Posts

It's been a while....

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Seems that it's been a while since I posted - didn't realise how long until I just looked.  I've started a Flosstube with my daughter since I stopped updating my blog. We talk about my cross stitch and her diamond painting! You can find us at jobee's journal In June, I started doing the 24 hour monthly challenges put out by Jen Lee (instagram handle quirksandstitches). There have been a couple of 24 hour stitching events and in June, Jen added an acrostic challenge for the month. The idea was to do something that related to the letters in TWENTY FOUR, for a certain amount of time or stitches. I liked the idea of tracking time rather than stitches - most of the other challenges have you count stitches which I just don't do! I chose to do 240 minutes on each project. I talked about these projects on our Flosstube, but I've worked on most of them since I did the 240 minutes on each of them. They are also documented on my instagram page - jobee's journal b

Back home...for now

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Trying to get back into the swing of things after holidays is never easy! Even more so when you know you have another 2 trips away in the next month. Our weather is getting hotter as well which takes me a bit of getting used to even after 20+ years in this area! Stitchy Finishes Christmas Ornament (Tree) Designs For The Needle Inc kit Bought from a Salvo's shop Started and finished 14th October I found 3 similar kits at a Salvos shop. I'm not a fan of the lace so might just get a hoop to frame it. And I don't think I'll put in all the single yellow stitches around it. It came with all the DMC numbers so I'm going to use the pattern again to make some more ornaments. Wedding Sampler  PDF pattern from SewHappyMailBristol on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/630990781/pdf-cross-stitch-pattern-personalised?ref=shop_home_active_8 Started 8th October 2018 I've covered the name for privacy. This was mostly a quick stit

My first FFO's!

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In the past most of my stitching has needed to be properly framed. Some still hasn't but is at my mum's  (I'll post photos of them another time). Looking at a couple, they could be easily turned into cushions or finished in a less formal way, but that's a job for another time. So to have two Fully Finished Objects finished in the same week is a new concept for me! I also have a third finish but haven't gotten a hoop to frame it yet. We're still in Sydney until the end of the week so it's easy enough to get to Spotlight.  FFO's Iris (dodgy kit from an Op Shop) The kit came with a frame but it was way too small. I found the green one at a shop called The Sewing Basket  It's basically a craft op shop! A new shop opened last Friday so I went and had a look at both shops. Got quite a few things including this frame, some patterns, an unopened QSnap Frame and some fabric - probably need a whole haul post to cover it all. I finished

School Holiday Stitching

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This is the first school holidays in a while where we haven't had the whole 2 weeks filled with stuff to do! Yes we are away, but we are staying with family, my husband is working (he's working in Sydney for 6 weeks) and for the rest of us there's not much on the agenda. So there has been plenty of time for me to cross stitch and my 2 girls have been doing a lot of Diamond Dotz pictures. I finished my smallest project - the Iris kit I got from the op shop. I had some time waiting for medical appointments last week so was able to get a bit done then so just kept going until it was finished  It was a pretty dodgy kit! The needle was a normal sewing needle, the dark green wasn't on the pattern and then the hoop type frame that came with it didn't fit!! Irises are my favourite flower which is why I got it in the first place. I'll just find a hoop that fits it and finish it off that way. WIPS The Pioneer Country Threads Kit  http://www.countrythrea

A couple of finishes and a new start

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Getting time to write has a been a bit tricky the last few weeks! Especially as there's so much stitching to do. I stitch most evenings, though usually most weeks there is one or two nights where I don't get to. My main finish in the last couple of weeks was The Cowboy Boots. It's for a present and not fully finished yet. I have a picture in my mind of how to do it thanks to watching a lot of flosstube lately! I don't have the supplies to do it though so it has to wait until I get to a place with the appropriate stores. I really like how it turned out. It was easy to stitch and I didn't really get bored of doing only one colour. Having other projects to do at the same time probably helped! Pattern from Instant Cross Stitch on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/218742612/cowboy-boots-counted-cross-stitch? Started June 2018 - Finished 14th September 218 My other finish was one I only started this week. I was watching Flannel Jammies Farm on Youtub

WIP Wednesday

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I'm not sure how often I'll post, maybe once a week or so. Since I'm just starting, I thought I'd do an individual post about each of my current WIP's.  My biggest project at the minute is 'The Pioneer'. It's a Country Threads kit I bought from a shop in Narooma (South Coast NSW). 'The Pioneer' is a famous Australian painting, painted by Fredrick McCubbin around 1901 - it can be seen in the Victorian Art Gallery ( http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/5990/ ) http://www.countrythreads.info/Enlarged%20Images/4009%20The%20Pioneer.html My hubby had a print of it in the house and it stayed after we were married. It's looking a bit shabby now, so when I saw the kit I decided to have a go. My reputation for finishing cross stitches in a timely manner is not good as I mentioned previously so I was a bit worried when starting it that I might lose interest quickly. The kit has 16 count Aida and uses DMC threads. I started

Restarting my blog!

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Welcome to my blog!! As you can see if you scroll down, I've tried blogging before but not too successfully!! I've recently started cross stitching again and decided to try again to keep a record of all my stitching. A bit about me. I'm Jo, married with 3 kids, living in country Australia and really enjoying getting back into cross stitch. I started cross stitching when I was about 16. My great aunt was a dressmaker and was always giving us various crafts to try. I wasn't much of a sewer, but for some reason decided to have a go and was hooked.  I had a big break after the kids were born (my oldest is 17). A few years ago I decided to start again with a Frosted Pumpkin Mystery Stitch Along. It was an ideal project to get back into cross stitch with as it wasn't too complicated.  It wasn't until this year that I really got back into cross stitch. I had an unfinished project that had been bugging me for a long time. I'd started the 'Footprints