Suzy

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

March goals

I hadn't set specific goals for February, but did make some good progress on my year-long goals.

• Finish all UFOs.

Managed to advance three of them and finish one.

• Complete 12 Broderie Creative kits

Finished one in January, but as I lost the kit in progress, didn't get anywhere on this in February.

• Make presents for mom, dad, m-i-l, cousin

Not yet, need to finish a few UFOs before I get anything else started.

• Start wedding sampler

Not even close

• Organize my stash

Not done, but made a good start. Found a end table with drawers to keep my current projects in. Current projects are organized and kitted in there, stash stored separately. Managed to sort out some of my floss too, although lots left to do. I had a lot of colours I didn't know about, so I think I probably have too many doubles somewhere.

• Develop a rotation to help me stitch more regularly, and get something finished.

Done. Made an index card system to keep track of where I am and the projects I want to do, to keep some sort of balance on my stitching. So far seems to help me not abandon projects and helps me record the ones I want to do so I don't drop everything and start them.

So all in all, not a bad month. Managed to finish my Operations Management course too. March will be busy too, as Project Management starts too, but should have more time to stitch now that the Olympics are done. Specific things I want to do in March include:

• Finish Suzy
• Start flower heads in Irises
• Start Garden Alphabet "E"
• Find my pincushion pattern
• Work on Tew Cottage
• Continue to organize floss.

Snowy cats

Here is my latest card, a thank you card for my aunt. The cat stamp is by Magenta; the design is coloured with watercolour pencils and a bit of marker. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out - I'll have to save it and make it again.

A productive week

Wow, this was really a productive week for stitching, among other things. I was on my own all weekend, as F was away reffing, and was on break from my courses. So took the opportunity to really get some work done on Tew Cottage.
















I figure that with this the house is about two-thirds done. I then need to do the trees in the background and side of the house as well as the gate and the hedge in the front. Plus a lot of backstitching, of course. Although it went really well this week, it will probably take me at least another four weeks to finish this. I will likely be in the middle of a course the next time this comes around in the rotation, so won't have as much time to work on it.

I also managed to write finish off my thank you cards this afternoon, just missing a few addresses. Now time to get on F's case for him to finish up his! Also managed to clean up my craft room - it was really a mess. At Thursday's crop I worked on a wedding gift scrapbook. I hadn't been doing it at home, partly because I had no time and partly because I had to room. Now that my room is organized, I should be able to work at home and hopefully get it done soon.
Managed to find the missing threads for Suzy in the cleanup, but still no luck with the pattern for my pincushion. So irritating as I recently saw it too! I'll take another look tomorrow as I finish cleaning, but otherwise will skip straight to Suzy.

It's only been four weeks, but so far I'm loving the rotation I have set up. A week seems to be a good length for me. No counting hours, just switch every Monday. I don't get to stitch every day, so this seems better for me than having a project per day of the week. Plus, at the end of the week, I don't want to put my WIP down, as I'm usually starting to see a lot of progress. So lots of fun to look forward to. Considering these are all UFOs of variable age (especially Tew Cottage) actually looking forward to stitching on them is quite the achievement for me!

Finishes and Starts

No cross-stitch finishes to report, but last night I did finish my Operations Management class! Now I have a week off to relax, catch up on the Olympics and crafts, and clean up my craft room. It's been a crazy month, and I'm really glad to get a chance to unwind a bit.

I was supposed to work on my pincushion this week, but of course can't find the pattern. So moved ahead to next week's rotation, Tew Cottage, by Cross my Heart. The time I got started, didn't have time to get much done, but nice to pick it up again. I started this project in 1997, would love to get it done sometime soon. With all of the colour changes, I don't think it will be anytime soon, it's slow going for me. I'll just have to keep plugging away at it.

Finish!

Finished my first (of two) sachet bags, even the sewing. I think I sewed the ribbon on a bit high, but as the letter was probably a bit taller than it should have been for the size of the bag, guess I didn't really have much choice. Still, I think it will be okay once it's full.





















Tried to start my next project in the rotation, which is a tapestry pincuishion with a thistle. However, found all the materials, but suddenly can't find the pattern. :( I'll take another look tomorrow, but otherwise will but it aside in favour of another UFO (at least there are lots of those around!)

This makes two finishes for the year, so when I get back to this point in my rotation, I'll be allowed to start a new project rather than picking up a new UFO. I think I'll do the match to the J, the E, so at least I can get those sent off sometime soon.

Almost there

Just need a little more backstitching to get the J done - will be nice to get another finish, hopefully tomorrow night.

J is for Jasmine

Worked a bit on the J from EMS's Garden Alphabet. This is a sachet bag, one of a set of two I want to do (E is next). The J is done, almost done the last jasmine flower and then the backstitch to finish up. Should be able to get the stitching done this week, we'll see about sewing the bag back together (waiting to stitch the E so I can sew them both at the same time would be a good excuse to wait, right :) ? )





















In order to give this a fuller look, I decided to stitch with threads instead of the two I normally use (this is 14 count). I don't think I'll be doing that again- I'm having a tough time keeping things need, especially as I can't use the loop start. Good to try it out, at least now I know why I always use 2.

A bit disappointing

I really wanted to get the main stem part done on Irises during this week's rotation. I got very close, but probably another hour or so to finish, which I really don't have right now. So when I get back to this one in about a month, I'll have the leftmost stem to do and then I can get started on the flower part itself. I think I'll leave the bowl to last, it looks to be the easiest. So although I'm disappointed, I guess considering all that is going on this week with homework and stuff, it isn't too bad. I'll probably go faster once I get back into the swing of stitching again.

Iris rotation

Irises is starting to come along - I think the Winter Olympics will help me advance my projects a lot. Maybe not my homework, but at least some stitching.

I hope to finish the main stem section tomorrow, so will post picture then. As of right now, doesn't look very different from the initial one, although I've put a lot of work into it. This is the biggest project I've ever done, so it is encouraging to be starting to see some progress.

End of first rotation

Here is Suzy at the end of the week's rotation










It is so tempting to say ** the rotation and finish her up since she's so close- I think I started her in 2000. But looking harder, she's really not that close. Maybe it would be different if it were only an hour or so. But I think there is still a good week in there: a bit more cross-stitch on the face and the watering can, plus a ton of backstitch and French knots.

So I'll be good and put her away. Tomorrow is a big homework day, but Tuesday I'll try to get some work in on Irises. It would be nice to at least finish up all the stems- it's hard to keep track of all the different greens in there.

Suzy

Suzy is starting to come along.













I had a brief scare the other day, as trying to find the blue thread to finish up her dress, I realized that I had lost Hank 2. And of course this is one of those kits which doesn't provide colour numbers . Still, after taking apart my entire basket, I managed to find the hank mixed up with another kit. I hope to get at least Suzy's head done this weekend before finishing up the rotation. That would leave the watering can and the backstitching for next month.

Bought a bunch of new threads today, so I now have all my materials for my next few starts, just need to get them sorted out. And decide which one to start of course :)

This is some of my handiwork from the weekend. I made a bunch of FIMO flowers and then assembled them into cards for my s-i-l's. Still have one left to give away, but it might go to the charity organization that collects them in exchange for hosting our crop sessions.














And in other news, now more than half done my 9th course. Only 5.5 to go. Knowing that I should be done by Christmas is what's keeping me motivated right now. I'm so far behind the class just isn't fun, although on subject matter (Operations Management) alone it should be one of the best. Still, the next one is Project Managment, so maybe after the break I'll be in better shape to make a go of it.