I’m a stitcher not a writer!

Oops. How on earth did I manage to go this long without updating?

I don’t really have any good excuses, either. I haven’t been sick, work’s been stable, my four legged roommate is fine. So are my family and close friends. I haven’t been out of town either, unless you count the stitching retreat to Mo Ranch in Hunt, Texas courtesy of Stitches From the Heart. All I can say is Wow and Mark your calendar for next year 🙂

I do have two finishes to report. The first is a Texas Rangers baseball logo for my youngest nephew William Ryan. After being named after Rangers legendary pitcher Nolan Ryan, he had better like baseball. If not, his two older sisters will kill him.

The second is a Mill Hill Bead kit – American Eagle. MH intended this to be a pin for the fourth of July, I will finish it into a Christmas ornament for my tree. I’m hopefully to put up a small tree entirely decked out in cross stitch ornaments. By last count I have around a dozen, so the tree won’t look too plain.

On the stash front, there have been small sprees mostly around Christmas and the birthday. Otherwise, I bought Plum Pudding at the stitching retreat and a group of patterns off of ebay. I took the ones out of the lot that I wanted, then sold the rest for more than I paid to start with. I also decided to join the HAED BB SAL.

If you’re following the numbers it goes something like this:

Days: 118 of 365

Projects Finished: 7 of 163

WIPS: 30

Dollars Earned: 28

Dollars Spent: 31

If you’re looking for pictures I’ll tease you with these WIP’s…

Tuscany Town Mandala Mar 16, 2012

 

QS Teddy p. 1 from the HAED BB SAL

Mask of Colors pg. 11

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope ya’ll are having as much fun this holiday season as I am. I have finally recovered from stomach virus and head cold (simultaneously) that knocked me flat on my backside for 6 days.  You know it’s bad when you’re too sick to stitch! It’s been a couple of years since the last time THAT happened.

It’s something of an American tradition to reflect on your accomplishments of 2011 and goals for 2012 at this time of the year, so thank you for your indulgence. When I started this adventure at Labor Day, I had in mind that I needed to stitch down my stash as I have passed SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy). It’s not working. I continue to acquire stash faster than I can stitch it thanks to well meaning friends and a generous holiday season. Oh, and Mom forgetting that she’s stored stuff for me for the last 10 years. Yes, 2 more yards of 14 count Aida were hiding in with the Christmas socks. Financially, the money I would have spent stashing has been redirected into other hobbies – finishing supplies and sewing/quilting being at the top of the list. I also am spending the same amount of time (or more) perusing my favorite ONS and LNS. I’m buying stuff to finish projects rather than new charts.

So, at last count Christmas brought 28 ct fabric, a subscription to Just Cross Stitch, Mill Hill’s Kris Mouse and cash. In fact, I only got two non-stitching related Christmas gifts!

On the stitching front, lots of things are beginning to show significant progress – including a finish on Susanna’s Sock!

Which brings me to my other frustration – rotation stitching. I like it, but I don’t like it. It’s New Years and it’s time to start new stuff. In fact, I’ve already started two – Texas Rangers needlepoint for Stinky Pants and Soldier Boys (HAED) for me. I also am planning on starting at least one more. So what do I do with my rotation? The way everything is set up now all 3 of these pieces would go to the bottom and it may take a year for them to resurface. I’ve never gotten further than 15 pieces in the rotation at one time.  OR I could find a random number generator and reshuffle for 2012.

Days: 118 of 365

Projects Finished: 5 of 162

WIPS: 29

Dollars Earned: 15

Dollars Spent: 31

I hope ya’ll had a happy thanksgiving, I definitely did!  I almost entitled this post I surrender, but it’s been pointed out to me (by my mother, of all people) that spending Christmas cash shouldn’t count as breaking the stash diet.  She would be happy to have bought cross stitch stuff directly. However, she is not in touch with my stash and doesn’t want to buy duplicates. So, I hit the jackpot at The Stitchworks (http://www.stitchworks.com) who had a 40% off Just Nan sale, along with a 50% off table and 20% off everything else. I bought 4 Just Nan’s, two Just Cross Stitch magazine, a Mill Hill bead kit (the eagle pin) and some 18 ct mint green Davos, probably for Peacock Faery.  To top things off, I went across the street to The Silver Needle (http://silverneedle.com) and bought two more Just Nan’s.   Did I mention that 61st and Sheridan in Tulsa, OK is my favorite corner in the whole wide world??

On the stitching front, I finished Page 10 of Mask of Colors.  I abandoned my rotation for the trip to Tulsa. It’s too hard to travel with a bunch of projects and shuffle them out. Mask was screaming at me, and I was close enough to a page finish to make it worthwhile.  She has been effectively silenced and put back in the spare bedroom where I keep the projects. I have no idea why this is such a struggle, but it is. She’s a gorgeous something or another. I wouldn’t insult my beautiful dog (who is sleeping at my feet) by putting her in the same category as this fiend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also finished a small ornament freebie – Santa Moon.  This wasn’t in my rotation, I started and finished it in Tulsa as a little something for the road.  I worked on Susanna’s sock on the way back, but there isn’t enough of a change for a new picture yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought more wool for Let Them Eat Cake, so the numbers are updated as well.

 

Days: 92 of 365

Projects Finished: 4 of 160

WIPS: 26

Dollars Earned: 10

Dollars Spent: 26

 

 

November, Really?

I can’t believe that it’s November, except that I spent the weekend at the Houston Quilt Festival 🙂 I bought a couple of fat quarters, all cupcake themed for backing ornies.

I discovered that I adore Robert Kaufman fabrics, this one in particular:  http://www.robertkaufman.com/fabrics/holiday_flourish_4/APTM-11155-254/  Unfortunately, it only came in a 2 yard pack and Mom wants 4 yards for a jacket. I am happily cheering her on. I will, of course, steal the jacket.  Hey, that’s what daughters are for!

 

 

I will confess that I came across a treasure trove of patterns – original TW Dreamscapes and Just Nan, I have already started the reselling process though. I have all but 1 of these, so it’s not nearly as exciting as you might think.

Stitching wise, a miracle occurred and I spent all week working on St. Petersburg:

 

 

 

 

Days:69 of 365

Projects Finished: 3 of 158

WIPS: 26

Dollars Earned: 6

Dollars Spent: 21

Oops!

I missed an update. However did that happen? Might have been Stinky Pants first birthday party, ALCS Game 6, the State Fair, or Mom’s inability to drive from Dallas to Houston without stopping to shop.  I’m certainly not telling.

So, what’s new around here stitching wise??  How about a bag full of Q-snaps and some more Fiddler’s Cloth. Yes, this means I have two more new kits and left over fabric to boot.  The two winners are from Just Nan – Felicity and Celeste.  You know, when I kitted everything up back in August I thought I would just go through it and be done. Who knew my house held this many secrets?

I put in random stitches on lots of stuff this past two weeks; I think I’ve touched everything in my WIP pages except Pirate Faery and she’s first on taps today. So, now for the pictures:

Susanna’s Sock:

I also worked on Pike’s Peak Santa:

 

On the finishing side: French Country Butterfly is on its merry way:

 

 

 

Days: 53 of 365

Projects Finished: 3 of 158

WIPS: 26

Dollars Earned: 6

Dollars Spent: 21

Motivation

Here’s the latest picture of St. Petersburg:

My motivation for stitching on this completely vanished two weeks ago. The building I’m working on is much more complicated than I thought it would be and forward progress is taking much longer than I thought it would.

I am trying hard to resist the urge to start everything in sight, and instead went back to working on Susanna’s Stocking Cuff. It is a quick piece and I’m having pipe dreams of giving this to her at Christmas. Besides, there is serious baseball on right now (Go Rangers) and I can look up more often if I’m not counting!

 

 

I’m also working on finishing several stitched pieces. “Nancy’s” Christmas Tree is completed:

The butterfly needs trim, then it’s done. Cupcake needs a back and trim and an older standup needlepoint egg is half done. Mom and I are reverse engineering how to finish a standup egg. We’ve got both the front and back panels on and are working on the pleated fabric around the side. Mom doesn’t have a pleating foot for her sewing machine (it’s around $60) so we are trying to substitute materials. If this works (& I think it will) I’ll post pictures and instructions. There is no glue involved in holding the needlepoint in place, although other ribbons and trims are definitely glued. This method should work for other standup/styrofoam pieces and I’m quite excited to be telling you about it. I’m guessing it will take 1 more craft date to complete, so check back in two – three weeks.

I also bought Petite Velvet to work on Mom’s Christmas sock, so there is a big change in the numbers this week:

Days: 37 of 365

Projects Finished: 3 of 156

WIPS: 26

Dollars Earned: 6

Dollars Spent: 21

Onward, ho!

There’s not really much to report on the stitching front, all I’ve got to show is an updated picture of St. Petersburg and new goodies for the 2013 list.  I guess that makes it a good week.  I do plan to work on something else, eventually. Just not today. Tomorrow’s not looking so good, either.

St. Pete’s is off the Q-Snaps so I can move over to the left, so I took a picture before putting it back. I’ve got a full list of sports lined up starting with the Texas Rangers at home and carrying on tomorrow with my beloved Texas Aggies and my older brother’s Univ. of Oklahoma Sooners. Thank goodness the little brother didn’t go to t.u.

I may have some new kits to add to the list, ironically enough. I’m working on flat-finishing three pieces. After trimming the fabric for Cupcake Sampler, I have enough leftovers to work something small. I’m thinking about one of the Brookes Books birthday cakes.  🙂

Onto the statistics:

Days: 23 of 365

Projects Finished: 3 of 152

WIPS: 26

Dollars Earned: 6

Dollars Spent: 6

 

Swapped!

I got Peacock Faery 🙂 🙂  I traded Field of Dreams also by HAED for her.  I’m very exicted as one of her sisters – Pirate Faery is in my WIP pile. Now all I have to do is find more time to stitch, ROFL.

I promised folks a picture of Thea Gouverneur’s St. Petersburg.  6 pages are completely done. The other four are partial pages, two of which are started. 

 

Days: 17 of 365

Projects Finished: 3 of 152

WIPS: 26

Dollars Earned: 6

Dollars Spent: 6

Day 17

It’s another week down, but this one was much more interesting.  One or more of you decided I needed enabled with links to freebies, and a tentative swap is in the works for something of my wish list — details will follow if and if only if the swap happens.

So, I acquired a small horde of smalls – a Christmas star in blue and gold, a hardanger piece with purple flowers, and membership access to both the EMS bulletin board and Brookes Books yahoo group.  My favorite by far are the birthday cake freebies from Brookes Books.  My house is called the Chocolate Box for a reason, and I’m looking forward to adding these to my display case in the window box 🙂  As of right now I think I’m +30 or so on charts. ROFL

Stitching wise – I worked on Susanna’s Stocking Cuff by Raymond Crawford and St. Petersburg by Thea Gouverneur.  I’ll build a WIP page Sunday night when the football/stitching is over.

Days: 17 of 365

Projects Finished: 3 of 152

WIPS: 26

Dollars Earned: 6

Dollars Spent: 6

Day 10

So far, I’ve been good.  Although I did see some new goodies I’ll eventually buy from Chatelaine and Victoria Sampler.

I think I will take up the suggestion to put up a Wish List page so I can keep track of everything.

I also have three small finishes to report. These will go into a gallery page.  I’m also adding some dollars to my cross stitch thread account as my own reward program.  I’m adding money to the miscellaneous fund based on the number of projects finished – the first project, 1 dollar; the second project, 2 dollars, the third project, 3 dollars. Etcetera.

So the first expenditure from the thread fund went for Nylon beading thread I’d left at home.  Boring, but true.

Days: 10 of 365

Projects finished: 3 of 152

WIPs/UFOs: 26

Dollars Earned: 6

Dollars Spent: 6