A quilt, finished!

I'm feeling very proud of myself - a whole, real live, quilt - all finished, by me :) I've fiddled, collected fabric, and dabbled in the quilting thing, but this is the first one I've started and finished :)

... and a close up

It is for a friend's baby - well, the sister of a friend - she is part of our Wednesday morning Womens' Group. As I was finishing hand-stitching the binding on last night I got a phone call to say she was in labour - so the baby should have arrived by now.

As always, thanks for looking. Thanks also for all the comments on my last finishes!

I meant to say in that last post - that little "Quick Stitch" had 87 colours in it!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week :)

A finish ... and another, finish!

Always feels good to finish things :)

Firstly - Summer Fairy, HAED Designs - Artist, Rachel Anderson.



I started this as a practice/experiment on 32ct fabric, I'm wanting to stitch Faery Tales and needed to "play" with something smaller.Here's what I learnt:

Quick Stitches -aren't really that quick!
32ct - is too small for me, 28ct seems to the perfect balance (I didn't like 25ct).
Faery Tales will probably take me a lifetime, but I still want to give it a go ;)

I also finally finished the Mirabilia RR piece, I've still got another to do - so much for wanting them both stitched quickly and away in the post to their owners. I'll probably start the next one this weekend. Meanwhile - here is Cottage Garden Fairy (or part of her).



I started Pink Carnations (Sweetheart Tree) last night - just felt like something smaller, quicker and fun. I was hoping to take it to work tonight - but my boss rung this morning asking if I could do some extra hours as we have six urgent verbatum tapes to do, apparently they are taped off CD recordings of an Employment Case meeting. These tapes are never easy, but apparently these are even worse because the sound quality hasn't come across very well. Oh yay! ... and even worse - those six are the URGENT ones, there are nine more after that! So, there is no hope of stitching tonight, only of overtime.

As always, thanks for looking and reading my rambles :)

Exchanges Catch Up

First, and most importantly, the thank you's!!

I received my Stitchers Bloggers Exchange Board - Needlework Smalls Exchange from Andrea yesterday - she spoilt me!

She sent me an adorable little pinkeep that has a little pocket in the back for scissors to sit in - great idea, one one I'll definitely remember for the future! Plus some lovely little goodies, including a chart I've loved for a long time - I'm not sure how I'm going to stop myself from stitching it straight away - thank you Andrea!





I also received my exchange gift from a "Mystery" Exchange on the Cross Stitch Crazy Board - Tanya sent me an adorable little Nantucket basket and some fabric - thank you Tanya!



My Mystery Exchange that I sent to Velda also arrived during the week (two weeks to Canada ... I was getting nervous about it not turning up). I'm glad you liked it Velda!

5 Weird Things ...

I got tagged by Margaret (hi Margaret *waving*) ...

"I have to say 5 things that are weird about myself or my pets" I've been thinking about this and have trouble thinking of five things - does that mean I'm maybe not as weird as I thought? LOL ... so I've turned "weird" into "interesting facts" ;)

Five Interesting Facts about Me and Maisie:

1. I blatently admit to pinching this from Katrina's answers ... because it's the same for me. I have a phobia of Magpies - not birds though, just Magpies ... and yeah, I'll still turn around and find an alternative route if one looks particularly threatening (not so much these days ... I'm braver than I used to be!).
2. I've had five children - all completely naturally, no inductions, no drugs (except a little gas for a couple of them), no forceps or anything - in this day and age I think that's quite unusual ... not necessarily weird ... but unusual ;)
3. I like nothing better than being alone, not so weird, except I come from a big family and have a big family ... got to wonder where that trait comes from! (although one my mother and Charlotte definitely have too ...)
4. Maisie loves cheese ... so much so that Charlotte now knows that she can't leave her cheese sandwiches alone, because much to her disgust (and distress) Maisie has pinched them a couple of times and raced outside with them to tuck into the cheese. She's also been known to grab a good sized lump of it off the kitchen bench when I've had my back turned.
5. Maisie does this sweet thing most mornings where she sits on the corner neighbour's fence and waits for me to walk back from dropping off the kids in the morning. She miaows as soon as she sees me across the road and then jumps down and walks with me along the road and up the driveway.

I've got some exchange pictures and thank yous to catch up on. I'll come back soon with that post!

Last picture to show ...

I couldn't upload more than five photos into one post, so this one had to be done as a separate one.

This is the first Mirabilia RR piece I need to do this month - taken a LOT longer than I thought it would! I just have a wee bit of stitching on her hand that I missed and then the beads to put on :) I've left her wings out, I actually got the thread, cut it and everything to start them, but when I looked at everyone elses parts (I'm the last to stitch on this one) everyone had left wings out ... so I figured I should too.

10 days!

Where did 10 days go, so fast!! Silly thing is, I haven't actually been as busy as I had been the last few months ... but just can't seem to make the time to update my blog :) ... and those goals I so optimistically made? HA! first weekend we had two BBQ's ... that kinda mucked up my planned stitching time, but such is life ... I am working through them and pretty much sticking to the list!

Anyway - some pictures ... because they're always much more fun than my rambling ...

Ornament from this year's JCS Ornament Magazine, designed by Elizabeth Designs. This should have been stitched on 36ct ... I think I used 28ct, and it really made a difference, it would look much nicer on a smaller count.

Next is the first in the With My Needle series that started in the 2003 Ornament Magazine ... this is my ebay offering this month, I'm planning on stitching and finishing them all as a set.

and then we have the quilted fabric cards - thank you to (Kiwi)Jo for the link to instructions for making these, I had a lot of fun with them! These are all Christmas ones, and I plan on using them for putting in with ornament exchanges this Christmas ... I had a lot of fun using stitches on my sewing machine that I just don't use enough!

and I had some pictures here I'd taken of my smalls exchange I'm sending off tomorrow, and realised I can't show them yet! So, you just have to imagine them ;)

September into October

October already! oh my!

September Round-Up

1. Finish July Ornament - yes!
2. September SAL Ornament - Yes!
3. Finish one other Ornament - no
4. Finish Woodland Cottage - yes! (at last LOL)
5. Work on The Kiss - no
6. Work on The Stargazer - Yes!
7. Work on HAED Summer Fairy - no (it is so close to being finished)
8. Finish Linen and Lace - didn't even stitch on it
9. Work on DT Sampler Game Board - Yes!

I also started and finished the Prairie School Christmas Sampler and stitched a small exchange gift which I've sent off.

October Goals/Rotation

Ohhhhh ... that evil word, rotation, is in there again. I work to goals, much much better - so I'm making my goals, my rotation.

1. Finish the finishing of my smalls exchange.
2. 1st Mirabilia RR piece (5/10)
3. Ornament (7/10)
4. 2nd Mirabilia RR piece (10/10)
5. Ebay item (17/10)
6. 5hrs HAED (19/10)
7. Ornament (22/10)
8. 10hrs Stargazer (25/10)
9. Ebay piece (29/10)
10. 5hrs The Kiss (31/10)
11. Finish piecing quilt together.

The dates are when I expect to be finished that particular goal. I'd also like to work on DT's Linen and Lace and Sampler Game Board. If I have any gaps where I finish things early (I'm such an optimist! LOL) I will try and work on those then.

Righty oh ... if I'm going to have hope of meeting those goals I need to get to work so I have time to stitch later :)

Woodland Cottage

Lookie here ... another finish! ... and just managed to slip it into September so I meet a goal too.

Woodland Cottage - Elizabeth Designs

32ct Linen (can't remember the name, I really must start writing these things down as I start a piece!).

I should answer the Stitching Bloggers Question of the Week with this one! I started it quite a while ago, discovered after I'd stitched all the trees that one of the first ones was two stitches out (that's four threads out) ... but it would have been a major to undo, so I left it as was ... then didn't have a colour so put it aside and then struggled to work up the enthusasim to finish it off, knowing I was going to be fudging all the way ... and boy did it take fudging ... I must have been THREE threads out ... so one side is a thread out from the other ... and it took some fiddling to fit everything else in, but I did it, and I doubt anyone except me would notice.

The girls and I had a lovely day yesterday :) ... did the bank account a wee bit of damage, but not too much. I found a couple of books at The Warehouse that I've wanted to read marked down in price, the girls got a few clothes ... so we were all happy. Got home about 2ish and the girls amused themselves while I watched a DVD and finished the cottage - now, that's how life should be! LOL Oh, and the report from Taupo is that the soccer team had won 5 out of 5 games so far, including one from the top Auckland team who seems to be VERY serious, and wasn't at all happy ;)

Feeling so much more refreshed today I'm ready to tackle some work and hopefully sew up some more the quilt.