Framing The Flavors

I got a bit more work done on Mediterranean Flavors today, including turning the bottom right corner of the red frame outline in the picture to help start establishing the boundaries of the piece!

As of 2/27/13

Sorry for the wrinkles! I had to move my hoop frame today (small frame for a small piece), and I do not iron pieces until they're completely finished, as I absolutely detest ironing and will only do it once for a piece!

Until next time!
~Katy

More Progress

Mediterranean Flavors is stitching up pretty quickly!

As of 2/26/13

I'm really enjoying this piece. I like the theme, the colors, and it's relatively simple in comparison to a lot of the charts I do. It's definitely been a nice change!

Until next time!
~Katy

WIPocalypse - February Edition

 
It's already time for another WIPocalypse report! Where has February gone?? The theme for this month is:

February 25 – Themes: Designer – Little House Needleworks, Style – Love/Family, Colors – White and Red

Well, designer wise, I don't have any Little House Needleworks patterns in the works. In fact, I didn't have any Little House Needleworks patterns in my collection, but I've rectified that! I have now added the following two LHN patterns to my collection:

Home of a Needleworker Too!

The Bookshelf

LHN isn't my typical style for stitching, but I really like both of these patterns and I now have them in my collection - that's the point of WIPocalypse, right? Not to finish pieces, but to add to stash? Right?? RIGHT?!?!

Ahem, the other themes were Style – Love/Family and Colors – White and Red. My two WIPocalypse pieces for this month were My Witch's Brew and European Bistro.

My Witch's Brew at the start of the year:

 My Witch's Brew this WIPocalypse:

This piece has the word LOVE in it, so I'm counting it for the monthly theme!

And here is European Bistro at the start of the year:

And here is where it is as of this WIPocalypse:

I worked on the white outline of the rest of the window this month as well as some other white pieces...

I count these for sure!

Now, onto this week's stitching. I was able to get some stitches in both yesterday and today on Mediterranean Flavors:

As of 2/24/13

As of 2/25/13

Today's picture doesn't show the garlic portion as clearly as the one from yesterday, but the green oil jar in the middle is done except for backstitching, which won't happen for awhile yet. This piece is going relatively quickly - let's see how much progress I can make this week!

Until next time!
~Katy

End of Rotation Week and Start of Another

So much for getting a lot done this week on European Bistro...at least I made some progress.

This is where we started at the beginning of the week:

Start of Rotation Week

And this is where it ended up after a very bad stitching week with more days of not stitching than actual stitching:

End of Rotation Week

I think I only stitched three days this week. I hope this week is better. Progress is progress, though, and that's what counts in the end!

This week is another CJC rotation week.This week, I'm working on Mediterranean Flavors by Dimensions. This is one of the smaller pieces in my CJC rotation, so maybe if I can actually stitch this week, I can make some good progress on it! Here is where we're starting from:

Mediterranean Flavors - Start of Rotation Week

Here's hoping for a lot of good progress this week!

Until next time!
~Katy

It's been a bad stitching week...

I haven't picked up the needle since Wednesday...there are more days when I haven't stitched this week than when I have and it's making me twitchy! Not sure how much I'll be able to do today either as we have a big girl scout field trip and then a family party...ugh...I wanna stitch...

Until next time
~Katy

It's only Wednesday?!

Oy...this has been a long week and it's still not over yet...

I got some stitching done Monday, but was too tired to post...then I was still too tired last night to do any stitching at all...but I did pick up the needle again tonight, so I have a couple of pictures to show you!

Here is my progress from Monday, with the primary focus being on the plants in the window and hanging above it:

As of 2/18/13

And here is tonight's progress! This window is now done! I love how fast the tent stitching goes - it makes it much easier to fill larger sections quickly!

As of 2/20/13

The tent stitching also gives some great perspective and depth to the piece - it really looks to me like I'm looking in through the glass pane of the window to see what's going on inside!

I also got some lovely stitchy goodies in the mail this week, including some fabbies from two of my FOTM clubs and some beautiful new patterns. I'll have to take a picture to share soon!

P.S. Fifteen years ago today I met and fell for the man who is now my husband and father of my children...we were babies then, still in high school at a college scholarship competition weekend, I was only 17 and he was 18, but I thank God every day for bringing this man into my life! I love my honey!

Until next time!
~Katy

New Rotation Week - European Bistro

This piece has a special place in my heart because it was the second piece I started when I started stitching again and it represented a major shift in stitching attitude for me. Before, I was very much a one-project-at-a-time stitcher. You wouldn't find me doing more than one project because I wanted to work on one and finish it...yeah, that's SO not my philosophy anymore as the WIP list on the sidebar shows, but this was the second piece I started on that wasn't a charity piece (I didn't count those in my multiple project idea) and officially started me on my rotation process!

Here is where European Bistro was when we last saw it:

European Bistro - Start of Rotation Week

And here it is after my work on it today:

As of 2/17/13

This is going to be a crazy week for me, work wise, Girl Scout wise, family wise, so I'm not sure how much stitching I'll get done...but somehow, I almost always surprise myself at the end of each week when I look back and see just how much I get done! I guess I'm a faster stitcher than I realize!

Until next time!
~Katy

End of the Rotation Week

Well I have to say that I'm very pleased with the progress I made on Wedding Sampler this week! I started the week with only one day's worth of work on the piece from the Crazy January Challenge:

Wedding Sampler - Start of Rotation Week

After a full day's worth of frogging and another day of not doing any stitching at all, this is where the piece ended up after this week:

Wedding Sampler - End of Rotation Week - 2/16/13

Definitely a lot of progress! Besides a few stitches in the leaves on the bottom, all I have left on this page is back stitching and wording before I move onto the next page in this four page piece. I'm very pleased with the progress!

Until next time!
~Katy

Theme-A-Licious and IHSW

It's Theme-A-Licious mid month check in time again! This month's theme is:

Figural February

Who are the people in your neighborhood...your WIP neighborhood, that is? Give your people-populated projects some face time this month.

 Now, I have to admit...I have pieces that have actual people in them, but they're not up in my rotation yet...so I'm fudging on this theme a bit because the pieces I have worked on this month actually are related to people, even if they're not visibly populated on the WIP...

That includes My Witch's Brew - all about a witch, who is a person after all:

 

And I've also been working on my wedding sampler, which is all about me and my husband, so what more people populated project can you get? (Yes, I know it's a stretch)...

I made some great progress last night:

As of 2/14/13

 And made even more progress tonight:

As of 2/15/13

What a difference the daylight, or lack thereof, in a picture can do!

Today is also the start of International Hermit and Stitch Weekend! Tomorrow will be my last day on Wedding Sampler for this rotation week, and then I'll be working on European Bistro! I hope to get a lot of good time spent on both pieces this weekend!

Until next time!
~Katy

Happy Valentine's Day Bloghop

So sorry for the late post, but I hope everyone has had a wonderful Valentine's Day! I sure did! I got these beautiful flowers from my husband delivered at work today:

I love roses!

So pretty!

And I got this great stitchy Valentine as part of the blog hop hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching! Just who is my secret Valentine?

So cute!

I have a few hours to go today before I head to bed - maybe I'll get some stitching done! Last night I didn't feel well, but I'm anxious to get back to my piece tonight, and how appropriate a piece for this day!

Until next time!
~Katy

Go Away, Frog!

Last night was a very frustrating night as I realized I had miscounted a stitch on the lower part of my pattern that would have massively impacted the entire border...so I spent several hours last night frogging and ended up with my piece looking like this:

As of 2/11/13

Insert sad face here...after all of the frogging, I had no desire to stitch and clearly no desire to blog either. When my stitching time came tonight, though, I took a deep breath and picked the piece up again and here is my progress after triple and quadruple checking my counting tonight:

As of 2/12/13

Here's hoping the frog goes away again for a very long time!

Until next time!
~Katy

February TUSAL and New Rotation Week

Evening, all! Hard to believe it's time for another TUSAL report again! I have changed up my TUSAL jar for the year. I found this crystal bowl when I was putting my Christmas china away and putting my 'standard' china back out for display in my china cabinet. I have lots of beautiful crystal pieces but with young kids, I can't display them much. This piece, though, sits right beside my stitching seat and the kids leave it alone and it's such a prettier TUSAL jar!

Anyway, here is where we were at last month's TUSAL:

Old TUSAL jar

And this month's (the new jar is a little harder to have perspective with from this angle):

New TUSAL jar

And from the top:

Pretty!

And tonight:

Lots of room to expand!

Tonight also started a new rotation week! I'm back on another CJC piece this week and I am working on my Wedding Sampler by Carolyn Manning! Here is where I left the piece after it's CJC start:

Wedding Sampler - Start of Rotation Week

And here it is today, after me being up at 3 AM due to a massive lightening show that I couldn't fall back asleep from and spending some more time stitching tonight:

As of 2/10/13

It's amazing how much progress you can make in the wee morning hours undisturbed...I plan on making lots of progress on this piece this week!

Until next time!
~Katy

End of Rotation Week

Well, I didn't quite meet my goal of finishing the entire bottom of the piece thanks to bad allergies wiping me out today after a rough week at work making me too tired to stitch for a few nights...but I am very pleased with my progress this week!

I went from this at the start of the rotation week:

My Witch's Brew - Start of Rotation Week

To this as of today:

My Witch's Brew - End of Rotation Week - 2/9/13

I think one more good dedicated week and I just might be able to finish this piece up...we'll see what happens when it comes around again!

Tomorrow starts a new rotation week and I will be working on my wedding sampler from the CJC. Can't wait!

Until next time!
~Katy

A Good Day

Today was a good stitchy day for me after having no energy yesterday for stitching!

First, more progress with My Witch's Brew. For those of you that have asked, the fabric is Crystal EEK! from Picture This Plus:

Onto the Tree!

Second, I had this lovely fabric goodness waiting for me when I got home yesterday, courtesy of  Under the Sea Fabrics and her recent jewel sale:

Yay!

And third, I won the drawing over at Crafty Rahenna's! Yay!

Definitely a good stitchy day!

Until next time!
~Katy

Quick Post

Just a quick post tonight...it's late and I'm sleepy, but I made more progress!

As of 2/6/13

I have a ways to go yet, but I'm already thinking of ways to frame this, as I want to be able to put this in my kitchen during the Halloween season. I may wait until closer to actual Halloween to see if I can find anything then, but I think I've already decided that this will have a black frame, at least...I have a picture of what I want it to look like when it's done in my head, but I'll wait to see if I can make it come to life!

Until next time!
~Katy

No Stitching Yesterday

Yesterday was an incredibly stressful day at work - to the point that I poured a big glass of wine moments after getting home and I realized, very quickly, that if I wanted to avoid frogging everything today, stitching last night was a no go!

I did get back to My Witch's Brew tonight, though:

As of 2/5/13

With tonight's progress, the top half of the middle section is done, so tomorrow I'll move the fabric and begin working down towards the bottom half. My goal is to get the bottom half done before this week is over...we'll see if that happens!

I also want to take a second to comment about all my lovely followers. I have gotten some really nice comments and compliments, both in posts and in email, and I have to say, they all touch my heart. If my blog can give you some entertainment, encouragement, inspiration or guidance in some small way, I am over the moon thrilled. I started this blog for me to be able to document my personal journey, and I never imagined it would impact so many people. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you, dear followers, for all of your comments and for coming back for more! It makes this blog even more fun!

Until next time!
~Katy

Trick or Treat!

Well, not really, still WAY too early in the year for that. But I was in a Halloween mood today as I worked on My Witch's Brew:

As of 2/3/13

It's very hard to show both the colors of the threads and the black streaks in the fabric easily, but overall I'm very pleased with my progress tonight. I need to finish the two pumpkins at the top before I move down below the last line and work on the bottom half of the piece. The border that goes around the whole piece will wait until the end so I can make sure I start it and get it matching up as it should!

Until next time!
~Katy

End of Rotation Week and Start of Another

So yesterday ended my rotation week on Butterfly Rose Cross, and I'm very pleased! As a reminder, this is where the piece was at the beginning of the week:

Butterfly Rose Cross - Start of Rotation Week - 1/27/13

And here is where it stands now:

Butterfly Rose Cross - End of Rotation Week - 2/2/13

I went from one column with the second started to three columns with the fourth started - that's good progress if you ask me!

Today starts a new rotation week! I'll be working My Witch's Brew from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. I'm excited because I haven't been able to dedicate a full rotation week to this piece yet, as the last time I worked on it was over Thanksgiving week and I barely had any time to actually work on it. Here is where the piece is beginning today:

My Witch's Brew - Start of Rotation Week

This is one of my smaller WIP's, so I hope I can make lots of progress this week. I plan on doing lots of stitching during the Super Bowl this afternoon! Go commercials!

Until next time!
~Katy

Happy Groundhog Day!

I was super tired last night and just did not have the energy to blog, but I did work more on Butterfly Rose Cross:

As of 2/2/13

I've already made more progress today and can tell you I've finished the third column and started on the fourth! Yay! I'll post again tonight for my final post of the week for this rotation...

Yesterday was also the first of the month, and typically on the first, I review my goals from the past month and make new goals for the upcoming month. I'm a day late, but here we go!

At the beginning of January, I made the following goals for the year, which I'll be checking in on throughout the year:

1. Year of the Stash - I've made a lot of progress in this arena this month LOL! I have added several pieces of beautiful hand dyed fabrics to my collection as well as a couple of patterns through various RAK programs through groups I'm a member of on Facebook. I think fabric, though, is my weakness now! I mean, just look at this!

Beautiful Fabrics!!

I just love them all and definitely plan on adding more to my collection! My two favorite fabric companies are Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie and Under the Sea Fabrics, by far!

2. Crazy January Challenge - I want to successfully start all 15 projects in 15 days and will be very pleased if I can finish at least 1/3 of the projects in 2013. - The first part of this goal is done! I definitely did all 15 starts and am already making plans for 2014's CJC. This goal will be modified to just continue working on the pieces to try to get as many projects completed as I can!

3. Finish at least one of my 6 WIP's from 2012 - Can't mark this one off the list yet, but I'm working on it!

So goals specifically for February:

1. CJC 2014 - To get ready for the CJC in 2014, I am working on picking 2-3 patterns a month and determining shopping lists so I can spend the year getting ready. I have already picked a few charts for January's choices, but I want to pick February's choices as well, make a list of what I need, and review the stash I have to start making shopping lists. I have a $50 gift card from Michael's that I got for Christmas this year burning a hole in my pocket!

2. Keep up with my SAL's - I'm part of the TUSAL, WIPocalypse and Theme-a-licious SAL's this year, and I want to make sure I keep up with them!

Otherwise, I want to keep working on my projects and visiting your blogs - something I do almost every day already!

Will be back tonight to give the end of the week update report!

Until next time!
~Katy