Challenges & SALs – Page 9 – Feather Stitching

2014 WIPocalypse, Finishes, Lavender & Lace, Lizzie Kate, Stash, Uncategorized

June/July WIPocalypse

12 July, 201420 July, 2014 Anne S

If you managed to read my previous post, you probably have an idea why there was no WIPocalypse post for June … and I’m back online again just in time to complete my post for July … which means for the 2nd time in a row I’m well and truly late … c’est la vie, such is life I guess!

Anyway first up is the piece that I started stitching a week ago, that I managed to finish today. I started kitting this one up a few weeks ago but couldn’t make a decision on the threads and fabric. Last weekend I started it and still wasn’t 100% happy with my choices – I put the last stitches in today then opted to pull one colour out and re-do it, and I’m so glad that I did, because I absolutely ADORE this one now! As you can see, it really doesn’t look anything like the original version … I much prefer my choice of threads for this one!! I’ve listed below the threads that I ended up using:

“Dance in the Rain” by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on 32ct Shell Wichelt linen
with my choice of silk threads (see below)

The threads that I chose to use were: Belle Soie Beanstalk, Belle Soie Ocean Tide, Silk n Colors Aged Plum, NPI Silks 471, 336 and 991BB, and Rainbow Gallery Splendor S870.

The other stitching I managed to do over the last couple of months was to finish my charity quilt block for Love Quilts Australia:

“Butterfly Quartet” – a Stitch Simple kit by DMC

While I was trying to work out how the hell to pay the rent until I found a new flatmate I start making up stitching rolls to sell … I’ve managed to finish 6 since then, although still haven’t worked out how to price them yet – once I do that, though, they will go up for sale, and I’ll also start taking orders for people who want other colours etc (and different sizes). I’ve been a bit tired the last couple of weekends, though, so haven’t taken photos and worked out the final costings yet (I also had to go back to Spotlight to price up the fabrics etc that I use). Here’s the first one I made, though, as a sneak peak:

For the last two Saturdays I’ve also managed to get a few more stitches into my L&L Angel of Love – she is probably what finally kicked my butt into gear and brought my stitching mojo back again to be able to stitch my Lizzie*Kate finish. I was primarily beading the top part of the skirt this time round, and oh boy is she stunning!! Photos will never do this baby justice, that’s for sure!!!

Even though I was on a total stash diet (and still am effectively) for the last couple of months, I did receive a small amount of stash that I’d already ordered previously. One was a kit that I’d posted about previously that I’d been trying to track down for a few years, and managed to find on one Ebay – don’t even know what made me go put the search words in, but one came up straightaway so I just had to buy it … I’m glad Ian hadn’t moved out at that point or it would have killed me not being able to buy it and knowing one was available!! The other items were a drawn thread book from the Book Depository and a delightful French design, with the cutest little wooden hoop button. I bought two copies because one copy is for a dear friend.

And I think that’s probably all my stitching news for the last couple of months … really not too much to show compared to how I normally stitch, but I guess life became more of a priority for a while. Hopefully now I’ve managed to put needle fabric semi-regularly over the last two weeks (even if it was just at the weekends), my mojo will continue and I’ll get back into it once again. It had better do that, as I have another quilt block I need to stitch by next month now!!!

I’ll finish off with the last 2 WIPocalypse theme questions:

13 June – Have you ever been to a stitch gathering such as a retreat or a festival? If so, tell us about it!

Yes I have – way back in 2000 I flew to Sacramento, California for a CATs stitching festival. It was the most amazing experience where I got to meet some online stitching pals and had about 6 classes with well-known American designers/needle artists. It was my first introduction to pulled thread (I thought I was learning drawn thread so I soon found out I didn’t know what I was talking about, and learnt a new skill I hadn’t expected to). I went a bit crazy at the shopping mall, meeting some more designers face-to-face, and went to a local stitching shop where I was beside myself with all the thread choices etc. I think I came home with pretty much an entire suitcase full of class projects and stash, along with my first floorstand and mat cutter! It was an amazing experience that I’m ever so grateful I got to experience!!

12 July – It’s halfway to Christmas. Do you start your holiday stitching this early? If so, what do you hope to accomplish this year?

Truthfully I stitch my holiday stitching whenever I feel like it. I always used to try to stitch a Christmas ornie a month, but now I just do it when I get the urge, or when I have a rotation slot dedicated to ornie stitching. It doesn’t bother me stitching Christmas items throughout the year, although I have to admit the closer it gets to Christmas the stronger the urge to stitch something for the festive season! This year I have no lofty goals, I just want to continue enjoying to stitch – and hopefully have a few finishes by the end of the year 🙂

2014 WIPocalypse, Beading, Canvaswork, Finishing, Flatfold, Framing, Halloween, Judi Utter, Laura J Perin, M Designs, Monsterbubbles, Ruth Schmuff, Stash, Valerie Pfeiffer, Wool embroidery

April & May WIPocalypse

19 May, 201422 May, 2014 Anne S

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Hmmm, it seems I’m more than a ‘bit’ forgetful these days … it seems even though I was posting to my blog during April I totally forgot all about the official WIPocalypse update post … doh!! April saw a wee bit of stitching, including the completion of Nora Corbett’s Miss Valentine fairy and Blue Bayou by Northern Pine Designs … it also saw a couple of small ornie finishes … so all-in-all probably a reasonable month of stitching. The ill-fated Flossy has found a happy home with my Mum (the Dragon) … we were going to offer it to a very close family friend, but Mum made me laugh when she said she has it propped up on her computer chair in her bedroom so she can see her all the time and she says goodnight to her every night as she goes to sleep … bless her. When I mentioned giving it to our dear friend, her response was “she can have it when I’m gone”! She’s even got plans for how to get her framed, so I’m pleased she loves her so much that at least she will be treasured. I do have to admit she does look very pretty, even though she is dressed head to toe in candyfloss pink! 😀

When it came to the end of April and then into May, my mojo kind of disappeared a wee bit when I came to the end of my canvaswork rotation and started my “finishing” rotation … for some reason I have to really be in the mood to sit down and do finishing work. I think part of the problem these days is that I don’t have a dedicated area that I can start items and then leave them to pick up and finish later … with my current flatmate I don’t feel comfortable doing my needlework or finishing in front of him (aside from the fact he comes and puts the TV on as soon as he walks in the room, irrespective of whether I was enjoying the peace and quiet or not in there myself), and I just don’t have the space in my bedroom with all the other junk that is piled up in there …

Last weekend, though, I decided “bugger the flatmate” and pulled a small fold-up table into the lounge, did a bit of finishing, then pulled the little table out of the way at the end of the weekend – it was also still there for this last weekend when I did a wee bit more finishing yesterday while he was out (mind you I only did that because I’d figured out he was going to be away for the rest of the weekend and out of my hair!!). So perhaps I have found a solution for when I come to my finishing rotation again – and in fact I could possibly pull it into my bedroom too on a temporary basis as long as I pull it back out again before sleeping … hmmmm, I like that plan! So, what did I manage to do with my finishing rotation over the last few weeks? I managed to finish off the following – which really didn’t need that much done to them for them to be 100% finished … First up 3 ornies – these just needed the felt backings and hangers for the Prairie Schooler ones, and the hanger and little snowflake buttons for the Just Nan one

Next up I stitched down the binding on my teeny Halloween quilt … I did a bit of a hash job on the corners, but it’ll have to do …

And then my final piece for that particular finishing session was to stitch the cord around the edge of this wee freebie:

This last weekend just gone I managed to finish off one of my favourite Halloween pieces into a flat-fold … I found a bright trim in my stash along with some bright ribbons, and pretty happy with the way it turned out 🙂

Then I finished off yesterday by trying to finish my Bunnies in the Garden needlework set that I stitched a few years ago … sadly it seems I don’t have the ribbon needed to completely finish it, so I’ve got as far as I can go without it … hopefully I’ll get chance next week to pop into Spotlight and find a silk ribbon that will work (assuming Spotlight still SELL silk ribbon, that is!). Here is how it stands so far:

The only stitching I’ve done since the last stitching update is to start a charity quilt block with the theme of butterflies. I bought about a metre of 14-ct white Aida a few years ago in readiness to do some charity stitching, but with my city commute I just never had the mental or physical energy to do it … now I’m working closer to home I figure it’s time I pull my finger out and get some finished. What also gave me the final kick in the pants was searching for an old XS kit in my wardrobe and finding a bunch that I’d bought especially to use for charity blocks … so out they came ready to start stitching! Here are the kits I have in the charity block armoury to work my way through:

And here is where I’m at currently for my first butterflies block … once I’ve finished this block it’s time to get back into my formal rotation once again.

I still have a couple of gifts to complete, but I work better when I’m sticking to my rotation properly so they will just have to find a rotation slot to drop into and work together with my other pieces 🙂 I’ve probably dribbled on enough for now, but before I hit “publish” I’ll finish off with the two WIPocalypse questions for April and May:

April: How do you keep your stash organised?

Oh my goodness, I don’t know if I could truly say my stash is “organised” per se … although I guess to a certain extent it could be a lot worse! My problem is that it is scattered all over the place and not all together. I’m also a lazy git at heart, so often I can’t be bothered putting something away after stitching it (eg threads etc) and I end up with a dumping corner with threads and charts not put away … it’s no wonder I can often not find what I’m looking for when I just “know” I’ve got it “somewhere”!! On the whole, though, it is kinda organised in a disorganised way …

Threads: On the whole these are all stored in Flossaway baggies in numerical or alphanumeric order and on individual rings according to their brand. DMC floss is all stored in numerical order in two plastic tubs so they’re easily accessible as I generally use those the most. Overdyed threads etc are mostly stored alphanumerically by the colour name, but with the thread brands separated on different rings. For example, I have separate rings for WDW, GAST, Crescent Colours, Needle Necessities/Threadworx etc. All these threads are housed in a cardboard storage tub that sits in my Ikea ‘bookcase’. Silks are stored the same way, and pearl cottons and other specialty threads (pearl cottons etc) are stored in another plastic tub.
Fabrics: These are stored by thread count in two Ikea storage drawers – they used to be sorted in colour groups but I quickly gave up on that idea after I’d rummaged around a few times and disrupted it all! I also have a ‘tub’ of fabrics sitting on top of my DMC that I’ve obviously pulled out at some stage for a project and never been put back …
Charts: Generally these are stored by theme in ringbinders on bookshelves. Most of these are housed in the kitchenette on my main bookshelves, but most of my favourite designs/smalls charts are in my bedroom on a narrow bookcase. I have a couple of folders of “to be stitched ASAP”, but I’m trying to focus on those already partially kitted up first (see below).
Finishing fabrics/trims: Truthfully these are all over the place! Most of my quilting fabrics are in Ikea storage drawers in my wardrobe, with finishing trims etc in a little plastic storage system that has a few pullout drawers. Not ideal, but seems to work OK for now.

My projects themselves are in a whole world of their own where organisation is concerned! I’ll try to differentiate the different types:

WIPs: My current rotation projects are sitting in their own storage tub with the project on scrollbars/Qsnaps and sitting with their threads/charts etc in a plastic envelope. That way each project is ready to go immediately when I want to drag it out of the tub.
UFOs: Older WIPs that I haven’t touched for years are sitting in a cardboard storage tub in my Ikea bookcase in my bedroom – these are not stored on scrollbars etc and may/may not have threads with them … they just sit there forlornly at the very bottom of the bookcase feeling unloved …
Partial & full kits: When I was housesitting in Melbourne I went a bit crazy and cut up fabrics for a few tubs worth of projects and put the fabric with the chart … these are now housed in two separate areas – some of these are sitting along with other full kits in two storage drawers in my wardrobe, and the others have all been split into cardboard storage boxes according to their size that will fit with my rotation. I basically have one box each for “Large/BAPs”, “Medium” and “Small” projects. I’m trying to work through those items first before kitting up new designs, seeing as the fabric is already committed and cut up ready for stitching! That seems to work about 95% of the time, but ever now and then a new project seems to leap out of the chart pile demanding to be stitched first!! 😛
Canvaswork: My canvaswork projects are sitting to the left of my Ikea storage bookcase in a shopping bag – these are kitted (or semi-kitted as far as I can for now) with their canvas and threads/charts all ready for when my canvaswork rotation rolls around. This bag probably makes me drool more than the rest of my storage boxes, if the truth be known!

May: What designs or themes do you really wish you could find? What do you think is missing among stitching designs?

Truthfully I can’t say I really have had problems finding a specific type of design … I have, however, had problems finding a specific design that has since gone OOP and hard to locate unless you spend a fortune. Those are the designs I wish would be more readily available, especially now that PDF downloads are widely available and don’t require a full print-run by a designer. The other thing I find frustrating is the number of designs only available as kits and not charts, and how many are only available with Aida cloth as the fabric – the fact that I inevitably substitute the fabric in all my kits is not a cost-effective way for me to stitch a design … I really wish that all designs had the option of either having linen in the kit or to just have the chart made available (although I know this would diminish some of the designer’s/distributors’ profits to a certain degree).

The only other thing that has been happening over the last few weeks is something that I can’t talk about yet on my blog, but it threw me for a loop temporarily and my mind has been very very distracted over recent weeks, and I’ve been even more forgetful than ever, if that was even possible! Hopefully there will be further news sooner rather than later and I can talk about it openly … for now it’s just a case of “wait and see” 🙂

2014 WIPocalypse, Mirabilia, Works in Progress

Still around … but without my mojo (& March WIPocalypse)

22 March, 20146 April, 2014 Anne S

Well, it seems my mojo has totally deserted me over the last month or so – I haven’t touched a needle, literally, in over a month! Work stresses and personal stresses have just seen my head too cluttered to stitch … while normally stitching would bring me relief at times like this, it had reached the stage where the thought of stitching just felt overwhelming for some daft reason. Instead I’ve been spending lots of time on my laptop checking out stitching websites and just being generally lazy and doing ‘nothing’.

As for work, I still have a job but there are lots of people who have been in the company for many years that I worked with really closely that have now left, and they still haven’t worked through all the levels of the company yet, so many more heads yet to roll. Even though I know my job is safe, it’s still very disconcerting and upsetting while other colleagues and friends still wait for the decision affecting them. They haven’t given me much time to ponder it, though, as I was given a new ‘project’ to work on with an exceptionally tight deadline, so it’s been back to working 14-hour days again over the last couple of weeks, and next week will be “the week from hell” where I’ll be planning to pretty much sleep there for the week!! At least now we’re back working closer to home I know I can be home in 20 minutes at the end of the day, so that’s a blessing if nothing else.

And as for today … well, would you believe it, today I’m going to FINALLY break that mojo curse, and I’m going to pick up my needle and do some stitching to try and get back into my stitching routine. I have a huge list of TV shows I need to watch on my DVRs (so much that one has stopped recording because the memory is full!!), seeing as I haven’t been keeping up-to-date with it much, so that’s a perfect excuse to chill out at home with the TV on and my stitching on my lap 🙂 It will be interesting to see how much I can get done this weekend after not doing anything for so long!! Here is my skimpy progress on Fern since my last WIPocalypse post, which was done a month ago now in the last week of February …

One good thing, though, is that I’m being forced to take annual leave and long service leave before the end of June … as I can’t afford to go anywhere, that means having 3 1/2 weeks of leave between now and then … I think I just may enjoy a couple of 2-week leave blocks around the home lazing around stitching – there’ll be no excuses not to get my mojo back then, that’s for sure!!! 😀

UPDATED TO ADD: Oops, I forgot that the question for the March WIPocalypse was where our favourite stitching spots were … I have to admit since my new flatmate moved in he’s pretty much taken over the lounge and my favourite stitching spot in there is no longer my favourite unless he’s gone out for the weekend … instead you will now only ever see me sat up in bed doing my stitching, so this is now my favourite (actually I’ve always enjoyed sitting up in bed stitching, anyway, so it’s no hardship!).

2014 WIPocalypse, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Rotation, Stitch-alongs, Works in Progress

February WIPocalypse

15 February, 201415 February, 2014 Anne S

It’s been a reasonable month for both stitching and blog posts … probably the most regular I’ve been in quite a few years! Who knows how long it will last for, but I’m enjoying it so far that’s for sure!

As for my stitching progress, here are the progress piccies from the last month’s efforts, and comparing how they looked last time vs this month:

First up is a new start, which is a gift for someone if I can get it stitched up quickly enough! Unfortunately, though, I just noticed a mark on the fabric so it’s off to spend some time in a tub and hopefully it will come out … if not, I guess I’ll be ironing up some new fabric and starting again …

And my other WIPs/new starts were:

Crimson Fire Sampler

“Thistle Needleroll (pale colourway)” by M Designs Started 26 Jan 2014

And then there were a couple of new starts that were also finishes:

Beyond XS 5-3 Christmas Heart by The Victoria Sampler

All-in-all it was a pretty amazing month of stitching … my work department moving closer to home again is doing wonders for my productivity, that’s for sure!!

And now this month’s topic: “Topic: How many projects do you generally feel comfortable having in progress at a time? Tell us about your one-at-a-time or rotation habits!”

I have to admit the high number of UFOs I have has started to bother me in recent years, so I’ve been making an effort to slowly work through them. I’m starting to become more of a one-at-a-timer, but then when I get bored with a project I tend to just stop stitching, or I put it down and never come back to it again because I feel burnt out with that particular project. This year I’ve tried to be more disciplined and have gone back to a formal rotation once again, and it’s really working on the whole. I have 10-11 project slots, with a Focus Piece slot every 3-4 slots so that I can focus on one project to get stitched up more quickly (generally assigned to one of my BAPs or SAL commitments). I’ve managed to stick to my rotation really well so far, although I’ve just decided to start a new gift for someone that needs to be stitched up really quickly before we meet up in early March, so my rotation has been temporarily put on hold. It’s funny, though, I already miss my rotation and the discipline I’d built up, and I’m almost ‘resenting’ this project because of it … isn’t it funny how our minds work? So far I’ve managed to finish up one old UFO this year thanks to my rotation slot and being disciplined … I’d like to see another 1-2 of my UFO list joining the finishing pile this year, but either way I’m just doing to enjoy working through my stash pile on a regular basis! 😀

As a matter of interest, here is my “rotation tub” … all of my projects are on their own scrollbars or Qsnaps, and sit in order of being stitched, along with their chart/threads in a plastic envelope or mesh project bag … this really helps me to keep organised during the rotation and I’m not running around each 10 hours trying to find the next project kit …

2014 WIPocalypse, Victoria Sampler, Works in Progress

WIPocalypse January

24 January, 201424 January, 2014 Anne S

Well that wasn’t a very good start to the WIPocalypse year at all, was it? Already late with the first post for the year!!! I need to update my calendar with all the dates, I think! I also haven’t been doing too well over the last few days with my stitching either … although I managed to get through quite a bit last weekend. I’ll get to that shortly … first I need to do my ‘official’ WIPocalypse introduction post … to be specific I need to “Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!”

This is my 3rd year of doing the WIPocalypse, and in truth I don’t intend to spend the year just focusing on my WIPs … I DO intend to work from my substantial chart/kit stash, however, and will only buy additional stash this year if I’m missing threads etc to kit up my projects. This year I’m also going back to a formal rotation, of which I have 10 rotation slots, and stitching allocations of 10 hours per slot (with the exception of the “Finishing” slot, which I’m allowed to just do 5 hours … but no less than 5 hours!).

The main projects I really REALLY want to finish this year are some commitment pieces, some UFOs, and those designs I’ve already spent a bucketload of money on to kit them up (eg specialty threads etc). In particular I’d like to work on the following, irrespective of seeing them finished or not by the year’s end:

Angel of Love – L&L (hope to finish this one)
Quaker Christmas II – ByGone Stitches
Egyptian Garden Sampler – Chatelaine
English Garden Sampler – TW (hope to finish this one)
Elie’s wedding sampler (hope to finish this one)
Miss Valentine Fairy – Nora Corbett/Mirabilia (will finish this one easily)
Christmas Elf Dairy – Nora Corbett/Mirabilia (hope to finish this one)
Cross Stitcher in Residence – Lizzie*Kate (will finish this ASAP)
Eiffel Quaker – Jardin Private (will finish this one)
Poppy Pixie – Nora Corbett/Mirabilia (will finish this one ASAP)
Crimson Fire Sampler – The Victoria Sampler (almost finished with this one)
Christmas double flip-its – Lizzie*Kate (hope to finish this one)

Anything over and above those projects will be icing on the cake 🙂

My rotation is already making some great inroads into a few of these projects – Crimson Fire Sampler has been a sadly neglected UFO since the 2011 Crazy January Challenge … after 10 hours working on this one last weekend I was so close to a finish that I extended my rotation slot by another couple of hours. Now I’m just left with the hardanger band left to do, and it will be my first UFO finish of the year … woohoo!! Following is how it looks now, before completing the hardanger band … hopefully I’ll get a better photo over the weekend in daylight, and I’ll be taking the photo of the finished article!!

photo 1 (2)

The only other news I have is that I saw my GP today for the results of my nuclear scans … there is no stress fracture, however the heel pains that I’ve had for so long have been putting extra stress on the rest of my foot, and it showed more arthritis in my foot, which is exacerbated by the plantar fasciitis. As my heel pain has been returning quite quickly again, I’ve got another script for a cortisone shot under ultrasound yet again … but my GP is also now referring me to an Orthopaedic Surgeon to review surgical options. I’ve got to give my GP his dues, he’s really trying to get to the bottom of it all, bless him … which I’m not thrilled to have the potential of surgery in my near future, I WILL be thrilled to finally have an outcome that will see me walking normally and without pain every single day … will have to wait and see I guess …

Challenges & SALs

2014 Stitching Plans & WIPocalypse

3 January, 2014 Anne S

It seems I fell off the WIPocalypse wagon part-way through the year last year thanks to an insane workload/hours at work … but it’s time to get back up on the saddle again for the 2014 WIPocalypse. I’ve always loved this SAL as it doesn’t have strict rules and it encourages me to make at least one blog post a month … so there’s no good reason not to continue again this year! Also going by my bad progress with the 2013 Crazy January Challenge, I’ve decided to not join up again this year – so the WIPocalypse may just be the only ‘real’ challenge I’ll sign up for this year …

I’m also going to try to pick up my rotation once again … this sounds like a broken record to me, as I’ve attempted this a couple of times at this time of the year … but yet again I’m going to give it a go and see if it helps to keep me motivated. This also means I get to focus on some older UFOs/WIPs as well as having lots of new starts – and gives me more fodder for the WIPocalypse posts. So here is my rotation slot list for 2014, including the projects I have in mind to start off with:

Focus Piece – Angel of Love by L&L, Wedding Sampler for a friend, Poppy Pixie by Nora Corbett (gift), English Garden Sampler by TW
Medium-sized Projects – Christmas Elf Fairy by Mirabilia, Trick or Treat Box by Just Nan, Eiffel Quaker by Jardin Prive, Red Lace Sewing Case by The Drawn Thread
UFOs – Crimson Fire Sampler by The Victoria Sampler, Flight of the Bumblebees by Ruth Schmuff, Raphael’s Raspberries by FMNIS, Le Jardin Silk Sampler by JCS, Cottage Etui by CA Wells
Focus Piece
Small to Medium-sized Projects – Thistle Needleroll by M Designs, Classic Stitches needleroll, Blue Bell Sampler Accent by Periwinkle Designs, Blackwork Box Pincushion by Silkstone, Beyond XS-Rhodes Butterfly by The Victoria Sampler, Cross Stitcher in Residence by Lizzie*Kate
Large and BAPs – Angel of Love by L&L (this will move to the Focus Piece once a couple of commitment pieces have been finished), Sampler Gameboard by The Drawn Thread, Christmas Flip-its by Lizzie*Kate, Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor, Quaker Christmas II by Bygone Stitches
Focus Piece
Christmas Ornaments & Freebies
Canvaswork – Blue Bayou by Northern Pine, Holly and Ivy by Laura J Perin, Holiday Square by Laura J Perin, Reflecting Pools by Laura J Perin, Surf and Sand by Northern Pine
Finishing – Getting those stitched pieces into their ‘final form’ after languishing in the finishing pile for years

My biggest goal for the year is “no pressure stitching” … I still have gifts I need to complete that are overdue from last year, but I don’t want to commit to deadline pressures at least at the start of the year anyway over and above those gifts. I felt quite overwhelmed last year, so this year I want to get back to the ‘joy of stitching’ not just using it as a sanity tool. At least this year I won’t have crazy commuting times to/from work, so I’ll have more time at home to get some work/life balance … hopefully that will reflect in my stitching and on my other personal goals to lose some weight and get healthier … which of course then makes me feel happier within myself and that in itself will provide some improvements in general I think.

Anyway, enough spending time on here … it’s time to actually put a few stitches into that first rotation slot … my first 10 hours on Angel of Love by L&L, before she moves to the “Large/BAP” slot and gets replaced by the wedding sampler as my focus piece. Really looking forward to getting Angel of Love stitched up, she’s been on my stitching wishlist for YEARS! 😀

2013 WIPocalypse, Crazy January 2013 Challenge, Goals

2013 stitching in review

3 January, 2014 Anne S

I had to laugh when I looked back at my stitching challenges I set for myself in 2013 … to say I was ‘less than successful’ is probably an understatement! While I still managed to get a reasonable amount of stitching done, it just wasn’t on those items I’d challenged myself with. So, here were my goals, and how I went …

SALs:

November 2012 – Quaker Christmas II SAL … No, epic fail – still not happy with my thread choice after ordering two separate colours of red silk, so it remains unstarted, although the fabric is cut out now and ready to go
1 January – Nora Corbett’s Bluebell Pixie SAL … Yes, completed – she’s just waiting to be framed
1 January – Drawn Thread’s Sampler Gameboard SAL … No, another epic fail – managed to cut the fabric prior to Christmas though so this will be worked on some time in 2014
1 February – Aussie Round Robin … Yes, completed the full 4 rounds
14 February – Ink Circles Cirque des Coeurs SAL … um, didn’t even give this a thought – Dad was in hospital at that point so I spent 2 months in NZ caring for him and Mum, and I still don’t really have a desire to start this one yet
1 May – Teresa Wentzler SAL … Yes, worked on TW’s English Garden Sampler as part of the SAL – did well initially but then it fell by the wayside, but I’m determined to see this one finished in 2014!

Crazy January Challenge:

Bluebell pixie – Mirabilia/Nora Corbett … Yes, completed
Little Blue Potting Shed – Brown House Studio … Yes, completed
Blue Bayou – Northern Pine Designs … I started it but realised I had a wrong thread and had to stop stitching
Christmas Elf Fairy – Mirabilia/Nora Corbett … No, not started
Bluebeard’s Princess – Mirabilia … No, not started
Moon & Stars – Little House Needleworks … Yes, completed
Trousse aux Fleur Bleues – CMon Monde … No, not started
Spooky Scissors Fob – Shepherd’s Bush … Yes, completed
Little Witch – Shepherd’s Bush … Yes, completed
Trick or Treat Box – Just Nan … No, not started
Acorn Hill – Little House Needleworks … Yes, completed
Valentine Fairy – Mirabilia/Nora Corbett … Yes, but not completed as I ran out of one of the threads
Christmas double flip-its – Lizzie*Kate … No, not started
Ebb Tide – Northern Pine Designs … Yes, completed
Sky Blue Accent – Periwinkle Promises … No, not started

Older WIPs/UFOs:

With My Needle – The Goode Huswife … Yes, completed
Flight of the Bumblebees – Ruth Schmuff … No, not touched
English Garden Sampler – Teresa Wentzler … Did a huge amount of work on this one, but didn’t quite get it completed
Enchanted Mermaid – Mirabilia … Yes, completed
Egyptian Garden Mandala – Chatelaine … No, not touched

Actually in hindsight, I guess I did OK – there were some large pieces in there that I did some substantial work on (Enchanted Mermaid and English Garden Sampler), and a number of teeny pieces inbetween the larger ones, not to mention managing to put together a few more finishing tutorials for the Focus on Finishing blog … so really I can’t complain!! … I just didn’t manage to complete the challenge projects, which is a lesson to me for my 2014 goals, which will be in the next post …

For now, though, here are all the projects I completed in 2013 – considering the crappy year I’ve had this year it’s actually a pretty reasonable list at 32 finishes! 😀

Gourmet Garden – Little House Needleworks

Ebb Tide (canvaswork) – Northern Pine Designs

Peppermint Twist ornament – Little House Needleworks

Little Blue Potting Shed – Brown House Studio

Elemental Dragon: Air (round robin) – Dragon Dreams

Star Topiary ornament – Hillside Samplings

Moon and Stars – Little House Needleworks

Thistle Needleroll (bright colourway) – M Designs

Folk Art Topiary ornament – Brown House Studio

Petite Christmas Angels (round robin) – Joan Elliott

Topiary Trees (round robin) – Passione Ricamo

Canvaswork, Crazy January 2013 Challenge, Finishes, Little House Needleworks, Northern Pine Designs

Not one but TWO finishes!

17 November, 201329 April, 2014 Anne S

I lived up to my word and poor old Flossy (well, she’s a babe really, to say she’s only been around for a week or two!) has been put on the shelf for now … the urge got to me yesterday and I spent the afternoon catching up on recorded TV while finishing off two of my WIPs I mentioned in my last post.

First up is Ebb Tide by Northern Pine Designs. Oh boy, this was a fun design to stitch! I can’t say I’ll be in a hurry to stitch with Rachel thread again, but once I got clever and used some nail polish across the top of the thread where I cut it, it was a lot easier to use! It’s the first time I’ve ever done Jessica stitches, and they’re really quite cute, and easy to do once you get the hang of them! I did them slightly differently to how the instructions told you to do them, as I’d seen them done on some other needlepoint blogs … by tucking the last two stitches inside and underneath the previous stitches, so they sit perfectly. All-in-all I’m thrilled this one is finally finished … and I spent no time at all popping the next Northern Pine design onto the bars to start a new one!

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“Ebb Tide” by Northern Pine Designs
stitched on Leventeen Blue canvas
with recommended threads

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While I was trying to take a photo last night my camera was struggling a bit to focus … imagine my delight at the colours showing on the viewing screen when it will still a blur … it made me smile so I captured the image! 🙂

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Here is the next design ready for starting … just need to find a couple of the missing threads (geez I hope I actually have bought these ones, otherwise I guess it won’t be started soon! LOL). If not, I’ll just have to find another canvaswork design to throw onto some bars … I think I always need to have a piece of canvaswork ready to go at a moment’s notice, it gives me such pleasure! 🙂

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Then I decided to put the final stitches into LHN’s Acorn Hill – it didn’t take too long at all to pop the final words into place, and it became my second finish yesterday evening.

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“Acorn Hill” by Little House Needleworks
stitched on 28ct antique ivory coloured Jobelan
with recommended Crescent Colours cotton floss

After that I decided to go back to old Flossy, and managed to put a few more stitches into the top wings – I didn’t bother taking a progress piccie as there wasn’t really too much to show … perhaps the next time you see her she will be finished … or maybe not … LOL.

Crazy January 2013 Challenge, Little House Needleworks, Works in Progress

Acorn Hill

13 October, 201313 October, 2013 Anne S

After finishing Trick or Treat I couldn’t face going back to do the beading on my mermaid or the blended needles on my TW so I opted for an easy stitch that I’ve wanted to do for years … I’ve always adored the warm colours of this one and it hasn’t disappointed at all – it’s been a fun stitch so far. I’m at the halfway mark now so it’s time to roll up the scroll bars to start the bottom half. Sadly, though, my usual stitchers curse has appeared again and I’m going to run out of the Brown Sugar thread … b*gger! Never mind it’s an excuse to kick myself into gear to place a thread order 😉

Brown House Studio, Christmas Ornaments, Crazy January 2013 Challenge, Finishes, Hillside Samplings

Another WIP bites the dust!

3 September, 2013 Anne S

I managed to put the final stitches into another one of my challenge pieces for this year (although I’m no longer actively completing the challenge!) … this one has always put a smile on my face when I’ve seen it, and I was very lucky to be gifted with this chart from my wishlist some time ago – it’s great to see it finally stitched up, and still puts a smile on my face with the scrummy colours and delightful charm 🙂

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“Little Blue Potting Shed” by Brown House Studio
stitched on 32ct pewter Belfast linen
with recommended WDW/GAST threads

I also forgot that I haven’t shared another wee finish from a few days ago – this was my first attempt at getting back into stitching after being sick, and unbelievably took two whole days to stitch (yep, definitely feeling sick!). This is supposed to be a Xmas ornie, but I’ve opted to leave off the border and remaining stitching and I’m going to turn it into a scissor fob instead 🙂

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