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".

At least it wasn't a full month

No, it hasn't been a full month since my last post, but I am darn close.  Since my last post I steadily stitched away on a piece I can't show you right now as it's a gift.  I finished it last week and got it to the framers the same day as (1) they were having a lovely sale and (2) I wanted it back before Thanksgiving.  After I finished that piece, I pulled out an almost oldie, but definitely a goodie and finished:

Tenth Day from Plum Street Samplers.  I think I may focus on this piece as I would very much like to have it finished for this Christmas.  I really do need to work on my color balance as the fabric is Vintage Autumn Gold from Lakeside Linens and is by no means this washed out.

I have also been collecting ideas and supplies for my holiday crafting and baking blitz.  It will take place the week of November 28th and I am looking forward to spending the entire week creating.  Of course, the collecting ideas part of this brings us to the other reason I haven't been reading or posting as I should - Pinterest!  It really is an evil place and should be banned!!  I have found so many wonderful ideas there.  Of course whenever I see one of those wonderful ideas, the chronological challenged part of my brain says "of course you have time to do this" and the rest of me just goes along with it and I spend hours planning and searching the craft room and house for things to us to make it and suddenly it's midnight and I have lost an entire evening day hour.  I will say there are some amazingly creative and talented people out there and thank them for sharing their talents with the rest of us (even if I do end up chasing rabbits).

I've even done some stashing!!   and .  The first is Christmas Baskets by The Drawn Thread and the second is Halloween on the Farm by Kathy Barrick.  The fabric for Halloween is a mocha color so much richer than shown.  In addition to stitching Halloween, I may steal the cat to use in my attempt to finish a series.  Lisa Roswell of The Primitive Needle designed two pieces  and   (if you can't read them, they are Cape Cod girls they have no combs, they comb their hair with codfish bones and Cape Cod boys they have no sleds, they slide down hill on codfish heads), based on the sea shanty Cape Cod Girls or Bound for Australia.  There is an additional verse of, "Cape Cod cats ain't got no tails, they lost them all in Cape Cod (or nor'east) gales". I am going to try to use bits and pieces of the first two to do the third, but I need a primitive style cat, which Halloween has.  Stay tuned for the next ten or fifteen years for the results.

There are two SAL check-ins coming up,  and  so I might as well be early for them.

 is hosted by Melissa at Measie's Musing and has been going strong since 2012.  This has been a wonderful, low-stress SAL that provides the encouragement needed to work through those works-in-progress so many of us collect.  Hmmmm, that's an idea, I could call it a collection and then nobody would really expect me to finish them would they?  I mean, nobody asks a stamp collector when they are going to use their collection!  While I am thinking on that, I will continue stitching.  Looking back at my October WIPocalypse post, I have had no progress on my chosen pieces.  Sad, sad, sad.  Fortunately, Melissa does give us questions each month to liven things up a bit and this month's is:  What pattern (or designer) is on your must-try-to-stitch bucket list?  For sheer size, Sistine Chapel as charted by Heaven and Earth Designs is my pattern.  Given that I am lucky to do two or three pages a year and there are 55 or 60 pages in the pattern - well I'll let you do the math.  For designer, anything Teresa Wentzler. Not that her pieces are complicated but they do require some concentration and determination.  I have many of her patterns in my stash with Holly and Ivy Sampler at the top of my list to start.  If you're interested, Melissa has said she is going to continue WIPocalypse into 2017, so keep your eyes on her blog for more information.

Jo at Serendipitous Stitching hosts  so that we have a place to thank those that have gifted us with stitching bits and bobs or to show things we are stitching as gifts.  I, again, have no update on the pieces that were gifted to me and I can't show the one I am gifting, so while it's a check-in, it's not a very exciting one.

One more load of laundry to finish and then I plan to spend the rest of the afternoon cruising Pinterest stitching on either another 12 Days block or maybe Santa and the Mouse. 

A MONTH?!?!

How in the world did a month go by without a blog post?  WOW!  Funny how the blog in my head is up to date and filled with photos and witty posts while this one languishes.  Ah well, let's forge ahead and I'll see if the photos remind me of anything.

First is this one:

For the first time in ages, I took a photo.  TUSAL is hosted by Daffy Cat at It's Daffycat and requires you to save all those bits and pieces of thread that you would normally throw out.  I'm using an old Yankee Candle jar to hold mine.  I have had to tamp this down a couple of times but I should be good through the end of the year.

The next photos are for my  and  check-ins:

It's About Time.  I finished another column and started the next since my last post.

Turns out that bit of gold in the lower right corner I mentioned in my last post is part of a bird

I am stitching a bit faster now that I have modified my key to this:

I took the three pages of the original key and cut out only the bits that were important to me: symbol; color number; and, color name and taped them onto one page and put it in a page protector.  I am surprised at how much time this simple change saves me.  I just have to do the same thing with my other HaEDS.

Santa and the Mouse is moving right along. 

This is a very messy stitch.  I do need to figure out a better way to start a round piece

 and finally Shakespearean Fantasy.  More black, more greens and almost another column finish.

I am looking forward to getting to a "clean" page as all this filling in stresses me and my hobby should not be stressful.

Oh yes, I mentioned Gifted Gorgeousness and WIPocalypse.  Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and gives us an opportunity to thank everyone that has been so generous with stitching gifts or to show something that will be a gift.  The patterns for It's About Time and Shakespearean Fantasy were gifts from Kate at A Kowgirl's Stitchin and Pull the Other Thread respectively.  Santa and the Mouse is a double entry as it was a freebie from Heaven and Earth Designs (now retired) and it has Santa giving a gift (or will once I get a few more columns over).

WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and is an incentive to tame the WIP monster.  I've been participating since 2012 and have cut down my list from 25 to 18.  I know, that doesn't sound like a lot, but given my limited stitching time and the fact that the majority of my pieces are BAPs, I'm very pleased.  Melissa provides topics each month and this month's is: What online stitching communities do you enjoy?  I remember my first foray into the online needlecraft world, it was RCTN.  It was slow and clunky by today's standards but oh my, I found people from all over the world that stitched and a few in my own backyard.  I was, and am, a fairly solitary stitchery because of location so to be able to talk about various designers and problems was amazing to me.  From there fancier bulletin boards came into being and I was able to see photos of others work - that was probably not so good for my wallet and it introduced me to the concept of STABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy), but a huge step forward.  I still read several bulletin/Yuku/Yahoo boards but most of them seem to have migrated to Facebook.  I do belong to two or three Facebook groups, but it is not my preferred platform, so I am not as active as I used to be on the bulletin boards.  My most used social media is my blog roll.  I can get lost for hours, clicking on not only my but others blog rolls. I enjoy seeing what others are stitching or crafting and I like that I is all in some order.  Facebook seems to one long stream of conscience and I have difficulty following one conversation.  I suppose that's a factor of being old and in the future, I'll pine for Facebook's simplicity.  I have also watched Floss Tube videos when I'm learning a new technique but I don't follow anyone.

A few more household chores and I'll be free to stitch through the weekend.  And just maybe I will get the post that is already composing itself in my head onto the blog.

A gifted WIPocalypse check-in

I am a few days late for the

and  the

check-ins, but given my track record the last few months, I am very happy with a few days late.

WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings for some reason I can't get to her site today to link the address but will keep trying.  It started in 2012 as a tongue-in-check nod to the end of the world and an attempt to leave with as many WIPs completed as possible.  I've been trying ever since to complete mine.

Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is a way for us to thank all those folks that have gifted us with something stitching related or to show our progress on something that will be a gift.

I have two pieces that fit into both categories that I have progress on since my last post.  The first is Shakespearean Fantasy

This pattern was a gift from Pull the Other Thread.  I completed the small strip I think it was three stitches wide up to the blue line.  I know I've mentioned how I don't see the picture developing on these until I sit back, well with this one, I completely missed it.  Leonore and Justine both commented about the fairies in my last post.  I really could not see what they were talking about.  I kept seeing tree leaves, but kept staring at it with squinted and crossed eyes it always worked with those magic eye pictures that were all the rage in the 90s but still was not seeing it/them.  I'm not sure why but after stitching the last bit of that tiny little column, I sat back and they jumped out at me.  There is half, or so, of one at the bottom and you can see just a bit of wing forming there on the edge. NOW the weird color changes make sense!! After consulting the map/guide to the piece, this section represents A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

Fortunately, It's About Time doesn't have a lot of hidden bits and pieces. This pattern was a gift from Kate at A Kowgirl's Stitchin Blog. 

I am very happy to say that this is a page finish.  I'm looking forward to seeing what that blob of yellow/gold in the lower right corner turns out to be.

I spent a bit of time working on To Have and To Hold Bridal Sampler, but I had to frog most of it as I miscounted and the name wasn't centered.  No photo as I was a bit frustrated with myself and just set it aside, but I have now run a basting line down the center and will be stitching the names from the center out rather than thinking I've counted correctly to the edge. 

A 3 Fer Post

In an attempt to pretend that I am keeping up my blog, you will be getting three SALs in one post!!  Lucky for you, they all use the same piece.

I am so far behind in posting that I am not going to try to catch up, other than to say, I had a wonderful time on vacation (DSis and DBIL are wonderful hosts) and the office renovations ran a week over which meant an extra week of working from home.

I didn't end up taking any stitching with my on vacation, but I did do some stitching in the evenings during my extra telework week and..... insert drumroll!!!

I finished Christmas Presence.

 

He was finished on the 14th, but I didn't get around to trimming the back and washing him until today.  Michaels is having another amazing sale on framing so I took him in and should have him back right around September 2nd.  I have decided to enter him into the state fair also he's in a different section than Secret Victorian Garden so won't be competing against myself.

 

I put Santa and the Mouse ornament onto the frame and will start it later tonight.  I can't find the pattern for the ornament on the Heaven and Earth Designs website but the large pattern can be seen here.  The ornament focuses on Santa's face and the mouse (which nobody would ever guess from the title).

 

And that is my only entry for  and  this month.

 

Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is a way to thank those wonderful folks that have gifted us with something stitching related.  Christmas Presence was a freebie for the 2015 HaED SAL so I am counting it as a gift from the company.

 

 is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and provides some incentive to work on those WIPs that many of us have hanging around.  Each month Melissa gives us a topic to help us move our blogging along and also introduce ourselves to the group.  This month's topic is:  Have you ever read any fictional books that involve embroidery?  Yes I have.  I was a big reader of Monica Ferris's Betsy Devonshire Needlecraft mysteries. Unfortunately, as happens with many serial stories, they started to read alike and they faded from interest, but they were fun, cozy mystery reads.  I do still have the books as each one came with a pattern and there were several that I added to my to-be-stitched pile.

 

The 3rd SAL starts today and is .  IHSW is hosted by Joyce at Random Ramblings and is a wonderful excuse to sit and stitch all weekend and unlike me, post about it when you're done (I seem to forget that last part).  If you're interested in participating, click on the link and it will take you to the sign-up post and then just sit down and stitch.  It is supposed to be a bit cooler (90 and 92 F) this weekend, but I don't think I am going to be doing too much outside (although the lawn does need a good mowing) so IHSW will be a perfect way to use my time.

 

For only having one piece to show, I sure did go on for a while.  Hopefully the yakkiness lasts and I'll post sooner than the middle of September.

April WIPocalypse

I'm a few days late for the  check-in, but fortunately Melissa doesn't put a time limit on posting.  You can find out everything you need to know about WIPocalypse on Melissa's website Measi's Musings, but basically it's a reminder to give our WIPs some lovin' before we start something new.  Melissa also provides us with "Questions of the Month" so we can get to know each other.  This month's question is:  What do you listen to while stitching?  Most often I listen to audio books while I'm stitching.  I discovered them 18 months ago and love them.  If I'm not listening to a book, there is usually music on and occasionally the television.  If the television is on, it's usually on something that doesn't take a lot of active watching as I would rather concentrate on my stitching and not the show.

So WIP stitching...  three projects in my current rotation are on my WIPocalypse list - you can see the list in the "WIPocalypse Project List and 2016 Stitching Plan" tab up top there.

The three projects are:  Secret Victorian Garden; Shakespearean Fantasy; and, Christmas Presence.

I finally finished Secret Victorian Garden - I showed the finish photo in my last post, but I'll show it again.

Shakespearean Fantasy went from here:

I love how the black makes the greens pop.

Christmas Presence was here:

and today it's here:

Didn't quite finish the column, but will fill in those missing stitches and start a new column next week.

I also had progress on two other projects that are not on my WIPocalypse list, It's About Time and Christmas Soldiers.

IAT is now here:

Quite a few missing stitches in that column

and Christmas Soldiers is here:

Those stars in the middle are two different colors, they just aren't showing up too well.

All in all, it was a good stitching week.

Lost a Couple of Weeks

Hmmm, after being ahead of things the beginning of the month things fell apart and I lost two weeks somewhere.  I have been dealing with a medical "thing" and it's been taking a lot of my time and energy.  Fortunately, it's turned out to be very treatable - I have sleep apnea and it caused a heart rhythm problem - so once I start treatment not only should the heart thing go away, but the sleep specialist is saying I'll probably have an easier time losing weight, remembering things and just be generally more healthy - who knew sleep did so much?  Of course, once the bills start coming in, I may just have a real heart attack.

I have missed two check-ins but I have been stitching in between all the tests and appointments, so I do have things to show.

The first check-in is for  which is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings.  She created and has been hosting this SAL since 2012 when she decided that she should finish, or at least make a dent in her WIPs before the world ended in December.  Well, as far as I know, the world is still here (although I suppose in some parallel universe it did end) and, unfortunately, so are most of the WIPs on my list.   Three projects on my stitching list/plan for this year are in my current rotation and I do have progress on all three.  Before I get to the pictures, Melissa gives us a discussion topic each month and this month's is:  Do you use hoops, stretcher bars, lap stands or Q snap frames and why? For anything larger than very small pieces or those done on perforated paper, I use scroll bars.  My hands cramp if I stitch in-hand for too long.  I have used hoops, Q snaps, and stretcher bars, but I always come back to scroll rods.  I like the tension and the fact that once the fabric is squared off and mounted, I don't have to worry about it wracking or going off square, so no blocking is required once the piece is finished.  I stitch "in the ditch" so I am only touching a very small portion of the piece so don't worry about dirt or grime but just to sure, I do cover my pieces with a clean tea towel when I'm not stitching.  For smaller pieces, I have an Elan lap stand from Artisan Designs and for my larger pieces a Needlework System 4 floor stand.  I love them both as they allow me to stitch two-handed, are easy to flip to the back to finish off ends and keep my piece within easy reach at all times.  

And what has been on my scroll rods since my last WIPocalypse check-in?

Christmas Presence from Heaven and Earth Designs.  At last month's check-in, it was here:

And today it is here:

More stained glass.

Shakespearean Fantasy went from here last month:

to here today:

and my final WIPocalypse project is Secret Victorian Garden from Chatelaine.  It was here last month:

and here is the beading of the center portion that is finished:

here is a close up of one corner:

Unfortunately, my kit was short on the dark blue beads, so I have to wait a bit before I can finish the final checkerboard and corner, but there are plenty of other beads that need adding.


The other SAL I am late checking in for is the .  Heather at Stitching Lotus hosts the SAL.  This SAL celebrates smalls in all their sizes - yes, you get to decide what is small.  All you have to do is post a picture on the last Thursday of the month.  This SAL really motivates me.  I have been using the blocks from The Sampler Life's mystery SAL for my monthly pieces.  Each one is no larger than 50X50 so a very nice size.  For March, I finished Susanne's Samplerlife Ornament from Susanne Schmidt Farbenfroh.  I used one of the new variegated DMC for it and like how it turned out.

The photo is very washed out.

The April block was released today so I am officially two month's behind, my March block was the February release.  March's block is from Thea Gouverneur and will require a bit of work as no color numbers were given, just a color chart.  April's block is a choice of three from Artecy Cross Stitch.  I don't think I will stitch all three, but it will be difficult to pick which one.

I have one more piece that I have worked on that does not belong to either SAL - well it will fit into next year's WIPocalypse...  It is It's About Time from Heaven and Earth Designs.

It was here last time  I showed it:

And tonight, it is here:

Not much time for stitching this weekend as I leave early Sunday morning for Alexandria, Louisiana for work.  I'll be back late on Tuesday, but I am teleworking on Wednesday and took Thursday and Friday off, so it shouldn't be to bad a work week (and I hope to get a LOT of stitching in next weekend!!).