back to school … back to stitching :-)
2009
the school summer holidays are over – so fast, and it’s still summer – and we’ve headed back to school.
I think the summer holidays should last until the first leaf falls and we have to pull out the quilts. Hmmm … in Queensland we’d be waiting until May! Hee! Hee! Hee! Six months of summer holidays.
Alas, that is not so and thus, here I am at home alone for the first time in almost 2 months. Today has been a strange and quiet experience. There are many things I could be doing … taking down the Christmas tree (yep, it’s still up – I don’t even like it any more), folding washing, hanging washing, cleaning guinea pig cages, painting dining room chairs (marvellous new look on the way). But I haven’t.
Instead, I’ve sat meekly on the back porch, wishing for the ocean, my girl and my husband, and working on my new cross stitch. I discovered some amazing dish cloths at a nearby professional kitchen supply store – they are lovely rich cream cotton with a marvellously neat weave and two borders of Rainbow Bay coloured bluey-green. And they are so cheap. So I’ve been cross stitching on them whilst sitting by the sea.
Meet The Owl Babies (the title is from one of Abigail’s and my favourite picture books) …
… I did start drawing my design on graph paper and certainly have persisted with the graph paper for the owls …
… but have spent blissful hours just drawing the branches and leaves with my needle and thread …
… of course, sometimes they bump into each other – which I cannot abide – and I have to unpick a bit and get going in another direction. But I must say I am utterly hooked with this designing my own cross stitch patterns and have at least another 4 designs bumping up against the backs of my eyes, waiting for some more dish cloths and solitary hours.
Actually I don’t need solitude – nothing is nicer than stitching close by my busy family. Only another hour until I get to pick her up …
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Hi there
Hope A…. had a great day back at school, I too like spending time with my kids,well they are all grown up now. They are my best friends.
cheers
Christine
Wow! Your owls look so great! You must hang your dishtowels on the wall, because they are so lovely.
How wonderful! A big back to school day–love the shoes, BTW! Your owls are gorgeous and I am in awe that you are drawing them up. Not that I doubt your abundant talent! :-))))
I do understand wanting them home. I feel the same way. I love your owls. They are precious. And how wonderful that you can design them yourself. Quite the talent.
I’m stunned by your talent and patience …..
I love your cross stitch! Having the kids go back to school is bittersweet, isn’t it? It’s good to have time alone, but it’s great to spend time doing things the little ones enjoy.
I’m so glad you are back, although it means that your holidays are over :-( I hope A isn’t too miserable about going back to school.
Your owls look lovely – how great that you are doing your own designs, and even making them up as you go along! I was completely put out by my chrismtmas stocking once I remembered why I had put it away – there was a mistake in the pattern (four rows repeated), but I have worked it out now, albeit on graph paper…
Just wait until she leaves for college! Especially if she goes cross country to school! I cried and cried when Rebecca left, and our phone bill was horrendous that first year when anything outside the local area cost a considerable amount, and I always had to wait until after 5:00 so it would be at evening rather than day rates. It’s just so hard to get used to not being around all the time.
As I’ve said many times before – you never cease to amaze me with your talent. So . . . when will we be able to buy your published stitchery charts? Or see your work in an Australian magazine. I’m sure it will be sooner rather than later. If I remember right that is one of your dreams. So . . . what are you waiting for? Get something ready to submit for publication now that you have more time on your hands!
I’m so happy to see you back! I have been sulking this week, because it’s the first week I have been at home alone in almost 11 years. Your owls are gorgeous, I love the wing detail.
Love those Mary Janes, Lily! Little A looks great in her school outfit! Your stitching is coming along nicely.
Hi Lily, welcome back! I’m glad you have been enjoying our Aussie summer and it won’t be long until Little A’s next holiday. I will be taking my 3 year old to kindy next week for the first time and trying to fill in my day with craft (stitching, yo-yo-ing and the like) to keep me from missing her. Enjoy the stitching – the owl pattern is wonderful and I know that book well – it’s one of my daughter’s favourites too!
I am so glad that you wrote today. I was wondering what you guys had been up to. I hoped that it was warm summery things. The owls are so calm looking, I was thinking sweet, but that didn’t quite fit. They just look so calm there with their branches. I also like to see your daughter’s smile. It always looks like a story is in there. Cheers!