~ Anybody seen my Blogging Mojo?? ~

Yes, it has been a while since I dropped in to say hi  hasn't it.  Time flies.  To be truthful though - I really lost my blogging mojo somewhere along the way.  I hope I can find it again as it is always so lovely to keep in touch with fellow stitchers via our blogs.   Sometimes though, other things become a priority.  I have been stitching all  the while but haven't had a finish as such to show this year.

I've been doing two different SAL's this year with my friends Sandra, Diane and Mary and admit to being way behind with both!!

With Mary, who earlier this year started her own lovely blog Meakly Mine  I am stitching the Blessings Sampler by Wild-Heart designs.  It is a gorgeous sampler with a beautiful sentiment about being a Grandmother. Mary has finished hers which you can see on her blog whilst mine sits in my stitching bag waiting to be picked up to be finished.  I am on the last band though and here is a picture of it so far.

I haven't actually forgotten that flower at the top but decided on changing the colour and still have to adjust that row.  Actually, there has been quite a lot of adjustments with this one as I have changed most of the colours and messed around a lot with it. I am looking forward to finishing it and having it framed though as I really like it.

Sandra, Diane and I have been stitching Abigail Colby's Workbasket this year which for me is a big one.  I am clearly a slow stitcher as some of the motifs on the basket top I am about to show you took me 10 hours to finish!!

Yes, that is 10 hours just for one motif!! I have also finished the scissor fob and Cartouche for inside the basket which if you are interested in seeing are in my album. There are quite a few accessories that go inside the basket so at my rate of stitching I can see this project continuing for a long time yet. I had chosen a beautiful William Morris fabric to line my basket but since stitching this much I have decided the lining might look better in a less fussy design. However, I still have a way to go before I need to decide. I am enjoying this project which is stitched on 40ct Sand linen with lovely Belle Soie silk thread.

I recently had a lovely day out with Diane, the other friend who is stitching Abigail Colby (lovingly re-named Abby) with Sandra and me, whilst she was holidaying in my neck of the woods. We did the stitching shops, had a show and tell of our two 'Abbys' and enjoyed a lovely lunch. Diane is much further ahead with hers as well and it was interesting to see her version which is very different to mine as she is using different threads and a larger count linen. It is looking beautiful.

I couldn't finish this post without showing you a photo of my beautiful boy shadow - Ben.  He turned 5 year old earlier this month and I just took this photo of him enjoying the Autumn sunshine coming in through the door whilst 'meditating' on his old bean bag bed.  He actually gathers the bean bag up between his front paws and sucks on it kind of like a baby with a comforter blankie.  I always say he is meditating when he does it as he will lie there for quite sometime almost in a little trance like state.  I think it looks very cute and often wonder if it stems back to his puppyhood when he suckled from his mother.  I wish I knew :))

Well, that's about it from me for now.  Hope you are all well out there in blogland and happy stitching!!

"An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language."
  ~Martin Buber

Yoo Hoo!!

Anybody home, it's just me...Chrissie. I haven't been around much of late and so I do hope you had a lovely Christmas, a Happy New Year and that 2010 brings you Good Health and Happiness and of course some time to stitch:))

So what has been happening with my stitching over the last couple of months?? Hhhmmm, I can assure you I have been stitching although the last project of my 2009 SAL with Sandra still remains unfinished. Well, not entirely unfinished, the stitching is done it is just awaiting the 'putting together ' part. I can, with Sandra's permission, show you her finished version though so here is her Blackbird Designs ~ Flowers For Sarah

You can see more photos of it by clicking here. It's lovely Sandra and I hope mine looks as good.

2010 brings a new SAL for us and this year Diane, a longtime friend of Sandra's who I met back in October when Sandra visited, will be joining us. This year our project is Primitive Traditions ~ Abigail Colby ~ Workbasket and Accessories

We have all made a start but with not much having been stitched at this stage I will leave photos for a later date. For now though, here is a photo of my bits and pieces all ready to go.... gorgeous Belle Soie silks, 40ct linen, and William Morris fabric for lining and backings plus the Nantucket basket . The coffee mug is a special William Morris one which was a gift from Sandra for both Diane and me (Sandra has one as well) so we can all have our cup of coffee whilst we stitch-along in different parts of the world. We each also have one of the boxes to keep our project in which was a gift from Diane and the diary is for keeping a track of how many hours we work on the project. Watch this space for future updates.

I am actually doing two SAL's at present. The other is with my dear friend Mary and is the beautiful Blessings Sampler from Wild Heart Designs. Both of us are changing colours to suit and here is my progress to date ....

I just love this sampler and the sentiment is particularly lovely.

Mary has just started a new blog and you can drop in to see her progress at her blog " Meakly Mine".

I have seen lots of snow photos on blogs and with very bad weather conditions in some parts of the world I thought I would show you a photo of my shadow Ben, which I took just before as he had a short wander around the garden in temperatures in the 30's (Celsius that is) He wanted to get back inside to the air conditioning quite quickly!! Hope the cold weather isn't affecting you too badly and you are able to stay warm, safe and cosy.

"What.... you aren't expecting me to chase that ball in these temperatures are you"??

"No way Mum !!Let's go back inside!!"

"Good idea Ben, let's go back inside and I might just sit and do a little bit of stitching for a while"!!

So until next time ~ Happy Stitching!!

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather".

~John Ruskin

~ Trusting Eyes ~

....... My Dog ~ My Friend .......

He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.)

When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself.

He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant.

His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever — in case I need him. And I expect I will — as I always have. He is just my dog.

~ Gene Hill

~ Hello Again ~

It's been a while since I dropped by to say hello but over recent weeks I seem to have been suffering with what I have self-diagnosed as 'blogger's block'!! After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at writing posts I reminded myself of the little logo I have seen on several blogs which reads ~ 'Blogging without Obligation' so with that in mind I told myself I would get over it and not to worry.

And so today, with 'my shadow' at my feet ((just as I like it) I am having another attempt.

Well actually this time, I have something really special to write about and I want to share with you the wonderful time I had over the past couple of weeks with my dear friend and SAL/Internet buddy, Sandra from the UK. You may remember I mentioned several posts back that Sandra was going to be coming out to Australia and that we were finally going to meet in person. Well, she came, we did meet, time went very quickly and now she is back home in the UK and our meeting certainly left me with lots of happy memories even if I didn't get many photos. (Well, that is another story ) However, we did get at least one that I can show you so here we are sharing a pleasant afternoon actually sitting together and not on opposite sides of the world as we have been doing for years, stitching our current SAL project Blackbird Designs ~ 'Flowers for Sarah' from the 'Thank You Sarah Tobias' book.

Along with Sandra's lovely long time friend Diane, from South Australia, who I was able to meet as well, the three of us spent a great day at the recent Craft and Quilt Fair in Brisbane and all managed to come away from that with a little bit of stash and also get ourselves some fabric and threads for our planned next years SAL which Diane is going to join us in. We also visited my LNS and the lovely Patchwork Angel, dined out and enjoyed a barbeque together with our husbands. It was certainly a lovely time and has left me with many happy memories.

We had lots of 'gift swapping' and just look at what my dear friend had stitched me for my birthday.

It is a Barry Horton Shaker Box from France. Inside Sandra has lined it with dupion silk and stitched a band, pincushion and tiny scissor fob which is weighted with a coin and has the tiniest gold scissors attached. The pins have been coloured to match perfectly. Oh my goodness!! Needless to say, I was speechless. Thank you so much dear friend, I just love it and will treasure it.

Now, you will have heard it said "Wait there's more"!!!..... Well yes, there was more.....

Not only had Sandra brought DH the most beautiful book with pictures of York, as well as gifts for my little Granddaughters, this is what else she gave me. I was so spoilt. Everything is beautiful and thank you one more time Sandra not only for the beautiful gifts but for your friendship and as I was writing that I thought of the wording around what I think was the first thing I ever stitched for you which was a little Shepherd's Bush pinkeep and the wording around it was...

"Although our lives be miles apart, friendships dwell in soul and heart".

~ More Framing ~

When I recently had the birth sampler framed, I also had this framed. I stitched it several years back and still love it.

"The Drawn Thread's ~ Cloister Garden"

If I remember correctly I think I have stitched it on lambswool linen with NPI silk thread. To me it is such a 'gentle piece'.

I still have another of the gardens to frame ~ the companion piece "Wildflower Garden" but it can wait for another time.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog and for the lovely comments.

"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth."

~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts"

~ Sweet Baby Sampler ~

I recently finished this.

It is Praiseworthy Stitches ~ Sweet Baby Sampler~ for my sweet baby Grand-daughter.

This really took me much longer than it should have as I did a lot of colour changing which to be honest I found to be a bit of a struggle. It is not that easy to try and get colours just right and I have to say I did a fair amount of unpicking. I am happy with the results now though and I hope when little Miss B grows up she will like it too.

I was looking after my two little ones the other day and I just love the honesty and innocence of the things they say. Miss Milly who is three told me "Nana you have wrinkly cheeks don't you!"

"Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric."

~Pam Brown

~ Another SAL Finish ~

Do you know what a griffin is? I didn't!! Well it is a fictional character with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion and he is winged as well!

So here is our sixth finish for the year.

" Whitman's Griffin Tin"

I didn't add much 'creativity' to my version this time and stitched and finished fairly much as the pattern suggested but Sandra added her own touches and made hers just a little different.

Here is Sandra's...

The fabric we have used to line our tins is once again a piece that Sandra has chosen and it is just the most perfect match for the tin and don't you just love those fat little scissors!!

We are now working on our seventh project and here is a preview of my fabric and threads.

Can you guess what it is? It is a very long skinny piece of linen and lovely autumn coloured threads....hhhhhhmmmmmm, wonder what it might be :))))

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."

~Emma Goldman