A wonderful February day

Why is it a wonderful day, you ask?  Our family welcomed Grady Patrick to the world today! 

He was born a bit before 1:00 PM.  DNiece and he are doing well - nobody has said how dad is doing :-).  I am head-over-heels in love and can't wait to meet him (I'm planning to head to Michigan to see them in a couple of weeks).  Grady is baby #4 in our family in the last year (well a bit more) and we have one more coming in June.Speaking of the babies.  Here are Vance and Calder:

This was their 5 month picture.  They're not dressed as cowboys - they're both teething and very drooly.

And Jack:

He is definitely growing out of his baby looks and into a toddler.  He had tubes put in his ears a couple weeks ago and from reports is very much enjoying the sound of his voice. :-)

So, stitching.  I did a lot of stitching this weekend, on a lot of different projects.  I knocked four goals off my February acrostic, so feeling very good.

LOTS OF PICTURES FOLLOW:

The first piece I pulled out was Santa and the Mouse (this was a freebie on the HaED website a few years back).  I needed something for "0" and I worked on this 0 times last year.  Last time I had it out, I was here:

I added about 120 new stitches and got it to here:

I used the Pattern Keeper app and I really liked it.  I had to load my progress in but am really pleased with how easy it was to use and I was able to keep my place with no problem (well, once I figured out where I was).

Next I went onto Common Ground by Just Nan. It went from here:

to here:

I really enjoyed working on this one but was only able to get this far in the time I'd allotted.

I pulled Garden Fair out because I needed something for "2" and this only has 2 colors in it.

I'm stitching this with Anchor black as I have heard for years how superior it is to DMC black.  This is one-over-one on 40-count linen and I can't say I'm seeing much of a difference between the two.  The Anchor has thick and thin areas just like the DMC and because of that there are places where the fabric is showing through.  I'll finish this piece up with the Anchor since I spent the money but I don't think I'd make an extra effort to get it in the future.

I also pulled out Luna by Nora Corbett and got her from here:

to here:

I probably should have started her a little bit further to the right so that wing tip was centered in the moon - ah well...

I spent some time crocheting and almost have the shawl finished but I forgot to take a picture.

I spun the wheel on my decision roulette for my normal rotation pieces and J by Nora Corbett came up first.  I'm not putting a before as all I did was that bit of beading at the top of the J.  I forgot how much time beading can take and this is bead heavy. Of course it is, it's a Mira/Nora design.

Temperature Tree came up next:

The fabric color is much more true in the bottom photo.  I finished the January leaves and added the April branch and got a pretty good start on the May/June/July top of the tree.

That left Time for Seasons from By the Bay Needlearts.  It went from here:

to here:

That house reminded me why I don't care for 18 or 36-count fabric - I can't get the number of threads right.  One is too thin for most colors and two is just that bit too much. Doubling up on some and not others would look strange on this piece, so using a thinner needle so I can get the threads between the ones already there rather than splitting them.

Even with all that stitching, I got a bunch of time in on Magic Dreams. Boy by Cute Patterns by Maria and with the news of today, I need to spend all my time on it from now on.  It went from here:

to here:

Of course, just as I finished it off, I figured out that Grady was not going to be blond and that I should have done a conversion to brown.  Ah well again

Friday is my day off, so plan to finish-finish the Forever and Ever pillow and then stitch the weekend away - again.

January WIPocalypse

The last Sunday of the month means it's time for .  We've still got a few days left, but it's hard to believe that January is already done.  It has been a good month for me - my stitching bug is back in full force I even had a small case of startitis!, I've got plans, my new job/boss/coworkers are wonderful, and in general I am less stressed and definitely happier believe me, I know how lucky I am.

So, WIPocalypse?  Yep, WIPocalypse.  It started way back in 2012 when we made a list of all the projects we wanted to finish before the world ended.  The world stayed in one piece but the SAL continued.  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and helps you focus on finishing up those WIPs that have been hanging around for a while a while? I've got WIPs going that were started when DSon was in high school (he'll be 37 this summer).  Knowing that sometimes a discussion theme can be difficult to come up with, Melissa provides a prompt each month.  This month's is:  What SALs are you participating in this year?  I have had to scale back my SAL participation drastically over the years - I just don't have the time to devote to stitching right now that would allow me to do a School of Magical Stitches type SAL - so I tend to gravitate towards the ones that reinforce something I'm trying to do - finish WIPs, stitch gifts, etc..  WIPocalypse and Gifted Gorgeousness fit that requirement perfectly.  The other type of SAL I tend to do is the "I have to have that pattern and it's being released over 12 months - of course I can keep up" - of course I can't keep up that's why I have so many WIPs and can continue participating in WIPocalypse for the next 20 years - of that type of SAL, I'm doing the Time for Seasons SAL from By the Bay Needleart.  I love Donna's designs, but as expected, I'm behind - part 3 has been released and I'm about 1/4 way through part 1.  The other one I really want to join is the Lesley Teare Designs Birds and Blackwork Flowers through Creative Poppy.  I love the bright colors and whimsical birds and flowers.  Do I have time?  Of course not. Do I do blackwork?  Nope, and I hate backstitching although Leonore's comment that each section is like a small finish helps, none of that is stopping the "I must stitch this" thought every time I see it.

In addition to WIPocalypse, this weekend was the first 24 hours of cross stitch - an amped up version of IHSW - for 2020.  I had great plans to fit my 24 hours over the entire weekend, but we've all heard about plans right?  The house stuff took longer on Friday than expected, and the errands on Saturday took longer than expected so I came up about 8 hours short of a full 24 hours of stitching.  I did learn a valuable lesson - do all the housekeeping and errands before starting the next 24 I think in April.

My brain wanted to stitch, not bead so nothing new on J.  I did my usual hour each on Temperature Tree and Time for Seasons.

Temperature Tree went from here:

to:

I have got to get busy on the branches as the leaves are catching up fast.

Time for Seasons went from here:

to here:

I was having some issues stitching this one - progress was slow and I wasn't really having a good time stitching it.  I tried a bunch of different things and finally changed my needle and the problems went away.  Once I got used to the size difference - I was using a John James petite and switched to a Bohin - stitching sped up and I started to really enjoy the process.  

Magic Dreams. Boy. was my focus piece and I put 14 hours into it (keeping track of time is a new thing for me this year).

I started with it here on Friday:

and it was here Sunday evening:

I had a minor frog attack and had to redo a chunk of the fluke but I am happy with my progress.  I am a bit concerned that the background is going to really slow me down - there are stars and LOTS of individual stitches in white and light blue which means any carried thread will show.  I am thinking of buying some dark/black interfacing and putting that on the back before stitching the background in the hope that it will cover any carried threads or longer tails. Has anyone done that?  Did it make it difficult to frame although I'm not sure how it's going to be finished-finished?  Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated.

My late IHSW update

I participated in  but I didn't do my follow-up post, so here it is. 

As I had Monday off, I did add an extra day to my weekend.

While Magic Dreams was my focus, I spent a good part of Friday working on Jordan from Nora Corbett -  I just found out she actually has a name...

She went from here:

to here:

Just the beading left the peppermints aren't attached, I just wanted to see how they'd look.  I played around with beads and settled on a silver lined clear Magnifica.  They were left over from another project.  I think I have enough to finish this piece, but not the other two so a small order will be going in soon.  I also changed out the called for DMC on the wings and swirls for a Petite Treasure Braid it's a Christmas piece, you can never have too much sparkle on a Christmas piece!!

Back to Magic Dreams.  He went from here:

to here:

Lots of stitching with lots of different colors and blends.  He's on the frame as my focus piece this weekend too.  I would like to get him finished or very close to finished as there is a very good chance that the doctors aren't going to let mom carry him until February 5th.

A few more leaves and part of another branch on the Temperature Tree:

and a bit more progress on Time for Seasons:

I added a lot of blue and if you look closely, you can see a house in that negative space there in the middle.

Rain in the forecast for this weekend, so once I get the errands run, I'll be inside stitching.

Lost a week somewhere

First: Month reporting:  September
Amount spent:  $72.24
Amount earned:  Not participating

I could have sworn I posted last weekend, but it appears not.  I honestly cannot say what happened to the weekend and the last week. I do hope it was fun and exciting, although given that I can't remember it (and it is my life), it probably wasn't.

In addition to my sense of time, I have also lost my stitching mojo.  That's not to say I haven't stitched, but I when I have had time, I have found other things to do so that by the time I did sit down and stitch, I didn't get as much done as I could.  This usually happens in the summer, so not sure why it is showing up now.

I do have check-ins for  and  that are due. So, let's see....

 is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is a way to show our thanks to those that have gifted us with thread, fabric or pattern. I have several pieces that fit into the definition of gifted pieces but only worked on two of them this month.  Shakespearean Fantasy was a gifted pattern from Pull the Other Thread and Christmas Presence is a freebie pattern so I am counting it as a gift from the designer.  Both pieces were shown in my last post and rather than show them again, there hasn't been any progress since then, you can scroll down just a little and see them or click here.

 is hosted by Mel at Epic Stitching and is a reminder to love the stash you have. This is my second year participating and my fourth or fifth stitching from stash.  I did buy the pattern and materials earlier this year for a piece for DNiece, but this month, I bought things entirely for me.  First the $.24 part.  I needed a skein of floss for this month's The Sampler Life's SAL piece (My first thought was:  Really? Given all the floss I have, how do I not have this one?). So while on my way to Trader Joes, I stopped at Michael's.  As I was getting out of the car, I realized I had no cash with me, I tend to use my debit card for everything, and I wasn't going to just shop so that I could justify using the card. So I started rummaging around in the car and managed to find about $.35.  I knew the floss would be more than that, so I checked my Michael's app and there was a 40% off coupon, so with tax the floss cost me $.24 and I had money left to put in the change jar in the house.  I am sure the cashier thought I was on the crazy side of cheap, but I needed the floss and wasn't going to waste the coupon.  The rest of it?  I finally caved and signed up for By the Bay's Serenity Harbor.    I was so tempted when it was first announced but talked myself out of it.  I have been going back to look at it since it was released and the more WIP photos I saw the more my resolve crumbled. This month it fell apart completely. The parts are released on the 3rd of each month and you are normally charged then but because I joined so late, I was charged for the whole thing.

Carried forward:  $50.
September Budget: $25
Available: $75
Spent: $72.24
Balance forward:  $2.76

Still within budget, but more than I have ever spent for the pattern for a single piece ever and more than I have spent all at once for stitching supplies in years.   I have no idea when I'll get around to stitching it but the planning is fun.  I did start one piece from stash, Bluetit by Jayne Netley Mayhew for The Sampler Life's SAL, but as it is my Smalls SAL piece, I will wait to show it during that check-in.

I did also do a little stitching on Mirabilia's Santa's Magic.  He was here when I put him away last:

and today, he looks like this:

There are about 100 more Xs of Wisper thread in his beard in the bottom picture.

Because of the Pope's visit to Washington, DC this week and the resulting traffic and crush of people, the Office of Personnel Management advised agencies that a liberal telework policy was needed.  So, I will be working from home the entire week. I do hope my stitching mojo will come back enough for me to get some quality stitching time in the evening.  It will be so strange to be home from work at 5:00 rather than the usual 7:30ish every night.

If Found Please Return

If you find my mojo, for just about everything, would you please send it home?  I really do miss it and am tired of being in this funk.  Stitching and other things are getting done, but I'm not able to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time.  I sit down, take a couple of stitches and then think of something to do or get distracted by something on TV which is VERY unusual for me and then it's an hour or so before I sit back down to stitch and repeat so while I have stitching pictures to show, there isn't a lot of progress. 

So rather than try to remember what I've been up to since my last post, I'm just going to go right into stitching pictures:

Before:

 And after:

Holly by Mirabilia
Stitched on 28-count opalescent White with DMC, Rainbow Gallery PTP, and Mill Hill and Delica Beads

This one is actually a finish!!!

Before:



Summerhill House by Debbie Mumm for Mill Hill
Stitched on 28-count Bluebell Jobelan with DMC and Mill Hill beads

 As is this one!

Before:

And after:

Summer Mystery SAL by By the Bay Needlearts
Stitched on 32-count Lavender Swirl from Silkweaver Fabrics with DMC

Before:

After:



New England St Nick by The Goode Huswife
Stitched on 35-count Onyx from Weeks Dye Works with NPI  

 And finally:

Before:

And after:

Japanese Octagonal Box by Chatelaine
Stitched on 32-count Light Blue Belfast with NPI, Petite Treasure Braid, Gloriana, Wildflowers and Delica beads

 I have already started thinking about my 2013 stitching plans.  They will certainly feature fewer projects but I am enjoying the structure of my rotation just as I am enjoying all the projects that I have in it, but I would like to see more progress on fewer pieces than just a little on a lot.  It is going to be difficult to decide which pieces to leave and which to put "in the wings".