November TUSAL and Tribal Penguin

There is just something that makes me smile when I can look on my blogroll on the side of my blog and see all sorts of fun pictures of different TUSAL posts! So of course, I have to make my own contribution!

Here is my TUSAL jar from October:

TUSAL Jar - October 15, 2012

And here is November's TUSAL:

TUSAL Jar - November 13, 2012

And from the top! October:

TUSAL Jar - October 15, 2012

And November:

TUSAL Jar - November 13, 2012

This month, I have ORT's from Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love, May Lily of the Valley Teacup, and of course those black and white threads right on top are from Tribal Penguin, which I worked on again tonight! I tested some of the suggestions with other colors or other defining techniques. I didn't like them as much and decided instead to do the hard outline of the white of the belly. I like the way it makes it pop out from the fabric and provides definition, but it's also making me think about outlining the black as well. I'm going to wait until I finish the piece entirely before making that decision.

Here is how it looks tonight:

As of 11/13/12

Can you tell I'm having fun playing with Instagram? And I'm 13/13 as of this post for NaBloPoMo!  Yay!

Until next time!
~Katy

A Finish!

First, thank you everyone for your kind words about my new job. I'm very excited about it and can't wait to start! We had a great day at the zoo with the Daisy Scouts, though I am incredibly worn out! Walking over 3 miles while wrangling six Daisies and a 2-year old will take that out of you! My son, the aforementioned 2-year old, walked every bit of those 3+ miles and loved it...and crashed in my arms on the train ride home! But it was a very nice day!

Despite being exhausted, I was able to put in the last of the back stitching and personalization on May Lily of the Valley Teacup! Yay!

 May Lily of the Valley Teacup - WOCS Project - 10/14/12 - 11/10/12

What a great ending to a rotation week! Next week, I'm back to Tribal Penguin...could I possibly get two finishes done, two weeks in a row? Who knows! But I'll certainly try!

Until next time!
~Katy

I Got The Job!

Yay!!!! I got the job offer late today...big raise, much shorter commute, promotion in position, great opportunities to make a name for myself...I'm very excited! I'm going to close out the month at my current job, take the first week of December off, and then start at the new job on 12/10. I'm very excited! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!

I was able to finish the back stitching on the stems and leaves tonight. That just leaves the cup and saucer to complete:

As of 11/9/12

Tomorrow, I'm taking my daughter's Girl Scout troop to the zoo and won't be home until mid-afternoon. Depending on how tired they make me, I'm going to do my best to finish out this rotation week by finishing that back stitching and sending this on it's way to be made into a quilt!

Until next time!
~Katy

A Cross Stitch Flashback

My paternal grandparents were massive Christmas decorators. Two or three trees, a massive Christmas village, Santa's galore - you name it, they had it. I attribute my love of Christmas decorations to them as they started ornament collections for all of us and have added to them every year, plus I received a Fontanini nativity set as a gift after my Confirmation. My first cross-stitch piece I ever completed was one I finished for my maternal grandmother (will take a picture next time I'm at her house), but this piece is the second piece I ever finished:

A Christmas Nativity

I couldn't tell you the name of the piece now or who made it. I know it was in a kit, and the frame came with it. It was a huge source of pride for me as a 13 or 14 year old to finish this and give it to my grandparents, who always had it up during Christmas. We're talking nearly 20 years ago now that I finished this piece. My grandfather passed away several years ago, and my father and aunts recently moved my grandmother to an Alzheimer's facility. They are cleaning out her cottage to put things in storage and came across this piece among the Christmas decorations and wanted to make sure I got it back. The frame needs to be fixed and the piece needs to be more securely adhered to it, but this is definitely a special piece to me and will be a treasured Christmas decoration for the rest of my life!

I worked more on the back stitching for May Lily of the Valley Teacup today! I finished the flowers, one of the two green colors for the leaves and stems and started on the second green for the leaves. I think this is going to easily be finished either tomorrow or Saturday!

As of 11/8/12

Oh, one more personal note, my interview session today went very well and I have one more tomorrow afternoon - it will be round seven of interviews and will hopefully be the last!

Until next time!
~Katy

Lots of Back Stitching...

And more back stitching! I agree with one of my followers who said that back stitching makes a piece pop. It absolutely and totally does, and I love the look once it's done...its just the actual process of back stitching I'm not a fan of! Oh well, I made quite a bit of progress on it tonight! I'm still trying to figure out the best setting to take pictures on my phone because my main camera is causing me some issues of late, so I apologize that the pictures aren't always the best!

As of 11/7/12 - Working on the flowers

There are four different "categories" of back stitching on this piece - the flowers, the cup/saucer, and two different colors on the leaves and stems. I'm going to take each of these back stitching groups one at a time, so as you can see, I clearly worked on the flowers tonight! I should finish those tomorrow and will probably start the leaves and stems before moving down to the cup. I really want to finish this piece this week. Fingers crossed I can get it done!

I'd also appreciate good thoughts tomorrow morning as I go into a four-hour mega interview for the next round of applying for the position I'm trying to get...any good thoughts are appreciated!

Until next time!
~Katy

Just The Backstitching Left!

While happily watching the election results roll in tonight, I finished up the crosses of May Lily of the Valley Teacup!

As of 11/6/12 - Just the Back Stitching Left!

I may try to start working on the back stitching tonight as I wait for the last few speeches of the night from both campaigns, but I wanted to share this progress! Back stitching is my least favorite part of this hobby (one reason I'm in love with HAED pieces!), but I will work on it and get this done in the next day or two! Yay!

Until next time!
~Katy

I See A Cup!

After a slight bit of frogging tonight, I can see a lot more of the cup and saucer!

As of 11/5/12

I'm really enjoying seeing this piece come together and I think that I will probably go back at some point and stitch the entire series of these cups, one for each month, and have a rotating display in my kitchen near my coffee bar...they're just beautiful!

I know I'll make more progress tomorrow...I'm a political junkie and I fully plan on being glued to my television to watch the votes for President come in tomorrow...if you're a follower in the US and you haven't voted yet, make sure you get out and vote tomorrow! Regardless of who you are voting for (and I won't get political here), it's your most sacred duty as Americans to take part in the political process and let your voice be heard!

Until next time!
~Katy

Have A Cup of Tea

Today, I started the new rotation week by picking up May Lily of the Valley Teacup for my most recent World of Charity Stitching contribution - the Tea Cup Quilt! I'm going to be alternating this piece back and forth every other week until it's done since the cups are supposed to be turned in by December 15th.

As a reminder, here is where we were as of the end of the last rotation:

May Lily of the Valley Tea Cup - Start of Rotation Week - Last Touched 10/20/12

And here is where we are today after a couple of hours:

As of 11/4/12

The cup and saucer are finally taking shape! I have to say, I love the blue shades so far in the cup, they're so pretty, the picture hardly does it justice! There is a lot of space but not too many colors left in the cup and saucer, and then I'd move onto the backstitching. Maybe if I'm lucky and I have time, I'll finish this piece this week! I can certainly try, anyway!

Until next time!
~Katy

It's November Already?!?!

Where the heck did 2012 go?? I can't believe it's already November! Guess it's time to review my goals for October and make new goals for November!

 October Goals
- Continue working through my rotation Yes! There were  few new entries to it, but I definitely stuck to the rotation
- Choose and complete one WOCS project Partial - I chose and started one project, but haven't finished it yet
- Start a new Halloween themed piece no later than 10/31! No - I have one selected, and it's in my rotation, I just haven't started it yet

November Goals
- Successfully participate and complete NaBloPoMo and make a blog post every day in the month of November - I'm pretty good about this already, I think I can do it!
- Finish and mail off May Lily of the Valley Teacup for WOCS
- Finish and mail off the rotating pattern of Traveling Penguin
- Purchase all of the remaining thread and fabric for my Crazy January Challenge to finish kitting up my projects

Some reasonable goals this month I think! What are your goals for the month?

Oh! I was excited to learn that I won the giveaway at Tickled Pink in Stitches! I'm very excited! And there is another FANASTIC giveaway from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe! Seriously, tons of amazingly generous giveaway items, every day from December 1st through December 25! Sign up and tell them that Katy/Tadamama from Just A Little Stitchin' sent you!

I made some more progress on Tribal Penguin tonight...right in line with my goals!

As of 11/1/12

 A couple more days in this rotation and we'll see how far we get! I'm just glad the weekend is almost here, it's been a long week!

Until next time!
~Katy

End of the Rotation Week

Well I have to say I'm very pleased with myself. I was able to finish stitching the entire upper half of May Lily of the Valley Teacup. I have backstitching to do, but that will be done last for the entire piece:

May Lily of the Valley Teacup - End of Rotation Week - 10/20/12

Not bad for a week's work when this is an entirely new start! I'll pick this up again in a couple weeks to work on the bottom part of the cup and we'll see how far I get with that and maybe I'll be able to start the backstitching then too. We'll see!

Tomorrow, I pick up Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love again for the start of the new rotation week. Although it is International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, I'm not sure how much stitching I'll get done tomorrow as I do have some work I brought home this weekend that I will likely work on much of the day, but I know I'll get a few stitches in at night, at least!

Until next time!
~Katy

Another Late Night of Stitching

...means another early morning update post!

As of 10/19/12

I know that even if I stitched all day today, I won't finish this piece this week. I'm going to only push it down the list three spots instead of the very end, though, so I can go ahead and do my week of Beauty and the Beast starting next week and then I added Tribal Penguin as well since it's a traveling pattern and I just ordered the supplies for it today, otherwise I'd start it next week!

I hope you're having a great IHSW! I'm off to curl up with a nice cup of coffee, under my quilt with mindless TV and stitching in hand! Sounds like heaven to me!

Until next time!
~Katy

Oops, Forgot To Post!

Well, I didn't forget, I just was up too late last night since I am taking today off and was too tired to make a post last night showing the evening's progress...but here it is now!

As of 10/18/12

I finished the white portion of the flowers and did some of the inside of the teacup and am now working up to finish the rest of the flowers and leaves before working down on the rest of the cup. Today is the start of IHSW and I have the day off until I go to get the kids, so I plan on curling up with some trashy TV, relaxing and working on this a lot today! Come back tonight for another update!

Until next time!
~Katy

Lots of White

I'm not entirely sure why, but tonight, I was focused on the white portions of as many of the flowers as I could complete. There are still a few left, and it's hard to see the white on the fabric at this point, but here is my progress for the night:

As of 10/17

Tomorrow is my Friday at work since I'm taking off this Friday for a long weekend, plus it's International Hermit and Stitch Weekend this weekend, so I hope to make a lot more progress!

I also plan this weekend on going through my stash and wishlists at various places to decide what I'm going to do for the Cross Stitch Crazy 2013 event - 15 new starts the first 15 days of January with a goal of finishing the charts by the end of the year. Don't know if that's realistic, but I like the idea!

Until next time!
~Katy

Just A Quick Post

Two ten hour days at work in a row have taken a toll, but I did do some stitching tonight while watching the Presidential Debate:

As of 10/16/12

Tribal Penguin also came in the mail today! I am going to decide this weekend where to put this in the rotation since it's a traveling pattern and I also want to get some fabric for it. It somewhat depends on how far I get on this piece this week...we'll see how things work out!

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!

April Showers Bring May Flowers...

Well, okay, I know it's not April, but we did have October thunderstorms in the middle of the night last night. That counts, right?

Today started a new rotation week, and I started working on May Lily of the Valley Teacup for the Teacup Quilt for World of Charity Stitching. I am so grateful for the recommendation to stitch this on 28 count over two rather than 14 count over one like I originally planned. This piece has SO MANY quarter crosses, and being able to stitch this over two has let me handle those quarter crosses much more neatly than I would have otherwise. This is also my first time to work with Jobelan, and I absolutely love it! I really think that my days with purposefully selecting Aida may be close to an end...

Here is the progress I made today. The white thread of several of the flowers is harder to see, but will be much more visible once I go back to do the backstitching:

May Lily of the Valley Teacup - New Start, New Rotation Week

I will be working on this piece all this week and depending likely will not move it all the way to the bottom of the rotation since it is for WOCS and there is a deadline for it. I figure I will do one week on, one week off until it's done. In the past, I worked on WOCS projects until they were completed, but with this one's deadline not until December, I can afford to keep working on my rotation otherwise!

Heading to bed now - I have to be at my office tomorrow morning by 6:30 for a half day, all management in the entire hospital meeting. I'm usually not at work until 8:30 or 9, so this will not be the most fun for me, nor my husband who will have to get both kids up and bring them both to school in the morning. We typically split the duties of getting them ready, with him bringing my daughter to school and I drop off my son at daycare, but everyone will still likely be sleeping at the point that I actually have to leave the house to get to the hospital. Oh well. Maybe I'll sneak out early tomorrow. We'll see...

Until next time!
~Katy

Brrrrrr...

Cooler weather is definitely here in Texas! A cold front came through last night and I was actually chilly when I got up this morning! I'm not a huge fan of the cold, I'm a Texas girl born and raised so I'm used to heat, but it definitely means fall is here when the temperature falls!

Luckily, I'll be able to warm up more working on Flames of Desire for one more day! I worked on it a bit last night after Girl Scouts but was too tired to post. Here's the progress I made last night:

As of 10/5/12

Today is the last day of Flames for this rotation. I told my husband that I don't want to go anywhere today - after weeks of constantly going and not relaxing, I want a day at home where I don't have to worry about going anywhere or doing anything. I plan on using that to the fullest to work more on Flames today and hopefully try to get the moon and the tendrils on this page done before I put it away for now.

Oh, I did get some more stitchy goodness in the mail yesterday!

Goodies!

The goodies included some fabric I was going to use for a project but am not now so it's just going to my statsh, the rest of the threads for my teacup and Halloween pieces and an awesome pattern called the American Flag Quilt Sampler by Rosewood Manor. I saw Sarah from Sarah in Stitches working on this pattern and just loved it, so I had to get it too! It will probably be my 4th of July start next year if I don't get started on it sooner!

I did spend some time yesterday putting my new thread into bobbins...it's the part of this hobby that I like the least, but it's one of those necessary evils. I haven't even touched the thread for my next two HAED's yet...but since I'm just waiting for the fabric to arrive to work on these two pieces, I wanted to go ahead and be prepared!

Pretty Threads!

So now all of my pretty threads for Flames of Desire, May Lily of the Valley Teacup and My Witches' Brew are wound up on bobbins, organized and ready for use! Yay!

Off to spend this cool, grey day relaxing with my needle and thread! See you tonight with the last update for Flames of Desire!

Until then!
~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