gardening in more ways then one.............

Finally I have finished my first "A Gardener's Journal" block G.........done..........such a good feeling............and I nearly have the stitching done to finish another block....

.........the Stitch-a-long is going well.........

while I was out in the garden snapping a pic of my block I wandered past my hibiscus and look what i found..............I know Lisa will love these pics..........was thinking of you when snapping away........

I love this pink one..........

they were all shutting up for the night.......so I was lucky to find these..........

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

Little Stitchers journal swap...........

Fairy girl recently had a journal swap with some friends..........below is what Fairy girl sent to Tink........

(the green is a bit brighter and prettier in real life) she used ric-rac for the book mark

she loved the swap.........even though she was having a bit of a struggle with her project.................she was on a low patch with her confidence in her sewing and we struggled to get the project finished but we made it in the end.............

Here is what she received from Jessie Girl............she loves it.........

she has since finished another little stitchery and started another one full of confidence and it makes it so much fun sitting on the lounge together stitching away..............

they will always have highs and lows - times they want to stitch and times they don't just go with it..............

Chookyblue.........

a gorgeous present..........

Lisa from Cubby House Crafts had a blog celebration recently and I was once of the lucky winners with Jo at Lilly Pilly..............we both received beautiful gifts...........

a zipper purse pouch..........

and these beautiful journal covers (pouch)...........

it is so nice when you receive a gift hand made...........to be able to appreciate and treasure the time and effort of the crafter..........

Thanks so much Lisa I love them both.............and the perfect colour - blue

such a beautiful phrase 

"good friends are like quilts they never lose their warmth"

Lisa has become a great online friend and it is wonderful to have a gift from her.

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

dinner..........

Not long after I put up the last post I found myself madly helping to shed the sheep we need to shear...........I was a "drowned rat" by the time we finished but most of the sheep were pretty dry and will be right for shearing...........wet sheep can take a while to dry out and the shears are already quite behind with all the rain this year...........all this before breakfast.............

Also as it was raining again when we should have headed into town for the ANZAC day march - we didn't head in......I got the kids to watch some of the Sydney march and Anzac Cove ceremony...

...the weather has cooled down quite a bit tonight so I pulled the crock pot out and put on a casserole........

you can see why I am sitting on the lounge at home "WATCHING" MasterChef..............lol........I would not win any prizes for my presentation.........'slops on plate'....'lacks colour'.....'I would not serve that up in my restaurant'..........lol......but hey this is my kitchen and I know I am on a winner on a cool day for my family.............they LOVE this one.......good beef casserole with whatever I have thrown into the pot..........

and to top it off a fresh loaf of bread .............bookworm had been requesting a 'fancy loaf' 

I wished we had smelly internet.............

Catch you later...........

Chookyblue.......

Thanks...........

Thanks for all the lovely comments regarding my first sewing related

tutorial............

ANZAC day today - if it doesn't start raining in the next few hours we will go in and the kids will march as part of there school group and attend the morning service.

Thankyou to those who have served in the past and those currently serving in armed forces for our country.

I wished we could live in a world of peace but know that will never happen.

"Lest We Forget"

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

Stitching - how i do it.........

Stitchery – how I do it........

I have had questions/emails from girls re stitching and in the Stitch-a-long blog there are all levels of ability. 

I have also taught 2 people who have visited to stitch in the last few weeks which is when I decided I "did" have skills to share....

By putting this post up I am certainly not saying the way I do it is right or perfect but it is what works for me.

So here goes........if you think I missed something ask or leave a comment on this post.

I only do my stitcheries onto cotton fabrics. I mainly do back stitch, running stitch, chain stitch and french knots. I never use a hoop. That is a choice you can make some others use them all the time.

Backing

I used to use a thin pellon. Now I have changed to weaveline. Both are iron on and I like the look of both as a finished item but the fluffy bits on pellon catch on every dry bit of skin on my fingers in winter and I hate that. Using a backing gives more stability to the fabric while you are stitching and if you are doing a short cross over on the back to another spot on the stitchery you can’t see the thread from the front.

You can iron the weaveline onto the back of the fabric before tracing the stitchery but if using pellon you have to trace first otherwise you can’t see to trace the stitchery.

###make sure you don’t have any loose threads or hair in between the layers before you iron them together.### 

This is what I am currently tracing stitcheries with a Clover washable marker. I have used several brands of blue washable pens. You can use a pigma pen (permanent) but I get a bit hap hazard and you have to make sure your stitches cover the lines up.

I have had some of the blue not rinse out completely once or twice but a bit better wash and a little soap works wonders.

if you don't own a light box use a window but whatever you use make sure you put a few pins in to hold the pattern and fabric together.............

the mess on the side of my lounge..........I do need to make one of those thingys to lay over my lounge arm to protect it..........

now for the threads..........I use DMC stranded threads and it is 6 stranded............I pull out one thread and double it up and thread my needle........make sure the loop is at the long end............

I don't have knots on the back of my stitcheries.............bring the needle up from the bottom and go back thru and then loop your needle thru on the back of your fabric - see below...........then pull firm....this anchors the thread.........

the important thing when stitching is to make sure the needle goes down where the previous stitch came up - see below i did a bad one on purpose...........if you accidently leave a thread or 2 of fabric between your stitches it will show up later..........unpick the one or 2 stitches and redo them before you go to far..........you will be happier later..........

also when getting to a shorter patch look and think how many stitches you may fit into that spot and adjust your stitch length slightly to make it fit...........

nice even stitches...........

the back of my stitchery.............

I saw a tutorial somewhere on an Aussie girls site showing how they do satin stitch..........(send me the link if you know where it was -thanks girls - it is Melly and Me here is the link much better tutorial on the satin stitch then what I showed briefly here) run a tiny line of back stitch around and then the satin stitches go over the edges of it...........must say my satin stitched patches are MUCH nicer now and more even.......

now how to finish...........take your thread to the back of your work and run the needle under a thread on the back and then loop your needle back thru and pull firm...........then.....

run your needle back under threads on the back and pull thru...........

can't see a thing can you...........nice neat finish

main points for me.............make sure your stitches are nice and even - consistency is the name of the game............and for those beginners you will get better as you go along......

and if you have never stitched.............have a go.......it is fun and easy...........

..... practice makes perfect they say....

Happy Stitching...............

Chookyblue

snapping away...........

I feel like I have every other blue DMC thread except 930..........will have to get some in town tomorrow....................do you think 3 skeins will do to stitch all the stitcheries in the Gardener Journal??????

went out with my camera to snap a spider's web for Lisa...........and then I went past my carob tree which is flowering at the moment...........gosh they stink when flowering........but they are alive with bees.....and I found some flies and other bugs too...........will post some more photos on Snappy Friends in the next day or so also the spiders webs too........."machinery" is the photo challenge this week

then Mr Chookyblue had been out moving some sheep and he and Fairy Girl found some lillies in one of the gilgi's..........(shallow water hole) anyway I was snapping away......I walked into the water cause I had my thongs on and just changed lens to get a bit close and bugger me I felt a little something on my leg..........my camera assistant had already reminded me that I didn't have to worry about croc's (how sweet is he.........nearest crocodile is 1000's of miles away) anyway i calmly turned around cause I had the camera and didn't want to fall over in the water then SCREAMED at Mr Chooky to get the darn LEECH off my leg NOW!!!!!!! He laugh but pulled it off and threw it away before I could think to get a photo............sorry but I really didn't want to leave it hanging there on my ankle longer then needed..........I am such a sook....and it was HUGE.........

the sky was pretty again today..........

Leanne I managed to snap the moon again (quite by accident - didn't see it in the pic until i put it on the computer) slighty to the left of middle (a tiny mark).....wispy clouds - love them.............

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

stitching frenzy......

I started this book last year while waiting for a plane at the airport.........reading bits here and there..........but last week we had no power one dreary morning and it was too dull to stitch so I got back into the book and finished it.......I cannot imagine living anything like this...........some people sure have some weird ideas.......is there anywhere in the world where one woman has many husbands and they just do as they are told????

I order Di Morissey's The Silent Country - Sunrise (morning show here in OZ) has started a book club and this is one of the books of the month..........also since the $$$ is so good I ordered some Elm Creek books.......can't remember who it was but one of the Aussie girls has got stuck into them and I have read one or two awhile ago and enjoyed them so hope they will be here soon..........

&&&&&

have been busy tracing off stitcheries........

totally stuffed up the lawn mower as the pen I used faded a bit and I thought I had free drawn it right but obviously not and I undid the right hand wheel and all the middle I had stitched and will wash it and retrace that part again..........

ran out of thread this morning but I may have another one of these DMC threads floating around otherwise an essential shopping list item this week........

see progress is being made

even working on this stitchery that should have been finished ages ago..........I keep swapping what i am stitching.....

Just call me Peg........i am feeling as productive as she is at the moment with my stitching...........so what has changed........well time has gone back to normal and it is dark early now........also with it cooling off I just don't have the bugs i get in the warmer weather hanging around my lights annoying and biting me etc.........usually I can't/don't stitch much in summer of an evening........

also we have had school holidays and no bus runs to do etc.........this all heaps with extra bits of time........it is amazing what you get done with a thread here and there..........please remind me of this statement when I fall off the stitching wagon - Fairy girl is even in the stitching mode too..........

last day of school holidays tomorrow.....we have had a lovely time..........

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

Stitching is so much better now............

Meet my new pink glasses cool hey..............Tutti Fruiti do you think I will look like a granny in these?????

I find I have to use them all the time now when stitching it is so much easier to stitch...........well sometimes i can thread an needle but it is so much easier..............

and this is what I have been stitching............block G of Gardener's Journal and an extra stitchery from block B.........

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

Another blog book..........

A random photo............a feather

I ordered another blog book last month when the $$$US was good and I had a discount......

I love flicking thru the pages and seeing what I did and posted about during the year............

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue
PS 15-4-10  just got an email from Blog2print and they have updated things and made a few changes and at present extra pages are cheaper try this link to there new site

need some motivation????

if you need some motivation to get some stitching done there is heaps going on at the Stitch-a-long blog...........just about every post is full of stitching or block piecing........and there has been lots of posts........

I have my first 2 blocks stitched but need to piece the block now.....

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

thanks.....

Hi Everyone

Thanks heaps for all your comments......and thanks HEAPS for continuing to visit my blog it is very much appreciated........I won't reply to each comment......

......seems most of you have no problems loading my blog except it is a bit slow so i have reduce the number of posts to 5 that load when you open my blog.......maybe that will make it a little quicker.......

Also with the Stitch-a-long blog I have reduce it to only show posts from the last 5 days.

Hope this helps. No real solution for Trash but she will read me in bloglines...(thanks Trash)

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Site crashing????

Just hoping this isn't you but Trash emailed me asking if I have done anything to my blog in the last few weeks........when she opens my blog it crashes her  computer.   The only thing I have changed is my template.........I went to one of the new ones  Does this happen to anyone else???  .........Catch you later.....Chookyblue.........

prezzies..........

I am so behind in showing you some prezzies I have received over the last months...........

AnneMarie sent me these goodies..........

Peg sent me this journal...........lots of lists in here already.........

Lurline sent me this "Icecream"..........hope your shoulder is coming good Lurline and soon you will be able to return to stitching...........

Lurline hand quilted it............something I must learn to do.........

Carole sent me this little bundle of Rouenneries by the French General ...I had held of buying some of these but they are so beautiful.........now to plan a special project......

Thanks everyone for your beautiful gifts......

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

In the garden.........

I went out playing with the camera today........just my pink baby point and shoot camera...........

look at the fancy frilly edges of this mushroom............

this bee is loaded with pollen just look at the yellow on his legs...........

a beautiful pink hibiscus........

how does nature know what colour goes where and all the different parts............

more snaps here

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue