Day of Previews

For the first time this year, I don't have much stitching to show you. I realized yesterday was the 30th (where the heck has the time gone?!) and that I needed to get my piece ready for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I had only intended to measure things out, but then realized that I was technically going to need to start stitching on the 31st (aka today) to get the A done for posting on the 1st. With the next portion of both the Storytime Sampler and the Walking Through the Stars Zodiac SAL scheduled to come out on the 31st and 1st respectively, plus looking at some other things coming in the month ahead, I decided to go ahead and get started on my Once Upon A Time Character Alphabet so I wouldn't fall behind.

BUT - that means I can't show you anything yet! Well...except maybe for this tiny preview:

Let me just say I'm super excited about how this is going to go this month! I decided to stitch this on 32 count Jobelan in Witches Brew from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. I've already made a couple of tiny, minor changes (i.e. beads instead of french knots), but this pattern is great! I love it!

I've also made a few decisions about how this month is going to work as far as my blogging goes. It's going to be a little bit different for those of you who are my regular followers.

First, I'm going to be posting two posts a day every day (except Sunday). One will be a post specifically dedicated to the challenge, and the other will be about whatever piece came up in the rotation that day. The challenge post will always be the most recent post on my blog. This is so that those new visitors coming to the blog for the first time as part of the challenge can quickly and easily find my challenge posts and if they like, they can stick around!

Second, I'm not going to post a picture of the entire piece until the end. Typically in pieces like this, when I finish a section, I show both the finished section and the entire piece to date. I've decided for this challenge, I'm going to wait to show the entire piece at the end when it's all finished and only focus on each letter of the day.

I hope you enjoy what's to come as much as I will!

Oh! One more preview to show you! The preview for the April frame of the Storytime Sampler came out yesterday. What do you think it could be?

The most popular suggestion so far seems to lean towards The Wizard of Oz. We'll see tonight! Can't wait!

Until next time!
~Katy

St. Peter's

Yesterday was just a great day. Church and brunch in the morning, then a nice nap, and then while hubby went out for a bike ride as part of his Iron Man training and the kids played upstairs, I put some good, quality time in on St. Peter's.

Most of my pieces are brightly colored pieces, which I love, but there is something very soothing about the colors of this piece that just made my needle fly yesterday:

It's exciting to see the domes beginning to form!

Until next time!
~Katy

Skater's Village Tree Skirt

I've done it! For the first time this year, I've completed the rotation of pieces entirely between WIPocalypse posts! Woo hoo!  Skater's Village got some more love yesterday:

I didn't get a lot done since it was a day full of soccer games and getting the house ready to host our monthly couples game night, but I was happy with the progress I made since any progress on this piece is slow going.

Until next time!
~Katy

Rapunzel, Rapunzel!

Let down your golden hair! I'm so excited to actually be able to post about Rapunzel by herself rather than as part of the WIPocalypse! First time this year! This is the piece that first introduced me to Joan Elliott's work and is one of my absolute favorites to work on:

I am stitching her on 28 count Jobelan in Isolde from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. This picture does not do this beautiful fabric justice at all, but I just love how it looks on this fabric overall!

Can't wait to stitch on her again when she's back up in the rotation!

Until next time!
~Katy

Mediterranean Flavors

You know, Mediterranean is one of those words that never looks right to me when I type it. Oh well! Didn't stop me from working on Mediterranean Flavors yesterday!

Here is where I stopped:

The grapes are my favorite part of this piece so far. I love the colors of them! Such pretty pinks and purples!

Until next time!
~Katy

Magical Creatures Calendar

I was so excited to get back to the Magical Creatures Calendar from Cloudsfactory yesterday:

I'm still working on the frames, but I made some good progress!

I must admit, I'm anxious to get back to this piece! All of the Cloudsfactory pieces have been so much fun to stitch, but this one holds a special place in my heart because of the theme. I could easily work on this piece for days, but I'm disciplined, gosh darn it! Onto the next piece in the rotation!

Until next time!
~Katy

Because I Need A New Start...

...like I need a hole in my head! I'm totally blaming Linda of Stitchin with my Furbabies for this. I'm joining in the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 Challenge!

Every day in April except on Sundays, you're supposed to make a post with the theme being that day's letter - A for April 1st, B for April 2nd, etc. I'm also going to follow Linda's example and pick an Alphabet themed piece to do for this challenge. I figure if I stick with the challenge, I can have a completely finished piece by the end of April! Plus, if I only do one letter a day, I should still be able to stay on top of the rest of my rotation too. 

Linda also turned me onto a new designer I hadn't heard of before - FangirlStitches! There are lots of adorable patterns on this site (yay! More Doctor Who!), and I've got plenty on my wishlist now. The pattern I've decided to do is the Once Upon A Time Themed Alphabet, based on one of my other favorite TV shows:

The pattern has been ordered and received (gotta love PDF patterns!), fabric has been picked out, threads have been pulled (I'm sticking with the DMC suggested threads for this) and whatever threads I didn't have, I've ordered. I'm also going to substitute out the french knots for beads so what beads I need are ordered too. Can't wait to start!

I did do some other stitching yesterday. Italian Vista was up on the agenda.

And here is where I got to yesterday:

I was a little tired of working on the blue in the water, so a few stitches of brown helped break it up a bit.

Until next time!
~Katy

Flames of Desire

Yesterday was Flame of Desire's turn to be in the hoop:

Every time I stitch on this piece I'm so glad I restarted it because I just love it! Some of the reds blend into the fabric for now but won't blend in so much when all of the stitching is complete. And for those that do blend in, well, the fabric (32-count Belfast in Mayan Apocalypse from Under the Sea Fabrics) looks like it is on fire, she is supposed to represent flames, she could easily set the fabric on fire herself!

Until next time!
~Katy

Fall Fairy

Even though it's the early days of spring, I spent some time celebrating autumn yesterday by working on Fall Fairy:

The more I work on this piece, the more I love it. I don't know if it's the colors or the subject matter or what, but it's just a real pleasure to work on this piece. Here is how far I was able to get yesterday:

She's really starting to come to life, I think! Can't wait to work on her again!

Until next time!
~Katy

European Bistro

Yesterday I was able to put in some good time on European Bistro:

I'm really pleased with the progress I was able to make. That line of black on the bottom right corner goes to the edge of the piece, which always gives me a feeling of accomplishment when I can reach the edge!

I'm a member of a group on Facebook that is dedicated to Dimensions kits and this one is a very popular piece. I love seeing everyone's progress!

Until next time!

~Katy

A Few Stitches Are Better Than No Stitches

Yesterday, Dreaming for Tuscany was on the agenda:

I wasn't able to start stitching until REALLY late, and then my hand started cramping, so I just called it a night after a few more stitches of white were added. It may not be much progress, but some is better than none!

Here's hoping hand cramps stay away today! It's been really rainy this week and all of the soccer games got cancelled again (between ice, snow and rain it's been a month since the kids played a game!), so I'm hoping for some good stitching time today! Wish me luck!

Until next time!
~Katy

Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey, TUSAL Time!

I had a lot of fun working on last night's project - my son's Doctor Who Clock from Cloudsfactory!

This piece is just fun, and my son was so excited to see me pull it out which makes it even better! I was able to finish the TARDIS and start on the Gallifreyan symbols behind it yesterday:

I wish the picture could capture the really beautiful sparkle of this 32 count Opal Lugana jewel from Under The Sea Fabrics. Because I'm using 99% silks from Mo's Sale for this project and because of the fabric type I'm using, this piece definitely moves at a slower pace for me because I want to do it right and prevent frogging as much as possible (well, I always want that, but I'm even more focused on it for this piece!), but it really is a lot of fun to stitch!

Today is also the TUSAL reporting day for March! How time has flown! Here are my TUSAL pictures for this month (apologies for the crooked pics!):

I think I'm going to have to squish down my ORT's to make sure I don't run out of room in my jar before the end of the year!

Until next time!
~Katy

More Blocks of Color

But not blue this time! I worked on Christmas Countdown yesterday.

I was able to lose myself in more meditative stitching of the red border but that was after I got the green line to go all the way to the edge where it meets the upper left 'button' section. It definitely will make it easier to fill in the blue, yellow and red bits to the end of that line.

Sorry that the picture is a bit uneven - it wasn't lying on a completely flat surface when I took it. I definitely am getting close to turning another corner with this piece! Yay!

Until next time!
~Katy

Blue, Blue, Blue!

On a day where the theme color is supposed to be green for St. Patrick's Day, I focused instead on the very blue filled Butterfly Rose Cross:

The nice part about large blocks of blue background is that it's easy to just lose yourself in the rhythm of the stitching when you don't have to change colors a lot. That's why I was able to get several hundred more stitches in last night:

Still lots more blue to go, but progress is progress!

Until next time!
~Katy

Butterfly Fairy

I made some good progress on Butterfly Fairy by Joan Elliott last night:

I was able to finish the one over one skin on the part of the arm on this page, which is a big deal! That means the next time this piece comes around, I will have something other than skin to work on (at least for a little while!) - yay!

The hand gave me a little trouble but I think I worked it all out. Can't wait until this piece comes around again!

Until next time!
~Katy

Beauty and the Beast

Insomnia is not my friend. After not falling asleep until about 4 AM yesterday morning, I was dragging most of the day. I was able to get enough energy to start clearing out my craft room (I can see floor! Lots of junk removed!) and I also put a few stitches into Beauty and the Beast Falling In Love:

Here is where I was able to get to before exhaustion finally claimed me:

Kids are back in school today after a fun and busy Spring Break. It was a lot of fun having them home and I have some great ideas for summer activities now, but I'm glad to be getting back to our school time routine! Off to get some things done while the kids are at school - the sooner I get chores done, the sooner I can stitch!

Until next time!

~Katy

So Much Kreinik!

Angel of Compassion from HAED was up in the rotation yesterday:

I put in several hundred stitches of Kreinik in this piece this time around. SO MUCH KREINIK! But it's going to look gorgeous when it's all said and done!

I've decided I'm going to do all the Kreinik on this page first before going back and working on other colors. I think it will be easier to stitch in the non-Krienik parts when it is already essentially outlined by the shiny sparkly thread.

And remember...this is just page one...out of a twenty page chart! I have a loooooooong way to go and lots more Kreinik to stitch!

Until next time!
~Katy

American Flag Quilt Sampler - Connecticut

Last night I worked on the American Flag Quilt Sampler by Rosewood Manor:

As usual, my goal whenever I work on this piece is to finish one quilt square. This time, Connecticut was up on the list:

I just loved the colors in this square this time. I swear that last T isn't crooked! Here is the piece as it stands after this rotation:

I think this is coming along nicely! I'll continue working on the blue section with the first thirteen states. The next few actually won't have the outer border for me to do too, so who knows, maybe I'll be able to get a little bit ahead when preparing for the next rotation! We shall see!

Until next time!
~Katy

All Things Noah

We're at the top of the rotation list again with All Things Noah (which I keep wanting to call All About Noah for some reason. Can't tell you how many times I've had to correct that!)

I brought the piece with me when I brought our kids to an indoor playground place to play yesterday. It was my first time to really bring a project to a place like that and let me tell you, it helped me stay sane and made the time go by much faster. I may have to continue to do that this summer when we go to the playground regularly!

I got into a good groove and made a lot of progress yesterday:

I think one or two more good dedicated days to this piece and I'll be able to mark it off as finished! I must admit, I was tempted to just keep working on this until it's done because it really is so close, but the OCD part of me won out, so we will just have to wait until this comes back up in the rotation. I can hardly wait!

Until next time!
~Katy

Wedding Sampler

Yesterday another one of my favorite pieces came up in the rotation: my Wedding Sampler!

I really do enjoy this piece, it makes me smile each time I stitch on it. I worked on lots more green yesterday and stopped at this point:

I'm doing this piece on 14 count Aida in Crystal Fresco from Picture This Plus. I'm not usually a fan of Aida for my non-kit pieces anymore, but this fabric just doesn't feel like Aida normally feels. It's very soft and easy to work with. I'm enjoying it very much!

Until next time!
~Katy

A Wee Bit Frustrated

Last night, I picked up Tuscan Greetings to work on.

This is one of my smaller pieces, and it was supposed to be one of my easier pieces. It would be...if I hadn't figured out while working on it tonight that I've screwed up majorly in the counting somewhere along the way. Significantly enough I'd have to rip out nearly half if not more of my stitching to fix it. UGH!

In an attempt to look on the positive side, because of the way this piece is designed, I am hopeful that I caught this mistake "early" enough that I can just do a lot of adjusting along the way as I continue the piece to make it work. I'm not ready to give up on it yet, especially since I know that I am likely the only one who will know the mistake exists when all is said and done. This is where I was able to get to last night:

Can you figure out where the mistake happened? I'm already starting on making adjustments. Hopefully this will all work out at the end. Wish me luck!

Until next time!
~Katy

The Little Mermaid

This almost feels like a new start since I was missing thread when The Little Mermaid came up last time, but I now have all the thread I need and I made more progress last night!

I really do love this piece, the different shades of blue are just beautiful. Here is where I stopped last night:

If you look closely, you can see the top of Flounder peeking at the bottom. The rest of him is on another page of this pattern. I'm debating whether or not I'm going to go ahead and finish Flounder or wait. I will leave that as a question until it comes up in the rotation again.

Until next time!
~Katy

Sweet Pea Fairy

Yesterday one of my favorite pieces came up in the rotation - Sweet Pea Fairy by Joan Elliott!

I mentioned the last time I worked on this piece that I'm doing the skin one over one, and that was what I focused more on yesterday:

I love the way it is looking so far! This picture, though, does not remotely do the beautiful fabric justice. I'm doing this piece on 28 count Jobelan in Fairy Dance from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. The fabric is just beautiful and perfect for this piece! I think the next time this comes up in the rotation, I should be able to finish the skin in this portion of the piece (there's a lot of skin in the piece in total). I can hardly wait!

Until next time!
~Katy