Carol's Counted Canvaswork & Needleworks

Eureka and friends

2012-02-21T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Thank you for your kind comments. I have been able to stitch some more of Eureka. This one stitches up quite fast and Jean Hilton's use of Neon Rays for the rhodes stitches is perfect. The photo doesn't do justice to the shiny rayon and metallics. The pattern called for a Kreinik 1/16th ribbon number 043 which is no longer made, but how lucky am I. Back last year I bought some Au ver a soie metallics and amongst them was a couple of cards of number 16 Braid number 043, so I substituted that and it worked.

As for stitching friends, and I count anyone that stitches as a friend.
All the blogs below can be accessed through my bloglist on the right, take a peek and enjoy.

Recently I was introduced to Loretta Spears designs through a fellow blogger Lara of Diet Pepsi and Xanax blog. I always love to find new designs and or designers. There are some really lovely lacey and pastel pieces as well as ornaments and geometric designs. Although finding her charts may be a challenge isn't that part of the fun.

Jane over at Chilly Hollow blog, we are all waiting for a photo of your progress on the very bright and scary lady on the left of your blog page. Challenge time again Jane............lol............

Ro Pace is back with us and blogging about her latest beautiful designs. Atlantis Rising will be a ANG conference piece this year and I am hoping to be there this year.

Coni at Spinster Stitcher blog has been keeping me busy redesigning my work/storage areas (in my head) the reality is not quite there yet. But I can dream.

I love to read all of your posts and I intend to be a little more interactive now that I have learned about more comments and following in the last few months. February was learn how to make a more pleasing site. Green is my favourite colour at present so this is why the background is now olive green. I find it soothing and makes reading the text easier. Hope it is okay for you.

Bye for now, Carol

Small steps in the right direction

2012-02-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

This week I was able to stitch a little more of Eureka. But...........there was some unstitching to do first. The first pink metallic smyrna row came out because I hadn't turned the right angled corners correctly, I tried ignoring it but that never works, so out it came. Then came the third row which is a combination of large crosses, part waffle and a couple of metallic fill in stitches. This section is a lovely pastel mix the next blocks of colour are more dramatic and I am looking forward to starting these next set of colours.

For a while I have been looking for a way to protect the ends of my Stork scissors. I have tried the Clover ones, corks and various holders, but recently Kay from the Embroiderers' Guild came up with the answer. Kay works in the health system and asked a few of her fellow workers to save the ends from the new scissors and medical instruments. They stay on when put in your stitching bag and they fit all kinds of scissors. Because they are "rubber" in texture and have a good grip on the end they come off easily when you need them to. It has the name Multigate embossed on the top. If you have friends who work at hospitals or the health areas ask if they can perhaps save them for you. The good thing is it is another little bit of recycling and that is always a good idea.

Here is a photo of the ends, together with my favourite scissors.

Thanks for stopping by. I am off to read your adventures. Bye for now, Carol

One step forward and two back, it like that sometimes

2012-02-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Sorry for not posting for a while. I have been stitching quite a lot but most of it is for classes or submissions for classes and so I haven't been able to share photos with you. I am hoping to take up and continue with my canvaswork piece Eureka very soon so I will post a photo as soon as possible.

Altengamme is patiently waiting for some attention also and the guilt is gnawing away.

Isn't it wonderful how stitching never complains when you leave it alone in a dark corner for weeks on end and then drag it out into the light and stitch 3 whole stitches on it and then return it to the dark. Thank goodness, if my stitching pieces could talk to each other they would probably call strike action and march up and down the street in front of my house with banners saying "We demand better treatment for linen,canvas and threads". Ah oh the cat has just given me that look, you know the one that says "she's losing the plot again". Let us just chalk this up to stitching in excess and too many late nights.

Our Embroiderer's Guild is going to hold the bi-annual Members Exhibition in March. All members are asked to submit embroidered pieces for display. The theme this year is Medieval so this should be a very colourful display. If your are in South Australia it will be at Hughes Street, Mile End the opening will be the 1st March 2012, we would love to see you. I will be demonstrating stitching on Thursday nights during the evenings starting at 4.00pm so come and have a chat.

I promise more news and photos soon. Happy stitching to you all,
Bye for now, Carol

Beautiful hand dyed threads

2012-02-02T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Thank you all for the encouragement to finish Altengamme, there has been a little progress only about 150 stitches but at least it is 150 stitches closer to a finish.

In January I was reading about VictorianMottoSamplerShoppe threads (click to follow the link) on a stitching friend's blog and became mesmerised by the beautiful hand dyed threads and trims. I ordered some Christmas colours to try and they arrived today. There are 20yds in each skein and the cotton is soft to the touch and will be a delight to stitch with. Nancy likes to share and quite often has give-away's of her threads but don't wait to try them hop online and buy some we need to support our talented suppliers.

Thursday night was Guild stitching group. I caught up with Lyn who allowed me to photograph her christmas exchange banner she received from Dee in England.

Santa was finished as a banner complete with a twisted green and red cord and a gold heart for the tassel at the end. Isn't he just lovely? I love the way his left foot is up the the air. Great work Dee as always.

Have a wonderful day stitching, now I am off the read about your stitching worlds.
Bye for now, Carol

European BAP in the making

2012-01-26T23:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
The 26th January in Australia is a public holiday commemorating European settlement of Australia.
The girls and I celebrated by having a stitching day at my house. Because being a hostess is not my greatest talent ( I tend to not sit still for long) I dragged out a BAP that has been hiding in the cupboard waiting to be finished for a little time (don't tell anyone it has been on the go for nearly 3 years). So I thought I would 'fess up and post a photo to keep me on track because it is another 3/4 finish. Only another 1/4 to go and how hard could that be?

Introducting ta da, drum roll please..... "Altengamme" by Stickideen von der Wiehenburg

She is a big project the design size is 21" X 21" or 54cm X 54cm on 28 count Antique White linen.
I bought this chart through a website/company called European XS who stock lots of beautiful European designs and the Chatelaine series by Martina Weber.

Here a couple of close ups of the motifs.

The colours I used are DMC Black 310 and DMC Red 814. The pattern doesn't give linen or colour choices but leaves that up to the stitcher. So if red and black aren't your colours maybe a green or blue mix would work for you. What do you think?

The post arrived with my Colour Collection of the Month from Homestead Needlearts, January is snow white shades. Some really pretty shiny threads and 3 a haven't seen before. Here is the photo for you to see.

Don't they make you wish it was Winter in Australia? The shiny holographic thread woven into the threads don't show to well, but they are there. Trust me.

I had a request to advise where I bought my The Sweetheart Tree chart/kit. I came across a great website that offers discounted linen charts and other crafts called 123stitch in USA they are very prompt and the articles are always well packed. Also The Sweetheart Tree has their own website and they have a list of vendors that may offer a LNS closer to where you live. Hope this helps.

Well I think that is enough of my ramblings. Happy stitching. I am off to read what you are all up to.

Bye for now, Carol

Stitch faster Carol its nearly February

2012-01-19T16:09:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I am so amazed at all the beautiful stitching that has been achieved already in 2012 by all of you busy stitchers out there. Methinks I will have to “roll up my sleeves” and move into action or get left behind.

My first teaching class at Country Bumpkin (a LNS in Adelaide, South Australia) is scheduled for March. It is a small blackwork piece I designed and stitched a couple of years ago.

Here is a photo of the little pin pillow.

This week it was a girls stash-day out. We started off with lunch, very civilized and moved on to a lovely quilt shop called Patchwork by Sea. I picked up some lovely quilt fabric by Moda, the series is called French General and the antiqued colours with a very French influence are just yummy. Aren’t they beautiful and there is another new range of these colours due in soon. They work really well with Natural shades of linen.

On the stitching front there is a little more of Eureka and a very little more of Lavender Fields.

I have been busy constructing and making notes on some other projects so I hope I am forgiven for my dismal progress. My very patient friend Christine luckily helps me out of my construction dilemmas as they happen. Carol and sharp needles are not a good combination. I have stitched my left thumb knuckle several times while hemming. I did find some new needles which don’t hurt as much if you do stick your fingers. They are Clover, Black/Gold Needles No.9 applique/sharps. The eye is gold and the main part of the needle is black plated and has invisible grooves that help the needle slide through material (or fingers) easier. They do work and there are 6 to a package.

Well that’s a little of what is happening in my part of the world, I am off to read about all your triumphs and treasures. Happy stitching.

Bye for now, Carol

Cross eyed, time for a little canvas

2012-01-12T22:20:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

After a few weeks of intense stitching on 36count linen it is nice to be able to stitch without magnification. Pulled this chart out of the stash, Eureka, Jean Hilton 1991 it was bought some time ago, I first saw this stitched up and looking lovely on a friend's wall. The original colours are apple green, periwinkle,deep rose and lavender and some pretty Watercolours, Peach Sherbet,Sunset and Deep Sunset which I had kitted up at the time. There are lots of metallics and shiny, shiny Neon Rays. Here is the outline and a few stitches.
The first canvas of 2012. Here is the progress so far, there would be a lot more if I hadn't counted the space incorrectly between the borders the first time I stitched it. The chart suggests ( and I don't question what Jean Hilton recommends) that you stitch all the borders first. The light shiny pink Neon Rays are worked with 36" and 48" lengths. Oh for longer arms.

Eureka, Jean Hilton 1991

There was a little more stitching on Lavender Fields but not enough to share.

Bye the Bye take a look at a wonderful online class project offered by Amy Mitten, Thread Winder bags with accessories in 3 choices of design and colour which are all wonderful. Needleprint blogspot and Amy Mitten's website have wonderful photos of the choices. But be quick the online classes are filling up fast.

Happy stitching, Bye for now, Carol

Christmas post has arrived

2012-01-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
As promised here is a photo of the current linen project, The Sweetheart Tree, Lavender Fields Quadrielle complete with a hoop mark (oops). This is so delicate and the colours are very feminine. It is stitched on 28count Linen with DMC cotton threads, unfortunately these are only sold as kits but the colours Sandra has chosen are perfect.

Many of the goodies I ordered over christmas have now arrived into my postbox. These were to add to my Quaker stash. Couldn't decide which one to choose so I opted out and bought all 4. I know I'm hopeless but it was sure fun.
Here they are.

I have looked at both of these charts for a long time, so Christmas gave me a good excuse to acquire them.
The other 2 are.

Even if they are never stitched as a whole piece the individual motifs make lovely ornaments for gifts to give to family and friends.

There are some exciting new cyberclasses available or coming up in the future already in 2012. Shining Needle has a Jane Zimmmerman geometric, ANG has a Ro Pace geometric later in the year, Scarlett Thread has From Molehill to Mountain and Cyberpointers has Kimono revisited. Wow! how is that for choice. 2012 is going to be a great stitching year.

Bye for now, Carol

New Years resolutions, Umm, next year............

2012-01-04T20:30:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
2012 is going to be a great year, right? You bet. I thought about New Year's resolutions but they haven't worked in previous years so I will give in to experience and go with the flow.
We have survived our hot spell, just. Not much stitching was done in that week. But the windows and doors are all open now to catch the cool breeze. Wonderful.........

Looks like I may have some new linen designs published in a magazine this year and new kits available. I will know more in the next few weeks so I will be able to share some details then.
There is also a new canvas design almost ready for publishing. This one on black 18 count canvas. Black canvas is my favourite to me it brings bright colours to life and is well worth the extra effort it takes to stitch on it. This one I will share soon as I can complete the notes needed.

No photos this time, I forgot to charge the camera after all the christmas pictures. Current linen project is a Sweetheart Tree Quadrille and the current canvas is still Looking Glass. I promise photos next post.
Hope you keep your New Year's resolutions unlike me, well at least until February 2012.

Bye for now, Carol

New Years eve in Australia

2011-12-30T19:39:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
I am writing this as our weather soars into the 39-41C degrees forecast for the next couple of days. Baxter the cat and I will be hibernating and sitting as close to the air-conditioning as possible and doing a lot of heavy sighing until this nightmare goes away. I do feel for the birds and insects that visit my garden. It must be very bad for the bees especially, I took this photo of my old birdbath this morning.

It has been like LA airport with the honey bees taking a drink and then flying off making room for more to take their place. The birds have had to fight their way through this morning so I have added another 2 bowls of water for them to drink and bathe in. You can see we have already lost the lawn (turf) from the garden its is just a weed encrusted dust bowl. Arrgh.... summer in the southern hemisphere.

Some good news. I have finished Emerald ahead of time. The colours are beautiful and it was fun to stitch. Will do more of Kathy's designs in the future. Here is the finished piece.

The photo is on a bit of an angle because it was taken indoors but it allowed me to show more of the rich colours. Next it is back to finishing Kurdy Biggs, Looking Glass when my brain has cooled enough to work properly again. LG is a thinking piece so not one you work on with brain meltdown but with a clear head and a good night's sleep. I did do a large piece of un-stitching recently. I found an old Told in a Garden cross stitch chart I had partly stitched and decided I would never finish it, so I started to unpick it to reuse the linen. Thought it wouldn't take long. Yeah, famous last words, 3 days later I still haven't completed the unpicking.

To everyone of my friends and followers have a wonderful New Years eve and all the very best for 2012. Happy stitching.
Bye for now, Carol

Christmas Eve in Australia

2011-12-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Firstly I need to apologize for chopping off Santa' head in the last photo. So here is a full photo of his loveliness.

Isn't he cute. Well worth waiting to see.
Thursday night was a girls get-together night we have each year at a members home while the Guild is shut for the holiday break. Anne very graciously opens her home to all the girls to stitch, eat and chat till the small hours. The house always reminds me of the Santa grotto in one of the big department stores with elves,reindeer,snowmen, santas and assorted animals that sing, play musical instruments, light up and just plain sparkle. Here are some photos of the night and the beautiful tree with all the handmade ornaments collected over the years.

Anne's Christmas Tree 2011

The girls relaxing

Some stitching and intense concentration

Emerald is nearly finished only 2 small squares to finish, so it will be 2012 before a photo appears. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. Welcome to all my new followers and to all of you that have kept coming back to read my ramblings. You never know, this year I might even work out how the leave comments and such using Blogger on your blogs. In the meantime I will watch and read with delight all your interesting comments and stitching triumphs.

Bye for now, Carol

Flying needles required

2011-12-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
My goodness it is nearly the 25th where did the rest of the month go. Last Thursday night was our Guild Thursday night Christmas party and ornament exchange. It was decided this year that we would divide into two groups, 1 group to bring savoury foods and the other to bring sweet foods to share. This worked out very well and there was a mixture of lovely yummy goodies to tempt even the most fussy of eaters.
After we ate it was time to draw numbers for the English exchange Christmas ornaments. As always each parcel was a lovely surprise with lots of wow's and ooo's being said. Here is a photo of "The Common Thread's" exchanges.

The Common Thread, 2011 Christmas exchange gifts

There are 3 gifts still to be opened due to some members having family commitments on the night. I will have my camera with me next Thursday night and will try to catch up with the missing ones then. The girls are sooooo clever and the ornaments are all treasured. What is really lovely is that each year there is a new ornament for your christmas tree to remind you how lovely it is to be a stitcher and have others out there just as passionate about stitching and sharing as you are.

Here are my gifts, the noel is Australian from Joan and the fob is from Dee is England, (do you recognise the pattern?)

I was overjoyed with both of my gifts and they hang from my little tree for everyone to enjoy.

On the stitching front I must admit it has been a bit slow. Lots of christmas gift stitching but not much else at the moment. Here is a little gift I just finished stitched from a pattern I have wanted to stitch for some time.

It is stitched on 36 count Permin "Lambswool" with 1 strand of Canna Lily Cottage Garden overdye cotton. Like many others I have become a collector of Quaker patterns so this will probably be the first of many to be added to the to-do list.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Saturday stitching with Lemon tartlets

2011-12-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Saturday was a great stitching day. I sat outside with friends, enjoying the good weather and the birds visiting the garden. There is something about stitching in the daylight outdoors that makes it a little magical. Good company, lemon tartlets and home made biscuits probably added to the magic quite a lot. If you are in a stitching slump may I suggest a day outdoors may just be the tonic needed. Though many of you in the Northern Hemisphere are in the middle of very icy weather I don't suggest you try it just yet. I will stitch a few stitches for you.

Here is a little more of Emerald, sorry I had the last photo round the wrong way, lets just call it a Seniors moment and move on.

Down to the last 2 rows now. The beautiful shades of green really do not show up in the photo as luscious as they actually are. There are some bigger squares so this should fill in the remainder quite quickly.

Saturday I also worked on some more linen pieces using 35/36 count linens.
Here's a photo of the workings so far.

These were stitched with a variety of threads from my thread collection, all overdyes. Not sure how they will be finished yet. I just need to work out more details before I decide.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Happy dance, found a Michael Boren chart

2011-12-07T20:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Ever since not being able to attend and stitch Michael Boren's class at the 2011 ANG Seminar it has been a bit of an obsession for me to acquire at least one of his charts to stitch. Well the good news is I recently found some. This is the one I decided on its called "Scheheradaze" the design was issued in 2003 under his design name of Shenandoah Stitchery Designs. It has 8 colourways listed and is a small piece on 7" x 10" stretcher bars. I have chosen the original colourway on black 18 count canvas because the colours are so very rich.

This will be a good project to complete between some of the really large pieces waiting in the stash.

Yesterday I spent a day with friends stitching and chatting, but the weather was sooooo hot 32deg C it was more chatting than stitching so not a lot more completed on Emerald. The pincushion is finished so that is one more to cross off the list of to-do's.

Thought you may like to see 2 Colour of the Month threads that arrived lately.

Red....

And Blue

These are thanks to Theresa at Homestead Needlearts, Thereas always makes great choices when matching the colours.

Happy stitching, Bye for now, Carol

Heave ho Internet Explorer

2011-12-04T18:50:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Just when I thought everything was okay another gremlin appeared. It seems IE9 has a few little problems which they are working on. So to enable me to blog it got the old heave ho and Google Chrome has taken its place. Which means friends a whole new learning experience for the techno challenged. Oh well they tell me you have to keep the brain cells active as you get older.

I have finished a little more of Emerald, the star with the green border is my favourite so far. The metallic highlight is Kreinik 12 #085 a really pretty thread which I am sure will be used for another project really soon.

Here is Emerald

Each Christmas at the Embroiderers Guild we have an end of year party and we exchange handmade gifts. This is my contribution which will be finished as a pincushion. The thread is Anchor multicolour cotton Number 1206 and the linen is 35count Natural by Permin. As usual I have left this till last minute. The party is on the 15 December, 2 weeks away and I am sure you would never do such a thing right? Lol...................

This is it so far.

Isnt it a pretty pattern, its from France and I love red just as much as green in equal amounts. Well I am off now to finish this now I have the backing I needed. Happy stitching, its great to be back.

Bye for now, Carol

The computer is now happy so, posting at last

2011-11-24T23:26:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

It has been a while but I do have an excellent excuse. I downloaded some new software and it clashed with some of my other downloaded toolbars. The end result was not being able to use blogger. Thank goodness there is a wonderful man called Antony who arrived today and fixed it's little hissy fits. Luckily I have been able to read all my other friends blogs to keep up with what is going on out there in the rest of the world. You have all been very busy stitching your fingers to the bone.

Stitching has been happening here also, but I thought you might like to see the work of my stitching group friends from "The Common Stitch" in Surrey, England. They stitched my first small free chart using a range of different colours and threads. I am truly thrilled and excited by their results. As a designer I love to see others take my patterns and alter them to give the stitcher their unique end result. Please accept my sincere and warm thanks for your work, I hope you enjoyed a new experience. And special thank you to Dee for overseeing the group's stitching.

This is how Dee finished her design. The group will get together in January 2012 and finish off their pieces.

Dont they look great.

May I also thank you for your kind comments on Emerald and the biscornu. I have been asked to teach the biscornu in 2012 at a retail store in Australia and several other pieces throughout the coming year. It is starting to look like a busy year which is a very good thing. So I hope you dont mind if a little linen work pops onto the screen from time to time.

Bye for now, Carol

Who is that man in red?............

2011-11-11T19:09:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Today, Saturday 12^th November is The Christmas Pageant (Parade) in Adelaide, South Australia. All the children, moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas line the city streets to greet lots of colourful floats, marching girls, pipe bands, the king and queen of the pageant, clowns and of course Santa. It is a warm day this year it is above 30deg C so by the end of the day there are lots of very tired parents and little people who have had a very full day. The pageant is usually the sign that it is time for decorating the house with the tree and all the trimmings. So if this is your Saturday, I hope you have had a lots of fun.

Welcome Santa.

On to stitching. Here is a little more of Emerald, Needle Delights.

And below is one the pieces I have recently been working on that is holding up my progress on my counted canvaswork. This is one of my new linen chart pieces.

Eucalypt biscornu.

Bye for now, Happy stitching, Carol

35 count linen to 18 count canvas holes

2011-11-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Although I have been very quiet on the blog there has been lots of stitching going on. Most of it not counted canvas. Now the projects I have been working on are designed and stitched it’s time to get back to Looking Glass. The fourth section is started and I would have had more done if I hadn’t had to unstitch and move 2 of the motifs. Oh well if you stitch you had better get used to unstitching very quickly; it is usually the first lesson you learn. But I am still smiling because the end result is lovely.

Here is the woeful completed section, either side of the dagger Amadeus as of today.

Last week was the Quilt and Craft Fair in Adelaide, South Australia, so the girls got together to do some retail therapy. Although this is mainly quilting supplies usually we find something interesting and new. Not much in the way of threads but I did find that Cottage Garden Threads, Australia are now dyeing Perle 8 & 12 to match the stranded cotton colours. Picked up some lovely quilt fabrics for lining linen projects and some sparkly-arkaly braid for edging. We chatted with old friends, made new friends and generally had a great time.

Here is the stash.

For anyone who would like to learn more counted canvaswork, especially my fellow Australian stitchers take a look at two projects. The first is “From Molehill to Mountain”, through Scarlet Thread and the second” Kimono revisited”, through the Shining Needle both of these are cyberclasses and are great value for money. They are large projects but you will learn soooo.... much they are well worth the time they take to complete.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

2011-10-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

The hardware store is no longer the domain of the home handy man, move over boys the stitching girls have claimed them as stitching accessory havens.

It all started with a set of clamps for attaching stretcher bars to a table top and has grown from there. Many of the stitchers at the Guild have clamps, pliers, baby hammers, staple guns, storage boxes, trolleys with wheels and fastening nic nacs of all shapes and sizes. So now when DH says he is off to the hardware store I chime in “Okay when are we going”. This is usually followed by a very heavy sigh... his domain has been infiltrated.

Hardware store shopping was always been for me, up until now, 5 minutes shopping and 25 minutes waiting in the car for DH but now it is a contest of who will leave the shop first. Every aisle has something interesting. Why was this not known earlier? Were the handy men of the world conspiring to keep these places a secret? We will never know. But next time you run out of stitching shops to visit and want something different try your local hardware store, you’re mind with be whirling with ideas of what the object in aisle 3 (insert any aisle number here) could be used for in the stitchy sense.

On the stitching front, not much on Looking Glass.
I have been asked about this design and how difficult it is to stitch. I will admit this one is not a design for your first counted canvas piece. It is an Intermediate project which requires a lot of counting and checking. Having said that it is a great learning piece which by the end you will have increased your knowlege of many of Jean Hilton's stitches. My advice is not to rush this project and do practice stitching of the motifs on a scrap of spare canvas first before stitching onto the main project and you will be pleased with the results. As with most projects if there is a stitch you do not like doing just remove it and replace it with one you do like. Hope this helps.

Here is a new start which I am stitching between working on 35count linen (new chart project).

Emerald, by Needle Delights Originals

This is the original colours, all greens and a just adore green so I didn’t change any of the colours. This stitches up quickly and I can stitch on this one at night it is a nice change from the fine linen which is best stitched in daylight.

I see that a lot of snow has already fallen in many parts of the USA. Keep safe and warm and I wish you don’t have too many power outages.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Which way to turn?

2011-10-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

This week has been a bit of a dilemma. Because I stitch and teach more than counted canvaswork it has been a “which way do I go” kind of week. So flitting from one technique to another has been the dilemma. Just at the moment I need to split into 2 to achieve everything. Although I am not sure the world would be ready for two of me.

There has been a little more stitching on Looking Glass, some construction of some stitching accessories, finishing of a sample class project and working on the next canvas design to be released.

Here is the latest on Looking Glass, doesn’t look like a lot more but the outline took quite some time to complete. Now it is down to the interesting stitches. Yeah......................

Hope you enjoyed the free Christmas Star project from my last post and may I add a big thank you to Janet Perry over at Nuts about Needlepoint (in my blog list) for mentioning it in her postings.

Bye for now, Carol
PS: Hope to catch up with some of you through the “From Molehill to Mountain” cyberclass at Scarlet Thread. I am off to sign up.

Free Christmas chart

2011-10-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
Talking about Christmas projects in my last post prompted me to design and offer you this little free Christmas Star chart. Because the design is only 1.5” x 1.5”(4x4cms) it makes a nice sized scissor fob or an insert for a Christmas card. Hope it helps with your Christmas stitching. Enjoy.

Christmas Red Star

Christmas Blue Star

The specialty stitches I have charted in the above diagrams. The outer border is gobelin stitch over 2 (remember to change direction). Followed by a single row of tent stitches. The corners are small alternating scotch stitches. The border around the star are smyrna crosses.

Colours used in the above samples.
Red: Needle Necessities Kris Kringle 1531 or T/Works 1090, N/N Green with Envy 1320 or T/Works 1047, T/Works #8 overdye braid 71089
Blue: N/N 1830 Jewels of the Nile or T/W 1138, Gumnuts Yarns Buds 589, Green, Metallic, I used a scrap of mulitcolour thread, please use any mulitcolour you would like.
Use 3 strands of overdye cotton, 1 strand Metallic and Buds.

Not much more stitching on Looking Glass I will have more to show by next post.

Bye for now, Carol

October, it can't be October....

2011-10-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

This week there is a little more of Looking Glass completed. A lot of the minor motifs that are between the larger ones I have not added yet. I think I will wait until the beads and crystals are added in each area and decide whether it needs the extras or not. I like the large yellow canvas spaces showing through it seems to lighten the browns and oranges of the threads.

Here she is so far.

Looking at the calendar is scary; it is a little over 2 months before Christmas and as usual I haven’t started any of my hand stitched Christmas cards. Every year I promise myself I will start in January and have them finished in advance so that the mad rush at the end of the year doesn’t happen. Well ha ha as if that was ever going to happen. As usual it will take a few late nights of mad flying needles to make the 2011 cards a reality. Why do we do this to ourselves? I kid myself I work better under pressure, but if I think about it that is just an excuse that doesn’t cut the mustard. Let’s face it, it boils down to the “we will do it tomorrow” philosophy and we all know about that. Right? So if you have Christmas stitching to complete here is a friendly reminder to START NOW and maybe December 2011 won’t be as hectic (in the stitching area) as usual.

Happy stitching with no reverse stitching (we just haven’t got the time),

Bye for now, Carol

Butterfly, butterfly fly away home

2011-10-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Not much progress on the stitching front. I have been a bit of a social butterfly. My aunt is visiting from Western Australia, so much lunching and wine sampling, then sushi-ing and tea drinking with my stitching friend and last but not least visiting the oh ohhh Chiropractor, but the postman has visited in between times so..................

The colour of the month threads have arrived. This month is copper/browns, so shiny and luscious. This is the first time I have handled Baroque silk, oooooo this is yummy.

Here is a photo

I have also stumbled across an inexpensive Australian silk thread by Cascade House based in Victoria, Australia. They produce 6 strand silk, perle silk, mohair, ribbon and other goodies. The Stranded silk is packed on 7.5mtr cards (8.4yds) in 70 different colours, some of which are overdyes.

Here is a photo of the samples I bought.

It is another stunning day today, I just love spring. As I face the window while sitting at this computer the view of the Bottlebrush(Callistemon) trees in flower and the hundreds of buzzing bees visiting these flowers make me smile.

Isn’t it lovely?

Hope you are making stitching time, bye for now, Carol

Spoilt for choice

2011-10-09T23:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I have been zipping around the internet today, reading blogs and checking out class offerings for 2012. The class pictures for the 2012 ANG seminar are great with lots of choice for the dedicated counted canvas stitchers of the world. There are at least 5 which caught my eye, well I stopped at 5, by then I had brain overload. Thanks to all involved in putting these classes together, can’t wait till the catalogue comes in the post. Take a look on the ANG Yahoo group but be warned, start saving now because it will be hard to make only 1 choice.

On the stitching front.

Tahiti, Needle Delights Originals, is finished and here is the final photo. Thank you very much to Kathy Rees another delightful design which was a joy to stitch.

A little more to Looking Glass, Threedles has been added. I wish the yellow canvas would photograph a little better I have tweaked and fiddled with the camera and image settings but to no available, so just think butter yellow when you look at the photo and I will try to stop stressing about it. This piece requires lots of concentration and lots and lots of counting to get motifs into the right place. But it is so pretty and each stitch is an adventure.

Here she is so far.

Well the postman has just arrived with my copy of Needlepoint Now so I am off to digest every page.

Bye for now, Carol

Lady luck smiles on me

2011-10-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
Tuesday this week was my time to meet with Nicki my friend’s daughter who is a chiropractor or as I call her “the miracle worker with magic hands”. She does her magic and 24 hours later the world is straight again and sore and stiff muscles decide to work properly. Now because this is in the afternoon what do stitching girls do with time on their hands? That’s a no-brainer question...lol....Shop for stitchy things right? And of course throw in some “Yum cha” for sustenance.

So off we went to another shop that has moved recently called Country Bumpkin, this is the company that publishes “Inspirations” magazine. We spent about an hour wandering, picking up threads, hand lotions and flicking through books then suddenly the lady behind the counter says “everything is 30% off this week” Woo hoo, how was that for being in the right place at the right time.

While we were chatting at the counter I noticed a box with the word Lowery on the side. Now I have been asking on the ANG board and with friends about stands and trying to decide what to buy and this just dropped into my lap. It was a Lowery floor stand at a price which was really amazing and with 30% off made it very attractive indeed. My friend agreed this was meant to happen so I am now the owner of a Lowery stand which is portable enough to take to Guild nights and other stitching groups to stitch. Thank you to all of you who passed on information about stands and what you use at Seminar’s. I will be looking at the add on table clamp for this purpose.

On the stitching front, I am still working on Tahiti by Needle Delights very nearly finished and here it is so far.

Also here is a little more of Looking Glass by Threedles, these 2 designs are so different it is fun to move from one to the other and also gives your hands a break by stitching at different angles.

................................

Bye for now, Carol

Tahiti sounds nice............

2011-10-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Firstly I would like to thank you for all your very kind comments on my work and the launch of my new design. I always enjoy reading and following along with other stitchers through their blogs as they create their own special pieces and I get very excited for them when a design is finally finished and hanging on a wall in their home for everyone to enjoy.

The postman arrived a couple of days ago with a parcel from Needle Delights, sadly Kathy has decided to close her shop but will still design more beautiful charts. Currently she is having a sale and I couldn’t resist 2 designs she has on offer. One is “Tahiti” and the other “Emerald”, Tahiti is one of the brightest thread choices I have seen for a while and Emerald is several shades of green (love green). When I opened the package I just had to start Tahiti and because this design is on stretcher bars of 10” x 14” this one will not take too long to complete. Really loving the bright clear colours it seems to compliment the Australian sunshine and bright blue skies. (SSShhh not talking about the w-e-a-t-h-e-r, remember what happened last time).

Here is a photo of Tahiti so far.

There has been a little more progress on Looking Glass but I will save a photo for when there is more to show in the next circle. The current stitches use 2 strands of Sparkly Braid by Rainbow Gallery, a thread I haven’t used before and I like the way it sits against the canvas giving a nice sparkle and a very fine twist, especially when creating a Jessica.

Today is Monday in Australia which is a Labour Day holiday so today is catch up housework day a home and then a little more stitching.

Happy holiday to the Aussies and bye for now to everyone, Carol

Who moved that weather dial

2011-09-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Remind me never to talk about the weather again. Since posting about the beautiful sunny weather and abundance of nature the wheels have fell off. For the past 3 days the wind has been extremely gusty and the pollen count is off the Richter scale, woes betide folks with bad hay fever. In the midst of all this like the valiant troupers that we are my friend and I braved the elements and visited a “new” needlework shop. Well it was new to us it has been in business for years but moved to another location. I found some lovely twisted silk called High Twist by Kacoonda an Australian company.

Here is a little photo of the thread

On the stitching front Looking Glass has advanced a little more. Have made an error which I am going to leave because it is the Gloriana silk border and re using Gloriana is not a good idea, it tends to shed fibre if you rip it out and is then a bit thin when reused. If you notice I changed direction of the last leg of the Smyrna crosses. It would also be impossible to change now because all the motifs within this area are anchored into this border. So this piece is what I call “unique” because they’re won’t be another like it anywhere. Other stitchers are way too clever to make the same mistake, right?

Here is Looking Glass so far

And lastly, some exciting news. My second design “Nile Jewels” has been released for sale in the USA through our good friends at Scarlet Thread. If you would like to see the design, hop over to Its a Stitchy Thing from my blog list and take a peek or go to my post of 28 August. Hope you like it; I used some of my favourite colours for this one.

Bye for now, Carol

Looking Glass plus temptation

2011-09-25T19:32:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

This weekend was a quiet and relaxing time. The weather is turning warmer and the garden and visiting birds are glorious. A great time to take the stitching frame out into the garden and enjoy nature while I stitch.

Looking Glass has had a little more attention with a few more colours added. Several of the smaller shapes I have left out, not sure if I will change them to something else but I can decide that at a later stage.

Here is a photo of the progress so far:

Here are 2 new small monthly items of counted canvaswork.

I received an email from Fireside Stitchery telling customers they are starting a monthly club of geometric small designs. You can sign up for them individually or for the whole club. It is great to see counted canvas stitchers able to join in on the clubs that are usually available for painted canvases.
Also Scarlet Thread is now stocking Needle Delights Originals, colour of the month kits/charts. These are small designs using a range of threads and a great way to try different fibres.

Hope you don’t blow your budget too much. It is difficult to pass up these little treasures, unless you are very strong willed.

Well I am off to play in the sun, happy stitching.

Bye for now, Carol

Stitching with friends

2011-09-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Mystique by Jean Hilton is finished. She was a genius, way ahead of her time. There were 2 backstitched rows around the creamy narrow border but I decided it was nicer without them. Here is the photo.

Stitched more on Looking Glass but this one will need pacing as the yellow canvas is very drawing to the eyes. Colours are great with lots of texture. The photo will come soon as more of the second circle is stitched.

Tonight is stitching night down at the EGSA so I will catch up on what everyone is working on. This is always fun, some evenings not much stitching happens as the ‘girls ‘ are in a mischievous mood and we spend most of the evening swapping funny stories about DH antics or interesting titbits of life. The group’s ages range from 20 somethings to 80 somethings so there is always someone with a mild crisis that needs to be heard and solved. We all at some time have arrived in a mood of hair pulling only to leave with the weight of the world removed from our shoulders by this special group. Friends make the world rock.

Remember those empty stretcher bars. Slap, slap the sound of one very naughty stitcher slapping the back of her hand. They are starting to fill up again. Decided last night that a smaller design was needed so I framed up an old Jean Hilton piece called Eureka which in on 14 x 14 bars. This one is much more manageable to take to stitching group. Will post photo when I have more than a couple of stitches done.

Bye for now, Carol

PS: Thank you for the kind words about Aquamarine and thanks for letting me off the hook with Santa Jane.

But santa I promise to be good

2011-09-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your comments about Galaxy. I really enjoyed you following along until the end.

I decided before continuing on with Looking Glass a bit of stitching tidy up needed to take place. So out of the cupboard and various other hiding spots came the unfinished projects. Over the weekend several pieces we have talked about earlier have been completely finished and put to bed in the stitching vault. So Galaxy has friends to keep her company. Dowagiac, Aquamarine, Camelot and Silken Sonata have all come off the stretcher bars which mean new ones can now take their place. Thump, thump, the sound of one happy stitcher patting herself on the back for being a very good girl and not buying more stretcher bars instead.

Mystique is the next piece to be finished soon. Only the corners and a small border are needed to be stitched for it to be completed. There will be a photo soon.

In the meantime here is the completed Aquamarine by Needle Delights, stitched in my Deep Ocean greens/blues with a few minor design changes. Thanks to Coni over at Spinster Stitcher for introducing me to this design. This one stitched up very quickly and was stitched on 12 x 12 stretcher bars which was a nice change from the larger projects.

Here is a list of the threads used from my blue/green stash:

Vineyard Silks: c078 Seafoam, c214 Naples Blue, c203 North Sea Green, c206 Seaport, c079 Reef Waters, c133 Iceberg. Needle Neccessities: Overdyed Perle 5, 5138, 5136.Watercolours: 197 Monsoon, 067 Celadon, 229 Oasis, 068 Mediterranean. Renaissance Designs Sprinkles 36, 06. J L Walsh silk/wool ovedye 1420. Madeira floss 1106 0518. DMC floss 597. Plus 2 threads from my hand-dyed collection, dyed when I was in my inventive phase, one is very very light pale green and the other olive green and grey overdye Perle 5.

Bye for now, Carol

Ps. Jane at Chilly Hollow is off the hook, the challenge is revoked, she told me how many counted pieces she has yet to finish. I am very impressed.

A drum roll please.............

2011-09-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Galaxy is finished. Here she is in all her glory. Photography still not the best but I hope you enjoy. This is now the correct orientation of the design, but I quite like it longways with the stripey star at the top. What do you think?

Spent yesterday taking a look at the Nuido exhibition and then spending the rest of the evening with friends at our Thursday night group at the Embroiderers' Guild of South Australia. Some were stitching canvas pieces. Anne has been stitching David McCaskill's cyberclass " Journey"recently but was taking a break last night and working on a christmas sampler which will be over 1 metre long when finished. (A present from me, mean aren't I). I think Jane over at Chilly Hollow probably agrees LOL............ Yolanda was stitching a Lois Caron piece, Stained Glass Window, really pretty in yellows and blues and me I was finishing off a small Needle Delights design called Aquamarine, stitched with my colours choices of green/blue deep ocean shades. No more on Looking Glass yet, but it will happen soon.
Bye for now, Carol

Basketweave ughhh..........

2011-09-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
I am a little late in posting but I have been trying to finish Galaxy, it is taking a little longer than I thought. The last star has a lot of basketweave to stitch and this is not my favourite stitch (I just need lots more practice). So to encourage me to keep going I have started my next project “Looking Glass” by Threedles in between this last piece of the design.

Here is the centre of Looking Glass. Already I have changed the thread and moved about the pattern a little just to make me happy. Just beware if you stitch this piece that the stitch diagram for the centre border and the master pattern do not match. A little whoops that does happen from time to time even with all the checking and double checking they still slip through as I have found from bitter experience when creating my own charts.

The colourway is the set using Buttercream yellow canvas and Gloriana, Apricot Grove silk for the main colour, real autumn (Fall) colours. Haven’t seen this buttercream canvas colour before and it is looking good with these shades. Have added into the photo a few of the other colours in the design. The colour in this photo is quite brown but the canvas in a bright yellow.

A little while ago we talked about From Molehill to Mountain a design by Pam Gardner. As promised Sara (Scarlet Thread) has posted the progress the chapter group members are making on this design. Many thanks Sara. If you like this design and would like to take part in a cyber-class of this design, hop over to” A Stitchy Thing” blog(listed in my blog list to right) and vote for the cyber-class to go ahead. Looks like a very good idea and lots of fun. The colours the chapter members have chosen are lovely and are great inspiration. I think we should throw out a challenge to Jane at Chilly Hollow to stitch at least one square, we know you are very busy but how could you refuse a stitching challenge. What do you say Jane? LOL....................

Lastly, I had a lovely email from a friend in England showing photos of her interpretation of my free design posted earlier. Her stitching group are going to stitch the piece as a project in September and I am very excited to see the outcome shortly. Will post photos soon.

Bye for now, Carol

PS: To answer a question from a friend in Italy. The watercolours used in Galaxy are 060 Slate and 050 Eggplant.

Colour of the Month plus Galaxy

2011-09-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

The postman arrived yesterday with my Colour of the Month threads from Theresa at Homestead Needlearts in Michigan. This month’s colour is Orange or as my friend would call it Calendula (botanical name for marigolds, because she doesn’t like orange). In the package were threads I have not seen before so it was a lovely surprise. Looking forward to trying these soon.

Here is a photo

Threads left to right, top row: Gloriana Princess Perle 090, City Needlework Silk 108, Kreinik 12 5510, Kreinik 1/16 Ribbon holographic 027L, Kreinik Japan thread #7.
Bottom row: Splendor S1099, Shaded Very Velvet V816 and Silk Lame Braid 18, SL30.

Have stitched more of Galaxy and there is only 2 medium sized stars to complete before it is finished. Here is it as at 7 September.

Which means I now will start trying to decide the next project, this is always fun and I am spoiled for choice but it is difficult decision. Think it may be Kurdy Biggs Looking Glass, itching to see it stitched and with all the crystals and beads it is going to be a fun piece to stitch.

Bye for now, Carol

More Galaxy and beautiful silk embroidery

2011-09-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Currently in Adelaide, South Australia is hosting the OZAsia Festival which runs from 2-17 September, 2011.

The showcase country this year is Japan and as part of the festival the Adelaide Festival Centre is exhibiting the NUIDO World Embroidery Exhibition, 31 August to 16 October 2011. This means we get to see some of the most exquisite and beautiful Japanese kimono’s, obi’s and stitched Japanese embroidery pieces.

I was very honoured to be able to attend the opening of the exhibition as well as the celebration dinner which afforded me the opportunity to meet Staff and members of Kurenai-Kai, Japan and the Japanese Embroidery Centre, Atlanta, USA. 12 Ladies from Kurenai-Kai were there dressed in their hand stitched kimono’s and obi’s.

You may wonder why I am talking about Japanese embroidery when my stitching world is canvas. This exhibition is just ‘eye candy’ in the extreme, I may never stitch this technique but I do have at least 3 friends who are at Phase Level 10 and above and I enjoy watching their stitching triumphs and it was wonderful to see their stitching and Japanese beading on display to the public.

If you love looking at beautiful embroidery here is a link to a very talented embroiderer and teacher living in South Australia, Margaret Lee

Now to Galaxy. I am down to the last few squares with 2 medium squares and about 4 smaller ones to complete.

Here is the latest photo.

Happy holiday on Monday for all in the USA, bye for now, Carol

Next installment of Galaxy

2011-08-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Galaxy is now past the halfway mark and it has changed again. More shades have been added and the mixing of the colours have altered the overall design.

The postman arrives soon with my next "colour of the month" club threads. I find this is good way to increase my collection of threads to play with. A few stores in USA and Australia offer this service. USA: Stitchers Workshop, Needle Delights Originals, Homestead Needlearts, Fireside Stitchery. For a reasonable cost you can receive a selection of threads suitable for canvaswork/needlepoint each month based around a particular colour. It is always a lovely surprise and because you don't know what is being sent you will receive threads and colours you may never choose yourself (you can exclude colours you can't live with if you choose) and this extends and pushes you to try other colour schemes and different stitches using different textured threads. It is like having a birthday present every month. I will post photos when the next package arrives.

Here is Galaxy as at 1st September

Happy stitching, bye for now,Carol

The bird has flown

2011-08-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

You guessed it, the dove has flown, to where I do not know. No more cooing in the early hours sleep glorious sleep.Yipee..............

Here is the latest on Galaxy, the big star is finished and 2 more smaller sections are nearly completed. Like the way the small stars (in the photo-top right) colour has stitched up.

The girls stitching From Molehill to Mountain as a chapter project have promised to post photos of their progress soon, looking forward to seeing these. There are also lots of photos of the seminar happenings in San Antonio on the ANG yahoo group board. Some fanastic new projects to see and add to your wishlist.

I have added Ro Pace's blogspot to my bloglist. Great to see her designs and to hear about the designing processes and some day to day interesting information. Welcome Ro.

Below is my next design to be released soon, Nile Jewels. The first is the original colourway and can be stitched with 3 squares or as below with 5. The 2 colourways are listed in the chart.

Hope you like these. Thank you to my test stitchers, Anne, Karen and Lis for their great work and friendship.

Bye for now, Carol

I love nature but give me a break

2011-08-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

This picture of Baxter says it all. At the moment it is bird nesting time.(by the by Baxter is way tooooo much of a gentleman to bother with birds). Now I love nature's small and cuddly creatures, but........ a native dove coo-cooing outside my bedroom window every morning at 5.00am is the limit. We have trying shooing it to another tree but it comes back and brings friends. We have left bread and seed in the back garden to encourage its relocation but that didn't work. So it looks like ear plugs are my only hope if sleeping till after 5.00am is to become an reality.

Friends, my stitching is suffering, this is just not good. A bleary eyed stitcher is not a good one. Even with all the needlework gadgets and tricks in the world wide open eyes are a must.

Now to what has been happening on the stitching front.

I received a parcel in the post on Wednesday, inside was a wonderful design called From Molehill to Mountain by Pamela Gardner. WOW.... having charted and writen many instructions I can appreciate the work that has gone into producing this design and notes. I have only been an ANG member for just over 2 years so I don't know a lot about how chapters work. Sara from Scarlet Thread is a member of the chapter group that is stitching this piece as a year long project. I do hope some of you will post your progress. This one is on my wish list to start very soon.

A little progress on Galaxy but not enough worthy of a photo, but very soon.

To anyone attending the San Antonio seminar, have a great time and post lots of photos when you come home, sorry I couldn't make it this year I had intended to do Micheal Boren's class "Frankie". Not happy that I had to miss it but the 2012 seminar is highlighted on my calendar already in a very bright highlighter pen.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

A little more of Galaxy and some Mystique

2011-08-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

This week is a slow stitching week, with other bits of life getting in the way. Here is a little more of Galaxy. This star has taken longer than all the others but the result is stunning. Although it is quite large when the other patterns are around the sides it sits very happily and quietly within the design. Very clever Kathy.

The other piece I have been stitching/fixing is Mystique, by Jean Hilton. This is another at the 2/3rd stage and when I picked it up I remembered why this one had come to a halt. The ecru pattern on the outer edge is done with 2 strands of perle 12 and they just did not sit well. So out it all came and this time I restitched it using 1 strand and doing the stitch twice and making sure they lay side by side. Now I am much happier with the result. I know just call me obsessive but it stood out like a sore thumb that it wouldn't lay right, so now it is restitched I can live with the end result. Surely I am not alone when I say this, right? Many sleepless nights are caused by fixing these problems in your sleep and not fixing these problems for real. Here is the photo of the result, so far.

Hope all your stitching problems are little ones. Bye for now, Carol

A big hand for the sometimes serial non finisher

2011-08-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

The needle has been flying. I just woke up and decided it was WIP time again. Some progress has been made on Galaxy, but just at the moment my head is in a different space. I have a photo with some more of the octagon rhodes area completed. This will get more attention very soon,now some other pieces are out of my head.

Back some time ago I posted about Dowagiac, by Jean Hilton, this was 2/3rd's completed (the old stumbling block) and it needed finishing. Well it is just about near finished and would be if I hadn't miss counted on the border green lines. So here is a photo as it is before I undo part of the border to fix my boo-boo. The black/gold metallic (around the outer edge and in the corners of the middle diamond) is a thread called Butterfly(Papillion) thread which comes from Greece, it is my favourite metallic and stitches beautifully. Not sure if it is available in USA or England but The Thread Studio in Western Australia keeps the full range if you would like to take a look at their website.

I am so heartened to hear our band of hunter/gatherers struck a cord with so many of you. Stitching people may live in many countries of the world but the stitching world is a cosy and happy little corner of that world. The happiest place for me when the world gets crazy is curled up in my stitching corner with the latest catalogue, magazine or a few charts deciding what to stitch next. Pure bliss.............

Hope you get to finish one of your WIPs soon.
Bye for now, Carol

Are you a stitching hunter/gatherer too

2011-08-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Yesterday was my last x-ray. The shoulder bone has now mended and all that is left to do is increase my exercises to get more movement back. Yippeee......

Therefore not much stitching on Galaxy, but by next post I will have something to show.

I met with friends for afternoon tea and we sat and chatted about lots of things, which always includes needlework stash. We all have supplies well beyond life expectancy and we have decided we fall into the catagory of 'hunter/gatherers'. The fact that we could never stitch everything that we collect that catches our eye doesn't matter but the time spent collecting and planning the next project is just as exciting as starting a new project. Do you belong to this every expanding group of stitchers or are you well controlled and finish one piece before buying the next project? If you fall into the second group, I am very impressed, to me it is a bit like opening a box of chocolates and stopping at one. For me and the rest of my hunter/gatherer group it just isn't going to happen. We are a happy group and I tell myself that I and other h/g are keeping the stitching economy going, (well thats my little justification).

I have promised myself to complete most of my WIP's, lots are at the 2/3rd stage of completion. This seems to be my stumbling block time and I find leaving a project for a while and then going back to it gives me a renewed interest in carrying on to finish. The latest WIP is Dowagiac by Jean Hilton and it is one of the most colourful projects I have seen designed by Jean.

Some of my stitching friends aka Hunter/Gatherers
that's me in black,second row, left

Will post photos of Galaxy and Dowagiac soon.
Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

More of Galaxy and another WIP

2011-08-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Just finished another WIP, Morganite by Debbie Rowley, DeBees Designs. This is the first time I have used Silk Lame Braid and there is obviously a trick to using this thread. Wasnt sure if laying it or twisting it would tame this tricky little thread. It has a lovely sheen and is soft as butter but it splits apart when you stitch with it.
There is also quite a bit of Neon Rays which has a mine of its own. And yes laying it straight on the back as well as the front does take away some of its bad habits, but trying to stitch a narrow herringbone stitch row with Neon Rays does not make for a harmonious couple of hours. But I survived and learned. Here is the photo.
It is a very pale design with lots of satiny shine and sparkle.

Morganite- DeBees Designs

Also stitched a little more of Galaxy, this added more of the Eggplant watercolours and is a very bold pattern. I love the triangles with two colours around the octagons (only 2 completed so far).

Galaxy- Needle Delights Originals

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Another WIP finished

2011-08-05T01:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Below is the design I was stitching back in April the day I had my accident. There was only about 2 hours stitching left to complete this one, so I took a break from Galaxy and finished it. Danielle loves purple, so I hope this one appeals.

Jim Wurth- Old Country

The picture looks a little blue, but it is definately purple in the Walneto stitches.
There is lots of metalics in this piece so it shines like christmas lights under my daylight lamp.

Next WIP is Morganite by Debbie Rowley, that too is purple but this time more of a lilac and pastel blue.

More of Galaxy soon. Happy stitching,bye for now, Carol

Next installment of Galaxy

2011-08-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

A little bit more of Galaxy. I have photographed this post on the side, it fitted into the camera view better that way. One thing I have learned while blogging is that a photographer I am not. The camera I have is only a 4 megapixel and when I bought it not that long ago it was just the "ants pants" in latest technology. Now they are up to 14 megapixels and have movie recording ability. When will this technology nightmare slow down. My head is starting to spin. Thank goodness needlepoint calms down my spin-dryed brain and lets me catch my breath. When I get to wound up with computers and such and make funny noises at the screens my cat "Baxter" just looks up and I am sure he sighs and says "what's all the fuss about, mum", then goes back to his nap in the chair alongside by computer desk. Oh to be that relaxed.

The Perle cotton colours I have used in Galaxy were chosen by Kathy Rees at Needle Delights Originals. If you would like the same shades please email her and I am sure she will be happy to help. They will be offered as a colourway on her website soon. So in the interest of supporting our needlework shops and designers I don't feel I could post the actual colours for this design on my blog, but thank you for your request.

Bye for now, Carol

Bye for now, happy stitching Carol

Second installment of Galaxy stitching

2011-07-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-25T19:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-11T01:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

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

Like a fish in a goldfish bowl, round and round in circles

2011-06-30T21:22:00.001-07:00

Frustration is the name of the game. It's now 2 months and still the laying tool arm won't let me stitch and needlepoint. Ughhh... Oh that felt good. Nothing like a little hissy tiff and some good foot stamping. The soapbox is now safely locked away, thank goodness.

Still working on Quaker Diamonds, cross stitch, it's a lovely piece and it's keeping me from climbing the walls. I do get me canvas "fix" by reading all the great blogs.

There has been lots of designing on the computer going on. Currently there are 3 pieces I am working on. A small design called Saracen Jewels, a medium size design called Nile Jewels and a larger piece called Minerette. Luckily the first 2 (Saracen and Nile) were stitched earlier, so a friend is test stitching and expanding Nile, the process of creating the paperwork side of Saracen is taking place and Minerette is a whole new concept so its in the early stages. A big thank you to my stitching friends for offering to test stitch these pieces for me. Will post photos as soon as they are completed.

Because there is not much stitchy stuff to share with you at the moment, here is a photo of another WIP, plus my favourite rose from my garden, it reminds me of old paper.

Tranquil Dreams, by Carolyn Mitchell

Laura's Rose, starts as an brown-orange bud the opens to an old paper colour.

To answer a question asked about Prelude to Peace and the abbreviation LNS.

P2P was a cyberclass run through Shining Needle a Yahoo group in 2011. Jim Wurth the designer has stopped teaching and is slowly releasing his designs for sale as charts. His contact for purchasing charts is Marianne at Threadneedle Street in Palm Desert, California. She may be able to add you to a request list and notify you if it becomes available. LNS = Local needlework shop.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

The legacy of the years gone by

2011-06-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting here with a blank page for about half an hour, I guess this is what they call writer's block or brain meltdown from reading too many great stitchy blogs. Then ding the light bulb went on, as something started me thinking about all the talented and wonderful teachers of the past years who are no longer with us.

There are many, but the one person I would have liked to meet was Jean Hilton. Every day her stitches sneek their way into my designs and in many other fabulous designs out in the marketplace.

Japan has a name for their special people "National Treasures". Very apt, don't you think?

Jean's talent and giving nature has left behind a wealth of knowledge and some of the most complex and challenging designs. A friend was stitching Jean's stocking design "Visions of Sugarplums" which has such a "WOW...." factor that it immediately goes into your to-do list even if you have 1 gazzillion charts already. Although this chart is not for the faint hearted amongst the wealth of her designs she created you will find a piece to match your stitching mood.

Visions of Sugarplums, Jean Hilton, stitched by Anne R.

Below is another of Jean's designs being stitched by me called Dowaigac (WIP). This one is sooooo bright and uses 6 strands of marlitt rayon to execute the fushia coloured fleur d'ly stitches. It is quite a challenge to lay them correctly and I could cheated and used Neon Rays but where is the fun it that.

Dowaigac, by Jean Hilton

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Aren't stitching friends the best people

2011-06-21T22:25:00.000-07:00

Due to a request, several in fact I've gone back to a bigger text size in an effort not to strain eyesight needed for stitching excellence, in the over 21 and a bit age group (how much of a bit is your secret).

Yesterday started out with a visit to the physiotherapist (not a happy place to be) and morphed into a lovely day spent with friends. We talked stitching, chatted about our DH's and ate good food and drank great coffee. Let me tell you, no doctors prescription ever feels as good as a day with stitching friends. Don't you agree?

Although there is still not much needlepoint going on in this household I have been able to start a little cross stitch. Fortunately I won a box of 12 balls of 3 ply Valdani threads at the last Embroiderers' Guild of South Australia Summer school in January 2011. To my delight I found that they were 90% of the colours needed to stitch 'Quaker Diamonds' by Rosewood Manor. In my stash was some 32 count Zweigart mottled linen, just the right size and with a slight greenish tinge which works well with the antique shades of cotton. The original is stitched on 28 count linen, so I have taken the thread down to 2 ply and kept the remaining ply to stitch another design on 35 count linen at a later stage.

The Valdani cotton has a nice matte finish and the shading is very subtle. Many thanks to Coni at Spinster Stitcher blog for introducing me to the Rosewood Manor designs.

I have delved into the stitched pieces archives and come up with the following finish for your inspiration.

Lots of us are stitching the SOTM (stitch of the month) from the ANG site by Ro Pace, so here is another one of Ro Pace's designs.

This pattern was offered in full in Issue July/August 2008 of Needlepoint Now. It is possible to buy back issues of there magazines from there website, if you would like the pattern.

'Three of a Kind' by Ro Pace

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

The world of guilt laden WIP's

2011-06-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

How many of us have more than 5 wip's (works in progress). Be honest, I'm being kind by using 5 as a starting point. We torture ourselves that we should finish this one or that one, making promises it will be completed before we start the new chart that's burning a hole in the top of the stitching basket. Well, one of the favorite sayings of my stitching friends is "there are no stitching police". Be kind to yourself and reduce your stress levels, because you are not alone. Out of my immediate stitching group of friends there is only one who consistently finishes all projects. Hi KB.
We all humbly bow down and cry "we are not worthy" when she proudly shows the latest finished and beautifully stitched design. Then we all have "flash backs" to all of the designs we had on the go and others we started but still haven't finished at the time she started the piece.

It takes a will of iron, that I and many others don't have to complete all WIP's we have in our lifetimes. But you must admit starting them was just the greatest joy.

Unfortunately I don't have any solutions to this dilemma and reading other stitchers blogs I realize bribery, trickery and deadlines just don't work. So next time you are having a stern conversation with yourself about your WIP basket, just think about the thousands of other baskets out there in the world keeping it company.

Here is my list of needlepoint WIP's. We won't discuss the other forms of needlework, that's a whole other story.

Mystique, Jean Hilton
Prelude to Peace, Jim Wurth
Independence Day, Laura J Perin
Dowagiac, Jean Hilton
Old Country, Jim Wurth
Morganite, DeBees Designs
Kimono, Hummingbird designs
SOTM 2011, Ro Pace

Here's are photo of WIP Mystique, by Jean Hilton

Happy guilt free stitching, bye for now, Carol

Cyberclasses and how they make the world a smaller place

2011-06-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

Being a Needlepointer in Australia is quite different. The ability to visit a needlework shop and choose needlepoint charts and threads from a wall of colour is not always possible. Yes we do have access to Caron, AVAS,Presencia, YLY, Gumnuts, DMC, Anchor, Kreinik threads to name a few,but the textured threads offered by Rainbow Gallery are not available. Substitutions are sometimes possible but this is where it can become difficult to match colours and weights of thread from company to company.

Our solution comes in 2 parts.

1.Buy designs and have them kitted overseas. Many LNS will offer to change the colours from the original if you give them a starting colour or thread. Plus a lot of designers also offer alternative colourways with their designs, giving the stitcher even more choices.

2.Join a cyberclass. 99% of cyberclasses offer a kitted pack to their students. If you have never taken a class this way, here is an overview of how it works.

(a) Find a class you would like to take. Try ANG,Cyberpointers, Shining Needle Society, EGA of South Australia or various designers including Orna Willis and Laura J Perin, there are many others too numerous to name.

(b) Most of these groups require you to join and pay a yearly fee or class fee (well worth the dollars invested). Payment is usually through Paypal who become the handler between the buyer and the seller. They keep your credit card details safe.

(c) Create a yahoo account. Not a difficult thing to do. Just follow the questions and tailor your account to how you would like.

(d) Sign up and pay for your cyberclass online.

(e) The kit, (included would be instructions,threads, canvas) will be posted to your address prior to the start of the cyberclass.

(f) Sign into the yahoo group created for this design to keep in contact with the teacher and the other students. Always remember that all questions you have are valid and no question is frivilous or as silly as you may yourself think.

(g) Enjoy. Many students will post photos of their work as they stitch. Join in and post your comments, questions and photos of you own.

I hope this little note will encourage all long distance stitchers to branch out into the world of cyberstitching.

Below is my WIP cyberclass, Prelude to Peace, by Jim Wurth. The colours have been changed with the help of the LNS who supplied the kit. Many thanks Marianne.

Bye for now, happy stitching, Carol

Here is the chart for the free design

2011-06-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

An idea of how to add the chart for the design below popped into my head at 21:00 last night. Its not perfect but at least its readable.

Thank you again for your kind comments. Enjoy.

Bye for now, Carol

A little bitty chart to you from me

2011-06-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my itty bitty charts for you to play with.

Start with 3.5" (9cm) square mono canvas, find the centre and stitch the four jessica's. Turn the canvas 1/4 turn for each stitch. Come up at 1 and down at 2 in all of the stitches.
Use #8 Braid - example used 8 strand Treasure Braid, turquoise TR97.

Example used 18 count Eggshell deluxe mono canvas (called Royale in Australia)and 1 ply of silk and braid.

Next a two colour row of scotch stitches. Example used Gumnuts silk 'Buds' colour Light blue no. 365 and Light green no. 626

Next a row of triple tied cross. Example used Gumnuts silk 'Buds' Medium pink no. 196

Complete by stitching the corner scotch stitches with #8 braid.

Unfortunately my skills do not yet include being able to add to this blog the nice chart I have created for this design. But if you click on the picture it will enlarge enough to be able to count the weave so you can work it from the picture.

As this only takes very little thread please feel free to use up the itty bits of thread from your stash or treat yourself to the beautiful Gumnuts silk used in the example.

The design area is 2 1/4" (6cms) square, just repeat the pattern in sets of 4 for a bigger design or a vertical row for a retangle.

Try mix and matching the colours for quilt effect. In others words, play and have fun.

Thanks to Jane at Chilly Hollow blog for pointing out that John Waddell has a website under johnwaddellneedlepoint.com

Happy stitching,bye for now Carol

Bits and bobs rolling around in my head

2011-06-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Today in South Australia is grey,overcast and about 13 degrees C, which means being curled up in your favourite stitching spot with the heating on is the best place to be. Days like this are what I call 'guilt free', meaning anyone is prefectly justifed only doing what they want to do not what they should do like housework. gardening or any outside pursuits in general. So if your day is grey like mine enjoy the time with your needle and thread.

Blogger has been having problems of late and unfortunately signing in and reading your comments was not possible for about a week. Yesterday I was finally able to recover some comments and questions, so here are my answers to a couple of questions.

The John Waddell design Variations on a Trellis was from the March 2002 edition of Needlepointers magazine. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any other of his designs but Jane Zimmerman and Ann Strite-Kurz have both written excellent books about trellis and overlaided patterns. Each has a website worth investigating (don't exceed the budget, well at least try not to) their books are very detailed and well diagrammed.

A little about framing finished pieces. Most of the pieces that I've finished are not framed they are simply stapled to acid free matboard (what the frameshop uses) to keep them from being damaged and then wrapped in acid free tissue paper. Although it would be nice to have them framed and displayed in my home, the joy for me has always been in the stitching of the designs not what happens to the pieces after they are stitched. Australian framers are only just starting to experiment with artistic framing that breaks away from the frame and 2 colour rectangular mats of yesteryear. I came across an American framer/studio doing extrordinary work. The name is Rensel Studio and she has a blogspot showing some of these amazing framed pieces. Have a look and just enjoy, some fantastic stitched designs.

Thank you for all your kind wishes, I start phsyiotherapy tomorrow to get the shoulder moving. So hopefully holding a laying tool will be possible soon.

Here is a photo of Baxter doing his morning garden patrol. Will post more stitching soon.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Sorry for being missing in action, blogger not happy

2011-06-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

When we last talked I was going to post my colours for Rainforest Crunch by Needle Delights. Here they are.
Kreinik #8 braid any gold in your stash (I just used left-overs from previous pieces stitched)
Watercolours, 001 sandstone, 010 fiesta, 016 bark, 057 buttercup, 085 antique brass, 113 teak, 121 evergreen, 136 cedar, 139 kelp, 151 pewter, 173 redwood, 180 green tea, 195 paprika, and 198 arroyo.

Rainforest Crunch, finished

Several people have requested information on how to obtain the chart Blues in the Night by Jim Wurth mentioned in an early post. I am glad to be able to let you know our good friends and fellow stitchers at Scarlet Thread are now offering this lovely design as well as many others.

Here are a few more designs I stitched before my accident.

These are more Jim Wurth designs, Silken Sonata- Green canvas, Silken Symphony- Sandstone canvas and Silken Serenade-Red canvas. All these use Rainbow Gallery threads, beads and lots of interesting stitches. Great fun to stitch and they all fit into 8" x 8" stretcher bars so they are very portable. Very pretty aren't they. Hope they inspire you.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

Sorry to anyone who tried to find the kimono projects in Needlepointers magazine

2011-05-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

A very caring and observant friend let me know she couldn't find the kimono projects in her Needlepointers magazines. I humbly apologise for mixing up the publications, it should have read Needlepoint Now. Below is the project from Needlepointers, American Needlepoint Guild.

This piece is called 'Variations on a Trellis' by John Waddell. A really good exercise in laid work and a real eye opener on how different threads can have a dramatic effect on a stitch.

Rainforest Crunch is nearly finished, so the photo is not far away. I will also post the colours that I used soon.

The postman arrived with another lovely parcel and here is the chart.

This one is a chart that was a teaching piece designed by Jim Wurth, who sadly is no longer teaching but is releasing many of his designs in kit form. I fell in love with this one when I first saw it and it became a 'Must do' project. Lots and lots of Jean Hilton stitches with the Jim Wurth twist. He is just sooooo talented. Looking forward to stitching this one.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

The benefits of being a ANG member and magazine subcriber

2011-05-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

As stitchers we are always looking to save a little money to buy those must have charts we just can't live without. Sometimes we overlook pattern charts freely available from generous designers and the special projects from magazines.

I had a day yesterday looking through old magazines and found a couple of charts that I had forgotten and were stitched a few months ago, from ~~'Needlepointers', the ANG publication~~ Oops these are from Needlepoint Now magazine, see above post for ANG stitched piece. Although I didn't have the threads listed some simple substitutions from what was at hand made these little kimino's fun to stitch.

The ANG website also has the 'Stitch of the Month' that is accessible to everyone and has some excellent projects to stitch. Take a peek if you are between projects or just want to use up some threads in your stash.

Happy stitching
Carol

Specialty fibers

2011-05-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

Good news. The first stitches were added to Rainforest Crunch since my accident. Only 2 more small squares but it's a start. Because it is stitched with 1 ply of Watercolours I was able to execute it one handed when the stretcher bars are attached to my floor frame. Will post a photo soon. While I was checking out the previous areas stitched I've came across some very interesting specialty fibers that seem to have added themselves to the end result. Can you guess where they come from?

You guessed it. This is my right-hand man 'Baxter' and the specialty fiber contributor. Seems every piece I create now has his dna carefully added forever. So out came the tweezers and I spent an hour removing the said fiber (aka very fine cat hair). But as any pet owner will agree life without these furry bundles would be not quite as rewarding.

Thank you to everyone who has emailed and sent along comments.
Happy stitching, Carol

Don't underestimate your own talent

2011-05-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

Many of the classes I have taught have required the students to choose their own colours and to alter the original design's layout. When students and test stitchers hear this the first reaction is to cover their ears and say Oh noooooo! But with a little encouragement by the teacher and by the input of other students I am always totally amazed at the end results.

This is the original class piece I designed.

Stiched by Karen B.

Stitched by Anne R.

Stitched by Lis S.

These pieces and other students work always inspires me to design more and more. Hope you enjoyed seeing them and it encorages you to spread your wings and try a little flight of your own.

Bye for now, Carol

What a lovely surprise

2011-05-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

A big white van delivered these beautiful flowers this morning from my little sister. Aren't they beautiful. Wouldn't they make a lovely combination for a stitching project.

Wow....

This colour combination might need a little more exploring. I feel a project taking shape.

Perhaps red, white, green and a warm gold stitched on a coloured canvas. What do you think?

Bye for now, Carol

What can a stitcher do when they cannot stitch

2011-05-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

Well unfortunately the shoulder is still broken according to the latest x-ray but slowly healing. So what to do, as 2 handed stitching is out of the question ?

I am able to show you more progress on Rainforest which was finished earlier and may be an option for stitching one handed in a floor frame.

There is one more row to complete this piece and it was so much fun to stitch I decided to do some retail therapy to enhance the stash.

'Rainforest Revisited' is the companion piece to the first, a little larger in size and an interesting combination of stitches.
The second is 'In my wildest dreams' and as the designer, the very talented Carolyn Mitchell advises is to use up all your odds and ends of threads left over from other projects. This could also be worked using overdyed and variegated threads in a range of perhaps 2 complementary colours.

Here are 2 others I found by Laura Perin, which would look beautiful stitched in any colours. Itching to get started on all of these. Hope they inspire you too.

Well I am off to choose some threads for these great charts so that I'll be ready to start stitching as soon as possible.

Bye for now
CAROL

Sharing needlework with the world

2011-05-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

Still on the theme of friendship and stitching.

My stitching group, Thursday EGA of SA, for quite a few years has exchanged christmas ornaments( as talked about in my earlier blog ) with 'The Common Thread', a group formed in England by my friend Terri Wilson. Although Terri is no longer with us after a tragic brain haemorrhage her group has grown from strength to strength and the tradition has continued.approx. 2 years ago their then president Dee was in South Australia and presented our group with a band sampler. The chart and linen came from Terri's stash and each member of the group stitched a band.
Below is a photo of the band sampler they created.

Last year we, in exchange stitched a bookcover for the English group. Below is the front and back cover.

Sorry about the bad photographs, still learning how to achieve the best shots.
Hope you like what the groups created.

Bye for now, Carol

Stitching friends are extra special people

2011-04-30T00:31:00.000-07:00

Stitching and wonderful friends definately go hand in hand. After my recent accident I have come to realise how being part of this 'family' makes lifes little set backs bearable. So many offers of help and kind wishes.

Many thanks to you all.

Although not able to stitch at the moment, I thought looking through my past stitched pieces would 'hit the mark'.

So below, first up is Jim Wurth's, Blues in the Night, stitched in the original colourway simply because I believed it was just perfect as is. What do you think?

This is a true joy to stitch using a lot of Rainbow Gallery threads. It has lots of sparkle and plenty of challenging stitches.

The second piece is another Jim Wurth, Xanadu, published in Needlepointers Magazine, ANG publication and originally stitched in whites and golds.

The colours and threads this time were from my stash so they don't have the dramatic image that RG threads create. Lots of lovely stitches and my first attempt at a chilly hollow stitch (the 4 large diamond shapes). This is not a large piece to stitch but has lots of challenge with good instructions.

Happy stitching, Carol

Murphy,s law - just when you least expect....

2011-04-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post. You know when life is going just right there just has to be a little hiccup somewhere off in the distance, right?

Well my hiccup arrived over easter. Walking out of a service station (gas station) and executing a perfect "10" swan dive over the concrete thingee the cars park against and landing shoulder first onto the concrete driveway. One ambulance ride, with hunky paramedics and several x rays later, yes its badly broken. Moral of the story, 'watch where you put your big feet, Carol. Too late she cried.

At the moment the arm looks like the family tree at christmas and Im sure it would glow in the dark with the lights out.

Although not as much stitching will be happening this stitcher is determined to get better as soon as possible. Stitch a stitch for me.

Bye for now, Carol

Changing colours on projects

2011-04-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Many times I have wished a design was in a different colour than the stitched original. The choice of threads on the market today gives the stitcher an almost endless palette to choose from and the variegated and overdyed threads give us so much inspiration that changing these projects is most times easier than you think.

The first photo is a chart by Jean Hilton- Darien, using the colours in the chart.

This colour combination although pretty would not have been my first choice, so I started off by asking my LNS to help with colours and then tweeked them even more till they were to my taste and closer to the colours in the picture on the chart.

The second photo is a little on the light side which is due to my lack of skill as a photographer, but it shows how colour can make a bit difference to your work.
Happy stitching, Carol

Getting ready for Christmas

2011-04-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

For several years our stitching group has been exchanging handstitched christmas ornaments with a group in England. Last year we decided we would have a display of these ornamnents in July before they are sent around the following October/November.
Below is the display of the 2010 ornaments received from England.

Being as July is fast approaching now is the time to start thinking about stitching and completing my ornament, so Rainforest Crunch is on hold while I decide the ornament to stitch.

Rainforest Crunch project

2011-04-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest photo of the progress of Rainforest Crunch by Needlepoint Delights Originals as promised earlier. The original colours have been changed quite a lot. I think it now looks more like an old worn quilt rather than a rainforest. It is a delight to stitch with Watercolours and in my piece the 18 count canvas was changed to 14 count and covers really well and enlarges the design by about 1.5 ins (4cms) which still makes the stretcher bars a manageable length.
Happy stitching

Carol

Yipee the postman has delivered

2011-04-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

Always a welcome site, the Australia Post van. I have discovered Anne Strite-Kurz who uses blackwork techniques in her needlepoint designs with some really lovely results. So having scoured the Net to find some books they arrived today safe and sound. Oh so many goods ideas to play with, so little daylight hours. But if Albert Enstein could survive on 3 hours sleep a night maybe I could train myself to handle the same and get a lot more stitching and designing into a day?

At the moment I have to finish an Assisi mat for a teaching project coming up later in the year, design another counted canvaswork piece, finish several (how many I am not owning up to) wips and hopefully get to fully understand the 'art of blogging'. Oh well, such is life.

Oh Oh Cannot resist a new project

2011-04-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

Just received a chart by Needle Delights Originals called 'Rainforest Crunch'.
Couldnt wait to play with the threads colours. The original is stitched in Olives, browns and green shades. So I decided to dig into the stash and see what happens when I change them. Just completed the first row of the 6x6 squares and it looks a little like an old quilt made up of bits and bobs of fabrics left over from past dressmaking. Really enjoying it. Will post a photo when I have stitched more.

Think happy thoughts and peruse stash

2011-04-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have just decided I am becoming 'very high maintenance'. A trip to the dentist on Monday and the doctor on Tuesday for the 6 monthly check up. Getting older really is just not on.
Mee thinks its time to go and peruse the needlework stash to lift the spirits and brighten the day.

Currently I've been working on a Jim Wurth decagon called Old Country the colours are really lovely and working on 10" stretcher bars makes it easy to stitch.

Also have several WIPs Jim Wurth, Prelude to Peace, 2 Jean Hilton pieces, Mystique and Dowagiac. All 3 of these are quite large so rotating them helps to keep the stitch finishing rate going.

The weather is glorious so me and my stitching are moving into the backgarden for a day in the sun.

This is a photo of the class piece I will be teaching next month for the Embroiderers' Guild of South Australia. The overdyed threads are by an Australian company called Cottage Garden threads. Hope you like it.

2011-04-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

Counted Canvaswork from Australia

2011-04-03T20:17:00.001-07:00

Hi

This is my journal to record and share the joy of counted canvaswork. The inspiration for this are designers such as Jean Hilton, Jim Wurth, Ro Pace just to name a few. Hope you drop by and keep in touch with the latest stitching adventure.