged a little bit. For some reason I had completely misread the diagram for the satin stitch on the roof of the little house on Thursday and had started stitching it in complely the wrong colours. Its all fixed now, and I hope to have a happy dance on Thursday.

Part 1 arrived over the weekend for the Stitching Leporello Book which I'm really excited about. So as soon as the supplies come in the mail I'll be making a start. Can't wait, and I'm so happy as Anne has joined in on the fun too :)

Catch you tomorrow.