Finish It February

On one of the boards I frequent on Yuku, it is Finish It February, wherein we all endeavor to finish things, be it UFOs laying around too long, or ornaments that have been stitched but never "ornamentified" (a word my friend Heather coined!). My goal was to finish at least one thing a week, and since I have no quick finishes in the UFO or WiP categories, I've been catching up on my finishing in other ways. This is my last one for the month, an ornie I stitched in 2006, and now it's tree-ready! It's a design by Dragon Dreams, from the 2001 JCS Ornament issue, called Not a Creature Was Stirring.

I also stitched up another heart from the Victoria Sampler series Hearts of America, this time Ohio. Eventually I want to make a quilt with the hearts as the centers of blocks. This is obviously a loooong-term project since this is only #17! I have an album on Webshots for VS designs, so if you want to see the others, please visit me there! These are really quick stitches...I did this one last night in about four hours.

Tonight I'll finish up the second skein of silk on Growth Rings and post a picture tomorrow. That still leaves me two days this month to work on Holland!

Weekend stitching...

I did stitch on Growth Rings over the weekend, but I also took a break and made up this little fob. It's from a Margaret Sherry design for the letter X (as is X is for X-Stitch Cat). You can see why I just had to stitch it! I didn't stitch the letter X, just the kitty Kat.

I think I'll keep working on Growth Rings this week (at least a few more days) and finish up the second skein of silk, plus, I'm superstitious (or maybe super-stitch-ious!).....both my teams had wins over the weekend....'Canes (hockey) won Friday night and Sunday afternoon, and Duke (basketball) beat Wake Sunday night! I was stitching on GR for every game! (well, the hockey games anyway, I was AT the Duke game!-evidence coming-check my Facebook page for a video clip) Good luck, right? ;-) February is almost over and I still have a few unmet goals, but hey, so what? I'll get 'em next month!

Quick update on Growth Rings

Here's a quick update on my Growth Rings progress...this is after one full skein of the Exemplar Flannel Dark. I'm enjoying working on this, but I need to get some other things done too! Back to Holland next week I think...

Growth Rings and froggie things!

Here is Growth Rings progress so far...this is an Ink Circles design from the March/April issue of JCS. The silks are from Vicky Clayton, the fabric is a 32ct lugana Silkweaver Solo from my stash.

I also ran by AC Moore's for the President's Day sale....DMC is 6/$1.00!! I got about 250 skeins, that now need to be sorted and stored for the future. I also went by Michael's with a 50% off coupon just to see what I could find. How is this for cute? Mr. Froggie is a clear jar (his head comes unscrewed (like many folks who find sales), and I'm going to fill him with Orts from my ort box I keep by the stitching chair. The little tin bucket is getting a lid cover stitched (a Just Nan bunny maybe) for it, just for fun. (there are more bunny pics on the sides) You just never know what you will find on a good sale day!

edited to fix JCS issue month...oops!

Busy week!

Since my last post several things have gotten done...the cupboard my DBIL built for me was installed on Thursday, I started Growth Rings from the latest JCS issue, filled up the cupboard (after much sorting and some discarding of "stuff"), went to the After Market open house at my LNS, and had lunch with my friend Carolyn, and finished an ornie I stitched 3 years ago! I'm one tired, but happy camper!


First, here's the cupboard...I still have a bit more sorting to do.

This is my sewing corner...

This is my work table...


And here is my haul from the LNS.....like I needed more stash! How could I say no to the Britty Kitties, more biscornu, Crossed Wing's newest hummer, Halloween cuties and SILK from Dinky-Dyes?


And finally, the finished ornie (I swear it was square when I was done sewing!)
It's from one of the JCS ornament issues. Raccoon's Visit by Something in Common.


I'll post a progress picture of Growth Rings tomorrow....I'm loving it so far!

Blue Bayou Happy Dance!

One week of stitching on this and it's done! (sorry C! I couldn't stop!)
Blue Bayou by Northern Pine Designs. (I can't get Linda Ronstadt's song out of my head now!)

Don't know which project is coming up next...I need something I can do watching the DUKE vs UNC game tonight to keep me from getting too nervous and pacing.....hmmmm.....time to do some stash diving!

What a nice weekend it was!

The weather was so nice over the weekend, and somehow I managed to stitch some! Started off the day Saturday badly tho' as it was our cat Cassi's (the one in the avatar pic) turn for her annual vet visit (how do they know?) and she managed to scratch me badly down my front when I caught her. Ouch! After much application of Neosporin, I settled down to stitch and watch the Duke-Miami game. Not much got done as it was far too close, going to overtime before Duke finally won! Then we had to get ready for relatives coming over for a cook-out. Then clean up, of course! (it was fun anyway!) Later in the evening I was able to stitch on Blue Bayou again while watching another game, this time Carolina Hurricanes hockey against Phoenix. Much more stitching was done, as by the end it was a 7-2 blowout win for the 'Canes! Here is the result of my Saturday stitching.....Blue Bayou is now 3/4 done!

Sunday was spent cleaning out the garage somewhat, and enjoying the spring weather!

Today I checked out Nashville market offers on the web, and made my shopping list (beyond what I had asked the LNS to get for me). The 14th is Open House, and I plan on doing my part to stimulate the needlework economy! Let's see....Crossed Wing has 2 new charts, Brittercup has monthly Britty Kittys...Cat's Whiskers has a couple of must-haves coming out later this Spring, and Just Nan has a 15-sided biscornu out!! There's more I want to see up close, and I can't wait till Saturday!

Blue Bayou progress...

Yesterday I mentioned I had started the Blue Bayou canvaswork piece...here's a progress pic after about 8 hours, it's roughly 1/3 done.

Like I said, it stitches up really fast! The satin bargello stitches took the longest because I had to count my threads carefully. I love the colors in this...blues and greens like peacocks!

Last night was my third late night in a row to watch my teams play....the 'Canes are on the West Coast all week, and Duke played Wednesday. It had not been a good week until last night, as the Hurricanes beat the Sharks in an OT shoot out! It was 1:30 am before I could crash, so lots of stitching got done! I may have to take a nap today so I can go swim laps with my DSIL tonight.
Yawn......

New Finish, New Start

Yep, it's yet another biscornu! This design is from a fellow blogger Kissy-Cross (Kirsten Schmidt) and is from a post on August 8th of 2008. Scroll down a bit and you will see this unique biscornu pattern! I used a bit of leftover Summer Sky opalescent Silkweaver fabric, and DMC. I used a shade darker blue for the flowers in one corner so they would be more visible on the blue fabric.

It was started on 2/2 and finished 2/4/09.

Also yesterday, I started working on a canvaswork piece from Northern Pine Designs called Blue Bayou

My friend Carolyn is stitching another of their designs, called Ebb Tide. We are SAL-ing! Mine is going pretty fast so far, and it's fun to stitch.

Holland Landscapes progress report!

Here is the latest progress picture on my Holland Landscapes! On the last day of January I finished the window scene of part 6...the tulips above will come in the next rotation this month.I am way behind, as part 10 just came out, but hope to finish it this year.

January Progress, Feburary Goals

It's time for the monthly stitching update, so here goes!

January Recap
Work on WiPs
~Winter Bird Delight Done!
~Holland Landscapes, Part 6 window scene Done!
~Memory Wall Quilt Done!

Do a tote...Floral Motif Done!
Do a biscornu...Cherry Blossom Biscornu Done!
Do an ornie...Dream Tree Done!
Random new start....Trellis by Workbasket Postponed to Feb.

Also have done some finishing...
1 ornament Done!
2 pillows Done!

February Goals

Work on focus WiP
~Holland Landscapes, tulips over pt.6 window scene

New Starts
~Do a biscornu...Garden Biscornu Done!
~Do an ornie....well I did a fob...XS Cat Done!
~Do a VS state heart...Ohio Done!
~Blue Bayou by Northern Pine (SAL) Done!
~Growth Rings by Ink Circles (impulse start!) Working...

Finishing
~do one finishing project a week
Garden Biscornu by Kirsten Schmidt Fin.2/4
Raccoon Visit by Something in Common Fin.2/14
XS Cat Fob by Margaret Sherry Fin.2/21
Not a Creature Was Stirring by Dragon Dreams Fin.2/25

I don't know if I'll get as much done as I'd like in this short month, but that's what goals are for!