Some new threads from England

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for all the offers of help with my travel plans and it is lovely to hear from others that will be at the Seminar, I will contact you shortly with a few questions. At the moment I have given the travel agent a rough idea of where we would like to go and she is working on a plan at the moment, so soon as I have the basics we can start to add a little more substance to the trip. Here is how it is at the moment. Arrive LAX travel to Philadelphia a couple of days before the seminar, week at seminar then on to Boston, travel around neighbouring states then to Quebec, train to around Niagara Falls area, back to New York then LAX and back to Australia. If this doesn't work we may look at going South towards Virginia and Washington DC areas. There is just so much to see so something will have to be missed out I am sure.


I had a lovely parcel arrive from England this week from my friend Dee. Here is what was inside.

Overdyed threads from 21stCenturyyarns.com

The threads are from 21stcenturyyarns.com I bought a few of these threads about 8 years ago and was very impressed with the quality and colours. the 11 threads on the left are overdyed cotton which have 4 plys to each strand. The twist is tight and very even so when stitched it sits beautifully on the linen. The 4 threads on the right are 3 weights of overdyed perle cotton and 1 overdyed chenille. The colours range is fantastic with names like Kingfisher, Heather and Harvest. They also dye fabric, so take a peek at their website when you have a minute but please don't blame me if the exceed the budget. Enjoy. 


Had some good news this week. My submission for a project to be published in Inspirations magazine has been accepted and will be published in Issue 76 in October 2012.


Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

A bit of this and that

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much to the girls who answered my query on travelling in the Mid Atlantic states. I am in a haze there is just so much to see. Having looked at Boston's accommodation rates this idea of staying in Boston any length of time needs a little rethink and replanning, so off to the travel agent today to try and work out something that will fit into our available timetable and budget.
Anne and I are waiting for the next part of the seminar experience to arrive. The kit for the pre-class work. I am not sure when it will arrive but we hope it will be soon. I have visions of still stitching the night before we leave for the flights to USA, hopefully I will be a little more organised than that, but you know how it goes sometimes (best intentions etc).
I have been stitching a little but these travel plans have stalled my progress so not much to show for the few hours available. So here is a photo of the beautiful rose in my back garden.

Rose Arbor, my garden on a beautiful day

Bye the bye Cindy your parcel is winging its way to you. It generally takes about 2 weeks for post from Australia to the USA enjoy.


Bye for now, Carol

A near finish

Hi everyone,
Wow I have been a busy little person this week. After booking the airfares and accommodation for the Philadelphia ANG Seminar and finalising some notes for a submission to a magazine I finally found some time to stitch a little on Tweensy Weensy, here is the progress so far. Its a near finish but I still have to add the Painters names to the squares to complete it.

Note to self: Do not get ahead in a cyberclass as this will create unstitching.


Ohhh Dear. Square 3 of my FMTM will have to be undone. If I had waited for the class notes which tell you to reduce the number of threads on the edge stitches of part of the pattern so that it does not encroach on the next block I could have saved myself this extra work. Well this is why we take classes isnt it? This will be a lesson well learned. There is not much more of my other cyberclass Moorish Splendor yet but it is planned that I work on that one later this week, so there should be some more photos soon.


A big thank you to Carol for her bear naming help. There will be a surprise package posted this week to your home. It was so nice to hear you have a clementine tree in your yard as Clementine is the name I decided suited my special bear the best.


Also it was great to hear from Nancy about attending the ANG Seminar, I hope to catch up and have coffee with as many people as I can while there. 


Does anyone have any ideas about travelling in the neighboring states around Boston? My DH and I love scenery and I think this area would be just right for us. Is it necessary to hire a car to get about the Mid Atlantic states? Any help would be appreciated.


Happy stitching, bye for now Carol

Little things and a big surprise

Hi everyone,
I received a lovely surprise on Monday when I met with friends for a stitching day. Margaret presented me with a large white box tied with a pretty red ribbon. Inside was a fabulous new LED light made by Horn Australia a company that is very well known for their sewing cabinets. We had admired them at the Country Bumpkin market-day and Margaret was very impressed with the idea that the light has a dimmer switch with several settings. There are 2 models, the other has an extension arm allowing it to move all over the place. I tried using it indoors during the day with a lower dimmer setting and again at night by using a higher setting and it was just great. Even DH has given it the seal of approval, being that he used the call my other light "Big Strobe" and headed for the sunglasses. So stitching in front of the TV with DH snoozing next door is no longer a problem, and the added bonus is it folds flat and weighs next to nothing. Thank you, thank you Margaret for such a wonderful gift.

I have made a tiny bit of progress on FMTM but I am up to date with this one so I have slowed down as to not get too far ahead. The colours are coming together ( I hope) and the dark purple is a silk/wool blend Gumnuts thread.

Because I have been out and about I started a new little project that packs up small for stitching days. Yep it is the Keslyn's Teensy Weensy chart. This one is stitched on 26 count evenweave with sparkles using one ply of Painters Threads overdye, stitched one over one thread. Aren't the colours of the threads lovely, such a variety with names like Renoir, Van Gogh and Klimt. My plan is to stitch the names of the threads into the border.

This is a bit of a long post but I do have some great extra news. Anne and I have been advised we were successful with our class choices for the ANG Seminar in Philadelphia. Woo Hoo. So the next few weeks will be busy choosing flights and making travel plans. Very exciting. Hope to see you there.


PS. Carol, thank you for posting a comment and a name suggestion for my new bear, although I decided to call her Clementine if I ever buy a male bear Hershey would be such a lovely name. Please would you email me with your snail mail address and I will send some goodies to you for posting your help.


Bye for now, Carol

Start of Moorish Splendor cyberclass

Hi everyone,
This week I finally started Moorish Splendor a cyberclass by Jane Zimmermann. This is a design using lots of metallic and lots of silk laided in all sorts of fancy ways. When I finished the centre star it just looked a little plain and you know how I love bling. So with my threads from Cathe at Needle in a Haystack in CA was a reel of a very pretty Kreinik cord with a holographic green/gold hint that I added as a star over the already laid lavender silk. Now I am happy it sparkles.

Moorish Splendor
Jane Zimmerman

As you can see there is still a lot more metallic to be added so it will shine a lot more when it is finished. I have 2 more sections to catch up and the next part is due out very soon so I will concentrate on the lower right hand corner and add the other corners little by little.

I have made some more progress on Trees which I usually stitch at night while watching the television. There is only 1 more row of 4 trees to complete and this has been fun to stitch, so much so that I have dug out another Keslyns "Teensy Weensy" to do next. 

Here is My Little Trees so far.

My Little Trees
Keslyns

On a different note I have been trying to name my new bear. Friends and family have given me a few names but none have really stuck. If you can think of a lovely name for my Milk Chocolate bear please post and let me know. If I chose your choice I will send you some Australian goodies as a thank you. Have fun and happy stitching.

Bye for now, Carol

A Beary good story

Hi everyone,
I have a lovely story to tell you today. Yesterday 25th my family got together for lunch there were 6 of us and a very large carry bag. Carry Bag? ummmm.
We ordered our meals, sipped coffee and chatted away for a little time and then the mysterious carry bag was lifted onto the table by my brother-in-law Gary. Before he opened the bag he told us that when my mother died a few years ago my sister Debbie had kept my mother's artificial fur coats in a wardrobe in her spare room and hadn't been able to let go of them. Well, he was playing around on the internet and found a lady called Nicole in Perth Western Australia who makes Bears and he had contacted her to ask her to make 3 bears from the artificial fur. Guess what came out of the mystery bag? You guessed it 3 bears, all different and all with character and attitude. They have our names on the soles of their feet and the words "In love of Mom". Needless to say happy tears all around and big hugs for Gary from all of us. What a wonderful surprise.

White Bear for Debbie,Chocolate Bear for Samantha and
Milk Chocolate Bear for Carol

On the stitching front there is only a little more of Trees finished and I have been setting up for my cyberclass piece Moorish Splendor so no photos yet.

Do hope everyone in Australia had a lovely Anzac Day with family and friends. A final few words, spoken many times today by returned soldiers and service men and women all over Australia.

"We will remember them"

Bye for now, Carol

A computer triumph there is a slideshow

Hi everyone,
After much muttering and a few very naughty words I have been able to add a photo slideshow of some of my designs available as charts and also as free designs in previous posts. Woo Hoo. You can teach an old dog new tricks after all.


Last Wednesday the 18th was the Market Day. There were lots of visitors and many stall holders from all over Australia. This was my chance to market some of the photographed charts for sale. Although sales were slow I have learned a lot and I would do things slightly different next time. I had the chance to meet lots of lovely stitching enthusiasts and store owners and at the end of the day I was so exhausted I fell asleep not long after I got home.


Now I will be able to have some time to stitch some more designs waiting patiently in the WIP heap (or should I call it a mountain). Well, one thing I can state is I will never be bored there is just too much to do.


Thanks for dropping by, Happy stitching, Carol