First Finish!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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