hello, hello

"Hello hello, hope you're feeling fine... "  this is a song from the 80s and I can't quite remember who sang it.  I really do apologize for the hiatus - it's not that I haven't been stitching, it's more I haven't had photos to share!

And why, you may ask.. the problem is my camera!   I googled, and discovered the problem may be that my poor Canon has lost a pixel in camera mode. I can do video, I can review old photos, but I can't take any new ones!  I feel so sad about it. it's a 5 year old classic, love its looks, but sadly it won't take photos anymore.  All I see in camera mode is a black screen.  I have to check with Canon if it can still be repaired but I'm not getting my hopes up as this is a model that was sold in the U.S., not here.

On to stitchy news.. I finished my Madame La Fee quilt square and have sent it by post to the lady who will incorporate it into a quilt.  I've gone back to doing my Maria Winkler "Peaches in a bowl" and started Lizzie Kate's Christmas Spirit double flip-it to be made into a banner.. charts courtesy of my dear cousin..  no it's not Christmas Rules, which I would also love to do.. although goodness knows and as many stitchers are wont to say, I have enough to do to last me for years at the pace I am going!   lol  I won't say I have enough to last me my whole life, but I have enough at the moment in freebies alone.

So.. there's still my Whimsey and Wit Advent Alphabet waiting in the wings for me.. I don't know if I said so in my last post, but I put it aside when I discovered that I was a stitch off-count.. don't know what I will do.  Frog? Go on?  I really don't know.

And then, when I had declared a stash diet, I went and bought a Bleu de Chine chart, and some Nutcrackers charts, and a copy of the Burda International magazine (important note - with the CHARTS!) and 3 fabrics, 32, 36 and 40 ct linen (I think one of them is jobelan not linen).  And I have to confess, there are 3 ladies waiting for me to make up my mind about additional stash.. this will be IT for the year, I spent more than I ever planned (actually I spent more than I ever have on stash in my entire life!).  I hasten to add that this stash is all pre-owned, so I can live with the idea of being a spendthrift better... now to find the time to stitch all this when they finally arrive!

Work has suddenly ramped up (is there such a word) and everyday I just feel so tired after.  Part of this is some organizational changes and the fears that go with it.. I just hope and pray everyday.. hope what, pray what, I think you can guess what  :-o

So hoping that you can send some good thoughts and prayers this way..  and I send the same to you, reading this!

What I've been up to

What I've been busy with..

the little dears - nephew and niece; my brother's children who I love to bits.

this arrived in the post - stitchy goodness from Cecilia's - Blackbird Designs' Loose Feathers No. 30 and 32; Rites of Spring and Beyond My Heart.  Made it safely here from 8,000plus miles away with $3.45 postage.  First time I've tried ordering and having it mailed direct. It took 2.5 weeks with a few days at the post office where they made a notice to me to pick it up.  Not bad!  Now I know it's a mix of frugality and lack of funds that's keeping me from ordering more.  :)

I just paid $7 in gcs to a lady on the 123 message board for 2 more BBDs that make up the Mystery Sampler.  I hope she checks her mail - she never replied to my last question 5 days ago about the Peacock Pinkeep!

Herb kit from Cross My Heart which my niece and I started stitching while she was here.. she forgot to pack it with her and only remembered at the airport. She wants to use it as a cellphone pouch.  It even has beads!  The other needle has gone missing, it's the one for sewing with the blunt end. Uh oh. Must ask her if she remembers where she put it!

Nope, I have no pic to post from the Advent Alphabet.. it's gone missing; I'm sure it will turn up again soon.  Too bad, as I'd put in more stitches!  No work being done either on the Peaches WIP.

Have a lovely week, all!

hermitting with stitching at last!

After a long drought I finally have a couple of pics to post!  I spent the weekend doing a bit more stitching than I normally do (lately it's been zero, lol)  and I have a little almost-finished ornament, see below

It's the Prairie Schooler ornament from the JCS 2011 Christmas Ornament issue!  Just the angel's lips and hands - oops! and I can stitch the white if I feel like it, and the outer stars too.  If you have the magazine you'll note the ornament is actually supposed to be a perfect cube, but the Aida I stitched on wasn't perfectly even so it looks more like a diamond.  The horizontal squares are narrower than the vertical ones, if that makes sense.  I'm happy to have stuck to it over the weekend, though if I sewed through this week it would have been the work of 30 minutes to finish the entire ornament as pictured in the magazine.  The thing is, I got sick Tuesday (caught a bad cold, still recovering from it).

In other news, I also worked on the Peaches chart and you can see my progress below.  I believe this is what's called a WISP (work in SLOW progress!)

You can see where I've stitched in the wrong direction LOL and I'm in the process of frogging.  That bit of green I actually finished already - I was too lazy to get up and check which direction I'd sewn my tent stitches on the companion piece (Plums).  When I finally checked, I discovered that I'd sewn them in the opposite direction!  I was so disheartened.  I continued with the gray shadow in the correct direction.  I'm bent on finishing the tent stitches to the right of the chart so I know whether I have enough fabric for it (yes, I know, I did measure it) but I only had this piece of fabric that matched the companion piece - I needed white Aida that I can be assured is even, and so I used this piece which is 12 x 12.  I only have 1 inch of border between my stitches and outer space.... LOL

If you only knew what I've been through with this... last week it was missing from my basket and I couldn't find it!  It went missing for an entire week.  But praise be, it was found on the table beside the tv.  Now you know what I do while stitching!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Stitchy progress!

Hi, just checking in! I've been wanting to post for the last 3 days but have been foiled by the pc not recognizing the camera USB... bummer!  But thank God (really!) that it's fixed and I can now post what I've been stitching!

So here it is, a UFO from years and years ago in all its unwashed, not pristine glory:

and now:

Despite being the proud owner of a DMC floss card with actual samples, I still could not match up the floss I used back then!  Honestly!  It's enough to make you tear your hair out! I also found out that the conversions I used back then were a bit off -- I was doing it by picture only! Back then I don't think I could have found the Anchor to DMC equivalents online (or maybe I didn't think to search online --google them).. so I was a bit off!  But anyway, I love the pattern, so cheerful! It is from the Buurda International "Prettiest Flower Motifs in Cross Stitch" 1993 vol.1.  I'll finish this soon, I promise, and have it framed!  I suppose I will have to stitch the other three just so there is a companion piece or two!

And made a start on the Peaches chart by Maria Winkler:

and here's what it's supposed to look like some day soon!

I've stitched the rounded curve of the peach in the middle center; I can just see it! Well, it's coming along, though not as fast as I want it!

This is the companion piece to the Plums one that hangs in our breakfast nook.  I wonder if I should have washed the Aida first so the fold lines would've disappeared.. I can still do it I suppose.. I forgot to ask!  I know that a lot of the 123 ladies like rolling their pieces to store and don't fold them!  Here I am unique once again..  lol

I have yet to cut the fabric for the Shepherd's Bush chart (chicken...!) and aside from this Peach-y chart my mom wants me to stitch the Quaker heart freebie from The Workbasket!  It would be a really quick stitch I think!  I also want to start the EMS 2012 Sampler - one step at a time, I guess!  Cut all fabric first!

I'll end with a photo of one of my nieces - a cousin's daughter - she's been a frequent visitor these days and is such a ham!  She even had me digging out my old needlepoint so I could teach her to "sew"!  It was a bit difficult as she couldn't get the hang of what she was supposed to do - stab the needle in, and from the same side, stab out.. she kept going straight to the other side, not sewing through the cloth! lol  She's all of 5 years old.. and makes me think of how much I miss my nephew and niece!

Well, that's all for the moment.. hope to post again in 2 days' time or less, and with a finish or two!  And then it's back to Whimsey and Wit Alphabet Advent!