Celebrating the color Pink.

Absolutely,
Perfectly,
Pink.

Remember Pink Ribbon Day.

For every woman on this wonderful earth of ours.

 

 

 

 

Hibernation!
I apologize for not doing a blog update sooner, but life has a habit of getting in the way for all of us.

Here is a photo of something we had not been able to identify for a while, but a friend assures us this is a Case Moth.The perfect sleeping bag. Now that it is Spring he/she has been difficult to find.
I have taken more photos of the garden and the stitching that has been completed over the past few months and will post these as soon as I can.
I am now definitely out of hibernation.

FRANGIPANI

At last, after five years we have some flowers. this is only a small tree (about 1 mtr. or 40 inches).

The perfume is wonderful, typical Frangipani/Plumeria scent with an over tone of apricot. I think this was named Fruit Salad. Whatever the name, just gorgeous and suits the tropical weather we are having at the moment.
We have already had a flush of roses this summer, but the Standard Seduction Rose is quick to produce the next flush. I hope we don't have a problem with black spot, but this seems to go hand-in-hand with humid weather. This summer has been unusually wet, I think we may have another storm tonight.

 The Seduction rose has such a sweet scent, just lovely, don't you think?

DIVERSION.

I did it again!
Another new start.
Enjoyable, yes.
Should I be doing this now, no.
I found some variegated thread and thought I would dabble in some more Wessex work.
Each little diamond is 20 stitches. No I haven't counted the total when finished, probably a gazillion(embroiderer's measurement).
I am not sure if this will be another scissor keeper or a case for my sunglasses.

I have to get back to Rosewood Manor and stop wishing that the day was longer or give up sleep, or stop reading, patting little dogs or eating or shopping.
Heaven knows the house has not seen a duster for a while.
A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

A New Start.

I have decided to make Spring Quakers my new start for 2012. This is a lovely design from Rosewood Manor. I am stitching this with the suggested Valdani threads. I have never used these threads before and I am finding them delightful to use. The linen I chose is a 28cnt. of an unknown brand that has as Antiqued/aged appearance.  I am sure this will become my new favorite cross stitch project this year.
In February my twice monthly embroidery group will begin again for the year and I will be participating in two classes during February and March. It looks like a busy year ahead, especially with the embroidery group's exhibition in September.

I thought I would post some pics of past favorites.

The Quilting. a design by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum. I embroidered this in 1995.

The Auction. Also by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum, 1995.

Lastly a little sampler from Mill Hill.
I hope you have enjoyed some of my past treasures.

First Finished Biscornu

Yaaay, I get to do a happy dance, my first finish for 2012 is a Biscornu. Not a big project, but it was a fun stitch and now I know I can put one of these fiddly things together.  I  hope to make another soon when I find a pattern that I like. Any suggestions?

I hope I don't become obsessed about them like I have with Needle Rolls, though, there could be worse things to be obsessed about!! This is Christmas Biscornu, a Just Nan design using the recommended DMC colours and embellishment pack.

Biscornu and Birds

I hope to have a finish later tomorrow after a recent bought of illness kept me from my stitching. I have had a plan and not a New Year's resolution (because we all know what happens to those) to make myself a Christmas decoration each year until I fall off the twig. So for Christmas 2011, I thought I would also attempt my first Biscornu.
I  chose Just Nan's Christmas Biscornu which is also very sparkly with the addition of beads and gold thread. I have enjoyed stitching this design so much,  I hope I stitch it together without messing it up!

 I have embroidered 2012 on it, maybe I should have also put 2011. Anyway, tomorrow I hope to be able to do a happy dance with my first finish for this year.

 Also, this morning we were awakened with the sound of some very noisy birds in the Jacaranda tree in our neighbour's yard.

I thought great, they are back but maybe a little early this year. These are Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo's.
We had a flock of around 10 - 12 with several family groups with their young. They are a large bird, around 26 inches in length. They are very noisy but so interesting to watch. Miss Molly was warned to stay inside though I am sure she was safe. Black Cockatoo's eat seeds, green pine cones and moth grubs, not Bischons. lol

It really is wonderful to see that they have adapted to suburbia, as the suburb we live in does have some very old and large trees, just the type of perch they enjoy. After around 10 - 15 minutes they were off flying, they have a wide wing span. I wonder if they will be back tomorrow?

BEST WISHES

I have been away for some time. Life has been hectic with house painting, family obligations and a few health problems around Christmas. I have been following your blogs though as I enjoy nothing more than a cup of tea and catching up.
I have managed to do a little stitching leading up to the Holidays and am also showing some Christmas stitching from previous years.

                                          Prairie Schooler Christmas Strawberry.

                                           St. Nicholas Needle roll.

                                          Cross Stitch Christmas Stocking 2001.

                                          Detail of Crazy Patchwork Stocking

  

                                          and more detail.

 My Crazy Patchwork Christmas Stocking from a class with J.Rofe in 2000. I think this is my favorite decoration, also a lovely size for filling with Xmas goodies!

And a gift for a special friend. Another Christmas Strawberry and a little tree decoration which was a free pattern from Threadwork Primitives.

I hope your Christmas holiday has been wonderful and that 2012 will be even better, full of lovely stitching and quilting if that is what you enjoy .A garden full of flowers if that is also your favorite occupation, but most of all happiness, good health and peace.

                                                          HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Sunny Days.

Red Geranium.

Native Hibiscus.

Cymbidium Orchid

Camelia.

Photos taken on a sunny day in our back garden. Now it is raining and predicted by the weather people to do so for almost the entire week. Oh well, more time to stitch.

Garden Rambling.

It is suppose to be Spring but with the rain during this past weekend I thought I would show you some pics from the previous weekends local Garden Ramble.
This is one special garden of the ten that were open to visit, then my camera batteries went flat. The temp. for the day was a very hot 32c. Not like the past few days at all.

The ramble is held to raise money for the sight impaired and attracts thousands of  visitor's each time it is held.

I am still here!

Hello to everyone in blog land, I am back. No excuses for such a long break, only I will admit I think I lost my blogging Mojo. It really is hard to keep up with all of the other wonderful blogs out there but I least I am willing to have another crack at it.
Now if Blogger will let me show some pics of what I have been up to, they should appear below. I have had issues with this before, so here goes!

 So, though I haven't blogged for a while I have been working with my silver needle and threads. I have finished the first Applique block of the small laptop quilt class I started earlier in the year and have done a lot of work to the other blocks, but have now put them away while other things need to be worked on.
The scissor fob is a Shepeherds Bush design and another little kit which is Keeping the Bees.  I have also finished my major project this year which is The Earth Gatherers. This is another one by my favorite designers, Sherpherds Bush. Yes, I have a slight addiction to their designs, I can't help myself! At least I cause no harm to any living creature with an addiction such as this, however, the homestead does suffer somewhat.
Next time I will show you some Spring pics of my garden or should that be Summer as the temps for the past few days in this area of the planet have been much warmer than normal (30c).
Now I am off to water the Orchids.

Hooked on Applique.

As your can see I have been working on the Applique block from the last post.  Please excuse the wrinkles but I have held this in my hand on and off all day as I start to apply the teeny tiny flowers. These are suppose to be Lilac blossom. Do you like the color?  I had a lot of fun going through my fabric stash to choose the right shade. I am enjoying this immensely and even though these flowers are so small, I think they look very effective when applied as a spray of Lilac.  The leaves have been attached with needle turn applique then the center vein  embroidered. The bow has also been embroidered with French Knots along the edge.
Now I should confess that The Earth Gatherers are having a little rest while I have been busy with the Applique block. I will return to it over the weekend when I have attached all  the Lilac flowers.

Now a confession. At times I have been tempted to look at Ebay, particularly the porcelain/china/glass section. Yes, I have even given in to the temptation. When I saw this sweet little cup and saucer, I had to place a bid and found that I was the lucky winner. It was only a few dollars, the postage cost more as it came from England. But I had to have it, I think it will be wonderful inspiration for an embroidery design. However, this will have to wait until I have completed The Earth Gatherers. Here is the saucer pictured under neath.

Do you think the design would be worthwhile embroidering? I love the Rose Topiary and Hollyhocks.
I would love to know what you think about it.