Summer and June Stitch From Stash

Summer has started with a vengeance!  We had the warmest day since last July on Wednesday.  It was in the mid-90s with a heat index in the low 100s - YUCK!!! Days like that are just miserable, you feel like you have a warm, damp washcloth wrapped around you all the time and standing on the train platform in the sun with 100s of your closet friends is an experience not to be missed - nobody has passed out but it is just a matter of time.  In addition to the miserable heat and humidity, a sure sign of summer is that the mimosa trees are blooming.  We don't have any in our yard so I had to go search for a photo online and found this one: 

If Dr. Seuss had been asked to design a tree, this would have been the result!

And this one with a close up of the flowers and leaves:

We had one of these in our front yard in Oklahoma and while it's a very pretty tree, it is also a messy one.  It is a legume and as such each of those flowers produces a seed pod which falls to the ground and has to be raked up.

But I'm sure you didn't visit to read about trees or the heat, so I'll get on to the  update.  Mel at Epic Stitching is hosting this challenge and it's rather simple (at least on paper).  We are given a budget of $25 (I'm using USD but others are converting to an equal value in their currency) for each month for all those must haves.  If you have funds left over at the end of the month, they roll over to the next month, so you can save up for a Chatelaine, kit up that Mirabilia or buy that Just Nan limited edition.  You also get a free month if you really need it all NOW.  This month we were given an extra $50 with the caveat that we had to spend our $25 monthly budget first so with $75 for this month plus my carry over of $125, I spent.... nothing.  Instead of buying, I stitched on Elegant Doily, Secret Victorian Garden, Strawberry Summer, and Santa's Magic. I think I have posted updates of all of them recently except for Santa, so here's where he was when he finished his time in the rotation last week:

From my stash, I started Little House Needleworks' Winter Sheep.

So, for next month, I have available:

Carry-over:             $125.
June Budget:               25.
June Purchases:            0.
Carry over to July:  $150

Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts is on the frame for the rest of today  Just Nan's Strawberry Summer goes on it tomorrow for its week in the rotation.

June WIPocalypse

Oh my!  What a wonderful week!  I worked from home this week to allow me to concentrate on a huge project I finished it this morning!!! and it was great to turn off the computer at 5:00 and be home rather than at my normal 7:30ish.  I cooked dinner, The Hubs enjoyed that!, cleaned up the kitchen and had HOURS for stitching and/or reading before bedtime - my usual evening routine is:  get home around 7:30; eat a bowl of cereal while I'm making and packing my breakfast and lunch for the next day; talk with the Hubs for a few minutes; put out my clothes for the next day; and, in bed around 8:30.  Sigh unfortunately, I'm back in the office on Monday.

Before I forget, welcome and thank you to all my followers, new and old.  I do appreciate you sticking around with me.

So, today is a full moon so, it's time for my  update.  Measi at Measi's Musings host WIPocalypse.  If you click on the dragon, you should be taken to the information site.

This month's question is:  Have you ever been to a stitching retreat or festival?  Yes, I have.  I was fortunate to live less than an hour from the Celebration of Needleworks sites, Manchester, first and later Nashua, when I lived in New Hampshire. I went to every Celebration from 1993 until I moved in 2007.  Because I lived so close, I didn't spend the night, but I took lots of classes and did make my contribution to the attending needlework designers and vendors.  I also met a number of people that I had previously only "talked" to on the RCTN group and later Yuku groups and blogs.  A retreat is on my wish list - I know of three or four that are within a few hours of my home - so hopefully in the near future I will make one of them.

Onto the stitching... I have three projects left from my original list: Secret Victorian Garden, Santa's Magic and Elegant Doily.

You can see my progress on Elegant Doily in my previous post.  I'm still eyeletting and will be for the foreseeable future.

Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden went from here:

to here:

And Mirabilia's Santa's Magic went from here:

To here:

Santa will be on the frame through tomorrow.  Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts goes on the frame on Sunday for its week in the rotation.

First Saturday in June

The first Saturday in June.   Other than being a "how did we get here?" moment, it is also YOTA time. YOTA you ask?  Yes, YOTA.  It's a WIP slaying SAL hosted at Pull the Other Thread.  No real stress, just pick a WIP or two or five and stitch.  On the first Saturday of every month, post your progress.  Repeat as many times as you would like.

Kayann's Kreations' Elegant Doily has been on the frame for this week.  If you have read any of my comments on the doily this year, you will know what I have been stitching - eyelets.  Lots and lots of eyelets!

Here are a few of the eyelets that I have stitched so far this week:

And here is what I have left to eyelet:

This will stay on the frame for the rest of today, so hopefully I can settle in and add a few more eyelets.  Santa's Magic goes on the frame tomorrow.  I do need to mow the lawn tomorrow so may not get a lot done on Santa tomorrow but I am working from home this coming week so I will actually have time at night to stitch so my reduced stitching time tomorrow may not make a huge difference to what I can get done.

A Small, TUSAL and Just Nan post

After a wonderful long weekend, I had an entire week of Mondays!  It was not a week I want to repeat soon.  I keep telling the boss that everything can't be my first priority but he doesn't seem to understand that concept - could by one of the reasons 3/4 of the staff is looking for other employment opportunities...

Anyway, I had a wonderful four days off from work and did a lot of stitching in between the housework and lawn mowing and various other things that kept screaming to be done.

For my I had a finish although not this past weekend. The Smalls SAL is hosted at Stitching Lotus by Heather.  Clicking on the badge should take you to the site. Here is Frosty Flakes from Little House Needleworks:

He she? is stitched on Weeks Dye Works' 30-count Straw linen with DMC, WDW and Crescent Colours and Mill Hill beads.  I really enjoyed this one and will probably stitch it again.

  I'm really not sure that TUSAL really is a totally useless endeavor - it puts a smile on my face and I think that is VERY useful!!  Again, clicking on the badge should take you to the site so that you can read all about collecting those little bits of thread that you used to toss away.  Here is my TUSAL jar in front of my current rotation piece, Secret Victorian Garden by Chatelaine.  I finished another corner through part 11.  You can see my progress on part 12 where the thread is hanging.  I am hoping to finish this quarter of part 12 today before putting the doily on the frame for its week.

And finally.  Zeb at Keep Calm and Cross Stitch is hosting the .  A year long hopefully longer SAL to work on all those Just Nan's you have in your stash.  I am still working away on Strawberry Summer.  I showed it on my last post and it was here:

Unfortunately, this was on the frame on my lawn mowing day, and it took me much longer than normal or expected to finish the lawn up so I wasn't able to do a lot more, but did get to here:

This is getting really close to a finish.  I do have to chart out a 4 as this one is dated 2001 with no additional numbers given.

Thanks for reading!!!

A long weekend and Stitch from Stash update

WHEW!!! That no holiday stretch from Presidents Day to Memorial Day is long!!  I even had a week off in April but it just feels different when it's a holiday weekend it is even better that my every-other-Friday-off was yesterday so instead of a three-day, I have a four-day weekend.  The potatoes are cooling and macaroni will be cooked this afternoon for salads, the burgers are made and waiting for the grill and all the housework is done, so I have a solid two days of stitching to look forward too.  I'll have part of this afternoon and evening also, but need to mow the lawn first and that will take a good 2-1/2 or 3 hours, so today is not a solid stitching day.  It may not be a solid stitching day, but it is check-in day!!  Mel at Epic Stitching is hosting this event.  As the name sounds, it's an attempt to stitch from your stash this year.  As I have been collecting stash for almost 30 years, I could easily stitch from stash for many, many years and still not make a huge dent in it.  You are given a rather good sized at least in my mind budget of $25 (or your local currency) each month for those "must haves" and it rolls over from month to month, so it isn't a total ban on purchasing more of a "take stock of what you have and enjoy it".  So for May:

            Carry-over: $100
Monthly Allowance: $ 25
             Purchases: $  0
   Balance Forward:  $125

I had one start from stash this month, Joy to the World from Little House Needleworks

Stitched on 30-count WDW Straw Linen with DMC and yes I do have a problem centering

I also had some progress on a couple of pieces since my WIPocalypse:

Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts went from here:

 
To here:

And Just Nan's Strawberry Summer was here:

And is now here:

Today is the last day in rotation for this one, so I hope to have more progress to show for the Just Nan SAL check-in the end of next week.  Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden goes on the frame tomorrow.

May WIPocalypse

Not a lot of stitching happened this week, but I do have progress to show for May's WIPocalypse.  Measi hosts here:

If you're interested in participating click on the dragon and it will take you to the information page.  This month's question is:  Are there any themes or designs you wish you could find?  For me, no.  There is such a huge variety of needlework out there that I have always been able to find something that calls to me, either in theme, design or style.  What typically happens is that I see a design and then realize it is exactly what I was looking for - I just didn't know it.

I have three projects left on my WIPocalypse list for this year, Santa's Magic, Elegant Doily and Secret Victorian Garden.

Santa's Magic went from here:

    

to here:

I stitched lots and lots more eyelets on Elegant Doily.  Here are a few of them:

And Secret Victorian Garden went from here:

to here:

It is beginning to look like I will be carrying at least two, and possibly, all three of these over onto next year's WIP list but I am not giving up on the possibility of at least one finish.

April Showers

If April showers really do bring May flowers every time I say this line that silly joke pops into my head.  Oh you don't know it?  Well, "if April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?  Pilgrims!!! - it was hilarious when I was eight!!!  than it will be VERY colorful here in central Virginia this month. We had almost 5" of rain over a three day period this week.  Lots of roads closed due to flooding but fortunately, no major damage near us.  There was some rather dramatic footage of a portion of a street collapsing onto a train track in Baltimore but fortunately, nobody was hurt.  It all cleared off Thursday afternoon and it has been beautiful since.  Hopefully that wasn't our entire summer's allocation of rain!

Reading through my blog list I came across this idea - use mason jar lids as mini-pie pans - I think that is an absolutely ingenious idea and will have to give it a try soon.  Although not with rhubarb...

In case you missed them, there are a couple of SALs starting up.  Blackbird Designs has a very cute sampler and By the Bay Needleart is hosting a mystery.  According to Donna, this mystery is not a seaside theme so very interested in seeing what direction she is taking.

It is the first Saturday of May which means it is time for a YOTA post.  YOTA is being hosted at Pull the Other Thread - and she has an amazing finish shown on her post this month!  YOTA is a WIP finishing SAL and do I have WIPs!  I have really enjoyed the focus on getting things finished that this SAL has given me. While I still have a lot of things in various stages of stitched, I have fewer than I did a couple of years ago so I am happy.

If you check out my WIPocalypse SAL post for April you can see my progress on several of my pieces.  I have worked on Elegant Doily  and Secret Victorian Garden since that post so will only show my progress on those two.

Secret Victorian Garden went from here:

To here:

And Elegant Doily  had more eyelets stitched as it is hard to see progress on a large white-on-white piece I'll only show portions of it from now on.  

This will stay on the frame for the rest of this evening.  Santa's Magic will take its place tomorrow.