Winter

Winter
from
The Seasonal Chairs

It's not exactly a happy dance, but it is the finish of one section of the project.

Happy Dance No 3. 2009

Thank you everyone for your encouraging comments after my last blog entry. They were most appreciated. A hearty thanks too for the blog award from Olenka and for the offer of a chart from Molly in Wales. I was blown away by your generosity. I don't have an email address for either of you to send a thank you note. Could you use my email envelope on the side to send me details of your coordinates, please?

The purpose of this blog entry is to show off my latest finish - Lettres à Mon Chat.

Before you scroll, meet the Blissful stitching team, folks. Never think that cross stitch is a solitary activity here at Castle Bliss. Believe you me, I'm never alone! I have 'helpers' who should be acknowledged. LOL

Gypsy supervises the stitching. She rarely misses a trick (or the chance to wave a paw at a piece of floss).


On the other hand, Lucy & Harry tend to slacken off now and again.
I suspect that Harry stole my magnifying glasses, last week, because The MOTH found them outside on the back veranda with suspicious chew marks and scrapes. How do I know it was him? He looked far more guilty than Lucy. LOL

Details of the work of art


Full blown happy dancing finish!
Click image to enlarge


Lettres à mon Chat
Designed by Isabelle Vautier
Fabric: 28ct Antique White Lugana
Floss: Anchor 1036 (blue) & 1355 (varigated)
Started: 21st May 2009
Finished: 25th June 2009

Updates

It has been a productive few weeks for cross stitch here at Castle Bliss. I've managed to get in some stitching most days, and, true to new resolutions, work on more than one project. Here are the fruits of my labours.

The Seasonal Chairs


Jeanne d'Arc
(from the Gift of Stitching, an online magazine)
Started: Monday, 16th June 2009
I'm using Autumn Field Lugana (32 Ct.) and DMC 960


The Midnight Enchanterer

A kit by Dimensions
Started gridding earlier in the week
Actual stitching: Saturday, 20th June 2009


Lettres a Mon Chat
which I want to finish this week.

OT - Simon and Garfunkel, birthday and exam results

Last night The MOTH, now recovered from the flu, & I went to a Simon and Garfunkel concert here in Brisbane, Australia, thanks to a generous gift from friends. What can I say? They were brilliant!

I've only been to one other 'rock concert' - The Drifters in 1978. I had to pinch myself a many times with the thought of 'I am really here!'

I woke up this morning with 'Let Us Be Lovers' rattling around in my head.

Today is also the Living Doll's 23rd birthday.(Picture to be posted after the dinner tonight) Ah my darling girl! Have a happy, happy birthday!

Best news of all on a personal level: I passed an exam I thought I had badly bombed. I've been feeling a total failure for months and months - almost to the point of black dog stage. But now all's well - & I've got a new research paper to write as a result. Now all I have to do is pass year 10 maths. LOL

Grand Marquoir - Part 1

Grand Marquoir
(designed by Isabelle Vautier)
Fabric: 28ct Antique White Lugana
Floss: DMC 838 & Kreinik #4 braid 3228

Thanks everyone for your wonderful encouragement with stitching. Without it, I would be doomed to a slew of UFOs on the shelf. You inspire me with the projects you do & spur me on to finish what I start. A hug to every one of you!

Today's presentation is the first part of Isabelle Vautier's Grand Marquoir SAL. Part 3 has already been published, so I'm way behind, but I'll eventually catch up. From now on, I'll only post when I finish an official part.

Happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Monday updates

Lettres à mon Chat
(designed by Isabelle Vautier)
Fabric: 28ct Antique White Lugana
Floss: Anchor 1036 (blue) & 1355 (varigated)
Started: May 2009


Grand Marquoir
(designed by Isabelle Vautier)
Fabric: 28ct Antique White Lugana
Floss: DMC 838
Started: May 2009


A Quaker Christmas
Fabric: 28ct Country French Cashmere from Wichelt Imports
Stitch Count: 320w X 205h
Floss: Crescent Colors (Balsam Fir, Cupid, Ye Old Gold)
Started: July 2008



The Seasonal Chairs
Fabric: White 28ct Lugana
Floss: DMC
Started: June 2008

Winter Begins in Australia

Four Season's Chairs
by Janlynn Corporation

At the beginning of last Australian winter (June 2008), I joined with Margaret & Berta to do another SAL. In 2007, we stitched Frederick the Literate' together. The girls were such an inspiration!

Now that I'm home from the holidays in New Zealand and back into stitching, look for updates of this UFO project in the coming months.

Here's my winter chair so far.

Happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Happy Birthday Big Ben!

For the tourists flocking to London there's no shortage of famous sights at which to aim their cameras. The been-there, done-that, got-the T-shirt shot every visitor to London wants is a picture of the most famous clock in the world - the Palace of Westminster Clock Tower - aka Big Ben. I'm no exception. During our trip to London in 2006, I must have snapped off at least 200 frames of the tower.

The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell. 1859 was the beginning for all three elements when the Clock Tower was completed, the Great Clock started on 31 May and the Great Bell’s chimes were heard for the first time on 11 July.

So, of course, one day I would like to stitch the attractive collage of London landmarks created by Thea Gouverneur (pictured above). I've just got to rob a bank first ... (which will make entry into the UK impossible, but that's another story).

Happy Birthday Big Ben!

and happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Lettres à mon Chat - Update No. 1

Holiday stitching

Lettres à mon Chat
by Isabelle Vautier
Fabric: Antique White Lugana 28 count
Threads: Anchor 1036 & 1355

Where is Johnny Depp when you need him?

Greetings from Paihia in the Bay Of Islands, New Zealand.

I'm expecting a pirate ship to come around the headlands at any moment!

The MOTH & I have decamped from Brisbane, Australia, for two glorious weeks in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, and we are having a marvelous time. The seafood chowder is wonderful, the New Zealand wines very quaffable, and (because the weather closes in to a cosy 10C each afternoon) I've had time for lots of stitching!

Wish you were here!

Happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

P.S. Monday, 26th May. Good gracious me! There I was minding my own business, sipping rum with The MOTH in the local pub and waiting for my dinner to be served when who should walk in but a gang of pirates. I kid you not - if only I had had my camera with me - I didn't see faces, but my oh my that butt looked incredibly familiar, not to mention sexy. LOL