WIP Updates and Finishes

I'm averaging, what, 3 months per update? The camera's memory card has been found and here are some pictures. First up, the two finishes...



"Winter's Grazing" by Lois Winston

From The Cross Stitcher, Feb. 2007. On 16ct Grey Aida, using DMC threads. Approx 93 hours to complete.

wXSw (Wonderful XS World) mystery SAL, created by Helga Mandl Designs and Barbara Ana Designs

On 14c Oatmeal Aida, with DMC threads (comparable Light Effects threads substituted for white, 334, and 818). Approx 66 hours.



And the WIP updates...

The Tree Skirt as of Sept. 19:


"An October Box" as of Oct. 11:


The younger terror's blanket as of Nov. 24:


DH's bookmark as of Aug.5 :


BoINK as of Aug. 30:

Slowly Getting Back to Speed

Not a lot of stitching has been happening over the past month thanks to both the PC crash and some massive knots in my upper back and neck. Give ya' three guesses where I store my stress!

BUT...I got the camera software loaded and pictures taken!

First up is "Book of Ink Circles" (BoINK):

I am loving this one! I put in about 30 hours on it before I got 'sick' of it. Then after 2 hours into the next project, I wanted to pick it back up again!

I'm up to 200 hours on the "Winter White Tree Skirt":


And "Winter's Grazing" is still almost done:

I'm thinking about 20 - 30 more hours to complete it.

I've also restarted the Project Challenge. My goal is 15 or more project finishes before I splurge buy again. I had to take advantage of Cross My Heart Inc, going out of business sale. I have the "Earth Dragon" and wanted the other three elemental dragons before they became impossible to find. The good news, however, is I used the money I made off of the stash I have been selling to buy them. Bonus is that it makes hubby happy too. (He like when I buy for myself on occasion, but knows how our finances have been lately.)
On that note, hubby has picked up a full time job to supplement our income. For those who did not know, he is a real estate investor, and his income was affected by the housing crash. He had to change strategies (yeah, commercial property), however commercial property has a longer turn over rate (at least in regards to money coming in to feed and cloth the kids). So now my poor man is working 120 hours a week.

Now about this year's swimsuits. After two stores and 20+ different suits, I've found that manufacturers think everyone is an 'A' cup (including plus size women) and we want to cover the nipple only. Seriously, I get better support and coverage by going topless! On the up side, I got a new pair of shorts and they are a 10! (Yes folks, that's down from an 18 at the beginning of last year.)

Anyone know of any stores that sell swimsuits that have coverage and support? I'm talking 'XL' top (think D-cup)and 'L' bottom. I don't mind showing off cleavage. Just not down to my navel. Oh, and no bikinis, please. Trust me, no one wants to see these stretch marks.

Stitching Rotation Updates and More

Camera has reappeared! So are you prepared for the pictures?

The flowers I got for Mother's Day were starting to look bad (the real ones anyway), so I don't have a picture of those. Instead you can all the petals I've harvested from them.


I'm going to dry them out and use them for air freshener, incense, etc. And these are the flowers The Boy made.


He loves his arts and crafts! This week he had a project on lobsters. He had to draw or make a model and write at least 4 sentences about the lobster (facts of). He did the bare minimum on the sentences because he wanted to work on this more:


And hubby only helped a little. He was so excited about taking it to school today, that he woke up early. Which was not a problem with me, since it seems I have steroid insomnia now (see previous post as to why). The boy has got some talent in the arts (in this mother's opinion). He has decided he wants to learn how to draw properly this summer. We are NOT going to refuse him that. In fact he has been behaving exceptionally well in school, so that he can get his own special pencils, paper, and how-to book when school ends. Which is only in 2 weeks.
He has also decided that he is going to jump off the diving board this summer. I guess we had better get our pool tags. I guess I had better around to getting a swimsuit this year...eek.


On to the pretty-pretties...

I've gotten some 10 hour blocks on a few more projects. Here is the wXSw SAL:


The "October Box":

I'm thinking the light blue is washed out in the fabric. I may go back later and backstitch the words there with a darker blue. We'll see.

And the new start, "Renaissance Bookmark" by Teresa Wentzler (a TW Designworks freebie). I'm using the recommended threads on 28ct Country French Chantilly.


The Boy's blanket square was supposed to come before the bookmark in the rotation, but when I started to work on a square, i found the blanket needed to be washed first. It seems he had wrapped himself up in it to eat breakfast and had spilt some. So I switched the two in rotation for this round.

I've also added BoINK. I'll be stitching it on 30ct Antique Ivory Evenweave and using Vikki Clayton Silks. I wanted my colors to be close to the Book of Kells (as close as a computer monitor will let me get), so I went with: yellow/gold - Lemon Drops 4201, black - Basic Black 5300 (not shown in the photo), red - OMG Red 1141, violet - Ultra Violet 2121, green - Isle Green 3213, orange - Terra Potta 4321, light blue - Mermaid Blue 2315, and dark blue - Yonder Blue 2221.

I'm really looking forward to this one so much that I broke my own "no more than 5 or 6 projects in the rotation" rule because I want this for myself. I don't even feel bad about it! Who knows, I may even end up changing more of the colors as I go. I am going to do the Project Challenge again, but buying fibers for this may end up on the exception list.

And last, but not least, I received an envelope from England for the ILCS Embellishment Exchange (we send our partner $5 worth of embellishments).

I got lots of flower buttons in wood, clear red, various shades of pink (my favorite!), some plum colored Mill Hill beads, red/white checked ribbon, and some more tiny buttons in various shapes and primary colors. Thank you Lou! Hopefully mine will arrive at your house in the next couple of days.

Stitching Rotation Updates

I've worked on two projects in the past couple of weeks...

"Winter White Tree Skirt"


and "Winter's Grazing"

I'm 3/4 done with this one. I expect to have it completed within the next 2 rotation rounds.

I've definitely decided to add book marks to the rotation. They are small and I know I won't feel overwhelmed by adding them. The first one I'm making is for hubby, who is no help picking out a pattern (whatever, honey). I've decided to go with "Renaissance Bookmark", a freebie by Teresa Wentzler (TW Designworks).

I've also found another SAL I want to work on; Ink Circles' Celtic Mystery SAL (affectionately being called BoINK), which is based on designs from the Book of Kells. I'm considering kitting this up and then, because I'm going to buy silks for this instead of using from my stash, restart the Project Challenge. Well, maybe I'll restart after I renew my magazine subscriptions.
{GRIN}

Project Updates

Finished up another set of 10 hour blocks on a few projects...

"Winter's Grazing" - 60 hours total. This is on a set of scroll bars so it is hard to show everything I've finished.


wXSw Mystery SAL - 40 hours total.


"October Box" - 20 hours total


And another square on The Boy's blanket

This is "Summer Tree" by Stitch Witch. Its a freebie patern I got from Cyberstitchers.

My daughter (here-to-after known as G-Teen), has asked me to make her a blanket too. Good thing I have another blanket in my stash! I'll be hem stitching that thing while she look sfor the first pattern she wants on it. As a result, in a trip to my LNS for a gift for someone else, I picked up "Cat Squares" so G-Teen can have a few more patterns to choose from.

I made it to 15 projects (a year and 6 months) before buying more stash!!! Of course, people GIVING me stash during that time made it much easier. And I'm cleaning out my own of ones I no longer want.

I think I need to add bookmarks into my rotation too. I can never seem to find my paper ones. Maybe if I look in all the books I'm reading right now, I might find them. That just means I don't have enough!!


Today is my daughter's 14th Birthday. I always feel old on her birthday and not mine, even though mine is next month. She had her party yesterday, at the park. All the girls had fun. Most of today was spent taking her every place she got a gift card from. Boy am I beat!!!
Word to the wise...Whipcream icing and 85F, sunny weather make for a melty mess.

Updates Galore

Now that I've finally been able to bogart the camera from my hubby (who is at this moment wandering the house trying to figure out where he put it, as I download), I've gotten picture of all my finishes and updates over the past several months. So you know this post will be jpeg heavy.

First up is my last finish of 2007.
"One Starry Night" by Carol Scott Higeli of The Stitcher's Habit. From JCS Christmas Ornaments: 10th Anniversary Collection.

On 28ct Navy Cashel Linen, using recommended DMS treads. Substituted Kreinik 102 with 002, and 085 with 095.

And two finishes, so far, for 2008:
"Merlin's Oak" by Hermon Adams
Pictures never do these things justice, do they...

This is an Embellished Cross Stitch kit from Candamar Designs Inc, which I started in July 2005.

And "Daisy Dream" Mill Hill kit.

This beaded pin pillow is on 28ct Cashel Linen, and took approx. 15 hours to complete.

And the Baker's Dozen RR returned in time for Christmas for my son. Although once he saw the package when we picked up the mail, he knew what it was and has refused to let it go since (Oh the uproar when he realized he forgot it at his Aunt's house in San Antonio!).

THANK YOU to all the ladies who worked on this. My boy absolutely loves it, and has me read all the letters you wrote at least once a week. You all did great work and I am grateful to you.


Now for my lovely ongoing projects...
Here is "Winter White Tree Skirt" at 180 hours


"Winter's Grazing" at 54 hours


wXSw (Yahoo group) Mystery SAL "Back on the Road Again" at 30 hours

I'm using 14ct Oatmeal Aida (I think it is Oatmeal. Its part of some stash I was given and it was not labeled.) and DMC threads. I have substituted DMC's Light Effect colors for the White, 334, and 818.

And lastly, "An October Box" at 10 hours

New "Christmas" Project

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments on my last stitching update. I did add a new project to my rotation. Not so much a Christmas project, as I have the tree skirt for that, but it's winter themed none the less.
For the progress reports:

Since I free'd up a scroll bar, I got "The Enchanter" into it to work on the detail work. Here it is with the backstitching done (Well the part that the scroll bar will show).

Just the embellishments and cording left to do on that.

I'm getting close to finishing the main work on "Merlin's Oak" too.

Just the bottom right corner left to do and onto the backstitching.

I'm sensing a theme this week...

And the Tree Skirt! A 10x10 block left to do on the first page:

I'm going to backstitch each page as I go, as I about had a heart attack thinking about leaving it all for the very end like I usually do.

Oh yes, the new project added...
"Winter's Grazing" by Lois Winston from The Cross Stitcher (February 2007). No pictures of it yet, including the one from the magazine, as my scanner isn't working and just feel like troubleshooting it. (LOL, I know...bad techie! Bad, bad techie!) However so you can have a visual, it's three moose in a pine forst cover in snow.

Busy hands

It has been sometime since I had any stitching updates, I believe. Not only do I have some progress to report on a couple of projects, I have a finish as well!

I'll start with the one that has the least amount done.
Here is the 100 hour picture of Winter White Tree Skirt:

I'm almost 1/5 complete with the project (not counting sewing the thing into a tree skirt).

Now "The Enchanter", who is almost done (210 hr of work):

All I have left to do is back stitching and the embellishments. Since I've freed up a scroll rod with my completed piece, I can move this to the scroll rods, making the finishing easier. Too much cording and embellishments to allow for using a hoop easily.

Now for the finish...
Started August 2005, with approximately 124 hours of stitching, I give you...

"North American Beauties" by Michael Adams. Dimensions kit on 18ct White Aida.

I am particularly glad to have this one done. The confetti half stitches drove me nuts. I resorted to parking just to have a place to anchor thread. The back is a mess because of that, but no worries; I'm making it into a pillow.

Now what to start next...

"The Enchanter" update

I've started my rotation at the beginning again, and here is the progress I've made on The Enchanter.


Boy it seems I'm rotating through my project faster this year. I believe part is because I narrowed it down to no more than 6 projects at a time, and the other part is I'm not working on other commissions which cut into my project time.

I am sooooooooooo happy

I am no longer in pain. The tooth that was worked on and the surrounding area is sore, but not hurting.

On a happy note, I finished a block of hours on my Family Sampler.

All I have left is the top row of alphabet, some little themes to add around that same area, and then I can begin working on the border. Looking at the boprder I created for this, I think it might take me the longest to do. That and looking at it afterwards and seeing what I need to add/remove/change. Have I mentioned that I love working with these silks?

Updates all around

I was able to get 10 hour blocks done on several projects this past week, mainly due to the lack of sleep from the pain in my mouth. The good news on that front is I see the dentist in an hour to have that fixed. The bad news is today was the ealiest she could see me. I did see my regular dentist on Friday, and she confirmed that I have an infection in the roots of my molar, however there was something off with my roots (something about them not being normal) and I had to go to a specialist (Who only works on Mondays. I'd like that kind of schedule!). Long story short, hopefully tomorrow I won't have top worry about the pain killers no longer working because it will be taken care of.

Now for the pictures.

Here is North American Beauties , with 60 known hours of work:



Merlin's Oak, with 80 known hours:


And lastly, the tree skirt, with 40 hours:


I should have more updates soon, as I'm close to finishing another block on the sampler. I'm liking the 6 project rotation. Things seem to be going quicker.

Weekend update

As I didn't get any progress pictures last week, I'll be including those that I worked on the last week of 2006 also.

First up is the progress on the tree skirt. I believe this has a total of 30 hours on it.

libhita

I also started a new project. "Family Sampler" A Do It Yourself Sampler by M-designs, debuting at PALS Oct. 2006 Retreat. I'm using 28 ct. Fresco Linen from Picture This Plus and Viki Clayton silks.

libhita

This one I think will stitch up pretty quick. Well, maybe except for the border I've added to it. I'll definitely need some opinions as to what color to stitch the names in (a couple are already there).

And last, The Enchanter:

libhita

I was thinking I had more updates, but now I realize there were a couple of finishes that I already wrote about.

I hope everyone's year has begun as they like it!

A little here...a little there.

I've just realized that it's been a couple weeks since I posted any stiching updates. I finished the piece for GhostStitchers:

I love how the Hungarian flame stitch turned out.

I also finished the tree ornament from M-Designs "Christmas Duo". This was one of the classes taught at the 2006 PALS Fall Fling. On 32ct linen in Moonglow from Picture This Plus with JAR Designs thread.


And here are the pieces I've made progress on.

"The Enchanter"


And from the JCS 10th Anniversary Collection:
"Sadie Snowflake"- This is a color conversion from the original colors. My son picked these out.

"Snow Kitty"