Half a page

Half a page, half a page,

Half a page onward,

 

With apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, but I have finished half of page one of Shakespearean Fantasy.

 

In total, there are enough stitches to probably say there are a couple of pages done, but the great black blob, with one very dark navy stitch, is easy to count. Those hanging threads at the bottom are my first attempt at parking! I know, it doesn't really count with solid stitching but you have to start somewhere right?  I also just saw that you can see all of the travelling threads in this photo.  Fortunately, the black will cover them.

And that one photo takes care of my YOTA, HAP and part of   WIPcoalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings, YOTA is hosted by Pull the Other Thread and the HAP SAL is hosted by Stacy at Crossed Stitches.  All three aim to help us focus on finishing what we have started rather than just adding to that stack of WIPs. 

 

In addition to Shakespearean Fantasy, Elegant Doily and Christmas Presence are on my WIPocalypse and YOTA list.  Elegant Doily ended here:

 

 

Each month, Melissa provides a topic to discuss with our post. August's was to pick a piece we stitched on this month and discuss our stitching journey. I am going to use Christmas Presence from Heaven and Earth Designs.  I received Shakespearean Fantasy as a RAK and was planning to start it on January 1st.  As I was new to the solid stitched type piece, I went looking for all the hints and tips I could and ran across the HAED YUKU board. As I was looking through all the forums, I ran across a topic line to sign up for the 2015 Freebie SAL.  A part would be released on January 1st and the next three during various times through June. As the pieces were small parts from larger charts, they would be detailed but would be possible to finish in a year. I also thought it would be a great chance to try out various styles of HAED stitching - gridding, cross-country, parking, etc.  I signed up and went digging for fabric.  I found a piece of 28 count Cashel and set about gridding.  All the threads were pulled and I was ready for my January start.  As I stitched, I could feel myself becoming very irritated.  I was concerned as I had also just started Shakespearean Fantasy and if my irritation was with the style of stitching rather than something else, I was going to be very unhappy for a very long time.  After a bit I decided it was the unevenness of the Cashel that was the problem, so back to the stash I went and found a piece of 28 count Jobelan (the same fabric I had pulled for Shakespearean Fantasy). That change made all the difference and everything fell into place.  I have learned a lot on this piece, but most importantly, it's all just one X at a time. I am no speed demon but am making steady progress.  I have almost finished the first page and did it cross-country.  I am going to try parking on the second page as I think it will help with Shakespearean Fantasy once I get past the pages of black and really get into the confetti stitching.  I really do like the detail that is achieved and could very easily see myself getting hooked on these pieces.  Here's a collage of my progress:

 

 

I started September's square for The Sampler Life's SAL but will save that for a later post.

 

Four check-ins?!?

So much for my little brag in my last post about being all caught up. It only took a few days and I am late for two and have two more for today. Fortunately for your reading time, the pieces fit all four SALs so the post should not be too long (yeah right!!).

First up is  or Designers Everyone Should Instantly Get to Notice. It is hosted at NCC International Headquarters.  This month I'm going to highlight my favorite designer Martina Rosenburg (formerly Weber) of Chatelaine. I have Secret Victorian Garden in my rotation right now and it is now here:

One more corner, the outside border and thousands (yes thousands) of beads and it will be done. Where to start with Martina's designs? I suppose Leonore's questions are a good place...

-Have you stitched a piece by this designer before? YES!!! I have started nine other pieces (see the list in the right side bar and pictures up there in the Chatelaine WIPs tab. I have finished a number of her smaller pieces, three of her samplers and two of her large mandalas. Just tooting my horn a bit, the Caribbean mandala shown on the chart pack was a photo of mine (I think the background color has been photoshopped with black now, I did mine on African Daisy) and I won a first place and Best in Section in the Virginia State Fair for my Egyptian mandala.
-Would you buy/stitch a piece by this designer again? Again YES!!!  I have many, many, many of her large mandalas and a few of her smaller samplers in my stash with most of them fully kitted and ready to go. I only need more stitching time. I have not bought a new one recently but that is a function of my economic situation rather than falling out of love with her designs.
-What made you chose this particular design/designer?  It was a combination of color and design. Martina has an amazing eye for color. She also combines various types of threads with specialty stitches and beads and sparklies to create a feeling that evokes the design name perfectly.
-Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others? Yes. She was the first designer that I had noticed that released a large pattern in monthly pieces.  Her large mystery mandalas are her signature pieces and it was like getting a gift every month when that email showed up telling us the new part was available. The mystery aspect was also new for me. It was a leap of faith to invest the time and money into a piece that you had no information on other than a name and description.  I was never been disappointed.  She also has large mandalas that were released all at once for when you were feeling less adventurous.  The only draw back is the price.  The materials can be costly if you decide to use the called for silks and over-dyed threads. Fortunately, Martina provides a conversion to DMC which makes these much more affordable and unless you put your DMC one right next to a called-for-thread one, nobody will know that yours is the "economy" version.

From DESIGN to , YOTA and the HAP SAL.  WIPcoalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings, YOTA is hosted by Pull the Other Thread and the HAP SAL is hosted by Stacy at Crossed Stitches.  All three aim to help us focus on finishing what we have already started rather than just adding to that stack of WIPs.  I worked on a few pieces from the WIPcolaypse and YOTA Project tab (up there at the top) and one of them, Shakespearean Fantasy, is my HAP SAL piece.

Shakespearean Fantasy was here when I put it up a few weeks ago:

Secret Victorian Garden, Spring in the Air and Christmas Presence are also on the list. Spring in the Air was finished and can be seen here (if the link doesn't work, there is a Finishes tab up top).  Christmas Presence went from here:

To here:

Still so many stitches left just to finish the first page...

This month's WIPocalypse question is: What makes you pick up a long abandoned UFO rather than begin a new piece? Oh that is easy! Guilt!  I have a total of 32 UFO/WIPs and do not need any more.  Because I gravitate towards large pieces, whenever I get the urge to pull out a new Chatelaine or HAED, I look at the WIP list (I refuse to call them UFOs as I intend to finish each and every one) and the urge evaporates. I have also been able to satisfy the new start urge with smalls. I have participated in a smalls SAL for several years so I have the impetuous to finish them each month.

So much for a short post...

Three more check-ins

Well, I was caught up with my SAL check-ins for a couple of minutes days! Three more check-ins to catch-up with today, one on Saturday and I will be caught up for a while. I am starting to feel more settled at work which is, I hope, a sign that I will be more settled here at home.

So first up is  or Designers Everyone Should Instantly Get to Notice. It is hosted over at NCC. I have been very remiss posting to this SAL, but this month will recognize an "oldie but goodie" Just Nan.  According to their website, Just Nan started as a company in 1991 and I have been collecting and stitching her designs since right about that time. I have enough patterns and kits in my stash to almost be embarrassed as she was a must-buy for years.  My latest piece is Spring in the Air

Leonore gave us a list of questions to guide us for each post so...
-Have you stitched a piece by this designer before?  Oh yes. I have 20 or so pieces, mostly smalls and class projects hanging in my den/stitching room and I did five of her Christmas stockings for gifts one year. I also have a number of unfinished-finished pieces just waiting for me to get into a finishing mindset.
-Would you buy/stitch a piece by this designer again? Yes, although I did lose the "love" when she moved away from her sampler style, I have enough in my stash to keep me stitching her designs for a number of years.
-What made you chose this particular design/designer? Nan has a very distinctive style and color palette. I can still look at a stitched piece and pick her pieces out. For this particular piece? I love pansies and I am a sucker for seasonal series pieces. Unfortunately, I am not sure I will finish this series. I purchased this pattern and Strawberry Summer but when Winter Blues came out, I didn't like it. Nothing against the series, design or designer, it just did nothing for me.
-Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others? As I mentioned, she had a color palette that appealed to me and she was using unique, for me at the time, threads - perle cottons and silks.

From DESIGN to 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 stitching or want to stitch and maybe even finish in 2015.  My HAP for 2015 and the next 10 or 15 years is Shakespearean Fantasy. When I showed it to you last week, it was here:

Sunday evening, I put an additional 400 (gridding is good for stitch counting) black stitches in and it now looks like this:

In addition to my HAP SAL piece, Shakespearean Fantasy is one of my  pieces.  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musing and is another SAL to help us focus on getting through our WIP pile.  I think between last weekend's post and the pictures above, I have posted updates of all my WIPocalypse pieces. There is a complete list in the WIPocalypse and YOTA Project List and 2015 Stitching Plan tab up top there. Melissa also gives us questions for each month's post. This month's is Fantasy or Reality? Which do you prefer to stitch? Figures or abstracts? I lean more towards reality or at least someone's concept of reality!  The presentation may be abstract, the theme is usually based in reality.  It isn't that I don't like fantasy pieces and I have stitched a fair number of them, but it it more a function of my stashing habits or lack thereof. When the majority of my stash was purchased, there weren't a lot of really good patterns that I would define as fantasy.  There has been an explosion of designers in that area over the last ten years or so, but I haven't been buying a lot of stash in that time.  With unlimited financial resources, my stash would look much different today.

As WIPocalypse and YOTA have the same goals and pieces, I am counting this as my YOTA post and am now AHEAD!!! with my SAL posts. I am sure I will get behind again soon enough so I won't rest on my laurels for too long.

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.

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.

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.

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.

January YOTA

It's YOTA time!! What!? You don't know YOTA? It's 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? Yes, I know this isn't the first Saturday in January, but check-in was pushed back a week due to the holidays and all the craziness that can be associated with them. We will be back to the regular schedule next month.

I don't have a lot of show this month. I had huge plans to work on Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts Sampler Thursday, Friday and today, but I kept finding other things to do. I tend to do that a lot - get close to a finish and then dawdle around, find other things to do, start something new or just plain ignore it - I am going to push through that and finish this one.  I did almost get the snowflake band done though:

So what did I find to do other than work on this? Cleaned out the linen cupboard, fixed the cat's scratch posts, started a small (no pictures yet) and added another color to Christmas Presence. As I was working through that color, I found that I could not, despite my best intentions, continue to work on the Cashel, the slubs and inconsistency of fiber were not making for a fun stitch and if it isn't fun, why do it?  Fortunately, it hasn't been that long since I put away the Jobelan that I cut the piece for Shakespearean Fantasy from, so out it came and two pieces - one for Christmas Presence and one for Santa and the Mouse were cut off. I did the gridding and restarted CP yesterday afternoon and by 9:00 last night was back to where I had been plus a little bit (again, excuse the ratty ends).

The stitching is much easier and looks so much better (at least to me) - lesson learned.

 Hopefully next month I will have more progress to show.

December WIPocalypse and YOTA - 2014 Recap

Before I get started on my recap, Happy Birthday to DSister! I was digging through pictures but couldn't find any of the two of us when she was a baby.  The closest I got was this one:

It was taken Easter 19-something-something when she was 2 and I was 4 or 5 depending on when Easter was that year.  That foliage behind us?  I think it's honeysuckle that got a bit out of control.  The year after this picture was taken, a chicken took up roost in it.  No we didn't live in the country, we were only a few miles from the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman - we figured she was someone's Easter chick that got away (or was allowed to get away as it wasn't cute any longer). We fed her graham crackers and named her Chicken Licken.  Unfortunately, chickens are not good house pets so when we moved to Michigan, we couldn't take her with us.  So one weekend, we caught her, and found a nice farm that took her in.  I am sure she spent many long, happy years wandering around the farm yard doing whatever chickens do and died peacefully in her sleep of extreme old age.

So besides my sister's and DBIL's birthdays and their anniversary and Christmas, December means - recaps!!  As it's the first Saturday of the month and a full moon, there are two recaps, WIPocalypse and YOTA.  Fortunately they are both WIP focused SALs so it is great that the final post for 2014 for both of them falls on the same day.

I had five pieces on my WIPocalypse/YOTA list this year.  I am really pleased with the progress that I made on all of them.

Santa's Magic by Mirabilia went from here:

To here:

Enchanted Swans by Just Nan started here:

And was finished on January 3rd:

Elegant Doily by Kayann's Kreations went from this:

To this:

The section shown in the before photo is on the left in this photo

I had a bit of a switch up with my Chatelaine piece.  I started with Serengeti and went from here:

To here:

Before it was put away in favor of Secret Victorian Garden.  SVG went from this:

To this:

The lower right section in the before photo is the upper left in this one.

And finally, Three Tulips by With Thy Needle and Thread went from here:

To a finish on April 10th:

So two finishes from my list and good progress on the other three. I don't know if either of these SALs will continue into 2015, but I will continue with my WIP reduction plan. 

Speaking of 2015 SALs, Gifted Gorgeousness, DESIGN and A New Stitchy Start 2015 are still taking sign-ups.  Heather at Stitching Lotus has announced that she will continue with the Smalls SAL for 2015 and is taking sign-ups and Mel at Epic Stitch has a page up, although sign-ups are not open yet, for Stitch from Stash 2015A. Clicking on the SAL's name should take you to the sign up/information pages for each one.

Secret Victorian Garden went on the frame today and I may take a break from the rotation, honestly I have been rubbish at doing any stitching the last couple of weeks so I don't think it will make too much difference, and just leave it on the frame for the rest of the year. I am also gridding fabric for three, yes three, HAED starts (two fairly smalls ones for HAEDs and Shakespearean Fantasy) and am finding it rather relaxing so will throw that in every so often also.  I do hope to have one more small finish this year, but am not really pushing too hard as I have a ton of holiday crafting and baking to finish up over the next couple of weeks.