Stitched Up!

Spring Geisha is coming along. This is now two days work.

I don't really like stitching upwards, in the words of Tree-beard, it feels like going uphill. LOL

So here I'm working my way as quickly as possible, to the top of the design, then I can comfortably work my way down again as I do the bulk of the stitching.

Yes I know, I could count my way to the top of the design and do the whole thing from the top, but having made more than one mistake doing things that way, I prefer to start in the middle as is traditional, then work my way up. 

Did I say that pretty flower is on her Obi? My bad! It's on the sleeve of her kimono.

That strange flesh coloured blob is her face, the spaces are her unstitched eyes. LOL

I didn't manage to do a single stitch yesterday, instead I was in town getting a last few gifts sorted.

Maybe later today I'll get a chance to stitch, I do hope so, looks like the weekend will be another busy one.

Two nights out and two parties! Not to mention all the baking I promised to do! Though Tony did say he would help with some of that. 

*

Look what my clever daughter did.

*

Grocery store, here I come.........

A Finish!

 And a new start.

I finished Lucky Escape yesterday.

Well, I did say it wasn't going to take long.

I first posted a picture here on my blog on Friday 6th and finished it last night. 11- 12 days! 

Not bad, especially as I didn't touch it at all over the last weekend. From Friday through to Monday I just didn't get a chance to stitch.

This one is to be a Christmas gift, so I must brave to pouring rain today and take it over to Carlo for framing.

*

So a finish means a start right? That's the rules.

Spring Geisha has begun.

I stitched this little bit last night. 

I love how right away I can see the pretty flowers on her Obi. And how colourful she will be compared to the last one!

Aside from dodging raindrops this morning I have nothing planned for today, so I'll be making progress this afternoon.

*

All of my images today were assisted by the camera flash. Even though I waited until 9.30 am it's still very dark here with the approach of mid winter and the overcast weather. Not good conditions for photography.

While I'm thinking about it.......

I heard someone on the radio yesterday saying that 21st December is the first day of winter, or summer if you live in the Southern hemisphere! I beg to differ. If that is the shortest (Sticking up North for now!) darkest day, with the least hours of day light, then surely that must be the middle of winter, the darkest and lowest point we reach. Even the Christmas song agrees with me. 'In the bleak mid winter, frosty winds may blow' 

I had a similar discussion with a school teacher some years ago, regarding the Summer Solstice. She agreed with me, but said that her curriculum told her that she must tell the children that the solstices are the first days of Summer, winter...........!

Not at all what I was taught.

Grumble over.

*

So I promised some more handmade Christmas ornaments.

There are only two on my blue tree, although there are a few hand painted items.

Those of you who have been with me for a while will recognise Santa. This crazy quilt ornament was made by Pam Kellogg. And I adore it.

Sadly, because of the need for flash, you can't see all of the bling she managed to cram onto this little 4.5 x 4.5 cushion.

This pretty beaded bauble was given to me by a dear friend, she had an 'I saw this and thought of you' moment.

I'm really not sure where she found it. The white writing around the equator says Nollick Ghennal. Which is Manx language for Merry Christmas.

Right I'm off to find my wellies! Time to paddle to the framers and the post office.

A Christmassy post!

Lots of pictures in this post and lots of lovely hand made goodies too.

Firstly, Santa is home. My pal Carlo did a great job of framing him.

He is up on the wall watching over us, making sure we are being good.

I said I would try to get some pictures of my new Christmas ornaments. Here's a selection of new and old.

This pretty button wreath was made by my penpal in Australia. 

We agreed a couple of years ago to swap hand made ornaments at Christmas rather than gifts. Works for me. We have fun trying to come up with all sorts of ideas.

The egg shape to the left was one which I made, I sent a pair to Maxine in Aus and kept a pair for my tree.

The golden beaded ornament on the right, behind the tinsel was hand decorated for my by a local friend, there is a red version hiding on the tree too.

*

 Amid all of the hand made, gifted goodness are memories of our recent tour into Europe. This big red bauble was purchased in Krakow, Poland.

I have memories of SSCS's This little pretty was one of three.

Another one from Maxine, in Aus.

 SSCS 2011, it has a matching/opposite in green. So lovely.

 This gift fell off the sleigh early, but I'm a good girl, I can wait!

 I bought a trio of angels while we were on Gozo in October.

 A hand painted bell from Vienna.

 Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while may remember that I have two trees, a red one and a blue one.

I have only two hand made ornaments on my blue tree, I'll show them off another day.

meanwhile, another hand painted bauble from Poland.

 And a blue painted bell from Vienna.

The bells do actually ring. I love the sound of bells and have them on both trees, there are also bunches of them hanging from the door handles, there is no way you can sneak about in my house at Christmas time! The bells tinkle and chime and give you away.

They were also an early warning system, when my children were little! The tree would tinkle at the slightest touch. LOL

*

How are your Christmas plans going? 

Did you decorate?

Have you finished shopping for gifts?

*

Sitting home waiting for a plumber..........

The loo packed up on Saturday, while the house was full of nieces and nephews!

Thank goodness we have two bathrooms!

It's blowing another Hoolie!

More gales and wintry weather have arrived. I lay awake for a while last night listening to the wind hooting and howling around the house. One of the bedroom windows plays an interesting but annoying tune!

So, nasty weather means another great day to stay home and bake.

Cheese scones?

I'll also be doing some stitching.

My lucky escapee has appeared!

This piece is half way done now. This isn't a great picture, but it's dark here so the camera flashed!

*

My baby had his 18th birthday the other day!

He has received lots of gifts and has had a few nights out, with even more planned!

For me it means time to decorate!

My trees are up! Garlands are draped and strung.

An angel choir is glittering beautifully.

I bought lots of new ornaments while we were in Eastern Europe earlier this year.

I should try to get some photos for you.

But first it's time to make a cuppa, get the oven on and bake.

The next project

Yes I know I just started a new project, but seriously, it won't take me long to get it finished. I'm not showing a picture of it today because it's just a larger version of the creamy coloured blob in my last post! Honest, I'm still working with the exact same thread colour and I've stitched about a quarter of the chart! After complaining about all the confetti stitching and colour changing on Santa, now it would seem that I am at the other end of the scale! LOL

*

So, for my next stitch.

A design works kit, from a design by Joan Elliot.

Oriental Spring Beauty.

The sun is in full flow today and no matter what I try it's washing everything out!

He colours are much richer than this in real life. 

Speaking of colours, I've added a few grey hairs to my collection trying to sort the two mixed thread bundles. There are 30 colours/shades, many of which are not easy to tell apart.

 The kit makers tried to be helpful by adding the number of strands required, then forgot to mention that we need to cut them all in half, before we count!!

And they further confused matters by adding a little extra of each. I ended up with 8 - 9 sets of 4 strands of each shade still lying on the table. They were all in the green spectrum! 

I'm hoping that I have them correct, or if I haven't, I'm hoping that will become obvious when I start stitching with them.

*

I remember now why I went off working with kits and preferred to use charts and buy the threads separately. That said, this kit has been around for a while, and most producers these days offer pre sorted threads, or at least add clues like semi sorted itemised bundles!

*

It's a nice day so I'm off for a good long walk.