January 2013 WIPocalypse update

Yes, even though we are no longer 'in fear' of the end of the Mayan calendar, the WIPocalypse stichalong goes on.  If you want to know more about it, or you think you might want to join in, check out Measi's blog, here.

For this first month, we are supposed to set goals for which unfinished projects we'd like to complete this year.  So here's my somewhat lazy list:

1- everything on last year's list that wasn't complete (told you it was a lazy list)
2- Coraggio by Scarlet Letter
3- Giraffa sampler
4- Feast of Friendship by Blackbird Designs
5- 12 Christmas-related pieces (one for each month)

And now for this month's progress... I finished the stitching and 'finishing' on the Sugarplum ornament from Heart's Content.  I thought about attaching a hanger, but then decided that I was just going to hook a metal ornament hook through some of the lace:

I have also done a little more stitching on Coraggio:

Of course the over-one alphabet is slow going!  Recently, I've been working on a model for market in March.  I'll share photos of it (I hope) closer to release time.  I'm thinking that I will actually be going to market this year.  Whee!

So that's it on the stitching front.  Between now and the next update, I plan to continue working on Coraggio and finish another Christmas piece.  I was thinking that I would stitch up the large pillow I finished at the end of last year, but I might finish a Little House ornament that I stitched last year instead in fitting with the monthly theme.  We'll see what kind of mood I'm in when the time comes to choose.  ; )

In a day or two, once the sun is bright enough for me to get some decent pictures, I'll share some scrapbooking that I did over the weekend.  Yes, for the first time in a very long while, I actually scrapbooked!!!

Til then, stay safe, stay warm, and stay creative!

WIPocalypse - the year end wrap up

Well, here we are.  The year will be over in a little over 24 hours, and it is time to take stock of what I have accomplished in relations to the WIPocalypse challenge (next year's signup and an explanation of the whole challenge can be found here.)

My original list looked like this:
1. Jenni Bean's Creation Sampler - Shakespeare's Peddler
2. Sarah Hatton McPhail Sampler - The Essamplaire
3. Sarah Johnson 1793 - The Essamplaire
4. Anne Maria Clarke - The Essamplaire
5. Sous le Soleil de la Lune - Reflets de Soie
6. Rachel Mauger Reproduction - my personal collection
7. Peapod Purse - Catherine Theron
8. Tulip Slip - Thistle Threads
9. 3 Halloween ornies from JCS issues
10. 1 Christmas ornie from JCS issue

The final list for the year looks like this:
1. Jenni Bean's Creation Sampler - finished Jan 2012
2. Sarah Hatton McPhail Sampler - finished Feb 2012
3. Sarah Johnson 1793 - finished Feb 2012
4. Anne Maria Clarke - not even touched
5- Sous le Soleil de la Lune - finished Aug 2012
6. Rachel Mauger Reproduction - some additional charting done
7. Peapod Purse - not even touched
8. Tulip Slip - abandoned as a horrible idea to begin with (for me, not for everyone else.  It's pretty if you do it right)
9. 3 Halloween ornies from JCS issues - one finished Nov 2012 (and I'm not sure this was correctly described.  2 of the finishes listed below may have been part of what I inteded to finish, so all may have been done)
10. 1 Christmas ornie from JCS issue 2011 - finished Dec 2012, additionally, one other started

not on the original list, but still progress made:
Waiting for Harvest - finishing completed
2002 Heart's Content Christmas Ornament - finishing completed
Janet Gibson reproduction sampler - stitching completed
Black'd Skie - stitching completed
3 Homespun Elegance ornaments - finishing completed
1- Ink Circles ornament - stitching and finishing completed
Boughs of Holly - stitching completed, finishing still to be done
Wicked freebie pattern - finishing completed


pieces actually put into frames:
Sarah Hatton McPhail, Quaker Christmas, Jenni Bean Creation Sampler, Janet Gibson, The North Wind, Winter in the Park,  Sarah Bateman sampler, Elisabeth Ramsay sampler, Spot the Cat, Shores of Hawk Run Hollow, Sarah Johnson sampler, Salem Sisters, Mary Ann Henderson sampler

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the amount of old stitching projects that got finished this year.  Way more was finished than was begun and left unfinished, so that's progress too!

I hope everyone else is happy with their final WIPocalypse results as well.  Now to make a list of things that I'd like to finish over the next year!  Stay crafty, and stay safe over the coming holiday.

Happy New Year!

WIPocalypse

Wow!  Only one more WIPocalypse update to go after this one and the year will be over!  Hard to believe it's been that long since we started.  I was actually in a bit of a stitching slump for the first half of this month.  Things have picked up a bit recently.  I did some rather boring looking stitching on the border of my Girafa sampler (not worth taking a photo of that progress), and I will finish the stitching on my giveaway piece tonight.  But I won't be sharing a photo of that for a while either.

This coming month is going to be dedicated to stitching all things Christmas.  To keep things rolling from last month's stitching finish, I have actually 'finished' three ornaments that were stitched last year (or possibly earlier, at least one having turned up during my massive hunt for old projects to be framed).

First up, we have this Peace ornament which came from a JCS ornament issue, I think 2011, but it might have been 2010.  I stitched it using Belle Soie silks on some sparkly Silkweaver linen.

This is a flat ornament.  The back is covered in some fabric from Mom's stash that has just a hint of sparkle to it:

Next up, one of the annual ornaments from Homespun Elegance.  I stitched this one using the called for fibers, and I think it might even be on the recommended fabric.  But I stitched it quite a while ago, so I'm not positive about that.

I backed this one with some fabric that was intended for some patriotic pin pillows I was stitching a while back, but seemed perfect for this little guy:

And lastly, we have another Homespun Elegance design, stitched on the same fabric as the previous ornament.  Which means that they were probably stitched in the same year.  First, the back, which is made with some Weeks wool.  Please disregard the bits and pieces of the rope trim that have deposited themselves onto the fabric.  I didn't get around to cleaning that up til after the photo was taken.

And the front, again using the called for colors.

So that's 3 less unfinished ornaments sitting in the pile.  That leaves about 5 that need finishing, plus the pillow from last month's post.  And of course there is also all the new stuff that I plan on stitching.  Yup, it'll be interesting to see where my needle leads me in the coming month.

That's it for today my friends.  I have caught a bit of a cold, so the Christmas decorating and card writing have been progressing very slowly.  I am hoping to get most of it done by Friday evening.  Saturday, weather permitting, the man and I will go get our Christmas tree and hang the outdoor lights.

Til next time, stay crafty and stay warm!

September WIPocalypse update

Good morning from stormy North Carolina!  In order to make up for last month's lack of progress, I have two finishes to share today.  First up is 'Black'd Skie' by The Primitive Needle.  Here's where I was at the start of 2012:

And here it is finished (if slightly cattywampus in the photo):

This was actually pretty quick stitching once I got back into it.  I stitched it with my own selection of fibers, mostly Belle Soie silks, but a few others thrown in as well.  I don't think I came terribly close to the original, so if you don't like the colors, blame it on me, not the designer.  I switched the colors because I wanted to use overdyes, but I had no clue where to find the brand of fibers that she actually called for.  It is stitched on 40 count 'Gravestone' linen from Stitches and Spice.  I love their fabrics.  I should really try to acquire more of them.  They are a joy to stitch on.

I also finished up an ornament designed by Blackberry Lane that was in last year's JCS Halloween issue.  I actually did all the over one stitching last year.  But by the time I picked out the fabric for finishing, Halloween was long over so I put the piece aside til this year.

Please excuse the hair on the piece.  It seems Scout was helping me photograph this ornament more than I realized.   I didn't even see how furry the back was until I was editing this photo:

Sigh.  My life is covered in fur!

In other news, I put my package in the mail for DixieSampler's Haunted Halloween exchange earlier this week.  As soon as I hear that the recipient has gotten it, I'll post photos.  Meanwhile, I am looking forward to receiving a package myself.  I also have one more Halloween ornament that needs to have the trim attached and then it will be finished.  After that, I'm not sure what I'll stitch on.  I really need to get back to my BAP challenge piece, but it's so tempting to start a new Halloween design instead!  Only time will tell which urge will win out!  And, oh dear, I guess I need to consider what WIPocalypse-worthy item I'll pick up next as well.  There are no more outstanding Halloween pieces, unless you count pieces selected but not one single stitched yet placed.

I am also working to get things ready for entry into the NC State Fair displays.  I'll be dropping some stitching and scrapbooking off towards the end of this coming week... but I don't have all my scrapbooking pages finished!  They'll get done.  Eventually.  : )  I am also planning to decorate the house for Halloween this weekend.  The husband thinks I should wait til it is actually October.  I disagree.  I will post decor photos later this week.

Til next time, stay dry and stay creative!

WIPocalypse update #9? Well, at least it's a stitching update!

Hmmm, was I supposed to be working on old, unfinished projects this month?  Did I commit to doing that all year long?  Whoops, must have slipped my mind!

Well, it didn't really slip my mind, it's just that this month has offered quite a few distractions from stitching on old stuff, and I find myself at the end of the month with nothing WIPocalypsy (yes, I just made that up) to share.

But never fear, for my needle has been flying through the linen all the same, and I now have permission to share at least some of what I've been working on.  This month found me working on 3 models for Cherished Stitches, 2 of which will be released next weekend at the Baltimore needlework market.  Since they are so close to making their debut, I've been given the go ahead to share my not-so-professional snaps of the designs I stitched on.  First up is "The Sign of the Gravedigger".  This isn't the best photo, as my work is unironed and therefore quite bubbly, but you can get a bit of an idea of what she's created:

I love that name, "Berry Yew".  I just think it's too cute.  And perfect for this Halloween season that is so quickly approaching.  And speaking of Halloween, here's a photo of the other model I can share, called "Enter if You Dare":

A very quick and fun stitch!  The other piece I'm working on won't be released at this market, so I haven't been given the go ahead to share it, sadly.  And I think another design will be coming home with me on Sunday.  Good thing I like all these pieces she's got me working on, because they are taking up a good chunck of my stitching time!  : )

I did find the time to do some non-model stitching this month.  Lori of Notforgotten Farm shared a cute little freebie on her blog and challenged her readers to find a creative way of finishing the piece up.  I don't know how creative my end product truly is, but I had a ton of fun putting it all together.  I stitched the pattern on a piece of 36 count fabric from PictureThisPlus (the name escapes me at the moment) using a mishmash of various brands of overdyed cotton threads (so I totally jacked up Lori's color scheme).  Here's my finished stitching:

And here's how I finished it:

I've been thinking for a while that I would like to blend my scrapbooking and stitching hobbies together, and had actually been trying to conceptualize a Valentine-themed hanging piece for a while.  When I read Lori's challenge to come up with a unique finish for Tophat Jack, I decided to try out my hybrid banner idea with a Halloween theme first.  Here are closeups of each letter (sorry, I know they're a bit out of focus, I'm not really sure why I didn't notice that til after the banner was strung and my camera put away):

 Well, that's all for today.  I have that 3rd model to put the finishing touches on, a Halloween exchange piece to work on, and there are 2 or three Halloweenish pieces in my WIPocalypse pile.  Hopefully I can finish off at least two of them before the next update is due.  Oh, and I'm almost finished with my Aloha bridal shower mini album.  I hope to share photos of that early next week.

Til next time, I hope everyone in the US has a great Labor Day weekend, and the rest of you have a great, nonholiday weekend!

Everything but the Kitchen Sink (August WIPocalypse #!)

I've got a little of everything to share in this post, but I'll start with my WIPocalypse update.  What's the WIPocalypse you ask?  Read about it here. 

This month I have not one, but TWO finishes to share.  Hooray!  First up, Sous le Soleil de la Lune is done. As a reminder, here is where I was at the start of 2012:

And here she is all stitched up:

I stitched this piece with the called for silks on 40 count "Linen" linen from Weeks Dye Works.  I love the little cherubs at the top and the middle vase!

My second finish was not on my original WIPocalypse list.  I pulled it out in June when Mom and I were sorting through my stuff to do some framing.  I started Janet Gibson shortly after she was released (2006, maybe?  I'm not sure).  I finished her up this week:

I love everything about this sampler, from the house, to the color pallette.  My two favorite bits are the swan:

and Adam and Eve.  It was Adam and Eve that took me so long to finish.  Look at the hair in this last photo. It's a bit of braided cording and it totally intimidated me!  I finally took the plunge last week, and it only took about an hour to finish the whole thing off.  I can't wait to get this one framed and on the wall.

Speaking of framing, Sarah Hatton McPhail is all framed up:

That's it for the stitchy updates.  I'm working on a model for mom for the next week or two, and then I'll probably turn back to the giraffe sampler.  

I also finished one scrapbook project this week.  This is a wall hanging that came from a project kit I bought a couple of years ago.  Eventually, I will put this up in our bonus room/my craft room.

And finally, I leave you with three more images.  Lucky being his usual adorable self:

 Spike chilling in the window (while Lucky supervises):

And a surprise visitor in our backyard near sunset last week.  I was trying to feed the squirrels in order to keep them away from my garden and instead attracted this:

And by the way, my plan to distract the animals failed miserably.  They have taken all the cantaloupes.  : (  There's another batch of tomatoes growing away right now, but I don't think it's very likely that we'll be the ones eating them.  Sigh.  I don't know how to stop them.

That's all for now.  Hope everyone is enjoying the Olympics and has a great week!

July WIPocalypse

I can't believe it's time for another WIPocalypse update!   I didn't think I was going to post again this week til I saw someone else's update earlier this morning.  I haven't done a ton of stitching on my WIPocalypse pieces, but I did make what I consider a ton of progress on my WIPocalypse goals for this year.  First off, let me show you the progress I made on Sous le Soleil.  I put a good week in on this piece before putting it down due to traveling and a desire to work on some patriotic pieces.  Last month, I was here:

And I am now here:

As you can see, most of the progress was made on the upper portion of the sampler.  At this point, I am working one color at a time, and doing all of the remaining stitches in that color before moving on to another shade.  I have one shade of purple left to add to the border and, of course, quite a bit left to do in the rest of the sampler.

The main WIPocalypse-related accomplishment of mine has been getting old, long ago finished pieces framed and ready to display.  Along those lines, I have managed to get six older pieces pinned and framed this month.  Two more are well on their way to being finished up as well.  I hope to get several more framed by the end of the year, but for budgetary reasons, those pieces will have to wait a month or two longer before I place more framing orders.  To see the pieces that I have framed, go to this post and this post and this one too.  I would put them all in this post for convenience, but there are a lot of them and it just seems too redundant to put them all up again.  Besides, most of you have already seen them.

My most recent stitching time has been devoted to Penny America.  I really wanted to have this one done by the weekend, but I strongly suspect that isn't going to happen.  Something about this extreme heat just is NOT conducive to lots of stitchy time.  At any rate, here's what I've got so far:

That's it for today.  Once again, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and is able to stay cool and safe in this crazy heat.

June WIPocalypse update

I cannot believe we are halfway through the WIPocalypse year!  Six posts down after this one, and six more to go.  Time has been flying by this year.

Since the last official update, I have devoted all of my stitching time to Sous le Soleil.  I know I have posted some update photos since last month's WIPocalypse post, but I'm going to backtrack just a bit.  At last month's post, I was here:

 and as of today, I am here:

 I got a ton done two weeks ago when I injured my foot.  I slowed down some last week (and haven't stitched at all this week due to traveling).  And this little motif right here is the main culprit for the slow down:

This pattern is in French, and for the most part that has not been a problem.  But the smaller specialty stitches you see in this photo are called "Point de rose".  I could not find an English version of this stitch, which is literally a "rose stitch".  The instructions in the chart tell you to 'broder la perle au centre avant de commencer le point' which I took to mean 'attach the bead in the center before starting the stitches'.  Which would be fine if the pattern called for beads.  But it doesn't.  So I made up my own stitch.  It looks, well, stitched, so I guess I'm happy.  I'm calling it personalization.  : )

There's still a ton of work left to do on this piece, but I sort of feel like I'm on the home stretch.  Maybe I'll have it finished by the time next month's update rolls around!  Maybe.  Meanwhile, I have pulled out 3 patriotic patterns that I would like to stitch this summer.  Naturally, I do not have all the fibers that I need for any of the pieces.  I placed an order for the threads about 3 weeks ago.  And I'm still waiting, waiting, waiting.  Hopefully, I'll get the fibers in time to actually start one by the 4th of July (although I'd rather have them in time to FINISH one by the 4th of July).

The house is now almost entirely unpacked.  While sorting through the linens, I came across this:

It's a small piece of Ukranian cutwork that I made about 10 years ago.  I took a correspondence course through EGA and then pulled from a selection of motifs to make my own overall design.  I was really proud of my finished piece, but I had to put it away shortly after I finished it because I adopted my first cat (or she adopted me), and she considered the little runner to be a great place to take a nap.  Now it's on the dining room table and anchored by the two candles.  So far, it has stayed cat free.  Here's a closer shot of the cut and pulled work.

  In other, non-stitchy news, I found this feather lying in our driveway this morning:

It's about as long as my hand from the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger, and it certainly did not come from any of the birds hanging around our bird feeder.  And it looks so downy, there must be much longer, less fluffy feathers on this mystery bird.  So I'm thinking that this came from a really big bird.  I wonder what it could be?

Sadly, the birds nest that I shared in my last post has almost certainly been invaded by a cowbird.  There is one less egg in the nest, and the biggest egg is even more obviously different from the others than it was before.  I hate that this happened to the poor finches, but I don't know that there's anything I can do but let nature take its course.  Sigh.

And on that rather sad note, I will sign off.  Til next time, I hope everyone has a lovely, crafty day.

WIPocalypse and BAP challenge updates

Most of this stitching (actually, all of it) took place before I got married. I was just too busy to take the time to post updates on my blog. Things are calming down now. I'm finding time to stitch again, and I'm really looking forward to scrapbooking all day long on National Scrapbook Day.

First up, my WIPocalypse progress. I have been working on Reflets de Soie's "Sous le Soleil de la Lune." In my last update, I was slogging through an endless field of green grass.  I am happy to say that I have finished the grass and moved on to more interesting things.  Here's where I was at my last update:

And here's where I am now:

Not only is the grass done, but all the dark green in the border as well.  And I've added a vase and a pair of pretty blue birds:

You can read more about the WIPocalypse challenge on Measi's blog, here.

I also had a little time to work on my sampler for BeckyBee's BAP challenge.  You can find her blog here.
I've been working on the Gyrafa sampler from SANQ magazine.  Here's where I am now:

This last section has been attacked by frogs, and the frogs have destroyed my desire to work on the project.  This is just a temporary setback.  I'll be back to my dear giraffe in a couple of weeks, I'm sure.  Meanwhile, Saturday is going to be all about the scrapbooking.  Well, the crafty side of the day is going to be about scrapbooking.   My husband and I are planning a walk to the local farmers' market (there'd better be fresh strawberries!) followed by the debut of our fancy schmancy waffle maker.  THEN it's gonna be all about the scrapbooking.  Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

March WIPocalypse update and a BAP update too

Where does the time go? This has been a busy month, trying to close things out at work, packing, and planning. And for the past week or so, there hasn't been a ton of time for stitching. I imagine things are going to get even busier for the next month, and then things will hopefully slow down some.

On to my stitching: I had to set aside my BAP Challenge piece about a week and a half ago to work on some gifts, and here's what it looks like so far:


You can finally see where the giraffe's legs are! Hooray, the big blobs of color look like a bit of something. I hope to put in another week's stitching later this month.

I also worked on two WIPs. This first one is a Halloween ornament that I did the actual stitching for last year. I didn't completely finish it, but I did do the outlining of the pillow, cut it free from the larger piece of linen, and cut the backing fabric out as well.

Finally, I picked up Sous le Soleil de la Lune by Reflets de Soie. I bought and started this sampler after seeing progress photos on another blogger's posts. It was just so beautiful that I had to have it for myself. And I am loving all these gorgeous overdye Gloriana silks it is stitched with! Here's what it looked like when I set it aside sometime last year:

And here's where I'm at as of yesterday morning:

I added some more to the green border and worked on the yard and houses. I know these photos aren't very exciting, maybe next month will be better. Maybe.

I'll be posting photos of the gifts that I'm working on after this weekend's shower. Then you can see what I've spent more of my stitching time on! My goals for this month are to put in a week or so on my giraffe sampler, maybe another 2 weeks on Soleil, and to finish at least one pillow (maybe the Halloween one, or maybe one that's non-seasonal).

That's it for today. I hope this post was mostly coherent. I've caught some nasty little bug and I'm feeling a little loopy. And I'm in the process of losing my voice. Hopefully, this won't completely ruin this weekend's shower for me. And maybe this will be my one time to be sick this spring and that I won't be sick next month for my wedding and honeymoon. Til next time, I hope everyone has lots of time to be creative!