A new year and another WIPocalypse

This year I have decided not to make a list of proposed finishes because it seems that with the exception of one or two I don't bother sticking to my list. I always start out well but then switch gears and start stitching on other projects than the ones I chose initially. There are just too many new releases and other projects calling my name. However I have left a few starts unfinished from last year which I'm trying to get done at some point within the coming year. These include Plum Street Samplers Autumn Fraktur, Stacy Nash Thistles and Spells  and Carriage House Samplings And Heaven And Nature Sing. I started all three of these last fall and just didn't get in as much stitching time as usual. Plus I just didn't feel like doing needlework for a number of weeks perhaps because I'd been ill for much of the season. In any case I got myself in gear and started off with PSS Autumn Fraktur. To my surprise I had it finished off within a couple of weeks!

Here's a before and after pic of it.

 Before

 After

I have quite a few Halloween finishes but very few autumn ones so this will be a welcome addition in my home next fall. I love the rich colours in this one.

Next on the agenda..... Stacy Nash Thistles and Spells Pinkeep

Here's where I left off:

Progress as of yesterday:

I figure there is only another day or two of stitching left on this. After completing the monument at the upper left all that remains is the vine border.

That leaves CHS And Heaven and Nature Sing. I love this one and would be a lot further along if it hadn't been for running out of a crucial floss. I'm using Hand Dyed Fibre's Silks in Kodiak Brown. This particular colour was available in 3 varying shades. I say "was" because this floss is no longer being produced or sold any longer. I figured that with what I had left it would be close for finishing but it's very difficult to determine when the thread is on a spool. So very soon into the stitching of the deer I resorted to another plan to save on thread. I stitched the first portion of my crosses with a similar brown and then crossed in the other direction with the Kodiak Brown. This was going really well until I ran out of the Kodiak brown just short of finishing up the last leg of the deer.

  I still have one antler left to finish up in the same colour. The lettering in the piece was also to have been stitched using this but I had already decided on an alternate colour for that. What to do, what to do?

After putting out a call for help to some of my fellow stitchers, I have located a spool of the correct colour which is on its way to me as I write this. I can't thank my fellow stitching friend, Kathy Born, enough for her help in this! So hopefully this will be back in my rotation in a couple of weeks.

Just after Christmas I received a call that a frame I had ordered for one of my stitches which was on back order was now in and the piece was completed. Although it wasn't up in time for Christmas Day, it's one of those pieces that can remain up all year if desired and it's still up on my dining room wall at this time.

Here is Plum Street Samplers Promised Lamb.

 

As of today I've started another small piece for my Smalls SAL this month which should take only a day or so to complete. Pictures will follow on my next post. 

I hope that all my friends who are in the path of the current winter blizzard are safe and warm. It's a perfect time for stitching!

 

November Stitch From Stash

So I'm just squeaking in under the wire on this post too. We just haven't been home long enough for me to put in any time either on stitching or the computer. 
If you check my previous post you can see my ornament finish by Blackbird Designs which I found in my 2010 issue of the Just CrossStitch ornaments. I have every issue of these ornaments since they started publishing them and it's great fun to pull them out and go through them each year. 

I had two finishes this past month. The first was Fancey Blackett's Brooms by Pineberry Lane which can be seen here. The second was Blackbird Designs House on Acorn Hill. Here is a pic of the finish.

  I purchased 2 new charts over the past month - Threadwork Primitives Give Thanks and Christmas Fruit Basket. I was on a recent road trip with the designer, Nan Lewis, and she was kind enough to bring the one pattern with her so that I didn't have to pay shipping costs to Canada. Thanks Nan!!
The cost of these charts amounted to $23.48. 

So that pretty well sums up my spending for the month. 

I also wanted to share a pic of my Carriage House Samplings Pumpkin Farm which returned from the framer this month. I was so pleased with it as was my friend Thea for whom I stitched this one.

 

 

Not much else to report for the month. I'm going to sit down and stitch tonight for the first time in several days. I'm starting one from my stash by Plum Street Samplers, Promised Lamb. I know it won't be down before Christmas but hopefully it will be well on its way. I'll also be stitching up another ornament or two. 
Now I'm off to pull out my stitching. Yeah!!

October WIPocalypse - missed the Lunar Eclipse

Looks like my post title will tell you what I was not doing last night. I did not wake early in order to see the eclipse. The need for sleep won out and I slept right through the alarm which intended to wake me for the big event. However I do have a lot of stitching to show for this month's full moon WIPocalypse.

From the looks of my original list I am in fact stitching a number of pieces but not necessarily the ones on my list. I tend to change my mind a lot so this really doesn't surprise me. My latest finish though was one of the original choices from my list. Carriage House Samplings Pumpkin Farm was stitched as a thank you gift for my quilting buddy Thea who has finished off two of my cross stitch pieces as quilted wall hangings and is about to start work on a third. 

Being as this is an older chart, I checked online for any corrections and did in fact find one on the CHS webpage. I was halfway through the sideways house though when I found a second mistake which had not been caught. The house is charted to be stitched entirely in the darker creamy yellow with no separate colour around the door or the eaves. I got thinking that I didn't remember the house as being that yellow and sure enough when I pulled out the coloured cover I noticed the difference. It meant frogging out every thing that I had stitched on the filling in so that I could add that differentiation around the door and eaves as well as stitch the front of the house in the correct colour. I will definitely be contacting them to correct this mistake.
Thea has asked me to pick out the frame for the piece and she may accompany me when the time comes. She was sooo happy when she saw it which made me happy too. Even the wacky pumpkin guys approve of this one!

After finishing this larger piece I allowed myself two new small starts. The first is a freebie from The Primitive Hare called Witch's Kitchen.

The second is from Lori Brechlin's Autumn at Notforgotten Farm book. It's called Turkey Trot pillow.

I'm also back to stitching again on Pineberry Lane Fancey Blackett's Brooms.

Lots of autumn/Halloween stitching going on around here so I figured it was about time I dug out some of my decor to match. I have most of my fall stuff out upstairs but the rec room was lacking much of anything so I filled it with some of my favourite Halloween pieces.

I'm still in the process of unpacking my Jim Shore Halloween tree but I should have it up shortly (if I can find where I stored it last year, lol!). Thanks for dropping by. Hope all my Canadian friends are getting ready for their Thanksgiving feasts this weekend!

Stitching From Stash - Welcome Fall!

It's an absolutely gorgeous fall day here! It's actually more like summer than fall if it weren't for all the changing colours. I've been busy over the past week doing up some of my previous fall finishes which can be seen on my previous post. Now I have lots of lovely little pillows to add to my fall decor!

In keeping with autumn, I've continued to work on my Carriage House Samplings Pumpkin Farm. I apologize for the lighting in the pictures. My camera battery needs recharging and I wanted to get this post up before the deadline.

Lots of autumn colour and fun little motifs to stitch! It's moving along quite well now. It won't be long before I'm on to the border.

I decided to pick out a Halloween start as well which I've had in my stash since last year. I found a fabric that I thought would work but it was 40 ct which I've never stitched on. Well it's about time don't you think? So I plunged right in and here's where I am at this point.

This is another prim fall stitch which I'm really enjoying. I also finished off another small by With Thy Needle & Thread, ABC For Crow Pinkeep, which can be seen on my previous post. It's also an autumn finish.

As for money spent this month, well, I've decided to use this as my exemption month. I saved a little cash stash over the summer and broke down to use it on many of the new market releases as well as some fabric. 
See!

All told, this spree totaled $170.23 which of course is well above my $25 allowance and is exactly why I have chosen this to be my exemption month. I know myself and I know that I will always spend more in the fall than at Christmas. Why? Well it's because fall is my favourite season and I love so many of the designs out there for fall/Halloween. The colours just speak to me. So I'm begging mercy and taking September as my exemption month. I think I've got things out of my system now and can behave for the rest of the year!

Now I'm off to see what the rest of you have been up to. It's also a beautiful summerlike day here so I'm heading out to the gazebo with stitching in hand. Enjoy your day!

September's Super Moon WIPocalypse

The last appearance of the Super Moons tells me that it's time once more for a WIPocalypse update. We were fairly busy last month so not as much stitching took place as I would have liked but here is a quick update. 

I just pulled this out this morning after a hiatus so there are only a very few more stitches put into this than the last time you saw it. This is Carriage House Samplings Pumpkin Farm. This design was OOP however I see that they have re-released several of the the once OOP designs so it is available once more should you want to stitch it.

No more new stitches have been added to This is the Day since my Stitch from Stash posting in August. I'm hoping to pick this one up again very soon.

I did manage to finish up another small though. This is Primitive Stitchin' Five Lil' Pumpkins.

That's two recent fall finishes and I'm starting up another today! Next start is With Thy Needle & Thread ABC for Crow Pinkeep. All have been fairly quick little stitches and will add to my fall/Halloween decor. All these little finishes make for a mega day of final finishing in my future! Time to bring out the sewing machine!

There has not been a lot of progress in whittling away the larger projects from my initial WIPocalypse list. A few are complete and there is progress on a few more but it is unlikely that I will complete my original list. I never do! I always seem to find lots of other stitches in my stash throughout the year that I want to get started on instead and that's just fine with me.

Fall is starting to make its way to our little corner of the world. Several trees in the village have already started turning and there is a cool nip in the air in the early morning and evenings. The neighbourhood is being invaded by squirrels some of whom are just a little too pesky. Take a look at the antics of this fellow!

See you soon!

August Stitch From Stash

Summer continues to fly by as we come to the close of August. Really? It seems like summer hardly got started let alone is near it's finish! Already I feel the need to stitch some pieces for fall as the cooler days and shorter nights move in. Actually, now that I think about it, all my pieces that I've worked on this month have a fall theme or feel to them.

I mentioned to you last month that I had got started on a new piece from my stash, Pumpkin Hill by Carriage House Samplings. This piece is being stitched for a friend who chose it from my stash as a thank you for all her help in finishing off some of my cross stitch pieces. Here is my progress up until now.

 

Lots of fall colours and motifs in this one! I've also spent some quality time on This Is The Day by Hands To Work Designs. This one is a little slower going since I'm not used to stitching on 36 ct fabric. This designs also has a lot of fall colours in it. I originally started this piece in September 2013 so it's about time I put some stitches in on it.

 

I deliberately left the year of the date of completion unfinished on this one because I really don't know whether I'll finish it up this year or next.

I always like to have a small project to take with me on the road. My recent start is from the November 2013 issue of Cross-Stitch & Needlework. It's called Primitive Welcome and is from one of my favourite designers, Nan Lewis of Threadwork Primitives.

I haven't got too far on this one yet. Another stitch which I completed this month was Halloween Chant by Teresa Murgida and it can be seen here. Most of my stitching took place earlier in the month and all of it was from stash. However.....

 

As you can see from the pics above, I did add some to that stash this month. I ordered a Halloween e-pattern from Etsy @ $7.00 as well as a few of Brenda Gervais' new releases @ $32.00 and BBD Honeybee Hill @ $10.16 for a grand total of $49.16. Mel, this total is before the $25 market exemption for the month. So with my market exemption and my $25 monthly exemption I just squeaked in under budget. 

I thought the Honeybee Hill pattern would be perfect to stitch for one of those shaker boxes I purchases at the antique shop last month. Now to find the time to stitch on it. 

Hope you have all had a good month and that several of you were much better at resisting temptation than I have!

August Supermoon WIPocalypse

It's a beautiful evening here as I sit and watch another supermoon rise.The days are growing shorter and I find it difficult to stitch in the outdoor gazebo beyond 8:00 pm. So most of my stitching time occurs in the morning, quite often the early morning. I love this time of day when the neighbourhood is so quiet (with the exception of the birds) and the temperatures are delightfully cool. Quite often I'm out there stitching in my PJs with coffee beside me, taking it all in before the day gets hot and busy.

This month I've been concentrating on two larger pieces. The first is one that I'm stitching for a friend who has helped me with some quilting on my cross stitch finishes. I gave her a number of my charts to browse through and her choice was Carriage House Samplings Pumpkin Farm.

The remainder of my time I've been trying to get caught up on Hands To Work This is the Day.  I started this piece in Sept. 2013 and it tends to get put aside quite often. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the fact that it's being stitched on 36 ct which is not a favourite of mine but I'm determined to get moving on this.

Here's my previous progress:

Where I am at the full moon:

This is actually a truer photo of the colour of the fabric. It's a Silkweaver Solo which I had for several years just waiting for that perfect piece. In the following photo you can see the close up of the boxed in area which was my first attempt at stitching over one on 36 ct.

As you can see I've left the last digit off of the year because I'm not sure if this piece will be finished this year or next. There is still a lot of stitching remaining and I know that it won't be long before I'm caught up in fall, Halloween and Christmas stitching. Once more this beauty will probably take a back seat. I do know that when it is finally finished I will be extremely proud that I managed to tackle and complete it. I know it will look beautiful gracing my wall!

Not much else going on at the moment. My stitching thoughts are turning to fall and I'm currently looking for a small stitch to complete for this month's Smalls SAL. I can't believe summer is coming to a close already!

July Stitching From Stash

Summer continues to fly by at a very rapid pace. Ever notice how long it takes for winter to be overwith compared to summer, lol?
Until last week we hadn't had too many very hot and humid days so I have been spending lots of my free time stitching in my gazebo.

Two finishes to show for this past month. The first is in honour of Canada Day and is one of my purchases for this month. Some of you may have seen this on my last post as it was my Smalls SAL commitment for June. It's a lovely e-pattern by Sub Rosa which I altered by adding a Canadian flag and the button. The e-pattern deducted $7 from this month's budget. My excuse? There are very few patterns out there for Canadian patriotic stitches!

My second finish is the one I have been working at through most of June. I loved every minute of this one and almost hated putting it down!
This is Heartstring Samplery The Strawberry Bower Sampler from The Strawberry Collection leaflet.

Besides these two I have been working on this month's Smalls SAL pattern. It's also an e-pattern which I had in my stash. I'm hoping this will be complete in time for next Wednesday's post!

Unfortunately I don't have a pic of my second start yet since there isn't enough to show you yet. I started on Carriage House Samplings Pumpkin Farm which I am stitching for a friend. This one has been in my stash for some time now so I'm glad to be finally bringing it to life.

As for my spending this month, the grand total was the $7 mentioned above! I did order my fabric from Picture This Plus today at their Christmas in July sale but if you remember I'm using the money my Mom gifted me with following my surgery. So I behaved rather well this month I think! Sort of..... I did purchase some antiques during a local antique fest to use for stitching finishes. I know these don't count but they are stitching related! You'll just have to wait and see how I end up using these beauties. 

As for next month it's hard to tell. I've already seen some lovely new releases out there. Help!!