Bronny's Bits

I've got the 'I Dream of Jeannie' theme running through my head.......

2012-01-29T11:49:00.003+11:00

.......... go on, admit it. Now you do too ......

Da-dum, da-da--dah-dum, Da-dum, da-da--dah-dum, Da-dum, da-da--dah-dum, Dum - Bom-de-bom-bom!

I have managed at some point during the past few days, to get every male member of this household unconsciously humming this to.... (evil plot working....good!)

Jeannie (that's going to be her name now - regardless) was fun to stitch. I started with the pale pink and fuscia outline and then went wild. I added turquoise armbands and lazy daisy border embroidery. I'm glad her hair worked well - a good coverage using satin stitch. You can barely tell, but her bustier has fringie bits on it and she has gold bangles, anklets, and waistband. There is a bead on her headband and her gold necklace has a purple bead. She even has toe rings!!!

(Would you believe - The Bangles "Walk like an Egyptian" is playing in the background as I type this !!)

I thought her pantaloons required sparkle, so added pale, pale blue beads, and also adding them to her waistband. Gold beads set the tambourine off perfectly. I knew that I had to set her down, otherwise I could have gone overboard with decorations. Now I'm moving onto another quick stitchery before I start Week 1 - Cats again on Wednesday.

You are the window through which you must see the world - George Bernard Shaw

2012-01-26T00:01:00.002+11:00

People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within. (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)

I have just finished this square - the background fabric looks different in each photo, but that's all to do with the time of day - sunshine works so much better than electric lighting. I had so much fun putting the beads on this one - it looks just like it did in my head.

One more square down........

Simple Sunburst with sparkle. . . . .

2012-01-23T23:51:00.001+11:00

Post and dash ......

2nd square for my Arabian Nights quilt.

This sunburst is only about 3" in diameter - it's not big, but the beads should sparkle in the sunshine.

That's one small stitchery closer to the end of the quilt...... hehehe

Back to this bloggy theme : Stitching.... WIP & TUSAL

2012-01-22T21:36:00.000+11:00

After a few posts relating to family history and a re-jig to update my blog - it's well past time to get back to the reason for this blog.

I didn't post pics last weekend for whatever reason, but here is a catchup for all my WIP to date.

WIP - JAN 22

Week 2 of my theme stitching was, Christmas - and of course, getting my tablecloth up to date is my first priority. This square should have been stitched by Christmas 2011 - as it symbolises 2010 - the year my Dad came to share Christmas here at my home. Who else should I symbolise my Dad with, but Santa. I found this Santa design in a Jill Oxton magazine and it fits perfectly into the square. I'm enjoying the stitching of it, knowing I'm getting it done at last, but it is an annoying stitch all the same, with three shades of light grey and white in the beard. The subtle shading will be worth it in the long run, but it's an intense stitch. I changed the glasses from black to gold, but I might outline them in some way to define them better. Never mind, I won't be stitching it for a couple of weeks. I'll work myself back into the right mood to stitch it.

Week 3 of my year's theme was Cottages. A very loose name for and excuse to stitch Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I've coveted this series for some time, and as luck would have it, a lovely friend offered me the chart and her partially started project on aida, using DMC. She ended up stitching it using speciality fibres on evenweave.and had no use for the chart and was happy to pass her started project to me. I received this project and the lighthouse, partial border, sun outline and wording had been stitched. I stitched the rest this week. Had I managed to find my DMC 927 in time, I possibly would have finished the square in the week.

(The more observant of you may have also noticed a single stitchery sheepie nestling on the left of my WIP pic. This was a small stitchery that was started near the end of the year, but covered over and forgotten until this morning. If I add it to the list, that makes 106 sheep.)

Week 4 of this year's theme was WIP, but I'm winging it, as I had an urge to start a new quilting project. Yes Chris - I said QUILTING PROJECT !!

I appear to have crossed to the dark side. Just to make it interesting, there is NO pattern, but I'm following in my mind, an idea I had at least 3 years ago - This will be an Arabian Nights quilted wall hanging. Today, I drew out all the pictures, prepared the cotton to do the stitchery panels, and drew and stitched one small square. It's a teaser. At least stitchery can be packed into a small parcel and travel to work with me. It is a long term project, I can see it in my mind's eye - visualise purples and golds and aquamarines and beads and spangles and velvets and silks.

Finally, here is my offering for this month's TUSAL. Three weeks into the year, and I've made a substantial start. Sitting with it is my first cat mascot. I wonder how many cat icons I will collect this year? I still have a display table full of sheep - not sure where to distribute them. There are lots and lots of colours already - I've made a more colourful start to this year than all the white sheep stitched last year.

I hope to soon be able to resist yelling 'Sheepie!' at the top of my lungs every time I drive past sheep in a paddock. Obsessions are hard to overcome - grin.

Updated Blog - take 2 - Thank you!

2012-01-20T21:57:00.000+11:00

Thank you all for your comments. Tonight I've played again with the background, removing the right hand kittycats (I do so like them)
I also shwooshed up the darkness of the basic font.
I agree that the header was a bit out of focus, but I think I've fixed that again.
Tomorrow, I'll look at posting a pic of my stitching !!!!

I've revamped my blog and I value your opinion

2012-01-20T10:11:00.000+11:00

Well, I faffed about this morning and I think it's worked.
How is it looking at your end? Are the font's OK? Would you prefer less curly letters? What about the colours - and the background? Not too distracting? I tried to get the background the right size - but it may show as tiled on some systems. I did have fun last night playing with the graphics programme to create the background and header.
Those who know me, know that they have to drag me away once I start 'colouring in', because I get all enthused about new gadgets and colours and effects. I try to remember that 'less is more', but it's so hard because I want to add more and more and more.....
There is no 'bad' comment - it's all constructive.

Oh dear - I've done it again .......

2012-01-19T23:59:00.002+11:00

Please bear with me. I've pushed a few buttons I don't think I should have, and seem to have changed the look of my blog unintentionally.
I am playing with pictures and should have a new background within a couple of days - I just have to read up a bit more so I know which are the RIGHT buttons to press, BEFORE I press them !!

Family Group Photo - Thirty Years on...

2012-01-15T01:30:00.001+11:00

Same Family - here is a family group shot - taken in 1939 or 1940
Right at the back, in the middle - is my Grandfather - still with his moustache. The little boy in short pants in the front row is my Dad. The couple in the middle are my Great Grand Parents and I think the occasion is their Golden Wedding Anniversary. The woman in the back row, with the striped blouse and white collar is my Grandmother, and it is her parents. I'll have to wait for an answer from my sister (The Oracle), to identify all the others. (apart from my three aunts - I know them....)

Further evidence on the previous photo - Thank you to those who offered information - The guess now is that the photo was taken in the summer of 1905 - the year after my Grandfather's Father died. This would explain the black ribbons on all the hats.
The slouch hat on the knee of the lower left gentleman, may indicate he is the relation who fought in the Boer War. UK forces wore the slouch hat in the later part of the Boer War, which by then had been adopted by the Aussie & NZ forces. This gentleman is believed to be Kit, who later emigrated to NZ.

Any further Family History information, may be posted on another blog I'm thinking of setting up - to deal purely with Family History research.....As I'm off work next week, I may have time to set it all up - and re-arrange my graphics....

Well, after scanning 70 photos tonight - it's time for sleep.
Tomorrow starts week 3 of my stitching rotation - Cottages - and I have Shores of Hawk Run hollow patiently waiting for me....

Family History - where are all the names??

2012-01-12T07:17:00.001+11:00

I spent last night scanning a few photos borrowed from my Aunt Jean. - One of my favourites is this one, I'm guessing is a family grouping of about 25 young people - taken in Auchencairn, Scotland. My grandfather, Thomas John, is the young man in the middle row, dark jacket and heavy 'tash. He emigrated to Australia in 1911, when he was 34 (I have a copy of his Passenger Contract Ticket too) - my first guess was this was taken in 1911 or thereabouts, but the young man in the photo is certainly younger than that - could this be taken in 1900 - a celebration of the new year? I'll have to research into the costumes a bit more....
By the look of the young man top right with another spectacular 'tash - this is a family grouping - I just wish there were some names on the back !!!!

2012 - Week 1 WIP - Cat & Christmas

2012-01-08T20:46:00.000+11:00

Here we are, well and truly into the first month of 2012 - I've completed my first week of stitching - deciding that my weeks will run to date order (1-7), not day order (Monday to Sunday)

Consequently, at midnight Saturday,7th January, I put down my Cat project. I picked up my Christmas Tablecloth - which is in itself, a WIP, as I never finished it in time for Christmas 2011.

As I have joined in with Measi's WIPocalypse - I hope to this year, keep a regular WIP photo journey. Even my TUSAL jar has started collecting orts for 2012.

I really feel that this year is up and running!

I've changed my profile pic to reflect my kitty stitching for the year, but will not change my blog background for a week or so yet. I'm working on new graphics and hope that at least one of my sons will assist me! (Yes, John, take that as a HINT!)

My stitching so far : Week 1 - Cats. : If cats could talk - (Designs by Lisa) - stitched on aida, using one of Nancy's lovely hand-dyed floss - I really think this looks like the colour of my kitty, Pyro. Despite currently looking like a long, skinny orange vase, the cat shape IS evident.

As for Christmas Stitching - Week 2 - I picked up my Christmas Tablecloth - I'm stitching a Santa - adapted from a Jill Oxton pattern to symbolise my Dad who spent Christmas 2010 at our Christmas Table. I will endeavour to have the design to symbolise 2011 stitched before Christmas 2012 !!! I will, I will !!!!

My Christmas tablecloth fabric is a 7'x5' piece of Charles Craft Aida. I am stitching one panel each year to symbolise the Christmas before. (after all, how can I symbolise the day until it happens??)

I will try to post more than once per week - It depends entirely upon whether or not I kill more technology (ie: break this computer!)

Blog needs an upgrade.... need to baaa-nish the sheepies and cat-ch up with kitties

2012-01-04T06:56:00.000+11:00

Here we are, 4 days into the New Year, and my blog still looks like sheep!!!
I do have a reasonable excuse.
New Year's Day, my laptop leapt from the tabletop - crashing itself to the floor with gusto - committing techno-cide. I swear that I heard it screaming as it fell - or was that me??? Either way, it is now slightly broken and for the time being, Hubby has re-configured his old computer for my use until I can retrieve the laptop hard-drive - which will have all my photos which had that morning been emptied from my camera - Yes - I know to backup my stuff on usb and cd and stuff......just hadn't - ok????
I also don't have any of my cross-stitch charts or programmes - sigh.
I also managed to drop my mobile phone into the doorwell of my car as I was closing it on Christmas Eve - resulting in a banana shaped phone with no screen.
In any case, it will be this weekend when I hope to play with graphics again to Cattify my blog. Please bear with me until I figure out how to do it again....

2012 - My next obssession outlined - and GIVEAWAY WINNER !!!

2011-12-31T08:34:00.002+11:00

Stitched by me so many years ago
Comes out every year from the decoration box

It seems that I am the Queen of Theme - I realised n 2009 that I liked a LOT of Snowmen Charts and decreed 2010 - The Year of the Snowman. Simple rule - any new chart started in 2010 HAD to have a snowman in it.
I stitched a whole 21 snowmen (running total) - and true to form, started 7 snowmen projects on Dec 31st.
Of course it was Sheep that caught my eye during this time. I elaborated on my personal rules.
Any new chart MUST contain one sheep - exceptions: WIP's, Halloween, Christmas and Compassionate Stitching. (This explains 7 WIP snowmen!)
As you have all joined enthusiastically into my enthusiasm (OCD) - this year, my flock of sheep numbered 105.

What's for 2012???

Cats & Cottages.

I have a number of cat charts and I desperately want to stitch Shores of Hawk Run Hollow - as well as a few pieces of architecture.
Rules have changed this year - to try to relax my obsession.
Week 1 = Cats
Week 2 = Christmas Stitching (I've stitched ONE ornament this year!!! Fleece Navidad!)
Week 3 = Cottages/Architecture
Week 4 = WIP's
Week 5 = Anything Goes.
I will also allow compassionate stitching to sneak in when required and Halloween can creep in with Christmas Stitching from August.

I currently have NO INTENTION to create a monthly stitched item as my wall-o-sheep (still needing batting & backing which I was supposed to have done yesterday)

This brings me to the announcement of my giveaway winner. I have started this morning (31.Dec) the final sheep - 105 - to be one side of my scissor fob. The first cat for 2012 will be the other side of the fob.
All names were put into the bowl of destiny - and the winner
(you were all pretty much spot on for answers - I'd not made much secret of the fact had I???)

is . . . . . . . . .

........

SHEBAFUDGE !!!!!!! (should that read She-baaaa-fudge ????)
(I'll contact you next week to confirm your snail mail address)

CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!!!

For the very last time, thank you to all for indulging my obsession and joining in the fun and frivolity that became 2011. Let 2012 be the same (although perhaps not so intense on the stitching - my family would like to see me from time to time!). - may all your floss be untagled and your needles point straight - I'll see you all in the New Year!!

baaaa-ronny

TUSAL - Final fibre flaunting for 2011

2011-12-29T20:32:00.000+11:00

December 2011 T.U.S.A.L

Nearly forgot!!! How could I not finish off 2011 without the final TUSAL installment - New Moon December 29.

Here it is - my lovely little jar, faithfully being looked after by my sheepie sentries. (the rusty wire thing on the right IS my hubby's Christmas gift - A SHEEPIE !!! )
I can see lots and lots of black and white near the top, some oranges from Halloween and some pink near the bottom (what project had pink?? I'll have to go look)
It's been fun collecting my orts and I'll certainly be joining in again next year with DaffyCat - and TUSAL 2012

(I'll have to find another crystal bowl to store my orts from 2011)

2011 - The Year of the Sheepie - at a close - the final baaaa

2011-12-29T18:25:00.000+11:00

9 Sheepies

Here we go, what is probably the last of my sheepies for 2011. (although I might round off the number by stitching one for a fob tomorrow)
The Holstein Sheep/Cow was 100 - Moet, Dry-Clean, Longshanks & Screwball make it a total of 104 for 2011.
It's been a fun year, full of sheepie puns, I won't try to pull the wool over your eyes, the puns sometimes have been ewe-niversally baaa-d.

I'll draw a winner of my giveaway tomorrow morning.

Happy Dancing!

baaaa-ronny

100 Sheepies !!!!

2011-12-28T19:04:00.002+11:00

100 sheepies !!!!!!!!

(of course, Holstein is a type of spotted black & white COW - just my crazy, warped & twisted sense of humour)

99 Sheepies - raising the baaaaa

2011-12-28T17:33:00.000+11:00

96 - 97 -98 -99

........

Sheepie 96

2011-12-26T23:10:00.001+11:00

Sheepie 96

Found on a french blog - one of 10 freebie sheepies. I'm stitching 9 - and with a bit of luck - will mean a flock of 105 by the end of the year...

(why stop at 100? - I asked myself.........)

Christmas Day Sheepie

2011-12-25T11:16:00.001+11:00

4 days!!!! Must be time for a quick Competition!

2011-12-21T07:16:00.003+11:00

4 days to blogaversary?? Ye-gods and little fishes! I was mereley musing about how during the coming week, once the Christmas fuss is over, how I'd be able to spend some time browsing and blogging, then remembered that was the time I started blogging - around Christmas - checked - and my Blogaversary is in 4 days!!!

Nearly missed it again!

I'll have a little competition - some people may already know this.... What two themes are my obsession for 2012???

I'll pick a winner in 4 days - I have no idea what I'll send yet - but it may be a scissor fob featuring both themes ........

2011 - A year of Sheepies - near completion

2011-12-17T19:14:00.000+11:00

Here we are, two weeks before the end of the year and our Christmas tree has yet to make an appearance.... Why??? Because, for our tree to be put up in front of my sewing machine cabinet, I have to stop sewing ... I have made some gifts for friends, but I really wanted to finish my sheepie stitches into the quilted top that I envisaged way back in February, when I decided to make this a monthly series.

I tried laying them out 2 x 6 and 6 x 2 and 4 x 3, but the best layout for colour placement, was 3 x 4.

2011 - The Year of the Sheepies

I'm sure you will agree, this just works out well. I had found some sheep fabric on a side trip to Mount Gambier in October and spent this morning fussy-cutting sheep heads.

Closeup of sheep heads and grass

After piecing them and ironing the strips, I had a near mental breakdown, because one strip of sheep and grass went missing for 2 hours. I had not left the room, I was ironing them, my family thought me mad, and that I had not cut 20 heads in the first place, but I knew I had lost one solitary strip. I had a little nanna-nap after moving furniture looking for this strip, (I even removed the ironing-board cover looking for it!), I dreamt of strips of sheep heads, woke up, continued on my search, then found it UNDER a box that I had moved before. Perhaps it was my body telling me I needed sheepie sleeping.

I've been able to finish it off - now I am happy, although I need to find some suitable backing fabric and binding, but that can wait until the New Year - my family want a Christmas Tree!

Sheepie Greetings everybody - thank you for joining me on my obsession in 2011

11-12-11 - It's time for the Decem-baaaaa Sheepie

2011-12-12T00:30:00.001+11:00

Frantically stitching tonight - I've stitched so much today - left it until the last 2hours 10 minutes of 11-12-11 to start, stitch and finish my Decem-baa sheepie!

I made it with a minute to spare (although, due to a 5 minute phone call - the beads on the tree were stitched just after midnight - but it was all stitched in time!!!!

These three sheep take it through to 94 sheep for the year - do you think I can make it to 100 ???

I was very busy this afternoon - If my boss or my workmates are looking at my blog.........turn away NOW !!!

You've not shown interest before.......why start now?

...................... go on.....

I don't want to spoil your surprise....

All clear?????

OK - I was putting the last stitch into this Map Wallet, when I realised that most people nowadays use GPS. Talk about a blonde moment! Well, I hope my boss likes this anyway - drafted my own pattern (read: make it up as I go along....) I'm really pleased how this turned out - I hope he can use it anyway.

And for somebody who's name begins with 'S' - While I was stitching this small sheepie design, I had always intended to finish it off as a tote-bag. Once again, drafting my own pattern (read: as above..) I made this little bag up and I'm so pleased with it. It is fully lined, with a small pocket inside, as well as the pocket on the outside with the sheep panel. It's well and truly top-stitched and not likely to fall apart in a hurry.

Another project went flying - it wasn't working out at all well, the weight of the fabric was annoying me, so I've shelved that project for another time - I'll rescue the fabric and use it on something else.

Next, I grabbed some ornaments that were finished last year (or the year before) and got them ready to hand sew some embellishements on to be hung from the tree.

A very busy stitchity Sunday. How are your stitching plans going for December???

Extreme 'Last-minute' gift giving........ again!

2011-12-07T07:23:00.001+11:00

I have been known to be a bit of the 'last-minute' panic people... Today is no exception. At 10.30pm last night, I realised I had no gift for a Kris-Kringle for tonight. I started cutting up fabric and by 1am, had nearly finished two tea wallets and two matching coasters. Yes, I know I still have the bindng to stitch down, but I can get that done at work today at lunch, can't I??? I spent a few minutes googling for a pattern for the tea wallet then remembered that last december, I blogged about it and posted the blog post the tea wallets came from! Not only did I start this project at 10.30 last night, it appears that I had a fit of inspiration at 10.30 last year!! (I must stop starting projects so late at night!) I did a smidge of free-style quilting on the fan shapes and am really happy with the way they worked out. Working on the binding is a good way to practice the technique for my bigger quilt project (shhh can't show you that either!)

A thought about Christmas Shopping.......

2011-11-30T07:23:00.001+11:00

As we prepare for the onslaught of December - here's a thought to ponder. I received it in an email, and thought it well worth sharing. (For my overseas readers - apply this to your local area)

Christmas2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, thegiant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Australians withmonstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been producedat the expense of Australian labor.

This year will be different.This year Australians will give the gift of genuine concern for otherAustralians. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothingcan be found that is produced by Australian hands.

Yes there is!

It's time to think outside thebox, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chineseproduced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE getstheir hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local hair salon orbarber?

Gym membership? It'sappropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate gettingtheir car detailed? Small owned detail shops & car washes would love tosell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of thoseextravagant givers who think nothing of plunking down the Panasonic of aChinese made flat-screen? Perhaps thatgrateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for thesummer, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-runrestaurants -- all offering gift certificates. If your intended isn't the fancyeatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local cafe. Remember, folks this isn't about big Nationalchains -- this is about supporting your home town with their financial lives onthe line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use anoil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by theAustralian working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt giftfor mum? Mum would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use atune-up, & I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get hisrepair business up & running.

OK, you were looking forsomething more personal. Local craftspeople spin their own wool & knit them into scarves. They make jewelry,& pottery & beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings atlocal, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. How aboutgoing out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, sofind a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLYneed to buy another 10,000 Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a $5.00string of light, about 50 cents stays in the community. If you have those kindsof bucks burn, leave the postman, garbo or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longerabout draining Australian pockets so that China can build another glitteringcity. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging our small businessesto keep plugging away to follow their dreams. When we care about otherAustralians, we care about our communities, & the benefits come back to usin ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new AustralianChristmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone onyour mailing list -- This is a revolution of caring about each other, &isn't that what Christmas is about?

Merry Christmas to Australians in 2011

I SPY with my little EYE, something beginning with 'T' -------

2011-11-26T10:39:00.001+11:00


T.U.S.A.L. November 25 - 2011

T.U.S.A.L

Yes that's right - it IS time again to show off our Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long.

Here in thecentre of the pic is my TUSAL jar, full to the brim, and yes, there are WHITE orts near the top. I must be stitching Sheep again!!. There is my current WIP too.. the setting for a few more sheep, my sheepie scissor fob is keeping it company, sitting on my Mug Rug, near my Friendship pillow, in front of a cupcake stand ready to disply Christmas ornaments on, and also displayed with some lovely gifts received in the past few months. Of course, I've taken them OUT of the envelopes they came in and I have no idea who gifted them to me (so much for good intentions - I really must try better next year!!) Thank you to you my friends, all I need now is the time to stitch them before Dec 31 - Oh well, they can always become WIP's (I seem to remember I still have some snowmen to finish!)

I've signed in again to next year's TUSAL - one cannot stop one's obsession mid-stream now, can one???

I hope to ~~churn~~ fleece out at least 9 more sheep this year to make it to a flock of 100, before starting a completely new theme for 2012 - I also MUST pick up my Christmas Tablecloth and get working on that, as there are only 4 more weeks before that is due to sit on my Christmas Table - I need to stitch a Santa to symbolise 2010, when Dad came to share the Holiday.

Is it too early to start thinking of New Year Resolutions????

Nearly time for TUSAL

2011-11-22T20:58:00.001+11:00

So nearly time for the next T.U.S.A.L on Friday.

I nearly missed signing in to celebrate and join in for 2012 Tusal. Daffycat is hosting it again - click on the button on my sidebar, which will take you to the signup page.

What is TUSAL ????

What do you do with your orts? The little bits of floss at the end of each section of stitching, those that are not long enough for anything. Do you sacrifice them to the god of vacuum cleaners? Leave them to adorn your clothing? Much better to collect them in a pretty container, and post a photo every month to your blog - and see how other obsessive stitchers collect theirs month by month.

What do you do with them at the end of the year? Some people put their orts into clear christmas ornaments and hang them from the tree. I tend to use mine to stuff christmas ornaments themselves.

Come along and join the fun.

Are you prepared for Christmas???

2011-11-18T07:12:00.001+11:00

No matter how many times a year I think I'm prepared for Christmas, now that I realise that it's only 5 weeks away, I realise, once again that I'm woefully unprepared.
I have all these ideas of gifts to make for satellite people, unsure if I'll have the time to start them, let alone any idea of gifts for close friends and family.
AND I still have my christmas tablecloth to stitch.!!!
So for now, until I have my stitching commitments under control - I'm not going to play hours and hours of playstation or mindless facebook games.

Are you with me???

I believe that next year's 'Year of the ???" will have specific rules that include time for Christmas Stitching every month !!!!!

(I'm still leaning towards cats, but houses are trying to bulldoze their way into my intentions.....)

Year of the Sheepie - 11-11-11 Remem-baa-rance Day

2011-11-12T00:13:00.001+11:00

Finished on the stroke of midnight - a race against the clock - After all these months, I couldn't let 11-11-11 go un-stitched could I?????

A special date - and perfect to pun.

How do you fancy my poppies??? Off the cuff, because I've no graph paper to work with for the moment, and my computer is slightly tired (using son's computer - thank you Harry)

So I have one more to go to celebrate 2011 - the Year of the Sheepies

(4 more sheep ..... I think that takes me up to 91 for the year!! )

Remembrance Day 2011

2011-11-11T07:30:00.000+11:00

This footage was taken on ANZAC day this year, however, today, 11-11-11 will be the 73rd CONSECUTIVE YEAR, that my Father, Harry John has played the Last Post for Remembrance Day.

What an outstanding achievement.
I am so very proud of my Dad.

We Will Remember Them

Happy Creepie Halloweenie from BOO-ronny!

2011-11-01T00:08:00.000+11:00

Sometimes it's worthwhile being known as the local crazy lady.

You see, we don't 'DO' Halloween here in Australia, although over the past 3 years, Trick or Treating has become more and more popular. All Hallowe's Eve, once celebrated as a pagan ritual in the UK and Europe, becoming Halloween Celebrations in the USA - we've got this odd notion of Trick or Treat, with our children expecting to knock on the doors of people they would never normally approach, dressed in ghoulish outfits. Where once, a few years ago, I would not participate, now I decorate, using the wonderful kitchy witchy items, exchanged with blogging friends (remind me that I need to do a halloween/aussie fabric exchange again next year, I'm running low on specialty fabrics) and the local kids know that I can be the one house in the street where they WILL get a handfull of treats.

Poor fellow must have been waiting for awhile

I started today, by decorating my office.

Trick or Treat at work!

My boss just shook his head, muttering something like "Only Bronny........."

At the end of the day, I took the decorations down and raced home, knowing there was not a lot of time left to get my decorations back up, before the local toddlers made their way around to my door.

Jack Skellingbone welcomes you


View from the front door...

One or two adjustments, such as moving my table near the entryway, a few cobweb or two and I was ready...........

Each little group of trick or treaters came up to my door and quietly murmured 'Trick or Treat'. Of course, that was not good enough for me, and after a bit of coaching, each one was calling out so loudly: TRICK OR TREAT !! Then I would open my door and tell them I had treats for them.

I spy Candy Corn.....

Witch Witch?

The verdict from the group of pre-teen witches was that my display made their night and I was the 'Best Halloween House' in the neighbourhood. I was the only adult that had made an effort and had as much fun giving it out as they did dressing up.

Webs to the left

eyeballs in a bowl...

Table from the other end

TUSAL TIME AND HAPPY DANCING IN THE MAILROOM

2011-10-27T23:51:00.000+11:00

Whoa!!! it's TUSAL TIME!!!!!

Nearly forgot to post - not having my own computer at the moment really stuffs up blog posting.

You can see how full this is getting AND not only is there halloween autumn tones at the top, but you can see WHITE floss - what do you think - Ghosts or Sheepies???? What do you think of my little sheepie - new to my flock? I found him at an antique shop for a couple of dollars - he's an old ceramic sheepie and now has a new home - at least until the new year, on my sheepie display..... (what AM I going to do, come January, with all these sheep???)

I also get to share a wee bit of happy dancing with you - Pauline sent me a lovely package, and I received it today at work. There's Voodoo Bob at the back right - a Mill Hill Christmas Sheepie chart, a pattern for a sewn sheep, a lovely scissors bag AND a sweet pair of scissors (hmmm....what sort of fob will land on these???), a lovely mug rug and a really sweet stitched pin pillow. Thank you Pauline, I don't remember winning something, but this was a sweet surprise in the mail...I don't think Voodoo Bob will make it in time for this year....I love that pillow...so nice to make friends in blog-land.

Happy Halloweenie Spider Scissor Fob

2011-10-23T21:26:00.000+11:00

With just on a week to Halloween, I realised that it was really getting to me, trimming my Halloween Orts with my Sheepie Fob Scissors.
This afternoon, I fixed that dilemma - and I'll be able to use these next year.
I made a tiny little pillow, stuffed it then fashioned a spider, using the same trick as my last Halloweenie finish, with a button, beads and stitched legs. I added a few beads and a tassel and there you have it...

Yes, I know - two posts in a row with no sheep..... I'm working on that...

I just checked, and this was my 301st blogging post. Leave a message on this post, and I'll draw a winner on Halloween - they shall receive their very own Spider Scissor fob. The usual conditions apply - If you are a follower, you will have two entries!!

Happy Halloweenie!

Halloweenie Madness creeps further in.

2011-10-22T09:53:00.000+11:00

Here's my latest stitchity offering - sorry for the wonky view, but you know how it is, finish late at night, having only a chair back to drape your project on, and the flash washes out the colour of the tea-dyed fabric. You only realise that the pic has a bend in it when you post it to blogger - but that will all be fixed when you fling it into a frame and take another pic later that same week (fingers crossed!)

This is Spooky Stuff button Sampler, by Homespun Elegance. I stitched it using more of the lovely Nancy's handdyed floss - Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe - Swapped around the order of colours for the alphabet so that important letters were highlighted.

B = Bronny

I = I stitched it!

J= John (my maiden name and one of my son's -sorry Harry - you missed out this time!)

N= Needlecraft and Nancy (my mum's name)

S = Stitching!!

X = X-Stitch of course!!!

The chart called for Olde Brass embelishments to be stitched in each corner. I, of course, changed that to something I could afford. 4 nearly black buttons, to which I added brass toned seed beads as I stitched them on to the fabric, then added 8 stitched black legs to each. They make me smile, every time I see them.

Such an easy look - I might play with a bit of fabric later today and make a small fob with the same idea.

It's nearly TUSAL time again - and looking at my container, I can see so very few white floss orts. I really need to 'raise the baa' and get a wriggle on to some more sheepie stitching.

What do you call it when a flock of sheep roll down the hill?????

A LAMB-slide !!!!!

guffaw!

Year of the Sheepie - October's Sheepie

2011-10-11T23:35:00.002+11:00

I had thought about Dimb-ewe-la, to celebrate our brief holiday in Dimboola last weekend, but couldn't think of what to stitch the sheep about. Of course, I'm about to drag out my Halloween decorations - and had to pick that as a theme. But; how to title it. Let's face it, it's hard to come up with something fitting that links sheep, fleece, baa, flock to Halloween - let alone keep it precise. I toyed with :
Boo! - Did I Scare Ewe
Woolly Boo-lly
Happy Hall-ewe-een

but in the end, decided that Creepy Sheepie fitted the bill. I like my 'ghost sheep'

Now back to working on Spooky Stuff by Homespun Elegance and Halloween Magic by Carriage House Samplings - I should be able to finish one, if not both by the end of the month.

Parlour games and a halloweenie finish!

2011-10-01T23:10:00.002+10:00

For those who are interested, the answer to the quiz I posted a few days ago are:

Inimitable
Vegetable
Delectable
Irritable
Adaptable
Marketable
Comfortable
Profitable
Unsuitable
Portable
Unforgettable
Indubitable
Inevitable
Disreputable
Palatable
Respectable
Unbeatable
Notable
Tractable
Illimitable

Did you get them right??? I think Illimitable (20) has disappeared completely from the english language

I'll post another word challenge next week.

What have I been stitching?? Not much in the way of sheep I'm afraid, but as I'm on leave from work for the next fortnight, that could change. I am however planning to stitch and finish 2 more projects for Halloween before the event. I did design and stitch a quick cushion for a surprise gift for my sister ......... turn away NOW Meg - you cannot see it until tomorrow night.... !!!!!

..................

stop looking Meg (or at least pretend you've not seen it before I hand it to you!)
I was reading SPINSTER SISTER's blog and she mentioned having a small plaque on her wall, with these very words.... That started me thinking, and this is the result. I've stitched it on some more of that tea-dyed aida using some floss that came to hand. I finished it into a mini cushion this afternoon - something she can stick her pins into perhaps...
I hope she likes it...

back in a few days - I'll try to remember to take photos of my holiday to share with you.
bronny

T.U.S.A.L. time .......

2011-09-28T23:14:00.002+10:00

Not so many new moons left in the year.....

Here is my latest TUSAL offering, you can't see the cork on the top of the bottle, but you can see some orange and black creeping in - I am so overdue to stitch a whopping huge fleecy lot of white to add to my jar...

The jar is sitting on a bit of tea-dyed aida. I was so sick of all the white, and I've got one more halloween project in mind... The colours on the fabric are there more as an indication of the true nature of the fabric.

Yes, I'll post the answers to the quiz from my game book in the next day or two...

Halloweenie stitch and Parlour Games of the 1930's

2011-09-24T08:45:00.003+10:00

Whoa! So long since a post from me... - Where has the time gone? Do you realise that it's only 3 MONTHS to Christmas??????

Before Christmas of course, comes Halloween - and I finished this little one last Saturday - but forgot to show you earlier. I'm still thinking of having a frantic finishing day very soon - need to finish something to send to a friend in the US in time for Halloween.

How do you like my LK - If the broom fits! - ?
Thank you again Nancy for your wonderful floss - I will be enjoying using your floss for some time to come - If I need inspiration, I merely plunge my hand into the bag of special floss and I've been able to find the right colour every time.
Once again, I modified the instructions, I couldn't be bothered to remember where to stitch the little black spots, so cheated and stitched beads later. I do like making the googly eyes - I think using the pearl beads instead of buttons makes for a more googlier look - googlier - is that even a word??

Now - on a completely different subject: Parlour Games of the late 30's and early 40's.
Way back in a different time, when I was a cub-scout Akela, I would scour bookshops looking for unique publications relating to games that I could tweak for use in the Pack. This book must have been one of them. I'm thinking some of you might like to learn some of the games that were suggested from this book, first printed in 1939, my re-print is 1942.

Games for Parties - Competitions, Games for Small Parties and Many Players, Tableaux, and Charades and Ideas for Dances.

On the inner flap: the games are mostly new ones, but many variants of the old favourites will be found. A most useful book for organisers of socials, hotel and shipboard entertainment, and very helpful to the giver of the most modest of house-parties.

The contents are divided into sections -

Competitions
Games
Tableaux, Charades & Miscellaneous Events
Ideas for Dances

The competitions themselves are quite complex - how Parties and gatherings have changed, as has the intelligence of gentle folk. Some of the competitions are based upon your knowledge of inner London of the 1930's and have not withstood the test of time. Some of them amaze me with their very complexity. Let's see.......... one to start with.. pencils ready?

TABLE TURNING
The solutions are all words that end with 'table'

A table you cannot copy Inimitable
A table that is good to eat Vegetable
A very delightful table Delectable
A table very easily annoyed
A table that will suit any purpose
A table you can sell
A table for the lazy man
A table that will bring good results
A table that will not be useful
A table a burglar can take away
A table that will not be left behind
A table you must not doubt
A table you cannot avoid
A table that is not very smart
A table that is pleasant to the taste
A table that is known for good conduct
A table you cannot improve upon
A table of little importance
A table that does your bidding
A table that is boundless

There we go.. I've given the answers to the first 3. I think I am charmed by the phrasing of the questions - it takes me back to the time of Agatha Christie novels. I'll post the answers on my next blog posting - and another quiz if you are interested...

One from the section on Active Contests and Team Events. Try playing this at your next social gathering!

WOOL WINDING
This is a competition for men. Have as many balls of wool as there are competitors. Unwind the balls down the length of the room and let a girl hold one end. The man takes the other end and proceeds to wind the wool into a ball. It is not as easy as it sounds, and some queer and bunchy effects will be produced. The winner is the one who first winds all the wool, provided it looks something like a ball!

Do you want more games? Post a message and let me know! There's even a whole selection for setting up a Halloween Party!

Year of the Sheepie - September

2011-09-11T18:01:00.000+10:00

I know the date 11-9-11 has sorrowful connotations for most of the western civilisation, but I don't wish to dwell on the tragedy that changed our world irrevocably. I'll mourn privately, the loss of international innocence. I have my own intense memories of that morning, which are still too raw to share.

Lest We Forget. (Associated with ANZAC and wartime memorials, yet still appropriate)

However, following all the previous months - here is my 11-9-11 Sheepie.

As it is now Springtime here in Australia, I thought a BBQ was appropriate. I can pretend the grass under the bbq utensils are mint and rosemary.......

Thank you for sharing my journey this year. I'm still thinking of next year's theme. Nothing spectacular has leapt out at me, so I'm still swivelling around Cats/Santas/Houses and pretty much all Samplers.

French Sheepie, TUSAL and Halloweenie mumbles

2011-08-29T20:30:00.001+10:00

Another sheepie finish yesterday afternoon, instead of having a flurry of finishing, which was my intent, I sorted out piles of charts and found a few Halloween charts I'd like to stitch and one or two sheepie charts that just may get started soonish.
This sheepie is the French Sheep chart and the border gave me the irits, which is why I put it down over a month ago. However, when I picked it up this weekend, the border just fell into place. Don't you just love finishes like that?

I have picked up a new Halloween chart to stitch - Halloween Magic, by Carriage House Samplings - shouldn't take too long.
I do hope that next Sunday I can get a move onto a flurry of well overdue finshes.

Here is my T.U.S.A.L. offering for this month...

Yes the jar is there.. AND there is some white in there...however, a bit more black is creeping in. Also in the picture is my very early Christmas Present from my girlfriend.... a bale stencil - most probably not so old and I could have had one that said SHEEP, but the LAMBS is so much more interesting. This will end up on the pantry door in the kitchen, I'll be on the lookout for one that says BACON to go on the other door.
Also in the pic, leaning up against the wall is my 'Martha's Sampler' - it did get slightly damaged in the February Floods, as it was on the floor at the time, but I have resolved myself to accepting that has now become part of it's history. I really must pull my finger out and chart it properly to share with you all.

How is your T.U.S.A.L. going?

Halloweenie Madness is surfing closer............

2011-08-27T23:39:00.000+10:00

I hear tell that Halloween is getting closer....... and here is yet another Halloweenie finish. I just had to stitch this witchie surfing - a freebie I pointed out from Linda's Bits of Floss blog. I tweaked it slightly - as I am wont to do.
I also tinkered with a bit of floss - tomorrow may decide to finish my halloweenie scissor fob - I feel so wrong, trimming my orts with a sheepie scissor fob when stitching spiders and witches....

As Monday is TUSAL day - I'll probably post a pic of my jar tomorrow - it's better to take the photo in daylight than try to get a good pic after work in the dark.

Raising the Baaaaa - another Sheepie Finish

2011-08-13T08:31:00.002+10:00

Wow! Sombody has already stitched Sheepie Farm and posted to her blog - Check out how Cucki stitched her farm - so cute and I spy another sheep guarding it too..

Nearly forgot to show you my latest Sheepie finish for 2011- The Year of the Sheep

If you take the definition of August to mean of regal bearing - that explains the crown and the robe.

And if anybody's counting individual sheep - I think this makes around 86 sheep stitched for the year...Will have to make a proper tally shortly...I wonder if I can complete a flock of 100 for the year?

Also - check out another freebie design from Linda on her blog: bits of floss - she's found a way to share Halloween down under!!

Giveaway, Halloween, Sheepies and a Freebie !!!

2011-08-07T18:53:00.000+10:00

Firstly, let me share the news of a blogger's return to blogland - and the subseqent giveaway on her blog - Check out Terri's blog - she's my newest, bestest, blogging buddy.

How ready are you for Christmas???? - Me? - not at all, but I also realise that Halloween is creeping up on us all.. This weekend I've made a start on my Halloween Ornies - followers of my blog will remember my Halloween decorations from previous years.
I started with Long Spider - PIF from another message board - and will be send on another journey in the next week. Stitched on a scrap of evenweave, using black DMC. I couldn't but help sing The Who's 'Boris the Spider' all the time while stitching this.

I was also pointed towards The Primitive Hare's freebie Witch Home - something quick to stitch, will be finished up as a key fob or a decoration. Took less than an hour to stitch, but I'm not in the mood to finish things today.
Today was a day for sheepies.

Some time back, I was asked if I was going to have a farm to hold all my sheepies together. I thought about it and came up with a simple design. I intended to have a sheepie stitch-a-long - but until I stitched it, was not going to release the chart to the unsuspecting public.....

I give you all : bronnyb's Sheepie Farm - by all means, leave me a message and your email address - and I'll send you a pdf of my design and leave you to stitch it on your own choice of fabric, floss and personalise it. It's not too hard to fudge up a backstitch alphabet.

So after a mammoth weekend of stitching - I'm nearly in the mood to start another couple of quick stitchy sayings - but they'd better involve sheep of some type....

A winery, a Winner and another wether!

2011-07-31T22:17:00.001+10:00

Back from the winery - it was a lovely day out for a drive in the Aussie Bush and we got to see John's name up in Chalk! The food a bit more gourmet and pricey than my usual fare, but it's a once in an every so often treat. John showed once again, how versatile he can be - playing as a one man band.

I've finished my stitching tonight for friend's mum's quilt and that will be off to the USA during the week.

Speaking of sending things overseas... we have a winner of the fob draw .... Harry pulled a name out of the pink glass bowl .... GRACIE - Congratulations! I have sent you an email - please send me your snail-mail address.

I nearly forgot to show off my latest addition to my flock - a workmate travelled home to England and brought me back a shelf-sitter-sheep. He will live at work for now.

TUSAL - July 31

2011-07-31T10:09:00.001+10:00

For somebody who has spent a LOT of time and floss stitching sheep, my TUSAL jar is suspiciously bereft of white orts. Am I stitching with the white floss to the 'nth' degree of floss and not caring too much about the length of the coloured floss perhaps?

With today's offering, I show again my sheepie scissor fob and my latest two sheepies - a black sheep - there's got to be a black sheep in every flock and my newest rough and tumble ram, found at a garage sale yesterday for 20c. He's a bit dirty and marked, but loved enough to still wear a red ribbon. I must admit that the family holding the garage sale had funny looks on their faces as I tried to explain the significance of sheep. (what am I going to do with all these sheep after Dec 31st?)
I'm off to see my son play his blues guitar at a winery today for lunch - I'll draw the winner of my fob giveaway tonight after dinner - ~~so there is still time to enter~~ (Edited: No there isn't!). For non-aussies only I'm afraid - but Aussies keep watching; I have a plan.

Sheepie Finishes - beads and a Giveaway !!!!!

2011-07-24T20:20:00.000+10:00

I apologise for the delay in posting - but the past couple of weeks have been hectic at work and I've not had the oomph on the weekends to take pretty photos, and a blog post without photos is only so many words!!!!

What have I to show you...???
.
.
.
.
.
Sheep.
.
.
Did you expect anything different??? That's right - I cannot pull the wool over your eyes! ....I'm sorry that was a 'sheep-shot' and not 'mint' to be 'saucy'. I'll just get baaa-ck to what I was about to show ewe. Fleece forgive me.

nope.... I don't think I'm quite over the baaa-d sheep puns yet. .... Are Ewe??

Stitching first: I finished Erica Michaels : S is for Sheep - I didn't bother with the turkey stitching on the fleece, because this is going to be a Christmas present for a non-crafty person who's name begins with 'S'. Stitched on pinky/lilac aida, using Victoria Motto Shoppe hand-dyed floss.

I also found this little ornament in a JCS magazine from a couple of years ago. I substituted gold beads for the metallic crosses in the sky and used my own wording in the middle - all I have to do is finish it off properly before the end of the year!!

My girlfriend found me this neat Coffee Jug. She is so nice to indulge my addictions...

Today, Sunday 24th July would have been my Mum's birthday. I was a wee bit too glum, and an online friend on my favourite message board, suggested that I find a way to use the jars of beads that were sitting on the end of a cabinet. This I did.
I found myself at Eureka Beads, less than 5km from home, purchased supplies to make some scissor fobs - even finding a sheep bead!!!

A couple of hours later - I have a new sheepie scissor fob. I have decided that my online friend can pick one of the two fobs and I'll have a giveaway to one of my Overseas followers for the other. (see the kangaroos???) Sorry to my Aussie followers - thought I'd give the off shore friends a chance.

You know the rules : Leave a message on this post - I'll pick a winner next Sunday evening (my time) and that winner will receive either the blue/green or the pink/purple fob. I won't tell which one will be sent out - so it will remain a surprise. Blue/Green was the colours she wore most, and Pink for the Pink Depression glass she collected.

Good Luck!

11-7-11 Wintry Wether - The latest in Woolly fashions for Sheep!

2011-07-11T23:18:00.000+10:00

At 11am today, I realised the date.

AAAARRRGGHHH !!!!! Mild panic!!!! I have to have my 11-7-11 sheepie stitched today and I've not even tweaked the design!!!!! I'm at work - how can I play with my charts when I'm at work??????

Will I have time to stitch this tonight??
As it turns out, I'm aware this quick design takes me just over 2hours from go to whoa and, as luck would have it, I had prepared a crock-pot dinner, so the theory was that I could dish up dinner the moment I got home, then sit and stitch. No trouble! I even had time for a wee nanna nap. (My stitching chair is so comfortable, it's inevitable that I nod off for at least 30 minutes each time I settle in for a session of stitching)
I tweaked the design over dinner (yes....terribly bad manners, but I was the only one at the table, the boys were all staring at the telly) - I added beanies, green gumboots and woolly scarves to my sheep - after all, we are in the middle of a cold snap here in Victoria. It IS Winter !!! And I've been saving this pun for several months!

Looking at all the other sheepies I have stitched, I'm thinking this is going to either be made into a wall hanging or a table runner at the end of the year. I've a few months to find the 'right' fabric.
I am having so much fun with this series...
I'm finding myself however, having to explain how obsessed with sheep I've become in the past 6 months. Not all my workmates understand. (I'm not certain the family do either!!)

Construction Zone temporarily dismantled --- blogging may recommence!

2011-07-10T15:03:00.001+10:00

I'm really not 100% happy with it, but I think I've spent enough of my weekend trying to make my wallpaper and header work right.
Until I'm ready for another brain melt-down - this will have to do.
There is only so much html self-help my brain will absorb.
I will however thank the following pages for their help:
For the idea of re-vamping my blog and for the graphics to start on the header: The Cutest Blog on the block.
For a lovely background & check out all the other design elements on this blog : Tea for Two Scraps
For the sheep (and some tags that I've not yet added to the sidebars because my brain has melted) : Barb
For the Tutorials that did help until my brain fried: Blogger Template Design.

Notice - Impending construction zone..............

2011-07-07T07:37:00.000+10:00

I've decided I no longer like the look of my blog.
I hope to play with it over the weekend and update the background and colours and general style. I might even get creative.
Of course sheep are a major consideration.....
So if you are patient with me, you might just see a difference over the next week.
Then again......life could trip me up and nothing happens.
If you have any suggestions - please feel free to comment. I'm not really into shabby-chic, so don't expect pastels....
baaa-ronny

TUSAL - and Snowman Finish

2011-07-02T08:42:00.001+10:00

Finally, I seem to have my computer back running and my files re-organised - after the great crash of June 2011!! I do have a snowman finish to show you - and my current TUSAL.
Here is my Snowman finish - I'm allowed, under the rules, to stitch WIPs. As this was one of the 7 snowmen charts started on Dec 31 2010 - it qualifies.... so there!!
Stitchy Kitty Freebie - Winter Blues - and I replaced some of the stitches with beads. I see this to be made into a companion cushion to the bright pink one stitched last year.

It is also TUSAL day - too dark to show off the TUSAL jar last night - so here's a pic taken early this morning (still dark and had to use a flash) What a lot of orts there are collected - a lot of blue from a recent sheepie WIP - and possibly the Winter Blues. Perhaps next month, there will be a little more white and whisper???

For those interested in the Sheepie SAL I mentioned a month or so ago (blush....could not do anything after the crash) I'm about ready to send it out - will tweak it over the weekend - and set it up as a pdf at work during the week. I think I might just offer it as a free chart - rather than try to organise myself into a SAL.

Procrastinator Special Edition

2011-06-30T20:43:00.000+10:00

My extremely patient blogaversary winners will be happy to know that I've finally got myself organised to send your envelopes out.... Keep an eye on your letterboxes!

Latest Sheepie finish - 11-6-11

2011-06-12T10:52:00.001+10:00

Here's the latest addition to my monthly sheepie project.

My eldest son has started with Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society's (MBAS) 2011 Youth Project - called Youth in Blues. Over the next few months, he, and other young blues artists will be mentored by established blues artists culminating in a competition, where the winner will be selected to perform at a large, local blues festival.

Of course, that leads (and explains) into this month's theme for my ongoing Monthly Sheepie Stitch.

EWES IN BLUES

JUNE - and it's T.U.S.A.L. time !!!!

2011-06-03T13:16:00.001+10:00

Quick post for me - I've not completely disappeared, but my home computer is out of action (posting from work) Can't miss posting my TUSAL for June - so here it is:

Surrounded by sheepies - including my newest addittion - the book of sheep. Gave me a couple of ideas for charts too.....

Yes - that pink bit in the corner IS a pig!!

For those waiting on the bronny's farm SAL - still tweaking and should be able to send it out next weekend - all depending if my home computer is talking to me or not.....

Happy Stitching
(and yes - my newest WIP features another Sheep !!!)

Sheepie SAL anybody???

2011-05-24T23:34:00.000+10:00

I've had a bit of a play and have come up with a small design (70x50), featuring - of all things - sheepies.

Would anybody out in blog-land be interested in a SAL???

Leave a message on this post and I'll see how many people are interested and then I'll work it out.

Thanks - baaa-ronny

2011-05-22T20:48:00.001+10:00

I had a fit of finishing this afternoon.
I had found the fabric for baa-baa-blackwork sheep a week or so ago - even young Harry thought it was a perfect choice. I love the faux piping look used on the last batch of cushions - and wanted something striking for contrast. Black or dark colours flattened the design totally, and I wanted a bit of pizzaz - the bright yellow did the trick.
I finished baaa-sheep yesterday and am so pleased how that one turned out - I really didn't want to frame it as it were, centrally - I do so like to have asymmetrical designs. Had to fiddle a bit to get the faux-piping correct. I do need to put a large purple button on the top left to set it off right.
During the week, I'll search out some buttons to use to fasten them on the back.
Not sure if i'll be keeping them or giving them away.......

2011-05-21T15:26:00.000+10:00

Another finish hot off the hoops - surprise, surprise - it's another sheepie to add to the flock.

This one I found as another freebie on the webb and was looking for something quick to stitch to get back into the swing of things this week. The original chart has the word 'beee' down the side, possibly because that is a translation of 'baaa' - so easy to change!

I have the feeling that this one will be made into a cushion - possibly as early as tomorrow!

Sky Watching - Moon and Stars

2011-05-18T06:49:00.000+10:00

No need for the torch to see my way this morning. Lady Moon was in her glory, shining down so brilliantly, I could see my way through the path and miss the puddles. The remnants of the aligned stars were also showing off and trying to outshine (pardon the pun) the moon, it was a tough contest. By the time I was walking back into the house, the wisps of cloud in the east were turning pink. It was the sort of morning that I'd love to be on top of a hill to watch the moon set and the sun rise. I use this site to work out just what start it is that I could be seeing. Play with the settings to take out all the extra information and bring it down to the bare bones - or if you are technically minded - add all the settings you like. Remember to set it to your nearest city.

Happy Sky watching

When is the 'RIGHT' time to clean the oven???? LOL

2011-05-15T11:21:00.000+10:00

I am the first person to put their hands up when it comes to admitting they are not a good housecleaner. I admit that I've not cleaned the oven in 5 years So when it started smoking slightly the past month when using it, I bought one of those commercial oven cleaners, waiting for the 'right' day to use it.
The night before you are catering for a family lunch for 10 is NOT the 'right' day !

Because the instructions on the can said not to be left for more than 12 hours, and I leave for work at 7am and get back at 7pm, I asked 18yo son to spray the oven when he got home from school. This he did. At 10pm, I judged it was time to wipe out the residue and did what I could reach. I then asked 18yo son to get the rest.

Fine and Dandy I thought.

Saturday morning, I tested the oven on a low temp, there was a wisp of smoke, but it was free of any aroma. I was cooking Chicken Kievs and Scalloped Potatos - both in the oven. I turned the oven on to cooking temperature and shoved the whopping huge baking dish of potatos in, filled the sink and started washing dishes. Less than 5 minutes later, I realised something was wrong.

There was a bit of smoke coming from the oven. I opened the oven door and filled the whole house with smoke. Not good. Panic mode !! MIL is due within the next 30 minutes and the house is full of smoke!!!

I opened the front door, the kitchen window, the laundry door, the loungroom windows and remembered to turn the oven OFF.
I rescued the potatoes from the oven. Hmmm what to do? I'm still frantically trying to clean the kitchen bench down, and wash dishes, and make house look 'nice' - and house is full of smoke and I've got no idea how to change the menu for 10 without an oven. I was thinking that a trip to the fish & chip shop was going to be the way to go.

While I was standing outside the front door, recovering from the brief smoke inhalation, I noticed that my lovely neighbour Narelle was home. There and then, in my pinny, I waltzed across the road, and knocked on her door.
When she stopped giggling, she was happy to let me use her oven, as she was going out, would I lock up after I'd finished. I trundled over the whopping huge baking dish of potoatos and the two smaller dishes holding the 10 kievs - slotted them into her oven and let them cook in peace. I was then able to clear the kitchen back down and get the house into reasonable order before MIL showed up.

Where was DH during all of this?? Dismantling the vacuum cleaner because that broke too (doesn't go now at all) and trying to set up his birthday gift - a USB picture frame, so it can play movies. He even joked with Narelle that he thought it was a silly time for me to decide to clean the oven. Did ANYBODY in my family speak up on Friday night? Did I even hear one person say "I wouldn't do that now - the oven isn't smoking THAT much!"
BIL and family got slightly lost on the way here, and were a bit bemused to see me trot over the road and return carrying lunch. I dished it all up and we had a lovely afternoon.
I'm not touching the oven. I'm leaving that to DH and 18yo - they can clean it up. I cannot physically get down low enough to reach the back and top corner of it - so it's either going to be them, or I'll find a little man in the local paper and pay him to come and clean it.

go on - laugh with me. It's funny - NOW !!

11-5-11 - The Year of the Sheep - Ewe May Leap!

2011-05-11T23:44:00.000+10:00

Finished at 11:30 pm - 11-5-11 The Year of the Sheep - May entry.

Stitched on slightly smaller than I'm used to - possibly 16count hand dyed peachy pink aida, using Autumn colours.
The leaves were uncharted and stitched, using 4 colours in random spots and a few daisy stitches for floating leaves.
Up until the last minute, I had decided on 'Ewe May', then decided to add the 'Leap !', which makes a bit more sense.
This time around, the colonial knots on the side sheep are also a tad wonky, giving them a drunk look - lol.

Thanks for looking
baaaa-ronny

Need inspiration!!!! - have 24 hours!

2011-05-10T21:15:00.000+10:00

Please Help Me !!!

I have 24hours to stitch the May monthly Sheepie - and I cannot come up with the appropriate title.

I started it in January with "The Year of the Sheep"

February was : 'Love Ewe'

March was : "Moom-baa" (Melbourne, Aust. blog readers would recognise that term)

April was : 'RAM.Z.A.C.'

I need something witty for May.

All I can come up with is 'Baa-thers Day' - for Mothers Day, but it just does not do it for me. It's also my hubby's birthday on the 12th. It's Autumn and getting quite chilly.

What about 'May Ewe?' - I can stitch it in Autumn tones and put a pile of autumn leaves for the middle sheep to jump over - does that tickle your fancy?

What are your thoughts??? Please help me!!

Time for T.U.S.A.L. - May 2011

2011-05-03T23:33:00.000+10:00

A quick mid-week post for me - no daylight to take really good photos, but it's T.U.S.A.L. time. Seems to be a lot more threads there, mainly because I cannot show the results - all my Sheepie Siblings blog winners are being very patient...I should be able to sneak off to the post office next week to send out a small offering to them. I've sort of fallen off the wagon this past week, but hope to get back to stitching in the next day or so.

Happy Stitching all.

My latest finish - Hot off the needle ! (not sheepish!)

2011-04-25T11:17:00.001+10:00

A finish !

It's NOT a sheep !!!

This is the second of the 7 snowman WIP's started on 31st December.

It's a freebie found Marika Belfiori's blog some time ago. It was the only piece of stitching that was affected by the great house flood of Feb 11. The ink from the printed chart bled onto the fabric, but not too badly. I cannot get a good pic of the finish, but the fabric is a soft pinky lilac shade. Once again, this will most likely be finished into a small wall hanging.

Winners - Winners - Winners !!!!!

2011-04-16T14:43:00.000+10:00

It's been awhile, but for those 20 that posted on my giveaway blog - today is it!!!

I have the names all written out and they are all in the bowl of Destiny....(aka little green jadeite mixmaster bowl)

The winners are:::........

DaffyCat

Denise

Pauline

Stitchinowl

Natalyk

Nutmegg

Congratulations - Please email me with your snail-mail address and I'll send each of you a Sheepie Siblings Scissor fob.

Oh... what?? you want more?? I suppose I can part with the birdhouse sampler cushion I stitched....one more name....Terri Boog !!! Not a sheep I'm afraid, and I think to send it overseas, I might have to take the insert out.

I'll post pictures of the sheepie fobs once in the mail....Thank you to everybody who comments on my blog. Your lovely comments are what make my day.

bronny

Baa Baa Blackwork Sheep - another for my flock of finishes!

2011-04-14T23:41:00.000+10:00

Another quick sheepie finish. It's a very soft aida fabric, very cream in colour. I have plans to incorporate this little design into a tote sometime very soon.

So many sheepies, so little time to stitch.....

Sheepie Finish - RAM.Z.A.C 11-4-11

2011-04-11T21:08:00.000+10:00

Here is my monthly sheepie offering for April.

RAM.Z.A.C.

In honour of all our Diggers and to celebrate A.N.Z.A.C day on 25th April - this month I added slouch hats to the sheep and spent ages charting a basic Rising Sun emblem. Even John approves - and for him saying something complimentary about my stitching is rare!

I am so happy how this turned out - I like the chin straps too. This project has re-vitalised my stitching, bringing it back to FUN. I was in serious danger of becoming too embroiled into my stitching, to the exclusiveness of everything else.

By setting myself a set of fun rules for this year's stitching, I'm effectively taking a break from the uber-serious stitching and relaxing into my stitching.

And it is long overdue to draw the prize for my Mystery Giveaway - although I've not yet finished all the prizes. I'll draw names on Saturday.

Finally after a fortnight - finishes and faux piping! Oh - also TUSAL

2011-04-03T20:40:00.000+10:00

I've had a fit of finishing frenzy today. Today, I finally put the buttons and buttonholes where needed and made the cushion inserts for the 4 cushions finished with Chris a fortnight ago.

You can see the faux piping on the snowman and sheepie cushions. I promise, next time I use that technique, to take photos to show how easy it is. The other two cushions were finished in 2009, but were waiting for me to finish and put the backs on the cushions.

Speaking of backs of cushions...check out the back of the blacksheep cushion - is that fabulous or what??

I'm really, really pleased with the button and tassel look. It is my favourite cushion finish of all time.

Here is a closer look of the birdhouse and Well Behaved Women cushions - they look so great and I'm glad to have them finished after all this time.

The final finish for the day is my little snowman banner. This little snowman was one of my New Year's Eve Snowmen WIP's, and the first of that group finished. The fabric used is just perfect for it, and I love the little pointy bit. (Thank's Chris) A fortnight ago, I found the beads that fit either end of the kebab skewer to make the hanger. The beads were a perfect match for the colour of the stitching and with a bit of a whittle and a smidge of wood-glue were a perfect fit! I had always intended to use the crystal beads, but mixed them with the pearl beads - Drops on the bottom and a swag effect across the top. Pretty Nifty!

To finish off - here is my T.U.S.A.L for this month - a day early instead of late this time around. Might as well get the photo while it's daylight! Lots of white and black floss from the latest needlebook sheepie and a lot of white from my mystery givaway gifts - yes I have not forgotten that 4 weeks ago, I promised a giveaway. There are 19 comments on that particular post, but I'm still stitching at least 5 gifts. I hope to have them all finished by the end of next weekend, then I'll be able to draw winners. I just don't feel right to draw winners when I don't have finished prizes to post out.

Another Sheepie Finish - oh so cute!

2011-03-27T23:45:00.000+11:00

And what a quick finish this was.... I received the chart as a PIF on Thursday, bought some polar fleece on Friday, (for a total of $5.80, I've enough to make at least 4 sheepies!), started stitching on a scrap of evenweave on Saturday and stitched up the sheepie on the Sunday.

It is rather cute and I did change the chart around slightly, adding beads for that extra sheepie bling. My sheepie also has an ear and eye on the other side. He does, rather sadly however, only have 2 legs. I might make another one with 4 legs and a blankie on both sides. We'll see. The idea is that you lift up the blankie and stow away needles. I did do a smidge of embroidery on the underside of the blanket

Please don't forget to enter my giveaway - I am still holding it open and am stitching up small gifts. Simply leave a comment at the end of the March TUSAL post.

At the moment, I plan to send out 6 gifts, and that means one in 3 currently entered can win a stitched sheepie gift from me. I do have some more finishes to show, but they are cushions, and I'm not going to show them off until I've finished stitching the buttons and stuffing them - then they'll be truly finished and deemed worthy of showing off.

I had a finishing frenzy today!!!

2011-03-20T21:28:00.001+11:00

5 finishes !!!!

And can I show you ??? Nope...

Not until I get batteries in my camera, because I'm not happy with the quality of the pics from the phone.

There's 2 snowmen finishes, a sheepie finish, two cushions that have been waiting just for the backs to be done, and thanks to my friend and personal cheerleader, Chris, learnt a new technique today... faux piping. When I get the photos onto the blog, you'll see it all pretty on two of the projects...

Thanks heaps Chris.

Honestly, I still have some buttons to stitch onto the 5 projects, but that will come during the week. I'm still calling them FINISHED

Another Finish - not a sheep, but a Snowman!!!

2011-03-15T22:54:00.000+11:00

Hot off the needle.. Not a sheepie, but one of my snowmen WIP's started on 31st December.

This Curtis Boehringer design will be made into a small bellpull. I really like the hand-dyed aida that it's stitched on. It comes really close to the edges, but will be fine when sewn up with some razzle-dazzle fabric.

Not sure what Sheepie or WIP will be picked up next....

Dont forget to enter my giveaway - there will be multiple winners, the main winners will receive a stitched item from me!

Thankful - another Sheepie Finish

2011-03-14T10:00:00.000+11:00

This was a quick stitch - I decided yesterday that I needed to start another sheep, and found this freebie amongst my flock of sheep charts. It is a 2005 LHN freebie for Cresent Colours. I used instead, thank you Nancy, from my Christmas gift of Victorian Motto Sampler floss. Due to a counting error, I had an extra 3 stitches to the length of the tree, so was perfect to add a couple of Bee's to the finished item. Therefore, I've not stitched my name, I figure they will do for my initials - BB

This brings to 10 the number of sheep finished for the year so far. I'm thinking of finishing it off into a small pillow. I'm also thinking that it may end up as part of my mystery giveaway - have you enterered yet? I've not put a closing date, because I'm still adding stuff. There is likely to be more than one prize sent out too!

11-3-11 - Sheepie finish. Moom-Baa !!

2011-03-11T22:49:00.000+11:00

I would love to start today's post with a more upbeat feel to it, but this afternoon, Japan was struck with a major earthquake, followed by even more devastating tsunami waters.

I do not feel that the full toll will be known, if ever, for weeks, and my heat goes out to the Japanese people and all those affected. Currently tsunami warnings are current for the Pacific region. I hope that loss of life and property are kept to a minimum.

It seems almost frivolous to post my finish for today.

Moomba in my youth was a major celebration held on Labour Day, the 2nd Monday in March. Labour Day is still a public holiday, to celebrate the granting of an 8hour work day - this site Wikki has a little bit more about Moomba. This explains why I've tried to portray fireworks, I also picked the Anchor varigated floss 1375 to stitch the bright fun feeling. But here is is - my stitching for 11.3.11 - Moom-Baa has a little more information. .

I did it!!!! A weekend Sheepie Finish!!!

2011-03-06T21:22:00.000+11:00

There.... a finish for the weekend... Thanks to CalamityJr for suggesting that I skip the french knots and just go ahead with the fluffy fibre. I played with the mill hill beads I had in hand... sorry it's a bit wonky, but I just flung it on the grevillia outside to take the photo. The fabric doesn't quite show it as green as it is. - Now to move onto something else...

Oh yes... sneak peak of one of the bits made for my giveaway....

Needs to be stitched up and finished-finished...but I'm half way there.....

Hmmm...could that be a sheep's eye looking at you??? lol

If you want to enter into the mystery giveawy...don't forget to leave a message on my previous post.....

TUSAL - March 2011. Sheep and Snowmen - perhaps a giveaway??

2011-03-05T09:56:00.004+11:00

What a surprise..... My TUSAL jar is full of mostly white floss. But this time around, it's not all mine..... My patchworky friend has been collecting her orts from her stitchity hexagon patchwork project (Insanity 2) for the past month, and surprised me when she added her clump of floss to the jar last week. (I might fish it out and find her, her very own special TUSAL jar) Of course, she had great delight explaining just what TUSAL was to a Kafe Fassett course she attended during the month.. The concept just might be spreading further than expected....

There are other colour floss in the jar, it's not all white and ecru DMC. I was given a couple of charts for my birthday, another friend, Carolyn, found some sheepie charts for me. Amongst them, was a Mill Hill band sampler chart. The verse reads: 'A day in the country is worth a month in the town'. The sheep at the bottom are supposed to be worked in french knots, but they've not worked for me so far - so at the moment, the sheep are languising in half cross stitches, until I feel up to attempting multiple colonial knot replacements. There are a number of beads to place on the sampler too, there really is not a lot of work to do before it's finished - I really should pull my finger out and get it done.

Also sitting on my stitching table with the TUSAL jar is my current Snowman WIP - this is being stitched on a scrap of hand dyed aida and only just fits the fabric. This is ok, as i'll be sewing it into a small wallhanging, rather than trying to frame it. It is a Curtis Boerhringer Welcome Home Snowman - yet another gift received last year in a batch of snowmen charts from a blogging buddy. I do have some babushka snowmen to show off too, but in the emergency rush cleanup on the night of the flood cleanup, they've been put somewhere 'safe' and have yet to make a reappearance. (I will find them Chris, I will!!!)

You can also see a solitary sheep on a small scrap of aida. This is adapted from the quickie sheep I've decided to stitch every 11th of the month, but this is destined as a gift for a Stitching sister. I plan to make a few more of these for more giveaways.

Hmmm... speaking of giveaways.... I do believe I owe all my regular readers an overdue giveaway. I do have a few bits and bobs stashed around - fully intending to fashion them into something worthwhile. There's nothing flash - I don't have many new charts - most are second or third-hand to me, but I may have something interesting. Some things are waiting to be fashioned into something useful to another stitcher - so it may be a little while before you receive a finished item. I'll see what I can cobb together this weekend. In the meantime, if you are interested in a mystery giveaway - please leave a message on this post

Thoughts on recent natural Disasters - QLD- NSW-VIC-WA and now NZ

2011-02-22T19:31:00.000+11:00

So sad at the moment. I feel so overwhelmed by this latest natural tragedy to have struck in the Southern Hemisphere. We are dealing slowly with the extent of the QLD cyclone and floods, followed by the Victorian Floods, the WA bushfires, now, today, the news of the NZ earthquake.

I feel so much compassion for our Kiwi neighbours, feeling so helpless yet again at the events as they are unfolding.

I truly do not mean any offence at this remark, but "WHOEVER IT IS - WILL YOU STOP KICKING THAT CHINAMAN?????"

(part of me asks - "Do Chinamen ask who is kicking the Englishman?")

I am not religious, and cannot ask a deity for answers, but ask that everybody can contact their loved ones and friends affected by these shattering events and hug them. I hope that they are safe and accounted for.

The enormity of the necessary recovery for these areas is staggering - I wish for strength for all those involved in the rescuing and recovery.

I give thanks for plastic tubs..............

2011-02-12T12:24:00.000+11:00

Got home from work yesterday evening to discover that at some point during the day, the hose fitting at the washing machine spat the dummy - the water was coming out the front door.

There was a 2inch layer of water through the whole house.

Right now, we're using a borrowed wet/dry vac to get the worst of the water from the carpets. All John's musical instruments are safe, although Martin's computer may not be so healthy - we will find out when it dries out, how much damage to the whole machine. We are all guilty of floor-drobes, so I currently have a bathtub full of wet clothing to sort and wash.

One bit of damage, is that Martha was sitting in an inch of water. The water has soaked through and some of the colour in the bottom border has bled into the fabric. There is nothing I can do about it, I've not got the abiltity to professionally clean this at the moment, so I'll just add the damage as part of the history of the piece.

Apart from all that - 95% of my stitching was sitting in plastic tubs and there are just a few charts and magazines that are now drying out. All my sheepies are safe and dry. One of my snowmen WIP is a wee bit damp, but not fatally.

I'll be back in a few days with some stitching updates.

Another Ewe-nique pink sheepie finish!!

2011-02-11T09:01:00.000+11:00

Hot off the needles - 2 minutes before I'm due to start work (obsessed or what???)
Same freebie chart as the one finished 11.1.11 - and of course you realise now that I'll have to have one finished for 11.3.11. I'm thinking of ewe-sing the same chart for each month and just adapt it slightly and at the end of the year - stitch it into a quilt.

What do you think? That would be a EWE-nique way of finishing it all off - wouldn't it??

Ewe-phoria ! Another Sheepie Finish!!

2011-02-06T17:06:00.000+11:00

Sisters & Best Friends Chart: Black Sheep Again!
Stitched on dusky pink aida using Wisper thread (White, Ecru and Chocolate) for the sheep and DMC for the legs, heads and lettering. Mill Hill beads for the garland. Not using the required colours for the chart because I don't have to.
I still need to wash it and fluff up the Wisper, but this one can go into the 'Done' pile.
I have no idea what the next sheepie chart will be - might take a dive into the WIP pile first. (I'll let you all know when I figure it out!)

T.U.S.A.L - lots of fluffy white bits

2011-02-05T17:51:00.000+11:00

Hi all,

Sorry, have had a fit of the blah's since the most tremendous party in the history of the Baconverse. It may have been the heat that seeped into the bones that meant I really did not feel up to stitching at all during the week. Today, I had intended to sit and stitch and typically, fell asleep in the chair.

Victoria was hit with a wall of water last night and our street flooded. Our house was one of the lucky ones and we remained flood free, but there is damage to the road and I believe at the moment, Pakenham is cut off from the rest of the known world (ahhh - Facebook -where would we be without it????)

However, I do need to show off my TUSAL jar for February - it is mostly full of white and wisper fibres - hmmm do I suspect sheep stitching to be the cause of this???

I'm up to attaching beads to the latest sheepie project, may be able to stay awake long enough to complete it tomorrow... will post pictures then.

Until then, stay dry!

It was the best party ever!

2011-01-30T08:14:00.000+11:00

And do you think I stopped long enough to capture photos? I know they exist out there, I saw the flashbulbs. My son John is an excellent blues guitarist, and for the past 2 years has played most Sunday Jam sessions about an hour's drive away. The musicians he plays with, have the utmost respect for him and showed that, by turning up in force last night and playing some great music all evening. There were no incidents and I'm certain, that the neighbours will not object to us having a party ever again!

John at the Bar on his 18th Birthday

Happy Birthday John.

Popping Baaa-ck to show you a sheepie WIP

2011-01-29T08:23:00.000+11:00

This chart is one recently received as a RAK - Black Sheep have more fun (a Sisters and Best Friends chart). I've stitched it using Wisper fibres - having so much fun too. I was advised to blend one strand DMC with one strand Wisper and it works fine. I had white and ecru Wisper and decided to mix it up a bit.

Bottom Row middle sheep is White DMC with White Wisper. The sheep to the left is Ecru DMC with White Wisper and the sheep on the right is Ecru DMC with Ecru Wisper.

The top row has a White DMC with Ecru Wisper to the left of the Black Sheep (Dark Chocolate Wisper) standing next to another White DMC and White Wisper sheep.

Because I've used such a strong pink aida (oh my, the Wisper and I had 'words' with evenweave!), I've changed the colour used for the wording.

I hope to be able to show you all the finish in a couple of days. Tonight is my son's 18th birthday party and there is so much to be done today.

Hugs!

Bleating about another Sheepie Finish!!!

2011-01-19T23:21:00.002+11:00

Hot off the needle - just finished the BAA-ckstitching.

click on picture to see the whole picture

This is a freebie found on the web in 2006 - the french title translates as "Count the Sheep" - by Virgine Gousse Mars

I added an extra clump of flowers and the date and my name in the middle, because that area in the original looked a bit empty.

This weekend, I might work on a few ideas for a sheep chart series - stay tuned - I've an idea for a Feb-EWE-ary Cy-BAA Stitch-A-Long

EWE-haul - and another quickie sheepie finish !

2011-01-11T22:56:00.001+11:00

11-1-11

I knew I had to have something finished today - just so I could stitch that date on it. None of my snowmen WIP's were anywhere near close, so this morning on the 123message board, somebody pointed towards a new (to me) french blog with a lovely sheep chart. (use a translater if you need to - this sheep one was free chart number 45 I think) This I printed and started stitching at work, finishing it up after dinner tonight! I really love those quick stitches......

There's also something else about this date.

I am truly blessed to have met some wonderful people on this blog. Working in the mailroom this morning, I discovered, 1, 2, then 3 envelopes - squishy mail for me!!!!

2 of the envelopes were from Nancy - Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe - (go visit - she's a really clever lady). On Christmas night, while sitting around what was left of the Christmas feast, chatting with Dad and Hubby Martin, I discovered that I had won a blog prize! My mum's name was Nancy too - and Dad was tickled pink that another Nancy 'joined us at the table' as it were. I had won 50 skeins of Nancy's hand dyed floss. So many glorious shades - I'm eyeing off a few samplers already planning what to use them on. As a matter of fact, it is one of the purple skeins that I sittched the sheep today in.

The 3rd envelope was a surprise RAK from Bette. She participated in a recent ornament exchange of mine, and thought to send me some 'Whisper' thread - three shades - cream, ecru and sooty brown - and something I've not seen before - 'Fluffy Fleece', distributed by Rainbow Gallery. Bette also sent me some sheepie charts - aren't they charming? - LK - Gift of Love, Sisters & Best Friends - Black Sheep Again!, and Poppy Creations - Sheep Stuff. The cutest ever tape measure fell out of the envelope - a fluffy sheep!!! You pull his tail for the tape measure, then squeeze his sides to retract the tape! Thomas the tape measure did the rounds of the Accounts Payable department - everybody loves him. He's certainly going to be a constant companion this year (and for many years to come) - my nearly 18yo thinks it's a sheep who ate dental floss

I am so very lucky to have wonderful blogging buddies - I will get myself organised really soon for a new giveway - Unfortunately, if I'm not stitching, I'm thinking about the organising needed for said teenage son's 18th birthday which is looming ever closer. So I ask all my friends to please be patient with me, I want to find something special to share with you

I've got a new FLEECE on Life !!!!!

2011-01-09T14:17:00.001+11:00

Baa-ad Pun !

Don't say I didn't warn ewe all.

Here's my 2nd Sheep finish for the year - a small freebie from Elizabeth's Designs - may be OOP now - was available in 2007 as a companion piece to her design "Old Stone Church" - I have no idea how this chart was in my stash. I removed the words 'Peace' from the bottom of the chart - did not feel the need to add them. It was a quick stitch - only took a couple of hours - instant gratification!

I like the sheep though - they're cute!

The next pic is a pic of my current Sheep WIP - three of the 5 sheep done - more than half way through. I need to finish the fence that they're jumping over, so it doesn't appear as a black blob!

TUSAL - Jan 4th : and a sheepy WIP

2011-01-04T19:28:00.001+11:00

Here is my first TUSAL of the year!! 4 days in does not seem much, (and especially as the glass appears in this photo to have half frosted over) There are some ecru threads in the bottom, but the most you can see are the pink and green orts leftover from my current Sheepy WIP. You will see a lot of my sheepies this year I think - and please be prepared for as many sheep puns as I can find - for example: Twelve male sheep with beepers created a ram-page.

This is my current WIP - it was a freebie in 2006 - I have no information except the year and copyright Virginia Gousse Mars. There are a further 3 sheep to go and a fence in the middle that they are all jumping over. It's a bit fuzzy to the eye, but I do love the flowers being clenched between their teeth!

Thanks for looking - still to be announced soon:

Belated blogaversary giveaway

and a date for a Cy-baa SAL

(as early as Feb-ewe-ary and perhaps as well as Octo-baa)

TUSAL 2011 - quick - be very quick !!!!

2011-01-03T08:42:00.001+11:00

Those of you may have looked at my TUSAL page. However, Daffycat has done something more constructive and is running TUSAL for 2011 - if you are really - and I mean really quick - you can register for the 2011 TUSAL with a chance for a small prize at the end of the year.

I missed the original post on 6th December, and the first NEW MOON is tomorrow - December 4!!!

Quick - get your skates on and register for TUSAL 2011 with Daffycat. If you can't find a fancy container right now, dont fret - use anything handy (wash out that pickle jar first!!) until you find your perfect TUSAL container. Start gathering your orts - your floor will love you!

I'll be posting my TUSAL jar tomorrow - have some serious stitching to do today - more sheep to show off tomorrow!
(and yes - I did change my profile pic to sheep for 2011!!!)

Happy New Year - 2011 - The Year of the Sheep - first finish!

2011-01-01T18:32:00.002+11:00

First start and finish for the year. My friend Karen and I participated in a Cy-baa Stitch-a-Long today and both stitched 'New Year - New Ewe'

I don't want to get the sewing machine out just right now, so it's currently in the unfinished-finished state. I'm not certain just how this will end up - likely as a small tuck pillow or a flat fold - might have to go looking for the right material.

Bit of a cute and fun start to the year!

Farewell to 2010 - the Year of the SNOWMAN - and a Final TUSAL

2010-12-31T20:53:00.000+11:00

Looking back at completed works - my list shows that this year I completed 12 snowmen. A dozen Snowmen!!!! yay! This is my last one finished on the 29th.

Today I completed a scissor fob/ornament - taken from Martha's Sampler Club Blog - the freebie chart I offered on the 1st Dec.

I still havea full WIP list - and will process that tomorrow and add it to the sidebar.

Today, in preparation for 2011 - the year of the SHEEP, I found some more snowmen charts that I wish I could have made the time to stitch.

My rule is that any new chart started in 2011, must be a Sheep Chart. The exception is WIP's, Halloween and Christmas, and any compassionate projects required.

hmmm.... exceptions to rules... that works for me.

So this afternoon, while the temperature outside zoomed to 40c, I gathered some aida and some floss and ferreted through the extra snowmen charts to find a few more that I could not live without. I started:

Home Sweet Flaky Home - found in Stoney Creek Dec 07 issue
Snow Friends - Diane Arthurs chart - intended to be stitched as a triplet - not as a long strip
Winter Blues - a 2005 freebie from Stitchykitty
Sampler Winter - a 2008 freebie from Marika Belfiori's website
Winter Lineup - a chart from 2006 released by The Trilogy - Twisted Threads/Bent Creek/Heart in Hand
The Welcome Home Snowman - a small chart from Curtis Boehringer
The Design on the back cover - The End - another chart from Curtis Boehringer

Add those to the carry over WIP's for 2009 and I think I have a good start.

Tomorrow, New Year's Day - I start on my first Sheep Chart. I am infact, starting a Cy-Baaaa stitch-a-long with my friend Karen. We are stitching something for the EWE Year!! I'll post a pic tomorrow evening.

TUSAL - Time for me now to empty my decanter of all the threads collected for 2010 - ready to start afresh tomorrow morning - REMEMBER - THE NEXT NEW MOON FOR TUSAL IS JANUARY 4th.

What did/have/will you be doing with your 2010 TUSAL collection?

Christmas 2010, Ornament Exchange, 2011 - Sheepy Stitching, TUSAL

2010-12-28T09:30:00.001+11:00

Hello friends.
How wonderful was your Christmas Day?
Ours was a day full of family, food, wine, laughter and music. My Dad spent a few days with us, visiting from Dimboola (a small country town in the Victorian Wimmera, halfway between Melbourne & Adelaide) and it was so good to have him here to share the day with us all. I over-catered as usual, didn't have matching glasses, crockery, chairs or cutlery, but that didn't matter. The weather was pleasant enough so that we didn't swelter or freeze and the wine was cold and the food was tasty!

Christmas Tablecloth motif for 2009 - adapted from the artwork of Peter Emmerich

I did manage to finish the square to symbolise Christmas 2009 - well, enough to fit on the table - I added the names yesterday and some backstitching - just now developing the photos, I see a small portion of her hair that needs fixing. I'm not sure about the startled look she now has around the eyes, but without some sort of backstitching, her features fade. I'll fix the hair today, but that will be enough time spent on that square. (I chose the poor little matchgirl to symbolise the financial strain we were under at the time, having had to list the house on the market on the 15th Dec - the lit match symbolised hope for the future - and it was, as Martin started a job on 15th Jan, which meant the house could come off the market. I don't ever want to go through another Christmas like that again!)I'll now be on the lookout for a suitable Santa to stitch to symbolise 2010

I must also credit the artist from whose artwork I have adapted for my tablecloth: Peter Emmerich - I thank him for allowing me to use his artwork for inspiration)

Here is also a picture of my Ornament Tree for this year - Harry doesn't want to contaminate the big tree with hand made ornaments (go figure!), so I have a smaller table top tree to hold my ornaments. There peeking from the bottom, is the lovely snowman ornament received in my exchange from Pokua - wasn't she clever to choose a Snowman theme for me??

Sadly, not all the ladies in my exchange have received ornaments this year in time for Christmas, I suspect the abysmal weather has something to do with it, but also feel that the pixies in the Post Offices, in both the USA and Australia have been making mischief. If I organise another ornament exchange - I may do it in August!!!!

Since my last post, I've managed to breeze past my 2nd blogaversary - in all the rush of Christmas it was sort of left behind - I just didn't have the time or the inspiration to post. I will make up for that in the next week and give details of a giveaway - nothing big, but just a token to say 'Thank you' to my followers.

I'm not going to make up big lists of incomplete projects - just add to my WIP list. I will keep track this year however, of all the patchworky projects and keep them separate from my cross-stitchy projects. I still like to think of myself as a cross-stitcher first.

I will spend the next day or so - lining up all the sheep projects for 2011. I'm sure at some point in the year, I will acquire a skein of whisper, and use it to fluff up a sheep. I even have a sheepish quilt in mind for a project. I found the cuddly sheep last weekend at a market - named him Shawn and nominated him as my muse for 2011

Don't forget T.U.S.A.L. - I'll post a list of dates on the T.U.S.A.L. page - starting on the New Moon - 4th January - but first I would suggest that we all show our TUSAL collections on New Year's Eve, before emptying and starting afresh from January 1st - 4 days worth of orts to show again on the 4th.

I look forward to catching up with all my bestest blogging buddies over the next few days, another addiction that has inspired and challenged me over the past couple of years. Keep an eye out for my next giveaway to be announced really soon!

Christmas Tablerunners finished for workmates today.

2010-12-19T23:20:00.000+11:00

Here are the finished tablerunners for my workmates - I kept the pointy ends as I felt that was part of the charm of the original pattern. It was a bit fiddly, but I managed to get both of them finished today. They each are the same pieces, but by changing the colour placement changes the design totally.

I also made another teabag wallet this morning in 20 minutes for a friend that I went to meet this morning - I still managed to put the loop for the button on the wrong side, so now 3 of the 4 made open up back to front!!
I now have just a few days to finish stitching the panel on this year's Christmas Heirloom Tablecloth - I just know that I'll be stitching frantically on Christmas Eve (again!!)

Another Christmas Gift Obsession - Teabag Wallet!!

2010-12-16T07:32:00.000+11:00

Surfing the blogs late last night - looking for a saying to write on a card to give with a coaster/mug/teabag, I found this neat tutorial for a teabag wallet. I can start a new project at 10:30pm. I dragged out a selection of fabrics from my 'slightly bigger than a scrap' collection and followed the directions on this blog.
It was quite easy and importantly of all, the measurements were right. Now if only I knew who drank more tea than coffee, I could make more of these before Christmas. They are really quick and easy to make and do not require much in the way of pinning or ironing at all
I might remember to put the ribbon on the other side, because it opens up backwards!

Why is it that I obsess with making one thing over and over every Christmas???

2010-12-12T20:54:00.000+11:00

A couple of years ago, it was Stitchery ornaments, then another year I made 51 cross-stitch ornaments, last year I made little apron ornaments and 42 sand filled doorstops (appreciated by all who received one)

Earlier in my pre-Christmas frenzy of making small gifts, it was coasters. All of a sudden, this past week, it appears to be table runners for work colleagues.

I've already shown you the one made in Christmas fabrics for the lovely lady who brings me bread. This week, my boss (the bestest boss I've ever had) resigns, not only did I locate the most fitting corporate farewell gift (a movie poster about the Sunbury Pop Festival in 1972 - for a guy who's passion is the Australian Music Industry of the 1970's), but I've designed and finished a tablerunner for him.

I am so stunned that it worked out so well. I know that a tablerunner is not a great 'guy' present, but I know he'll appreciate the work that has gone into it.

So therefore, what could I do this afternoon? Make more dining room chair covers? Finish stitching my Heirloom Christmas Tablecloth?? Finish a small snowman ornament??

No... Of course not. I put pen to graph paper and design another tablerunner. I play with the coloured pencils and come up with two colourways - perfect - I have 2 other workmates that really deserve a more substantial present than coasters.....

I've put one together, it's a simple matter of chain piecing and stitiching in rows, but I've no idea how to finish off the edges - I've got to look at batting and backing choices. I don't want to play with bias binding, but that may be the only option. I'll sleep on it and finish it off during the week.

Anybody have any ideas how to finish the edges off??? Something simple???

Also - keep an eye out in the New Year - I've got a small gift almost ready - If you have a look on the side-bar - you'll see that I'm almost up to my 2nd blogaversary. Let us all get over the Christmas excitement before I offer up a small stitchers gift.

NEW MOON - TIME FOR TUSAL - last one for 2010

2010-12-06T07:16:00.000+11:00

........ or should we call 4th January 2011, the next new moon the last TUSAL??? After all, there are another 4 weeks of fibers to collect....

I might actually call a New Years Eve TUSAL, with a follow up on 4th January to capture the first days of the New Year stitching.

Here is my December TUSAL in any case - very little added for the past month, as I've been mostly working with patchwork. I still have my Christmas Tablecloth to finish - of course I can see myself (as in other years) frantically stitching it on Christmas Eve in order to have it finished in time!!

Show your TUSAL for 2010 - what do you do with the contents? Do you fill Christmas ornaments? Stuff pillows? My orts from 2009 are sitting in a crystal bowl and I suspect the 2010 orts will join them. I may use them to stuff Christmas ornaments with them next year.

Feeling pleased with myself! - Re-upholstering dining room chairs.......

2010-11-27T17:59:00.000+11:00

Before and After : : : : : :

I've replaced the webbing underneath (approx cost $20 for 4 chairs), added some more foam on the side edges, as the seat foam was still in good condition ($18 for 8 pieces cut to size), and 5 metres of the new fabric was in the bargain bin for $4 per metre ($20 for 8 chairs), as I've still to cover some old vinyl chairs, but will be doing that in a different method.
The sides where (ahem) larger folk have their thighs resting over the edge is the bit that needed the extra foam. It takes approx 3-4hours per chair to remove the 785 original staples PER CHAIR !!! and 20 minutes to put the new fabric on and re-assemble the chairs.
I really shouldn't count the cost of the new air-staple gun to make life a lot easier ($70), mainly because hubby will use it for other projects I decide I want to play with.
So I figure, by Christmas, I will have 8 new dining chairs, looking brand spanking diddly-I-doe new (ish) for a grand total of $68.

I am feeling so pleased with myself. I just had to show what I'm doing instead of finishing off my Christmas stitching!

Christmas gift - and a reminder for the Ornament Exchange

2010-11-21T18:40:00.001+11:00

Sorry that it's been so long since the last post - I just did not seem to have much to share with you all. However, last weekend I did have a finish, and I've packed it away in my Christmas gift box. A lovely lady at work has been bringing me bread all year. It's the leftover bread from Brumby's - she has a neighbour who brings it home and gives it to her. She knows that I have two boys that will demolish it all, and that last year was particularly tight financially. So this year, I decided to make her a Christmas Table runner to say thank you for all her blessings this year. I had a go at this pattern (found in one of the 300+ magazines that are still littering my loungeroom) It was quite simple to follow and I enjoyed making it. I did change the borders slightly, the original called for two sides to be edged with ric-rac, but I liked this version.

You can see the fabric I chose for the border and the backing here. The border fabric came from Denise's prize box, and sets the Christmas fabrics off so nicely.

On a completely different subject.... did you know Google Reader has a blog limit you can follow???? Oh my, I have to spend some time going through my list, deleting those who have dropped off the blogoverse, just so I can add some new exciting ones I find. How long will that take me???

A public reminder for those who have joined in my ornament exchange for 2010 - Please remember to post your ornament to your partner by 1st December!!! Post a picture of your ornament to your blog after your partner has received their gift!

Our leader has gone, but TUSAL continues on.

2010-11-11T21:12:00.000+11:00

I checked my link tonight, and it appears that YoYo and the Dragon My Needle blog have left the blogging world.  I wish her the best, I seem to remember her last post was full of concern about the health and well-being of her husband.

However, this leaves our small remaining band of TUSAL devotees without a leader.  I'm willing to stand up and keep it going.  It is currently 9pm on a Thursday evening and I'm not up to posting a great big explainy post about TUSAL and how it works except to say that TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch A Long, and is all to do about collecting your orts - the little bits of floss that are too short when stitching.  Somewhere between now and the next New Moon, I'll get my act into gear and fire up a TUSAL page - I may or may not keep a list of those who participate.

Any suggestions - ideas ? ? ? ? ? ?

What do you think?

my september 2010 TUSAL jar (and friends)

Another Christmas patchworkery finish for me - another gift to cross off the list!

2010-11-07T22:26:00.001+11:00

Hot off the needle - another Christmas present crossed off the list. I have a lot of greens, and although the pattern in the magazine (yes, another one) showed christmas reds, I felt that using all my reds just wouldn't be the right colour for the intended recipient

There is a local curtain and furnishing store, that put all the fabric samples from their sample books and offcuts into a basket out the front and sell them per piece. I can never resist picking up half a dozen at a time, thinking that I'll make them into 'something'.

This time I did. I used two pieces from the same range - one is more antique white than ivory and used them for the centre panel. It's about 12" by 22" and will have to make a cushion insert. I even sewed a ZIP into the edge. I've not sewn a zip for over 20 years. I remember why. ugh! Not an easy task when you cannot find your machine's zipper foot! (mental note - remember to buy a new zipper foot for the machine!)

I'm quite pleased with the result. I hope the recipient will like it.

Another GO Giveaway

2010-11-07T08:02:00.000+11:00

Deeply broken-hearted that I am - I missed out on the last GO giveaway, but my spirits are picking up again - I found another GO giveaway at Lavender Ridge. I've convinced myself that my quilting life (not that I am a patchworker or quilter) would be greatly assisted by one of these handy-dandy units.

Go along and check it out.

In Time for TUSAL and an early Christmas gift finish

2010-11-05T19:47:00.000+11:00

Here is my T.U.S.A.L. for November 2010. Please note the abundance of fluro yellow thread - that was all unpicked from Halloween stitching. There is lots of red and black, as well as white, and I hope to have lots of christmas colours next month.

Are you still filling your TUSAL jar?

Do you use your orts for something at the end of the year?

Now for something hot off the needle - I saw this little fabric box in the November 2009 issue of Handmade - Special Country Christmas Crafts edition. Budget Beater it said......use up your scraps it said.

Simple enough - surely I could follow this pattern by Judith Tetley.

Page from Nov 2009 Homemade Christmas Edition - Judith Tetley's Challenge Piece

I cut up the pieces as required and started making the patchwork panel. It was fine up to a point, but the directions got all muddy in the book and didn't quite make sense. I also had to add a 1" strip to the lining to achieve the folded over edge as shown in the magazine. I also muddled my way through the construction, completing it differently than the instructions. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but it was a bit of a challenge, that was not going to get to me.

I've also been working on a tablerunner for a present for a workmate - I've got to get some backing fabric, then I can finish this one off. I've also been busy making sullfolk puffs for another small Christmas Project, but nothing to show right now.

Another Snowman melts off the needle!!!

2010-11-03T11:12:00.001+11:00

Hot off the needle. - SanMan Designs - Frosty.

Stitched on hand-dyed pink/peach aida

Stitched with DMC and Needle Necessities.

I made the buttons yesterday out of Fimo.

I now have a little jar of carrot noses - went for the 3D look rather than the flat look. I might have to re-do the eyes on the very left snowman - we'll see how it settles when I make this into......into.......well, probably a cushion or a tote.

(My pile of finishes waiting to be made into a cushion/tote/wallhanging is growing!!!)

Now to move onto Christmas - specifically my Christmas Tablecloth and one or 70 ornaments.....

I just checked - I thinkthis is my 10th snowman finish for 2010 !!!! Now to find them all

Happy Hallowee'n - can the rain stop now please?

2010-10-31T13:39:00.000+11:00

For once it's not stitching - But we had a Hallowee'n lunch today.

Mummy onna stick!

I'll post the recipe on my cooking blog - Though fiddly, they are fun to make and very effective when served on a plate. I made octopus too from the little boys.

I really would love to make the Cheese & Bacon Turtleburgers (go on google it... you know you want to), but have to work out how to get enough bacon to make an effective shell. Aussie Bacon looks different to American Bacon, but gem of the idea is brewing..

Also showing photos from today's walk along the creek - there ARE roos across what is now Kennedy Lake, the creek having filled and burst its banks - this was a fast flowing bit of water. I know we need the rain, but I'm so over it now. I need to dry out before I develop webbed feet!

Tuesday morning sunrise

2010-10-26T12:47:00.001+11:00

I woke a few minutes before the alarm today, and rather than try to capture a few more ounces of snooze, got up and set off for my daily perambulation with the dog.

As I stepped from the front door, it was just light. I acknowledged Lady Moon with a nod. She was demurely covered by a few wisps of cloud, still looking stunning 4 days past her prime.

I turned to the east, towards the creek and noticed the horizon has just a few faint tinges of mauve - the early sunrise catching the thin bank of cloud, changing the colour from it's pre-dawn blue-grey. Second, by second, the glow stretched and changed hue. As if watching a parade of young princes from Siam, each moment surpassing the previous.

I wanted to keep an eye out for wildlife, but my eyes were constantly drawn over my right shoulder as I walked along the creek. The pink glow gave way to a rosier glow, putting on a display for me, and me only. It was almost as if this sunrise wanted to be the best it could - after all, it only has one chance. The glow turned to an orange glow, fiery bright in it's embrace of the sky, deftly enhancing all the patterns in the wispy clouds. "I am the Prince" it shouted from the sky - "See how more colourful and pleasant to the eye I am?"

In an inkling, as if the Prince had heard his father's footsteps around the corner, the bright orange glow, gave way to a bashful, paler, version of itself. The orange lost all it's intensity as the King came closer, stretching his influence with pale golden courtiers.

By this time, I was facing west again, and Lady Moon had covered herself more, but was surrounded by pale pink wisps of cloud, the western sky tinged itself pink as the eastern sky gave way to a pale regal glow, clouds skittering away to announce the rise of this morning's Sun.

The King has arrived! The day may now start.

bronny
pakenham 6:45am
Tuesday 26 October 2010

2010-10-24T21:38:00.001+11:00

Hot off the needle!! It's a Lizzie Kate that I was working on this week. I changed all the colours - used mostly Dinky Dyes. I did originally stitch the 'O', the spiderweb in fluro DMC green, but changed my mind. It hasn't shown up well here, but you can see it. If I feel too thingy about it, I might backstitch part of the web in a mid-grey - we'll see how I feel by next week.

I didn't stitch the little candy corn, but added a few buttons from my stash. I won't tell you how many times that plastic spider made me jump while stitching the buttons and hanging cord on the back.

I really don't know if I'll stitch any more Halloween things between now and next sunday. I'm starting to think more and more about my Christmas stitching.