wonderful gifts

I won a giveaway from Pat at Southpaw stitcher.

The scarf is gorgeous :D and so soft to wear. I couldn't resist putting it on though it's quite hot at the moment.

I also got some weeks Dye Works threads and some Carron Watercolours. I haven't had any of these threads before they're just stunning. Oh and that's a little fabric bag/box thingy up the top. It's all so gorgeous!

I have been crocheting today as I had craft group which was great to get out of the house and talk with other ladies. It's a great time to spend out and crafting.

 I have been fiddling with my phone camera and I think I finally have it worked out. The images seem to be in the right resolution.

But look at those scrummy colours :D I love them! So bright, the colours don't do it justice. It's about 287 stitches wide, so quite wide, good enough to curl up under after it's finished.
I'm going back to my crochet now it's too wet and dark to cross stitch.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

To answer a question

I got a question about why I don't enjoy working on the winter fairy fabric and I thought I should answer that again.

I have answered it before but not for a while. I bought the fabric from polstitches because it's the recommended fabric without finding out anything about the fabric  beforehand. It arrived and there is a big label on the bag "not colourfast" OH OH! I started to worry and asked online and found that polstitches is renowned for being very runny you can NOT wash particularly the purple. So the fabric went back in the bag and sat for a long time before I got up the bravery to try.

The problem is I'm not a clean stitcher! I have very sweaty hands and will often leave marks where I'm gripping the fabric for long periods of time. I also noticed that whites would discolour as I stitched them around where I held the needle which was also frustrating. SO although I love the pattern and the colour of the fabric and the feel of it. (It's so soft to stitch) it does cause lots of worries that I will pour something on it or absolutely stuff up somehow! It's a project that doesn't leave the house. It doesn't get taken to the park to sit and think over it only ever gets stitched on at home after washing my hands with soap.

Other than that I do have something really exciting to share :D I may have been to spotlight yesterday and while I was there some yarn may have slipped into my bag... enough to make a nice sized granny stitch throw. I love the pattern over at Attic 24 and I've been thinking of making a stitched throw for a while. So much more personal than one bought from the store.

The colours are soooo yummy! I couldn't resist 3 different shades of purple but there are lots of other colours too. 12 all up which I figured would go a long way and they aren't too expensive. Only $3.50 a ball. It's 100% acrylic so I'm not too worried about it getting pulled around and used.

I shall post photos as I start in the next day :D I'm so excited!!!! I've been wanting to start one of these for ages!

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

I'm organising again :D

Ohk so I keep having to organise my stash. The problem is I have the area I grab stuff from generally organised and neat. At least its all away and out of sight. My problem is I had all my works in progress spread from one end of the room to another. They weren't ever together because I had nothing really to put them in. Now that has all changed. My cross stitch works in progress are all in one bag less my big projects. They're leaning against the wall. Mum and Grandma had fun and made some calico bags for my frames. They look so awesome!

I went to officeworks looking for some clear pencil cases but they had nothing in A4 size so I continued to wander. I found these awesome file folders. They are box shaped so can fit my threads in their bobbin boxes. I can fit all my projects together in this. Though Masquerade Pale Dawn has a folder as well because it won't fit inside. I've been able to put them all in the one bag and they're not getting tangled with each other anymore and I'm not worrying about losing the pieces for my projects anymore. Winter Fairy even has some progress :D 

Winter Fairy is now all in one container and I'm not as worried about the fabric as I was before or losing the parts. They were sitting VERY precariously on top of everything before.

 Winter Fairy at the last photo which I haven't worked on since about this time last year ... well not that bad maybe April?
I haven't had the drive to work on it but it's so beautiful and purple.

Before:

 

After:

I haven't done much but it's something. The dark purple is finished in the lower skirt the shading is gorgeous on this. Even with just the dark you can see what the skirt is going to look like and how it's going to sit. I still love this fabric but working on it scares me every time. I get so worried about messing it up I don't get into as much of a rhythm as I could.

I probably won't get much done today because I have to get my assignment finished. It's taking soooooooo LONG!!!!! 

Happy Stitching everyone,
Caitlin

No Reply Bloggers

This is kinda a rant but not in the direction a lot of you probably think I'm going. I love blogger and I really like being connected to my google+ profile I find it opens out a lot of other options BUT the moment I change anything there or here it doesn't want to connect my email properly. I've noticed for the last couple of months that I wasn't getting many replies to comments but I went into my profile and made my email public and thought nothing of it. BUT for some reason google+ doesn't connect the email on that profile to my posts here no matter how often I try! I've spent an hour searching the web tonight looking for solutions because I'm not happy being unconnected I think I will end up needing to connect back to my blogger profile and manually upload my posts to google+. Since it's all google why can't they all talk to each other nicely for once?? I think they're just trying to encourage everyone to have a google+ profile and share through there with the blog as the side medium but I'm not going to play. I'm sorry to all those people I've sent comments to and they've seen the no reply blogger status and just scream. I know I do it but now I feel more annoyed at google because it's their fault not mine. To end on a happier note I am going to be a replyable (is that even a word?) blogger from now on unless google really stuffs me up! Ohk End Rant :D Happy Stitching, Caitlin

Scout Blanket

With this grow your blog thing I find that I'm meeting and finding out so many interesting things about other people. One of them happened to be a lady named Melanie that has two daughters who are active in scouts (you can check out her blog its nice). That is music to my ears. In Australia scouts is very different to over in America we have boys and girls in the same troop. I've been in scouts since I was 6 and it's always been a big part of what I do.

I wanted to share something that I think you guys will like. I collect badges. Scout badges, travel badges even Disney badges :D I enjoy having reminders of places or people I have met through the years. I also hand sew all the badges on which I find kinda soothing while sitting in scout leader meetings.

For those that don't know a scout blanket is typically a wool blanket (so it can't burn around the camp fire) also known as an army blanket. And you collect badges and sew them on until you fill the blanket. It's that simple and that complicated.

Now for some photos. Please excuse the bad light we've had on and off rain for the last week so nothing takes a good photo at the moment.

 

I'm not really sure how many badges I have altogether but I have one of the old biscuit tins FULL of  badges. My partner sighs every time he sees it out because it doesn't have biscuits in it :D

 The last time I went to a scout activity the queensland badge club was there and I managed to snag some Canadian district badges. Plus other ones. You can see the badge in plastic is one from the war memorial its an army patch.

I love the fact popeye is on a BADGE!

Though on the subject of Canadian badges the one above was got for me by my sister. She was back packing through Europe and ran into a scout who had it in his hand luggage. He'd lost everything else on the flight but he still had that badge. So it's a Canadian scout district badge got I think from Egypt. (or over in Europe I can't remember which) It's funny how scouts brings the world together kinda like crafts. I was so happy she got it and I love the story. 

 

 When I started this blanket I was only about 8 or so and my mother crocheted around the entire edge in three colours of cotton. That is one if the best parts about this blanket.

Now I will show off some other badges because I can. :D

 I am not a purist when it comes to my blanket, I will have any badge I find that means something to me. Which could just be I managed to swap it and it has pretty colours. But above is a good example, my dad's tenpin bowling badge, a Cuboree cub camp badge set, Weipa North Queensland tourist one, and a couple of other camp and touristy ones. It is a mix of colours and badges that mean different things.

 This one is important. When I was 12 I went to an Australian Jamboree. I managed to swap/buy/collect ALL the contingency badges which means a badges from every state/territory in Australia plus New Zealand. So above is the photo of them sewn onto the blanket I put them kinda in the position that the states are but it's hard when the badges are all different shapes. ACT (the big red one) is meant to be in the middle of the NSWs one so it's kinda hard to put them in their correct place.

 Just to point out it's not only scout stuff. I saw this at spotlight (one of my favourite craft stores) while shopping with my mother and she got it for me for Christmas!

 You can't really see it but all the stitching on this badge glows in the dark. It's a special order district badge that I managed to get a hold of at one camp I went on. I also have their original badge somewhere too but that isn't as pretty :D


I hope you have enjoyed this kinda random post. If anyone wants to swap district badges with me please give me a bell. My old district badge (which I have about 10 to swap) looks like this

I haven't bought any from my new district yet but that is in my plans for sometime this year. So you could end up with a couple of badges from Australia if you want to swap (I would be willing to swap for a couple as my friends would kill me if I didn't get them badges too) Well not literally but if I managed to get them cool badges they would do anything for me. It's nice like that.

Anyway,
Happy Stitching,
Caitlin