My Weekly Update

Well I can definitely tell it's spring time because the rain has started as have my seasonal allergies/headaches. Fun fun! It's made stitching this week a slow going project, but I have made some more progress!

Progress as of March 28, 2014

Unless I do a lot this weekend, I've pretty much resigned myself to not getting all the stitching done by April 1st, which is fine. Any progress I make will just mean less to do when I pick it up again after I finish the April block on the Once Upon A Time Sampler, which I'm very eager to get back to! I can't wait to see what the new pattern will be and will share it here as soon as I know!

I also wanted to take a moment to give a shout out to my favorite hand dyed floss supplier, Mo of Mo's Sale on Facebook. To say I'm hooked on her floss is an understatement. Her prices are reasonable for both her cotton and her silk floss, her colors are fantastic and unique, her quality is excellent, her customer service is wonderful, and she comes out with new colors nearly every week! She also dyes fabric once a month as well for unique fabric pieces. I just got my latest order from her in the mail (pre-bobbinated because Mo ROCKS like that) and the only thing I'm upset about is that some of these new colors weren't out sooner because I would have incorporated them into my Once Upon A Time Sampler, which is being done almost entirely in Mo's floss. Who knows, maybe I'll include some of these new colors anyway!

Pretty Floss!

Until next time!
~Katy

More Time In The Garden

I've been working on the Garden of Joy ornament off and on this week. It feels like I've had a lot going on as I haven't had a ton of time to work as much on this as I may like, but I am very much enjoying seeing it come to life!

None of the pictures I've taken of this piece really do the colors justice. They are just so beautiful in person! I'm really enjoying working on this ornament. I have a crazy weekend ahead of me potentially, but I'm going to try to get some dedicated time in to work on this and make some more progress. I would personally like to have all of the stitching done on this ornament before the April potion of the Once Upon A Time sampler comes out. That way I can get started on the beading when I finish April. Fingers crossed!

Until next time!

~Katy

Garden of Joy Ornament

So both of the Christmas ornaments I have left in my WIP list are rather bead heavy, but they're absolutely beautiful. Both are designed by Turquoise Graphics & Designs and are from the Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornaments 2012 edition. I ended up playing rock paper scissors and decided to start working on Garden of Joy next.

This is where I left Garden of Joy after I started it for the Crazy January Challenge last year.  I actually never picked it up again after the one day of starting it:

Garden of Joy - Started 1/11/13

Here is the progress I made yesterday:

This is being stitched over two on 32-count cream Belfast. I don't think this one is going to go nearly as quickly as the last ornament. As you can see, it's beautifully ornate and filled with beads, so I imagine it will likely be the project I work on the rest of the month while I wait for April's addition to the Once Upon A Time Sampler.

Until next time!
~Katy

Celtic Christmas Ornament #4 - Completed!

Yay for another WIP marked off the list! I finished stitching up Celtic Christmas Ornament #4 last night but waited to take a picture until this morning to get it in better light.

Celtic Christmas Ornament #4 by The Sunflower Seed
Started: 1/7/13
Finished: 3/11/14
Stitched on 30-count Antique Cotton Linen by R&R Reproductions

I'm going to wait likely until closer to Christmas to actually try to finish this out as an ornament when I can find Christmas related materials more easily in the craft stores. It'll be my first time to complete ornaments, so that'll be interesting when it happens. Hopefully (most likely) I'll have the other two ornaments on my WIP list ready to complete then as well!

I'm not sure which one I'm going to work on next, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do! Wish me luck!

Until next time!
~Katy

Christmas Ornaments

So when I went through my WIP box yesterday to decide what to work on next, I pulled out the three Christmas ornaments from the Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornaments 2012 magazine that I had started as part of the Crazy January Challenge in 2013. All three are small pieces stitch wise, but two of them have beads (my first time to use them) and these will be the first ornaments I have created ever. I'm focused on finishing the stitching and beading now, and at some point, probably closer to Christmas, I'll do the actual finishing.

The first ornament I started working on is  Celtic Christmas Ornament #4 by The Sunflower Seed, which is being done on 30 ct. antique cotton linen from R&R Reproductions. Here is where I left it when I last worked on it last year:

As of March 14, 2013

 And here is where it is as of this morning:

I finished all the silver in the piece and added more of the border. I know it looks a little crooked, but that's just the way the linen is resting in the hoop, the stitches are actually straight. There are only three different colors in this, so once the border is done, I'll add the last color. The beading for this one comes in the finishing, which is partially why I chose to do this one first. It'll be a quick stitch and one more knocked off of my WIP list and onto my finishing list!

It's Spring Break this week so I'll be doing lots of stuff with my kiddos. We'll see how much stitching time I get in!

Until next time!
~Katy

My Witch's Brew - Completed!

Yay! I finished My Witch's Brew!

My Witch's Brew by Nancy Turner of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

Started: 11/18/12

Finished: 3/9/14

Stitched on 16-count Aida in Crystal EEK! by Picture This Plus

Granted, I finished it during a bout of insomnia, but hey, a finish is a finish! I'm not sure how I will completely finish the project - most likely a to display this during Halloween. I'll probably wait until closer to that season to see if I can find something that strikes my fancy and when I have it all finished up in that way, I'll share it with you!

This finish also means that after I take my daughter out for our mommy/daughter day on Sunday, I can go through my WIP's and pull another one out to work on. I'm extremely tempted to do a new start, seeing as I finished this one, but I currently have 21 projects going right now and I want to have no more than 20 WIP's at a time (at least for now!). That means two more finishes before I can start a new project. I have several other small projects that I will likely pick from to try to knock some of those out quickly since most of my big WIP's have a long way to go. We'll see what strikes my fancy when I go through the WIP box.

Until next time!
~Katy

Pretty Pumpkins

So going into the weekend, I have finished the bottom portion of the border for My Witch's Brew, which included the last two pumpkins in the piece. Aren't they cute?

Now I'm working my way up the left side and I plan on just going up, over and then down and hopefully everything will match up just as it's supposed to! It's pretty simple stitching, and I'm hoping it will go quickly. Fingers crossed! I would love to end this weekend with a finish!

Until next time!
~Katy

That Was Fast!

March sure stitched up fast! That's probably because I wasn't doing the entire border and two months all at once! Hah!

Here is the March block on it's own. I love the way that Mo's Apple Cider floss looks in the little pig's brick house!

The first quarter of the year is done!

But we have quite a bit to go!

Can't wait for April's block! In the meantime, I'll go back to My Witch's Brew and see if I can finish it up this month. Fingers crossed!

Until next time!
~Katy

Once Upon A Time - March Day One

So I think I made some good progress on my first day of working on the March square for the Once Upon A Time Sampler:

I love how my little grey wolf turned out! He's so adorable! I don't think this square is going to take a long time to stitch up, and after a very busy week and weekend, I'm taking it easy today. Let's see how far I can get!

Until next time!
~Katy

The Three Little Pigs!

March's pattern for the Once Upon A Time Sampler came out and this month I'm stitching the Three Little Pigs:

I've been running around a lot today so I'm hoping I might get a chance to start this tonight. If not, tomorrow I plan on staying home almost all day, and I'll definitely get a good start on it then!

For now, My Witch's Brew is being put away. I didn't make a ton of progress on it since I only had a couple of days before this came out and yesterday was filled with family activities, but some progress is better than no progress, right?

Here is where it was when I picked it up a couple of days ago:

And here it is as of today:

Once I finish the March square, I'll pick it up again and maybe I'll be able to finish it this month. Fingers crossed!

Until next time!
~Katy