June Just Nan SAL

Zeb at Keep Calm and Cross Stitch is hosting .  Just Nan was on my "must buy" list for years so I have quite a collection of patterns - most of them kitted up and ready to start - languishing in my stash.  When I read about the SAL, I jumped on it.  I looked at it as a chance to reduce my stash a bit and see lots of beautiful stitching.  It has not disappointed.  I am not burning through my Just Nan stash but I have finished two projects so far this year and am so pleased, I have decided to keep a Just Nan slot in my rotation.

Strawberry Summer was finished last night sorry for the wonky photo:

Stitched on 28-count Graziano Savannah Rose Milan linen with DMC floss and perle cotton, Kreinik and beads from the embellishment pack

 I decided to leave off the date as it really didn't fit the design and I didn't feel like recharting from 2001 to 2014 (ummmm yeah, it's been in my stash for that long).

After sorting through all my patterns, Spring in the Air was picked to fill the Just Nan slot in the rotation (I had a really good time "shopping" in my stash).

Small, TUSAL and Lizzie*Kate

A couple of things before we get onto the title things.

First - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Trevor!!!!  Today is DSon's 31st birthday!  Not sure how that happened as I don't feel much older than that myself.

AS an explanation - he did a Foam Run (obstacles, mud and foam) I am soooo glad I no longer have to do his laundry!!!! a couple of weeks ago.  The rest of the members of his team were women so he decided a tiara was a perfect way to be "one of the girls" or as much of a girl as a 6' 3" guy can be...

Second - Welcome to my new followers and thank you all for your comments.  I am not getting email notifications of every one's comments and I don't come back to read comments here on Blogger, so if you don't hear back from me when you make a comment, it's not that I'm not paying attention to you, I never got your comment to respond to.  I do appreciate each of you taking the time to read and comment on my blog.

Onto the stitchy stuff - Wednesday was the check-in for the .  Heather is hosting this SAL.  Another really simple one, stitch a small and post it once a month.  A small is whatever you define a small as.  I've been catching up on all the ornaments in my stash.  This month was no exception.

This is Joy to the World by Little House Needleworks.  Stitched on 30-count WDW Straw linen with DMC.  The button is from JABCo.  I am still working on her eyes.  The pattern calls for french knots but they looked really wonky so I took them out and have not decided what to use.

Yesterday was the new moon, so it's time for .  Sharon at It's Daffycat hosts this SAL. Rather than a "stitch along" it's more a "save along".  No stress on this one, find a jar (mine is an old Yankee Candle jar), and save all those little bits of thread that you clip off or would have normally thrown away and same them.

Here is my June entry:

Lots of pretty threads in the jar so far this year.  The piece my jar is in front of is Strawberry Summer by Just Nan.  One more band and the beading of a couple others and this will be done.

And finally, Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts was on the frame last week and I had a fair bit of progress.  It went from here:

To here:

Those of you that have stitched this piece will note that there is a HUGE mistake in this one.  The snowflake band is supposed to be stitched in a pinkish red.  This one is mounted on the frame upside down as that fits my stitching style better, well, I had the chart upside down and the key right-side up, as the green is \ and the red is /, I mixed them up.  The band was totally done before I looked at the picture of the finished piece and realized what had happened and decided I was not going to rip it all out.  The similar band in part one will also be different than charted as it will be pinkish red instead of green, so it will all work out and I will say that I personalized it...

Strawberry Summer is on the frame through tonight and I am going to push for a finish.  Secret Victorian Garden goes on the frame tomorrow. Not sure how much I will get done tomorrow as I have to finish mowing the yard - it got too hot, too fast for me to finish it today.

Summer and June Stitch From Stash

Summer has started with a vengeance!  We had the warmest day since last July on Wednesday.  It was in the mid-90s with a heat index in the low 100s - YUCK!!! Days like that are just miserable, you feel like you have a warm, damp washcloth wrapped around you all the time and standing on the train platform in the sun with 100s of your closet friends is an experience not to be missed - nobody has passed out but it is just a matter of time.  In addition to the miserable heat and humidity, a sure sign of summer is that the mimosa trees are blooming.  We don't have any in our yard so I had to go search for a photo online and found this one: 

If Dr. Seuss had been asked to design a tree, this would have been the result!

And this one with a close up of the flowers and leaves:

We had one of these in our front yard in Oklahoma and while it's a very pretty tree, it is also a messy one.  It is a legume and as such each of those flowers produces a seed pod which falls to the ground and has to be raked up.

But I'm sure you didn't visit to read about trees or the heat, so I'll get on to the  update.  Mel at Epic Stitching is hosting this challenge and it's rather simple (at least on paper).  We are given a budget of $25 (I'm using USD but others are converting to an equal value in their currency) for each month for all those must haves.  If you have funds left over at the end of the month, they roll over to the next month, so you can save up for a Chatelaine, kit up that Mirabilia or buy that Just Nan limited edition.  You also get a free month if you really need it all NOW.  This month we were given an extra $50 with the caveat that we had to spend our $25 monthly budget first so with $75 for this month plus my carry over of $125, I spent.... nothing.  Instead of buying, I stitched on Elegant Doily, Secret Victorian Garden, Strawberry Summer, and Santa's Magic. I think I have posted updates of all of them recently except for Santa, so here's where he was when he finished his time in the rotation last week:

From my stash, I started Little House Needleworks' Winter Sheep.

So, for next month, I have available:

Carry-over:             $125.
June Budget:               25.
June Purchases:            0.
Carry over to July:  $150

Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts is on the frame for the rest of today  Just Nan's Strawberry Summer goes on it tomorrow for its week in the rotation.

June WIPocalypse

Oh my!  What a wonderful week!  I worked from home this week to allow me to concentrate on a huge project I finished it this morning!!! and it was great to turn off the computer at 5:00 and be home rather than at my normal 7:30ish.  I cooked dinner, The Hubs enjoyed that!, cleaned up the kitchen and had HOURS for stitching and/or reading before bedtime - my usual evening routine is:  get home around 7:30; eat a bowl of cereal while I'm making and packing my breakfast and lunch for the next day; talk with the Hubs for a few minutes; put out my clothes for the next day; and, in bed around 8:30.  Sigh unfortunately, I'm back in the office on Monday.

Before I forget, welcome and thank you to all my followers, new and old.  I do appreciate you sticking around with me.

So, today is a full moon so, it's time for my  update.  Measi at Measi's Musings host WIPocalypse.  If you click on the dragon, you should be taken to the information site.

This month's question is:  Have you ever been to a stitching retreat or festival?  Yes, I have.  I was fortunate to live less than an hour from the Celebration of Needleworks sites, Manchester, first and later Nashua, when I lived in New Hampshire. I went to every Celebration from 1993 until I moved in 2007.  Because I lived so close, I didn't spend the night, but I took lots of classes and did make my contribution to the attending needlework designers and vendors.  I also met a number of people that I had previously only "talked" to on the RCTN group and later Yuku groups and blogs.  A retreat is on my wish list - I know of three or four that are within a few hours of my home - so hopefully in the near future I will make one of them.

Onto the stitching... I have three projects left from my original list: Secret Victorian Garden, Santa's Magic and Elegant Doily.

You can see my progress on Elegant Doily in my previous post.  I'm still eyeletting and will be for the foreseeable future.

Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden went from here:

to here:

And Mirabilia's Santa's Magic went from here:

To here:

Santa will be on the frame through tomorrow.  Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts goes on the frame on Sunday for its week in the rotation.

First Saturday in June

The first Saturday in June.   Other than being a "how did we get here?" moment, it is also YOTA time. YOTA you ask?  Yes, YOTA.  It's a WIP slaying SAL hosted at Pull the Other Thread.  No real stress, just pick a WIP or two or five and stitch.  On the first Saturday of every month, post your progress.  Repeat as many times as you would like.

Kayann's Kreations' Elegant Doily has been on the frame for this week.  If you have read any of my comments on the doily this year, you will know what I have been stitching - eyelets.  Lots and lots of eyelets!

Here are a few of the eyelets that I have stitched so far this week:

And here is what I have left to eyelet:

This will stay on the frame for the rest of today, so hopefully I can settle in and add a few more eyelets.  Santa's Magic goes on the frame tomorrow.  I do need to mow the lawn tomorrow so may not get a lot done on Santa tomorrow but I am working from home this coming week so I will actually have time at night to stitch so my reduced stitching time tomorrow may not make a huge difference to what I can get done.