IHSW, September TUSAL and European Bistro

Lots of stuff to blog about tonight! Where to begin...

Tonight wraps up this month's IHSW, and I have to say that this was probably my most productive stitching IHSW I've had! I was able to make a good amount of progress on Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love on Friday and Saturday, and then today I was able to get back into European Bistro!

I realized as I was gathering my materials and putting European Bistro back in the hoop that this is going to be the first real week I will dedicate to this piece. I had started it, worked on it a few days, got caught up with Birdhouse Neighborhood for WOCS, and after I finished it, European Bistro was put at the bottom of the rotation. It's going to be good to work on it this week!

When we last saw European Bistro, this is what it looked like:

European Bistro - Start of Rotation Week - Last Touched 8/6/12

Oh my goodness, it really has been a long time since I worked on this piece! After a few hours of working on it today, this is where I stand now:

As of 9/16/12

I found the bottom edge of the piece with the ground that is stitched thus far. Another large section of half stitches goes rather quickly. I think the piece looks like it's curving just a little bit on the left edge, but that's just how the fabric is in the hoop, not really the piece itself. The page I'm working on right now is the right half of the piece, so now we have the left edge and the bottom edge found! I will be interested to see how far along I'm able to get this week!

Today is also TUSAL report day! I've been working on a lot of pieces this month, and I think my TUSAL jar reflects that!

Here is my TUSAL jar as of last month:

TUSAL Jar - August 17, 2012

And here it is today!

TUSAL Jar - September 16, 2012

Wow! Comparing the two side by side, I really have done a lot this month! Here are the views from the top:

Last month:

TUSAL Jar - August 17, 2012

And today:

TUSAL Jar - September 16, 2012

So pretty! At the end of the year after our last TUSAL report for 2012, I plan on taking all of my ORTs out of my TUSAL jar and filling a clear glass ornament with them for my Christmas tree. I think it would be great to start a collection of ORT filled Christmas ornaments to celebrate my hobby and to also provide unique, beautiful pieces for our tree!

What filled my TUSAL jar this month, you ask? Well...

I completed Birdhouse Neighborhood. Here is the status of it from the last TUSAL report:

Birdhouse Neighborhood as of 8/16/12 TUSAL Report

And here it is complete the very next day:

Birdhouse Neighborhood - Complete 8/17/12

I had two new starts whose ORTs were added this month as well.

Flames of Desire:

Flames of Desire as of 9/1/12

And Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love:

Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love as of 9/15/12

I started Christmas Countdown again, which hadn't yet been included in my TUSAL jar, so it was kind of like a new start this month:

Christmas Countdown - Ornaments as of 9/8/12

And of course, my other two big projects were included as well:

Italian Vista - from then:

Italian Vista as of 8/16/12 TUSAL Report

To now:

Italian Vista as of 8/25/12

And as already reported above, European Bistro got a few more ORTs in the TUSAL jar today as well. All in all, a very successful month, I think!


Whew, that was a long picture filled post! Congrats if you made it through all of it! I hope everyone has a great week ahead of them!

Until next time!
~Katy