May 2015 Smalls SAL Check-In and some Tinkerbell Progress

Whew, May has just flown by for me.  This month has been so crazy, I can't  believe it.  But it's already the last Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for my monthly check in for Stitching Lotus' 2015 Smalls SAL.

Most of my stitching this month has been pretty big projects.  My Frosted Pumpkin entry for the month was a little on the larger size, so I won't count it for this.  But I do have one finish I know counts as a small.  I feel like my monthly check-in posts can get repetitive picture-wise for those of you who are regular readers, so I purposely left off posting this picture before.  Here's the complete finish (with backstitching) of my Buzzy Bee N by Lucie Heaton:

This was for an initial exchange as part of a Lucie Heaton Facebook Fan Group I'm in.  It was stitched on a scrap of 14 count white aida I had around, 2 over 1 with charted DMC threads.  I started it on May 12th and finished it on May 15th.

After taking this picture, I finished it up as a bookmark, since my partner said she loved to read, and sent it on its way to Canada.  Sadly I forgot to take a picture before I put it in the envelope and sealed it up.  *facepalm* So hopefully my partner will let me borrow her picture when she receives it. 

So that's it for smalls this time around.  Mostly I've been working like mad on Baby Tinkerbell.  Only 2 days left to finish her!  I'm almost done with the stitching and ready to start backstitching (which will take forever I expect).  Sadly I don't have an updated picture (I thought I did, but I don't) but here's a peek at least at what she looked like Monday morning, which is almost recent. 

This project has been fun, but is totally tiring me out.  No more deadline stitching for awhile for me after this one!

April 2015 Smalls SAL Check-In

I must be really off my groove this week.  Despite having the date marked on my calendar and everything, I somehow totally forgot to post my April update for Stitching Lotus' 2015 Smalls SAL yesterday.  So I'm off to remedy that. 

These pictures will be repetitive for anyone who follows the blog regularly.  Sorry about that!

Of course my smallest small finish this month was my block for the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin.  This month I tackled the November block of the Dessert of the Month Club. 

I also had one "small-ish" finish.  Not super small, but small enough to count?  It was Hoppy Spring, which I sent off for a spring themed exchange:

This was my first finish of April, and also my first time "finish finishing" anything.  Which was good, since I've also signed up for a summer exchange through the same forum, and now an initial exchange on Facebook too, so I'll need some practice. 

This is what my exchange partner sent to me for said spring exchange:

I love little bunnies, so cute.  Sadly, the scissor keeper chart didn't include the pattern, so I need to figure out what to do with the kit.  Anyone have that copy of CrossStitcher and want the kit to go with it? 
 
Well, I guess I managed to sneak one new picture in.  :)

March 2015 Smalls SAL Check-In

This month has flown by!  Do you think it could possibly be because I was on vacation for two weeks? LOL  But as it's the last Wednesday of the month, it's time for the March update in Stitching Lotus' 2015 Smalls SAL.

Just like last month, my smalls stitching has been kind of non-traditional.  Although I worked on several small projects, I only have two that are done and count for this month.  And like last month, they are actually part of a bigger project, but I am counting them as smalls because I only worked on a small portion of said project. 

I am of course referring to Round 2 of the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin I am participating in through a Facebook group.  I had two small blocks to finish in the Woodland Sampler pattern: A raccoon block and mushroom block:

Regular readers of this blog will recognize both of these already (sorry!).  But since they are old pictures, I will share something new about this project.  This was suposed to be for the 'February' round in the rotation, but since my projects are being mailed from the UK, sometimes I am behind.  Which was the case for this project, since I didn't get the January round project (The Frog Prince block from last month's Smalls check-in) until late Feburary, almost March.  So I purposely picked the February (raccoon) block to stitch because we didn't have to go in order for the sampler, but it was by the already stitched area, and it was a smaller block.  So I figured I could send it out faster and get caught up quicker. 

Well, it was only after starting the raccoon that I realized that February/March were combined into one stitching section for the round robin, since both were small blocks.  So that's how I came to stitch both of them, thus I think of them as two completely separate projects (in my own head anyway). 

Hopefully I will have more exciting things to show off next month as I am about to start a small project for a spring exchange that's due at the end of the month (I'm running out of time!).  I also stitched on a small magnet project, which is said project I can't post pictures of yet since it's for a birthday present. 

I also made a bit of progress on Mill Hill's Autumn Circle while I was driving around town on vacation:

I really need to take an updated picture of this, since I've started to add green to the leaves now and it gives it so much more depth. 

Anyway, that's my update for now.  See  you Smalls SALers next month!

Feburary 2015 Smalls SAL Check-In

Although really it's only 4 days shorter, February always seems to go by so quickly doesn't it?  But since it's the last Wednesday of the month, it's time for the Feburary update in Stitching Lotus' 2015 Smalls SAL. 

Although I didn't really get a chance to work on any "small" projects this month (it's been kind of a weird stitching month for me), I did finish a small part of a Round Robin piece, so that's what I'm counting for this month.

At approximately just over 50 stitches in height and width, this is the February block from Frosted Pumpkin's Once Upon a Time sampler.

(The May block was done by the owner of the project.)

As I mentioned before, that frog gave me quite a bit of trouble, but I managed to get it all done in the end.

After finishing this one finally last week, it's now on it's way to the next person in the round robin, and I'm working on the next project, which if from Woodland Sampler.  That one is being done on linen, my first time ever working with it, and it's HARD!

We're having a frozen day today here in Mississippi, so I hope the rest of you are staying warm.  Happy stitching everyone!

January 2015 Smalls SAL

Well, it's the last Wednesday in January (can you believe it, where did the time go?), so that means it's time for January's check-in post for Stitching Lotus' 2015 Smalls SAL. 

January has been kind of crazy, since I've been trying to work on a new project every day this month for the Crazy January Challenge I joined on Facebook.  However, with that in mind, I did actually have not only one, but two small finishes. 

Both of these are pieces for World of Charity Stitching, and since they are 43 x 43 stitches, I think I'll count them as a small project.  Here is Leopard Print Mitten

and Giraffe Print Mitten, in case anyone hasn't seen both of these already. 

Hmmm, just realized that these check in posts might get a little repetitive for those who read this blog frequently.  Sorry about that!

I got notice yesterday that both squares have been successfully received, so they'll be made up into a quilt for a deserving senior someday soon. 

Next month will probably either no finishes, or tons of Mill Hills, since I'm currently on a deadline for a gift deadline in March and have about 6 of them going on right now. 

If you'd like to participate with us in this SAL, check out the sign up post here. 

2015 Stitching Goals: More and More SALs

Well, I had the epiphany today that it's actually getting pretty close to 2015 now, so I better finish up my 2015 goals series of posts.  So rather than do an introduction post for all of these, I'm going to put them all in one post (so I can actually focus on stitching things for them, haha).

So in addition to the 2015 Flower of the Month SAL I'm hosting, the Crazy January Challenge, and BAP Attack's Turtle Trot, here's what I have planned for the new year.

Daffycat has plans to continue her Totally Useless SAL (TUSAL) into the new year.  I've already emptied my ort jar in anticipation of starting that one.   She hasn't posted (as of this writing) the new info for 2015 yet, but this is the link to her 2014 post explaining this SAL. 

Heather from Stitching Lotus is doing her Smalls SAL again this year.  I think this will be kind of like the MMMM I did in October and November, so I'm excited for this one.  I know I will be able to work on smalls for every month of this year, it will just be a question of finishing them or not...

Measi is hosting WIPocalypse again this year.  This is a very low key SAL that is essentially all about sharing your stitching goals and progress for the year.  It will go along very nicely with Turtle Trot this year I expect.

Mel from Epic Stitching is hosting her Stitch from Stash challenge again.  This year, it will be divided into two parts.  The idea is to spend $25 (or your equivalent currency) or less on stitching stash supplies per month.   When I first heard about this back in May, I was kind of like "who is crazy enough to sign up for something like that?".  And then I spent all summer stashing wayyyyy too much, so I signed up so that I could try to keep control of it next year.  With the cut in pay that came from moving out here to Mississippi, my budget is much, much tighter than it used to be, so I will have to think careful about each and every stitchy purchase I make from now on. 

And last but not least is the D.E.S.I.G.N. of the Month, which stands for Designer Everybody Should Instantly Get to Notice. This is a series of posts that will be done by participants throughout the year showing off a current WIP from a different designer each month, with a series of reoccurring questions answered about said design/designer each month.  The idea is to introduce everyone to new designers we may not have run into/tried on our own that we think others should try (or stay away from I suppose).  I'm super excited about this one; I'm already brainstorm ideas on what to feature. 

Phew!  That's a lot.  Think I bit off more than I can chew?  Maybe so, guess we'll just have to see.