Fall pillow finish

Stitched with Fallen Leaves (Crescent Colors) on Autumn Gold 36 ct linen (Lakeside Linen).

This is from Tante's Zolder (aka My aunt's attic). The pattern can be found in the August folder.

Tea with Jane

(click for a better view)

I finished this lovely freebie by Tanya Anderson some weeks ago but only had the time today to take some pictures. Now it's about time to invite a good friend for tea! :)

Bent Creeek exchange sent

I know that my partner received the package yesterday so I can finally posted. Not sure how you'd visualize it, but this is a *big* bag, a shoulder typeof bag, with a zipper. The bag was bought in a hobby shop and I sewed the stitched piece to it. That was extremely hard because the material the bag was made of was like a rubber type of rafia. Hard and giving a rubber feeling. But I so wanted it on this bag :) Then I sewed (by hand all the time, I don't own a sewing machine) a color-matched ribbon on the upper and lower part and added a wood-like "Adventure" button in a corner - this seemed so suitable for a pattern with woods and a cabin. I hope my parner likes it. I've also sent a hand-decorated chocolate cake for all her family and some other goodies.


Bent Creek - "Cabin in the wood" - stitched on hand-dyed fabric (Silkweaver) with DMC, to make the bad usable/washable.

I invite you to browse through the Bent Creek exchange album here. There are over 130 pictures to see and they are an incredible source of isnpiration for other exchanges. A few are simple, others are complex, creative pieces. Enjoy and admire! :)

Bent Creeek exchange received

Earlier this year I subscribed to a French Bent Creek exchange. One week before sending, when all the stitching was done, and I had started working on the finishing part, I broke my right hand. I was devastated because that meant I could not face the deadline for sending for a long time. I didn't want my partner to think I was not serious, so I did a little research online and found her home phone number in France, called her and apologized. Anne was very understanding. I had chosen a tough material to sew on and only in September I could finish my exchange. Then the mail gods decided to play with the package. I sent it as "priority", which means delivery is guaranteed within 2-3 days in Europe and 5-7 days in the whole world. Well, this took MUCH more time and I was seriously worried because of all the weeks of work and worries related to that exchange.
I'm afraid that due to lack of time I never posted what Anne sent me and I am so sorry for that.
Here is the cute bag I received from her:

More finishing supplies

Here is another batch of ribbons and other materials I brought from Norway. Now I can't really say I am missing any of that. Though I must say I followed one or two major color schemes - but these colors clearly reflect those I like most. Certainly lots of Christmassy and fall colors.

Feeling for procrastinating a bit

Big yawn. It is past 10 am, I am (still) working for a few more hours. Uncounted coffee cups. I had to delay the huge horror text till Monday, but this can't be delayed more. I have to deliver one part tomorrow morning and the rest on Monday. Oh, if you knew how this one is tough. Basically, I am translating the new international financial reporting rules for a company, from Polish to French. Idiotic work, since somebody based his work on the French/English version. And boy is it tough. I have to skim through endless reports, EU texts, European Bank databases etc. I am extremeply pleased with the result, but there is still *alot* to do. I am telling myself that if I get to Monday sane and alive, a new life awaits LOL! I've been working on that assignment since weeks. Already sent a xstitch order :)
Now, I need to wash my face with cold water, walk doggie and type a bit more.
I have tons of things to post - but that'll happen on Monday.
Thank you everyone for your comments! Cheryl, the key to stitching that much while having so much work is simple - I'm doing nothing homewise. The joys of living part of the year alone :) Next week however I'll have to do a big decluttering and cleaning. Brenda, that was so sweet of you to say :) We can always do a private exchange sometime! :)

And for a bit of morning fun, see this short movie. I especially liked the bit "If you are stolen, call police at once". Heh, some fellow translators don't do their work well.

Stitching a bit too..

I just can't wait till next Friday night, that's when I'll deliver the huge job, the last one on my plate. I just got news that the pipe works will happen in November in my flat and that they'll mean more destruction in both the kitchen and especially the bathroom. Also the heater in the living-room is dead, which also means extensive work - moving large furniture to access the pipes etc. BUT somehow I can't seem to stress over that :) My perspective stops on Friday. I will only work like mad for 6 days more. 6 days more! You bet I'll sleep long afterwards! :)
In the free time I can allow myself daily I've been in a stitching frenzy. Here is part of the projects I stitched, there are more but I can't show them yet. Most of them are for gifts but two will stay home. Devil stitcher as I am, most are done in my choice of threads, usually a mix of overdyes, silks and plain 'old DMC.

And here's my progress on one of my WIPs, LHN's Necessities Sampler:

Friday at last!

I have such a feeling of accomplishment today. Somehow I managed to reach today even though it meant sleeping 2-4 hours per day over a week, working double work hours for the last few weeks etc. The last two days, the end client (a famous lawyers firm) was constantly making changes in the 40 pages agreements I was translating and they were driving me nuts but hey, they are paying good money and I like legal, so in a way I enjoyed working on this. I am going to allow myself two week-end days of sleeping, stitching and (sigh) cleaning the flat. My brain is fried. Then on Monday I will start the next intense 12 days of work - more intense that ever, on 180 pages of heavy finances and accounting. The challenge is to be able to finish it in time for the 26th, which at this moment I can't even imagine. Not my cup of tea :( and the volume is enormous. I'll fight it! :)

I did a lot of stitching recently but I want to do the finishing first before I show them. Some Prairie Schooler ornaments for gifties, a set of napkins with a freebie pattern adapted, and I made progress on The Blessing (Examplars...):

I'm waiting for a refill of several colors to arrive but I'm now trying to work the details which colors I have.

I mentioned some weeks ago that Stitchesnthings were selling some shop models. I couldn't afford many at that time - the nicest ones sold out fast, but I got these two. I absolutely fell in love with this punchneedle Blackbirds Designs piece and I could not let it go. I am unsure of the fabric but it looks like 48 ct at least. Tin, tiny, tiny!!! Fabulous work. I don't do punchneedle, somehow it doesn't tempt me, but I admire some beautiful projects I see. So, this is the first punchneedle piece I own and hopefully it's not the last, though I haven;t seen many samplers done in this technique. For 15 usd finished and framed, what a bargain it was! I looooove the frame. The colors are brighter and cleared in real, a genuine gem.

The other piece is that one. It even has the year written on the back: 1994. What, 1994? It looks like new! I always wanted to stitch that piece, even bought the leaflet, but I am delighted to have it done and already framed. I might change the frame one day, it is too dark black for my taste but for the time being, it stays that way on my wall! :)

Talking about techniques other than cross stitching, I so admire needle felting. See this beauty . How I wish I was tempted a little bit more to try it! I'd looooove to have this squirrel and its nuts on my shelves but what, I don't think I am gifted for that technique. I know I already posted it here but that's an excellent occasion to remind everyone on the work Rainymoon does. I find her projects absolutely amazing and check on her blog regularly to see the new arrivals!

Late birthday gifties...

When I finally returned to Warsaw in September, I was so surprised to bring from the post office several unexpected birthday gifts! I left for Norway just two days after my b-day so many parcels didn't reach me. What a delight it was to see and open many envelopes that I didn't know were waiting for me! I'll post more of them over the next days...

Here is what Mary Kathryn sent me - and she said nothing about it! She sent me a chart from my wishlist - and she chose one of my absolute favorites! I can't wait to stitch it. Alas, it required overdyes in colors I ran out of, but I already ordered them. This is going to be stitched and *framed* NOW! As I wrote to her, I have a special thing for samplers with one or more houses, with a garden, with a girl/couple/dog/cat and birds in it. They remind me so much of the house in Norway, of my stays with H. And this chart, it also has a lettering that strikes a particular chord in me, it says what I say in my heart each time H. leaves and I know it will be several weeks before we see each other again. Thank you again, Mary K!

Some finishing supplies...

At the end of my stay in Norway, I bought and ordered lots of finishing supplies. Here's part of what I got directly at the shop:

And once packed into a brand new box...

I guess everyone knows what my favorite colors are now! LOL

More when I have time... or when I need to procrastinate again! :)

Cats :)

Not mine, just love that picture. Was she yawning or what? :) Click HERE.

Young love...

My nephew and his fiancée as they call themselves... at 5 1/2! :)

Photo taken at the English school. They went to kindergarten together but this year, they started school, each went to a different one. So, they wanted to start learning English together. And they go to the movies, with one mum or another... How long will this last, we'll see :)

Women!

Back for good

From the day of my return to Warsaw I've been extremely busy. Here's a shortcut of what happened since my last post here. I was in Switzerland to visit my brother/nephew++, great food, great wines, great trips, great moments with everyone. Then back to Norway. Then flight back to Warsaw with part of my luggage and The Queen (cat). Busy, busy week. After which H. flew in with rest of my luggage and Happy (dog) for two days. Great time again but very busy. Trip to visit my family. After which work, work and more work. It doesn't stop coming in. I am booked till end of October and spent time working on the computer sometimes 20 hours per day. Won't complain, after several empty months this will fill in huge gaps in the budget.
Will be very very very busy this month but will try to post a lot of late pictures here. Also, in some days the works in the building will start : changing all water pipes - which means my kitchen will be demolished. I don't mind the bathroom works that much, it was planned to be reworked or at least repainted soon, but my kitchen was all made per individual measurements, and I fear they will simply ruin it all. And I still don't know how to cope with that and the Himalayas of work I need to deliver end of month... I still haven't heard when they will attack ;-) my flat, but I will try to talk them into doing mine after the end of the month. Will I be able to delay it? Not sure... so this month is far from being easy. The only thing I do except typing very, very fast many hours per day is stitching - sometimes a few minutes, sometimes a few hours when I manage to organize a whole evening free of work. Little crosses can be sooo relaxing after many hours of work! :)

PS. Thanks Michelle for kicking my b-tt and to Mylene!

In the French Alps...

Here are a few pictures from a Sunday mountain walk in the Haute-Savoie (Sixt Fer à Cheval, a 1-1,5 h drive from Geneva). A great time was had :)

You might want to click to enlarge the picture below and the 5th one... maybe you'll feel the beauty of the place, the magic of that afternoon...





(above: big brother, nephew and a person from the family)

Bad encounter

(much delayed)

On Thursday (10 days ago) H. drove a bit later to work so we could exchange a gift I bought for my nephew (and which my brother told me he already has) when the shop opened, in the big commercial center in the town nearby. Happy waited in the car. Then H. left for work and I walked home. I wanted to 'explore' this way too :) From the town to our village it is only 5 km + 1 km till our home. The sun was strong, the day gorgeous. Yeah right...

On of the farms on the way... The system is the following in Norway: the white building is always the house where people live, the red one is the barn or other farm building.

The cycling/walkers path goes along the road all the time, so it was totally safe, nothing special about it. There were not that many cars passing at 11 am. At one point, there was a forest path leading deep in the woods. And when I arrived there, there was a man standing. I immediately noticed that there was no car behind him on the path, and thought that was weird. I was right. The man came closer and asked in English - without knowing I was not Norwegian, so he was obviously British or English-speaking anyway - if I can help him. I answered I hope so, but I kept my reserve. Well, he asked if I can do a little thing, actually just a little thing ... Can I show you my p.-----s? I thanked him with my special smile number 12,5 and tried to leave, but he followed me and said it would just take a few minutes. I was totally alone with a weirdo on a secluded path, not funny. I smiled again but with a firm thank you and went. I did not want to behave like if I was scared, I was not. But this man had something in his eyes that was scary. This path is used by many young girls - and I had just met several. The man did not look like one that just wants to 'show'. As soon as I was out of sight, I called H. at work, he called the police, I waited for them to arrive, talked to them, gave a detailed description of the guy and well, they were quite fast and decided in the way they reacted. Four more cars arrived with lights and all sounds on at full speed, with dogs and they went in the wood to find him. I don't know if they did, H. always forgets to call. But I was asked if I could recognize him, even from a picture and the police have all my data.

I was a bit stressed for a day or two, kept thinking about the guy. I've met numerous such types in the park near where I live in Warsaw, but this one was disturbing. I hope he'll get caught.

But I don't feel that much for walking around in a forest alone now... Not being hysterical by nature though, I hope I'll stop seeing perverts behind each tree very soon :)

Now to be serious, we had marvelous walks with H. over the next days, but I 'm always short of time so I'll post pictures later, much later.

A nice week

I wrote this last Tuesday but with what happened later this week, my initial euphoria about lonely expeditions has a bit diminished :(. I am posting this anyway.

We at last have gorgeous weather and yesterday I had a long walk with Happy before H. returned (late) from work. These we call my 'expeditions' when I choose to explore a new direction - and there are really endless possibilities for short to very long walks around our place here. H. lives in a large residential area, there are only a few taller buildings around the "center" which includes the church, one supermarket, pharmacy, a newly opened vet clinic, a small pizza place, a minuscule pub and maybe two-three little business more, all grouped together. Otherwise this is a *very* large area of individual houses spread on hills, forests and fields (the older farms). H. always stressed out to me how lucky he is that his house is so close to the train station. Actually the house was built in the 20-ties (I think) by his grand-parents. An old photograph in the hall shows an isolated house in the fields and far away, the old local farm. Well, things sure have changed here. H. walked 1,5 km one way to school each day. Now there are more kindergartens around than I can count. Local kids are lucky. If I had kids, I would love to have them go to a kindergaten in a semi-wooded environment like the one close to us. In the eighties, the field in front of the house was colonized with houses as well. I am sure this urban development can't be nice to people who once lived in a totally green place, but I guess that's how the world is nowadays. And also in the eighties, another train stop was built very close to our house. It only takes 2-3 minutes to get there and we can see the train (the local train stops every 1/2 h) but we do not hear it. And we are just about 15-20 minutes from the center of Oslo. There are 13000 inhabitants in our area which Wikipedia calls a village and adds that it has only developed like this in the 80ties, which I already wrote :).

Here are some photos from my today's walk with Happy. This is a very old path close to home, not much used. I crossed the railway a couple of times, under or on a bridge.

A creek in the forest where I also found ruins of an old mill (this is a historical path) from the 18th century in the water.

Then I reached the lake (one of the two closest to home, this one is maybe a 10 minutes walk from the door). You can see in the picture a small white infrastructure to go down to the water. Contrary to Poland, Norway does not have sand beaches, so even to go bathing in fjords, they put some "stairs" for people.
The full lake, not very big:

I haven't seen many black sheep in my life:

I absolutely adored this house. Later H. told me he went to school with a girl who lived there and that it's now owned by her brother. There was a person inside looking at me so I shyed out and hid behind the barn to just make a photo of the upper part.

In the evening I made one of my favorite 'diet' salads:

- 100 ml of tomato juice,
- 1/2 tsp of olive oil,
- 1 tsp of red wine vinegar,
- hot pepper sauce to taste,
- a pinch of paprika,
- 60 g of pasta (uncooked weight),
- half a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds
- 60 g of sweetcorn
- 1/2 a green pepper and 1/2 a red pepper,
- 90 g of roast/grilled chicken
- 1 spring onion,
- a tablespoon of chopped fresh coriander

Combine the tomato juice, olive oil, vinegar, pepper sauce and paprika and put aside. Prepare the pasta without fat or salt. Mix with the tomato juice mix. Put in the fridge for around 2 hours. Mix the other ingredients with the pasta and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Happy was just.... HAPPY!

And later on he slept in a somehow weird position, but we are used to it :)

The Sampler Lady is finished

It look me a little over a week because I chose to do her with one thread over two on 40 ct. She surely will be one of my very favorite pieces once framed!


Design: The Sampler Lady by Little House Needleworks

Threads: Crescent Colours and DMC

Fabric: 40ct Lakeside Linens

Stiched with 1 thread over 2.

Finally a finish!

And I'm so glad with the way it looks! Here it is, at last, a 2007 summer finish!

Design/-er: Awake the Dawning Day by Blackbird Designs

Fabric: 30ct Iced Cappucino (R&R Reproductions)

Threads: WDW and GAST

I am a late BD fan. "Their Song" was the first chart I stitched and I really got hooked! I know some people are not so fond of this leaflet and especially of the new one issued (which I am not sure fits my style so I haven't got it yet - I love the colors but not so much the general theme) so I'd really like to say that Awake the Dawning Day is gorgeous. Very beautiful combination of colors on an ideally chosen fabric. The weird thing is that with the previous project, I hated working on R&R fabric (this was also a first time) and I remember telling myself that well, the next time I have to pick something else. This time I just loved it, maybe because of the way the colors played on the shade of the fabric. So if you're not sure if, hesitate, etc., do not, it is really a beautiful piece!

One could also stitch the upper part only and put initials or other lettering in the bottom. This would then look this way:

Saturday update

Most of the days this summer - and I'm talking of the period since June 2nd till August 18th, that is now, here is what I saw out of my bedroom window here:

Rain, rain, rain and more rain. I remember telling H. by the end of July that it just can't rain more than 2 full months, that August would be lovely... yeah right! ;-)

The good side of the bad weather is that I cooked and baked a lot, almost every day. Today I've baked a 4-corns bread and I'm preparing a delicious spicy pasta with chicken, tomato sauce, different types of seeds and more. Looks yummy! :) This week H.'s mother made some "rolls" (that's how my totally cuisine-challenged darling called them and there was no way to get more information out of him LOL!) and don't be put off by the look, they were de-li-cious!! So soft and tasty, I just have to ask her for the recipe and make them myself. I don't think I've ever eathen such type of "rolls" before, they're too sweet to be eaten as bread for breakfast but delicious eaten alone of with something on them...

Shop models for sale

Some are quite cute actually. Stitchesnthings have put some of their shop models for sale, and I really can't understand why this Prairie Schooler gorgeous one still hasn't found a buyer http://www.stitchesnthings.com/detail.cfm?ID=19394
There is also a PS Santa made in specialty floss, one with blackbirds.
Oh, I just love these two pieces of work. But I can't justify the purchase at the moment :)