Before I go

I thought that I better put in an update before I leave. Hubby and I are off on a business/vacation. We are heading to Australia for 26 days. I am so excited. I have never been there and it is a place I have ALWAYS wanted to go. So a post before I go and when I get back I will be gushing with stories and pictures. I am having a really hard time trying to choose what project to take with me. I have limited room in the luggage but I know I have to have something with me or go nuts. 

I got the 7th package from the Gadgets, Gizmos and Great inventions. This one was for fuzzy stuff. New scissors for cutting threads when you are working turkey stitches or others that need cut. 2 different styles of brushes to fluff up threads for the fuzzy look to your stitching. 2 booboo sticks to use when your threads start to fray or when you have to frog and it leaves behind little pieces of thread. A very soft tooth brush also for whisking away pieces of thread. Some felt for finishing and also the round pads are for giving a bit of bulk.

 Santa got finished. He looks great and the beads did not overwhelm me but I still will replace most of them on future projects.

I got another page finished on Christmas Cottage and a good bit worked on the next page. So 1 through 16 done along with 23,24. Working on 22.

I have worked on my owl and my embroidery piece they are super fun to work on and it has been exciting to learn new stitches.

 

 I have worked a bit on Beauty and the Beast and also my Glendon Place piece but not really much to show so no point in adding pictures. 

I have started another project, I want to make for a friend. She is going through some really tough times and I want to make her just a small inspirational piece. I hope it will work. 

Also I have a confession. In the last month I have bought over $400 of new fabric. I am not a big quilter but I like to have fabric to use for my finishings and that is fine but this seems a bit excessive even for me.I also bought 3 yards of plain white and 3 yards of a design I already had but was running short on. I did not take pictures of those.

2016 March Wipocalypse

It is March and 2 days ago was the full moon so that means it is time for a Wipocalypse up date. Last month I missed because I was at our annual Stitching Retreat. So much fun, excellent food and so much talent. I have made a post on my blog about the experience so if you are interested you can have a look.

I am still rotating the same 4 projects and after the retreat added another on so 5 on the go. I am still working on Christmas Cottage a design by Dona Gelsinger and charted by HAED. I almost have another page finish so that is encouraging. Mill Hill Santa is fully crossed and I am adding the beads. It is looking great but oh I hate beading. Disney Beauty and the Beast looks good the plant and background barrier is where I focused. So much BS and boy does it highlight the design. Whooligan's hangout by Glendon Place is coming along well. The tree and owl all finished. Fence is started as is the path.

Then I started an embroidery canvas. It was at my LNS and I just fell in love with the design. I have not done much embroidery but I am having a great time with all the different stitches and some of these fun specialty threads. I am using Pepper Pot silk, Silk Lame', Velvet threads, Metallics, and regular DMC. I also put on a few beads because they in that area they needed that extra something.

In my sewing endeavors I have made 2 more wallets one of the regular kind to carry in your purse. The other one I have adapted into a stitching wallet that holds bobbins. needles, and areas for scissors and other stitching related items.

 

 The Question for this month is Do you use hoops, stretcher bars, lap stands or Q snap frames and why?

 I  use Q-snaps I think they are the best thing to happen to my stitching in years. They hold the fabric on all sides, and they hold it tight like I want it to be. If I need to loosen the fabric so I can work the thread under the stitches on the back I can do so with out taking it completely of. It is also 100 times easier to get the fabric on the frame then is was with hoops. I can also use my lap stand with the Q's and that way stitch 2 handed. 

I will not be able to participate next month. I will be gone on a business trip and not have access to the internet. 

Mid-March updates

I am getting back on track after the wonderful time I had at my retreat. It is sad I had to come back to reality. Go to work daily, deal with making dinner everyday for ourselves, cleaning......... if only I was rich enough to have people do all that for me.........

I got my 6th package from Gadgets, Gizmos and Great Inventions yesterday. This month the focus is on beads and bead helpers. There were bead needles, bead needle threader, Thread Heaven, 2 invisible threads (clear and smokey) a bead box (inside it has sticky foam to hold the beads and on the outside it has a strong magnet set so you can attach the box to your work similar to a needle minder) and a bead scoop to help pick up your beads if you spill or if you have poured then out on a plate or tray. Lastly the little swirly gadgets are to hold your thread when it is on a spool. if you can not get the thread to hold in the slot of the spool you can use these rubber pieces to wrap around the spool and hold the thread. If anyone is interested the spool curlies they are called Peels and are available here http://www.smartneedle.com/PEELS.html

I am branching out just a very little. I found a beautiful canvas at my LNS about 3 months ago and it just was to nice to pass up. During our retreat the LNS gave the attendee's a discount at the store. Well what better time to kit up the project right!?!?! I did that and I have also had the owner help me chart out the stitches that I am going to use. Tuesday I went up and we sat down together to chart the side panels. The gold silk, I am not sure of the stitch but basically it is over 4 over 6 over 4 over 6 from dot to dot then turn 90 degrees and continue. The gold line and the lime green lines are both Elongated Continental one to the left the other to the right. The lime green boxes are Rhodes Stitch. The red velvet is Elongated Cashmere. And the black rectangle has Silk Lame around the frame and down the middle in Continental stitch with flat black silk inside the lines in Framed Cashmere stitch. The black dots are just black beads. I do love the adventure of this piece but I am not sure I will continue embroidery, to much planning the stitches and not enough actual stitching for me. I like my cross stitches much better.

I have a finish I finally completed the afghan for my hubby the stitching has been done for awhile but the cutting of the tassels is so boring I was putting it off. Now it is done and he can cozy up with it. The update for Whooligan's hangout a Glendon Place design. The owl and tree are complete, started just a bit of the fence and the spider web is almost done. Not sure if I want to stitch the spider or just add a charm there in place at the end of the straight line down.

Retreat Week-end

I am just getting back from my stitching week-end. I have gone for the last 4 years and every year is better then the last. We are a group of 4 to 5 stitching guilds and groups from the San Francisco bay area. Our host is at St Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista, CA. It is a beautiful area and the food is amazing!!! We have a large open well lit room to stitch in. We can fit 45 in there with plenty of room to spread out.

The majority of us are there to work on our own projects. But this year we had 1 group project. We made ORT jars. Our Coordinator put together a class and brought supplies to complete it.

The lady in the green shirt is the coordinator.

These are our completed jars and the single jar is my personal work.

 

 Some of these ladies are so amazing. I wish I could show more of their work but I was only able to get permission from 1 to share publicly. These 2 pictures are her work the Santa is what she stitched this week-end. The stump work is some of the things she brought to share. 

While I was there I worked on 3 different pieces. I finished all the stitching on my Mill Hill Santa. I did not even try to add the beads. I was not going to try beading in a full room such as that. I then did the Sweetheart Tree pattern that I then turned into the ORT jar top.  Our February stitching get together is our annual exchange month. I got the pattern, linen, and silks to complete this design the Saturday before our retreat.  I knew we were going to be doing the class and I decided that the pattern would be perfect for this. And finally I worked on my HEAD Christmas Cottage. I got alot done but of course with the socializing that goes on, looking at others projects and going to dinner you never get as much done as you think you might.

I have already put the deposit down on next years retreat!!!!!!!!!!

2 weeks of Bliss

So what does a stitcher do when their hubby has to leave for 2 weeks on business?????? Well we enjoy the stitching time that we get!!!!!!! Yep hubby is out of the state. I still have to go to work as I am the only one here but I only work about 2/3 of the day. Since I am the boss I can give myself permission to close early....hee hee

I am not getting as much cross stitching done because I have been commissioned to make 4 of my owls. I have 3 complete and should have the 4th one done today. I love making these guys they are so easy and look so good.

 This one is for her sewing room

This little guy is for our stitching retreat and I made a little nest for him

This guy will also be a part of the retreat. He will be greeting the ladies as they sign in. I have to add his eyes I am waiting fo the buttons to come in. I ordered pinecones for him.








I have also been finishing up a crochet project. It took way longer then it should have. I did it once with a new pattern that I thought would be awesome with these colors. But when I finished and layed it out I hated it. So I tore it all out found a different pattern and restarted. I made it 8 rows larger then the pattern called for. It is for hubby and I wanted it to be nice and big for him. All I have left to do is add the fringe and it will be complete. I am procrastinating as cutting al those lengths of yarn is boring.

Finally I was able to sit for a bit and do some crosses. I worked on the Mill Hill Santa

 

And I also got time on the Glendon Place Whooligan's Hangout 

I am trying to get some time on Beauty and the beast but I am busy with my commission and with Dad gone puppy has been very insistent on getting extra attention. 

I received the 5th installment of my Gadget Gizmos and Great Inventions surprise. This time is was Sticky Things. They senta tube of E6000 which is something I use alot and know it is a great product. The pink tube is Rice glue I tried to and it works pretty nicely. The tape is for finishing the edges of canvas and the tacks are to attach the canvas to those wood frames  it is a kit and come with an attaching tool and a removal tool. So some fun stuff to get.

2016 The 1ST Wipocalypse of the Year

Hello all, I am so happy to be sharing with you all in this new year.

For the first month of 2016 our Questions is not really a question but more a who are you and what are you planning for this year.
Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!

I am an avid stitcher that loves to have a needle in my hand whenever I can. I usually have 4 projects going at once and sometimes up to 7. I rotate about one project per day but for some I just can't put it down after a single day so I push on with it for 2 maybe 3 days. This usually happens when I am close to a finish or completing a particular area of a project. I have no one particular designer or style that I like to stitch. I am all over the map with the things I stitch. MOST of my projects are made as gifts for family and friends, but this year I have decided this is the "Year Of ME" I want to stitch the entire year things that are devoted to be items I will keep. People that know me have laughed when I tell them this. They all are placing bets on when I will cave in and see a project and say ooohhhhhhhh that would make a perfect gift for.....I know this is bound to happen but I hope that the majority of my stitching will be projects that I have bought for myself.

Just this week I have got my WIPs up to 4 projects that I am currently rotating.
#1 is my HEAD Christmas Cottage by Dona Gelsinger I want to put alot of time in on this The end of 2015 saw me finishing the first to rows, this means I am a bit over 25% finished. The pattern says 64 pages but that is a bit miss leading there are 48 full pages the other 16 pages are just partials. Regardless of all that I have quite a way to go and I want to complete at least 1 full row this calendar year. This is a fun stitch as there are areas of confetti mixed in with large areas of solid colors so I get a good combination of stitching all in one project.

#2 is my Glendon Place Whooligan's Hangout this is a fun stitch to do, it is easy to work and just goes together so well. I am combining this with another pattern as I have an image in my mind of how they will look together. I hope my imagination is as good as the actual product. I want to make it a surprise to the first time I show the full piece will be when I get to the end.

 

#3 is a Mill Hill Santa. I do not usually do Mill Hill because I do not like beads. It is just a personal thing, normally I convert the beads to metallic thread but this one is so cute that I am going to muttle through and do the kit as is, beads and all. 

 

#4 is Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Again I do not normally do kits but I have had this in my stash for many years. I bought several of the Disney designs and my intent is to complete a group of the characters and then make myself a quilt.  The progress picture is where I am currently but I am working on her today so I will be a bit farther tonight.

So this is my update for this full moon. I look forward see the other stitchers work and continuing on with my own work. Hope you are all doing well and that this New Year will bring health and happiness.