Stitching Smalls from Stash

Month:  March
Spent: $0
Earned: $0

I'll go into that in a minute, but right now - I am not entirely sure where the last two weeks went.  I do remember helping the in-laws do some yard work last weekend, but other then that? No idea.

I do have SALs to check-in on and some additional stitching to show.

First up is my  update.  Stitch from Stash is hosted by Mel at Epic Stitching and is a challenge, some months more than others, to keep a lid on our stash spending. We are given a budget of $25 a month, so it's more a diet than a fast, which rolls over so by the end of SFS there could be plenty for a good stashing binge.  My tally so far this year is:

Carried forward:  $50
March budget: $25
Available: $75
Spent: $0
To April: $75

I had one start from stash, Faby Reilly's Wild Rose Square. I also had two finishes, the same wild rose square and Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts Sampler - I'm going to show it again, because I am so happy to see it finished.

And there was stitching several WIPs, Christmas Presence, Spring in the Air (a photo is my last post), and Secret Victorian Garden.

Christmas Presence by HAED went from here:

to here:

Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden went from here:

to here:

And Faby Reilly's Wild Rose Square went from here:

 

To finished:

 

Stitched on Lakeside Linens Vintage Light Examplar with DMC and Delica beads (the pattern called for bright gold beads, but I liked these better)



Wild Rose Square is my March  piece.  Heather at Stitching Lotus hosts the Smalls SAL. You get to decide what a small is. I will be doing The Sampler Life's Yahoo sampler SAL blocks for my smalls this year, so mine are all 50X50

It is not a style that I would normally do, but that's the great thing about this SAL, you get a chance to try out different designers without a huge investment in either supplies or time. Here they are together:

As this is my off Friday, I will be working on my two HAED pieces, Christmas Presence and Shakespearean Fantasy. Tomorrow will be a Chatelaine day and Sunday Elegant Doily will be making it's appearance in the rotation again.

Gifted Gorgeousness and a finish

It's time for March's

Jo at Serendipitous Stitching hosts this SAL. As Jo said, "I am sure we have all benefited from the generousity of our fellow bloggers and here is your chance to show your appreciation for that generousness by doing what we do best - stitching and blogging about it!".  I have two pieces that fit the items in the list perfectly and one that I am shoehorning into the list.

 

The first piece is also a finish, Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts Sampler. 

The Hubs gave the patterns and threads to me for our anniversary last year.  It is stitched on a 28-count Silkweaver Fabric solo from my stash. There are a number of "artistic license" items on this piece, so if you are stitching or have stitched it, yes, mine is different. 

The second piece is Shakespearean Fantasy from HAED. This pattern was gifted to me by Pull the Other Thread and is my first HAED piece I never do anything by half.  Here is where it was on my last GG check-in:

And here is where I left it last week:

A bit of green, a bit more dark navy and some more black.

And the third piece is Wild Rose Square by Faby Reilly. It is the second block in The Sampler Life's Yahoo groups SAL. I'm going to argue that, as a freebie, it is a gift from the designer...

Stitched on 28-count Vintage Light Examplar with DMC

 I have never stitched anything by this designer, but I am enjoying this square very much.

I also had progress on Christmas Presence from HAED. As this is a freebie SAL, I can shoehorn this one into the SAL too.

Just Nan's Spring in the Air was on the frame this week and it went from here:

To here:

Spring in the air certainly defines our weather today. I have been working in the yard most of the afternoon, pruning roses and generally picking up. Once I finish picking up the pruned bits, Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden is going on the frame and I plan to get a few hours of stitching in this afternoon and evening.

Another week

Around here, another week means another round of snow. We were in the 50s on Wednesday and the snow from the previous storms was just about gone and Spring was getting ready to, well, spring.  Then the temperatures started falling, the rain started freezing and it was snowing again. We ended up with a very nice layer of ice under about 5" of snow. This is so unusual for this area for March. It will be interesting to see what summer has in store for us.

I am late for two check-ins and early for one so far this month. Fortunately, they all involve the same projects, so three check-ins, one set of pictures!!

The first is for the HAP SAL.  The 2015 HAP SAL is hosted by Stacy at Crossed Stitches and highlights all those huge projects, defined by Stacy as "the smallest of the dimension of the stitch count is 300", you are or want to stitch and maybe even finish this year.  Shakespearean Fantasy certainly qualifies as a HAP and I do want to make some progress on it, so joining this SAL made perfect sense.  Here's where I left off:

This will be going on the frame sometime this afternoon for some concentrated stitching.

The second check-in is for .  Melissa at Measi's Musings created and hosts this SAL. In addition to Shakespearean Fantasy,

Christmas Presence

and Holly and Hearts Sampler

Sooooo close

are on my WIPocalypse list. Melissa also gives us a question/topic to discuss each month. This months is: If money - and time - were not limiters, what projects would be on your stitching bucket list?  I have such a large stash that time is my biggest stitching enemy so if it were no longer a limiter, I would stitch all my stash, starting with my Chatelaines. Around 2040, At some point, it would all be stitched and sent off to Jill Rensel for framing, then it would be time to shop.  The items on my wish list tab would be first and then the Thea Gouverneur city kits.  The Sistine Chapel from HAED  recently caught my eye and would certainly be part of my stashing experience as would the recent gingerbread buildings from The Victoria Sampler. I think I would also plan a trip to Picture This Plus to stock up on fabric. I would also pay a ridiculous price on Ebay for Blackbird Designs Blessings be Thine. While it's not a project, I would love to attend a stitching retreat.

The one SAL that I am on time for is YOTA. YOTA is hosted by Pull the Other Thread and is a no stress, stitch on something in hopes of finishing it SAL. All three of my WIPocalypse pieces are also YOTA pieces, so no new photos.

Stitching OAAT (one at a time) is not working well for me, so I plan to start back up with my rotation this weekend. So, on Sunday, Just Nan's Spring in the Air  will go on the frame.