November Wrap-Up

I had a pretty low-key plan for November, but I did manage to finish it! Objectives were

• Finish zebra for my mom

stitched, needs finishing

• Make Christmas ornament for SIL in time to send overseas

finished and sent with lots of time (I hope)

• Stitch next RR square if it gets here in time (we're running a bit behind schedule)

Never made it here, not sure what's going on with this RR anymore, but I can't say I particularly care at this point.

I also worked on Lighthouses, and made two new starts, le Temps qu'il fait sampler and the Christmas Chickadee.

In December, I'd like to:

• Stitch and finish Chickadee
• Find a way to finish zebra for my mom (box top maybe)

If I get a chance, there's one other gift I'd like to make, and the Rosewood Manor Christmas ornament from the latest Gift of Stitching is very interesting. We'll see how that goes, lots of other crafts to do too. But this was last weekend (I hope) of course work, so maybe next weekend I'll get some stitching in.

Christmas SAL Part 1

I started my Valerie Pfieffer Christmas chickadee today. I'm stitching this as part of the ornie SAL on the Robin's Nest board. I didn't get a lot done, but nice to get it started. I'm hoping to have this done to put on the tree by the 15th. Other than this, not a lot of stitching going on. Have less then two weeks of class to go, so that's been taking a lot of time lately. Not sure it will all be stitching, but hope to get lots of Christmas crafts done this weekend.

Sampler Update

Here is my latest progress on my weather sampler. I'm not sure why I thought this would go relatively quickly. The blocks are only 30x30 but they're taking me hours for each one. I'm enjoying it so far, so that's the most important. I'll try to do a few blocks each week (there are 52 total) and alternate with other stitching so I get to use colour. Unfortunately, I stitched instead of working on my term project which is due tomorrow, so definitely no stitching til that's done.

Another busy day

I had another finish today, but I don't think I'm even going to post a picture - I was this close to throwing it out. In the end I couldn't throw my little squirrel out, so managed to finish it. While there isn't much I like about it anymore, at least I can start something new with a clear conscience.

I also did the finishing for my Christmas duck ornament. This is now on its way to Africa along with the card I also made today. I have one more ornament to make this year and have signed up for the SAL on the Robin's Nest to help me along. It will be Valerie Pfeiffer's Christmas Chickadee from the last WOCS. I have everything I need for it, but won't start it quite yet, as I had something else I wanted to start first and have a gift to finish up too.

I forgot to post about the lovely fabric I got in the mail this week too. 32 count lugana in Silver Mist (Silkweaver) for my next start, along with 5 pieces from the odds and ends assortment. I also got a fat quarter of cashel linen in Baby Lotion with my SEP from Traditional Stitches. The rest of the package didn't inspire me a lot, although I did like the chart freebies that came with it. I'll give it a few more months before deciding whether I continue with it.

And finally, here's my new start. Being that the sampler started in January, I'm quite late, but oh well. First of 52 blocks from the Temps qu'il fait sampler. Stitched on the Silver Mist with DMC 3838. Since most of the blocks are out, I can stitch in groups rather than the mystery order they came out it, so lots less gridding for me!

I've loosened up my rotation a bit. I have things that are inspiring me more and things with deadlines. So I've decided that I can stitch anything on my 5-item list whenever I want, but can't add anything new until one is finished. Hopefully this will help - I still havent' been able to find my missing fabric so couldn't keep it strictly anyways.

Off to stitch some more

Finishes

It's been a busy day. I was home again today and managed to get a lot of stitching done. First up, finished my zebra. This is another one of my UFOs that I wanted to get out of the way. I don't even like it anymore, but having so many UFOs around was just dragging me down and making me feel bad about the fun stuff. So trying gradually to get them out of the way, especially the ones I have no interest for. I could just throw them out, but with my habit of buying/starting everything that catches my eye, I think it would be a slippery slope to start on. Of course, some of them are so old I may have lost the patterns and stuff, so we'll see. But I feel better, 1 more down.

Once I got that done, I started and finished a Christmas ornament for my SIL. Obviously a very quick stitch, but lots of fun nonetheless.

Next on the list is to revive my Kissy Cross mystery sampler. At least I hope, right now I can't find my fabric - oops!

October Wrap-Up

I didn't have much planned for October, so wasn't disappointed. During the month I:

• stitched an RR square
• finished Tew Cottage
• organized my stash
• worked on my Lighthouse WIP.

I'll try to keep my expectations moderate for November; I don't want to get overwhelmed now that I'm just getting going again. Plus with my last class on the way and the holidays to prepare for, better to be safe. So lets aim for:

• Finish zebra for my mom
• Make Christmas ornament for SIL in time to send overseas
• Stitch next RR square if it gets here in time (we're running a bit behind schedule)

I had nice mail today! I found a good deal on the Valerie Pfieffer Chick Chats on ebay, so ordered all four. I was especially glad to find them as chart only -they seem to have a lot of fractionals and squashed stitches so I don't think they'd be particularly easy on Aida. I won't be stitching them right away, but nice to take them out and look at them and plan.

Weekend update

Not a terrible amount of stitching accomplished this weekend, but I was busy with various crafty projects. I finished my SIL's scrapbook, so that will be in the mail tomorrow.

I also made curtains for my new craft room, which is now almost all set up. Here's what it looks like now, only a few more boxes of stuff to sort and put away. Not a huge accomplishment in itself, but being that I have a tendency to buy fabric to make things but never get them done, I'm quite impressed that these got made and hung in a weekend. Now only 3 more sets to make!

I also framed Tew Cottage, I think I even got it aligned and centered properly.







And worked a bit on the Lighthouses this evening, but put it away when I got an attack of the frogs. The structure for this was is essentially done, just a few details like railings to add. I'd started the water but that's were I kept miscounting, so it will wait til later. Then I'll move on to the 2nd lighthouse before doing the backstitching and text. Not sure what I'll work on this week, but think I'll put this away for a few days.

Blogger wouldn't let me post last night again, so take 2. And I have no idea why the colours in my pictures are so weird. Obviously not really like that!

Lighthouses

I'm back on my rotation, at least for a while (RR to come a bit late this month). So working on my Lighthouse pattern. This was supposed to be a b-day present for my MIL two years ago, we'll see if I can get it done for Christmas. I'm kind of wishing I'd done it on a blue fabric instead of the white, but I'm not about to frog it now.


I'm working on a scrapbook project though as well to send to my SIL serving overseas, so for the moment that will take priority.


Edited to respond to singular stitches- my last class is very helpfully called "Seminar in Management". So I'm not quite sure what it entails. This is through the UoP online program.

October SAT finished

I was so close to finishing TC last night. I needed 20 minutes this afternoon, but I'm finally all done! This kit is so old is was the version that came with the frame, so that will be my project for tomorrow.


I think I'm going to pick up my lighthouses while I'm on a roll. Definitely a different style, much cleaner lines and no confetti stitching - will be a nice change.

And more good news on the finishing front - I just handed in my last project for my 14th MBA class. One more to go and all done. Will definitely be a great Christmas present for me.

SAT Part 2

So far, so good. I've managed to finish all the cross and half-stitches in Tew Cottage, which was the plan for today. I'd planned to backstitch tomorrow but I might be able to get a head start on it later tonight.



I told myself I could order the fabric for my next start when this was finished - got my cart all loaded up ready to click "buy" when this is done.

Crazy Cat Lady Exchange

In September we had the Crazy Cat Lady Exchange on the Robin's Nest Board. I stitched this design for Cari. It is from a Good-natured Girls leaflet I had, and I finished it into a photo album cover (was a lot tougher than I thought to get the dimensions right). I didn't take a picture of all the entire exchange though, oops.












I also recieved this lovely pillow from Nicki last week. Thanks so much - the kitty is so cute and the stitching is beautiful. She also included some fabric and overdyed floss - turns out the colours are perfect for fall. Was wonderful to get such a nice package from so far away.

October SAT

Really been a long time. Have really not been motivated to stitch for a while now. And everytime I wanted to update the little I had been stitching, seems like I couldn't get photos to load. So got as frustrated with blogging as I was with stitching. But I'm feeling good about stitching again, I think. I sent my RR out on Sunday, which was my last stitching commitment. As the next one hasn't arrived yet, I actually have time to stitch for me, which I don't think has happened since May. So this may be why I'm happier. Not that I don't like stitching for others, but I may have been a little ambitious considering my limited time. And of course, now that I have no pressure to stitch, I'm stitching faster, better, and more often! So I'll definitely be taking a break from commitment stitching for a while (other than the RR to finish of course).

I picked up Tew Cottage again on Sunday as soon as the RR was packed. I hadn't worked on this since April. First picture is where I was before Sunday, next is last night. This was the first project I ever bought (in 1997). It is now so close to being finished that I've decided to try and finish it up this weekend on the Robin's Nest SAT. I know I can definitely get the cross and half-stitches done, but I'll try for the backstitching too. Would be so nice to get this finished up; having a UFO that old was making me feel bad. And if I finish something, I get to start something new - a great motivation since I've been bad and buying stash lately. We'll see how I do, updates to come.

the pics

Tried several times and couldn't get the pictures to load - what a pain.
Here's another try, maybe separately will work.

Working on Veronica's RR that I need to finish this week - yikes. Will post a picture of it soon - stitching EMS's Santababy for her.

I'm back

Back from vacation that is. Had a lovely time visiting family, although putting 4000 km on the car took a lot of time up. Back to the real world I guess now. Started another course as well, only 2 more after this one. I'm enjoying the program a lot, but its really quite time intensive. I'm really in a crafting slump right now, as the little time I have I'm not very motivated to do anything. Still, with the time off, might be able to get back into the rythym. My shoping hasn't slowed down, so have lots of catching up to do. Here is what was in my mailbox when I got back!

Floss bags to finish up my organization projects, as well as the Spring Garden with AccPack (50% off!) and the stash enhancement package from Traditional stitches. Lots of goodies in there, including the green linen which I'm sure I'll find a use for. From Cross-stitch cupboard, got the colour variations and two little flower kits. I think one of them might be good in the RR I'm in.
I was a bit disappointed with the SEP the first month (lovely things, just not really my style) but these are much more useful. I've also signed up for the linen collector program so I'm never stuck when inspiration finally strikes. MOre mail for me!

My Christmas in July ornament has been recieved by Sheila, so I can post a picture. Also sent my last card in the birthday exchange, so one of that too. (Or I would if blogger would post them - agh)

Until I can get more motivation, I'll try not to set ambitious goals for the month. So for August, the plan is to hang on and get my committments taken care of. I have Veronica's RR to stitch for the 15th, so must get cracking. Then the Cat lady exchnage coming up, which I have ideas for.

Still here

No, haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, at least not yet. Have just been super busy with class and other projects. Attended a wedding last weekend on the other side of the province which took a lot of time. I have been stitching a bit, but on exchange pieces so nothing to show. But I'm all done my exchange committments now until September, which will hopefully give me a bit of a break for other things. I wanted to finish my boat for my aunt, not sure if that will happen or not, as my deadline is the end of July. I also have Veronica's RR to stitch my August 15. We are leaving on vacation of Friday though, so it will have to wait until after, as I wouldn't want to cart it around all over and risk having anything happen. So with my class finishing soon (in final projects up to my ears) and all the vacation prep going on its been busy, and will continue to be so. I'll definitely be needing my break!

thanks to all for the recent comments. Joy, after ironing the piece, I cut 4 squares all around my border. I then take the tweezers and fray 2 squares on each side. I guess you could change the ratios for different sized pieces, but so far that's worked for me. I'm now using double-sided tape to make sure I get adhesive right to the edge of the the fabric so I know it won't fray any more.

Card exchange

I've been stitching on my last card for the EMS birthday exchangee, going to Rina in south Africa in July. Just need to do the finishing now, but obviously no pictures for a while. But Joybelle and Kerstie have recieved theirs, so here they are.












And also wanted to update some of my previous promises - here is the stash my mom sent me for my birthday. I am getting close to having all the DMC colours, just need to update my list to figure out what I need. And I did manage to get most of these organized into the floss minders, at least until I ran out of bags. So about half way to my organizational goal for the year. I ordered more, and they should be here in early July along with another big order. I'm going to need to get on the wagon one of these days - this is crazy.

Round Robin Update

Managed to finish my RR, just in time for the mailout. I have a sailboat theme, and of course you can tell in this that I love blue!


The title block isn't done, but I want to see how it all comes out before I finish it up with something that might not fit. So this is on its way to Sue, and I should see it again next summer. I dyed this fabric myself - while it isn't perfect, I'm fairly happy with the way it turned out - the cloudiness was the effect I was going for as I didn't want to stitch the sky) I'll definitely have to try it again some time.


The deck's not finished, but we did get a lot done on it. And Tracy, I hope that this is the last deck we'll build, so you're on your own!

What we've been up to

Is this.

Unfortunately, we are not carpenters, so this took most of the weekend. Next weekend we'll get on the joists, and hopefully a few planks too. I want to set up my patio table!

So no stitching progress for me, despite my week off. Well, not true. I did stitch up kerstie's card for the birthday exchange, but no pictures yet. I'm also working on my RR square, which has to get sent out next week. It's going fairly well, but still lots left to do.

I have some more pictures to update when I get a minute. My mom sent me some stash from my birthday, plus I got some nice cards from the exchange. I also bought some stuff on ebay, :( . My class (Strategy Management) started this week though, so it will be a bit tight. I've really oveextended myself this spring - not a good plan. Too many craft committments along with house renovations and homework and lots of work work makes me a bit stressed. One day at a time I guess.

Thanks for the comments meg - I think it is a Cross My Heart design. I bought it in Labrador in 1997, though, so not sure about the source.

Another quick update

This time, because I haven't been doing much stitching. As mentioned, my course finishes tomorrow, so working busily trying to get the final projects finished. I will be very glad to have my break week. We started building our deck too, which will take a lot more time than planned.

I managed to put a few stitches into a card fo the EMS birthday exchange. I have to have it done by the end of the week to get it mailed in time, but since I'm one-third done, I should be okay. I've also got my RR all planned out, and should be able to stitch my square next weekend. This is getting a bit tight too, since mail date is June 15, but with no course, I think I'll be okay. I've made a few birthday cards for family members recently, which I'll try to post soon.

Arggh!

I was nearly done square 2 of the mystery sampler, when I realized that the main flower part was one row too low. The pot was right, so I would have had to cheat a bit in the stem part. It's going away for a while until I decide if it will bug me too much if I leave it as is!

That was all I stitched this weekend, as we had the in-laws up for a visit. Class is finishing up this week, so I doubt I'll get much done on anything until next week :(

Quick update

I ended up putting the delftware sunflower into a coaster - my mom likes useful things, so thought it would be best to keep it to that. I will also make her the other half of the pair, but this time in fuschia. Glad she liked the pattern too.





Here are the cards I made for Mother's Day. The one on the left is quilled; I sent it to my mother. I sent the other one to my mil.



And here is the card I'm sending my brother for his birthday.

Part 2 of the mystery is up, so I'll try to get something done on that this week.

A quick finish

I forgot something on my list for the month - needed a Mother's Day present after all. So I stitched this up over the weekend. I need to figure out what to do with it, so I guess that's my project for tomorrow, as it has to be in the mail by Tuesday I think. Last minute as always I am.

Mystery Sampler 1

Here's part 1 of the mystery sampler. I'm looking forward to the next part.

This might be nice as a pincushion or needlebook too - might try this again sometime.

Not sure what to pick up next, I'll try to make it one of the UFOs though, whatever is calling me.

April Recap

So, obviously April wasn't such a great month for stitching. Oh well, these things happen.

My goals for the month were:
finish up all exchange projects
*the ones that were due have all gone out. Still have some to stitch for June.
choose RR and prepare fabric/stitch my square
*nope. Have a theme, but nothing else
start Bluenose project for Brigitte
*started.
finish squirrel
*Not started.
finish sorting floss (put all new skeins in bags and label)
*did a bit , but far from done.

Plus I basically ignored my rotation. That's what I get for being so proud of it too :)

I'll try this for May
*Finish Kissy cross mystery square
*Start RR square
*Stitching 2 birthday cards for exchange

We'll see how I do with that!

Been a while..

since I've been on. Thanks for the concern, Tracy - all is well, just a lack of motivation. My rotation and my monthly plans are really shot. Been picking up random projects, putting 10 stitches in them, then putting them down again. Even tried to start a new project (the Kissy-Cross mystery sampler as mentioned by Susimac, but not helping. I stitched a little bit on Irises while I was in Ottawa, but not even worth posting a picture. Might be that I finished all my projects that were close to the end, so no real finishes in sight. Oh well, not going to stress over this, its supposed to be fun.

I have, however, accumulated a lot of stash in the last 3 weeks! Maybe this is the problem - too much stuff, will never get to stitch it all. Bought some little Just Nan projects and some Carolyn's designs kits. I'll probably stitch the flower kits as cards, then maybe stitch a bunch together as a quilt.

So, to sum up, lots of planning and buying, not much stitching. Have a lot of work to do around the house this spring, so not sure how much that will change. Still, will try to make some time work a bit and justify my spending.

A lovely blob of white...

...is what I stitched today.

This is the start of the Bluenose. The kit came with white fabric, but I'm very glad I changed to blue. There are four shades of white in the sails, which is most of the pattern. Adding a white background would be a bit much I think.


I also finished stitching the Easter card for my MIL, will try to assemble and mail it tomorrow.

I need to stop

...buying things! I went into my LNS today for 2 skeins of DMC. They have very few cross-stitch patterns, but looking through the rack I found TW's Tapestry Cat, so had to buy it. And of course, on the back of the leaflet, they advertise some more leaflets. The two I liked the best (Floral Bellpull and Treetop Sampler) were of course out of print. So I went on ebay and managed to find them for fairly good prices I think, so click. And one of the sellers also had Floral & Lace Bookmarkers, so had to get this too. Even sillier is that I've never stitched a TW before, so don't even know if I'll like them as much as the pictures. I have no willpower. At least I limited myself to the patterns, not the kits.

My mom sent me stash today too. I now have the Sledrunner kit (Bluenose) that I'm making for Brigitte. I'll try to start that sometime this week.

On a different note, my two-card exchange is all ready, F will mail it tomorrow for me.

Cottage

Forgot to post yesterday's progress on Tew Cottage.


This was a good night's stitching for me. The house is all done now, garden, trees and backstitching to go. I might get a few hours tomorrow, but will likely have to wait until next month.

Today I finished stitching up my two cards for the EMS exchange. I finished the first last weekend, but the second was frustrating me a bit. I like the pattern I chose, but it may have been a bit much for a card. I'll try it again in another time. I chose another pattern today and got the card stitched up. But most importantly, it was fun rather than a chore, which I guess is the point. :)

March Update

March was a pretty good month for my stitching. The things I wanted to do were:

• Finish Suzy

Yup, just need to find a hanger for the frame.

• Start flower heads in Irises

Yes. Started, but not much more.

• Start Garden Alphabet "E"

And finished!

• Find my pincushion pattern

Can't win them all. But I did find the squirrel which I'd put in the same rotation spot (and will work on next time).

• Work on Tew Cottage

Doing really well. Just finished all of the cottage itself. Will try to do a bit more tonight on the garden and will post a picture tomorrow.

• Continue to organize floss.

Not bad. Didn't finish, but got all of the numbered bags on their rings.

I also managed to stitch a few cards for family and exchanges. I have 3 UFOs from January finished, only 8 more to go before I meet my goal for the year.

Goals for April are:

• finish up all exchange projects
• choose RR and prepare fabric/stitch my square
• start Bluenose project for Brigitte
• finish squirrel
• finish sorting floss (put all new skeins in bags and label)

It will be a busy month. I just ordered some Stampin' Up stamps, so probably should do some scrapbooking/cardmaking too. Luckily Project Management finishes up on the 13th and I have a week off before Marketing, so should have some crafty time. Also looks like I'll be going to Ottawa for a few days over Easter, so should spends lots of money on crafty stuff.

Card Exchange

I had a wonderful surprise in my mailbox today!













All the way from the Netherlands, courtesy of Olga. Thanks so much Olga -they're lovely.

Cottage Update

Found a few hours yesterday and today to work on Tew Cottage, my rotation piece for the week. Here is what it looks like now.


I was tired of my cards so have gone back to my bigger projects for a while. I'll need to get back on to the exchanges this week, as some need to be sent out this week. I'll try for the weekend though, to give me a bit of a break.

The actual house part is almost done - finishing that is my goal for the week. That will leave the trees, the garden and the hedge for another week. Weirdly, there appear to be more colour changes in the house than in the gardens, so maybe it will speed up a bit.

A year or so ago, I bought the kit to Irises, which is a DMC pattern, at a store about 3 hours away from me. The next time I went, they had Primula, which is a companion piece. I've been looking for the third kit, Viola, for quite some time. I thought I might have to order it from the UK, which was the only place that seemed to have it. But Tuesday, when looking for something completely unrelated, I came across a store in Montreal (La Cigale Brodeuse) that had it. I hadn't thought of searching for the French title, which is why I hadn't found it in the first place. Haven't got my order confirmation yet, but hoping that very soon I'll have some stash on its way to me. While I've got a long way to go before actually stitching Violas, just knowing that I might soon have the set is so nice. I can't stand incomplete sets :) I hope nothing happens and they're out of stock. I've got a couple of more orders on the way, so will hopefully have a stash report soon.

No pictures today, as I'm working on my exchange cards. Two cards for the card exchange, plus a birthday card for Joy (all from EMS board). Working on Easter cards for my mom and mil too. Pictures once all has been recieved!

Done with E

Finished the E sachet tonight. I'll sew it together next time I get the sewing machine out and fill it up. Will be sending off it and the J together, will take one last picture all filled up before they go.




















4 finishes so far this year, means I'm allowed a new start. Will be in the place of Suzy in the rotation. I will have to look through my patterns and kits and see what to get start - the best part. My mom got me some stash too at the closing out sale of her local fabric store, ordered some patterns at the chart-shop, and just made two orders at Cross-stitch cupboard, so will have lots to work on.

Should spend the rest of the week working on cards and exchange pieces.

Too optimistc

You'd think I would have learned by now that I never get as much done as I'd like too. It seems that I'm an eternal optimist when it come to to-do lists. It was the 7 hours spent on my group project that really did me in I guess. Still, at least it's coming along and looking nice.



















I'm spending this week working on cards and exchange/RR projects, so might find a few minutes to finish it up. We'll see.

Garden Alphabet

This is stitching up fairly quickly. I guess I also had more time today than I expected. Anyways, flowers are almost done, which was most of the colour changes, so I hope to get this finished tomorrow.

Spring Projects

It's been a busy week, but I finally got some time to work on my new spring projects. Not sure it will help make it warm any time soon, but it's better than nothing.

Worked on an Easter Card, a bit to finish but I'm missing some colours, so it will have to wait a bit. I have another Easter Card to make and some birthday cards for the EMS exchanges. I've be sneaking a bit of time in on them the last two weeks, but I'll dedicate next week to really advancing them.













I also started working on the Garden Alphabet E. Looks nothing like an "E" of course, but at least the colours are pretty. I hope to work on this more tomorrow.

A short week

A very short week for stitching. Didn't have much time to stitch to start with, and then got sidetracked trying to finish Suzy, start Easter cards, and organize my stash. So Irises definitely took a hit. Still, at least I can see the blue! Was thinking of staying on another week, but not particularly motivated for it right now, so will move on to my "E" from the Garden Alphabet on Tuesday. With my assignment due tomorrow, will definitely not be stitching.

Goodbye Suzy

After 5 years in my basket, I can now say goodbye to Suzy, she's finished!





















This involved a cheat in my rotation, but I think it was worth it to get her done. Didn't have much stitching time this week, so only managed to finish her today. Had a lovely time with the french knots :) . The kit came with a frame, so I'll get her put into that, hopefully tomorrow. I know someone who really liked her who has a birthday coming up in April, so for once I'm ahead of the game.

It was a good day for finishes - managed to get the main stem section on Irises done too.
















Tomorrow I'll get to start stitching with blue!

I'll have to make some room in my rotation for small projects. I signed up for the Birthday club on the EMS board, so need to find some time to get those cards done. Wanted to do them on top of the regular rotation throughout the week, but I get so little time to stitch as it is on weekdays, that might not work. Will probably sub them in this time around on the pincushion, as it is still MIA. Grrr.

Almost there

Got a good amount of work done on Suzy this week, cross-stitching is all done and I'm about half done the back-stitch. If I'll goes well, I hope to finish her tomorrow.

Suzy

Here is my latest version of Suzy. Only the watering can left to cross-stitch, plus back-stitch and French knots.