Realizations...

So you may have noticed I haven't been blogging this week. I've been stitching, just not blogging. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about this blog and I think for now I'm going to be taking a break from blogging in general. I've really gotten into doing my FlossTube updates every week, and it feels like I'm duplicating my efforts to do things both here and there.

I'm keeping this blog up and I may totally change my mind in a few days or weeks, but for now, this blog is going on a hiatus.

That doesn't mean, though, that you can't follow my updates! If you're interested in still following me and haven't done so already, I do videos about all of my WIP's and a whole lot more on my FlossTube channel. Come follow me!

http://www.youtube.com/TheStashQueen

Thanks again for everything and as always....

Until next time,
Katy

Vacation!

Hey everyone,

Just a quick post. I'm getting ready to go on vacation and even though I'm stitching, blogging will have to wait until I come back! I will have a WIPocalypse post on time since I have that scheduled, but other posts will have to wait until I come back! I'll see you all soon!

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

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

St. Peter's

This month marks ten years since my husband and I went to Italy before we started our family. I've already talked a lot about my love of Italy, and the piece I worked on last night is near and dear to my heart as a result.

St. Peter's Cathedral in Vatican City is one of my absolute favorite churches in the world. We are Roman Catholic, so there is the religious significance of course, but besides that, it's just a fantastic work of art. Between the architectural details and all of the paintings and sculptures and historically significant pieces in the actual Cathedral itself, it is one of the places that I think everyone should see at least once in their life. Between our semester in Rome and our trip a decade ago, I've spent many, many hours in it and have not yet seen it all.

One of the best parts of the Cathedral is the ability to climb to the top of the dome and look out over Rome. Now, the walk up is scary. Slanting walls, shaking ropes, knee high barriers, it is not for the faint of heart (or those scared of heights, as I am! But I've climbed it twice!) but it is beautiful! You won't get another view of Rome like the one you see up there!

Now, before I show you my progress from last night, I have to share a few pictures from our trip.

This is me at the 'first stop' on the walk up to the top of the dome. This is actually on top of the Cathedral itself, and there is a store up on the top run by a group of nuns. Many people stop at this point and don't keep going!

But here is the view from the top of the dome. It's just stunning, even on a cloudy day!

Then I have to share this picture because it's the closest picture I have to what this pattern will look like when it's done - I took this at the end of the Bridge of Angels, which is actually shown in the piece, but hey, I think this looks awfully familiar!

Here is my progress from last night, the real reason for this post!

There are lots of  "squashed" crosses and even some crosses that are "off" of their main line to give a different perspective in this piece. It's colors are far more muted than most of my other pieces, but it made it a very relaxing stitch. I'm looking forward to this piece growing!

Until next time!
~Katy

Grow Your Blog 2015

I am so excited to be participating in the Grow Your Blog 2015 event hosted by 2 Bags Full! If this is your first time to visit my blog, welcome! If you've been here before, welcome back!

For those of you who don't know me (or who might have forgotten!), my name is Katy and I'm an avid cross stitcher! I am 34 years old, married to my college sweetheart P for 12 years, and we have two kids, daughter T who is 8 and son D who is 4. I'm a Texan, born and raised, though I really don't have an accent. I've been cross stitching since I was a kid - one of my aunts taught me how after I fell in love with the cross stitched stockings she made for her family and I've been stitching off and on over the years ever since!

I love blogging about my stitching and sharing my progress. It's wonderful to have a community out there who appreciates what an art this actually is and who share the passion for it that I have. I love visiting other blogs and seeing everyone's progress, too. I've been so inspired by so many different posters over the years!

You could say my stitching style is eclectic. I am not a huge fan of primitive/old fashion patterns and prefer bright colors and beads and shapes and details, but almost anything that catches my eye is fair game! I have well over twenty WIP's that I'm working on in a rotation right now, and I find that it is wonderful to have so many projects going on because I don't get bored just working on one piece. Some pieces I admittedly like more than others, but I'm determined to finish every one of them!

My greatest accomplishment in stitching has to be the stockings I made for all four of us. Mine and my husband's stockings were finished in time for our second Christmas together, and each of the kids had their stockings ready in time for their first Christmases:

I can't wait to visit more blogs and find other people out there passionate about stitching like me! Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope to see you again soon!

Until next time!
~Katy

I'm Back!

Well, after a very long hiatus due to health issues, family obligations and life in general, I am back! Stitching has taken a long hiatus as well, and I am excited to get back into both following my fellow bloggers, sharing my accomplishments, and stitching in general!

I'm going to be working on some updates here over the next several days as well as getting back into visiting the blogs I've missed visiting over the last several months, so stay tuned!

Until next time!
~Katy

Another Update

Life has been absolutely crazy around my household, but there is an end in sight! After a lot of thought and prayer and discussion, my husband and I decided that it is time for me to quit my job and stay at home with our kids. It's a huge decision and will be a huge change for us, but one that I think it sorely needed! I know that my stitching habit, among many other things, have suffered greatly for this job, and I am looking forward to being the wife and mom I've always wanted to be at the start of the new year! One of my resolutions will be to pick up stitching again and try to get at least 30-60 minutes of stitching in a day. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, when I have been able to stitch, I've continued to work on My Witch's Brew because I'm so close to finishing it. Here are the latest progress pics:

Not much left to do! I don't think I will finish this before the end of the year, but it will likely be my first 2014 finish.

I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!

Until next time!
~ Katy

Dusting Off This Thing

Anyone miss me?

I'm back!

After taking a few months break during which time I've been dealing with craziness with school, summer, Girl Scouts, work stress, home life, etc., I've decided that it's time to come back!

Stitching is a stress reliever for me, and goodness knows with the stresses I have to deal with lately, my blood pressure could use some relaxation!

I've updated my fabric stash link and I'm still deciding how I'm going to start my rotation again. I think I'd like to finish something sooner rather than later, so I will likely look through my WIP's and pick up the one closest to being done and finish it. Get back into the stitching routine a bit before determining the rotation schedule again...

I've missed you all! Can't wait to start sharing again!

Until next time,
Katy

Easter Treasure Blog Hop

Happy and Holy Good Friday to you! This year, I'm participating in the Easter Treasure Blog Hop hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching! If you've found my blog from the hop, welcome, I hope you enjoy it here! My letter for the blog hop is.....................

F

And here is my picture! Not Easter themed, but definitely spring themed! I stitched this as a gift to my sister for being my maid of honor in my wedding almost 1 years ago!

 I hope you have a wonderful Easter holiday! To continue on the blog hop, head on over to visit Cheryl at Today I Found...

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

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

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

More Sky

I was very tired after the last long three days of work in my office that I only stitched a little bit of sky tonight:

As of 1/23/13

Sorry for it being a bit darker. I need to invest in a better camera than my phone, or really just take pictures during daylight! I love the sky, though...it looks to me like the castle really is in front of the sky, providing a bit of perspective in the picture, but that's just me!

I also have to share my six year old daughter's portrait she painted of me at school in art class:

Me!

I personally think this looks great! Granted, she gave me green eyes (like what she has) rather than brown (which I have), but I am very proud of her! She has said for the last two years she wants to be an art teacher when she grows up, so you can be sure I'm keeping this in case she really does continue down that path as one of her early masterpieces! Proud mom moment!

Until next time!
~Katy

Crazy January Challenge - Weekend Edition

Tonight is a two for one! I didn't get a chance to post my minimal progress from yesterday's new start, so tonight I'm sharing both Day Twelve and Day Thirteen!

For Day Twelve, I selected St. Peter's by John Clayton International by Heritage Stitchcraft. Adding to the Italian theme of my pieces shouldn't surprise any of my followers who have seen my work on Italian Vista or European Bistro, but this piece has a personal connection. When my husband and I were sophomores in college in the fall of 1999, we spent a semester in Rome with half of our class, and we also went back for a week in 2005 before we got pregnant with our first child. I absolutely adore Rome and would love to retire there, and St. Peter's Cathedral is my favorite place in the city. We are Roman Catholic, so of course St. Peter's has a religious significance for me, but it's just an amazingly gorgeous and inspirational place, regardless of your faith. It is humbling to walk into that Cathedral and see the work that was done by human hands, and I've actually walked to the top of the dome twice (an amazing feat for someone with an extreme fear of heights), and the view of Rome is breathtaking. So when I saw this piece, I knew I had to stitch it:

For a variety of reasons, including Girl Scout cookie season starting and going out to see Les Miserables (LOVED IT!), I didn't get much done yesterday:

But any progress is progress, right? I'll supplement this mini progress with a few other of my favorite pictures of the real St. Peter's. Forgive the scanned pictures from 1999 - no digital cameras when I went to Rome in college!\

View of the Dome from the gardens of Vatican Museum - 1999

The Dome! 1999

View of Rome from the Dome - 1999

The Dome again - 2005

Me in front of the dome - 2005

Both the Sistine Chapel Ceiling and The Last Judgement pieces from HAED are in my "To Do Someday" pile...they may be additions for the 2014 CJC!

For today's project, I had a couple of firsts! My first Joan Elliott piece as well as my first time to work on the beautiful fabric from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. Day Thirteen's project is Sweet Pea Fairy by Joan Elliott:

And here is today's progress:

I'm stitching this two over two on beautiful jobelan in Fairy Dance and my picture hardly does the fabric justice. I absolutely adore the colors already and working on the piece today was a pleasure. I have two more Joan Elliott pieces on Stephanie's fabrics to round out the CJC. If they're anything like this one, it's going to be a true pleasure to wrap up these first fifteen days of January!

Until next time!
~Katy

Advent Calendar Blog Hop - Day 13!

Just a brief break from Flames of Desire to welcome you to Day 13 of the Advent Calendar Blog Hop, hosted by the lovely Jo of Serendipitous Stitching! I have to admit I was very excited to get Day 13 as 13 has always been my lucky number!

This year's theme is Stocking, Sack or Something Else - I think my stitchy picture will clearly give away my answer!

Stockings!

Stockings all the way! Stockings were actually my initial inspiration to get into cross-stitching in the first place nearly 20 years ago! My aunt was big into stitching at the time and she had created a pair of beautiful cross-stitched stockings for her and her husband, and I knew right then and there that when I grew up, I'd make stockings for me and my family, and I did! Mine and my husbands were finished in time for our second Christmas together, and I started the ones for each of my kids as soon as we started trying to get pregnant with each of them because these suckers took me about 18 months a piece to finish!

I grew up with stockings, I never knew about sacks or something else! In our house, Santa brings small gifts for under the tree but is primarily responsible for filling up the stockings with goodies of all sorts! Over the years, Santa has brought our kids everything from pacifiers and teething toys to My Little Pony and Spiderman toys! Santa also fills my stocking, while Mrs. Claus is responsible for filling up my husband's. Can't wait to see what Santa brings this year!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed this addition to the 2012 Advent Calendar Blog Hop!

Until next time!
~Katy

Picture Heavy Post!

A little bit of everything in today's post...first, Italian Vista!

Here's where we were at when we last saw Italian Vista:

Italian Vista - Start of Rotation Week

And here we are today after a bit of work:

As of 12/2/12

I also finally started cleaning out my mom cave. When we moved, I insisted I would get a room all to myself for my things that I can escape to, work on crafts, or at the very least, keep everything organized! Since we moved in back in June, this has been a catch all room for junk, but I started clearing some of it out. I have one corner organized for now...I won't dare show you the rest of the room, but here's what I have at this point!

This is the corner as a whole at this point:

A better shot of the bookshelf. The bottom row of books are filled with beautiful hard leather bound and gold edged classics that I inherited from my grandfather, plus a few other classics. The middle row are my  two favorite series of books that I wanted to keep in hard copy  even after downloading electronic versions. The top row is stash! From the blue binder to the right are all of my materials (at this point) for my Crazy January Challenge. The binders and magazines on the left are other patterns.

Top of the bookshelf with a lamp, one of my penguins, thread stash not being used in any other project right now, and some printed out and divided HAED patterns that need to be filed away:

My stash pot, haha! This pot holds fabrics, patterns, kits, etc., that I'm not currently working on that I can sort through when I'm looking for something.

A better shot of the pot. This is actually a flower pot that my daughter's kindergarten class mod podged last year as part of a school fundraiser entry in a silent auction. I had to have it!

One last thing! Tonight I went to my mom's for dinner, and she has her house nearly completely decorated for Christmas, which I love. Back when my husband and I got married in 2002, we were fresh out of college with basic entry level jobs and no real money for Christmas gifts, so I found an inexpensive plastic canvas kit and made this for my mother for Christmas that year:

Ho, ho, ho!

She has it displayed with her big Santa collection every year and told me again tonight how much she loves this piece. It's usually under glass and propped up on display. Add this to the list of old finishes with no other information, but I love it!

Until next time!
~Katy