Getting back on track

I'm a creature of habit, and when I get out of the habit of something (like blogging), I have a very difficult time getting back into it. Case in point: I've posted only one blog entry in the last 2 1/2 weeks.

I could come up with plenty of excuses-- work has been extremely hectic, I don't feel like spending time on-line at home, etc., etc., etc. But really, I was just being lazy. So, no more laziness... back to blogging!

The first weekend of the month is my FUFO weekend. For March, I assembled the June Sampler Accent from Periwinkle Promises. I stitched this little thing YEARS ago, but just got around to putting it together. The photo isn't great, because there's a lot of tone-on-tone stitching, which doesn't show up very well.

I'm happy to report that I have stuck to my plan of assembling at least one FUFO per month. The pile is shrinking!! Well, sort of... I seem to be adding to it with various ornie finishes.

Over the weekend, I started working on my Spring Exchange project. I had a hard time choosing a pattern for this one-- there were so many I liked! Once I settled on a design, I decided to change the colors a bit, to something I thought my partner might like better. This resulted in a bit of frogging along the way, but I think most of that is resolved now. I'm very happy with the color change. I hope the recipient likes it!

Speaking of exchanges, the St. Patrick's exchange that I sent to Heather arrived safely. My pics didn't turn out very well, but if you visit her blog, there are better pics there. The pattern is from Sweetheart Tree.

DOH!!! I just realized that the (bad) photos I took of this exchange project haven't been uploaded to my Photobucket album yet, so I can't share. You'll have to visit Heather's blog if you want to see them.

I haven't taken any update photos of my stitching lately. I'll do that tonight... I promise!!! Check tomorrow for plenty of pics.

Long time, no post

Lately, life has gotten in the way of blogging. It started with work, which was extremely hectic last week. Then I hopped on a plane to Florida, to visit BF's parents. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip, and I even did some stitching while I was there. More on that later.

Flights to and from Orlando (you know, where THE MOUSE lives) can be a bit trying, to say the least. Lots of screaming children on those flights, which is a real picnic if you happen to have a 6:00 a.m. flight. On a SATURDAY morning. The return flight, though it was on a weekday and at a much later time, wasn't much better. We arrived home, somewhat frazzled from travel, and my day improved immediately. There was squishy mail. Lots of it!

First, there was my St. Pat's exchange from Laurie. What a beautiful bag! The photos truly do not do this piece justice. The stitching is so tiny and perfect, and the finishing is simply wonderful.





The next bit of mail was an order I had placed from Carrie's Threads. I had forgotten I'd ordered these before we left. This was my first order of these threads, but I'm sure I'll be ordering more. The colors are so pretty!


The other two packages were a complete surprise. Both were sent from stitching friends as a "thank you" for some patterns I had passed along. One was a package of foot spa goodies-- fabulous timing, since I have to teach a class next week and my feet always ache afterward. The other was a package of yummy fabrics, which I am already making plans for.



It was a lovely mail day, indeed! :)

And, in stitching news... I took Castle Sampler to Florida. It was the only project that made the trip. Despite a couple of frog visits, I did manage to make a bit of progress on it.

What UFO???

Yesterday was UFO Tuesday, and I was supposed to dutifully stitch on Adia. But I was delinquent and went to a wine and cheese tasting instead. Afterward, I had dinner with a girlfriend at a wonderful Indian restaurant and by the time I got home, it was too late for stitching. Maybe I'll pull Adia out tonight.

Monday wasn't much better for me on the stitching front. I really didn't do much, even though I had the day off. I was tired of BAPs after working all weekend on Castles Sampler, so I started an ornament instead. No pics yet though.

Stitchathon Update

This past weekend was the monthly stitchathon and I chose to work on Castle Sampler. One of my goals this month was to complete the castle in the center panel, and I thought I could do it if I worked on it over the weekend. I ended up discovering some mistakes, both my own and charting errors, so had to frog a couple of times. Despite the setback, I managed to complete the castle and the inner border. The castle and figures both required lots of color changes and backstitching, which slowed my progress considerably. Now that those areas are completed, I'm hoping this project will move along a bit more quickly.

SBQ - Week of 2/15

This weeks�s SBQ was suggested by Heather:

Comment on your comments (giving and receiving): Do you love comments or hate them? Do you check them every day, never check them, or find them helpful? And finally, are you convinced no one is reading your blog if you don�t get any?

I love comments! My intention in creating this blog was to write it for myself, as a sort of stitching journal. As I started receiving comments, I realized what a great motivator it is to know that there are other stitchers out there who are interested in this stuff. Let's face it-- no one understands this little obsession better than other stitchers. BF shows proper enthusiasm for my stitching and watches happily as "squishy mail" arrives, but he cares only because it's something that makes me happy. But other stitchers GET IT in a way that non-stitchers never will. I

also like to leave comments for other stitchers. There's so much beautiful and inspiring work being done, and I'm always happy to cheer other folks on.

I think I've been staying on track this week with my stitching, although I haven't felt all that productive. Maybe it's the lack of Happy Dances this month. Most of my February stitching has been on BAPs and I'm not having many finishes to celebrate right now. Maybe it's time for another ornament.

Monday was the TW SAL, and I dutifully pulled out Castle Sampler. One of my goals for this month is to finish the center panel, and I think I am on track for that.





On Tuesday I worked on my UFO. I was tired of fiddling with beads, so I worked on her wing instead. There's a ton of blending filament and metallic braid in the wings, which made the stitching go quite slowly.





With my SAL commitments out of the way, I was able to spend some time working on Robert's Stocking. I'm happy to report that it is going much more smoothly now after all of the frustration I had earlier with restarting it. I took the photo below before last night's stitching session and have nearly finished the sleeve.

I came home yesterday to find a little package waiting for me. It was my Valentine exchange gift from Jackie in Australia. How exciting!!! Inside was the most darling treat bag, beautifully stitched and embellished with tiny beads and pearls, and a tiny cupid charm. The photo truly does not do it justice.



And there were goodies inside! There was a piece of Cherub Pink jobelan (how appropriate for Valentine's Day!), a tiny tin of mints, and two skeins of Dinky Dyes floss in yummy colors. I'm very excited about the floss, as I have not yet tried anything from Dinky Dyes.

I can share!!

I just received word this morning that the Valentine exchange gift that I stitched for Jackie has arrived. Now I can share some pictures!

The design is "Have a Heart," a freebie by Just Nan. The pattern is for the heart on the front of the needlebook only-- I adapted the rest. After completing the heart design, I stitched a square border around it. I did the same border on the back and used part of the pattern to create the motifs in the corners. This was my first attempt at making a needlebook and I was quite happy with the way that it turned out.

Starting over... yet again

So, the third time's the charm, right? At least, I hope that's the case. If not, I'm in real trouble, as I have started Robert's Stocking AGAIN. Yep, that's 3 times I've started it since first beginning last Friday.

When I first started the stocking on the 20 ct. fabric, I used 6 strands of floss. The pattern calls for perle cotton, but I'm not a fan of the heavy gauge perle and decided to try regular DMC instead. I used 4 strands and was happy with the coverage on 20 ct.

Then came the fabric change to 18 ct. and the subsequent restart. Since the stitches were a bit larger, I decided to use 6 strands. I put in a couple of hours working on it Wednesday evening. Last night, when I picked it back up to work on it some more, I realized that I really didn't like the 6 strand coverage. It was just too bunchy for my taste and was a pain to stitch with. I did a test swatch with only 4 strands and liked it better. So yep, that's right-- I frogged everything I did on Wednesday night and started again, this time with 4 strands. The bad news is that I've started the same project 3 times. The good news is that I am much happier with it on the new fabric with only 4 strands.

I'm really starting to wonder about my sanity.

This weekend, "they" are calling for SNOW. Blech!! BF and I will be at my place in the country, which is supposed to get a bit more of the white stuff than predicted here in Northern VA. Sometimes I have 'work' to do around the house when we're out there, but there's really nothing pressing for this trip. My plan is to prop my feet up and stitch, and generally enjoy being away from the metro area for the weekend.

I'll be participating in a "24-hour Challenge" this weekend, where I am supposed to choose a design to complete in 24 hours. I love these quick finishes and am looking forward to this month's challenge. My project will be a design that I'm stitching for an upcoming St. Patrick's Day exchange. I'm not entirely sure that I can finish it in 24 hours time, but I won't have much to distract me this weekend, so there may be hope. Of course, it is only the stitching that will be done over the weekend-- the finishing will be another story all together!

No word yet on the Valentine Exchange that I sent out. I keep hoping it will arrive at its destination, so that I can share some pictures.

Crisis Averted... sort of

First, I want to thank Susimac and Cindy for the excellent suggestions. Unfortunately, the fabric I already started on is definitely 20 ct. linen, not evenweave. :( I have no idea what the "pearl" linen is, although I know Silkweaver has it. I'm pretty sure that's not what I have though.

I ended up making an "emergency" run to the LNS at lunchtime today. While there, I found out that they didn't have 20 ct. linen. The woman who was working at the LNS today actually seemed convinced that it couldn't possibly be 20 ct. LINEN and said simply that it must have been mislabeled. Of course, that was because the original piece of fabric did not come from their shop. If it had, I'm sure the "20 ct. Natural Linen" tag would have been deemed correct. LOL She insisted that what I have at home *must* be 18 ct., since 20 ct. apparently does not exist. Even the colors were not quite right-- but of course I couldn't be 100% sure, because I did not have the fabric in question with me.

I was quite anxious to get back to work on Robert's Stocking and didn't want to take any chances, so I purchased 2 pieces of 18 ct. Natural Linen. I figured that the best case scenario would be that the 20 ct. was indeed mislabeled, and I'd simply have an extra piece of fabric. Nothing wrong with that!

I brought the new fabric home and laid it out next to what I had already started. Indeed, they were not the same fabric. The color was off ever so slightly, and the count... definitely not the same. I measured the fabric I already had, and it is absolutely 20 ct. linen. My best guess is that it's a fabric that has been discontinued. That wouldn't exactly be a surprise, since I've had this fabric for at least 7 years or so. ;)

Not wanting the pair of stockings to not quite match, I went ahead and started over on the new fabric. I'm not thrilled about this, but it's really the only practical solution. I could find different fabric in the same count, or 18 ct. linen in a color that was just barely off. I knew that no one would notice the difference, but it would bother me forever. So, I started over. And here it is...



I haven't caught up to where I left off, but it's not too bad for an evening's work. Especially when that evening consisted of a lovely dinner with wine, flowers and candles before I started stitching. And no, there was no 'special occassion,' it was simply a Wednesday night, and I love to cook! It just didn't leave much time for stitching.

Quelle Horreur!

I don't know why my high school French teacher suddenly popped into my head, but there it is. The first thing I thought when I realized what I think may be a boo-boo on my latest stitching project.

First, a little background--

I purchased patterns for a pair of Shepherd's Bush stockings YEARS ago. I think my intent was to make them for my ex-husband and myself. We split up in March of 2000, which should give you an idea of how long I've had these patterns sitting around, collecting dust. That's six years, in case you haven't had your morning coffee yet. Stitching just one for myself seemed a little lame, and unfortunately, my parents both passed away before I could do a pair for them. So the patterns sat some more, until I rediscovered them late last year.

In my enthusiasm for the Stocking Project of 1990-something-or-other, I bought the fabric to start. But, I only got the fabric for ONE STOCKING. (Do you want to guess where this is going? LOL) My rationale was that I would purchase the second piece after finishing the first stocking. It made sense at the time, really it did.

Fast-forward 7 or 8 years (maybe more!), and here I am with a single piece of 20 ct. Natural Linen that I can't seem to find a mate for. I looked at my usual online shops and could find 18 ct., 19 ct. and even 22 ct. linen... but no 20 ct. I have no idea who the manufacturer of my fabric is, as the label just has a hand-written note designating the count and color.

I was really looking forward to working on the stocking again this evening. But there's no sense stitching any further on it if I am not able to get the same fabric for a second stocking.

Oh darn... I guess that means I'll have to go to the LNS on my lunch break. Again!! LOL

February Goals

I should have posted these goals sooner-- I've already met a couple of them!

1. Start & finish St. Patrick's exchange project
2. Complete castle in center panel of Castle Sampler
3. Stitch on UFO (Adia) at least once each week.
4. Finish one FUFO - finished two on 2/5
5. Start SB's Robert's Stocking - started 2/5
6. Stitch two ornaments - finished one on 2/2

The only goal I've met that hasn't already been posted here is Robert's Stocking. I started it Saturday and worked a bit more on it last night. It's done over 2 threads on 20 ct. natural linen.

February FUFOs

Since it was the first weekend of the month, it was time to assemble another FUFO. I'm trying to reduce my pile of completed stitching that needs some type of finishing by doing at least one finishing project each month. This month, I decided to make a flat-fold using a Cherished Teddies Easter project that I stitched several years ago. I found some adorable Easter egg printed fabric that was perfect for the backing.



I also finished a box top that I stitched in 1999 from a Daydreams kit. The stitching was finished long ago-- all I had to do was sponge paint the box top (something I've never done before) and attach the ribbon and stitching.

I couldn't do it

After posting yesterday that I was heading to Michael's and walking out the door of my office... I couldn't do it. I literally talked myself out of it on the short walk from my office to the car. My first thought was that my shoes weren't the most comfortable. And who wants to trek through Michael's in uncomfy shoes? Not me.

Then, I heard a little voice in my head telling me that Michael's probably wouldn't have all of the floss colors anyway. They never do. (Was that you, Carol? LOL) Besides, this is a perfect excuse for a lunchtime trip to the LNS! :) Sure, the DMC a little more, but the shopping experience is much nicer, and you never know what other goodies might be there. Remember the $75 spool of Kreinik? ;)

Since I didn't get the DMC that I needed on the way home yesterday, I decided to work some more on Britty Christmas Kitty. I did a tiny happy dance last night around 8:30 when I finsihed it. It's tiny-- about 1 3/4" x 1 3/4". I haven't decided yet how I will finish it, though I really do like the little pillow ornament that they did in JCS.

Off to the dreaded Michael's

As everyone knows by now, I do not have a happy relationship with Michael's craft stores. Going there just irritates me to no end. Unfortunately, they are a necessary evil from time to time. So go there I must... as soon as I leave work today. I'm not much for running errands on my way home, and Michael's rates somewhere below stopping at the grocery store after work. Really, I dislike it that much. But I'm out of several floss colors for Adia and probably won't get much more accomplished on it until I get the missing bits.

Wish me luck!! LOL

January Goal Review-- and a small start

I'm happy to say that I met all of my goals in January. I haven't yet set my goals for February, but I think they may include starting one of the SB stockings that I have planned for BF and me.

1. Finish Santa's Magic - completed January 2
2. Start and finish Valentine exchange piece - done and mailed
3. Start and finish Quaker Diamond - completed January 6
4. Complete Snow Wonderful - completed January 16
5. Assemble one FUFO - assembled 2 - Bee My Honey & Spring Morning
6. Spend some time on Spanish Geometrical Sampler - worked on during stitch-athon weekend
7. Finish UFO Mother's Love needleroll - completed & assembled

I didn't feel like working on anything large last night, so I decided to start a new ornament. I chose Britty Christmas Kitty, from the 2005 JCS ornaments issue. The poor creature is still headless at the moment, but I think I made pretty good progress. I'm stitching it over one on 28 ct. Queen Anne's Lace hand-dyed jobelan.

Neglected UFO

I woke up feeling lousy yesterday, so called in sick to work. Nothing serious, just one of those days and I'm fine now. And of course I wasn't too sick to stitch!

Now you'd think with a whole day just to put my feet up and stitch, on a TUESDAY, that I would have made all sorts of progress on my official UFO, Adia. Wrong! I meant to... really, I did. But I had pulled out Castle Sampler for my Monday TW stitch-along and I just couldn't put it down.

Lately I've been working on the Castle in the center panel. I've made pretty good progress and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I got a bit bored with that and switched to the inner border for a while. That's one of the reasons I love stitching TW designs-- lots of variety!!! And I truly enjoy working those borders.

The photo below was taken before I stopped working for the night. I've completed the inner border across the top, and am now working my way down the right side.



And I promise I'll work on Adia again soon!!

Monday Update

Over the weekend, I finished the last bit of added stitching on my exchange piece. I'm really pleased with the parts that I added. I hope the recipient likes it. Tonight I will sew it all together. I had intended to do that last night, but the frog came visiting while I was making my stitched additions, and I had to pull out a bit of over-one stitching. It was quite tedious and time-consuming. I have all of the materials ready to go, so it shouldn't take long to sew it up this evening.

I didn't do any other stitching this weekend, because I was too busy doing other fun things with BF. A lot of it revolved around food. I was in a cooking mood all weekend and spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen. We also got some wonderful wine and cheese to go along with our meals. And chocolate truffles for dessert. :)

I also spent some time getting acquainted with my new sewing machine-- by hemming a couple of t-shirts for BF. The new machine did a fine job of twin-needle sewing. I'm finding the hemming a bit easier with this machine, because it doesn't require a foot pedal to run. I much prefer the start/stop button and speed control on the top of the machine. BF insists that he did not buy this machine so that I would hem his shirts, but really, I figure it's the least I could do. Just don't tell him how easy it is to sew a straight line! LOL

Tonight I will be working on my TW stitch-along project, Castle Sampler. I don't know how much time I'll have to work on it, but I have a feeling there won't be much progress made. Tomorrow will be back to the slow-going work on Adia. I love both of these projects, but they sure do move along slowly.

What a week!

This has been an extremely hectic week for me, and I haven't had much computer time since last Friday. I was out of town over the weekend, with no internet access at all, and didn't return until late Monday afternoon. That has been followed by three days of teaching a class at my office. I do this one or two weeks each month, so it's "routine" but it keeps me off of the computer. To top it all off-- the Powers That Be here at work have decided to move me to a different office location. Tomorrow morning. For added fun, the only co-worker who does the same work as me is out of the office until next week. So in addition to teaching, I also have to get all of the regular day-to-day stuff done. Oh, joy!!! LOL

What all this boils down to is that I haven't had time to check out any of your blogs to see what you've all been up to. I feel so cut off! I'm hoping to catch up tomorrow, provided the office move goes smoothly and is done first thing in the morning as promised.

In the meantime, this has been a pretty good stitching week for me. I can't post any pics today though, because I'm busy working on an exchange piece. I had all of the stitching done, but decided to add just a bit to the design. And of course, I still have to assemble it. That will be done in a day or two, then it will be on its way. I'll post a pic once it is received.

If it's Wednesday...

It must be time for a UFO check-in! For the second Tuesday in a row, I stitched on Adia. I have been working on the beads-- there are a lot of them. I don't see much progress, but I know I'm getting closer with every stitching session. The photo on the left shows Adia as of January 17, and the photo on the right shows my progress as of last night.



I've also been participating in a TW stitch-along that is on Mondays. I didn't get off to a great start with that this year, but I have been working on it the last two Mondays in a row, so maybe I'll start to see some progress once again. Lately I've been focusing on the castle in the center panel.

Stitch-athon Results and a New Toy

My stitch-athon weekend got off to a rocky start. I began on Friday evening, after a leisurely dinner. First, I stitched the top red diamond bit shown here, only I stitched it in the wrong color. It wasn't too much stitching, so I ripped it out and began again. This time, I got the top 3 red diamonds stitched, plus the bits of filling in the first one. Then I realized that I had miscounted in the beginning and was ONE STITCH too many to the right. I ended up frogging my evening's work. After that, I wasn't very excited about stitching and decided to put it away for the night.

On Saturday morning, we were heading out to the country for the weekend. Since I made no progress on Friday night, I decided to stitch in the car. Not easy to do on 40 ct. linen!! Nevertheless, I made a bit of progress during our 90-minute trip. The rest of the weekend was pretty good stitch-wise, though I did have a few things out there to distract me from stitching. Even so, I managed to make pretty good progress, I think.



I also did a bit of shopping over the weekend, and BF bought me a new sewing machine! I'm thrilled about it, even though he tells me that his mother will be mortified. Apparently, a sewing machine is not a romantic gift! LOL It's one of the computerized machines, with all sorts of stitches and a multitude of functions that I haven't entirely figured out yet. It's way more machine than I'll probably ever need, but it's nice to have the options. This will certainly make my needlework finishing a lot easier.

Upcoming Stitch-athon Weekend

The monthly stitch-athon weekend starts this evening. For January, I've decided to work on Spanish Geometrical Sampler, by Heart's Content. I haven't worked on this project since November 2005, when this photo was taken.

I fell in love with this design the moment I first saw the pattern. It was designed in shades of purple and green, which didn't work with my decor. Finding just the right colors was a challenge, to say the least. I started with a beautiful variegated Waterlilies silk and from there found the shades of red, peach and greens to coordinate with it. I've been very pleased with how this project is turning out with the changes. The one thing I haven't yet replaced are the beads. My intention was to replace the beads with other silk threads, but I haven't yet found just the right thing, so all of the beaded areas are still bare.

Another UFO Out of Hiding

I'm itching to get back to my Spanish Geometrical Sampler, but I am planning to work on that one for the upcoming stitch-athon weekend and will hold off on that one for another day. I wasn't really in the mood to work on Adia again, so I dragged out the Anniken Christensen Simensen 1768 reproduction sampler that I have been neglecting.

I picked up this pattern by Scarlet Letter some time ago, following a visit to a needlework exhibition. I love samplers and this one really appealed to me. I purchased the pattern, 40 ct. fabric, and threads and set to work on it just days later. It wasn't until I had done a bit of stitching on it that I realized the flowers across the top of the sampler are done in free-hand embroidery. Now, I do know how to do this, but I really dislike it. The pattern also included the flowers charted for regular XS, which I tried, but I didn't like the result. You can see a partial flower that I stitched-- it simply isn't attractive.

Eventually, I plan to frog the ugly flower at the top and replace it with something else. I don't know if it will be the free-hand embroidery, but it definitely will not be those flowers in regular cross stitch. I figure I have quite a long way to go before I will need to decide what to put up there. In the meantime, I will enjoy stitching the rest of the sampler.

SBQ - Happy Dances

This week's question is:

Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that talks about it.) If not, when do you predict it will be?

My 2006 stitching has gotten off to a great start, and January has been a prolific month for me so far. I started with a BIG Happy Dance for Santa's Magic on January 2. Since then, I've had 3 other HDs-- Quaker Diamond on January 7, Snow Wonderful, and Mother's Love needleroll, both on January 16.

I'll have one more Happy Dance before the end of this month, for a Valentine Exchange piece that I'm working on. The stitching is completed, but I still need to assemble it.

UFO Tuesday

Since Mother's Love is now finished, it was time to pick another UFO from the pile. The needleroll was a nice break, but now I am ready to get back to a larger UFO. So last night I pulled Adia out. This will be my UFO Tuesday project until it is completed. The photo below was taken before last night's stitching session. In just one evening, I haven't made quite enough progress to justify a new picture yet. I spent most of my evening beading, which was slow going, but I am happy with the progress so far.

Mid-January Goal Review

It's a little past mid-month, and I think I'm on track for January.

1. Finish Santa's Magic - completed January 2
2. Start and finish Valentine exchange piece - stitched, needs assembly
3. Start and finish Quaker Diamond - completed January 6
4. Complete Snow Wonderful - completed January 16
5. Assemble one FUFO - assembled 2 - Bee My Honey & Spring Morning
6. Spend some time on Spanish Geometrical Sampler
7. Finish UFO Mother's Love needleroll - completed & assembled

Happy dances and other things

This was an extremely productive weekend for me stitch-wise. I started by going to JoAnn's Fabrics on Saturday morning. Going to those stores is always a chore for me, and I often manage to talk myself out of it. While there, I picked up the fabric for my Valentine exchange project and two potential fabrics for finishing the Sekas heart that I stitched a few years ago.

We had a Monday holiday this week, so I was able to spend a good part of yesterday stitching. I started by finishing Snow Wonderful. I'm very pleased with the way that it turned out, and it was a lot of fun to stitch.

Heather-- this pattern is by M Designs. I stumbled across it one day while browsing at the Wyndham Needleworks website and just had to have it.



After completing Snow Wonderful, I decided to assemble a couple of needlerolls. I wasn't able to fix the plastic piece that broke off of my sewing machine, but I was able to use the second spool that is supposed to be for double needle sewing. So the machine works, as long as I only need to use one needle. That's good enough for needlerolls!

In addition to Mother's Love needleroll, I also assembled Spring Morning into a needleroll. I didn't get a pic of the assembled roll, but here's a pic of it after I finished the stitching on it. It's from a Victoria Sampler cyberclass that I completed in October 2004.

TGIF!!!

I feel like this has been a light stitching week for me. I completed the stitching on my Valentine exchange piece and on Mother's Love, and yet I don't feel like I've accomplished much. Both of those pieces were completed on Tuesday, so maybe it's just that it has been a few days.

Last night I decided to focus on my stitching, rather than fooling around with the sewing machine. So I brought Snow Wonderful out again. I just love working on this piece! At the rate I'm going, I just might be able to finish it this weekend.

Hmmm... I just realized that this picture looks a little weird. I put it on a futon to take the picture, and the pattern on the futon cover shows through a bit.

Sewing Machine Frustration

I didn't assemble my needleroll on Tuesday as planned, so I promised myself that I'd do it last night. That little endeavor didn't go so well. I have a portable machine, and as I was taking it out of the box, I accidently grabbed the little gizmo on top that holds the thread as I was grabbing the handle. I didn't realize it until the little piece snapped off in my hand. I'm not sure if I can reattach the thing or not, but at the moment, it looks like NOT. :(

In the meantime, the machine has a second one that holds another spool for double needle sewing, so I will be able to use that. I just have to find the accessory box where the 2nd one is located! Of course, that doesn't solve the real problem-- and the machine won't be usable for double needle stuff unless I can fix the broken part. I'm hoping that I won't end up needing a new machine over this.

So, no pictures again today. Maybe tomorrow.

Valentine Exchange Stitching

Monday was supposed to be my TW stitch-along day, but I was too exhausted yesterday to do much stitching after work. Instead, I spent an hour or so on my Valentine exchange project. I've completed the stitching and now just need to add beads. The stitching went so quickly that I think I will have time to do another teeny little something to go along with it. I'm really enjoying this piece and it's turning out even prettier than I expected. This weekend, I will go to the craft/fabric store to pick up the items needed to assemble it.

Yesterday also brought some squisy mail. That always brings a smile to my face, because I know there is something fun inside. This time, it was my Fabric of the Month shipment from Silkweaver. I have the 'customized' option, and of course I didn't print out my package selections, so each month brings a total surprise. January was a selection of 6 Silkweaver Solos. All were very pretty and I'm sure I'll find uses for them soon.

Today is UFO Tuesday, so I'll be working on Mother's Love needleroll this evening. With any luck, I'll be able to finish the hemstitching as well. Check this space tomorrow for a possible Happy Dance!

FUFO Sunday

FUFO = Finished UnFinished Object or, what our UFOs and WIPs become after we finish stitching them and move on to the next new project. For some reason, it's like I have a mental block against doing anything with my stitching once I complete a project. So I've committed to doing some finishing one weekend each month. I'm hoping this will reduce my pile of FUFOs.

I really wanted to skip any finishing this weekend, but that would have been a poor start to my year of FUFOs. So I dragged out the sewing machine and turned Bee My Honey into a small pillow. The kit came with the pre-cut fabric to finish it with, so there was really nothing to it. I simply had to sew a couple of straight lines, attach the stitching to the pillow, stuff and close the seam.



I also worked on my Valentine exchange piece over the weekend. It's turning out to be so pretty! Of course, I can't share a picture yet, because it's a secret. The stitching is very nearly completed, and I'll probably finish it into a (*#%*@#$ next weekend.

Quaker Happy Dance!

I finished Quaker Diamond last night. I haven't done much in the way of monochromatic designs, but I really enjoyed this one and will probably do more. I love the clean simplicity of the design, and it was so nice not to change needles every few stitches.

This weekend is supposed to be my weekend to concentrate on finishing. Not finishing WIPs, but finishing/putting together completed stitching. I wanted to hemstitch and assemble Mother's Love needleroll. But after sewing the lace onto it last night, I'm just not motivated to do hemstitching right now. Maybe the inspiration will come during the game. In the meantime, I'm going to finish Bee My Honey into a small pillow. The stitching on this one was completed in June 2000 and there is really no excuse for leaving it sitting in a drawer for 5 1/2 years.

So many projects, so little time!

Lately, I've decided that I really must do an inventory of my stash. I keep buying skeins of the same colors of specialty threads over and over, simply because I have no idea what I already have. It also doesn't help that my stash currently lives in various corners of two different residences. So 2006 will be my year to create a master inventory list. Pretty ambitious, huh?

I started out the other night by going through 3 bags of specialty threads. Much to my horror, I realized that I have several nearly-full skeins of Needle Necessities overdyed threads that do not have their numbers attached. Now I have no idea what the colors are! I believe that I can figure it out by tracking down the patterns that I used them on, and working backward from there. That's a bit of detective work for another day, though.

Slowly but surely, my stash is migrating into BF's house. Soon he will be wondering what happened to his previously male domain, and why there are bits of floss stuck to every piece of his clothing. Animals mark their territory in different ways-- I believe that stitchers use floss for this purpose. LOL

I've also discovered a project or two that I had completely forgotten about. While rummaging through baskets at my condo last weekend, I came across a partially stitched Charmed Hearts kit by Shepherd's Bush. And I also found this little snowman ornament, which I *thought* was completed YEARS ago. But alas, his beads and charm have not been stitched on. Add that to the list of things to do.

Next up will be patterns-- there is a large shopping bag filled to near-bursting capacity just waiting for me to inventory. Sadly, this is nowhere near all of the patterns. I'm not sure, but I think this bag contains some of the patterns that are on the "must stitch" list. I'm almost afraid to look in that bag, because I know it will make me want to start even more projects.

SBQ - LNS or ONS?

This week's question:

Do you do your stash shopping at your LNS, ONS, or both? Which do you like better? Why?

I shop at both an LNS and various online shops and like each type of shopping for different reasons.

Online shops are great for selection-- there isn't much we can't find online. But they lack the enjoyment of touching the fabrics and fibers, and seeing the patterns up close. If I know exactly what I want, or if I am looking for something that is hard-to-find, I usually order online to save myself the trouble of going all the way to an LNS that may or may not have what I need. The exception to this is hand-dyed fabrics-- I often order those online, just to have them on-hand.

For browsing, you can't beat an LNS. I love to go through the racks of patterns, and often discover things that I didn't know I needed. If you want proof of that, read about my $73.88 skein of floss. The stitched models are also inspiring-- I often purchase patterns that I never would have stitched, simply because the model looked so much nicer than the pattern. I also like to see the store models that are finished in ways other than framing.

Tiny UFO

After completing Santa's Magic, I'm a little burned out on large UFOs. Not large projects, just large UFOs. So I've decided to concentrate for a while on something smaller. For January, that is Mother's Love needleroll. I started this in late 2002 or early 2003, but for some reason I put it down and never got back to it. I suspect that it was the lace trim that SB puts on nearly all of their needlerolls. I love the look, but for some reason, I hate sewing it on. I did a bit more stitching on it after taking this photo and now have all of the stitching and beads done. Now I just have to whipstitch the lace and hemstitch the ends and it will be ready to sew up.

I took a break from Quaker Diamond last night, but I did take a pic of the stitching that I've done so far. This is about 2 days worth.

January Goals

It's only January 3, and I've already made some good progress on my goals for the month. I hope I can keep this momentum up for 2006!

1. Finish Santa's Magic - completed January 2
2. Start and finish Valentine exchange piece
3. Start and finish Quaker Diamond - started January 1, approx. 50% completed
4. Complete Snow Wonderful - approx. 70% completed
5. Assemble one FUFO
6. Spend some time on Spanish Geometrical Sampler
7. Finish UFO Mother's Love needleroll

First Happy Dance of 2006

And it's a BIG one!!! Started in 1999, completed January 2, 2006.

Happy, HAPPY New Year!

Redskins 31, Eagles 20

Need I say more? And on the stitching front...

I started Quaker Diamond today. When I purchased the pattern, I decided to change the thread colors to Watercolours "Moss" and some Soie Crystale in a pale yellow shade. My intention was to stick with a neutral fabric in 35 or 36 ct., but I discovered that the colors were just perfect on a piece of 32. ct. Star Sapphire linen. It will be a tiny bit larger, but that's okay.



Since I finally had the supplies, I spent a bit of time on Santa's Magic yesterday evening. I'm so close to the end on that one, that there will not be any update pics until the big Happy Dance. But in the meantime, here's what happens when you live with kitties and leave your stitching unattended:


BAD KITTY!!!

And, just for fun, the latest pic of Snow Wonderful. It's an awful picture of it, but it will have to do.

Shhh... Don't Tell!!!

I went to In Stitches during lunch today and finally had success finding the last bit of threads for Santa's Magic. I needed one skein of DMC 939 and one spool (maybe 2, just to be safe) of Kreinik #4 braid in 085. It cost $73.88!!!

Okay, so maybe there were a few extra items in my bag when I left, but it was a very small bag that didn't hold very much. In the bag were my very first L*K patterns-- Wanted! Santa '02 (Snippet) and Autumn Boxer. The Boxer was just too cute to resist, although I must admit that I can't figure out the $17 price tag. It has the chart, an 11" x 11" piece of fabric, and a ceramic leaf button. All of this is packaged in what is essentially a CD case, and it includes a 2003/2004 miniature calendar. It seems to me that an '03/'04 calendar isn't going to serve much of a purpose. But still, it was way too cute to pass up.

Of course, the Boxer, being an L*K pattern, required Weeks Dye Works threads in 19 colors. I have some of those at home already, but I still had to pick up 13 of the colors. While I was browsing, I remembered that I needed some additional Silk 'n' Colors "Dragon's Breath" thread for my Spanish Geometrical Sampler. I bought 2 skeins, just to be safe.

And I didn't forget Santa-- the reason I went to the LNS in the first place! I picked up 2 skeins of DMC 939 and 3 (yes, 3) spools of Kreinik 085 braid. It's probably more braid than I'll need, but I wanted to be sure. I'd rather have too much than run out and have to buy another $70+ spool of braid yet again.

Last, but not least, there was one lonely little skein of DMC 310.

Santa Sighting

I stopped by Michael's yesterday to pick up the last bit of braid and DMC 939 that I need to finish Santa. True to form, they had neither item. I don't know why I even bother with that place. Today, I will take a long lunch and visit an LNS on a quest to find these two seemingly simple items. Then Santa may get some much-needed attention over the holiday weekend. Maybe. If I can pull myself away from Snow Wonderful long enough to work on Santa. We'll see.

Meanwhile, here's how Santa looked after my Tuesday stitching session.

Goals for 2006

I've never been much for setting yearly stitching goals. I have a hard time thinking that far in advance. But I thought I'd give it a try this year. I have no idea whether or not my goals are realistic. I have a hunch that they aren't, because I tend to get sidetracked by new things.

My main goal is to ENJOY MY STITCHING in 2006!!! Anything that might get accomplished along the way is just an added bonus. A few of my WIPs/UFOs are fairly close to finished, so some of these goals are pretty reasonable.

Complete the following UFOs:

1. Santa's Magic - Mirabilia
2. Pansy Needleroll - Victoria Sampler
3. Mother's Love Needleroll - Shepherd's Bush

Complete the following WIPs:

1. Snow Wonderful - M Designs
2. Spanish Geometrical Sampler - Heart's Content
3. Castle Sampler - Teresa Wentzler

Start & Finish:

1. Valentine Exchange project
2. The Prairie Garden - Drawn Thread
3. Christmas stockings for BF & me - Shepherd's Bush
4. Quaker Diamond - Hillside Samplings

Start:

1. Persian Iris Garden - Chatelaine (May 2006)

Assemble the following FUFOs:

1. Valentine Heart - flat fold or cube-it
2. Spring Morning - needleroll
3. Laura's Roll - needleroll
4. Snowflakes - heart ornament
5. Deck the Halls - bellpull
6. Watercolour Eggs - flat fold or cube-it

SALs I'll be participating in:

1. UFO - weekly
2. Mirabilia
3. TW - weekly
4. Finishing forum - monthly
5. Stitchathon - monthly
6. Christmas ornaments - monthly

SBQ - Stitching vs. Life

This week's question is from Nancy:

How do you balance your stitching time with your other obligations such as work, household chores, etc.?

I'll be the first to admit that I am stitching-obsessed. I spend nearly every free minute with a needle in my hand, and occassionally neglect other things in the process. It helps that I have a BF who does nearly all of the housework and constantly encourages me to spend as much time as I'd like on my needlework.

I work full-time, so all of my weekday stitching is done in the evenings, after dinner. Weekend stitching fits in between errands and whatever else BF and I decide to do together or separately. Neither of us have children, so there are none of the child-related tasks that must be done each week. I continually marvel at all of the stitching that gets done by folks who have way more on their plates.