Wembley's World

Progress Report

2012-02-10T21:17:00.004-05:00

Progress on my clutter challenge project

More or less emptied the office

into the spare room.

wow, that's a lot of stuff!

I didn't empty it completely for a few reasons. Firstly, the spare room. Secondly, I got to the level where I had organized 3 years ago. Not perfect by any means, but most of the stuff that's left is in appropriately labeled boxes etc, so at least when I get to purging, I know what is there. Plus, it is overwhelming as is, didn't want to make it worse.

Vacuumed and dusted.

Started purging, made it through all my beading supplies, which I reduced by about half. Feels nice to get this mini-area done.

I have one bag of recycling gone, and a good start on another, a garbage, and a donation bag.

Lots left to do, but back in town so hope to have more time next week. Obviously emptying the room hasn't helped much, as the spare room is now piled high, but it was encouraging just to see the floor and know that at least it's clean! And that at least I can do something without getting discouraged and closing the door. Baby steps I guess.

The Plan

2012-02-06T12:17:00.005-05:00

all projects need a plan, right? Well, at least if you want them to work. Here's my plan for the Office/Craftroom cleanup as part of the and some of my thinking behind it

What we currently do in this room

Not much, other than dump stuff. Use the printers, look for things while hopping over other things. Keep the door closed.

What's in here

Desks, chair
Computers, printers and accessories
Bookshelves
Paperwork
Mail and old boxes
Craft supplies and WIPs
Boxes from toys
Magazines, books
Seasonal decoration
Wrapping supplies
Office supplies
Textbooks
Memorabilia and photos
Document safe
Projects in progress
Boxes of things I meant to purge and didn't
Previous organizing projects and notes, supplies
Garbage and recycling
Items with no home
Items in transition to another
Things that got dumped here while cleaning up elsewhere
Cash equivalents (gift certificates, stamps, etc) :(

What's not working here

too much stuff, must hop, can't find anything
impossible to clean
never hooked up new computer properly, wires all over
too dark
no room to work
not inviting, no decoration
Too much stuff saved we don't use

Activities that need a home here

Computer work, printing, scanning
Paperwork
Storing important papers
Storing office supplies
Wrapping presents
Sewing, doing crafts
Storing craft supplies
Storing/displaying memorabilia
Diplomas and certificates
A relaxing/reading area (if possible)

Limits

no new furniture, although trades from elsewhere are possible
no major projects or expenditures (i.e. no changing carpet)
Budget of $100.

Plan

Empty room
Clean
Rearrange furniture
Set up computers, printers etc
Set volume limits for each activity
Group items, purge, organize, assign a home
Purge homeless items and empty spare room (holding area)
Decorate
Implement maintenance plan.

Perhaps a little ambitious for 1 month, especially considering its already the 6th and I'm out of town for the rest of the week. We'll see.

29-Day Organizing Challenge - My Office/Craft Room Disaster

2012-02-02T16:21:00.005-05:00

Maybe time for a new focus for the blog, obviously the old one wasn't working. Anyways, during February, time to gain control of the dumping ground that is the office/craft room. Joining the 29-day challenge to help with some incentive.

http://orgjunkie.com/challe nge

The rest of the house has gotten much better lately, probably to the detriment of this room, which has collected all of the stuff I didn't know what to do with.

I actually cleaned and organized this room about 2 years ago, but you would never know, so I know it will be a challenge to finish and maintain. Here are before pics.

My goal is to purge 29 bags/boxes of things. We'll see how things go.

First Finish!

2007-06-09T20:12:00.000-04:00

after Brigitte that is. Not a big project, but feels good none the less. One more block done in my quilt, 21 more to go! This is Lupine from Carolyn's Meadow.

I'm finishing up a gift for a friend who had a baby 2 weeks after Brigitte, and then I get a new start. I think it will be Spring Spell from Just Nan, since it seems that Summer Spell is on its way. I'm going to try to get back on my finish 2, start 1 project in order to get my WIP list down to a more manageable amount. I've been cheating, there are some not even on my sidebar list, so I've got work to do.

Still here

2007-05-28T19:58:00.000-04:00

Yup, still here. Thanks for the comments on Brigitte. Here is a recent picture of her on her way out - she's now 11 weeks old.

we're starting to get into a kind of routine. Not easy yet, but much better than before. The nursing is still rough which is what takes up the majority of my time, but improving slowly I think. And the sleeping is definitely better - she even had a 2.5 hr nap this afternoon.

I've been doing a bit of crafting in between feedings. Mostly cards, as May is a big month for birthdays plus mothers day, so that's been the priority. I also made little photo albums for both grandmothers for Mother's Day, which took time as well. But I have been stitching. Mostly in 15-20 min increments, so I'm not progressing very quickly. But I hope to have a finish very shortly to post.

Good to be back!

Brigitte

2007-03-24T21:08:00.000-04:00

So this is why I haven't been posting lately - Brigitte was born on March 11. We are both doing well, but I imagine it will be a while before there is much stitching to report!

Update and SBQ

2007-03-08T18:36:00.000-05:00

The lack of updates doesn't mean I haven't been stitching - just means I've been too lazy to download and post my pictures.

Here is my Christmas Chickadee - didn't manage to get the finishing done though.

Since that finish, I've been working on the March house for the country house SAL, finally finishing it up today. I'd miscounted the border and had to redo part, which took a bit longer than expected. I'm not sure if I'll catch up with January and February in March though. I'll work on A New Baby for a while then, and will try to get a picture in before I'm off to the hospital.

This week's SBQ is:
Do you use your needle, a seam ripper, or something else when you have to frog stitches? Why do you use the method that you do?

It depends on how many I have to frog. If its just a few, I'll use my needle. If there are a lot, but the back is clear, I'll use my little beaded frogging tool (see pic). If there is a lot, or there are a few colours making the frogging more tangly, I'll use my boo-boo snips (see pic) to get me started. I've never tried a seam ripper.

February Wrap-Up

2007-03-02T16:18:00.000-05:00

I did a decent amount of stitching in February I think - it just didn't turn out to be what I had planned at the beginning of the month. So only 3 out of 6 objectives met.

Finish Baby Sampler - no, about 1/3 done
10 rows on Cranberry Sampler - didn't touch it
4 blocks on Weather Sampler - DONE!
Finish flower sampler - DONE!
10+ hours on Irises UFO -4 hours done
Finish one small project - DONE! (Bee pin-keep)

I also stitched a bit on a few smaller projects, but nothing really big.

Since I have no idea what the baby is going to do this month, I will be fairly conservative with my goals. Namely - stitch on baby sampler. It would have been nice to have it mostly done before he/she arrives, but that is unlikely at this point I think, given my motivation level.

I'm almost done my Christmas ornament - hope to post a pic soon and see if I can get the finishing done this weekend on the FAL.

Chelle - thanks for the comments! The weather sampler is from atelier imaginaire. It was published one block per week all last year, but I only got motivated at the end. I think the freebies were taken down at the end of January, but they may get put up for sale at some point. There is a new series offered this year, but so far I'm not inspired. The backstitching does get a little long sometimes - have to make sure I match this piece with some of my others that have less.

Update

2007-02-28T14:26:00.000-05:00

It's not been a particularly productive week - been stitching a bit but not overly motivated. I did manage to do the finishing on my Bee Pinkeep, although I turned it into a little ornament rather than a pinkeep. I won't make most of my monthly goals for February, but I did get the magazine challenge done.

I worked on "A New Baby over the weekend, got about 1/3 of the main stitching done. I need to get cracking on this. Today I decided to take a break from the grey though and work on my weather sampler. I got 2 blocks done, and have now made it all the way over to the left hand side. I love the fabric I have for this (Silver Mist).

I got some lovely stash in the mail today - my Silkweaver order. 5 small pieces from the random assortments (28/32 ct linen/lugana). I got Jamaica Sunset, Antique White, Chasescape, Bluebell, and Peacefull Waters. No plans for these yet, but I'm sure I'll find something! I also have a fat quarter of Mountain Mist (Colour of the Week in 32 ct lugana) which I'd bought for my house project, but it's not as brown as I thought it would be. I'll have to see if it still works, otherwise I think I have a mocha piece that will. Also got some white and chantilly linen from the odds and ends sale. Too bad I'll have no time to stitch on all these lovely pieces in the near future :(

Bee Pinkeep

2007-02-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

Another finish for today - I'm on a roll! Here is the Bee Pinkeep from the January issue of the Gift of Stitching (a LHN/CCN collaboration). I'm going to try and get some nice backing fabric for this tomorrow and finish it up into a little pillow.

Stitching details:
28 ct Haystack (Kiwi Illusions) Lugana from CountryStitch
recommended DMC threads
17-19 February 2007

February SAT Part 2

2007-02-18T21:06:00.000-05:00

As part of both the SAT and the magazine challenge on the Friends Gather board, I started stitching the Bee Pinkeep yesterday. I thought I'd be able to finish it today, but the scattered flowers are a bit slower than I expected. Still, getting there, and hope to finish this tomorrow.

February SAT Part 1

2007-02-17T20:22:00.000-05:00

It's SAT weekend, and I have a new finish! This is the mystery flower sampler from last summer from Kissy Cross. I stitched it on 16 count white aida using DMC in 413, 470 and 3803.

I finished stitching the borders on my flower sampler this morning, and then decided that I would do the finishing as well while I was at it. I think it turned out pretty well - this was the first time I'd used a pillow form rather than stuffing and I got the dimensions right, although one of the seams was pretty tight. Unfortunately the colours don't match any of the rooms in our house right now, so I'll have to find a space for it until we finish decorating. I'm happy to get this done for a few reasons - one is that it's been hanging around for almost a year, so its about time it got done. But the other is that its one of my aida projects. I'm not starting any more projects on aida (at least not planning too) except for my flower quilt blocks. Now I'm down to only 3 aida projects, so I have more room for stitching on funner fabrics.

I'm now working on the Bee pinkeep from gift of stitching - its on the country stitch fabric that Nicki sent me for the cat lady exchange last fall - glad I finally found the perfect use for it. Hopefully pictures tomorrow.

Blocks Finished

2007-02-15T22:08:00.000-05:00

I finished up the last block on my flower sampler today. I then went and bought my backing fabric and started to stitch the borders. I might not stitch them all, still deciding exactly what will be best. I'm hoping to finish this up tomorrow so I can do the weekend SAT on a new project.

Stash and SBQ

2007-02-15T12:20:00.000-05:00

The SBQ this week goes very well with the stash I've just received, so I'll post about them both together.

Do you like to buy “chartpacks” that include charms, buttons, and/or beads or do you prefer to gather all materials yourself?

My answer is very similar to Renée's - if there are accessories or special flosses needed to complete a project - I'd rather buy them all together. I am able to buy DMC (very expensively) and Anchor threads locally, and occasionally needles and DMC linen. But other than fabric and notions, nothing else is available locally. While I don't particularly like to buy kits if they're just plain floss and white fabric, I would (or at least chartpacks) if there are special items - I'm just to much of a wimp to do much adapting to patterns so far. I don't mind ordering fabric separately, but having to order accessories just gets difficult. Kitting up Gingham Stitches (see below) took 4 separate orders to get everything together. I'm sure I paid enough in shipping to make up for a slightly higher cost.

______________________________________________________
And here is the lovely stash I received recently in the mail. Still waiting on one package, hope it gets here soon, as I really need to get cracking on the baby sampler and my fabric is in that one.

I bought the pattern for Gingham Stitches (Erica Michaels) as well as the fabric, GAST and buttons recommended. That gingham linen is hard to find though. I also have the finishing instructions for the Design Ladies Accessory book, the stiching instructions are on their way as well. Also 3 Treasure Braids and the DMC I needed for Cranberry Sampler. My monthly stash enhancement package is a kit for a cute little ort basket by Susan Greening Davis. My FOTM is Amsterdam Blue Cashel Linen. With all this, I guess it's time to go stitch!

Heading for a finish...

2007-02-13T22:03:00.000-05:00

Hopefully tomorrow. I had plans to work a bit on each of my pieces, but that didn't happen. After frogging block 2 on my flower sampler, I restitched it properly. Then I realized how close I was to finishing this piece, and decided to do block 9. Although its probably my least favourite fo the sampler, I finished that today, and am now half done with #6, which is the last before the borders. So I should be done this week if all goes well!

I am still waiting on at least 3 packages of stash - one of which has been on order since December :(. Hoping that I get some soon - I think I'll deserve a new start once this is done, and I need the packages to finishing kitting up my new projects.

Stitching and Unstitching

2007-02-10T23:12:00.000-05:00

I think I spent almost as much time today frogging as I did stitching. Which isn't as bad as it might seem - I've correctly the two major mistakes I made in both the flower and Cranberry samplers, so now both are good to go. The mistake in the flower sampler was one I made last summer and caused me to put the piece away for 4 months, so it's good to have that fixed so I can finish up the piece. I think I'll work on this tomorrow.

Besides that, I stitched block 36 on my weather sampler - this is starting to come along nicely, although I still have a lot to go.

A distracted day

2007-02-09T22:30:00.000-05:00

I got a fair amount done today, but spread out over a bunch of projects. Not sure if its more productive that way or not though, but its what I was motivated for today. Here is Irises after today's stitching. Also managed to finish the border on my pincushion and knit a few more rows of my baby blanket. Hopefully my next pictures will show more progress.

Hi Kimber - nice to see you here!

SBQ

2007-02-08T08:44:00.000-05:00

I signed up for the SBQ a while ago, but never got around to answering them. I won't try to catch up! but here is this week's, suggested by Danielle:

Have you ever been to a stitching retreat?

No, I haven't. I don't even know anyone IRL life who stitches (other than a cousin in France) and I'd be way too much of a wimp to go on my own. Plus, stitching is not particularly popular in Quebec, which means I'd have to travel a long way to get to one. Maybe sometime, but its not in my plans for the moment. Some of the reports I've read sound fun though.

Sampler Progress

2007-02-07T21:32:00.000-05:00

I was a bit stitch this afternoon, and managed to finish block 5 of my flower sampler. This is coming along nicely, despite the frogging still to do. Block 5 went fairly quickly, hope the next two do as well.

When that was done, I picked up Lupine again. I think I managed to identify all the colours - or at least decide the way I'll stitch them. Awfully hard to distinguish between light lavender and very light blue. I figure if I can't tell the difference, it won't show up in the blending anyways. I was calculating how many squares I needed for the quilt to make it a decent size - I've got a long way to go! I think I'll have to leave some patchwork bits in it as well though, or I'll never finish. I'll aim for 24 squares though, which means only 21.5 left to stitch.

Weekend Stitching

2007-02-05T20:36:00.000-05:00

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I'd planned. We ended up going shopping and it tired me out so much that I napped much of the afternoon instead of stitching. But I did pick out my lazyboy, so that was nice. We just have one more place to check prices first before we buy it, but the model is picked. Yesterday I spent much of the morning making mess in the kitchen - for only 2 of us, we ended up with a lot of food, but I guess that's normal for SuperBowl Sunday. Today I had to go back to the hospital for some tests, which took a chunk out of today as well.

I did another block on my weather sampler - this one went fairly quickly compared to some of the others. Then I put in 2 hours on my Iris UFO. After all the backstitching on the Cranberry and weather samplers, it was nice not to have any to do. Tonight I'm working on a little pincushion motif, once again with no backstitching, but not quite worth posting a picture. We'll see how I do tomorrow.

Cranberry Sampler Start

2007-02-02T22:19:00.000-05:00

I started work on Cranberry Sampler by the Sweetheart Tree today. I didn't think it would be a particularly easy stitch, but didn't think I'd spend have my day frogging either. I was half done row 1 when I realized I'd made a mistake very close to the beginning. I'm going to remove the top part though and keep the bottom. I was already a bit frustrated with all the backstitching, so took a break by stitching rows 2 and 3. I'll finish frogging next time, as I don't want to get too far a head of row 1. There are 4 more similar rows, which I imagine will be the most time consuming part of the sampler - the others ones appear much quicker once you get going. The colour in the photo is terrible, but I'm stitching on 32 count ivory linen with the recommended threads (DMC so far).

While at the hospital for tests on Thursday, I started my next Carolyn's Meadow kit - this one is Lupine. I really like the patterns, but hate sorting out the threads to start. Still not convinced I have exactly the right colours, but I think it looks okay anyways. Not a priority project, but nice to have something little to cart around.

February Stitching Plan

2007-02-02T22:08:00.000-05:00

Although I ended up doing a lot of stitching in January, I didn't manage to get all of my goals accomplished.

Start Cranberry Sampler: nope, a little late
Start Baby Sampler: still waiting for my fabric
2 blocks on weather sampler: yes, blocks 41 and 9 done
10 + hours on one UFO: 10 hours on Regatta

I also managed 3 small finishes

Beaded Rose
Comfrey
Chicory

and managed to stitch 4 blocks on my flower sampler. So pretty good, although not exactly what I had planned.

February should hopefully be a big month of stitching for me. I'm now on maternity leave, with normally a month at home to relax and get ready before the baby comes. So I imagine I'll be spending a lot of time in my stitching chair with my feet up. I'll probably end up tweaking my rotation a bit in the next week, but we'll see how that goes. My goals for February are:

Finish stitching all but personalization on baby sampler
10 rows on Cranberry Sampler
4 blocks on weather sampler
Finish stitching flower sampler
Stitch 10+ hours on Irises UFO
Finish at least one small project

I have another of other projects started/waiting in my drawer - I imagine I'll work on some of them as well to keep from getting bored with the same projects, but hopefully will be able to keep my starts under control until I get some more finishes done. I recieved some stash in the mail today and I'm expecting more in the next week, so will have to be good.

Block 5

2007-01-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

I was having lots of fun with this sampler so decided to keep going. Got the border finished for block 5, just the inside flower left to do, which I hope I'll get done this week. I then have to frog about half of block 2 :( before moving on to the last two blocks.

Sunday Stitching

2007-01-28T20:19:00.000-05:00

This was a fairly good day's stitching, although it doesn't necessarily show up as such on the pictures. I put in 3 hours on my Regatta UFO and managed to get most of the bushes done in the top corner. This is a lot of random stitching, so quite slow. Next time I pick it up, I'll probably work on the mainsail so it should go a bit faster, as there are actually rows of colour. My goal for January was 10 hours on this piece, which I accomplished. I think I'll pick up another one of my UFOs for February and come back to this one later. For comparison, beginning of January and today.

Reading the Christmas Ornament blog reminded me that I had a Christmas ornament in progress. As the rest of my stitching plans are temporarily on hold, I decided to pull out my Christmas Chickadee (Valerie Pffeifer, from WOCS). I spent much of my time frogging, but did manage to get a wing done. Hopefully next month I'll be able to get this one done. I'm only planning on stitching 3-4 ornaments this year, so even if I'm a bit slow on this one, I should still be okay to get everything done.

Chicory

2007-01-27T22:05:00.000-05:00

Rather than work on any of the projects I'd really planned to do, I decided to finish up my Chicory piece (Carolyn's Meadow). At least its off my table and leaves me free to do something else tomorrow.

I was getting ready to start my Cranberry sampler, when I realized I had the wrong fabric. I'd ordered cream linen but recieved antique ivory by mistake. Hard to tell if this will make a difference, but as there is stitching with really light colours, probably better to change. Unfortunately I don't have a swatch to compare with - just going by the recommended fabric. So doesn't look like I'll get this started in January like I had planned. Also waiting on fabric for my baby sampler. Not having much luck with my new projects, so I guess I'll have to work on some older ones tomorrow.

Catching Up

2007-01-23T21:16:00.000-05:00

While I haven't posted lately, I've managed to stitch and craft a bit. Pretty good as we were away at a wedding all weekend.

Still feeling attached to my flower sampler, so I worked on block 8. Here it is together with the rest of the stitching. This won't be one for January, but could easily be a February finish I think.

I also worked on another of my Carolyn's Meadow kits, this time Chicory. I worked on it more than it shows, but unfortunately had to frog out everything I did on Sunday, as I'd mixed up my light and very light yellows. I think that's my biggest irritation about kits - trying to get the floss sorted correctly.

And I also made a few cards, one for the wedding and one for a baby thank-you.

I tried working on my baby blanket too, but that's not moving ahead as fast, so I'll probably end up stitching instead.

I also decided to abandon one of my UFOs. It had barely anything done on it, and I really didn't like the pattern as much as I thought I did. It was a really cheap kit too, so not even worth saving for the fabric. Into the garbage. Only 4 UFOs left to finish!

Block 3

2007-01-14T21:11:00.000-05:00

I've been stitching this weekend, just more relaxed. Last weekend was pretty intense stitching-wise, so I had did a few other things this weekend. I really wasn't motivated to pick up any of the other projects on my WIP list on Friday, so decided to stay with the flower sampler, and start block 3. I wanted to get one block done per week, but two is even better I guess.

I also started knitting a baby blanket, but no pics until I get a bit further along.

Block 7

2007-01-11T21:26:00.000-05:00

I finally finished stitching block 7 of my flower sampler. This one was a lot longer than the block above, but I managed to get it done tonight, not having it finished yesterday. Here is block 7 plus the sampler as it stands now. I'm going to try and keep getting one block done a week - hopefully next one will be quicker.

Flower Sampler

2007-01-09T21:19:00.000-05:00

I started working on block 7 of my flower (no-longer) mystery sampler tonight. Took a while to get into it, so wasn't able to finish it, but should be good to finish tomorrow. I'm really enjoying these patterns - once you get the hang of each repeat they go quickly. I don't think I would pick the same colours if I did it again - I picked at first to try and stay with flower colours, only to realize after seeing the patterns that it really doesn't matter. I think it would look nice in a monochrome blue scheme - maybe another time.

Yesterday I wasn't feeling stitchy, so made this card for my cousins instead. I still have a bunch of thank-yous to send so more card pictures to come.

And I think I have another project for the year to do (like I needed one). Isabelle pointed out a year-long SAL which I think I'll have to join. If I get my block done tomorrow I'll start pulling thread - I think I might have fabric for this on hand already.

More football stitching

2007-01-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

The good thing about the playoffs is that it allows me lots of stitching time. I worked on my regatta UFO during most of the pregame and first game, and got a fair amount done, despite some frogging. If I'm counting correctly, this project is now about 5% done - yikes. long way to go.
After dinner though, I was bored of that one. As all my other WIPs and UFOs are fairly large, I decided to start something new and small. This is an EMS freebie pincushion. I'm stitching it on Mulberry linen with DMC 4150. Not very far along, of course, but it will make a nice change from my other projects I think.

2nd finish

2007-01-06T23:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I started this little kit I had from the Carolyn's Meadow series called Comfrey. I made a few changes to the colours, as I didn't like the combination of fuchsia (cross-stitches) and purple (backstitches) together in the flowers. I think I have 7 others in the series, and there is a total of 24 I think. While I might use this for a card if needed, I think I'll try to keep it - once I get some of the others done it might make a nice little quilted wallhanging. We'll see how they all come out.

Since the football wasn't over yet when I finished Comfrey, I took out le Temps qu'il fait and stitched block 9. Worked out well - finished just as the 2nd game ended. Here is the block and my progress to date. Only 47 more blocks to go!

Block 41

2007-01-04T19:33:00.000-05:00

got it done. There is one mistake left, but I was able to work around it and not unpick anymore. Here he is, along with the rest of the sampler so far.

I'll probably pick up something different tomorrow, we'll see what is calling my name when I get home.

Slow stitching

2007-01-03T21:32:00.000-05:00

Not a very productive night. Since we'd spent the first part of the evening running errands, rather than pick up Regatta, I decided to do one of the blocks on le Temps qu'il fait. Small blocks, 30x30 each and not very densely stitched, shouldn't have been a problem. Except out of the two hours I spent on the block, I probably unpicked for at least 30 min. So the block is not done and its bothering me. I really need to learn to count properly if I want to get this done any time soon. Hopefully pictures tomorrow.

A busy week

2007-01-02T20:51:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy week for crafts this past week, since everyone went home after Christmas. It was nice to have a week off after the visitors to relax. Too bad, back to work tomorrow.

As planned, I got a few hours stitching into my Regatta piece. When I started this (2003?) I don't think I realized just how big a project it was. At 183 x 143 solid stitches, there is a lot of work in it for me. The blended threads and confetti stitches will slow me down a bit too. No wonder I abandoned this so quickly last time. I think I got as much done today as I'd done up to then. Not much of a picture so far, this is the top left bit of sky, so for comparison the finished work. Good thing I didn't commit to finishing this one in January, although I should be able to get a few more hours in on it before moving to something else.

Both of my sisters-in-law have birthdays in January, so I today I made some cards too. It's always fun to see how different the same stamp/technique can look just with different colours.

Here's hoping I'll still be able to get some crafting done once I'm back at work - at least no coursework to go with it now.

First Finish of 2007

2007-01-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

I thought that I might finish it last year, but needed a few hours this morning to get the beads on. Not only did I like the pattern, but it included some specialty stitches and beading, which I hadn't done before. As I have a bunch of patterns in my stash that require that, it was nice to get some practice in on a smaller piece so as not to get too frustrated later.

Just Nan: Beaded Rose
Dec 28 2006 - Jan 1 2007
28 ct Smokey Pearl Linen with DMC

When I finished this, I looked through my WIP drawer to see what was calling me. I managed to find my fabric for my flower sampler (Kissy Cross) so stitched block 4 on that. Here is the block and what the piece looks like all together.
I also put a few stitches into the border of a card I found while looking for something else, but as its solid yellow stiching the picture is pretty boring so far. I'd forgotten about that start, but as its been less than a year, its no yet on my UFO list, still a WIP. But I'll try to finish it anyways.

I downloaded my copy of the Gift of Stitching today, and was very tempted by the Bee Pinkeep. But I think I'm going to work a bit on my Regatta piece before I start that one. To try and meet my UFO goals, I decided to try and stitch at least 10 hours on a UFO this month, and so far that one is screaming the loudest so I'll try to work on it before.

I haven't stitched this much in a day in a long time - my arm is tired so off to bed!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Hope its a great one for everyone.

I love making New Year's resolutions. I never keep any of them, of course, but on January 1st, I always feel that this is the year I'll get it all together. Hasn't happened yet, but I'm still optimistic.

Looking back at last years goals, I was a bit off track.

Finish all UFOs.

Nope. I got 6 done out of the 11 I had at the beginning of the year. But I managed to finish most of the small ones; the ones left are either big or not very far ahead. So lots of work to do on these.

Make 12 Broderie Creative kits

Not even 1 done.

Gifts for 2 of mom, dad, mil and cousin.

Made a gift for my mom, but it wasn't what I had planned.

Wedding sampler

Picked a pattern (Cranberry Sampler) and have most of the supplies, but haven't started it yet.

Organize my stash

This one's not too bad - needs a bit of a tidy and have to put away the new threads I got for Christmas, but essentially done.

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

Developed the rotation, but turns out I didn't like it. I did manage to finish some things with it, but I found it also demotivated me a bit. I don't have that much time to stitch, what I do I should enjoy, not because I feel obligated to stitch them.

Although I only managed to get 2 items completed last year, I'll still make more this year. But hopefully they'll be more reasonable.

Stitch wedding sampler
Stitch baby sampler
Stitch one of Victoria Sampler pieces from stash
Finish UFOs
Try to keep starts under control, but work on what inspires and relaxes me to make me enjoy stitching again.

And if I can keep my blog updated more too, that would be great.

I guess I should go stitch something, then, huh?

November Wrap-Up

2006-12-03T16:57:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-30T21:12:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-12T21:15:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-11T19:13:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-08T21:41:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-02T19:52:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-30T08:33:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-25T06:34:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-23T21:33:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-21T14:45:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-20T17:55:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-20T14:28:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-13T19:25:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-01T12:20:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-09T20:44:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-19T21:51:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-12T17:30:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-06T21:13:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-28T19:39:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-05-22T19:09:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-16T19:29:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-07T21:30:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-04T21:08:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-02T19:58:00.000-04:00

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..

2006-04-29T16:46:00.000-04:00

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...

2006-04-08T22:48:00.000-04:00

...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

2006-04-03T21:48:00.000-04:00

...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

2006-04-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-31T21:26:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-31T16:52:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-29T21:38:00.000-05:00

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.

2006-03-26T15:43:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-21T21:40:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-18T23:56:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-18T00:11:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-12T20:11:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-12T00:22:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-04T22:26:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

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

March goals

2006-02-28T17:03:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-27T19:32:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-26T20:57:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-21T21:27:00.000-05:00

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!

2006-02-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-16T21:16:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-14T21:47:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-12T20:50:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-11T15:18:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-05T22:43:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

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.

Rotation

2006-01-31T21:10:00.000-05:00

A bit late posting, but the other day I did set a few stitching goals for the year.

Finish all UFOs. (I had nine on my original list, but I found two more in a drawer. Still if I can get the nine done, I think that will be a pretty good accomplishment. Because I do have to start something ...)
I bought the Broderie Creative series, which means I had 78 little kits to do (I think I have 3 done). While a bunch suck, there are a lot of cards in there. So as to feel that I haven't wasted my money, I need to complete a bunch of the kits (the series was more expensive than I originally anticipated). If I can get 12 done this year, or one per month, I'll be doing pretty well I think.
I have a lot of patterns in my stash bought for specific people. So I should stitch them, huh? On my list is my mom, dad, mil, and cousin, but I figure 2 out of 4 ain't bad.
Wedding sampler (probably should have done that before we got married :) )
Organize my stash
Develop a rotation to help me stitch more regularly, and get something finished.

F. also imposed a rule on my stitching this year, which is probably a good one. While I'll add new projects to my rotation, only every second add can be a new start - the other one has to be a UFO from my list. Once my UFO list is shorter than my rotation, I can start one for every finish. So this year should see my UFO list shrink - it's about time.

I'll try to keep a five item rotation. Ideally I'll stitch for a week on each piece before moving on, but as long as I'm stitching something in the rotation, I think I'll let it pass.

My current rotation consists of:

Suzy's Zoo
Irises
"J" (garden alphabet sachet)
pincushion
Cottage

The Christmas card I was working on is all stitched now- just need to assemble the card. The "J" is the closest to being finished, and should be finished up this rotation. As that will be two finishes, the next time around I can start the "E" from the garden alphabet. These were started last summer for a birthday present - hopefully I'll be able to send them off together this year, no matter what the occasion. After that, I'll have a lot of work to get to another start, so have time to figure out what it will be.

I'll try to post pictures soon.

Starting again

2006-01-16T18:20:00.000-05:00

Really wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the blog. But it is a new year, which means lots of resolutions. One of the perennial ones is always to get more organized. So combining that with the resolutions of decorating/moving properly into the house and being more crafty (especially finishing my craft projects), I think I'll start with a progress blog on those projects. And if the blog helps me learn any web techniques, well, so much the better.

So, to start with, here is my list of unfinished cross-stitch projects. I was told that I was not allowed to start any more until I had finished at least two. As I have a lot of kits and patterns already bought and ready to start, I had better get cracking on those on the go.

As of January 16, I had 9 on the go.

Christmas card - almost done
Irises
J sachet bag
Impressionist sea scene
Lighthouses
Suzy's Zoo
Yew Cottage (working on this since 1997?!)
Another sea scene
Flowered pincushion

More pictures (and lists)to come. Time to get to work...

Testing

2005-03-06T17:23:00.000-05:00

Testing