Stitch from Stash March 2015

It's time for another 2015-A Stitch From Stash Check In!

Month: March
Spent: $26.75
Earned: $8

March should have been an easy SFS month, since it was my birthday so I shouldn't have needed to buy anything.  Alas, I did make several purchases this month. 

First of all, I had run out/was missing several DMC threads for the next few projects I was planning, and I also needed some 16 count aida for an upcoming Love Quilts project.  So armed with a 20% off entire purchase coupon from Joann's I got what I needed on my birthday, along with some needles (I lost a few on the plane) and some finishing fabric.  Since both needles and finishing fabric are exempt, the total spent was $6.77.  I then had to hop over to Hobby Lobby to pick up the few colors Joann's had been out of, so that was another $2.20.

I've been telling myself to stay away from eBay lately, but I found this really great deal that I couldn't resist.  I've been trying and trying to find a copy of the Joan Elliott calendar that was released with World of Cross Stitching magazine this year.  Most of the ones you see on eBay are the abbreviated 2-chart version that was sold in US stores, and I can't afford shipping from the UK most times.  Well, I lucked out and won an auction that had not only the Joan Elliott charts, but some Margaret Sherry charts from 2012 as well (score!) with UK to US shipping less than $6.  Total spent - $2.78 US for both.  A steal!

My last purchase is where most of my budget went this month.  After posting in my March WIPocalypse update that I was wishing for a copy of Mirabilia's discontinued Lady of the Flag pattern, I had one of my blog readers approach me and offer to sell me her copy for $15.  Since I haven't been able to find it on eBay for cheaper than $20 lately, I took her up on it.  It isn't here yet, but I can't wait to see it.  It will be my first Mirabilia design.

So now I've detailed how I was naughty, time to show off my latest finish.  I did finish two small pieces as part of the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin I'm doing, but since I didn't pay for the pattern or threads/fabric on those projects, I'm not counting those towards earnings for SFS.

But I did finish the project I am calling Sparrow On Vine:

 Ta-da!  It's really finished this time. 

This is for a quilt being made by Love Quilts.  The theme for this quilt was religous sayings, so I took this pattern of a pink bird on a green vine and added the text from a scripture in Matthew.  The bird part of the pattern is a freebie from the French blog Passion Broderie 77 and can be found here if you'd like to stitch it yourself.  This project is done on 14 count plain white aida with DMC threads, was started on January 30th as part of the Crazy January Challenge and I finished it on March 26th.  At approximately 92 x 87 stitches, it earns me $8 this month for SFS.

So that's my update for the month.  Here's where I am now:

Starting balance from February: $5.30
March budget: $25
Finish bonuses: $8   
Total:  $38.30 to spend in March
- Total stash purchases: $26.75

Ending balance: $11.55

Well, at least the ending balance number is going up...

I thought I might have another finish this month, but didn't quite finsih it before I had to get this update up.  This is the start of my latest project, which I'm calling "Hoppy Spring".  It's a bunny looking over his shoulder at some pink tulips.  It's a slightly modified Tiny Modernist design.  Here's the progress so far:

Just a cotton tail (which doesn't show up much) and a bit of bunny right now.  But it's stitching up pretty quick, so I'm hoping I can get it done this weekend.  Hopefully back with a progress update on that Monday!