Monday, April 28, 2014

New Start

So I worked for a few days on American Flag Quilt Sampler, and while I love this piece and adore seeing other people's progression on it, it seems to be one of those pieces I'm only able to do in short spurts for some reason. This is especially true when the urge for a new start strikes! So here is where American Quilt Sampler was left when I put it away for now:

The next installment of the Once Upon A Time Sampler is due out in a few days, but in the meantime, I gave into my urge for a new start with another Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery creation, this time selecting there Halloween Spooky Sampler! This is what the example looks like:

Of course, I had to make some substitutions, and here is my floss toss for the piece:

The fabric I am using is 32 count Jobelan in Bewitched from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie, and except for black and white, the flosses are all from Mo's Sale. This time around, I am using Darkness, Brownie (silk), Waterlily (silk), Rose (silk), Candy Corn, Sun, Flesh, Golden Sun (silk), Leak (silk), Grassy (silk), Mona (silk), Eggplant (silk) and Regina (silk). It's becoming a habit with pieces from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery to make these substitutions - it just seems like they make pieces that are much easier to make substitutions for!

I did make a little bit of a start yesterday. It's not much, but it's a beginning!

Until next time!
~Katy

Friday, April 18, 2014

Winter Flowers Ornament - Completed!

Well, I got the last of my beads in the mail yesterday and finished up the beading for Winter Flowers Ornament last night! Yay!

Winter Flowers Ornament by Turquoise Graphics & Designs
Started: 1/9/13
Finished: 4/17/14
Stitched on 32-ct. off white linen

While I was waiting for the beads to arrive, I picked up American Flag Quilt Sampler by Rosewood Manor. I love this piece and have seen it on several blogs and was inspired to pick it up again. When I last worked on it, the piece looked like this:

And after working on it for a few days this week, this is where it stands now:

I'm going to keep working on this piece for the rest of the month and may continue it next month too. We'll see!

Until next time!
~Katy

Monday, April 14, 2014

Ack! Out of Beads!

So I was right in that the beading was going to take more than one session to do, but I didn't think it would be because I was out of beads! The pattern called for one pack of each color beads, which I got, but apparently it wasn't enough for the plum. So, I am done with all beading except for what I'm missing:

So I've placed an order for the missing beads and as soon as they come in, I'll finish up that beading! I'm going to have to look through my WIP's to decide what to work on in the mean time and again after the beading is done. So many choices!

Until next time!
~Katy

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Winter Flowers - Stitching Done

Today I finished up the stitching portion of Winter Flowers:

The beading is just left for this piece now. I don't think I'm going to finish it one sitting due to the sheer amount of beads that are left to put on this piece. As a matter of perspective, you see my piece above which is all the stitching. Here's the image from the magazine of the completed piece:

Like I said...lots of beading to go! Wish me luck!

Until next time!
~Katy

Friday, April 11, 2014

Winter Flowers Ornament

Since finishing Garden of Joy earlier this week, I started working on it's sibling, Winter Flowers, also by Turquoise Graphics and Designs. When I last worked on Winter Flowers in March last year, this is where I left it:

And here is where Winter Flowers is after working on it for a few days this week:

There will be even more beads on this piece when I finally get to that point. I can hardly wait!

Until next time!
~Katy

Monday, April 7, 2014

Garden of Joy - Complete!

Well that beading went a whole lot faster than I thought it would! I had never beaded a piece before and I thought it would take me a long time but it really went very quickly. So quickly that I got all of the beads done last night and completed the piece! I love how it turned out!

First, a close up of some of the beads:

And now the completed piece!

Garden of Joy Ornament by Turquoise Graphics & Designs
Started: 1/11/13
Finished: 4/6/14
Stitched on 32-ct off white linen

I'm still not entirely sure how I'm going to finish this piece yet. I think I'll wait until I finish the next ornament, Winter Flowers, also by Turquoise Graphics and Designs, and decide what to do with both ornaments at that point. Speaking of, time to get started on that WIP. Let's see if I can finish it this month too! I'll post back this week with my progress!

Until next time!
~Katy

Sunday, April 6, 2014

OUAT - April Block Done!

I finished up the April block of my Once Upon A Time Sampler yesterday! Isn't it cute?

Here are all of the months so far:

And here is the piece in it's entirety!

So once again, this piece is getting put away until the next installment in May. I'm going to get back to Garden of Joy to finish up the beading on that piece. It's my first time to bead a piece, and I'm both nervous and excited. Wish me luck!

Until next time!
~Katy

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Goldilocks Day Four

I finished one and a half bears yesterday on the April Square of my Once Upon A Time Sampler:

I should be able to finish the baby bear and then do the mother bear today and be done for the square for the month! Fingers crossed, tomorrow I'll be showing you the finished April block!

Until next time!
~Katy

Friday, April 4, 2014

Goldilocks Day Three

A bit more progress into Goldilocks:

All that I have left to go at this point are the three bears themselves! I'm going to see how far I can get today, but without a doubt I will have this block done before the weekend is over. Have I mentioned how much I love this piece?

Until next time!
~Katy

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Goldilocks Day Two

I was too busy yesterday to get to do much stitching yesterday, but I was able to get two more small parts of the block completed:

I hope to get more done today during this wet, rainy gloomy day between load of laundry. Wish me luck!

Until next time!
~Katy

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Goldilocks Day One

So I eagerly got started on the April block of the Once Upon A Time Sampler yesterday. I decided to start with Goldilocks herself and I think she's just adorable:
Hi Goldie!
Of course I'm continuing my habit of using flosses and silks from Mo's Sale, and for Goldie, I made a new substitution. I decided to keep with the theme of using silk for the hair of the girls and used one of Mo's newest silk colors, Golden Sun, for her hair. I think it's just perfect!

Goldie isn't the only thing I stitched in the block yesterday. Here is all of the progress from yesterday:

I love how fast this stitches up and after a long break between March and April blocks, I'm once again in love with the fabric choice (28-ct. Jobelan in Sunset from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie) and am so so pleased with all of my thread substitutions from Mo's Sale. Let's see how much more I can get done today!

Until next time!
~Katy

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Happy April!

My goodness, this year just seems to be flying by! I can't believe we're a quarter through the year!

With it being the first of the month, the next installment of the Once Upon A Time Sampler has come out and I'm so excited, but first, an update on Garden of Joy:

I am very pleased to say that I met my goal on this ornament for the month after all and got all of the stitching done last night! That means beading is all that is left. I have decided, I think, that this is just too big for me to finish it into an ornament for my tree - it rivals the size of some of my blown glass Santa ornaments in size. I will probably end up finishing this in a frame of some sort instead of an ornament, but we'll see what I feel like doing when I actually am ready to finish it. I'm not exactly known for the finishing of my pieces once I'm done stitching them! Hah!

Garden of Joy has been put away for now, though, so I can work on the next installment of Once Upon A Time. This month, I'm working on Goldilocks and the Three Bears!

I have already decided that I'm making one new additional substitution for the flosses this month. Just like I did silk for the hair of the princess in the February block, I'm going to use one of the brand new silk colors I got from my latest batch of Mo's flosses for Goldilocks' hair. That will be two out of the three girls in the piece with silk for their hair - Snow White has all black hair and I don't have a coordinating silk to go with that!

I can't wait to get started! In fact, I think I'm going to go do that right now!

Until next time!
~Katy