Gifted Gorgeousness, WIPocalypse and stuff

All the cookies and nibbles are baked, packaged and delivered. All the packages are wrapped.  All the decorating I'm going to do this year is done, so all that is left is to pack up the truck and drive to my sister's on Saturday.  Yes, I made the semi-last minute decision to spend Christmas with my parents, and my sister and her family this year.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone again.

In case you're suffering from Christmas let down already, don't worry, Valentine's Day is not far away if thisis any indication.  My son is a butcher/meat department manager and saw this box in the grocery warehouse the other day.

It's time to take stock of 2016 and start planning for 2017.  The WIPocalypse question will take care of the taking stock part and strangely enough for me, I haven't started planning my 2017 stitching.  Usually, I have everything planned out already, but not this year.  I have some vague thoughts, but haven't not made a definite plan yet. 

Before I get to WIPocalypse, let me post my  update.  Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  It is a way to thank those that have gifted us with stitching lovelies or to show items that we are going to gift.  I have two to show this month.

The first is 12 Days from Plum Street Samplings.

Yes, it is finally finished.  These were freebies from the designer, so I am counting them as gifts.  I put the final stitch into Fourth Day last night.  The fabric is Vintage Autumn Gold from Lakeside Linens and the threads are from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.

The second is To Have and To Hold Bridal Sampler:

I also finished-finished the stocking I completed last month:

Jo is hosting Gifted Gorgeousness 2017, so pop on over to her blog for all the rules - well they're more like guidelines and there aren't many.

 is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings.  This is another low stress SAL, as all you have to do is stitch on work-in-progress and post about it on the full moon.  She also gives us blogging questions if you're in need of something to talk about.  WIPocalypse is going to continue into 2017 with one change - the check in will be the last Sunday of each month rather than the full moon.  You can find out everything you need to know here.

For this month, the blogging question is:  Recap your accomplishments for the year.

I had nine projects on my WIPocalypse tab.  I had two finishes, Christmas Presence and Secret Victorian Garden

and progress on three additional pieces:

Shakespearean Fantasy

It's About Time:

and Santa and the Mouse:

It's About Time and Santa and the Mouse were new starts this year, so there is no "before" photo.

I had some framing done over the last couple of months too.

This is Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts Sampler. 

And this is Holly by Mirabilia:

I told the framer I wanted something holiday/icy feeling and she came up with this combination.  I love how the silver mat sets off the beads and sparkles in the fabric. 

It wasn't my best stitching year as far as finishes is concerned, but I am happy with what I did accomplish and there is still time to finish a small piece or two.

I started by saying that I had no stitching plan for next year, but I do plan to continue with these two SALs and Heather at Stitching Lotus has posted the information for the 2017 Smalls SAL, so that is three.  I just found a link to a Stitch from Stash Facebook group on Melissa's blog and may give that a run too.  If you're interested in quilting, Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville's Quips and Snips is currently running a mystery QAL entitled En Provence .  I have been downloading the directions and plan to give quilting a try again.   I also have plans to make one or two Christmas cards a month rather then do them all in a few days in November or December (I say that EVERY year, but maybe this will be the year I actually do!!).  And finally, I am planning a January 1 start, Dimple Designs' Enchantment of Winter.

So those are my "vague thoughts for a 2017 stitching plan".

December WIPocalypse

It's a few days late, but as the topic for this  check-in is to recap our 2015 stitching accomplishments, it gave me a few extra days to stitch - which didn't happen but it was a good thought.

2015 was a good stitching year.  I had 18 finishes, mostly smalls, but given the limited stitching time I have, it is quite a lot.  All of my finishes can be seen in the tab above titled Finishes (catchy isn't it?).  I put a list of WIPocalypse projects together about this time last year, unfortunately, there will not be much difference in my 2016 list. From the list, I had two finishes:

Holly and Hearts Sampler by Lizzie*Kate

and Spring in the Air by Just Nan

I had some progress on all the others on my list:

Mirabilia's Santa's Magic went from here:



 to here: 

Elegant Doily by Kayann's Kreations was here on January 1st:



and here when I put it up last: 

Secret Victorian Garden started the year here:

 and ended it here:



Shakespearean Fantasy and Christmas Presence from Heaven and Earth Designs were blank pieces of fabric the beginning of the year and are here today:

 

I kept up with my rotation fairly well this year.  The last couple of months have been "stitch what I want when I want" and very relaxing, but I can feel the rotation calling again, so will most likely start it up after the first of the year.  I also did better than expected with my SALs and checking in - well I did until the end of August when they started to get away from me.  I have pared back the SALs for 2016 to a much more manageable three (if you are interested in participating in any of them, the badges at the top of the page should be clickable and will take you to the respective pages). 

I have this week off from work and have a stitching plan worked out (which I have already deviated from) which could have me finishing one or two more smalls and making some progress on Secret Victorian Garden; however, I will not be too upset if I don't. I do have a new start planned for January 1st, Just Nan's Christmas Soldiers stocking, and have several other pieces that I will be starting throughout the year, or I may start them all in January and create a rotation around them, or something else will come to me in the next couple of days and throw this all out the window.  This is the first year in a long time that I have not had a solid stitching plan in place this close to the new year and I am not sure if that is good or bad.  I suppose as long as I am stitching it doesn't really matter. 

I hope you all had an enjoyable and productive stitching year and that 2016 will bring more of the same.

APRIL!?!?!

I barely had time to settle into March!! I was in San Antonio Texas last week and flew over some of the same parts of the country as when I flew to Seattle apparently the airlines believe that the most direct way to fly from Richmond Virginia to San Antonio Texas is by way of Chicago a couple of weeks ago and there was much more brown and green land then frozen and white, so winter is finally loosening its grip. I am heading up to Maine in a week, so will probably be back in the freezing and white but know I will be coming home to warm and the knowledge that that is my last scheduled trip for a while.

Despite my best intentions, I have not done a great job of being timely with my SAL check-ins. I am pretty sure I am late for at least two and will probably give them a pass. That leaves three for today's post, HAP, YOTA and WIPocalypse. Fortunately, I have projects that are doing double and in this case, triple duty. With that, here are the SALs:

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. Shakespearean Fantasy is my HAP for 2015 and 2016 and, and, and...

YOTA is a fun, non-stress SAL hosted by Pull the Other Thread. Just focus on stitching, and maybe finishing, some of those WIPs that may be plaguing you and post on the first Saturday of the month, what could be easier?

And last, but not least,  which is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings. As with YOTA, it's a non-stress, stitch and report type SAL. Melissa also gives us topics for each month, April's is: Which speciality stitches do you love doing on projects? Which do you dread? I have done a variety of speciality stitches and like the challenge they all present. I love Rhodes stitches of any kind - they are used quite frequently in Chatelaine pieces and I like the texture they add. Another stitch I really like but don't see a lot is bullion knots. The one stitch I will go out of my way to avoid is Queen stitch. Despite years of trying and hours of practice, I can not get them to lay right and have just about given up on them. Now that I have said that, the next pattern I pull out of my stash will probably be FULL of them!!

And here are pictures:

My WIPocalypse and YOTA projects can be found in the WIPocalypse and YOTA project list and 2015 stitching plan tab. From that project list, I stitched on Secret Victorian Garden by Chatelaine, Spring in the Air by Just Nan, Holly and Hearts Sampler by Lizzie*Kate, Christmas Presence by HAED and Shakespearean Fantasy also from HAED.

Updated photos of Secret Victorian Garden can be seen in my blog post here.  My progress on Shakespearean Fantasy and Holly and Hearts Sampler can be seen here. And Christmas Presence went from here:

to here:

Elegant Doily, despite my best intentions, did not make it onto the frame for its week in the rotation and I haven't decided if I will just skip it this round or push everything else back a week. I have a feeling that if I allow myself to skip it this time, I will do it again next time and the next and I will never finish it. I am going to work on the new block for The Sampler Life's Yahoo group SAL today, a blackwork pattern from Tam's Creations and decide later what I will do with the doily.

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.

Long week and a check-ins

I travel fairly frequently for work, but it is usually Monday through Friday. My trip last week was Sunday through Friday and that extra day was huge. Combined with the three-hour time difference and the 12+ hour days, that extra day just about did me in. There was no blog reading, or much of anything at all for that matter. I would get back to the hotel and be asleep before 8:00. BUT I did get to see a fair bit of the state of Washington -it's on my list of places to go back to so that I can actually do all the touristy things - I did tour four sewage treatment plants (do I have a great job or what?!?), but most folks don't have those on their list of places to go and things to see when they're on vacation (or any other time I imagine).

I should be home for a few weeks before I head out again, so maybe I can catch up on my blog reading (which is probably all I will be doing as I am so far behind that I don't think I will be able to leave comments), stitching and reading.

I did finish up on piece before I left and it is my February

entry. Here is the completed Janie Hubble Designs contribution to The Sampler Life's Yahoo Group's SAL:

The pin is a placement reference for the next block, which should be released tomorrow.  I don't know which designer has done March's block, but I am looking forward to seeing and stitching it.

If you are interested in participating, the SAL is hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus. You should be able to click on the badge above or in the sidebar and go to her site.

And one last SAL/Blog hop for the month is

DESIGN allows us to highlight a designer each month, all we have to have is a current WIP. This month, I'm going with Lizzie*Kate. Linda is not a new designer, she's been designing for the cross stitch market since 1996, but she consistently puts out new and fun designs. The one I am currently stitching is Holly and Hearts Sampler.    This is the finished piece from her website.  This is the fourth or fifth Lizzie*Kate piece I have stitched and I have an equal number in my stash and several others on my wish list. Her color choices could be described as non-traditional but the colors all work well together. I guess whimsical best describes her style. Her pieces range from Snippets (5"X5" or smaller) to larger pieces. Many of her pieces use over-dyed threads and buttons and charms, but DMC substitutions are included and the charms, while cute, are only extras and not major parts of the design. She has a number of kits which I have found to be very high quality with more than enough thread to finish the piece. If you are looking for a fun stitch, this is really the designer for you.

Computers. You can't live with them....

...and you can't throw them out the window - even though the satisfaction level for that would be very high. I had been having issues with my computer for a while, slow loading, hang-ups, just general awfulness, but lived with it. Last weekend I got so frustrated that I just turned it off and decided that I could live without it.  That thought lasted about as long as it took to think it. Fortunately, I was on travel for work last week and wouldn't be using it, so The Hubs took it on in to our friendly, local Geek Squad for diagnosis and repair. It came home this morning with lots of new memory and a brand new hard drive. No more slow loading, freezing or any of the other irritating things I had been dealing with, but between the computer issues and the travel, I am late for three check-ins.

So back tracking a bit to last weekend, I had check-ins for  and YOTA. Both SALs are designed to help us work our way through those WIPs that may be causing some guilty feelings when we look at them that just need a little bit of attention to get them through either the mid-project blahs or finished. WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and YOTA is hosted by Pull the Other Thread.  I have a list of projects that I would like to either finish or make progress on this year and worked on three of them, Christmas Presence, Shakespearean Fantasy, and Holly and Ivy Sampler.

Christmas Presence with a few more colors added. Stitched on 28-count Antique White Jobelan (1 over 1) with DMC

Shakespearean Fantasy still just two colors but the blob in the upper left corner is larger!! Stitched on 28-count Antique White Jobelan (1 over 1) with DMC

Holly and Ivy Sampler by Lizzie*Kate. Stitched on a 28-count mystery evenweave from Silkweavers with Weeks Dye Works and DMC (for the one color I ran out of)

For WIPocalypse, we are given a discussion topic each month.  February's is:  How do you overcome that feeling that you’re in a rut with a particular project?  I would love to say that that never happened but the reality is I hit the rut phase with every project. I am not sure why but it is always when I am close to finishing. As you can see with Holly and Ivy Sampler, there really isn't too much more to stitch but it has taken me weeks to get just that bit done that is showing on the left. I dither and dally and find all sorts of other things to do, even though I know if I sat down and really put my mind to it, this could easily be finished in a weekend. After years of trying to trick myself out of this habit, I have given up and just go with the slow pace and try to remember that I am not racing with anyone and that it will eventually be finished.

Two of the above projects are also my  pieces for this year. Jo at Serendipitous Stitching is hosting this SAL. It gives us a chance to show the people that have gifted us with patterns, kits or other stitching bits, that we do appreciate their gift and to thank them for their generosity. Shakespearean Fantasy was gifted to me by Pull the Other Thread as a RAK and Holly and Ivy Sampler was gifted to me by The Hubs as an anniversary present in 2014. The very nice thing about gifted projects is that not only is there the initial excitement of receiving a gift but the joy continues as you stitch it and display it.

I did work on one other piece  this month. This is Janie Hubble Designs contribution to The Sampler Life's Yahoo group SAL. One design is released each month until they run out of designers, I think they are at 22 right now, but more may have decided to contribute since I last checked. Each design is 50X50, so easily finished in a month. I am doing them all on one large piece of 28-count Vintage Light Examplar from Lakeside Linens with DMC fibers.  Janie did a companion piece that is available on her website and Northern Expressions Needlework provided a pre-SAL piece that I will also incorporate into the finished piece.

I had a couple of questions from my last post asking about the thread I used to grid my HAED pieces. I use Sulky Sliver metallic thread to grid all my pieces and the transparent or opalescent to do my beading.  I believe it is designed for machine embroidery so it is strong and doesn't stretch too much.  I use it for gridding on my HAEDs and as edges on my band samplers because, unlike sewing thread, it is almost impossible to pierce, it is easy to see and most importantly, it pulls out easily when I am done stitching with minimal disturbance to the stitches. It also looks pretty. I have had some issues with the red staining the fabric (just a thin line) but have not had an issue with any of the other colors. It is also, as far as I can tell, but I haven't tested it to the point of fail, heat resistant, so I can iron my piece if I decide to leave it in.

I just looked out the window and it has started to snow. We are forecast to have 7" to 11" before it's all finished tomorrow morning sometime. If we do actually get that much, I will not be going into the office tomorrow and most likely not Wednesday either - I used to feel guilty when I first moved here from New Hampshire when I didn't make an effort to get into work when it snowed, but after 7 years, I think I have finally gotten over it.  I will still be working but I will be set up at my dining room table rather than my office.

Gifted Gorgeousness

 is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is a way to show the folks that have gifted us with stitching goodness that it is appreciated. I have two pieces right now that fit the criteria Shakespearean Fantasy and Holly and Hearts Sampler. You may have a strange sense of deja vu (I know there's a way to get accent marks but am short of time this morning) reading this post as the photos are exactly the same as my last. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of stitching happening here in the meadow this week.

I'll start with Holly and Hearts Sampler as it is the oldest. It's from Lizzie*Kate and was her mystery sampler late in 2013. The Hubs bought it for me for our anniversary last year. I started it right away (You do have to reward good behavior if you want it to continue don't you?) and am hoping to finish it within the next week or so. Right now, it is a little further than this (my camera battery is recharging so no new photo):

Shakespearean Fantasy was a RAK from Pull the Other Thread and brightened up my recovery from surgery immensely. I started it January 1st and got this done:

 I hope to spend some time with it this afternoon, but DFIL is in the hospital so in addition to a visit, we are needed for dog/cat/bird duty as well as errands and chauffeuring DMIL.