NOT exactly impressive!

Let me explain what isn't impressive before I go on to the better stuff, and that is my progress on the Ornamental Pool. I had only a few minutes' stitching time during the time we had house guests and have only just been able to pick it up again now. I have yet to make a stitch today though and will get on with that once I'm through with this post and the back-up CDs I'm creating at the same time.

What is rather nice, though, is this certificate I got yesterday morning when I did my viola Preparatory Test. It's not a qualifcation as such, but it was a type of exam that required preparation to a set syllabus and helped me to feel that I could indeed do OK at proper graded exams. I don't think I'll be taking my Grade 1 in November as I fear it would take over my complete lesson time again and I'd like to be able to work towards it alongside my regular course, but I think March next year might be possible. I also took my Grade 2 Theory of Music on Saturday 14th and that was so do-able that I'm aiming for Grade 4 in November and Grade 5 in March. It's nice to achieve something and I like to learn and be tested on things. OK, go on then, call me odd!!!

I forgot to show these, the needlework tools I got as part of my anniversary gift this year. Here we have a stuffing tool for small things (so good for trapunto etc), a stilletto for making holes, a hedebo stick for making various ring shaped things and a set of 3 half cone sticks, most of which will be great for stumpwork things, esp. needlelace stuff. Looking forward to one day having time to do some of that. I'm aching to start a C&G course, but there's no money just now and I have too much other stuff to do anyway. I'm so sick of things being like this! Even the stitching I have planned is all for gifts and feels like work, not hobby fun. My visitors last week were having a great time using some of the fab pencils I showcased earlier in the year and I've been borrowing one library book on drawing buildings for several loans already in the hope of ever getting chance to have a go at working through it. Well, it's still on the shelf virtually untouched. Ever wanted to dump all adult responsibilities and just be a child again who only had to do her school stuff and then play all day long?? I may not have a full-time job or kids, but I still wind up feeling that I'm working all the time.....=( Waaah!

The Happy Dance of the Child of Spring!!

HURRAH! I've finally got COS sewn up into that cushion/pillow after hanging around for about 11 months! I did the stitching on it last June/July and then it was delay after re-take after re-start.... Anyway, I got it done last night and here it is:

I can honestly say that, from start to finish, this project has been a complete pain in the rear! The embroidery part was a great deal more tricky and fiddly than it looked like being and the instructions and chart were not as good as VS normally is. In fact, had this been the first VS design I'd ever done, it would also have been the last, but thankfully I'd already worked two others!! Then we got to the finishing up part. First I used too dark a red border and sewed it on skew-whiff, so that had to come off. Then I used the right red and made the borders too wide, (some of you will remember that!!). Then I got it right, but there was a long delay until I found some decent backing fabric (I finally settled on a matching red with white spots on). I pinned that on and started tacking only to find that I'd got it all square with the spots, but the front was cock-eyed again!! Start again.... Then I had to have two starts in inserting the zip as I started to sew through too many layers. What I have really loved (HEAVY sarcasm here) about this project is the sheer amount of times things have had to be re-done and/or have driven me potty! If it hadn't been for Baby Sis (not baby-sitter, Chiasmata, I have no kids and am too old to need childcare myself!!!! Tee-hee!) I probably would have given in to the frequent temptation to burn it! However, I'm pleased with it now.=)

Carole-Anne said she couldn't imagine how I found time to do embroidery in my busy life. Well, I thought I'd tell you all!! Apart from applying time management principles, the following help:

I have no kids.
We have no pets.
We live in a small, inexpensive home, which requires much less time and money to keep up to than a larger one would.
I don't work much secularly, probably about 150 hours a year as opposed to the about 1700 a full-time worker puts in.
We don't have TV. Well, we have a set, but it's only for playing videos and DVDs and isn't used much. A month can go by without it being set up and watched.
I don't play video, TV, on-line or hand-held electronic games.
I don't make long 'phone calls.
Most of our meals are ready within 30 minutes. Our social life is fairly modest. We're not out 4 or 5 nights a week.
My internet time is kept to a minimum. I read/scan some blogs 2 or 3 days a week, but I don't spend many hours reading dozens and dozens.

DH said that made it sound like we have a very boring life, but it works for me!! I'm never bored.=) BTW, I don't think there's anything intrinsically wrong with any of the above, I just feel that I could lose too much precious time on many of them, so choose not to.=) Anyway, you can see the time savings from the list, can't you? Not that mothers can just put their kids up for adoption, sell their family-sized homes, dump their kids' dogs and so on just to get more stitching time, but I don't have these responsibilities, so I can do other things, although I still feel I would like more me-time!!! I've only actually completed 3½ pieces this year, 2 of which were very small. COS is just finishing up something from last summer. I have 2 WIPs right now, but something else I find makes me quite productive in terms of stitching is that most things are done for other people's special events etc. Deadlines are hugely motivating, don't you think??=)

Snail slow progress

Here's what the 'Ornamental Pool' design is looking like just now. Haven't been able to do much as I've either been mad busy, or dead tired!!! Boom and bust is my life!!! Had a couple of low key days though and hope that will help a bit. I have to do some interpreting tonight for which I don't feel at all well prepared, (the fact that I hate prep doesn't help!), but I expect I'll feel better when that's out of the way.


Home is still in chaos after the redecoration and re-carpetting of the study, so there are still piles of stuff all over the place, just look at the hall here seen from the study doorway! I can't really get the vac out very well! Carpets are dreadful! This is something DH got for himself in Taiwan and has put it on the study door.=) Well, he is the president of his own business, so it's accurate!!! He's also the office junior and the tea-boy..... Cute, though, isn't it? I bet that shop sell as many for fun as they do for serious business!

Hobbycraft clearance spree!

I finally got chance to go down to the Leeds Hobbycraft branch and take advantage of their decision to discontinue stocking Kreinik metallics and YLI silk ribbons and bought these, pretty much all the colours they had:

Hobbycraft's prices are pretty high for most things, but they sometimes do good deals and, although I could still get these, metallics at least, cheaper from the States (and with the pound at US$1.95, it's a great time to buy from across the Pond!), I added them to my collection anyway. It was just a shame that I missed some of the other colours, but you never know, I may be able to get to another branch in the next couple of weeks and see if they have anything.

Boxes arrived from Taiwan!

At 5:30 yesterday afternoon the intercom went and 'Parcel Force' was declared to be the culprit. I thought, 'I'm not expecting anything except....' and went to the door. I looked over the balcony-thingy to see a brave postie lugging in 2 white and green Taiwanese postal boxes!=) I've put the language related stuff on the 'Polyglot' blog and just saved the textiles stuff for here, so here goes:

First up we have the fanciest of the fabrics I got out there. These are to be made into little bags/purses like those in this photo, which you might remember I posted whilst I was actually in Taiwan.

Below are the cotton fabrics, both Taiwanese and Japanese.

Here are the trimmings - mostly ribbon-type things to trim up the little bags and zip-pull things and tiny fans and butterflies to put on the zips to make the whole thing more special and oriental looking. When I finally get chance to get some of these made up and ready for sale, they'll be advertised on Etsy with a note saying 'Materials personally sourced in the Far East'!!!

These are the sheer fabrics I also got. I don't know why I bought the red and gold one, but the other 5 are more for stumpwork than any sewing and/or patchwork projects. They're either actually organza, or something very like it.

Made a start

I keep thinking it's Sunday as it's Bank (Public) Holiday here in the UK and we've not been doing normal stuff. Feels like it's still an ordinary weekend day!!

Here's how far I've got on the Pool design. Just done about 2/3 of the leaves in the foreground and I'm glad they came first in the working instructions as they really are the boring bit! I'm hoping to get the whole of the foreground design done by the end of next weekend, then get the middle, landscape part done the following week. That should see me well ahead of schedule and able to get on with the first of the two hardanger cushions.

Of course, the card for dh needs doing pronto too as our anniversary is in two and a half weeks, on 12 June! Not long, so I'd best get on with it even before I get this one finished, huh? Gosh! 9 years already. Doesn't seem like that long though, so it must have been good.=)


We went to a barbecue this afternoon/evening at friends' house. There were 60-odd there, so it was quite bustling. I put that vegan baking book to good use and made two types of buns/cupcakes - lime and coconut and chocolate mint as well as a fruit flan. First time making my own pastry and I must remember to put more sugar in next time I want it for something this sweet. Couldn't resist taking a photo!! It's not often that I get to do fancy baking like this, but I hope to take advantage of many more opportunities in the future!!=)

Plant Life and Pool

This is how far I got on the Goldfinches up to Thursday evening. I had hoped to get the right hand thistle totally done, but those thistle heads are quite 'bitty' and take a lot longer then working on the birds or the leaves. Anyway, it's coming along nicely, but will slow down a fair bit now as I'll be concentrating on the Ornamental Pool design instead. Will still do some here and there on the birds, but I need to get gift stitching done in time and the birds are for us. I also need to get DH's anniversary card done, which should be the blackwork heart design I'd planned for last June. Well, we'll see how that goes. I don't like having too many things on the go at once, although two large-ish projects and one small one isn't exactly a lot, is it? I know some have a dozen or more on the go at one time and rarely, if ever, finish anything. I remember one lady telling me she'd never finished anything in her life! Can't quite see the point in that myself, but, well, each to her own, huh?

I got the fabric, front and back, prepared for the Pool cushion/pillow last night, including tracing on the design, as you can see here. It's too big to work even in my 12" hoop, so I've put it in the 14" R&R Craft Frame and hope that that will work out OK. It's a tough thing deciding if R&R Frames or Q-Snaps are best. As an American lady once rightly said, the British product is better quality (DH said so too, that the Q-Snap wasn't well machined - the edges were rough etc), but I like the fact that the clips on the Q-Snaps are longer and therefore hold a better tension all over the piece than the R&R ones. They're also a bit tighter, I think, but that might just be the ones I have as I've had the R&R ones longer and have used them more. They also have a very handy 14" size, which the Q-Snap doesn't. I've got 8" and 11" Q-Snaps and 9", 11", 14" and 17" R&R Frames as well as 4", 5", 6", 7", 8", 9", 10" and 12" wooden hoops, so no-one could accuse me of being short on working frames!!!! I think they're very important and I hate working anything other than a cross stitch bookmark piece (or something equally small, like one of those Textile Heritage needlecases, like this, this and this) 'in hand'. I find it quite painful after a few minutes as well as harder all round. The frame holds things nicely and I just can't imagine doing a larger piece without using a frame and moving it around, if need be. Not that I can see myself doing one of those 3 metre hardanger tablecloths, like!!!!

Oh, I did go to the marlet yesterday and found a fabric stall, but as I didn't have a sample of fabric to match with me, I couldn't seriously look for COS backing stuff. I did go and look at the outdoor produce stalls though and, how cheap are they? I bought a few thing for just over £5 that would have cost me about £10-11 in the cheaper supermarkets! DH and I have decided to become market shoppers instead and I've just made a note of all the farmers' markets in Leeds as well as that might be even better value - local stuff and cutting out the middle man. We can save about £150 a month, which we can put towards something more interesting!=) No, I really don't need any more stash....

I think I've worked out what made me lose my uumph stitching. It seems to have been mad dash stitching for wedding pressies last year along with the job-related problems that just took away a lot of pleasure in a lot of things. Now that's all history and I have a decent amount of time to do the things I want for this summer, I feel much more like doing it.=)

Goldfinches moving ahead apace!

I've really got myself on a roll with the Goldfinches piece, look at all this progress in just two days! I'm really pleased that it's coming on so well and I expect I'll be able to put in all the rest of the plant life over the next few days. Being home with yet another pesky virus helps a lot to get on with stuff like this!! It has it's advantages, although I really ought to be in bed....=( It's 'my' exam on Friday too, (i.e. the class that I take as part of a whole module has its exam - an hour long Chinese listening test), so I'll have to do as I did yesterday and go out when I ought to be home resting, but at least then that's it for this academic year, (save about an hour helping to mark any resit papers in August). It's been a really awful year too, so I'll be glad to see the back of it!

One good thing about having to be out and about yesterday was that I was able to go to Taylors and get a few things needed for the Ornamental Pool cushion. I got the backing fabric and stocked up on iron-on interfacing (needed for anything other than the lightest of embroidery on relatively delicate fabric, so anything thin or silky) in both black and white as well as got a zip for the finished product and some fabric that may do to back COS, although I'm not sure about that yet. Can't seem to find something I'm happy with! Perhaps I should root around in the market on Friday after work.

Anyway, here's the 'floss toss' for the Pool design (an expression I learned from Veronica's blog) -> As you can see, I've selected mostly Anchor stranded cottons, but there are 4 each of Anchor Marlitt (for the foreground damselfly and fish, to make them really glow) and Pearl Cotton #12 (for the 'rougher' looking parts) plus 2 Kreinik cords. The next move on this piece will be, after getting the fabric pressed and backed, to get the pattern transferred on. This is always a bit of a pain, but this one promises to be a bit challenging as I'm going to gave to stretch it vertically a bit. I need it to be square, and it's ever so slightly wider than it is high. So, I'll elongate the leaves at the side or something. Will probably have to use two pieces of tracing paper put together as well, which will be tricky too. Don't like this bit!

It feels good to be back stitching and really enjoying it again. I can't think why I just lost momentum for a while, but I guess it happens to most of us at some point. I've read other stitchers lamenting about their lack of umph at times!!

The weekend's stitching

Haven't had a lot of stitching time this weekend, but I have made the most of what I did have and here are the results, i.e. progress on Goldfinches. The last post I made that showed this one had much less on the bird's wing and only some of the white stitches on the thistle head, so I have done quite a bit.

So yes, I decided to go with the Helen Stevens 'Ornamental Pool' design and have got the threads out already as well. Just need to get some suitable fabric now as I don't like the polycottons I've got in and there isn't enough of the black anyway. So, I must go and get something new. I fancy a silk effect fabric that's fully washable and that I can also with make a piping for for the edges, or can get something to match easily. Will show that and the threads when I have it to show.

Finished the bluetits - AT LAST!

Just when you thought I was never going to stitch anything again, I finished the bluetits piece! I just need to wash it now as there are a couple of marks on it, one of which would definitely show.

After laundering it can join the Chaffinches, awaiting completion of the Goldfinches and they can all be framed together. The remains of the kit is now in my 'For Sale or Trade' album on my Webshots

I hope to get the backing fabric for the CoS cushion/pillow this coming week and get that finished up and finally done too. Look out for that by the end of this month, all being well.

Back to stitching. It's now time to begin on the first of the 4 big annivesary pressies that I plan to stitch for this July - Sept. I'm thinking of doing this Helen M Stevens design on either black or v dark blue poly-cotton and stitching it in stranded cottons etc and not silks, then making it up as a cushion/pillow cover for DH's mum and step-father for their 20th this July. I could do it as a picture, in which case the sky's the limit with thread types, but they have so many up already that, every time I go to their place, I just can't imagine where they'd fit anything new in!! So, I think an item of soft-furnishing would be best. What do you all think of it? It's from 'Embroidered Gardens' and probably wouldn't take as long it looks like it would. Freestyle is often much faster than cross stitch anyway.=)