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 :(

Stash and SBQ

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.

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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!

Another busy day

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

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

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

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

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

Off to stitch some more

October Wrap-Up

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

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

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

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

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