Five for Friyay #9

Posted in cross stitch, family, Five for Friyay, grateful, me, stitch from stash by paulainauckland

Here we go. December already? My not-so-little Miss is 29 tomorrow. Time flies, I still remember that little button nose and the sweet new baby smell. Awww.

So..The carrot experiment was an abject failure.

Ray’s made some amazing pen holders/ort containers. I’m keeping a grey one and the other four are for sale.

I survived the Black Friday fortnight sale and it was with a lot of glee that I grabbed balloons and popped them. In a box, so I didn’t have to clean up. I’m not a complete idiot! It was actually very therapeutic.

Geraldine’s now got a wreath crown, I’m thinking of adding battery powered candles. Isn’t that a tradition somewhere?

I finished a pair of earrings for my Secret Santa recipient. I now need to FFO the stitched item and get it all out in the post. Deadline is next week.

I found Coffee Quaker when cleaning up. Thanks to pattern keeper, I’m now just over 50% even tho it’s over one. What was I thinking?!

And the end pieces are Peanut. She had a vet check today, her second vaccine shot and to see if she’s gaining weight (half a kilo in 3 weeks) but her urine is abhorrent. We have a special litter to use and to get a sample out, but do you think she’s using it??? She is letting me touch her again tonight (I thought she would be awful after the vet) but she’s stubbornly holding it all in. What’s the bet she’ll pee as soon as I go to bed??? Oh, and they think she’s only 6 months old. That seems awfully young to have gone thru all she has.

21Aug2019

WIP Wednesday #256

Posted in Christmas, cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stash cache app, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler by paulainauckland

Hello everyone! Apologies for not posting last week – we had a lot going on at home. By the time I remembered about the WIP it was Friday… this week we have a Japanese billet with us for the week so it’s been an adventure! Sho is lovely, coming out of his shell & has a good sense of humour. We will miss him on Sunday when we put him on the plane home to his family.

Week 6 involved Professor Umbridge coming into power and we had to stitch on something that we really wanted to quit, like the students wanted to quit Hogwarts. I wanted to quit Coffee Quaker, as I simply got tired of the over-one. In the end, taking it everywhere, I managed 1024 stitches. I didn’t stitch on anything else this week tho.

Week 7 was O.W.L.S exam week – ick! We had a choice of going for E (exceeds expectations) with 100 stitched on each of the 7 Core/3 Elective subjects for 2pts, or O (outstanding) with 200 stitches giving 5pts. I went overboard again, ignoring the monthly tasks that I hadn’t completed, and worked on getting all O levels. Luckily we had done some “subject” things earlier in the year, so it wasn’t so hard to match up WIPs and subjects.

I picked a Jeannette Douglas design to cover both Astronomy (the quaker star) and History of Magic (words) and got a start & finish with Peace. This is in the 2012 JCS Christmas edition (available on the CD at 123Stitch & other retailers).

Using the Emma Congdon Austen quote, I covered Herbology (growing Hellebore roses) and Potions (Hellebore is an ingredient in several potions) – not a finish, but over halfway now.

I used Mirabillia Shakespeare’s Fairies for two other Core subjects – Charms (they summoned fireflies to light their way), & Defence Against the Dark Arts (one wears a diadem, like what Voldemort used as a horcrux).

The last Core was transfiguration, and as Professor McGonnigal is shown in both her forms in the first chapter of book one, the obvious choice was Tapestry Cat.

Electives – I ignored Arithmancy (would have had to use Coffee Quaker) and Divination (I’m with Hermione, that subject sucks) and chose Ancient Runes (completed all the lettering in Home*Stitch*Ness Four Seasons), Care of Magical Creatures (Mirabilia Mermaid of Atlantis) and Muggle Studies (I stitched the Mary Rose, the Tudor ship that’s in Mermaid of Atlantis as I’d been watching a doco about it while stitching Care).

Hope you all have a lovely week – I’ll be back for next week then it’s WIPoclaypse.

1Jul2019

WIPocalypse June 2019

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, goals, grateful, lavender & lace, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

Hello everyone! I hope you’re well. WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.

In June, I’ve completed the following stitch numbers – which would be a lot more, if it wasn’t for the Toy Car project taking up a lot of evenings:

Coffee Quaker 106
Celtic Winter 519
The Guardian 1291
Mermaid of Atlantis 3773 (two more Ultimate #magicalstitches completed & I am well into the bottom half of the design)
Shakespeare’s Fairies 1064 (that’s the half way mark appearing!)
Labyrinth 113 (Sir Didymus is about to appear)

Wowzers, this is 6886 stitches for the month. That’s more than last month, how did I fit that in?

I also have an FFO – my Cloudsfactory We’re All Mad Here biscornu! My first attempt, and it’s a bit lumpy & in retrospect, understuffed, but if I ever make one again, I know what to do.

June Goals:

WIPocalypse One-A-Day with Coffee Quaker (also one of my remaining EC tasks of 500 stitches on a geometric) FAIL – I picked it up 3 times. Just did not have the feels for this piece at all.
Hello May & Hello June FAIL
Celtic Winter (the last EC task of 500 stitches) FAIL – got half way tho, so at least I did pick it up!
Don’t spend! ACHIEVED!

July Goals:

WIPocalypse One-A-Day with a twist – just stitch every day
Hello May
Don’t spend!

Question of the Month: How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

Goals for 2019:

Finish SFS in the black – HALFWAY MARK ACHIEVED
Complete & FFO the remaining monthly Hello There pieces (Mar-Nov) HMMM
Re-start Shakespeare’s Fairies & complete one fairy ACHIEVED
Work on Tapestry Cat, Fairy Idyll, Arezzo, Four Seasons of NZ ACHIEVED WITH A FINISH

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my progress for this year. My stress levels are well below where they could be, thanks mostly to Si’s understanding, help & affection; a bit of medication & a daily bit of “me” time. I’ve worked on every WIP that I had started, have got several finishes including Arezzo and some framing.

SFS: The one monthly goal I did achieve! No spend, no finishes but I am $17.80 in the black. Woot!

28Apr2019

April WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

April Goals:

Use Genoa & Wales for Extra Credit piece (500 stitches) NOPE – used Nantucket Rose instead
Complete first fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies YEP
Stitch Hello April AND Hello May NOPE
Work on Coffee Quaker every day in April ALMOST

While I didn’t get to many goals (I’ve gone right off the Sandra Santas, surprisingly) I did hit nearly every April #magicalstitches challenge and got a lot of progress in on various pieces. There’s over 800 more in Nantucket Rose (and I reached the far side, so this is as wide as it gets) and 2800 plus in Shakespeare’s Fairies. I also started Cloudsfactory Labyrinth and the Mill Hill Celestial Sleigh. That one’s been a PITA as the kit was missing some items, so substitution city. First time I’ve ever been disappointed in a MH kit.

20190416_164824

May Goals:

Stitch Hello April AND Hello May AND Hello June
Continue working on Coffee Quaker daily
Finish the second fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies
Knock off a couple more “ultimate” stitch challenges

April 28 – Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO. Mine would be the Teresa Wentzler Tapestry Cat design. I brought it for myself as a Christmas present back in 2003, when I was working at Air New Zealand. I vastly underestimated the number of quarter stitches and back stitch, and while I own a lot of TW charts, I’ve only ever completed Misty, one of the Rocking Horses! I’ve also started Noah’s Ark, and stopped at the over one. Now that I’ve completed Arezzo over one, I think I will be able to press on with the Ark at least. TC? Well, he’s nearly done, probably only another 2500 stitches in him, and I’d estimate the border is about at the quarter-way mark. There’s a LOT of backstitch.

20190416_164654

SFS is still in the red, thanks to a market find. Oh, well. Hopefully some of the May challenges will lead to finishes so I can claim!

24Apr2019

WIP Wednesday #241

Posted in cross stitch, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by paulainauckland

Hello everyone! My resolve for May is to be not as inwardly focussed, so you should see a bit more of me. These last few months have been emotionally heavy, and with the MIL now having a hospice referral, it’s going to get a lot worse before healing starts. I still haven’t quite worked out how to present my WIP Wednesday, as my stitchy focus is #magicalstitches which runs Monday to Sunday, but we’ll see what happens.

My “one a day” piece for April has been Coffee Quaker. Five motifs are now complete and I could be as much as 1/6^th thru. No rush on this one anyway. Plus it’s over one.

Last week there were two challenges in #magicalstitches. One was “select a part” & for myself, rather than visit ten stores in Hogsmeade and do 100 stitches/short story on what I “brought”, I chose to visit one shop. I’m focusing on the huge boring-ish blocks of colour in Shakespeare’s Fairies, as it’s harder to go off track while life distracts me. I made up some story that I was poor, as my Muggle parents were intimidated at Gringots and asked for 10 knuts instead of galleons, and put in 1022 stitches in at Gladrags Wizardwear.

There was also a Full Moon pop-up (for Remus Lupin). 30 stitches on dark (side of the moon), 30 on light (the side we see) and 30 on animal. I ended up doing 143 overall (instead of leaving threads hanging) on the Cloudsfactory We’re All Mad Here biscornu. That cat is creepy.

This week I’m stitching the nominated option, no penalty stitches. 300 on a tree/plant for the Whomping Willow, and 300 on a building for the Secret Room. I’m done already there with a start to the conifer in Fairy Idyll, and working on the column/balustrade for Raven Queen.

One thing to be said for this – it’s quite creative in the themes fitting into the book, I’m definitely varying what I am working on and I think that right now, there’s just the one WIP I haven’t pulled out to fit a challenge. I’m not beating myself up for that, and if I don’t get to a challenge target, that’s OK to. I’m enjoying what I am working on!

29Mar2019

March WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

a visit to Homestead Framers…

March Goals

Bead & FFO Genoa Santa’s NOPE
Complete stitching on Wales Santa’s NOPE
Stitch & FFO Hello There April NOPE
Complete & FFO Kiwi 10 Cents FINISHED
Complete first fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies ALMOST!
Work on Arezzo FINISHED

With most of my stitching working around the School of Magical Stitches group challenges, I haven’t worked on Shakespeare’s Fairies as much as I would have hoped in Feb. But, I have several starts, two finishes (one of which I am so, so stoked to get done), dropped three off to the framers & there are a few closer to a finish. Bonus points given that one of my “homework” pieces will double as my SIL’s present, as she loves cats.

Arezzo doubled as both my WIPocalypse “stitch every day” piece and for 1000 stitches of an Ultimate Challenge. I worked on her for 24 of the 25 days (the 25^th was the day I finished) & honestly, don’t know why I didn’t finish her sooner. She’s so pretty & delicate that I am considering which Mira I will stitch over one next! But as I started Coffee Quaker over one, that won’t be for a while.

April Goals:

Use Genoa & Wales for Extra Credit piece (500 stitches)
Complete first fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies
Stitch Hello April AND Hello May
Work on Quaker Coffee every day in April

Question of the month: What newer designers and product creators (fabric or floss dyeing, etc) out there have you discovered and recommend? I do recommend (new to me, anyway) Sirious Stitches & KiwiXCrossing designers, purely for the ease of their patterns (both are Etsy); and for fabric I always recommend Catherine at Countrystitch Fabrics – her shop is not new, but the range is ever expanding, the website is fantastic, service is great AND if you want to get an idea of the fabric/design combo, she’s listed on the Fabric Viewer website.

When it comes to Stitch From Stash, I’m a little bit in the red. This would fix with no spend/no finishes in April, but I got a wee bonus so had a binge. Mani di Donna’s Blue Quaker Sewing Basket, Mirabilia’s Mermaid of Atlantis (plus Waterlillies threads) and two Mill Hill kits, the Celestial Sleigh and Princess Carriage. I’ll show pictures as I work on them.

Mar-19

Country Stitch Fabrics Cloudburst	-18.11
Country Stitch Fabrics Bourbon	-17.39
Floral Cat (Etsy)	-5.25
Spotlight DMC*12	-22.80
Spotlight Lugana FQ	-15.00
123Stitch Binge	-97.76


SamSarah Need to Read	4.42
KiwiXCrossing 10 Cent	13.92
Arezzo Conversion (over one)	32.44



Rollover + Budget	$107.01
Total Available Budget	-$18.52

sewscrapmuse

irregular updates on family life, books & cross stitch. Lots & lots of cross stitch.

Tag Archives: coffee quaker