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

My Witch's Brew - Completed!

Yay! I finished My Witch's Brew!

My Witch's Brew by Nancy Turner of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

Started: 11/18/12

Finished: 3/9/14

Stitched on 16-count Aida in Crystal EEK! by Picture This Plus

Granted, I finished it during a bout of insomnia, but hey, a finish is a finish! I'm not sure how I will completely finish the project - most likely a to display this during Halloween. I'll probably wait until closer to that season to see if I can find something that strikes my fancy and when I have it all finished up in that way, I'll share it with you!

This finish also means that after I take my daughter out for our mommy/daughter day on Sunday, I can go through my WIP's and pull another one out to work on. I'm extremely tempted to do a new start, seeing as I finished this one, but I currently have 21 projects going right now and I want to have no more than 20 WIP's at a time (at least for now!). That means two more finishes before I can start a new project. I have several other small projects that I will likely pick from to try to knock some of those out quickly since most of my big WIP's have a long way to go. We'll see what strikes my fancy when I go through the WIP box.

Until next time!
~Katy

Pretty Pumpkins

So going into the weekend, I have finished the bottom portion of the border for My Witch's Brew, which included the last two pumpkins in the piece. Aren't they cute?

Now I'm working my way up the left side and I plan on just going up, over and then down and hopefully everything will match up just as it's supposed to! It's pretty simple stitching, and I'm hoping it will go quickly. Fingers crossed! I would love to end this weekend with a finish!

Until next time!
~Katy

The Three Little Pigs!

March's pattern for the Once Upon A Time Sampler came out and this month I'm stitching the Three Little Pigs:

I've been running around a lot today so I'm hoping I might get a chance to start this tonight. If not, tomorrow I plan on staying home almost all day, and I'll definitely get a good start on it then!

For now, My Witch's Brew is being put away. I didn't make a ton of progress on it since I only had a couple of days before this came out and yesterday was filled with family activities, but some progress is better than no progress, right?

Here is where it was when I picked it up a couple of days ago:

And here it is as of today:

Once I finish the March square, I'll pick it up again and maybe I'll be able to finish it this month. Fingers crossed!

Until next time!
~Katy

My Witch's Brew

So I needed to pick something to work on for the next couple of days until the March installment of Once Upon A Time comes out. I was a good girl and looked through my WIP's rather than starting a new piece (and I have a TON I want to start). I have several smaller pieces in my WIP list from when I did the Crazy January Challenge last year, but I decided to pick up My Witch's Brew by Nancy Turner of The Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe to try to finish it. All I have left to do on it is the border and it'll be done!

I'm stitching this on 16 ct. Aida (which I'm realizing I'm not a huge fan of working with anymore) in Crystal EEK! from Picture This Plus. Here is where the piece was the last time I worked on it:

Last worked on 12/8/13

And here is where it was after a little bit of work on the bottom part of the border last night:

I'm going to work on this today and tomorrow when I can and will post an update on Saturday after the March square has come out. I have the funeral for my grandmother tomorrow (part of my really bad week last week), and there is going to be a lot going on, but I'm going to keep this piece out so that when I finish the March square of OUAT, I can pick this up and try to get it done.

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

Look...a stitching update!

Oh my goodness, I've picked up a needle again and oh my goodness, how I've missed it!

It's not much, but it's something. And something starts the ball rolling to grow into something more and more and more...

I picked up My Witch's Brew a few times over the last few days. I figured it was a good time of year to be working on something with a Halloween theme!

Here was what it looked like when I last worked on it back in March (!!)

And here are a couple of days worth of updates!

Really it's only the border left that I have to do at this point and then this piece will be done! Maybe getting a piece done will help ensure my renewed time with a needle will stick around!

As an aside, I have updated all of my fabric stash pages (there are a LOT of fabrics! so pretty!), so feel free to take a look to see some great selections by great companies if you are ever looking for beautiful fabrics to work on!

Until next time (and hopefully a lot sooner next time!)
~ Katy

End of Rotation Week

Well, I didn't quite meet my goal of finishing the entire bottom of the piece thanks to bad allergies wiping me out today after a rough week at work making me too tired to stitch for a few nights...but I am very pleased with my progress this week!

I went from this at the start of the rotation week:

My Witch's Brew - Start of Rotation Week

To this as of today:

My Witch's Brew - End of Rotation Week - 2/9/13

I think one more good dedicated week and I just might be able to finish this piece up...we'll see what happens when it comes around again!

Tomorrow starts a new rotation week and I will be working on my wedding sampler from the CJC. Can't wait!

Until next time!
~Katy

A Good Day

Today was a good stitchy day for me after having no energy yesterday for stitching!

First, more progress with My Witch's Brew. For those of you that have asked, the fabric is Crystal EEK! from Picture This Plus:

Onto the Tree!

Second, I had this lovely fabric goodness waiting for me when I got home yesterday, courtesy of  Under the Sea Fabrics and her recent jewel sale:

Yay!

And third, I won the drawing over at Crafty Rahenna's! Yay!

Definitely a good stitchy day!

Until next time!
~Katy

Quick Post

Just a quick post tonight...it's late and I'm sleepy, but I made more progress!

As of 2/6/13

I have a ways to go yet, but I'm already thinking of ways to frame this, as I want to be able to put this in my kitchen during the Halloween season. I may wait until closer to actual Halloween to see if I can find anything then, but I think I've already decided that this will have a black frame, at least...I have a picture of what I want it to look like when it's done in my head, but I'll wait to see if I can make it come to life!

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

Trick or Treat!

Well, not really, still WAY too early in the year for that. But I was in a Halloween mood today as I worked on My Witch's Brew:

As of 2/3/13

It's very hard to show both the colors of the threads and the black streaks in the fabric easily, but overall I'm very pleased with my progress tonight. I need to finish the two pumpkins at the top before I move down below the last line and work on the bottom half of the piece. The border that goes around the whole piece will wait until the end so I can make sure I start it and get it matching up as it should!

Until next time!
~Katy

End of Rotation Week and Start of Another

So yesterday ended my rotation week on Butterfly Rose Cross, and I'm very pleased! As a reminder, this is where the piece was at the beginning of the week:

Butterfly Rose Cross - Start of Rotation Week - 1/27/13

And here is where it stands now:

Butterfly Rose Cross - End of Rotation Week - 2/2/13

I went from one column with the second started to three columns with the fourth started - that's good progress if you ask me!

Today starts a new rotation week! I'll be working My Witch's Brew from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. I'm excited because I haven't been able to dedicate a full rotation week to this piece yet, as the last time I worked on it was over Thanksgiving week and I barely had any time to actually work on it. Here is where the piece is beginning today:

My Witch's Brew - Start of Rotation Week

This is one of my smaller WIP's, so I hope I can make lots of progress this week. I plan on doing lots of stitching during the Super Bowl this afternoon! Go commercials!

Until next time!
~Katy

A Fun Night!

Halloween in our new neighborhood was a blast! Spider-Man and Merida had a great time and came home with great candy!

Spider-Man and Merida!

This was my son's first real Halloween where he understood the concepts. He kept saying to me "Let's go find another door, Mommy!" because he knew knocking on doors got him more candy! My favorite line of the night, though, was hearing another family tell a young child "Just go with the zombies, honey."...HA!

My job interview went really well today and I'm going to be going in for another round of interviews, which is a great sign! Fingers crossed!

I also got some stitching in on Tribal Penguin tonight after all the trick-or-treating was done:

As of 10/31/12

I'm definitely going to continue to rotate back and forth between this piece and May Lily of the Valley Teacup until they're both done, then I'll be back to my normal routine.

I hope you had a safe and fun Halloween! And to all of my new followers from the blog hop and beyond, welcome! I hope you enjoy it here!

Until next time!
~Katy

Happy Halloween Blog Hop!

I'm posting this a little bit early because I'm going to be busy tomorrow! I hope everyone has a very Happy Halloween! If you are participating in the Halowe'en Blog Hop hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching, you've come to the right place! The next letter for the Mystery Phrase is....(drumroll please!)

O

And here is my stitchy picture - my stitchy goal for Halloween and a new start in hopefully the very near future so I can display it next year:

My Witch's Brew by Nancy Turner - Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

And my supplies are ready to go:

My supplies!

Can't wait to share the finished product with you!

Now, head on out on your way to go visit Jo at Serendipitous Stitching who is not only the host of the blog hop but our next stop!

Happy Halloween!

~Katy

More Flames, WOCS, Halloween and Fifty Followers!

Hi everyone!

I have to admit, today didn't start so great. I woke up feeling horrible, so I went into work long enough to finish one project that had to be done today and then came home and crashed. After sleeping about five more hours, I was feeling good enough to go to my daughter's first grade show tonight. They were so cute!

I did a little bit of stitching on Flames of Desire tonight after we got home and put the kids to bed:

As of 10/2/12

I also decided on two new starts as part of my October goals! First, I signed up for the WOCS Tea Cup quilt and selected the May Lily of the Valley Teacup from The Vermillion Stitchery for my contribution. May is my birth month, as well as my son's birth month, so I thought it would be a great choice!

May Lily of the Valley Teacup by The Vermillion Stitchery

I'm going to put this in my rotation after Christmas Countdown to give time for my order of thread and fabric to be delivered. Because this isn't due until December, I may vary my rotation schedule a bit depending on how much I get done in a week. I usually work a WOCS piece until it's done, but I may do a week on this, a week in normal rotation, then a week back on this. We'll see!

I also decided that the Halloween piece I will start this month is My Witch's Brew by Nancy Turner from The Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. I won this piece a few weeks back and I think it will be a great first piece for my Halloween collection!

My Witch's Brew by Nancy Turner

I ordered fabric from Picture This Plus today! I saw this and fell in love with it! It's called Crystal Eek! What better fabric could there be for a Halloween piece!

Crystal EEK! From Picture This Plus

I decided that I'm going to do this in 16-count Aida and I can't wait for the fabric and threads to arrive!

Also, I'm so excited to announce I'm up to 50 followers! Yay!! In honor of this milestone, I'll be hosting my first giveaway! The winner will have their choice between a $20 gift certificate to either Heaven and Earth Designs or 1-2-3 Stitch!, winner's choice! The rules are simple. You must be a follower of this blog and must comment on this post to enter. If you post about this giveaway on your blog, you will get three more entries, and if you refer a friend and they list you as their referral, you will get an additional entry each! The giveaway will be open until October 12th, and I'll have my daughter draw the winner on October 13th! Thank you to all of you followers, I really appreciate you coming along for the ride!

Until next time!
~Katy

Another Win, More Advice Needed, and Progress!

I'm so excited! I found out today that I was one of the winners of the giveaway from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe and I got to pick out one of Nancy's wonderful charts! After much hemming and hawing, I decided on her My Witch's Brew Halloween Sampler:

My Prize!

I think it's just adorable and will make a great addition to my growing group of Halloween themed projects I plan on working on! Thanks again, Nancy, for such a generous giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who gave their opinions about where to find fabrics for my HAED piece. I need your advice again! I took a look at various places and think I'm going to go with Picture This Plus for my fabric, but I need more advice! I have narrowed my choices for the background fabric to the four following fabrics. Which do you like best?

As a reminder, this is the HAED piece:

Flames of Desire by Lee Ann Seed

Although there was advice to stick with an Aida fabric, the pattern calls for 25-ct. Dublin linen, so I'm going to take the leap and try it on that. If I hate it and have issues, I'll just switch it out. Here are the three colors I'm looking at:

Aurora

Ember

Phoenix

Lava

So what do you think? And oh boy, that place is going to be dangerous when I'm looking for fabrics for other projects in the future...I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to plain white aida!

And here is the progress for the night on Birdhouse Neighborhood:

As of 8/14/12

Until next time, keep stitching!
~Katy

More European Bistro

It's becoming a nightly routine. My husband and I put the kids to bed, I settle down with the Olympics on TV and stitching in hand and just have an enjoyable evening stitching and watching great performances. What am I going to do when the Olympics are over?? I'll find something to watch, I'm sure, haha!

I finished up the half stitches in this window and moved on to other colors. I was not a fan of the black half stitches by the time I was done with them - five threads per half stitch just is too much and made me feel like I was pulling a knot through the fabric each time. I like the effect though. My favorite part so far, though, is the cute little wine bottle that's on the bottom that will eventually be on the table......probably because I like my wine!

As of 8/6/12

I am going to scan and print out my pattern for my WOCS birdhouse tomorrow and will likely pick that up to get it started tomorrow if I can. I'm also drooling over the selection at Heaven and Earth Designs, which is having a half off "Stash Enhancement" sale the rest of this week starting tomorrow. There are some absolutely stunning (and intimidating!) patterns at this site and I'm building up my wishlist. I may just have to indulge with a pattern or two with the prices half off!

I did have a nice piece of mail today waiting for me from 1-2-3 Stitch! today:

Goodies!

Sorry for the glare! I picked up the Halloween Time book from Stoney Creek because I've seen so many cute Halloween projects on various blogs. I've never really been big on stitching for Halloween in the past, but I think I may have been bitten by the bug! I also got the St. Peter's design from the John Clayton International Series by Heritage Crafts. I've been to Rome on two different occasions in my life, including an entire semester during my sophomore year of college. St. Peter's was one of my absolute favorite locations to visit and I love this pattern! Can't wait to start working on it!

Until next time!
~Katy