Fall Fairy

Yesterday I was very tired and had a long day (it was definitely a Monday!) so I didn't get a ton of stitching done yesterday but I did work some on Fall Fairy from Dimensions Gold Collection.

I primarily worked more on her hair in this part of the pattern yesterday. Here is where I finished up:

I'm moving along slowly but surely! Also, the Sneak Peek for the next installment of the Story Time Sampler came out:

Based on the clue that the Pumpkins gave about this being from a poem AND the fact that they let us know this one was going to be one of the choices when the SAL first started, my guess is that this is the Lady of Shalott! We shall see this evening when it comes out!

Until next time!
~Katy

Faces of Joan Elliott - One More Time

I have finished working on Faces of Joan Elliott for now. I'm sorry I haven't been blogging as consistently this week as normal. I've noticed that when I work on the same piece, it's harder for me to get the motivation to come and blog to show it off than it is when I have new pieces to show daily. I never really realized that before!

Anyway, here is the upper left corner of Faces of Joan Elliott:

And here is the entire piece as of now:

I'm stitching this on 28 Jobelan in Aphrodite from Under the Sea Fabrics, and while I really have enjoyed working on this, but I'm ready to move on to another piece in my rotation!

Until next time!
~Katy

Faces of Joan Elliott Continued

I'm going outside of my normal routine of changing patterns on a daily basis and will be working on the Faces of Joan Elliott SAL for the rest of this weekend as a part of the Get Well Joan Elliott SAL that Stitch Maynia is hosting on Facebook. So! Without further ado, here is where I stopped yesterday on the upper left hand corner of the piece:

She's coming along nicely!

Also, I wanted to announce that thanks to some good friends of mine, I have ventured into the world of FlossTube, which for those of you not already aware is basically the cross stitch community on YouTube. I uploaded my first video yesterday, I plan on making videos on a regular basis and still posting here too, but if you want to take a look, just go here!

Until next time!
~Katy

Faces of Joan Elliott

I spent the last couple of days working on the Faces of Joan Elliott Sampler and will continue to work on it the rest of this week as part of the Get Well Joan Elliott SAL with Stitch Maynia. First, I finished the frames and borders completely:

And then I made some progress on the upper left corner too:

I'm stitching this on 28 Jobelan in Aphrodite from Under The Sea Fabrics. I can't wait to see how far I can get on this before the end of the weekend!

Until next time!
~Katy

I stitched yesterday...

But most of the day was spent resting and fighting a headache and a flare up of my PMDD symptoms and just an overall bad health day. So the whole ten to fifteen stitches I put in are just not enough for a picture.

I have decided, though, partially because of the impromptu Joan Elliott SAL that Stitch Maynia is hosting this weekend, that I'm going to focus on Faces of Joan Elliott the rest of the week and sending more good wishes to Joan for a speedy recovery. I'll show pictures when I have more completed!

Until next time!
~Katy

European Bistro

I spent a little time on European Bistro yesterday.

The joy of working on a section full of half stitches is that even just a little bit of time can yield quite a bit of progress:

Slowly but surely, it's coming together!

Until next time!
~Katy

Elf's Garden and A Prayer Request

I know I've mentioned it before, and I'm sure I will mention it again, but Soda Stitch patterns just make me smile! I don't know if it's the colors used or the subject matter or what, but they are an absolute joy to stitch. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of working on Elf's Garden.

I was able to make some significant progress on the Summer Elf yesterday - once I get into a groove with these patterns, no matter how many color changes, it just seems to flow easily!

It will look even better when I get all of the backstitching in too! I'm using 32 Belfast in Wildflowers from Under The Sea Fabrics for this one. I just love it.

Oh, and I've had several people ask at one time or another where they can find Soda Stitch patterns. I buy all of mine on eBay, personally. Just follow this link if you are interested, but I warn you! There are so many adorable patterns on the site! I know I have more I want to get (yes, yes, I know I have too many patterns in my stash already. So sue me!).

Also, one more note. I saw on Facebook yesterday that Joan Elliott, one of my favorite designers, was in a rather serious car accident. She was hit head on by a trailer that got unhitched and came into her lane and she is in the hospital for a punctured lung and broken bones. Word has it she has posted that she is being well taken care of, hopes to be back home on Wednesday and is very grateful to be alive, but if you can spare a good thought or prayer for a smooth and as painless a recovery as possible, I'm sure she would appreciate it!

Until next time!
~Katy

Edwardian Lady

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there and the mothers who have to be a father in their children's lives! I hope everyone has a great day!

Yesterday I spent some time working on Edwardian Lady by Joan Elliott.

I decided to work on her beautiful rose basket yesterday since some of my stitches from the last time I worked on this piece led that direction. This is where I stopped yesterday:

I just love the colors in this piece! But then again, it is a Joan Elliott, I shouldn't be surprised I love it so much! I'm stitching this on 32 Jobelan in Calypso from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie and it just suits the piece beautifully!

Until next time!
~Katy

Dreaming of Tuscany

I took a walk in an Italian villa last night when Dreaming of Tuscany from Dimensions Gold Collection Petites landed in my hoop.

And here is where I was able to get to yesterday before putting it up for this rotation:

I really love watching this one develop and it (along with all my other Italian themed pieces) brings back many fond memories of times in Italy, both in college and after!

Until next time!
~Katy

Doctor Who Clock

Just a quick post today, as I have plans to go to the movies with the kids to watch Inside Out! And I'm attempting to do this post on my phone - we will see how it works!

Yesterday I worked on the Doctor Who Clock from Cloudsfactory!

I was able to get more of the Gallifreyan text stitched yesterday. That should be done next time and then I can start on the daleks and words.

I'm stitching this on a 32 Opal Lugana jewel from Under The Sea Fabrics using all silks from Mo's Sale. I love how it looks so far!

Until next time!

~Katy

Cinderella

Cinderelly, Cinderelly, night and day it's Cinderelly!

Sorry, that song always pops into my head when I think of Cinderella, which is the piece that was in my hoop yesterday.

Anyone who follows my blog knows by now that Joan Elliott is one of my favorite designers. Her pieces are utterly gorgeous, but I happen to also find them relatively easy to stitch, easier than many of my other patterns that some might think are easy. And that was very helpful yesterday because I wasn't able to start stitching until late in the day when the migraine I woke up with finally gave way enough to let me focus, and then I got on a roll. Here is where I got to before I finally stopped yesterday:

I'm pleased with what I was able to get done. I'm doing this on 28 Jobelan in Lady of the Lake from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. The evidence of frogging in the lower right corner of the picture was from a piece I was originally going to do on this fabric but scrapped. The fabric was too beautiful to waste, though, so I saved it after a LOT of frogging, but all of that frogging evidence will be covered up by Cinderella's beautiful skirt.

Until next time!
~Katy

Christmas Elegance

Yesterday I got to work on Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia.

I really love the Mirabilia pieces and though I didn't get a lot of time to work on this yesterday, I was able to make some more progress on her gloves.

I really do love this fabric - it's 32 Belfast in Silent Night from Under The Sea Fabrics. It's really a beautiful purple/navy combo and it's just a lot of fun to work with!

Until next time!
~Katy

Christmas Countdown and TUSAL

I had a hard time finding my stitchy bug yesterday. I've noticed that tends to happen after I finish a piece, I need almost a day to recover, so to speak, before picking up the needle again. Not sure why that is...

I did settle down last evening, though, and went ahead and picked up Christmas Countdown to work on.

I was able to work on this piece without having much stitching mojo going on because I'm still working on the border, which is a pretty easy, mindless stitch, and I'm really happy I did because not only was I getting my mojo back by the time it was time to go to bed, I made some good progress, too!

I was able to make it to the top left corner and round it, plus add some more red along the top. Yay!

It's also time to show off my ORT's for this month's TUSAL report!

My ORT bowl is definitely full of all sorts of pretty threads! I love the colors of all of my projects mixed into one!

Until next time!
~Katy

The Silver Needle and A Finish!

Hi everyone! Did you miss me? Let me warn you in advance, this is going to be a long and picture filled post! Ha!

This past weekend, I went with my husband to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a mini weekend vacation. He was riding in the Tulsa Tough bike races (two 100+ mile races in two days for him! Have I mentioned my husband is crazy? HAHA!), but I was most excited to get a chance to go to The Silver Needle in Tulsa!

Let me just say I know what Heaven to a cross stitcher looks like now! Ha! I'll let the pictures tell the story first.

4000 square feet of stitching goodness! It was overwhelming, honestly. From all of the patterns and fabrics and flosses and silks and the MODELS! Oh my goodness, there were models EVERYWHERE. If a space wasn't filled with something to buy, it was filled with a model. I could have spent so many hours there and never have seen it all. The staff was incredibly sweet and friendly, too. Some of my fellow Stitch Mayniacs and I are already plotting out a road trip in the future to go back! And I could have spent a lot more money than I did, but I did walk away with some stash. How could I not??

Aren't they lovely? They are...

1. Queen of the Needle by Just Nan - not at all my normal style but it was screaming for me and I love it! You all know sometimes you just have to listen to the piece calling for you the loudest!

2. Fairy Tales by Mirabilia

3. Queen of Freedom by Mirabilia

4. Miss New Year's Fairy Kit by Mirabilia - I already have Miss Valentine in my rotation and The Easter Fairy in my stash. Three down, three to go!

5. Peacock Alphabet by Just Nan

6. ABC's of Parenting Kit by Lizzie Kate - I'm seriously considering doing this one for the A to Z challenge next year.

Shopping and adding to my stash weren't the only thing I did this weekend! While hubby was racing, I was stitching! Friday started the week long Orange is the New Black SAL with the Stitch Maynia group. The "rules" were that you had to stitch on something that had orange and/or black in it, whether it was fabric, floss, whatever! I haven't gotten to watch the new season yet because hubby likes the show too, but I did stitch! I decided to work on Floss Daily by Wee Little Stitches and since I was on vacation, I only worked on this piece this past weekend instead of my normal rotation and I was able to finish it!

Floss Daily by Wee Little Stitches

Started: 5/19/15

Finished: 6/14/15

Stitched on 28 ct. Jobelan in Frosted Pumpkin from Hand Dyed Fabrics By Stephanie using flosses from Mo's Sale

This ended up having over 40 different flosses from Mo's Sale in it! The full list includes:

First Row (l-r): Merida, Omaha, Amy Pond, Rarity, Ariel, Gold, Searching for Elsa and Reef

Second Row: Dorothy

Third Row (l-r): Tahiti, Cotton Candy, Van Goth, Snow White, Rose Tyler, Pumpkin Patch, Hope and Tiana

Fourth Row: Daffodils and Peonies

Fifth Row: Magnolia

Sixth Row: Petunia and Mint Julep

Seventh Row (l-r): Sword, Hibiscus, Fire Pit, Berry, Jelly, Mardi Gras, Emily and Disco

Eighth Row: Pride

Ninth Row (l-r): Western Bluebird, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Iron Man, Hulk, Pinkie Pie, Bell Cay and Kristoff

I had a lot of fun with this piece! It was a fast stitch and I plan on finding a basic white frame to frame it up so it can have a place in my mom cave when it's done!

Whew, I think that's all for now! Time to start getting back into the swing of things!

Until next time!
~Katy

Butterfly Rose Cross

Yesterday I worked on the Butterfly Rose Cross from HAED:

Lots and lots and lots and lots and LOTS AND LOTS of blue.....

I love this piece, I think it's going to look stunning when it's done, but the big blocks of blue are something I can only handle for so long before it has to be put back down. I do kind of regret not getting the background removed and just doing this on a dyed fabric, but I started this before I knew about the beauty of hand dyed fabrics! Oh well!

And just a little FYI, don't expect another post from me until Monday afternoon, most likely. I've got some plans this weekend that will likely prevent me from blogging, but don't worry, I'll be back with lots of pretties to show!

Until next time!
~Katy

Butterfly Fairy

Yesterday I got to spend some time working on Butterfly Fairy by Joan Elliott.

I say this every time one of Joan Elliott's pieces come up, especially the fairies, but I just love working on her pieces! Last time I worked on her, I finished the one over one skin on her arm so yesterday I was able to start working on the wings.

I'd say she's starting to really look like a fairy now! Yay! I'm doing this on 28 count Jobelan in Lady of the Lake from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie, and it's nice now that I have the outline of the wings started to see where the fabric color is really going to shine through!

Until next time!
~Katy

Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love

Yesterday was my daughter's 9th birthday! I can't believe she's halfway to eighteen. Is there a way we can make them stop growing? Ugh!

But between birthday festivities and a somewhat hard day with my PMDD, I didn't get a lot of stitching done. What little stitching I did do was done on Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love by Thomas Kinkade from the Disney Dreams Collection.

I put some more stitches into the beautiful sky yesterday.

I keep looking at the castle each time I pick this piece up and debate on if I should finish it out on the other page it's on in the pattern. I may do that next time to get a break from the green country side and the sky. We'll see.

Until next time!
~Katy

Anne of Green Gables

I was very excited to get back to Anne of Green Gables by Soda Stitch yesterday.

Anne of Green Gables has become a bit of a running joke in the Stitch Maynia community, with one of the founders and my good friend having an extreme aversion to all things Anne due to some sort of trauma he felt after experiencing it for the first time (which most of us don't understand and love to joke and tease him about). I adore this piece, though, since Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books and Soda Stitch patterns are so fun to work on! Here is where I stopped yesterday:

I was very pleased with the progress! You can definitely tell that's Anne on the right now! I'm stitching this on 28 Jobelan in Vanilla Mint from Under The Sea Fabrics and I just love it!

Until next time!
~Katy