Second installment of Galaxy stitching

Hi everyone,

Have been stitching happily on my Galaxy project. Below is the progress so far. It now has more of the lighter purples included and some of the pretty dark purple metallic.

It is growing quite quickly as some of the stars are large and fill the squares. Really enjoying the patterns. Some look deceptively simple but require a little bit of concentration. Tried stitching one part while watching a television show and made a bad boo boo. I must have a masters certificate in unpicking by now. If I had a cent for every stitch I have removed over the years I would be a millionaire. Sound familiar? Kathy has very detailed and generous instructions but still I make mistakes because I just don't read the instructions enough times.

The old saying "count twice stitch once" also applies to reading instructions. Read twice and stitch once. Maybe it would be better to change it to, "read till it sinks in and then stitch once".

Anyway thanks to Kathy I am out the woods and into stitching sunshine again.

Here is the latest photo.

Galaxy-Kathy Rees, Colours- Eggplant & Slate

Happy stitching, Bye for now, Carol





Some progress on Galaxy

Hi everyone,

Finally some progress on stitching needlepoint. Here is my progress on Galaxy, by Needle Delights. Really pleased with the colours and there are more to come, haven't used the light purples yet so it will change again when these are added.

Many thanks for all your kind words about my first design. Currently I am working on the next design called Nile Jewels, this piece is on 12x12 canvas and can be worked in a 3 square or 5 square pattern. More on this later.

Bye for now, Happy stitching, Carol

Some fantastic news

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note today to let you know Sara and Dawn at Scarlet Thread have posted and interview we me and have very kindly lauched the sale of my first design available in the USA. Thank you to the girls for their support and encouragement. Take a peek at Scarlet Thread's blog, click "Its a stitchy thing" in my bloglist to read the details and interview.

PS. I have started on Galaxy, but not enough to post a photo yet, but it won't be far away.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Patience is a virtue, but not when you haven't got the right stretcher bars

You guessed it. Have all the threads, the canvas and the fixings but no 22" stretcher bars. Aagh.....every known size possible to man, but not that one. Luckily a friend has taken pity on me and will loan me a pair until my order from USA arrives. I also suspect that she realized my moaning and groaning about not being able to needlepoint might have sped her into fixing the problem for me.Lol.......
So this means no WIP yet, but I thought you may like to see what else arrived in my parcel.

Equilibrium, Laura J Perin

Diamond Delight 5, Debbie Rowley

Splash, Kimberly Crum

Colour of the Month Club, Needle Delights



Happy stitching, Bye for now, Carol 



Christmas in July, for me anyhow

Yipee the postman came to call today bearing gifts of great joy. In the parcel is a needlepoint chart which uses Watercolours and 3 Perle which means no laying involved, Yahooey. One handed stitching here I come.

The chart is "Galaxy" by Kathy Rees of Needle Delights Originals, www.needledelights.com

I have always loved the combination of green and purple, so I asked Kathy to kit the chart using Watercolours Eggplant and Slate and to add the threads to match these 2 colours. She did a great job and I will really enjoy stitching this one, not only because I am happy to be doing canvaswork again but the colours really sing to me.

Here is the chart.

And here is my chosen colourway, (Eggplant and Slate)

Aren't the colours great... Its quite a large project being stitched on 22 x 16 stretcher bars but with my trusty 'gazelle' floor stand helping out we will manage. I will keep you posted about progress on this one very soon. There were a few other goodies in the parcel, but that is a whole other story we will talk about later.

Happy stitching, bye for now Carol





More information on threads

Hi everyone. Here is a company in Western Australia which has great photos of a lot of the threads I mentioned in the last post.
www.thethreadstudio.com

Try not the crash the budget, there are lots of beautiful threads to amaze.

PS. sorry one of my links failed. Primke threads, should be www.christinasgifts.com.au
my apologies.

Happy stitching, I am waiting for the postman to deliver a canvaswork piece I can stitch one handed. Yipee..
Bye for now Carol

A little taste of exotic threads and fibres

Searching through my thread collection I was amazed by the number of different countries now producing some fantastic threads and fibres for the needleworker.
Here are just a few.

USA, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Romania, China, France, Greece, Italy, Australia, South Africa, Denmark, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico and I am sure I have missed many more. Today with the access to the world through the internet, purchasing threads overseas is just a mouse click away.

Below are some photos of threads in my collection. Hope they inspire you to search them out and try them for yourself in your next project.

Starting from top left to right:

Glitter cord, New Zealand, www.janevk.com

Perle thread, The Dyepot, New Zealand, www.dyepot.co.nz

Silk thread,lavender Kacoonda Hand Dyed Threads, Australia

Silk thread green Dinky Dyes, Australia, www.dinkydyes.com

Silk thread emerald and multi Illuminations by Jacinta Leishman, www.spiraldyed.com

Cotton overdyed, Primke Designs, Australia, www.christinascraftandgifts.com.au

Bottom left to right:

Overdyed cotton, 21st Century Yarns, England

The Pure Palette, soy luster shadows, USA

Silk, Vineyard silk, Wiltex threads, USA  www.vineyardsilk.com

Top left to right:

House of Embroidery, cotton overdye, South Africa

Cottage Garden Threads, overdyed bright, Australia, www.cottagegardenthreads.com.au

Stranded cotton, Valdani threads, Romania

Bottom left ot right:

Silk, Au ver a Soie, France

Reeled rayon, Chikan embroidery company, India

Multi coloured Sashiko thread, Japan

From left:
Overdyed cotton, Oliver Twists by Jean Oliver, England
Overdyed cotton mustard and purple, Stef Francis, England
and
Ball Perle 8, Finca, Presencia, Spain
the rest are listed in the other photos above.

I have included web addresses in some, but a search on the names will find most and searching is half the fun. If you click on the photo it will enlarge enough  to be able to read some of the tags attached to the threads.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol