Okay well another post

Well I finished my Biscornu for the exchange on the Wiehenburg-Sampler group. I am very happy with it. I love stitching these little pretties. They are lovely to stitch and so easy to finished. So here are some pictures. Well here is one picture. LOL

Guess Who Got A New

laptop. It is a Mac as I just love Mac computers. It is really cute. I am so happy with it and now I can order stock during the day. Jacob uses my big computer all day for Colours Down Under and then at night time I can't be bothered. Also I want to put descriptions on the charts etc etc.
So on Monday the nice postman delivered my spiffy little Mac Laptop that I won on eBay. It is everything and more and I am happy. So would you like a photo? Sorry you are gunna get one.

Never Enough Stash

At our 2nd TW GTG we decided to have a secret gift exchange. I was the lucky recipient of this 4 My Boys freebie that the gorgeous Amanda Lake kitted up for me. My first stitching with Crescent Colours. They are gorgeous to stitch with and I fully intend to stock them in my shop. Anyway I asked Helen to finish this one as a flat fold. Oh I was thrilled to bits with the finished product.

Barnabee's Quest

I realised I never posted a picture of this finished Barnabee's Quest. Helen is a helvoafinisher (her moniker). I am thrilled to have stitched this and then had Helen finished it so lovely. I stitched this on Quakers Cloth hand dyed by me. The colour is a very pale yellow called Aussie Sunshine. Just Nan's bellpull ware and Tassel thingy are just gorgeous.

Nita's Heart

This is my version of the design that has been dubbed Nita's Heart. It is a freebie on the better homes and garden site. I stitched it on 28 count navy with dmc 111. My finisher Helen finished as a cushion for me. I am very pleased with it.

My Gorgeous Children

We went to my sister-in-laws wedding last Saturday (20th October) and I wanted to show off my 4 gorgeous boys and one daughter in law (the other one was taking the photo).
So right to left
Jarrad, Anthony, Marilyn, Kenric at the back and then Jacob. I must say I was very proud of them.

Photo of our new kitten

We went and chose our new kitten this weekend just gone. She is an "Australian Tiffanie" or a Long Haired Burmilla. She has brown colouring. Her name is Millicent. We get her in a month.

Monasterium Designs

I am very excited to say that I have been granted the distribution rites to these designs. I am hurriedly trying to get the models stitched for these designs. Here is progress so far of Willies Quaker Band. I am stitching it on 28 count Antique Quakers Cloth with another gorgeous silk of Jo's called "Pacific Ocean".

I have been Stitching

This year has been a good year for me in the stitching department. I have, for a change, been enjoying it. I am excited to be attending the "Stitching on the Verandah" class with Janie Hubble of the Cat's Whiskers. I have so far completed the Stitching Roll part. I did, however, decide to change the colour of the words. I am not an orange person. This is the third colour I tried.
I have also recently finished a freebie created by Monasterium Designs for Colours Down Under. I stitched this with Jo's thread called "Dandenong ". It will be available on my website to download as soon as I get organised

Long Time No Blog

It has been so long I am not sure I remember how to do the link things etc but I'll have a go.

The winter has been rough in terms of the pain department so I haven't felt like blogging.

I have heaps of stuff for show and tell so I will just do little bits and pieces.

Firstly I'd like to show you some updated pics of Harry. He is so gorgeous. It has taken me a while to fall in love with him but I now adore him. He is such a little fox and loves to help us do all sorts of stuff. Unfortunately for him he is a naughty boy and wants to visit the neighbours so he is not allowed to go outside. Lindsay on the other hand is a miss goody two shoes and just stays in the back yard so she is allowed out. You can see by the picture Lindsay is outside and Harry is inside.
In the winter I bought the two kids a heated cat bed each. Here is a picture of Harry on his.

Marilyn Chair by Cat's Whiskers

The photos underneath show the Cat's Whiskers Chair that Marilyn
Campbell has stitched. We are lucky that we know a girl by the name of Helen that does all of our finishing and she has put the chair together. (And yes she does work for everyone and her costs are very reasonable). Marilyn's decor didn't lend to stitching the chair in the colours recommended so she chose her own. The variagated colour is DMC Variant and then the plain colour is just a DMC to match it. She even got some scrap booking paper and lined her draw in a reddy colour. The feet are some gorgeous big red beads. I hope you enjoy looking at this stunning chair.

Marilyn's Egyptian Garden

This is the first of two posts today. This first one is of Marilyn's Egyptian Garden. Unfortunately the photo doesn't show up the colour of the fabric. It is my nasturtium. I will get Jacob to scan in when she brings it over next so you can see the colour. The blues etc look stunning against the soft orange colour. Both of us have said we wouldn't have dreamed of stitching on such a colour but the two projects we have chosen to do on it are stunning. So here are the pictures.

Some Stitching Updates

Okay I am on a roll I think. I have had the said camera out and I have so far been able to upload the pics onto the computer. Lets see how it works out to get them on here. LOL
This is the progress that I have made on St Sofia. The colour of the fabric hasn't come out as well as I would have liked. It is called Nasturtium. It is one of my hand dyes. The mistake is around where the needle is. I am going to see Marilyn Campbell on Friday so I will pull it out then and continue on. I have only the border around the middle to do and then I am complete. So over a quarter of that stitched. It is a big stitch but not hard.


The next Photo is of the progress of The Vierlanden Mystery that I

am part taking in. I am a tad behind as I only joined at page 27. I have almost completed page 3. I am bringing in a red colour to compliment the black. I am really enjoying the stitching on this piece. I am stitching it on a Permin (I think) maybe 28 count. I really can't be bothered counting it to see and it will easily fit on the piece of fabric.

Thirdly this next photo is of the Long Dog's St Sylvestre. I have only just started this one. It is on black 28 count. I think it is a Jubilee as it is a more open weave than Jobelan. I like it anyway and it is not all that difficult to stitch on. The thread is a silk of Jo's. Dinky Dyes I mean. Not sure of the colour. I must look. Will up date this later.

The Card Reader Arrived

And Jacob has showed me how to use it so I thought I would take a photo of the gorgeous bunch of pink roses that my oldest son gave me Monday night. He quite often arrives with flowers for his Mum. He is such a gorgeous lad.
Well life here has been hectic. Colours Down Under continues to take most of our time.
I have been stitching off and on. I have almost finished a little 4 My Boys freebie chart that Amanda Lake kitted up for me as a gift but I have run out of one of the threads. So I will need to try and find one that matches it. I don't really want to say which design it is as I want to stitch some more as gifts. I have started Long Dog's St Sylvestre on Black with a DD silk thread. I can't remember which colour it is. I will post a photo in my next post. I have made progress on St Sofia (well I had made progress and then discovered a big mistake so I need to pull it out).
Harry the Somali has been given some new nicknames. Helpful Harry being one of them. He loves to help. He dive bombs off the top of the monitor onto the key board when we are typing. he likes to balance on the back of the computer chairs and climb from one to the other chair. Jake and I have both out as we put CDU's stock onto the website. He does the computer stuff and I package, price weigh etc etc. The other name for Harry is Ricochet Rabbit. He ricochets off the walls when he is feeling energetic. That is only about 3 or 4 times a day. He has discovered how to open my thread drawers where I store all my spare DMC's and pulls out skeins of threads and runs around the house with them. He is not in the least frightened of the vacuum cleaner and helps Alan vacuum the house. He especially like to be in amongst the cushions on the sofa's when they are being vacuumed.
Well that is enough for this post. I will be adding lots more photos from now on.

I Wish I Wouldn't leave

It so long in between blogs. I have had a 100 things that I could tell you about but it would just end up being really boring to everyone. I haven't been stitching so much these last weeks. My fibromyalgia doesn't like the cold weather and I have been fighting chronic tiredness again. Oh well that is life! Did I mention that I finished Needle in A Garden? Well I did. I went away on a stitchy weekend and finished it on the Sunday when I got back. I am going ahead with St Sofia but not as fast as I thought. I have all the centre finished and a quarter of the wide border. Well probably a tad over that. I also have completed part 1 and some of part 2 of the Chatelaine Anniversary design. It is going to be gorgeous. When I got the second part of the chart I thought Oh boring but it is going to be gorgeous when this bit is done. It is all gold and rich and lovely. I should have started on part one of the SAL of the Wiehenburg Quaker but after a big chat with Martina herself the other night I am going to wait until she sends me some fabric she wants me to try and flower threads. Woohooo. That is what I am going to stitch it in. Also I am ready to start the Vierlanden Mystery Sampler. I am going to stitch it on a mystery fabric that I can't even be bothered to find out the count of. It looks like a Permin to me. I have it big enough if it is 28 count and anything smaller wont matter. I am using black and 347 red DMC. I so want to start that beautiful sampler in the TGOS by Sampler Cove. What an excellent issue this month. Very mouth watering. When I get Alan's pay this week I am going to buy a card reader (I think that is what Jacob told me it was) for my digital camera. I have lost the cord that hooks up to the computer and I never knew how to use it anyway and always had to wait for Jakey to upload the photos. I am a big girl now so I will learn how to upload my photos myself and then I can show you all photos of my stash stuff and my stitching updates and my kitty kat Harry and my big girl Lindsay. Did I tell you that my latest thing to collect is sewing boxes? Alan stayed home from work today as our work ute (truck) needed some serious (or so we thought) mechanicing on it. EGADS!!!!! luckily he went over and put a new toilet in at Jarrad's (our son) place while the parcel postman arrived. Three huge packages and not for Colours Down Under. All sewing boxes. They are lovely. Well I think so anyways. Anyway enough of the jibber for now and hopefully another post very soon with photos. Yippee!!!!!

I just got Tagged

This is my first ever ‘tagging’. Tannia tagged me and I have to tell you eight things about myself you might not know!

Here’s how to play:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog

So here goes

1. My husband calls me "Blue". Not because I am a red head but because I love the colour blue.

2. My birth name is Janine May Nock!!!!!

3. On the 26th July 2006 I had lapband surgery.

4. My family call me Neenie May or just Neenie.

5. Nearly 2 years ago I started to learn to play the piano.

6. I grew up in a tiny little country town in Western Australia called "Mingenew". It is an aboriginal name standing for ants and water.

7. I went to high school with Ernie dingo.

8. I wish I could sing.

I now have to tag 8 people. Can I do it later?

Just a quick drop in

to show off my progress so far with JN's Needle In a Garden. I nearly said Haystack then and I can't get the blessed song out of my head. I have finished my Biscornu stitching for my Wiehenburg - Sampler Group exchange. It is so gorgeous. I hope my exchange partner thinks so too. Anyway just wanted to show you my update.

Introducing Harry

Thought you might like to see some pictures of Harry. He was born on January 30th and is a Somali. He had just finished a big feed of fresh cooked fish. Harry came to live with us on Wednesday 2nd May 2007. He is a little darling.

A New Finish & Stuff

Well I had my fifth finish for the year last night. It is an alphabet heart. I think the designs is a freebie from Better, Homes and Garden and the colour chart is for the new DMC sampler threads. I stitched mine on Navy 28 count Lugana with DMC 111. I am very happy with the outcome and it goes with my colour scheme in the living room perfectly. I am guessing I will send it off to Helen, my number one gun finisher. If you are looking for a fantastic finisher contact me. Helen finishes all my stuff and they are perfect.
It has been a sad week for us here. Our dear sweet Georgie girl passed away on Thursday late afternoon. Oh she was a sweetheart. She was an Australian Tiffanie. Can't believe she died so quickly. It doesn't seem fair and we do so look after our kitties and make sure that they are kept safe. They are not allowed outside unless we have them on a leash. They have a cat run with plants and the house is large enough for them to run amok. On the other hand the day before young Harry joined the menagerie. He is a Somali. He is a dear sweet boy who joys us from Joylincar Somali cats. Carole is a sweetheart and her Somali cats are gorgeous. Harry is mine. He is happy to share himself around though but he gets to sleep with me. He cuddles up and purrs and purrs. The other thing is that I started some crocheting which is something that I have not done for god knows how many years. I still have all my crocheting stuff in a wooden box in the back shed but I am too frightened to ask Alan to find the box. Well the poor lad is worked off his feet. So I did what any self respecting ebayer does. I won everything on ebay. Yesterday the cotton arrived so I could start. It took awhile to work out what to do in regards to trebles and double trebles etc but I soon remembered. Well it did help that the book had all the descriptions in the front. LOL
Well that is it from me. I will post more frequently now the craft fair is over. Boy was that some work.

Today has been a sad day

I just feel I should say something about my friend Dianne. Unfortunately Dianne passed away last Tuesday night after suffering a massive stroke. She was buried today. Dianne was a good friend over the years but in the last years we have not seen so much of each other. Mainly meeting down at the local shops or funny enough at the doctors surgery when she was there with her little grand daughters who she looked after when school was out for the day as their mother worked afternoons. Her grand daughter had pushed a bead up her nose. Dianne's son, Joshua, was for many years my third son's best friend. Jacob and Josh were as thick as thieves and spent just about every waking hour together. They drifted apart quite a few years back but still are pleased to see each other when they do meet. Both are men now. Today we said goodbye to Dianne and even though one of Dianne's daughter came to the house to tell me she had passed away it hadn't really sunk in. At the small Chapel where the service was held they had pictures of her everywhere and I suddenly realised that Dianne had died. I feel very sad as she was such a lovely lady. One of those good people you are privileged to meet in life. I feel like I really need to have a good cry even though the eyes have been sprouting liquid off and on all day. So I just wanted to tell you all about Dianne. I needed to say how much her friendship had meant to me over the years and how much I will miss her even though I hadn't seen much of her lately.

If I wait for some pretty photo's

then it will be a long time in between blogs. Jacob is away and I can take all the photos I want to but I don't know how to get them from camera to computer. I must learn this trick so I am not beholden to him to do it.

I have been busy again. For the first time since 2002 I have done some cleaning and sorting. Oh don't worry people's who dont know me the house has been cleaned lots in the last 5 years. I hurt myself at work and with this that and the other I have been unable to do the mother and wifely side of cleaning and sorting etc. I am fortunate in having a terrific husband and wonderful children who can do cleaning, washing, cooking etc.

Anyways the spring cleaning sorting etc just have not happened. I have had a huge sort out in the main bedroom. Bags of stuff went to the Good Sami's. I have been unpacking stuff that had been packed for several years when we painted the main living area. I think I like my house again. It is looking quite nice again.

So now I am sorting out my stitching room. I should be shot really. I own more stash than the shop does. So at the moment I am sorting through hundreds of magazines. I have to be ruthless. Unless I desperately want to stitch something from the magazine then it is going. Out of about 7 or 8 magazine holders I have dwindled it down to 1 1/2 holders so far. I still have at least a dozen holders or more to go through. I am going to use all the nice boxes I keep collecting and sort out my silks and threads into them. I will label the box so I can see what is in which box. I think I will go through my charts and get rid of the ones I am half hearted about as well.

On the stitching front I have really made in roads into Papillon Creations St Sofia. I am hoping to keep the momentum going until I finish it. I am at least half way I reckon (a bit of Australianism with that word). The trouble is.......there are so many other things calling me and it would be a shame to ruin the reputation as being the most prolific starter.

Easter has been quiet. Literally as Alan and the kids went away on a fishing trip. This is why all the cleaning and sorting has happened. I had an excellent day on Sunday. Cathy & Marilyn came over and we stitched, talked and ate all day. Mmmmm chocolate.......

I didn't realise it had been so long

I thought it about time I started to blog again. The 11th Feb, yikes it has been forever.

Well I have been flat out since I last wrote a blog. Colours Down Under has been really busy and Laura (my Daughter-in-law) is a fierce task master. We are not allowed to make a mess of our shop room or leave stuff unfiled. She makes me work when I don't feel like it. LOL

I also went to Sydney for the GTG and a very short visit with Julie. Marilyn came with me and we had a fabulous time. Met the very lovely Anne A from the Xsers group. We got to see both Julie and Anne's stitching.
We had a fabulous time at the GTG. The five of us WA women shared an apartment. Marilyn, Jo, Diane & Cathy were the room mates. The York Apartments in Sydney are the best. We went out in the morning and came back in the afternoon and like magic the beds were made the dishes done the bathrooms cleaned and the apartment was like new again. I wish I could find that magic fairy to come home to my house and do the same.

So all the ladies who were at the GTG were Alison, June, Junette and of course the awesome Tracey (our organiser) her little man James, Amanda, Karen, the other ladies from my apartment, Linda, Tannia (it was fantastic meeting her at long last), Rowena, Victoria (although much too briefly and her little princess Rowan), Kirsten, Marilyn S, Karen's Mum (sorry Karen can't remember your Mum's name), I am sure I have forgotten someone and it is not because they are less important it is just that the mind does not always function well.

I spent a little bit on stash. I did get that gorgeous Ackworth book and some Ackworth samplers. Some other samplers and a Needlepoint kit. Yes I am going to try it. I have visions of my sofa's being full of gorgeous Needlepoint cushions.

Anyways that is enough boring stuff. I will check in again soon.

Oh and I have had three finishes since my last post. French Country Rooster, Cat and Just Nan's Barnabees Quest.

I have to eat my words

So I was raving on in a blog not long ago about not using a Mac. So I have to eat my words. I fried the processor on my pc yesterday. My fault because I didn't tell Jacob that the computer was telling me it was hot. Anyway, I bought him a second hand Mac on eBay for Christmas. It cost the princely sum of $100.00. Apparently even though it is old it can be upgraded. His best friend works with Macs and actually installs them for businesses and he has been collecting Macs since he was 12. So to get to the point Jacob installed his Mac for me to use. I have to confess they are a very good system and very easy. So when I can afford it I am getting a Mac Mini. It really isn't any different to use but I think more straight forward. So Cathy I can see why you and your DH use them. I eat my words they are a great system to use.

Rotations, Finishes & Stash Inventory

Well It is finished. Cloister Garden by Drawn Thread, my first finish for the year. I have 13 more to go to beat 2006. I think perhaps I am going to have to drawn a line sometime at trying to beat the amount of finishes the year before. So now I have moved another WIP into the rotation. It is Lorri Birmingham's Bless My Garden. It is a little one and probably not the usual sort of design that I stitch but it will be sweet when it is finished. I might finish it as a flatfold when the stitching is complete. Anyway, now that I have finish Cloister I am back to my rotation. I decided that I would stitch on each design until I reached a certain stage in it except when I don't feel like it then I will just do the one night. I have put my rotation pictures in my PictureTrail album. They are in the Rotation 2007 album. I am presently trying to put more than one length of thread into the dreaded Tigers. I really would like to finish it this year. So that is the Rotation bit and the Finishes bit, now onto the Stash Inventory.
My stitching room is a mess. I have no idea what I own and what I don't. Do I have the necessary materials to stitch what I want to and how much is stuff that I don't want. On top of all that Anthony spilt my cup of tea a while ago and whilst I thought it hadn't landed on anything important and we cleaned it all up I found out this week that it did land on something important and all the charts were stuck together and some had mildew on them. They were from the last GTG nearly 2 years ago. I hadn't put them away. I should be shot. Nothing has been ruined in terms of not being able to read the charts but it has spoilt them and I would never be able to sell them later. So I got out a really fat exercise book and decided to start writing down what I want to stitch and the materials needed to stitch it if I don't have it. I have two pages per alphabet at the front of the book and at the back the name of design with materials needed to kit it up. I am taking that to the GTG this year. So the ruined charts are done and filed away in my filing cabinet. When I have completed the bags of stash laying around I will go through the 3 drawer filing cabinet. I am going to be very honest with myself and get rid of what I probably wont stitch. Now I don't included fabric in this inventory because I own heaps and what I don't own I just walk to Colours Down Under and cut a piece. Aaaah the joys of owning a LNS. LOL
Today I also decided to print out all the Gift of Stitching issues and put them in a file. I only look at the ones I have printed and I really do like this magazine. I think it is excellent value for money and the quality of content has excelled in this past year. I ran out of toner. Cyan colour to be exact. Bugger, Bugger, Bugger.

I am so Lucky

To have so many wonderful stitching friends. Susan, Diane, Cathy & Marilyn came over on Sunday afternoon. We had a wonderful time. Stitching people are so lovely. Diane bought her Chatelaine's Medieval Mandala over. It is just mouth watering. The colours are gorgeous and Diane's stitching is so perfect. We also other pieces that she bought over. Susan bought over her Cross Eyed Cricket piece called Walk in the Woods. It is also lovely. Cathy wowed us with some of the exchanges she received and her SB bag that she had finished. Then I had another Kathy and Marilyn again come over on Monday and then on Tuesday I went out with Kathy, Marilyn and my daughter-in-law Laura for lunch and looks in bead shops. Today I was a little flat and low and behold Diane came after to work. What a lovely week it has been.

Anthony enjoyed his first day at school. I am tripping the light fantastic around here with joy because Anthony and school has always been such a worry and concern. He even came home and cooked dinner tonight. Having a happy lad makes such a difference.

Well just wanted to share

Cya

I am knackered

I went out today to a wholesale bead place and then we went down to Fremantle and onto "Little Creatures" for lunch. I was a bit disappointed with the bead place but did pick up quite a few of those watchmaker tins for very cheap. They are not really good enough to sell as they are scratched and marked but I am guessing I can get rid of them or use them anyway. LOL No luck with beads for the shop. I am think I am going to have to fax Maria George again and try to get an account.
I am really close to finishing Cloister Garden. I nearly had the last little in-between band done but discovered on the last ray stitch that I had started it one thread in. So the frog started to croak and I am about half pulled out. I would love to chuck it into the corner but strangely enough I feel like finishing it. Or my little brain is talking sensibly for a change. Then it is just one band to go. There is a small Lori Birmingham kit I started last year that is also not that far off finishing that I may pop into the rotation after that and finish that. I have to finish more than 13 this year. Most of my starts are BAPS so anything small is a bit welcome.
I took Anthony shoe shopping when I got back from bead shopping. I hate taking Anthony shoe shopping as he hates wearing shoes and doesn't like 99% of shoes so it is like pulling teeth. Wonders will never cease. First shop and third pair of shoes. Yippee for Spendless Shoes. No brand names for this kid. He is not the least interested in brand name shoes. A whole $29.95 later. So I let him have a you beaut file for school as well. This year has been a cheap start to school. No new uniform needed as the one from last year still fits him. I just have to pay the fees. I will do that in a month or so. And wonders will never cease he is going to walk to Emily's house and walk to school with her. What has come over the boy???? At least he is not sleeping in my room this year with his panic attacks. Instead he is pulling out the sofa bed in the games room and sleeping there. I don't care. If that is how he wants to handle his anxiety then that is fine by me. Walking to school Woohooo!!!!! Did I mention his school is 5 minutes walk away. I usually have to drive him. He does walk home though.
Well looked through my hand dyed fabric. I am such a dickhead. Don't really know what I thought was wrong with them. I do prefer the new dyes though so will keep on with them. Will keep a few of the old colours going. That's all I think.

God I hate the summer

It is hot here. I hate it. Hot again tomorrow. Why can't we have more winter and less sun? LOL Did I tell you I hate Armadale in the summer. It reminds me of Mingenew in the summer. That was a hell hole I can tell you. At least we have air-conditioning. Just thought I would share that little bit of how I feel about summer. LOL
Well Colours Down Under is getting organised. Laura, Jacob and I have been sorting and sorting. We are nearly done now. Laura is going to rearrange the room. We dyed today. I am in love with my new hand dyes. They are not on site because we haven't named them yet. I think I need to get a life because all I think about is dyeing. Laura tells me it is good to passionate about what I like doing.
Anyway not a lot happened today. I did go to my piano lesson. I love learning to play the piano. It has been about 18 months since I started. It is such a joy and I love to spend the time with Gwen who is not only my teacher but my cousin.
I am going to sign up for quilting classes. I have always been in love with heavily quilted quilts. I bought a kit quite a few years ago. It is white and has the outlines of the quilting to be done on the fabric. I also have the backing piece so I just needed the wadding or whatever it is called. I dropped into a local patchwork & quilting shop this week and have found out when they have classes. Apparently they will help me set it all up. So that is my new thingy for this year.
Did I mention that Tracey from the GTG group phoned yesterday. It was lovely to hear from her and I could hear James in the background. He says no really good. Trace is such a sweetie. I can imagine her gorgeous smile. She has the happiest face I have ever seen. I am so looking forward to catching up with everyone again. How disappointing it is that Susan cannot come. Oh well we will have to make sure we recount every detail to her.

I shouldn't leave it so long in between blogs

Because I end up having too much to say. LOL Well firstly I want to show you my progress on Cloister Garden by Drawn Thread. It is in my rotation. I have not moved onto the next piece because I was enjoying the stitching so much I just wanted to keep on stitching it. It is finishable so I may keep on going until it is completed. Stitching this has made me realise why I love Drawn Thread designs so much. They are such fun and so quick to stitch.
Well life has been busy. Mum turned 79 on Saturday. I can tell you that because they are not on the net and she can't use a computer anyway. In fact, she wont use one and was very nervy for the little time they were on the net. I don't know what she thought was going to happen. They went on the net because my brother Craig went overseas for a few years and it was a way to keep in touch. Mum would read the emails but would not reply to them. We (meaning Jacob and I) were relieved when Craig came home and Mum talked Dad out of having the net on. He is a bit of a bugger my Dad. Not only did he forget how to use different aspects of the computer in between sessions on the computer but he just could not help himself when it came to opening/not opening suspect emails. Jacob constantly had to go over and get rid of virus. (Did I mention they live 5 houses away?) Anyway he does have a computer and we have loaded on a lot of those $9.95 games so he can play Solitaire/Mahjong or whatever to his hearts content.
Anyway I digress. Mum's birthday. My sister Annette and brother Craig and his wife Gail came over for afternoon tea yesterday afternoon. I think Mum really enjoyed herself. I chose to have it here because we have recently found out that Mum's very bad back is not a progression of arthritis as she thought (we didn't) but she had a fall in November (which she didn't tell us about) and fractured a vertebrae. The poor old dear has been in agony. She is stubborn about getting help I can tell you.
Well Marilyn and I are going to our adventure in March. I booked our tickets today. A week in Sydney wont hurt us too much I don't think.
Another thing is that I have decided to discontinue all my hand dye fabric. I have sent a few people in a bit of a flurry but I have been a bit unhappy with them for awhile. After a big meeting with the other two partners we decided to keep my stress levels down we would stop producing this line of hand dyes but never fear for the few who seem to like what I produce there is another range being developed. I will be selling off my hand dyes soon and then when I have the next range ready I will be twisting that boys arm up behind his back to get the new range on the computer.
The picture is a model stitched for me by my dear friend Kathy. It is called Life is Change and is a Cross Stitch Art design. It is stitched on Outback Blue 28 count Jubilee. I am so lucky to have such good and generous friends who help me out with my business by model stitching for me in exchange for a bit of stash and help me make decisions with the business and of course buy my stuff and give me loads of encouragement and confidence to continue.

I have been learning

How to use this blog even more. Today I have learnt how to put photos in amongst the ramblings. I have added a Stitcher's Link and I would love to add more names to it. Please email me with your link. And I have learnt how to put links within my ramblings so this post is going to have links. LOL

I have been stitching on my rotation that I mentioned in an earlier post. I think once a month I shall post updates on the stitching. The Tiger is being stitched on the days that I stitch. I just put in one or two threads depending. Mai is coming along nicely. I really enjoyed my stitching session on Three Things Sampler. It is such a lovely sampler. I haven't done quite as much as I thought. There is still a bit to go before I can claim a third done. Lastly I have stitched on Peacock Cypher this week.
I should also put in the links to our Kitties pictures. Lindsay was one yesterday. Jacob took some lovely pictures of her. She is such a sweetie. She is the watcher. She likes to keep an eye on what is happening in the house. Just loves to be pet but is not really keen on being picked up. I love her gentle personality. Georgia on the other hand is an extrovert. What a clown. She keeps us in fits of laughter and just loves to be in everything. She also enjoys a cuddle. The two girls have bought such joy into our lives and sure have eased the grief we felt when Mickey was killed. All I can say is thank god for cats.

My New Rotation

For this year. I have had so much trouble sticking to a rotation but I seem to have found a way I can sort of get the stitching I want to get done, done.

Every time or day I stitch I have to put a length of thread into the dreaded Tigers. This is my official UFO for the year and I hate stitching it. It is for a friend so I have to do it. I am not the sort of person who will just sit down and stitch it to get it done. If I had to do that I wouldn't stitch anything. Anyway this seems to be working for me.

Next during the day I will stitch on a Dimensions Petite kit called Mai (I think it is that one). I started that on 31st December. Well it was a restart really. I put about 20 stitches into the aida in kit and then put it away because I really hate stitching on aida. I am well on the way with this one and it wont be long before I reach the halfway mark. This will be a model for my shop.

Then I have 7 other projects that I have chosen for my night time stitching. I very rarely go out at night so it would be possible (unless I have a flare) to stitch each project each week. But it is not sheep stations, as I would say, if I don't. If I get sick of one of them then I can substitute one of the other 71 projects that are waiting in the wings to be stitched on. actually it would be slightly more than that.

When I have finished Mai I will move up St Sofia to the daytime stitch as I need to get that finished for a shop model as well.

Here are the projects I have chosen in my rotation.

Three Things Sampler by Moira Blacburn. I have nearly a third of that done. I am stitching it over 1.
Cloister Garden by Drawn Thread. I am nearly at the half way mark with this one. Up close it is sickly in colour so I keep stalling with it but when held back it looks terrific. I have chosen quite a sickly pink colour by my most favourite hand dyed fabrics, Silkweavers, called Strawberry Milkshake. It is not a colour I would generally choose but it does look gorgeous. I have also stitched it with two threads instead of one which makes the colours very strong.

Peacock Cypher by Just Nan. I nearly threw this one in the corner. I made a huge mistake on the last band in section 2. It is a big band and I had completed nearly all of it. One of those mistakes that have to be frogged. Well frogged it is and I have done about half of the band again. I had hoped to finish this last year but that mistake was just too much.

The Potting Shed by Shepherd's Bush. I just love this project. I have done about 2 or 3 bands. I wanted this kit for years and then lucky me obtained it at our last TWGTG at the Crewel Gobelin in Sydney for a very little $40.00.

St Sofia. I am not certain how much I have done of this one. Nearly a quarter I think. I am stitching it on my Nasturtium fabric in the Byzantine Colourway. It is gorgeous. It is a shop model and when the days of the shop is over then it will probably go to one of the girls because I don't think it is really my colour scheme.

Miss Hathaway Garden by Marty Bell. This is a restart. I am now doing it on my Outback Blue. I had started it on grey. Why I don't know because I am not fond of the colour grey. It has not very many stitches in it so far.

And last but not least A Medieval Garden by Counted Illuminations. I am starting it tonight. Gorgeous design. I own two designs of this lady and I want one more called Galleon & Sea Monsters and then I will be happy. And if you believe that then you'll believe anything.

My picture tonight is a model stitched for me by the lovely Diane. Her stitching is one of the most perfect stitching I have ever seen. It is such a privilege to have her stitch this model for me. It is a Crossed Stitch Art design called Art Nouveau Lily.

I had a lovely mail day today.

All my eBay mail arrived today bar one. I am a happy girl. I got in envelope 1 my other Counted Illuminations chart. It is gorgeous. The Medieval Garden one. I would love to start it right away. I also got my 2 Drawn Thread winnings. I got Spring and Winter. I just need Summer now and I have the set. I also got my big parcel. This is my official Christmas present. It was such a yummy parcel. I got Frankincense by The Victoria Sampler with the accessory pack, Chatelaine's The Bluebells, The Magnolia's, The Roses, Rose Lights all with the beads needed and they came in the most gorgeous containers labelled. Oh and I got The Freesia's as well same deal with the beads. I also got two TW kits. The Noah's Ark Sampler and Footprints. I also received a new magazine called at home with Needlework. It was free from the publisher just in case I wanted to advertise in it. Yeah right like we have the money. The gift of stitching was also released. This is one quality magazine,in my opinion, and Kirsten Edwards should be so proud of herself. I have been getting the magazine since edition 1 and I believe the quality of it has doubled and if I was told I could only have one magazine it would be hard to decide between that and SANQ. I think my picture today will be of my Dutch Sampler RR. I just love this RR result. It was not a design just the result of everyone's stitching and them deciding what to put on it.