adventuresofanaussieragdoll

I’ve been sick for a couple of weeks.  I had a dreadful cough last year that went on for about 6 weeks.  My coughing would be so loud that I could be heard from inside the house next door in the middle of the night.  I started coughing again this time, and went to the Dr within a couple of days.  I had lost my voice by the time I went to the Dr.  I’ve been off work for about two weeks now.  I am hoping to be back at work on Monday.  That tells you why I have been absent for the past couple of weeks.

I think I might have over done it on Halloween though. My front door is at the bottom of the driveway and is set into the house.  Consequencely, the front door is not visible from the street.  So I always stay out by the front fence so parents have no worries about not being able to see the children the whole time.  I did four Jack o Lanterns this year, but one of them had started to rot before I put it out.  I had to remind people not to touch that one, because it was quite ickky to touch.  When I went inside after 2.5 hours, I took that one straight to the compost heap.  The others were left on the front fence with the lights flashing during the night.  I have to acknowledged the wonderful website pumpkinlady.comfor most of the designs I have used of the past couple of years.  what I love is that they tell you which bits to carve out first.  I was exhausted when I came inside the house.  My back and my feet ached for hours, and I had a thumping great headache.

This is called Get into the Spirit

I have had some questions asked of me about this blog and I don’t know the answer.  Are blogs supposed to be a one way conversation or a two way conversation?  I don’t know.  Does anyone else know?  I guess, for at least this point, it would be a two way conversation in order to answer the question.

I was also asked about my order with Needle Needs in the UK.  Well, I got an email from Marissa last night.  She wanted to know if I wanted the longer arms for my stitching stand because I have ordered 24″ rods & 15-18″ stretcher bars for my stitching frame.  I was going to email her back, but decided it would be simpler to just phone them.  I spoke with Marissa and explained that I was sooo excited about the frame and stand, that I wasn’t concentrating when I placed the order.  As soon as I completed the order I realised that I would need the longer arms for the stand.  So I immediately got back onto the website and placed a second order for the longer arms for the stand, and also for a pair of bar parks.  Bar parks are used to hold your bars together in pairs, and also hold the dowel in place when you are storing your frame.  I made a request at the bottom of the second order, asking that all the items from both orders be shipped together, if possible.  Marissa hadn’t realised that there was a second order.  Once I had explained it, she was able to tell me that they would be able to ship all the items out that day.  So, the answer is that no, I don’t have my items…. yet.  However, they should now be on the way.  With any luck they may be here sometime next week.

I haven’t stitched for about 8 years.  I am looking forward to getting back into it.  I still haven’t been able to find that Christmas Stocking that was almost finished.  I just had to complete the backstitching and do the beading (because I can’t do a french knot to save my life!) and then make it up into the Christmas Stocking.  Big disappointment that I can’t find it.  I am still hoping to find it so I can finish it off.  I also can’t find the magnifyer that I had.  What I loved about it was that it hung around my neck. I can’t even seem to find another one to buy to replace it.  The other thing I seem to be unable to find is a small storage box that had a relatively large number of DMC threads in floss away bags on rings.  I don’t know where that is either.

This is the set of squares to make it easier to find the starting point.

I have something to say about the fabric that comes with the Disney Dreams kits.  I’m not a huge fan of Aida at the best of times.  When I measured the fabric that came with the kit, I found that it only allowed a 2″ margin for framing.  I prefer 3-4″ on all sides for penty of room for framing.  I prefer to start my stitching from the top left corner of the design.  To find that spot you need to work out the centre, and with rulers that have markings for the fabric count, you measure to the top of the design, and then to the top left position.  By having between 3-4″ allowance, if you are out of position by a few thread counts, it won’t matter too much.  If you only have 2″ allowance, if you are out of position by just a few threads, that can leave you with not enough fabric for framing.  To help with getting to the right spot, I just bought a set of three squares from my favourite stitching shop stichesnthing.com This is a brilliant real, bricks & mortar stitching shop in Michigan in the US.  I have been dealing with them for many, many years.  The sqaures are made by In the Company of Friends, but I like to get things from Deb at Stitches N Things because, aside from the great customer service, she often pops in some free designs with your order. Can’t beat that!  So, with these squares, just choose the one you prefer and line it up with your fabric and there is your starting point.  Easy to find!  Why didn’t someone come up with this before?

Because I prefer 3-4″ allowance, I needed more fabric than had been supplied in the Snow White kit. With a 4″ allowance, I needed fabric 60cm x 50cm.  I was able to get fabric at a craft fair from a company called sewitall.com.au I was able to get a length of 18 count cream Aida (same as the kit) 180cm x 50cm.  So now I have enough fabric for 3 of the Disney Dreams designs.  I currently have 4 of these designs (Snow White, Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast and Lion King), and would like to get the Little Mermaid one too.  I have made a copy of the design for Snow White.  It’s a working copy.  One I can mark up and scribble on if I want, but still have the patterns just in case I want to make it again.  I found that there is a website (can’t remember the address at the moment) where you can get the conversion information into DMC threads in case you want to do it all again.

So, with the frame and stand on their way, I should be stitching before Christmas.  Squeee! So excited.

Oh on a final note, I haven’t been on the diet for the last two weeks.  When I am sick I tend to go for the comfort foods.  I have, however, not been howing into the left over halloween lollies.  But if someone doesn’t come and get it soon…. that might change.

Well, I know this has been a long post (I’ve had to do it twice actually).  But then again, it has been a while since the last post so I guess that explains it.  I like hearing feed back from people.  Let me know what you think.  As long as you are nice about it, I won’t be mad, even if you make a criticism.

Talk again next time.