Babushka Timber Cross Stitch

Another timber cross stitch completed.

I picked up this Babushka by [make it] from the Craft & Quilt Fair the other day.  I'll post a separate post about the fair later. 

I was going to put a little scull and cross bones on her belly but decided I liked the strawberry design that came with the kit and stuck with that. I did add some beads I had on hand for the personal touch. 

I like these little kits I really do BUT this one came with a kind of glaring issue... it's short one drilled hole on the second row from the top.  I've only got 9 holes where there should be 10. So while the design still came out okay the top left just isn't quite right... }:-(

I ran out of red towards the end as I was using the whole 6 threads for better coverage rather than the 3 recommend so the last 3 cross stitches in the bottom right are quite messy as I had to use a couple of offcuts to finish the corner.

She's going to live on my bag once I get the right cord.

Belgrave!

Belgrave, home of the historic train Puffing Billy.

And one really cool decorated tree;

White Orchid Cross Stitch by Dimension

I picked up this little weekend kit from Savers on Friday for a whole $3. It was a bit of a risk because it came in a sealed bag so I couldn't tell if the kit was all there or if someone had already started it and made a mess. But fortune favours the brave and my $3 was well spent. The kit was all there including; designer mat (their words) & backing board, glass, thread, needle, aida and 4 frame clips. Please excuse the picture, it's really hard to photograph with the glass and the light.

If I’d read the description at the back of the kit before I purchased it I may not have brought it just on grounds of ridiculousness. The back of this kit reads "You give yourself to others all day long. NOW it's time for you. Reward yourself with a simple Daydream that lets you express your creativity, talent, and good taste."
I laughed and laughed and laughed! So wanky.

Despite the questionable description this was one of the better kits/charts I've encountered.

The thread came seperated in cute little loose knots;

So cute. - I'm easily pleased :)

The chart also had listed how many lengths of each colour there was so putting them in order was painless.


My only issue with the chart would be that it was a bit small. While this is nothing a photocopier wouldn't fix the chart could have easily been a size or two bigger since the instructions were on 2 x A4 double sided pages but the chart only took up one quarter of one page.

But other than that one gripe it was a really good kit. Had enough thread, design was nice but still quite simple to complete in a weekend.

The finished product looks quite nice, though I've managed to get a little bit of stray cat fur stuck under the glass that will be easy enough to fix when I get around to it.

Progress shots;

Fossicking on a long weekend

So this long weekend my brother and I decided to drive up to Beechworth (a good three hour trip) and do a bit of bush walk fossicking.

Did we find anything of lapidary value? Nope but there was beautiful scenery and it was fun looking.

 

Cutest cuteie cat EVA!

 So I may think this little kitty is the cutest little freebie kitty EVA.

This little guy is the free kit from issue 214 of 'The World of Cross Stitching.' and I, as noted above, agree with their statement of 'cutest ever kitten'.

Really the only issue I had with this kit was that while they kindly advised the number of lengths of each colour to assist in sorting the floss bundle...they got it wrong... The guide advised only one brown and one light brown but I had two of each. But once I realised the single brown strand was dark brown the rest fell in to place.

The illustration for this guy is by Helz Cuppleditch. I'll have to keep an eye out for more I think. So cute. I may have embarrassed myself stopping at random stitching intervals to squee 'so cute'.

If I stitched it again I'd definitely do it on evenweave. While there are only a few fractionals in the cross stitch a significant amount of the backstitching needed to be placed at a fractional point. It got a little frustrating on the aida BUT I was also too lazy to go get a sharper needle so I'll take responsibility for that little bit of frustration.

All in all an easy, very cute, weekend stitch.

This also represents the first thing I've really completed this year. I hope it's a sign I'm getting some creativity and energy back.

I did have something else I created last week almost finished. But made the mistake of leaving it on the living room table before bed. Next morning it was gone. When I find out where the cats have hidden it and assuming it's not too munched I'll see about finishing it off. Then I'll have two whole things complete!

Progress shots:

My Sister's Quilting - becuase I still fail at life

So I am still in the land of zero creativity. I'm feeling this might improve soon as some rest and relaxation is helping me recover from the stresses of life.  Until the creativity bug bites again please marvel at my sister's current progect, her first quilt.

It's a country sampler. She took a course at her local quilt shop Patchwork Charm (Shepparton) to do a beginners quilt and this is were she's currently at. Please ignore the blue, red and white stripes at each end, that's just the mat the seperate patches are resting on.

No Creativity here

So I have achieved a sum total of nothing over the past month. Many many consecutive hot hot days, no air conditioning and just general busy busy life has resulted in me neither starting or finish anything. Or even working on something already started... I sux.

Now just to prove the weather hasn't killed me yet I give you some cute public crocheting.