We Have .... WATER!

Yay! We have water again! The plumber fixed a loose wire on our submersible pump in our well.

I look forward to taking a loooong shower tonight!

A Little H2O Please

Have you ever had no water? What a pain! Suddenly this evening while I was watering the gardens I started to loose water pressure. Turns out the whole house has no water! We're on a well, so I'm not sure what's the problem... I hope its not the pump that brings the water up out of the well.

It sucks having no water.

Framing and an RR HD

Whew, finally! Last Sunday I started a framing job for work, 9 pieces... 5 done in one manner 4 done in the other. A week later I've finally finished them! I've been working on them one stage at a time, my goal was to get enough done that I could free up my Saturday. Which I did! So I was able to hop into my car after teaching TKD Saturday morning and drive to visit Chrisanne in Cornwall, I know I was just there about two weeks ago, but she needed a friend. That's what friends do right?

So we spent all day watching DVD's and stitching, what heaven! I spent the day working on Wendy's TWRR but didn't quite get it done. So this evening after finishing all that framing I finished it tonight! Yay! So now I've opened up my stitching schedule to work on the first of two models for Dragon Dreams! I get to work with some really funky fibers this time!

Putting the Banner On Hold

It was a good mail day for me! I received two parcels in the mail. One was the next round in the Teresa Wentzler Round Robin (TWRR) I'm in. This means that Celtic Banner is getting set aside so I can get the TWRR done and back out in the mail again. I find if I don't stitch RR's as soon as they come in the mail I tend to forget/procrastinate. So tonight I picked what I'll be adding to the piece and have a small start.

My second parcel I received from Jennifer of Dragon Dreams! I always love receiving Jennifer's parcels, it usually means a new model! Well this one contains two!! All I can say is that the designs are cute as usual!!! I look forward to getting a start on the first of the two as soon as I've completed my TWRR. Not only did this parcel have the models but Jennifer sent me some lovely pressies as well! She sent me six skeins of GAST threads that are so colourful... they're sunny colours that make me think of how bright the blooms in a garden are on a sunny summer's day. The second is this awesome book which I had eyed in the past, Dragonology! Even Todd thinks its a cool book!

Wow, I almost forgot this weeks SBQ...

Q : Have you ever used a magnifying glass while stitching? If so, did youfind it helpful?

A : No I don't use one... at least for now. I'm sure when I do need one I'll break down and use it... I'd rather keep stitching than be vain about my eyesight.

There hasn't been so much stitching going on the last week. I've been busy getting 9 frames with mats ready for next week. I'm right on schedule where I want to be with the job right now so I should be able to go down to Cornwall on Saturday for a stich-in with Chrisanne!

I'm so glad this week is almost over!

And another HD!

Wow I feel like I'm getting this done this weekend!!! This evening I started this little project, Mon Coeur by Jeannette Douglas. This special little design Jeannette made up as a little gift to us at the Lakeshore Guild Retreat. She was even a sweetie and kitted the whole thing up for us. While its lovely, stitching the white heart sure was a pain! It was done in a silk perle on 32ct and I found it hard to keep accurate count on the fabric. The first time around I was almost done and realized I had gone up two threads somewhere! Arrrgh a visit with the frogs and I had to start all over it was too fiddly to figure out where I went wrong!

Tomorrow I'll pull out Celtic Banner, and I have a big framing job to get started on!

You Know Your Mummy Loves You When...

Back in 2001 my Mum bought a quilted wall hanging pattern she wanted to make for me. Well this week she finally finished it after two years of work!

The design is by Three Swans and its originally charted for the dragon to be done in shades of red, mine is in green. Its about 8 feet high and two feet wide and I just LOVE it!

Here's a close-up of the dragon's face.

This afternoon my Mum and I went out to The Country Quilter in Richmond for their annual quilt exhibit and sale. This year was our third year going. I have to say I was really impressed by the quits they had on exhibit compared to the Common Threads Quilt show we had gone to at the end of May. There was a lot of wonderful, and creative pieces on display. Of course we also had to shop! I came home with 3 fat quarters and two more 1/2 yards of dragon fabric!

The fat quarters are for that small pumpkin patch piece I stitched back during March Break. I plan on finishing it as a Cube-It. I couldn't make up my mind on what I wanted so I bought three!!! Now I just need to find the time to do the finishing... and find the right ribbon to embellish it.

And of course I can't go into a place selling fabric without looking for dragon fabric. I managed to score two more for the "collection". What I'm going to do with all of these pieces (and very different) of dragon fabric I don't know. But I just can't help collecting them!

Now I'm getting ready to sit down and work on Mon Coeur by Jeannette Douglas (should be another quickie).

June's Ornament and a Little Stash

Wow, that was fast! I whipped up this month's ornament in just a couple of hours this evening! I figured it would be a quick stitch but not this quick! This months ornament is Blackwork Tudor Rose, a freebie from Of Female Worth. I received it just the other day with a little stash that I ordered back in April.

Yes April, my order wasn't held back due to an item on backorder... but because somehow the country got abbreviated to CA instead of Canada. So what did the US Postal Service do? Why send it to California despite it being addressed to ONTARIO with a postal code of letters and numbers (where in the states its just numbers). You really dropped the ball on that one USPS!


Anyhow I have a small stash report. I bought : Tywyn Sampler from Charland Designs and The Wyndham Needlewoman by Sharon Cohen. The two other items in this picture are : Let Your Imagination Soar by Dragon Dreams, this one was an anonymous RAK from a couple of weeks ago and Holly Knots from the Vickery Collection that Chrisanne gave to me after she stitched it.

I suppose I should go to bed, tomorrow is a busy day!

WIP Killing!

Yay! I'm so relieved I've finally finished something that wasn't an ornament or an RR I think its been awhile since I've had a good happy dance!

Last night I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel with Montreal Sampler by Jeannette Douglas c2005! I was down to the last two trees, the blackwork band and the herringbone stitch band... and beading of course! I started the beading at around 11pm last night and finished up about 12:15am. Unfortunately my photograph does not do this piece justice! (I'm thinking its time to replace my 5 year old digital camera) I have to say I really enjoyed this piece as I have every Jeannette Douglas Design I've stitched. Montreal Sampler was a class I took at the end of April as part of the Lakeshore Guild's first retreat in Chateguay, Quebec.

It was a great stitch, with lots of fun colours as usual! The bands each represent different aspects that make Montreal so special. I not only wanted to stitch this piece because it was one of Jeanntte's classes (great teacher by the way!) but because Montreal is where I was born! So I've now done a sampler of my birth city, one of where I live now (Ottawa) now I need a Dallas Sampler, as I lived there for a few years during my teens. Then everything would be perfect!

Now I do have to say that Ottawa and Montreal Samplers compliment each other nicely and I'll have to find a frame that does both of them justice... I'd like to hang them together.

I was going to start one of Jeannette's neelderoll ornaments tonight but some stash came in the mail yesterday and I really like one of the freebies they included. I really like it so I'll stitch it up this weekend, its a lovely blackwork tudor rose. I've picked 3 colours to stitch it in instead of the traditional black.

I'm not sure which WIP to kill next, do I kill Noah's Submarine, Celtic Banner, or Celestial Dragon???

SBQ

Q :How many cross stitch books do you own and how often do you use them?

A : Well this question could be interpreted two ways, I wish it was a little clearer. I interpret the question as how many stitching reference books do you have and how often do you use them? I have less than ten and I use them very rarely. I find often the answer can be faster to find on the internet, or I know exactly where to go. For example when I need a stitch diagram I check at Victoria Sampler's VS Club. There they have provided animated stitch diagrams which are just fantastic.

Another way to interpret this question would be how many charts do I have? Too many to count!

Back to "La Technique!"

If you're been a member of the TWBB for years now you may remember a time when members went around declaring themselves either "Lorchenites" or followers of "La Technique". These two terms were essentially followers of two types of stitchers. If you were a "Lorchenite" (named after a member whose username is Lorchen) you didn't care how many projects you had on the go, start projects at a whim. It didn't bother you how many projects you had in various stages of progress. If you were a follower of "La Technique de la TKDchick" (named after me, my username being TKDchick) you were a firm believer of stitching solely on one project at a time from start to finish. For years I stitched this way, it really bothered me to have more than one project on the go. If you've followed my blog for some time you know I've not practiced this in a loooong time. Well no more! I declare here an now that I'm going back to my old ways, where I work on only one project and I finish it. However, like every rule there are some exceptions. If a round robin comes in the mail I'll set aside my current project until the RR is done. Also to be able to stitch one ornament a month at some point each month I will set my project aside to stitch that ornament, then go back to my project. One last exception to the rule are models, so that they are done within the requested deadline.

So I say it here and now... I am going back to "La Technique!"

That being said, following this method I've made a lot of progress on Montreal Sampler by Jeannette Douglas this week! I've only got about 4 bands left! I imagine I might finish this piece this week, but looking at my calendar its going to be a busy one and I hope to find the time to stitch!

Photographic SBQ

This weeks Stitching Blogger Question has two parts and they're both requesting pictures :

Q : The first request comes from Vash who is requesting pictures of the back of your stitching. are you brave enough to give this one a shot?

A : Yes I am brave enough! But then really is the back of your work important as long as the front looks great and there's no lumps when its framed? I don't think beginning stitchers should be intimidated by the idea of a neat back. The point is this is a hobby and to enjoy it!

Here's the back of my current piece : Montreal Sampler. This is done in overdyed threads so the back isn't as neas as if it were done with regular dyed floss

I also wanted to show the back of one of my Michael Powell Mini Cottages where you used regular floss.

Q: The second request comes from Singular Stitcher, and she is asking for "a pictorial tour of [the] special place that you go to create your wonderful stitched creations."

A : My stitching space is my spot on the couch in the living room. I like the TV on for background noise when I stitch, something I can more or less listen to and look up occasionally. Behind where I sit is my Ott-Lite (floor model) which shines down from above. Also behind me is a wicker basket that I keep my current projects in when I'm not working on them. On a little wheeled cart is my laptop computer so I can check the net at my convenience. I also use it to keep my stitching supplies on such as scissors, needles, etc. A closed laptop is great for putting your floss and chart on when you're not surfing but stitching for a change! To keep me cozy are two pillows, and a quilt my Mum made for me.

Its all about comfort and accessibility when I stitch!

Tomorrow, Todd and I celebrate our 14th anniversary together.

Another Finish... and my Garden

Ahhh boy this feels good to get things accomplished! Last week in the mail I received Ruth's Teresa Wentzler Round Robin. As I mentioned yesterday, I sat down and figured out what I wanted to stitch also to make sure I had all the supplies on hand. Which I did.

For this TWRR (the bottom band is mine) I stitched the inner dragon scene border from TW's "The Fortunate Traveller". Ruth had two skeins of overdyed silk that if we wanted to we could incorporate. Which I did. The gold outer border on my band is a Gumnuts silk. The lazy daisy leaves are a Glorianna silk (my favorite brand!). Anyhow I'm quite happy with how it turned out and happy to have one goal for June completed!

Tomorrow I'll be pulling Montreal Sampler back out... finally!

Today after work I finally got out and took pictures of some of my flowers in bloom in my gardens. Including my first Clematis which is just spectacular! I've missed a number of my irises as it has rained a lot here over the last week. Some of my irises will need splitting come August.

A Happy Dance, A Rainy Day, An Update and Some Fabbie!

Boy I think its been awhile since you've seen the word Happy Dance in one of my titles hasn't it??? I finally finished something!

I can't believe it took me all month to stitch up this little ornament! This is Jack In The Box by Lori Birmingham, a little Leisurearts kit I bought ages ago! I didn't have an ornament RR this month (I was sent two during the last round), so I just reached my hand into my little kit drawer and this came out. Granted its stitched on aida which was a pain, but its cute. I haven't decided yet what this month's ornament will be... maybe a Jeannette Douglas needleroll ornament??? Hmmm...

Next on the stitching agenda will be Ruth's TWRR. As I said I'm going back to "La Technique" which means one project at a time. This morning I sat down and made my selection for my band of the RR. This selection was a bit of a challenge because there were two overdyed fibers that Ruth wanted us to incorporate! But the selection is made and it'll be top secret until its done ;-)

Yesterday I worked on Celtic Banner since I was in an environment where working on something more challenging wasn't a good idea. Last night I finally finished up the alphabet and the two blocks at the bottom! My original plan was to have that alphabet finished last month... but you know how things have been!!!

Now I'll set this aside to focus on that TWRR I was just telling you about!

Yesterday Christin and I threw together a little OVGS booth together at Watson's Mill in Manotick. I was looking forward to manning the booth all day, sitting there stitching and talking with people who stopped by. However it rained ALL DAY!!! We were kept nice and dry under the canopy that the mill provided. But it was just so damp out we were pretty miserable by the afternoon.

While I was transferring pictures to the laptop that I forgot to share the above scan with you. This is a fantastic dragon fabric I bought last weekend at the Quilt Show. I collect dragon fabrics. What I'm going to do with them I have just no clue!!! But I love having them.

And here's a little picture of Hunter for you!