My Stitchalong

The calendar has turned to September.  The weather has (finally) turned cooler, the kids are back to school, and we're enjoying cool night outside by the fire pit.  It's a busy time of year for all of us.  My stitching hands have been busy, too! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about how I'm finishing the mandala panda. Stitching is complete!  See what happens when I stick to working on one project?  I actually get something finished!  In truth, I loved this piece.  It was a true joy to work on.  It has been sent off to a friend, who is fabulous with a sewing machine, and she will be creating a tote bag with my panda as the center of the creation!!  I can't wait to see what she comes up with! My oldest WIP is a WIP no more!!  If my mom were here she would be so proud.  I was probably 19...20 when I bought it. As I said earlier, it's now September.  Do you know what that means!!  Fall stitchin...

We were away for our annual trip to the National Sports Collector's Convention a few weeks ago.  Since I had two recent finishes I decided that something new should be kitted up and brought with me.  I had lots to choose from, and the winner was Mandala Panda.  I started it just before we left. I got as far as his nose.  Progress was made while MJ and Z were at the convention.  By the time the week was out and it was time to head home you could really see the beautiful colors! It was wonderful to have some quiet stitching time.  Then we got home and it was back to reality.  Work, laundry, you all know how that goes.  That was when progress slowed. For several weeks I've had pain in my hand.  I kept saying it would get better.   I'm getting older, and it's just the aches and pains that go with it.   I finally broke down and went to the doctor.  The diagnosis? Something called calcific tendonitis, w...

Can you believe I had two finishes this week?  TWO!!  I don't think that's ever happened in my stitching life time. Welcome to Hogwarts was one of this week's finishes.   This sweet little penguin was a quick start and finish.  A very dear friend of mine was suddenly hospitalized and had to have major surgery.  She loves penguins, and I knew I had a small penguin design...somewhere.  I found it pretty quickly, and decided to make it for her.  This is where having a decent sized stash of supplies comes in handy!! My husband and kids were told not to bother me unless someone had lost a limb, and I sat myself down and got to work.  It was delivered to her in the hospital the next day, and she was so touched that I thought of her.  Her surgery went well (thankfully), and she is on the long road to recovery. So, two finishes deserves a new start, right?  Normally I would say yes, but I'm trying to work on things already s...

Summer has definitely arrived!!  We went on vacation to Florida, and before we left the temperatures here at home were in the 70's.  It was 95 degrees every day we were away.  The heat really makes you tired, but we had a good time.  We seem to have brought the heat home with us, because since we got back it's been over 90 degrees every day!  I like the warmth, but I was not made for this heat!! I got no stitching done while we were away, but I've been trying to get some in since we got home, and I'm proud to see progress. Welcome to Hogwarts is looking great, and since we visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter while we were away it's been it's been high in my rotation.     I did a little bit on the pandas, but they aren't showing as much progress.  I'll get back to them...eventually. One of the things we were working on before our vacation was having the living room, dining room, and kitchen painted because MJ and...

It was an exciting weekend.  My niece and God-daughter graduated high school!  MJ, Z, and I travelled from New York to Texas so we could be part of the festivities. My sister, Vicki, and I with the graduate.  I'm in the sleeveless brown dress. Z, me, my niece, and MJ. It was HOT in Texas!!  I knew it would be (my sister warned me), but I was definitely not prepared for the heat, although Vicki told me that it's not usually that hot (almost 100 degrees every day we were there) this early.  I guess I'm just lucky like that. Of course, when I travel my stitching goes with me.  I knew which stitching projects I was taking with me before I even knew what clothes I was packing!   Progress has been made on the panda project.  I have to finish the one panda, stitch the piece of bamboo they are each holding, and do the grassy area they are sitting on.  And the backstitching, of course.  Isn't there always backst...

I started stitching when I was a 19 college student on my summer break.  I fell in love with it instantly, and I've been stitching ever since.  Recently, I was looking for something in my craft closet and I found this: It was one of the first kits I ever ordered.  It got stuffed in the UFO pile because there were multiple counting errors, but when I found it I thought I would add it to my work in progress pile. The first thing I needed was more floss.  Did I really store my floss like that?  All rolled up and just thrown in the bag?  In my years since I started stitching I found a better way. The next thing I needed was new fabric. Since I don't really stitch on aida anymore I choose this yummy 28 count evenweave that I dyed myself. And I now have a brand new kit to work on! I love stitching!!

In my last blog post I wrote about buying some new patterns from Etsy, and someone asked which seller I used.  The seller is AwesomePatternStudio, and these are my new patterns: Z has a love of elephants, so for him I'll do a mandala elephant. M loves all things with cats, so I bought a ploygon cat for him. For me I'm sure it's no surprise I found a panda!  And, of course, now that I'm looking I found so many more panda pattern.  What did Yoda say?  "Control!  You must learn control!" I guess it's a good time to practice my Jedi life skills, because I have more patterns than I could reasonably ever hope to get to! Work on Welcome to Hogwarts has been steady.  I finished the second page, so we've officially passed the halfway point.  I have to remember that I made a counting error on page 2 (you would think I could count to 4 after all these years of stitching, right?  Not so!), so I have to make sure everything lines up ...

Since my last post I have worked steadily on Welcome to Hogwarts, so I guess you can say I'm back on track with my Year of the WIP.  I love the way the castle looks so far! Progress has been steady, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of it take shape. Can I just say that Etsy has been my downfall lately?  I bought the Harry Potter designs from a shop on there, and a stitching friend introduced me to another shop.  Somehow three new designs are sitting in my inbox.  I think I've reached SABLE: Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. I have to work tonight, so I'm off to get a few stitches in before I go.  Have a good week, everyone!

I was working diligently on Barbershop Quartet, and made some good progress. Then I hit a bump in the road of my year of working on previously started projects.  Sigh.  I did try, but a friend of mine posted these awesome Harry Potter designs, and before I knew what was happening I was shopping on Etsy, there were four charts in my cart, and I was on the floor sorting through my stash collection for fabric and floss.   Welcome to Hogwarts is the first one up. As you can see, I got a little bored with stitching the blue sky, so I counted down and started the castle. There are also designs for the Hogwarts Express, Hogsmeade, and one that says "Always", and the A is the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.  For a Harry Potter fan, these are very cool!! A quiet week ahead of me is planned, and I'm looking forward to some stitching time.

2018 has gotten off to a good start.  As the title of my post suggests, this is starting out as the Year of the WIP.  While I have heard new projects calling my name I have resisted the temptation to start something new, and have decided instead to work on my growing pile of works on progress.  By doing this I've finished two projects since the begining of the new year.  My last post showed off Mickey Salutes America (more on that later), and today I'm excited to show off Tranquil Moments by Needlemania! It is stitched on a 28 count evenweave with colors called Perfect Piecrust and Morning Glory, both by Crescent Colors.  This project was started years ago when my family and I were visiting my sister in Texas.  I'll always remember that this was the project I was working on when I taught my niece to stitch while we were on that trip. With two projects done I decided to see what else I could work on that had already been started.  There are alo...

It's been a while since I've had a finish, but here it is! Mickey Salutes America was a kit created by Stoney Creek and was sold at the Disney parks.  There is a frame style at Michael's that I think will be perfect for this.  Time to visit the frame shop!

As this is my first post since Christmas I must start off with Happy New Year!!!  I wish all of you a blessed, happy and healthy 2018!! I am not the kind of person who makes New Year's resolutions.  It's never been a habit I got in to, and I was never very good at keeping them, anyway.  What I have decided is that this year I would like to put in a few stitches every day.  Stress and anxiety sometimes get in the way, but I think this year I'm really going to try to push through. Putting in some stitches every day has helped me make good progress on Mickey and Minnie out in their sleigh. Considering that I only started working on it right after Thanksgiving I think I've made good progress on it!  Depending on how you look at it I'm either late for last Christmas, or I'm getting a head start for this year.  Either way, it's getting close to a finish. I have a friend who finishes two WIPs for every one new start.  I'm not that  d...