WOWSA!!

I took a big sigh Thursday at 4:45 PM when I signed off my work computer for the last time this year.  On Friday, I had an enjoyable lunch with one set of in-laws, went to the grocery store and finished all my errands.  I am determined to stay home as much as possible this coming week.  I will be out and about on Tuesday as I have to have my car inspected Tuesday morning and on Thursday as The Hubs is finally having his shoulder surgery, but other than that I'm planning to be in and stitching or crafting.

Before I get into my normal blah, blah, blah stuff...

I was reading through my blog list and was scrolling through Jill Rensel's (of Rensel Studio fame) blog and saw this:

WOWSA!!!  There was no information on who stitched it but I am in awe of whoever did.  They combined two Lavender and Lace patterns Celtic Christmas (the lady in the red dress) and Oh Christmas Tree (the two children and the tree) along with bits from other patterns or maybe designed them themselves.  I can't even begin to estimate the amount of time it took to design, never mind stitch this - I would count it an accomplishment to finish one of the two larger pieces that were used.  Pop on over to Jill's blog to see this and many more beautiful pieces and if you know who did this piece, tell them "Congratulations."

So on to my inadequate pieces :-)...

I have been enjoying my hummingbird rotation (flitting around from piece to piece) of the last few weeks.  Last weekend I pulled out Enchantment of Winter by Terrence Nolan and spent a few hours with it.  I loved working on it but it is kitted with silks and my hands are very dry so it kept snagging.  I'm going to have to do some major softening before I pull out a silk piece again.  Despite the snagging, it went from here:

to here:

This is stitched on 28-count Wintered Marble from Stitches 'n Spice there are very subtle splashes of light grey and blue  with the called for threads.

After my time with Winter, I decided a Santa fix was needed so out came Mirabilia's Santa's Magic. He looked like this when he was last out:

And today he looks like this:

He's stitched on 32-count opalescent Ametrine from Silkweavers.  I do wish the photograph could show you how sparkly he is but the camera keeps adjusting and unsparkling it.   I think I've mentioned it before but if you have an older pattern mine is from right around 1996 it calls for #8 Kreinik braid - don't do it!!  Order the #4 and save yourself a lot of headache.  I'm using #4 and don't see how you could get the heavier braid through the fabric without distorting it.  Also and this is soooo irritating, my pattern says that you'll need multiple skeins/spools of 085 and 202hl without saying how many more.  I am almost through my second spool of 085 and nowhere near done, so an order was sent to 123 Stitch and should be here by the end of the week.  My plan for today, tomorrow and maybe Boxing Day is to finish his beard and the Wisper parts of his sleeves so that I can get to the other Kreinik in the design.

And before I forget because I have forgotten almost every month this year here is my December TUSAL photo:

TUSAL is hosted by It's Daffycat and is the easiest SAL ever to participate in.  Collect all the snips and bits from your crafting, put them in a container of some sort and post a photo on the new moon each month.  I'm good at the saving the bits part, but not so good at the posting picture part.

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.

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.

Three for one

Once again, I'm late on check-ins. I was out of town for work last week - again - and didn't have access to my computer, so I am behind on my posting and reading. My next planned travel is the end of July so a few weeks to settle back into a routine - oh wait, you've heard that before haven't you?

Welcome to my new followers. Hopefully, I can add something to your day. And Thank You to all of you that have stuck with being a follower through the last few months of blah here.

We have moved from spring into early summer here in central Virginia.  Have been doing a lot of outside work that was put off and I think we are just about caught up. There are  a couple more things to get done before it gets too hot and humid to be out much, but I am really happy with what has been done.

The first batch of fledgling finches and sparrows have been into the feeders and it looks like the crows have added at least one youngster to the murder. I expect to see the cardinals and wren young any day now.

Besides travel and outside work and a bit of housework I have done a bit of stitching and I think each piece fits into one of the three SAL check-ins.

First is the 2015 HAP SAL. It is hosted by Stacy at Crossed Stitches. Pick a Huge A$$ Project, stitch and post on the first Saturday of the month. I did all but the last.  My piece for this SAL is Shakespearean Fantasy from Heaven and Earth Designs.  Last time I showed it, it was here:

And now, it is here:

I do need to concentrate on getting a few more lengths of black in but otherwise, I'm happy with the progress I've made.

The second check-in is for WIPocalypse and the third is YOTA.  As I have the same project list for both of these, one batch of photos. 

 is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and YOTA is hosted at Pull the Other Thread.  Both SALs are reminders to work with what you have first.  My WIPocalypse/YOTA project list is in the tab up top.   From that list I have stitched on Shakespearean Fantasy, Santa's Magic, and Christmas Presence.  Santa's Magic ended up here:

Just a bit more and the beard will be finished.  Christmas Presence went from here:

to

 

And before I forget, there is a question each month with WIPocalypse. This month's is:  Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?  I am definitely more productive in the winter. I have had a summer stitching slump for the last four or five summers which has kept my summer stitching progress fairly low - but my reading backlog is reduced so it works to a win for me.

 

I also stitched on a couple of piece that are not on the list.  Ink Circle's 99, went from here:

 

to here:

only 98 more to go.

 

And for my small piece this month:

 

 

This is Chatelaine's Debi's Roses. I didn't care for the design that was released this month, so went searching through my freebie files and found a couple that would fit.  The other was in blues and I wasn't sure if it would fit right here so will save it in case of another "eh" reaction to future releases.

 

Just Nan's Spring in the Air is going on the frame later this afternoon. I may leave it on until I finish it, but will see how much progress I actually make this week.

I don't know where I've been...

Month: May
Spent: $27.67
Earned: Not participating

It is Memorial Day weekend in the States, so I thought a collage was in order.  This is my family during World War II:

On the left is the home front, my Grandparents, my Aunt Linda and my Dad. On the right from top left to bottom right, are my: Aunt Hazel; and, Uncles Dale, Bob, and Dick (thanks to my cousin Dewey's Facebook page for the photos).  My Dad went on to a 30-year career in the Army.

So, when I last blogged (a month ago!!!), I had great hopes of keeping up with all my check-ins and tearing through the stitching. Um, yeah, not so much. I would love to tell you that I was working on something with great socially redeeming value, but honestly, I have no idea what I was doing that took all my time.  That is not totally true, my parents came to visit a couple of weeks ago - Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!!!

I will not be able to catch up on all the check-ins I missed, so will get the ones that are due soon. The first is

Simple and easy - try to stitch from your stash as much as you can. Each month you get a $25 budget (I'm tracking in US Dollars but you can convert to your local currency) and what you don't spend does roll over. Well for the first time in a long time, I bought something this month!!! It hasn't arrived yet, but I am going to count it and will show you when it arrives. So for May:

Balance forward: $100
Budget: $25
Available $125
Spent: $27.67
To June: $97.33

I had three new starts from stash:

This is Rosewood Manor's contribution to The Sampler Life's SAL. It is stitched with the DMC conversion:



A couple years ago, I stitched 99 by Ink Circles for my son. During the stitching I showed my DNephew the photo and h really liked it, so I started one for him this morning. It is stitched on 32-count Vintage Buttercream from Lakeside Linens with DMC.

 



And finally, while my parents were visiting, my Mom was going through her stitching bag and asked if I wanted to stitch this for her:

 

It is Just Nan's Swan Lake. It is stitched on a 28-count Dark Teal Green cashel with DMC and the included beads. Technically it's not my stash, but it is a start from stash.

On other stitching.  I didn't get Santa's beard on Santa's Magic by Mirabelia, finished as I'd hoped, but I did get from here:

 

 

To here - I very much dislike stitching with Wisper thread!!!:

 



I also put a bit of time into Christmas Presence from HAED.  He went from here:

To here:

And finally, I'll do my check-in for:

I am using my blocks from The Sampler Life's SAL as my Smalls SAL each month. I showed the finished block above, and here are all four blocks together:

The weather for this weekend is just too beautiful (upper-70s/low-80s, very low humidity, light breeze - pretty close to perfect) to spend much time inside, so I'm not sure I'll get too much stitching done over the next 2 days, but Monday is supposed to start being summery which means hot, hazy and humid - no fun for working outside, so maybe then.