Stitching Diva

another ornie down,
The Workbaskets Odds and Evens series,.. an Odd ie May
well not quite, i have left one side blank so i can put the persons name in there and a charm , but as these are all gifts i don’t want people to know so it is blank at the moment..
i stitched this with the Summer Sky on cream, the porcelain did not look right at all
paul is quite adamant i need to use a really dark blue fabric…  which makes me reluctant to persue Summer Sky… to me alphabet samplers should be on pale fabric… don’t know why.. not usually a traditionalist in these things
the scan is a shocker, the colour is nothing like what it comes up as on the screen, why do some blues scan really badly??

and no i have not decided how to finish it.. it looks like a tealy turquoise colour to me.. nothing like the pretty blue at all.. scroll down to a previous post with the silk picture… see nothing like the picture at all

and now so i can not be seen as slacking off on keeping you all up to date on whats available… the first two are kits which is unusual for me
how sweet is this..
Little Friends 
i had actually been trying to show this next one for a few weeks but no one had an actual stand alone link i really really like this.. i love the finishing ideas Pretty in Pink
and the only reason i am putting this up is cos it made me Smile…. St patty Kitty

thats it for today not very exciting…

here is my darling little Love Notes .. truly if you are not stitching an Annie chart you should.. They translate into stitches really well…
she is being stitched 1×1 on PR even weave linen which is sort of 30 ct i think..

sttiching her this week for a treat was menat to get me over wanting to start
Curley Tail Rosey and L’amour Toujours L’amour , but it didn’t really work, now i just want to stitch them as well… sigh
Then almost the complete opposite to my slight, naked little pink girly sprite is my big bold strong  brightly coloured Elenia.. sort of the difference between what i wish i was and what i really am in some ways…

next is the most gorgeous new AMAP release.. Nicki had you seen this yet?.. it is hot offthe presses, even the person it was done in honour of didn’t know until today !!
it is Victoria’s Quaker done for Vikki clayton by jackye of AMAP.. i love it.. another quaker i like.. the world is all out of alignment
next is a pretty picture just cos i think it is really gorgeous.. the site is fun to look at too, no i am not stitching any of this stuff, it is just cool to see what european designers are doing
Morocco
hmm i think that is it..

oh no it is ornie weekend.. i know i am test stitching summer sky on porcelain linen, but as i just told vicky in an email… i am not 100 % sure what i will actually stitch until i sit down and start… which is now pretty much,
i am off to stitch

well one pretty picture … my RR piece..
i know, no one pass out , it was actually finished yesterday…
it is jans RR Morning Rose, stitched on 25 ct 1×1

I apologise if it looks slightly distorted i had to do some reducing so she wasn’t chopped off…
i will have pics of my pitiful Wednesday QS SAL attempt tomorrow with an even more pitiful pic of Elenia.. maybe next yerar i will take all of february off stitching…. like the players go off the court in the Australian Open for the heat rule, i will go off the cross stitch court for the heat rule…..
Next is the things i have come across whilst avoiding work and sitting infront of the big fan we keep near the computer so it doesn’t have a melt down in the heat
Has anyone ever heard of The Courtney Collection?.. they have released a really unusual mermaid chart i think some of you would like.. the medieval fans
Mermaids Folly
Next i came across some cool Jeanette Douglas Designs Freebies, I was actually trying to find a picture of one of her pieces, as Tradtional stitches had the thumbnail of a new piece, but when i clicked on it it went to the GPA Queen Sophia Sewing bag etc..
next is one i have been trying to remember to post for about 2 weeks.. Plum street samplers have a new Quaker calender series .. on another website it explianed about why they used first month, second month etc instead of the month names.. i need to find that again…
next in my wander through cyber space is the WOOHOO moment for me this week.. i have been waiting for a particular Jan Houtman sampler to be released.. i loved the
Le Noir et Rouge one i linked a month or so back, but the one i had been holding out for before i emailled Ina was Rainbow Sampler
not the best picture but nonetheless you get the idea!
next a dilemma.. if i order the Rainbow sampler ..which is really norty of me but there you go i am bad.. i shouldn’t really order the new Blackbird Designs  Needle and Thread Book.. Karen has it at Dragonfly Dreams i think it might work out cheaper if i bought i OS though postage might negate that anyway it isn’t cheap, but it does have 12 designs…
and i know next month my expense will be 12 skeins of Gloriana and a chunk of linen
and there are two important Aussie girl Birthdays coming up…..

edited to add… i found this on Shakespeare’s Peddlers website re the quaker months..
The Story: While referring to the months of the year, Quakers did not use “January,” “February,” etc., as these were names derived from heathen gods. Instead, they referred to each month as “First Month,” “Second Month,” and so on.

lol…

i discovered last night that in my mind i had planned for like 20 ornaments..
now as we all know my chances of getting 12 done is remote, more likely to be 8-9 if i am lucky..
so i am now fretting over which ones to do.. yep i can even make a sweet little Ornament SAl turn into a nightmare…
i think i need to sit down and do a definative list of who iam making ornaments for and then choose the one best suited to them..
i know 2 straight off the top of my head so that is a good thing, but i also know i need something special fro each so i can’t do those ones this weekend…
sigh…
Jan received her scissor fob.. oh thats what i turned my last months ornie into.. now i must not send any more away during the year i am only doing ornies/fobs for presents this year nothing else..( unless i run out of time lol) and i can’t keep giving them as gifties to angels

 My 8ply kelim arrived from the knittery and trust me it is 10 times prettier than on the sreen and it was pretty fine on the screen, my fingers are itching to knit it but i MUST finish my single stitches in the RR.. yes i know this has turned ointo a saga.. it has just been too hot to stitch and i am so angry with myself, i hate being later and i am now disgustingly late

here is my CCSAL picture not really much to see but i had told becky my aim was a chunk of blue back ground and one red curl and i did that plus a second red curl and a splodge of red hair albeit with gaps but still its nice to actually do what i say i am going to do.. tis pretty rare it is 1×1 on 28 ct cameo peach jobelan

Nance tells me the Lakeside linen magnolia is beautiful, and i think my big task now is to decide whether Summer sky silk would look better on soft creamy slightly pink cream linen ( porcelain) or soft creamy slightly yellow cream magnolia linen…
and whether i am going the 36 count.. i don’t really want to order any magnolia until i decide what count i am stitching on, though i spose a fat 1/4 of 32 ct would still be used…..

oh and it is not quite as hot at the moment.. thankgoodness…

and so do my kitties and so does my puppy..
paul took her swimming last night to cool her down, she does not do heat well, think beetle is struggling a bit too usually she avoids the fan , but when i have it on she suddenly appears from her usual sleeping spot and lays just to the side of it and she isn’t asking to sit on my knee at the moment when i stitch which is very unusual..
little miss skinny mini Fudgey doesn’t even notice any difference i don’t think.. she sees beetle not on my knee as a chance to be on my knee , except she is so fidgety i can’t have her on my knee she won’t sit still, so i always have to push her off..
so anyway i am HOT
I started my CC SAl piece yesterday except i keep roaming around the house to try and cool down so i am not getting far, and i need floss.. i am off to do an emergency visit to Spotlight later.. blech loathe Spotlight it is a souless bland place with messy shelves and isles and nothing with any character..
i am also about 100 single stitches away from finishing Jan’s RR piece she says in a shamefaced voice..  and i will be finished by tomorrow night i promise Diane… and jan..
i am a bad bad disorganised person.
I will do nancy’s more religiously 2 mornings a week, that worked really well in the Last RR and i forgot thats how i did it cos i got all carried away knitting every morning.. bvut that is no excuse as i am an adult..
the general concensus is the pretty blue Summer Sky Gloriana is a winner for the AMAP Alphabet 8..
so now the whole fab thing becomes more of an issue.
a question does anyone have any lakeside linen in the shade of  magnolia i want to know whether it is more pinky or yellowy cream….
i am 100 % open to suggestions of what shade of fabric to use i am actually wondering still about 1×1 on 36 ct…  i need to experiment
i also need to save..
$66 USD before postage for the 11 skeins of summer sky plus fabric.. i have expensive tastes, but as this is a dream piece i figure it is worth it it,  will work out to about $115 -$120 AUD  i think unless i go totally silly on fabric
in other things stitchy related.. Laura ( passione ricamo) has added some new colours to her lovely evenweave linen
and all my dear dragon fan friends.. Meinick is finally getting their act together and are starting to be out there a bit more commercially.. check out the link from ABC stitch to get an idea, i love brockley…
now i saw a griffen somewhere too where was that…
better go get ready to face the outside world…
sigh

So here are pictures of my shawl..

i still haven’t done the steam pressing thing but i wanted to get a picture done whilst the camera was passing through the house

the Wool is a wool/cashmere blend from the lovely Daphne at
The Knittery.. that place i keep putting up links of pretty wool for ..
she has been a doll this week and dyed some of the 8ply merino in Kelim   ( yes i know it is the four ply picture and you really should click on the make bigger link to see how pretty it is) cos that is the colour paul picked out for his Grandma’s shawl, and i didn’t want to do the doubling thing for this one…
and from me ordering it to her posting it only took 3-4 days which i think is awesome service given she had to dye the yarn for me… It willactually take longer to reach me she is faster than australia post to Burnie…
my latest fav for me is the geranium.. have a look in the
colour ways section but we all know i change my mind daily about such things
so anyway ignoring the dumpy blonde holding up the shawl and the awful wall i am standing against here is a dodgey picture of Pauls nans shawl knitted in bramble stitch on 9mm needles in wool/cashmere amythest

So if you have stopped laughing hysterically at our shocking pictures ..
the latest update on the AMAP obsession is i just keep looking at the summer sky i ordered .. they arrived and yes Pomegranite is delicious , Valentine is stunning and i actually like valentine more than raspberry parfait, but Summer Sky is heart stopping and i am suddenly looking at a totally different affect for the sampler

it is way pretty IRL anyway what colour fab would i use then??
feel free to yell at me.. i do regularly

everyone is trying to get me to start new things..

evil people..

Becky has been trying to getme to start something new for the CC SAL ..so we made a deal..

If she promises not to start anything new until she has another finish, OR Virgo ( wall) Wonderland or Autumn red ( Harrison) or the nene thomases are released .. ok it had to start from tomorrow as she wanted to start Autumn maiden( biertempfel)
i said i would do Hearts Choice macro as a sal piece with her.. of course i don’t have time, she will hav e it finished 5 years before me… but hey.. we are working on the same chart together so that is cool..
i have been like a kid in a candy store.. or sonya in a chocolate shop (  i miss Sonya real bad) with all the new releases from designers at nashville…
below are some  more favs that have appeared over the last few days..
Nostalgic Needle…  Knots and Roses Pincushion

Cat needle Minder  how cute is that!!
Black Bird Designs My Quaker House
CHS A Quaker Study
JBW Love and french Country Cat
The Workbaskets quaker cat and Mouse.. well really the cat
can’t get a good link of that one yet ***pout*** but if you go here and scroll down.. avoiding all the other taunting links you will find it
there are new silks on the market too from crescent colours but i don’t know how much they cost , skein size etc, but the colours look good they are also on the hoffmandis link above, scroll to cresent colours heading

sorry not creative today .. not that they are ever creative lol…
I survived a rain sodden Fetivale… first time it has rained on this weekend in Launceston since it started !! No one complained though launeston has been worst hit by the drought and for me it meant lots of space until just before we left.. ( the rain cleared mid afternoon and all the people who obviously shrink in the rain came out to play)
Ihad some lovely food, bestest being the strawberry pannacotta with raspberry coulis, the Bruny island cheeses and the panfried sea run trout with beetroot marmalade and herby potato salad and the Clover hill blanc de blanc sparkling..
I got to see my darling nephews … great sight was seeing mossy eating a big platter of raspberrys sans cream or icecream.. he likes his fruit without out extras..lol
i also managed to finish the shawl travelling in the car, i just need to block it  and weave in the ends and paul will take a picture of it.. i will have a weeks break and start the next one…. for pauls grandmother this time..
I am stitching Sugar magnolia for one day today as part of the challenge SAL.
Thanks for all the Amap responses..

i will wait and see what Pomegranite looks like IRL.. hopefully it will arrive this week..
and then i will make some sort of a decision.. Personally i think Sue should stop being so wishy washy and do the wonderful HDF light to dark purples idea herself.. ( i am so going to get smacked by her for saying that) it is actually one of the things that makes me heitate… i know she wants to do it… but she keeps avoiding the issue…. (double cyber smacked now)
now it wouldn’t be a blog entry without a  link.. lol
 the new Long Dog sampler.. St Reatham.. which is really nice IMO.. luckily it does not call me..

you know the amap thing.. it is with me 24/7 i even started thinking about it during my step class last night to try and distract myself from the pain of being so hot and icky from doing an intense workout in a room with no windows or airconditioning in the middle of summer.. i prmptly mucked up the choreography , much to the instructors amusement..

anyway the AMAP thing…

here is where i am …
confused, confuddled, and confounded..
firstly here is the chart for anyone who has not been bored to death with me putting the link in and who loves looking at it as much as me.. lol

just whilst i am here… there is a new Amap  alphabet which i think might need to find its way here sometime this year

Heritage De Lettres and i thing when and if i do buy it this one will have to come too… Alphabet De Brodeuse

anyway back to AMAP Alpha 8..
i have four options i like each one of them though of the four i am leaning more towards either the Vikkie Clayton or Gloriana options..
They are

Vikki Clayton Velvet Midnight Series ( 7 in total) scroll down the page i hope they are still there and vikki didn’t just launch new colours lol on  silver mist from silkweaver

Dinky Dyes Mystic Pools

on the silver mist  or porcelain  
from silkweaver
Or
Gloriana

pomegranite
raspberry Parfait
velvet night sky

 on either of the above fabs or Country stitches shortbread

now i like every one of those combos, the pomegranite one is dependent on what it looks like IRL
so there you go.. i also think i have more linen options but i have not looked at every colour available yet i sort of think if i could choose the silk the fab would be easier to focus on

it will of course be 1×1 linen 32 ct or higher count if it is silkweaver and gloriana silk combo i might go 36 ct
so anyone have any views??

i will be off at a food festival again tomorrrow Festivale   we are taking the laptop as i am staying at mums tonight  

well i am sorry but i saw the first one and went

OH MY!!!
it is so refined and understated and just plain the bestest quaker i have seen to suit my quaker tastes
Carriage House Samplings scroll past the “girls” to A Quaker Study….
also of interest is
some new Charland designs … not a company i normally look at but i like Come in and Stitch a Spell.. but especially The dragonfly sampler..
Sigh.. i eased off on frogs cos they were getting too mainstream , and now the new trend is for Dragonflies.. maybe i should choose centipedes or stink bugs as my new collection desire…
I am squashing down all thoughts about new starts and day dreaming etc right now..

i did order the Macro version of that lovely My Hearts Choice from Kerry , but i just know when the time comes i will stitch the model for the first few rounds of the SAL.. which will mean no pictures sorry
and that is that for today..

rather short and boring really…

sorry…