February Updates

So here's my first end of month update. So far, so good, I'm hitting all my goals. The best thing about being off work for a few weeks is that I have had a lot of time to stitch. So here's the differences from the last time I posted.

This is my Halloween Alessandra Adelaide mystery chart. Since my last update, I've done 6.5 hours of work on it. I'm done with part 1/7 and so relieved! The next part doesn't come out until March 10th so I'm ahead of what I thought I would have to expect. The best part is that the eyes in the house and the face of the jack-o-lantern were done with a glow in the dark Kreinek blending filament to add a bit of spooky flair. 

My mom bought these for me on a trip to Big Bear. The piece on the left is a cross-stitch ornament with beading on perforated paper. The kit includes the beads, thread, paper, and chart. I'm looking forward to starting it! The kit on the right is a learn to do hardanger  kit. I've been wanting to learn so I'm so excited that I got this as well. It's a little funny actually because I never told my mom that I wanted to learn this needlework skill either.

This came in the other day! I got "99" from 123stitch.com for a sale price which is even better. My goal is to get this done for my husband's Christmas gift this year. I'm not sure if I can do it by then but that's the current plan. I can just envision it in our dining room or living room as a great conversation piece. The fun part is that it comes with a checklist of all the beers in the piece that he can check off as he drinks through them. We are both craft beer aficionados (or snobs), in fact my husband works at one of the fastest growing craft breweries in the whole southern California region.

This is the progress I've made on that Christmas wreath. It's very challenging because there are 3 shades of green and it goes from using the 3 colors separately and blending them for color and shading variations. I only had the opportunity to put 3 hours into it so it's very slow going.

This is the progress on my snowman piece. I only worked on it for about an hour but I had gotten the fence finished and a large chunk of the birdhouse.

This is the first Christmas ornament of the year and it's soooo close to being finished. After working on it for 4.5 hours, I just need to go buy some blending filament that it calls for, do some backstitching, and then I can wash it, iron it, put in some beads, and frame it. What a relief to be so close to a finish already!

My goal is to have at least one finish to show off next month! I'm not sure if I'll have anything framed by then, but as long as it's done that is most of the battle, right? I hope that you liked looking at my pieces and just like always, any advice is always welcome! See you next month!

Current Works in Progress

So I have a stitching blog! Welcome! I wanted a place that I could keep track of the projects that I am working on and document their progression. My plan is to document when I start or finish a project and if it's taking a longer time, posting the progression monthly. Wish me luck! I'm usually terrible with keeping track of blogs. So here goes nothing!

Current WIPs

In the top left is a project I'm working on for next spring. I'm using 14 count waste canvas on napkins where I'm stitching spring motifs. This one is a pair of bunnies (you can see the shape of one coming together), another design will be two birds with a heart, and a third design will be a trio of butterflies. I'm hoping to do 6 napkins total (so two of each design). This is the first time I've used waste canvas so I'm finding it a little challenging just because I'm having to find the invisible hole from behind. 

On the top right is the Halloween mystery stitch-a-long by Alessandra Adelaide. I'm about 2/3 done with part one and there will be 7 parts. It is being stitched on a 17"x26" piece of 28-count Crystal Mystic Opalescent Cashel Linen. This is my first piece on linen and my first piece on a dark fabric so it is super challenging! I love the sparkle though and how the colors pop!

Middle left contains a snowman which is about 8"x8". It's fun and relaxing! I'm doing it on 14-count silver Aida which gives it a wintry look. By the time I post it again it should be done!

Middle right has a Christmas wreath. I'm not such a fan of this piece but I think it will be very pretty when it is done. The kit came with all the pieces for framing it as well so that will be nice and easy!

Bottom left is a Christmas ornament. It will have metallics and beading by the time it is done. I'm not sure if I will put it in an ornament frame or if I will make it into a pillow ornament. It's being stitched on 18-count white Aida. My goal is to do two ornaments a year, then I can participate in an ornament exchange and still have one that I made myself.

Bottom right is a bookmark piece. I bought a kit that contains a bunch of ornament options and this has a lot of quarter stitches and half stitches. When it is finished, it will have a couple birds on some flowering branches. I know that kindles are huge but I can turn it into a magnet or a pin-cushion or something. Ideas are always welcome! 

So those are my WIPs and I'm thinking about starting another large project but I don't want more than 6 projects at a time so I guess I need to get cracking on some of my smaller pieces :) Until next time!