Bloomin' Hyacinth

Just a quick post today - to show the progress of my Hyacinth - hubby took the photo the fragrance is only just starting to be apparent.

The two daffodils are overshadowed by the larger leaf, but their time will come.

Poppies WIP and a quick finish

Please excuse the wrinkles, but Poppies has been sitting at the bottom of my workbag all week. I've not stitched on Poppies since Sunday, but this is the progress I made over the weekend.

I started the varigated sampler - it was a freebie found on http://www.amonamipierre.net/ some time back. I just picked something simple to stitch while watching tv..and it only took a couple of nights. I looked at the little shape inside the stitched picture when I finished, and it was only then that I realised that the absence of stitching revealed a dog/cat standing up. Because of the anchor varigated floss that I used on the green aida, it was not altogether clear, so I picked a contrast to fill it in. Of course, that meant that I needed to stitch some scattered hearts across the body so that the colour didn't stand out too much!!! I plan to finish this as a little pillow for a gift for a workmate's aunt.

CAT CHART WINNERS ---- !!!!!

Firstly a big thank you to those who persevered and managed to leave a comment on the blog. I also collected details from the ladies at 123 who for whatever reason were unable to leave a blog message - as it was only fair to include them as well.
Most of you were happy with any chart - and I used the randomizer to pick out 5 names. If your name came out and you'd only picked one chart - well that's the chart you won....

If I've got your contact details - I'll try to send you an email this evening when I get home from work - I'll need your snail mail details to send these charts out!

Teatime Kitties = Tahoelady5
Kittens at Play = Heather1967 at 123
Feline Friends = Pat at 123
Cool Cats - Chris
Been Helping = Lisa at 123

Congratulations!!!!

TUSAL AND HYACINTH UPDATE

To start with, my TUSAL update.....the photo was taken on Monday morning, just before I shot off to work... predominantly coral colours after my mammoth frogging session on the poppies..you can see how orange they were...further down are the threads for the season samplers, the mermaid and I'd have to look back further to find out just what I used that purple for.... I wonder what colour next month will be on top....

And my lovely hyacinth.... you can see the 2 extra bulbs shooting up happily...and if you look, one of those has an extra shoot coming up too - It's still a waiting game, but I'm fairly confident these will turn out to be jonquils or daffodils. The hyacinth itself this morning had blue floral tips showing - it won't be long before it shows off its fragrance too!

Poppy WIP - Friday Lunchtime

A quick post to show my current progress on Poppies - much, much happier with this combination of reds rather than the orangy/red in the pattern.

I've never been one for WIP photos, but feel that I may need to see progress with this one as I get further into the field.

Competition Time again - especially for lovers of cat charts....

Just because I feel like another giveaway....

The usual process applies;
comment on this post
tell your friends -
tell me the name of your cat if you like...
list which chart you would like.
I'll make a draw for each one.
If I don't already follow your blog - leave me a link to it - I love reading updates to blogs too!

The charts are (clockwise from top left);

• Teatime Kitties - Kitty & Me Country Crafts
• Kittens at Play in Counted Cross Stitch - Coates Semco
• Feline Friends - susan Bates
• Brian Jackins Cool Cats - Dimensions chart
• Been Helpin - Suzanna Denton/Colour Charts

You have a week - I'll make a note to draw this competion during my lunchtime next Wednesday (24th)

You can nominate all the charts if you wish and I'll put your name in the draw for each one - good luck !

Wonky widgets wemoved!

I've dropped a few widgets from my blog - back to basics - apparently it was interfering Internet Explorer - mine and some of my followers.
Fingers crossed, this will fix the problem.

Following on floral colours

After a successful floss toss - I ended up chosing the following colours for my poppies...

352/351/817/304 - similar to the original, but more red than orange - I'm so much happier with the flow of these colours...what do you think?

Original colourway - a bit orangy for my taste

Now with improved RED ! ! !

Also - as promised - here is my 3 in one hyacinth.... One is definitely the new growth from last year's magic bulb - the other two are mysteries... only time will tell...

Of Poppies and Hyacinths

I'm going to change the colours of the poppies I'm stitching. These are the poppies that are shown in my last post. Take a look at the middle poppy - I stitched that today. I'm just not happy with the end result.
There are 4 colours, a pale orange, a bright orange, a bright red and a slightly different bright red.
3341-3340-606-349
I feel there should be the same gradient of difference between all 4. I'm either going to have to replace the bright red, or the slightly darker bright red and bright orange...... I like the 3341-3340 combination, just not with the 606 and there is not enough variation between the 606 and 349 for my liking. I also feel that the flowers should be less orange - I want redder poppies - and therefore will have to find something to tone a bit better with the 606.
I'll play with the colours tomorrow in the daylight and figure it out.

I also have to find my camera to post a picture of my hyacinth bulb....the pot is holding another surprise - another shoot has come up! There were 3 bulbs in the pot! I'm stoked - this is the first time I've had a Hyacinth re-shoot after being dormant for nearly a year. Last year this bulb gave 2 stems - I must have put the two other bulbs in the pot at some point during the year. I just don't know what they will be.

Photos of my Weekend Stitching

I promised photos....and here they are....

Firstly - detail of Papillion part 11 - finished on Saturday:

Also shown are the 4 seasons samplers all finished - still no idea how they will be 'finished'

Sunday I was busy and so pleased - here is the finished sampler - looks on a wonky angle because it was on the floor near the window for light..:

Here are 2 of my next projects: Both from the same JCS 2008 Ornie preview issue: Poppies and Memorial. Poppies I've started on 25ct natural fabric (starts with an 'F' I'm sure....Floban? - can't remember have not the fabric detail with me) Memorial looks like I'm going to tax myself and stitch on some 34count hand dyed Shanghai Linen - Bush Morning from Stitches & Spice. It's a soft eucalpyt green, but certainly one for stitching ONLY during the day. I'm not under a time constraint for this one either....

And to finish off the show.... here is my hyacinth bulb reappearing for this year....the other bulb is a mystery and it's now starting to shoot.... This is also a Work in Progress...photos to follow each week...

Sunday morning - the house is quiet - I'll ponder my stitching

I stitched up a storm yesterday - Major Happy Dance - Papillion 2008 SAL is finished !!! I was so frustrated at not being able to show a picture, I forgot that my camera fits on hubby's camera cord which is permanently plugged in. Now that I'm aware of that little detail, I'll take a photo once the sun has come up to show it off.
I spent the rest of the evening, watching 'The Green Mile' and trying to sort out what size fabric I need for 'Inspirations' and whether I had a piece suitable in my stash. No...
Ok.. Move onto option 2: Where is the magazine that has the 2 charts I'd like to stitch? Aha! Found it - JCS 2008 ornament preview edition.
The first chart is a gothic/primitive don't know how to describe it (turns out to be huge), memorial sampler which is calling me to stitch for Mum. Do I have the fabric to fit that? Of course I'm looking at evenweave/linen - 32count and higher that I'm not even going to contemplate stitching at night. I'll have to confirm fabric size in the morning. Fabric calculators don't work in my brain - The answer never is "the fabric in your hand will do the trick" or "no-forget it - too small"; but rather rely on inches/centimetres which of course I'm not going to guesstimate..
I'd rather run a running stitch line and count the threads in the fabric and calculate if the pattern will fit that way...
Once the sun is up today, I'll use this method to see if one piece I have in hand will fit 'Inspirations' - I'm not relying on the fabric calculators to tell me - too big a project to be off by an inch.
Onto project number 3: In the same magazine is a smaller project of poppies in a field. My brother's partner mentioned that she likes poppies and liked the design (she shares a joy of needlework) - so I'll stitch it for her. Found the fabric and the floss - it was just too hard to see to stitch - so I'll pick it up again this morning.

MAJOR HAPPY DANCE !!!!

Papillion 2008 SAL is finished!!!! I've achieved my goal for the weekend with a whole day's worth of stitching left!!!!
However, due to the fact that some silly person left the cord for her camera sitting on her desk at work - and her husband has had the cheek to take HIS camera out with him - I've no picture to share with you. How frustrating is that??? It's a long weekend, so it will be Tuesday before I can show it off.
Now to forage for the next project.......

Sunday morning musings....

The house is quiet again - which is what happens when 3/4 of the family sit up to watch 'Blazing Saddles' on TV, late, late at night. I know what's going to happen, and we even have a copy on DVD, but it sucked me in again. It's so cheesy, politically incorrect, dated, but looks like a lot of fun went into the making of it all.
So... here I sit, awake alone, 'cept for the dog/cat/budgies with the sound of gently falling rain. I do like mornings like this - even better when I'm in a warm house and not getting wet, but the smell of the air is peaceful.
I did do well yesterday - totally ignored the domestic stuff, which means I will have to do some laundry at least today. I managed to finish part 11 of the Papillion 2008 SAL and get a good start into part 12. I fully intend to plant my rear into my stitching chair and try to finish it off this morning. If successful, I'm going to see what fabric I have on hand that will suit Redwood Manor's Inspiration - yes another sampler. I've had the chart in my stash for over a year - and right at the moment it is calling to me so hard, drowning out the cries from so many other projects.
Although there are a couple of things that are floating to the top of the flotsam - things I am obligated to get a start on: My Christmas Tablecloth - I need to seriously think about getting that started/completed before December. I think I know what I'll pick as a theme for this year - Christmas Baubles - 3 of them. For those of my new friends that don't know me - my Christmas Tablecloth is a large piece of Charles Craft Aida that I won on ebay in 2004 for a total of AU$15. That included the postage from the USA - so amazed. It is roughly 4ft x 7ft - I even hemmed it properly and it fits a rectrangular table that will seat 6-8 people. There are 28 sections of black 80x80 divided by red/green/gold borders. In 2004, my parents celebrated Christmas at my house for the first/last time. I decided this length of fabric would become my heirloom tablecloth, stitching a symbolic square for each year.

• 2004 - Christmas wreath - symbolising the unity of family.
• 2005 - Lighthouse - symbolising Christmas day at Seaside home of In-laws
• 2006 - Gingerbread House - symbolising our first Christmas at our new House
• 2007 - 3 wise men - symbolising the 3 different houses that we celebrated Christmas at over a week. Bit of a ruckus that year - which is why one wise man is apart from the other 2
• 2008 - Not yet decided - but likely to be christmas baubles.

So there is a brief history of my tablecloth. Yes, photos do exist, but right at the moment, I'm without reasonable access to my photos (hubby's computer usb access is a right pain - and I'm not scrabbling around in the dark and dust bunnies for anyone!

It's nearly light enough now for me to sit and stitch - so I'll leave you now with a link to another competition - Gaynor is offering a mystery one! I'll be offering another one of my own in the next week or so in any case. I had so much fun with the other one. I'll see if I can bring you photos either later today or tomorrow - might enlist the help of one of the boys and his camera/computer!

Long weekend rolls around - and another Competition!

It's Saturday morning - in half an hour I need to wake up John so that he'll be on time for work. (the things mothers do for their kids) It's the first day of a 3-day weekend - and hopefully I'll get all the domestic stuff out of the way by early afternoon - I know I'll get distracted, otherwise it could all be done by lunchtime! Once all the boring stuff is done - then I can plant myself in a chair and stitch away to my heart's content. I like to think that I could finish Papillion 2008 SAL this weekend - that's the goal in any case. I'd be stitching now, but it's not quite light enough to trust my eyes and the evenweave!
Oh - I forgot to take a photo...I did finish the fourth 'Follow My Heart' Sampler - just no photo as yet - Stay tuned - I'll try to get a few photos this weekend.
Did I mention Competition? Once again, not mine - but Kathy is offering a mystery selection. That's so much fun...
I do enjoy reading other blogs - don't you just love stumbling across new ones? I'm tempted to join in on the latest SAL - the Mary Wigham sampler, but I can't see me really-truly stitching it. It's just not my style of stitching - perhaps I'm just keen on the idea of jumping on the bandwagon? Look how long it's taken me to get to nearly finishing the Papillion !! (not to mention my OWN sampler I designed in 2007 for another online group - my own design and I've not finished it... (perhaps I should pick that up again after the Papillion?)
Enough rambling now... If I scoot along, I should get some stitches in before John needs to go to work! Happy stitching friends!

WINNER - WINNER - WINNER

Oh deary me.... I was so enthused to run my first blog competition - I nearly forgot to draw it!!!

I found a programme to pick winners from a list (The Hat) - typed in the list of 40 names as some of you had qualified for more than one entry.....

It shuffled and picked a winning name....

MARIE

You are the lucky winner ! ! !

I'll make a lucky pick of fabric for you and send it out in the mail...

I've emailed you from work....

Giveaway - not mine......

Yes....I must sit down at work tomorrow lunchtime and work out a method of drawing a winner for my competition....

In the meantime have a look at Melissa's blog - a nice prize awaits one lucky stitcher!