Vaction Stitching

Well, I'm back from a vacation last week, and managed to snag a bit of stitching while I was in the airport waiting for various flights.  The main project I worked on I can't actually show, since it's for someone for Christmas that sometimes pops in and reads the blog, so that one will have to wait until after the holiday to show. 

I pulled out the Mill Hill Love Potions kit to work on since I forgot Holiday Stamp at home in my work bag.  Not much progress, but the first of 3 bottles is mostly done now (sorry for the blurry picture):

After getting home, I put a significant dent of progress in my project for the latest round of the sampler round robin I am participating in on Facebook. 

This project is an antique band sampler, choose your own band.  Which when I read that I went AHHHHHHHHHH because I've never done a band sampler before and had absolutely NO ideas on what to do for it.  But since I'm familiar with blackwork, I found a nice pattern of leaves and vines that I figured I could make into my band.

In other news, I've already put up my page for the Debbie's Crazy January Challenge 2016.  For some reason thinking ahead and planning this is way more fun than actually doing the stitching sometimes.  Once my Christmas gift stitching is done, I will be back to doing a few charity squares, since the last two themes that have been opened in one of my groups really appeal to me.  January will be on us before you know it!

Back with more stitchy progress

I guess my intentions to blog more than once a month have been in vain so far.  Work has been so busy: we got a new computer system a few weeks ago and things have been crazy and in turmoil since then.  Makes me just want to go home and sleep when I get off. 

But I have managed to do some stitching, mostly round robin progress again.  First off, I finished the last round for the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin.  It's a little acorn to go with my night sky from last update:

After that, I worked on the next round in the Sampler Round Robin, which was this Tulip Sampler design by Rosewood Manor.  Since it's been so long since my last update, I actually completely finished it before I could post any updates:

And speaking of the sampler round, here is some progress to show on Halloween Quaker.  This is the project I'm sending around, so not all of the stitching is mine, but it gives you an idea of how it's coming so far. 

I also have a long overdue new start to show you.  This is for an ornament exchange, and is called Holiday Stamp by Mill Hill:

The stitching itself is almost done, then some petite beading and a few backstitch and french knots and it will be done.  I haven't really worked on one of these Mill Hill kits since last January, and I forgot how fun they are.  I have a few more of these to complete for various gifts over the next month or so until Christmas, so I need to stitch faster!

Progress: Mostly Round Robin stitching

Well, it's been almost another month since I posted, so I guess it's time for another update.  I haven't been getting too much stitching done lately, mostly round robin stuff.  Actually, now that I think about it, all round robin stuff.  Although I have my stitchy bug pretty much back all the way, I have had some health problems that have really slowed me down. 

If you don't enjoy reading about personal issues, you can skip down a few paragraphs.  But for anyone interested, I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease about a year and a half ago.  Graves is a form of hyperthyroidism, which means my body makes too much thyroid hormone.  It's sort of like my body's thermostat is permanently set too high. 

Anyway, long story short, I've tried a few different treatments, gone through a lot of tests, and my doctor and I came to the conclusion that either my thyroid needed to come out, or it needed to be killed.  So at the beginning of the month I took a large dose of radioactive Iodine 131 isotope, which left me in quarantine for 5 days.  I'm still kind of dealing with the after effects of that, which is why things have been slow in the stitching front. 

So personal issues over. 

In other (more happy) news, our little kitten is getting so big.  Her official name is Bitty (as in itty bitty) because she was so tiny when we found her and we decided that it will be ironic when she's full grown.  She and Brownie have finally decided they kind of like each other.  I snapped this pic of them being all sneaky and sleeping together in the same cat bed when I was in my 5 day isolation. 

On the stitching front, I finished my portion of the Gingerbread Lane project for the second to last round of the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin group on Facebook:

Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the whole thing as it looks so far before sending it off, but it was a super cute project that I might stitch myself one day. 

I also started on Autumn Sampler, which will be my last project for the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin (except finishing my own project, of course).  This pattern was temporarily discontinued, although the designers brought it back after popular demand.  I bought the winter version of this in February or March, and I'm liking this one so much that if they also decide to re-release the spring version, I might just also purchase autumn, spring, and summer so I have a full set. 

For my piece I'm stitching 2 of the 25 boxes the sampler is divided into.  I've finished one, a night forest landscape with a big harvest moon, and have started on the second, an acorn with oak leaves.  Here's what the forest looked like when I finished with it:

I also finished my first project for the Sampler Round Robin that started in September.  This is what my portion of the Jane Austen sampler I showed last time looked like when done:

And here's what it looked like as a whole before sending it off.  It's really cute, I bet it will look great when it's all done. 

Next I need to start my second sampler project which I just got in the mail.  That one will be a quilt block style sampler if I remember correctly (still need to pull it out of the envelope).  The sad thing is, I still haven't started up my Christmas gift stitching, and I really need to get that done if I want to finish in time.  Hmmmm...

Latest Stitching Updates

Well, I kind of fell of the stitching bandwagon for awhile, didn't I?  I can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted anything.  To be honest, I've kind of lost my stitching bug a bit in the last couple months as well.  I think I may have taken on a little to much this year, and it burned me out in the year.  Don't get me wrong, I love monthly SALs and everything, but I think I will lay aside all the obligation they present for the rest of the year and just focus on what I want to stitch.  Of course, I will be doing the Crazy January challenge (31 projects, one for each day in January) again this year, or at least I plan to right now.  But other than that for next year I'll just see where life takes me.

So although I got burned out, I have been doing a little bit of stitching.  I finished the Cinderella/October block in my latest Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin piece, and got that sent off.  Here's a (kind of dark, sorry) photo of my finished portion:

Once that was sent off, it was time to pick up the next RR piece, since I'm a little behind.  The next one is Gingerbread Lane.  My part is to stitch the skaters on the pond below the middle house.  This is what I have so far:

I love this pattern so much, it's really fun to work on.  I'm ashamed to admit that I got burned out on the Once Upon a Time pieces, even though I love fairy tales.

Speaking of the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin, I got my piece back recently (yay!) but forgot to take a picture of it.  Darn!  So I guess I will save that for another post.  

The other project I've been working on is for the newest round robin I've joined.  This one is sampler themed.  I sent out my Halloween Quaker project that I've stalled on to be worked on, so when I get that back, it will be almost finished for me!

The first project I'm working on is Simply Jane Austen, a Motif Sampler by The Sampler Girl.  This blog has a picture of what it will look like when finished.  I love Jane Austen, so although my part in this piece is pretty small (4 words and key) I'm enjoying it a lot.  Here's the latest progress pic:

We're taking a road trip this weekend, so I'm hoping to get a lot done during that (at least the first leg of the trip).  I need to finish up these Round Robin projects because I'm down to crunch time on Christmas projects!

August Stitch from Stash B

Here we are at the end of August, and I've been quite quiet lately.  Sadly, I've kind of lost my stitchy bug the past few weeks, and I haven't been stitch nearly as much lately. But I'm taking a trip this weekend, so maybe I will get that bug back a bit during the trip since I don't have to drive.
 
Month: August
Spent: $26.40
Earned: $0.00

As you can see, due to the loss of my stitchy bug, I didn't have ANY finishes for this month.  A first for me this year!

I did end up buying some stash though.   Last month one of the patterns I bought was one called Summer Designs by Bobbie G. Designs.  Well, doing some research into that pattern, it turns out it was a series of patterns and I got it into my head one day that I needed the other 3 seasons to match it (you know how I am with seasons and monthly patterns).  Sadly, my go to supplier (since there's no LNS to be found near me) 123stitch.com failed me and didn't have them in stock.  But I did find another website called Stitching Bits and Bobs that did have them, and what do you know, they were even on sale.  So added to my stash this month were Winter Designs, Spring Designs, and Autumn Designs.  I have to say spring and winter are probably my favorites of all of them.

And while I was poking around, I ended up adding another pattern to my cart.  This one is called Americat from Val's Stitching Stuff.  Val has lots of cute primtive-y cat patterns, and with my love of both cats and all things patriotic, I just loved this one so much.  And since it was another thing 123stitch didn't have currently in stock, I had to add it to my order so I could get combined shipping, right? I normally don't go for primitive type patterns, but they're starting to grow on me, and I find I really like Val's patterns (although so far I haven't stitched one).  I will probably even save up for both the Just Another Button Company buttons and hand dyed floss for this one.

I wish I could have found bigger pictures for you to look at (or even had the foresight to take some of my own) so you could see all the amazing details and colors of these patterns.  Of course, when they arrived in the mail I discovered that (gasp!) the Bobbie G Designs have quite a few blended threads.  Oh frogs.  I haven't done blended threads yet, been too chicken to try them, but I suppose these patterns will be as good of an excuse as any to try them out.

In other news, the Cross Stitch Crazy 2016 group (home of the Crazy January Challenge) has opened, so I'm already planning my starts for next January.  And sheesh, I still have Christmas present to finish.  I need to get this stitchy bug back soon!  Otherwise, I will completely fail SFS Part B.  I need more earning bonus, LOL


Starting balance from July: -$33.00
August budget: $25
Finish bonuses: $0   
Total:  -$8 to spend in July
- Total stash purchases: $26.40

Ending balance: -$34.40

Hey, my red balance only went up by a dollar...

Back with more progress updates

Yikes!  I can't believe how quiet I've been around here lately.  That little kitten is still keeping us pretty busy.  I guess I underestimated how much time can be taken up by playing and cuddling and all those things kittens are good for.  She's still really active, so stitching with her around can be a little bit of a mess, but she did decide to settle down with me the other day. 

She squeezed herself into that tiny spot between my leg and the next couch cushion and fell completely asleep.  Little stinker. 

So despite my lack of blogging updates, I have been stitching some, although maybe not at the rate I was before.  I finally finished up the Rapunzel block of Once Upon a Time for the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin.  Here's what it looks like finished:

This particular project had a lot of pattern modifications made by the project owner, and some of them are really neat, so here's a complete picture of the whole project as it looked before I packed it up and sent it on:

The sunlight really washed out the colors in this photo.  The fabric was a beautiful color, closer to the Rapunzel picture above.  But man, was it difficult for me to work with!  Between it being linen, which I am slowly getting used to but not used to completely yet, and the dark color, and almost only being able to work on it at night, this block definitely went slower. 

While I was finishing up that one, I also got the next project in the round robin, which also happened to be Once Upon a Time.  This will be my third and last time working on this particular pattern, since the RR is coming to a close with just a few more rounds.  This time I'm working on the Cinderella block.  Not much progress so far, just a bit of the elaborate border FP is famous for:

Sadly the terrible night lighting washed out all the beautiful Weeks Dye Works colors, so hopefully I'll get a better picture of this as it goes along so you can see those better. 

In other stitching, Sunshine by Satsuma Street is also coming along.  Just have the dark and light pink ring around the outside to finish, and then that yellow in the middle that I still need to pick up.  I just love how the colors on this one are turning out. 

Until next time, happy stitching to you all, and let's hope my next update isn't really far away this time!

July Flower of the Month Check In

Welcome to the latest check in for the Flower of the Month SAL.  I can't believe I forgot to post this earlier!  Once again, I've been a very bad hostess and don't have any progress of my own to show this month.  (That new kitten has been keeping me busy!)  It's been so wonderful seeing all of your progress on July, and August is one of my favorite patterns, so this next month will be fun as well. 

Remember, if you are not currently a member of the SAL and want to join us, it's never too late to join!  The rules and official sign ups can be found on this page.  

Important Notes For Current SAL Participants: 
To earn an extra prize entry for this month, you must submit a check in (even if it's showing only progress and not a finish).  Your check in can be about the July pattern specifically, or any other month you are working on/have finished. 

If you have done a blog post showing your progress, please use the linking widget below to add a direct link to your check in post.  If you are a member of our Facebook group, you can also check in via that page.  You do not have to check in at both places, but you are welcome to if you wish. 

If anyone has any questions, please let me know.  I will leave the link widget open for a week (until August 13th), so please check in by that date.