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

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

European Bistro

Brrrr I am ready for winter to end and spring to begin! Kids went back to school today despite cold temperatures and snow falling (they were not happy, I was!), and I've decided that I am ready for my hot Texas summers now. I think snowy landscape can be beautiful, but I am not meant to live in the cold. I'm a Southern girl, born and raised, where is my warmth!?

I spent some time trying to mentally escape the ickiness yesterday by working on European Bistro.

This is where I stopped yesterday:

I was excited because it really felt like I was moving onto something new in this piece when I started the doorway arch. I've been working on this section of the window for awhile now, so it's nice to get to something "new"!

Also, I wanted to give a shout out to Mo's Sale. Poor Mo is going through some tough times with her husband's health and medical bills are beginning to pile up. She is throwing a 30% off sale on everything on her website - cotton floss, silks, and fabrics! Just use Promo Code FEB30 (in all caps) at the checkout between now and Monday to take advantage of her lovely offerings!

Until next time!
~Katy

European Bistro

I stayed in the European theme for my stitching last night and worked on European Bistro for a little while. I'm very happy with the progress!

This picture shows the colors of the threads well, but not the pretty blue of the fabric that it's being stitched on. I finished up the hanging plant and the red/coral overhang, plus started working on building up the wall on the right side of the window. This is another one of those pieces that brings back lots of memories and that I really enjoy working on.

Until next time!
~Katy

Not a Lot of Hermiting or Stitching

This past weekend was International Hermit and Stitch weekend...and I was far too busy to do much of either! I did however get some stitches in on two more March Madness pieces!

First, I worked on Stitching ABC's on Saturday and went from this:

to this:

As of 3/16/13

And then on Sunday, it was back to European Bistro, which went from this:

to this:

As of 3/17/13

A little progress is better than no progress! I'm going to make a dedicated effort this week to try to get at least a few stitches in each night...we'll see how it goes!

Until next time!
~Katy

WIPocalypse - February Edition

 
It's already time for another WIPocalypse report! Where has February gone?? The theme for this month is:

February 25 – Themes: Designer – Little House Needleworks, Style – Love/Family, Colors – White and Red

Well, designer wise, I don't have any Little House Needleworks patterns in the works. In fact, I didn't have any Little House Needleworks patterns in my collection, but I've rectified that! I have now added the following two LHN patterns to my collection:

Home of a Needleworker Too!

The Bookshelf

LHN isn't my typical style for stitching, but I really like both of these patterns and I now have them in my collection - that's the point of WIPocalypse, right? Not to finish pieces, but to add to stash? Right?? RIGHT?!?!

Ahem, the other themes were Style – Love/Family and Colors – White and Red. My two WIPocalypse pieces for this month were My Witch's Brew and European Bistro.

My Witch's Brew at the start of the year:

 My Witch's Brew this WIPocalypse:

This piece has the word LOVE in it, so I'm counting it for the monthly theme!

And here is European Bistro at the start of the year:

And here is where it is as of this WIPocalypse:

I worked on the white outline of the rest of the window this month as well as some other white pieces...

I count these for sure!

Now, onto this week's stitching. I was able to get some stitches in both yesterday and today on Mediterranean Flavors:

As of 2/24/13

As of 2/25/13

Today's picture doesn't show the garlic portion as clearly as the one from yesterday, but the green oil jar in the middle is done except for backstitching, which won't happen for awhile yet. This piece is going relatively quickly - let's see how much progress I can make this week!

Until next time!
~Katy

End of Rotation Week and Start of Another

So much for getting a lot done this week on European Bistro...at least I made some progress.

This is where we started at the beginning of the week:

Start of Rotation Week

And this is where it ended up after a very bad stitching week with more days of not stitching than actual stitching:

End of Rotation Week

I think I only stitched three days this week. I hope this week is better. Progress is progress, though, and that's what counts in the end!

This week is another CJC rotation week.This week, I'm working on Mediterranean Flavors by Dimensions. This is one of the smaller pieces in my CJC rotation, so maybe if I can actually stitch this week, I can make some good progress on it! Here is where we're starting from:

Mediterranean Flavors - Start of Rotation Week

Here's hoping for a lot of good progress this week!

Until next time!
~Katy

It's only Wednesday?!

Oy...this has been a long week and it's still not over yet...

I got some stitching done Monday, but was too tired to post...then I was still too tired last night to do any stitching at all...but I did pick up the needle again tonight, so I have a couple of pictures to show you!

Here is my progress from Monday, with the primary focus being on the plants in the window and hanging above it:

As of 2/18/13

And here is tonight's progress! This window is now done! I love how fast the tent stitching goes - it makes it much easier to fill larger sections quickly!

As of 2/20/13

The tent stitching also gives some great perspective and depth to the piece - it really looks to me like I'm looking in through the glass pane of the window to see what's going on inside!

I also got some lovely stitchy goodies in the mail this week, including some fabbies from two of my FOTM clubs and some beautiful new patterns. I'll have to take a picture to share soon!

P.S. Fifteen years ago today I met and fell for the man who is now my husband and father of my children...we were babies then, still in high school at a college scholarship competition weekend, I was only 17 and he was 18, but I thank God every day for bringing this man into my life! I love my honey!

Until next time!
~Katy

New Rotation Week - European Bistro

This piece has a special place in my heart because it was the second piece I started when I started stitching again and it represented a major shift in stitching attitude for me. Before, I was very much a one-project-at-a-time stitcher. You wouldn't find me doing more than one project because I wanted to work on one and finish it...yeah, that's SO not my philosophy anymore as the WIP list on the sidebar shows, but this was the second piece I started on that wasn't a charity piece (I didn't count those in my multiple project idea) and officially started me on my rotation process!

Here is where European Bistro was when we last saw it:

European Bistro - Start of Rotation Week

And here it is after my work on it today:

As of 2/17/13

This is going to be a crazy week for me, work wise, Girl Scout wise, family wise, so I'm not sure how much stitching I'll get done...but somehow, I almost always surprise myself at the end of each week when I look back and see just how much I get done! I guess I'm a faster stitcher than I realize!

Until next time!
~Katy

Last TUSAL of 2012

No stitching tonight - being far too tired with a sinus headache and an inability to concentrate did not lend itself to stitching tonight, but I did want to share my TUSAL for the month, especially since it's the last TUSAL of the year!

As always, I'll start off with my TUSAL jar from last month. Here is where we were in November:

TUSAL Jar - November 13, 2012

And here is my last TUSAL for the year:

TUSAL Jar - December 13, 2012

And from the top! Here is November:

TUSAL Jar - November 13, 2012

And December:

TUSAL Jar - December 13, 2012

I bet you know where all those pretty oranges and reds on the top are from! In fact, I added ORT's this month from not only Flames of Desire, but also Tribal Penguin, My Witch's Brew, European Bistro, and Italian Vista. So, now the question becomes, what to do with all of these ORT's...six months worth to be exact...and I knew the perfect answer!

My 2012 TUSAL ORT ornament! Isn't it pretty?? I got all those ORTs compacted into one ornament and I think it's just beautiful! I love seeing the colors of the threads, especially those from earlier projects that I haven't worked on because they were completed a long time ago. It's already hanging on my tree and this will definitely be a new tradition every year!

Thank you for all of your kind comments on my Advent Calendar Blog Post - I love those stockings and I'm glad you do too!

Until next time!
~Katy

End of Rotation Week, Start of a New Month

I can't believe it's already December! Where did 2012 go?!?

Today marked the end of European Bistro's rotation week. Lots of factors this week made it difficult to do as much stitching as I may have liked, but I definitely made some progress!

Here is where we were at the beginning of the week:

European Bistro - Start of Rotation Week - 11/25/12

And here we are as of tonight:

European Bistro - End of Rotation Week - 12/1/12

Back into the WIP pile it goes! Next up? Italian Vista! I'm hoping to get a lot of progress done on that piece this week while I'm on vacation, but we'll see!

Since it's the first of the month, I also want to take a chance to review my goals from last month and make new goals for this month!

November Goals
- Successfully participate and complete NaBloPoMo and make a blog post every day in the month of November - Completed! Even if not ever day's post was filled with progress, one was made every day!
- Finish and mail off May Lily of the Valley Teacup for WOCS - Completed!
- Finish and mail off the rotating pattern of Traveling Penguin - Partial Completion - I finished the pattern and I have the next person I'm sending it to picked, I just haven't gotten to the post office yet to mail it. That will happen this week for sure!
- Purchase all of the remaining thread and fabric for my Crazy January Challenge to finish kitting up my projects - Partial Completion - All threads have been purchased, all fabric has been ordered, but I'm still waiting on delivery of the last fabrics and I need to finish bobbinating my threads!


Not a bad month! Every goal was at least partially if not fully completed - sounds good to me! Now, for December...


December Goals
- Finish kitting up my projects for my Crazy January Challenge so I can start on January 1st as planned!
- Continue working on my patterns in rotation order - once I add CJC rotation weeks into the mix, this will be even more important, so I want to make sure I don't get out of the habit now
- Enjoy the holiday season! Not stitchy related, per se, but this is my favorite time of year, and I want to enjoy it!


Do you have any goals for this month?


Alright, off to bed for me!


Until next time!
~Katy

European Bistro, Crazy January Challenge and HAED Sale!

Thank you for the well wishes - I'm feeling better today! Not 100%, as the crazy Texas weather goes from 35 to 85 degrees in the course of the same day and that's just an invitation to sickness, but I am feeling better. Maybe the fact that tomorrow is the last day at my current job before a week off and starting my new job helps too!

I was able to get back to European Bistro tonight. The bottom half of the windows are outlined and here come the half stitches!

As of 11/29/12

If I'm lucky, maybe I can get both of these window portions filled before the rotation week ends. We'll see!

The fact that tomorrow is November 30th means I have one month left to finish up my preparations for the Crazy January Challenge! Look at the lovely goodies I've received!

Stash!

Yay for more fabric! I still have one outstanding order for the last of the fabrics I need from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie but I should have that by the end of December. I need to finish bobbinating my thread, make working copies of the patterns I'm doing from magazines, and make sure my kits are organized and ready to go, but I'm sure I'll be ready by the time January 1st rolls around!

Also, enabling alert...if you missed the Cyber Monday 45% off sale at Heaven and Earth Designs, you're in luck! Michele is running a Winter Stash Enhancement Sale from now through midnight 12/3 for 45% off and she's said this is her last "big" sale of the year. I purchased a few charts from the Cyber Monday sale, and may add another one or two in this sale too -it's hard to resist! Here are the patterns I picked up (and just keep forgetting to post) on Cyber Monday:

Mab by Selina Fenech

Cherubina by Selina Fenech

Moonstones by Linda Ravenscroft

I think anyone who has followed my blog and has seen my past purchases shouldn't be too surprised by these. Fenech and Ravenscroft are, by far, my favorite artists on HAED and I just love their work! We'll see if any other pieces join these in my growing stash collection!

Until next time!
~Katy

Here Comes A Window

Or at least the start of the outline of the window!

As of 11/27/12

I think I'm going to finish the outline of the bottom half of this window and work on filling in the panes for the rest of the week. We'll see how far I get, as I think the panes are primarily filled with half stitches, which definitely go a lot faster!

Until next time!
~Katy

Just A Little Stitchin'

My title of my blog is an appropriate title for this post tonight because I only did "just a little stitchin'" tonight. I started putting ornaments on the tree - three boxes down, three to go (I think, maybe more), and time got away from me tonight, as I expected it would. Here is my progress for tonight, though!

As of 11/26/12

A little progress is better than no progress, I say! We'll see what happens the rest of the week!

Until next time!
~Katy

A New Rotation Week

So I was able to get a little bit of stitching done yesterday after all. So after my first week of working on My Witch's Brew, this is where I ended up:

My Witch's Brew - End of Rotation Week 11/24/12

Down in the rotation it goes for now as I am finally back to my "normal" rotation schedule with no WOCS projects or traveling patterns in the mix! Next up, European Bistro! It's been quite awhile since I worked on this piece - over two months in fact, as I last worked on this piece on September 22nd! Wow that's a long time! Here's where the piece was when we last saw it:

European Bistro - Start of Rotation Week

And after only a little bit of working on it tonight after the kids were finally put to bed after a long day, here's where it stands:

As of 11/25/12

We'll see how much I get done this week. All of the Christmas decorations have been brought out from storage, and considering I didn't get to decorate hardly at all last year while we were in an apartment between houses, I'm eagerly looking forward to covering my house in Christmas cheer, which will mostly happen in the evenings. I know I'll get some stitching time in, though. I'll need it, as this is my last week at my current job and I have a feeling that it's going to be a stressful one!

Until next time!
~Katy

October TUSAL and More May Flowers

Can't believe it's already time for another TUSAL update! How the month has flown! But first, I made some more progress on May Lily of the Valley Teacup tonight.

As of 10/15/12

I didn't make as much progress tonight as I wanted, but it's been a very long day. I was happy to get a few stitches in, though!

Now for my TUSAL report! Here is my TUSAL jar as of last month:

TUSAL Jar - September 16, 2012

And here it is today!

TUSAL Jar - October 15, 2012

Definitely some more progress this month, though I think there was more added than what appears to have been added. This got knocked over by one of my kids, and that unsettled a lot of the threads and pushed them down a bit, but still, definite progress! Here are the views from the top:

TUSAL Jar - September 16, 2012

And tonight:

TUSAL Jar - October 15, 2012

What filled my TUSAL jar this month? Lots of things! Besides this week's rotation, Flames of Desire, European Bistro, Italian Vista, Christmas Countdown and even my daughter's Daisy Vest all contributed some threads this month! Can't wait to see what next month's jar looks like!

Until next time!
~Katy

P.S. - Go sign up for the Halloween Blog Hop hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching! It should be a lot of fun!