2016 Year in Review

I thought this year I'd try to do a year in review before the year was over.  Novel concept, I know.  LOL!  This year's stats are way down compared to years past.  I kinda knew they would be.  I lost my stitching mojo for a while and my work life was super stressful for the first six months of the year.  In spite of all that, I'm thankfully ending the year with things looking up and renewed optimism.

Since you all know I'm a numbers gal, here's where I stand for 2016.  I really tried to finish some things from the box o'shame.  I'm pleased to say I did pretty good there.  I also wanted to get some of my BAPs done too and I managed to do that as well.  I currently only have four things in my rotation and I feel like I could whittle that down if I tried real hard.

New Starts: 15

Finishes:  16

UFOs (unfinished objects):  7

WIPs (works in progress):  4

Exchanges:  2

Gifts: 1

SALs:  1

Classes: 0

 

So let's have a look at what made up these numbers.  I think that would be fun! I've put links in so you can find more information if you want to see it.  Here we go!

First finish of the year!

A delayed ornament finish from last year or you could say it was my first for this year.  Depends on how you want to look at it.  LOL!

The gift I stitched for our visit to Westtown School in the spring.

The only SAL I did this year.  It was with my friend, Maggee over at Stitching Devotee.  Whom I got to meet in person this fall.  This was my January 1st start this year!

The first of my two exchange pieces.  This was for the Russellville exchange in the summer.

The first of my BAP finishes.  This was a carryover from last year.  I love it still.

This is one that came out of the box o'shame and finally saw the light of day.

I don't know why it took me so long to finish this cutie.

The second ornament I finished stitching.  Now it's in the box o'shame waiting its turn.  Oh geese!

This sweet set will forever remind me of my first trip to the PALS retreat in Myrtle Beach!  What an awesome weekend that was in spite of that ole hurricane.

Another ornament stitched that's been living in the basket o'joy for literally years!  Love this one.

Yes, it's in the box o'shame now too.

Ah my second BAP finish and what a pretty one she is!  I really miss stitching on this one.  It was just that good.

And last but not least, the last exchange piece I did for the year.

That was fun, wasn't it?!  I guess that's one advantage to not being very prolific, you can see it all in one blog post and it doesn't go on forever.  LOL!

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Now for the WIPs (works in progress).  I'm only carrying forward four this year.  These are the ones I'm actively working on right now.  I could count old class pieces that are still unfinished but let's not get carried away.

This is I Sigh Not for Beauty.  I'm determined to just get on with it already!

Here's the first post I did on this one.  Geesh, way back in 2011!

I've actually stitched more on this one since this picture was taken.  This is on of Nora Corbett's Letters from Mermaids.  This was my second start of 2016!

This one I'm thinking I may put back in the WIP basket for a while.  For some reason I'm just not feeling the watermelon vibe in the winter.  This one is a "do-over."

This is one I've resurrected.  I was rooting around in the stash heap when I came across the bag where this has been hanging out since...ahem, 2013!  Yes, three years soon to be four!  It's the 2013 iStitch Advent SAL.  Apparently I got to day 8 and gave up.  I'm further now but I wanted to document where I started or I guess you'd say restarted this one.  I'm hoping I can get it done really soon!

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As for my New Year's stitching plans.  I'm not actually sure what I'm going to be working on yet.  I know there will be a new start tomorrow.  What it will be remains to be seen.  There are several I'm percolating over.  We shall see! Tell me what you intend to start on New Year's day.  I'd love to know!

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Well all, I hope you have a lovely New Year's Eve whatever you plan to do.  I plan to stay right where I am and probably stitch on something above.  I wish you all a safe evening if you fancy going out.  And I'll see you in 2017!

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Preparing for October...an experiment

I don't feel like I've stitched much at all this year and this here blog shows it.  I've decided this stitchy slump of mine has got to come to an end.  So I've decided to try something different to maybe motivate me to work on my WIPs.

This fall I've jumped on the Bullet Journal bandwagon along with everybody else.  In the past, I've kept various digital and analog planners so trying this method sounding interesting to me.  It's been a couple months now and can see some advantages.   I've always liked to do hand lettering, draw and of course, I like to write too.

I had an epiphany the other day.  Why not make a tracker in my journal where I can note my progress on my WIPs?  So as I work on each WIP, I'll note it in the tracker.  At the end of the month I'll have a better idea where my time was spent.  I'm not going to put any pressure on myself.  I'm treating this as a learning experience not a marathon/competition to see how much I can bust out.  This is supposed to be for fun dontcha know.

So to kick things off, lets have a peek at where I stand on the ones I want to track in the month of October.  Starting with the oldest to the newest.

This is "I Sigh Not for Beauty."  I started this one as a SAL with the peeps way back in 2011.  I'm fairly sure I'm the only one who hasn't finished.  Christie, this one's for you! She's been gently nudging me all year to get crackin' on this one.  As you can see from the picture, I could pretty easily get it done if I really tried.

Next up is Heaven Above.  I've been working on this here and there this year.  I've finally moved onto page three of four!  From this point forward it's pretty much all letters with a few motifs sprinkled in here and there.  I really love this one and I really like stitching letters!

I haven't worked on this one since the Mirabilia Retreat in the spring.  It's one of Nora Corbett's mermaids.  It's charted as an "E" but I'm going to lob off a couple legs and turn it into an "L."  As anyone knows who's stitched one of Nora's designs, there are a lot of color changes which makes for slower stitching...or at least I go slower.  LOL!

Then we have the Watermelon restart.  I could easily get this one done.  It's a quick stitch.  I've been using it as my "car" project this summer when we've gone on a couple trips.  That large count really lends itself to stitching while in motion.  Although, bridges and overpasses are a wee bit bumpy no matter what count you are stitching.

This one is an oldie from Homespun Elegance.  It's called Colonial Santa and it was a kit.  I found him when I was doing some recent de-stashing.   I'm sure I picked it up in a free box somewhere.  Whoever de-stashed it before I got it had started the coat.  So far I've only gotten a  tiny bit of the beard done.  This one is interesting because it uses Medici wool floss.  That's a first for me.  It's quite springy floss.

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So folks there you are, my current WIPs.  Let's see how this little experiment goes.  I think it will be fun to see who gets the most attention this month and maybe even who gets done.  I'm an optimistic little thing dontcha know.  LOL!

I hope wherever you are you are getting to spend time with needle in hand.  Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a great weekend and a great October!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Shepherd's Bush Trip - day 5

On Saturday, we started the day with our second class.  It was with Jeannette Douglas!  I've had class with Jeannette before and I just love her.  She is the warmest and friendliest person you'll ever meet.

Here she is taking attendance!  She had us laughing the minute she walked into the room.  She's so fun and the best story teller ever!

Here's what the Christmas elf brought us in her class.  A little holly needle threader made out of polymer clay!  Isn't it cute?!  It was wrapped in a little wrapping paper bag shaped like a humbug!

Jeannette made the "Be Merry and Bright" tag you see in the picture.  It's from her class project's bag and happens to be the title of the piece too.

This is Jeannette's project.  I was able to get part of the border on both sides done and the pink row below the hearts done in class.  Her project is worked on a natural linen with wool flosses from Gloriana and Weeks!  I've never worked with wool on cross stitch before.  I think I'm going to like it.  They cover really well.  The last time I worked with wool was back in the days of crewel.  How many remember that?!

Before class started, I notied one of my classmates working on her Santa sack.  She said she couldn't decide which motifs she wanted to put on hers so she did them all over one!  There's an over achiever in every crowd.  LOL!  Seriously though, isn't it cute?

After breaking for lunch at the hotel cafe again and yet another trip through the Christmas Shop, we had Ann and Pat from R & R Reproductions for our afternoon class.  I'm not sure what Ann is telling in this picture but she's really into it!

Here's Pat carrying the class project and their "Mary Poppins" bag.  She was quite the talker throughout the class.  I learned a ton of tips from her during class.  Like which side of the linen to iron.

 

Did you know you are supposed to iron your linen on the side that opens like a book?  Meaning fold marks down.  She said if you iron it the other way you'll put the crease in it permanently even though you think you are smoothing it out.  Who knew?!

 

Here's the gift the Christmas elf brought us before this class got started.  It's a paper ORTs box that slips into a sleeve.  Isn't that the bee's knees?

 

 

Speaking of gifts, here is the gift Pat and Ann had made for us by Liberty Hill!  It's a thread pallet that's painted to resemble the design we will stitch.  As an added bonus we got a painted heart scissor fob too.

Pat told us they have been working to get these for 5 years and the classes at Shepherd's Bush are the only ones that will ever have one of these.  The teachers didn't even get one, only the students!  Talk about exclusive!!!  They are amazing!  I love Liberty Hill's work.

Here's the class project.  Can you see the resemblance to the thread pallet above?  I'm thinking I'll do mine as a pillow instead of a box.  They said you could get the box from Olde Colonial and put holiday keepsakes in it if you wanted to.  I was able to get the bottom border and the first three words done in this class.

 Speaking of boxes, this little pretty is Ann's traveling sewing box.  I like how she took a picture of a sampler piece and attached it to the box top with shellac.

Here's the inside of it.  It reminds me of Blackbird's tulip box.  It gave me an idea for another day.

Pat says she also uses Gingher snips instead of scissors most of the time because she finds it saves time and fumbling with scissors.  She also said she threads up several needles at a time instead of changing colors in one needle.  I do this when I quilt and have done it before when stitching.  I'd just forgotten about it.  Hmm...might have to start doing that again.

I really enjoyed class with these ladies and look forward to the opportunity to spend time with them again sometime!  Hopefully soon!

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I have had some questions about the retreat so I'll take the time to answer them here. 

Q:  "Were they (the cookies) already made for you or was that a project you participated in?"
A:  Parts were done ahead like the measuring tape being attached to the wool and wool circles for the sandwich cookies were all cut out for us but we did the assembly that evening at the various stations.

Q:   "So did the SB retreat get rid of the whole track thing??"
A:  No, they still have "tracks."  You find out who is teaching in what track when they post the brochure in the spring on their web page.  Then you have to choose which track you want to be in and cross your fingers you get it since it's first come, first serve.  The do have a waiting list if you don't get your first choice.

Q:   "Does the fact that there are 178 of you make things feel crowded or claustrophobic or like you're not getting enough attention or anything?"
A:  I didn't really notice any ill effects from a large group.  They broke the tracks into two groups each (1a, 1b, 2a, & 2b) so we were pretty evenly distributed.  I always felt like I got plenty of personal attention in class.  I will say that the Christmas shop was elbow to elbow though.  LOL!

Q:  "Did you ladies bring your own lights?"
A:  Yes, we brought them from home.  They went through security at the airport just fine!

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Well folks, this one is getting pretty lengthy so I'm going to stop here and continue with the evening's festivities tomorrow! Then that will wrap up the recap of my trip.  I'm so glad you all have enjoyed the posts.  It's always fun to receive such positive feedback!


More tomorrow!

The Inspired Stitcher

Shepherd's Bush Trip - day 4

Friday (day 4) we got up rearing to go!  It was finally class day.  When you go to Shepherd's Bush retreat you sign up for a "Track" of three teachers.  You know what teachers you will have but you don't know beforehand what day you'll have them or what their project will be.

We discovered our first class was with Linda Lautenschlager of Chessie & Me.  No her name isn't Chessie!  That's the cat's name.  She says she gets that a lot.  LOL!

Here's Linda taking attendance!

Before we got started with class, one of the Shepherd's Bush elves came in and gave us our first Christmas present!  It came in the decorated library card pocket on the left.  Isn't it just so pretty?!

Speaking of gifts, isn't this the cutest little counting pin ever?!  Linda told us these were from Chessie.  She wanted us to think of her while we were stitching.  I used mine to score a line in my fabric so it works for that purpose too.  Love it!

Here's Linda's project again.  I love the fabric she chose.  It's called tarnished silver.  I also love the overdyed silks and all those cute little sheep too.

Here's Linda's demo of the long arm cross we'd be doing for the border.  I like this big stitching card she had.  She said she picked several of them up at Market this year.  The teachers really like these cards and so do I.  Great for a visual learner like myself!

Here we are working away at our projects!  Linda's class was a lot of fun and I enjoyed hearing her cat stories.  After class we made one more trip to the Christmas Shop and then into town for some souvenir shopping before dinner.

We were invited by these ladies to join them on their patio for a grill out!  How can you resist that?!  My friend Sara's girls made my favorite squash casserole just because they knew I was coming.  Aren't they the sweetest?!  It was really good too! We also had grilled burgers, corn, and peaches!  If you've never had a grilled peach, you must try one sometime!

 Here we all are enjoying a wonderful dinner together outside.  Great food and great company made for a memorable meal.  I could have stayed there for hours listening to stories and visiting but we had to scoot off to the hotel for our dessert project!

Here we are, all 178 of us!  At least that's the count I believe I heard.  Lots of stitchers happily chatting away.  The room was a buzz with excitement.  You can kind of see the dessert on the table in the lower right corner.  It was a layered chocolate mousse!

This is the inside of Cece's group project.  We were given the design to stitch the night before when we made "cookies."  Once it's stitched it will be backed with quilt fabric and made into a pocket.  You can almost see the tiny bee's wax snowman peeking out of the pocket in the lower right corner.  Cece said she used a vintage chocolate mould to make them!

This is the outside all completed on her example. We were given a packet with all the wool, floss, buttons, ribbons and embellishments to complete our own.  I've done wool applique before so this project should be a snap to finish.

That wraps up day 4.   Another great day!  Tomorrow we have class with Jeannette Douglas in the morning and R & R in the afternoon.  We also have the banquet dinner and ornament exchange too.  I'm not sure I'll be able to fit all that in one post but we'll see.


Still more to come,

The Inspired Stitcher

A One Woman Retreat

You know what they say about the best laid plans...well that's how my Friday went.  My honey and I were supposed to go south for a weekend getaway and our plans fell through.  Since I'd worked through my lunches, came in early and stayed late several days last week I ended up having enough time built up to take the day off.  Since I really wasn't planning on being in town anyway, I made the best of it.

Does this place look familiar?  It should!  It's where the LNS holds it's annual retreat.  The difference is there's no snow on the ground in this picture!  I decided to escape to the local state park's lodge and stitch the afternoon away!

Here's the view of the lake this time of year.  Isn't it just so pretty!

I can't show you the front of what I'm working on here because one of my readers will see it and it's a surprise.  However, I don't mind showing you a bit of the back and the "nest" I made sitting there by the fireplace.

What a Cut Up! freebie from The Dandy Hare blog

I did get another project moving along again while I was there too.  Remember this one from the WIP list at the beginning of the year?  What got me to thinking about this one was Carol's post over at Stitching Dreams. She stitched hers over 2 and made it into a super cute pincushion. This made me remember mine in my WIP bag. So out it came and off to the woods it went with me.

I decided since the light was nice and bright I'd frog the border where I was off count.  Now I can't decide if I want to put it back in or do something else.  I'm also percolating on how I'm going to finish this little sweetie.  What do you all think?

I have to say it really felt good to just escape for a while and stitch uninterrupted.  I could have stayed home and worked on house chores but I'm really glad I didn't.

When I did go home I took Miss Shelby for a good long walk in town.  Here's a recent picture of her.  She's getting to be a big girl now.  I read that Dalmatians grow up the first year and out the second and third year.  I can tell you for sure she's all legs at this point!  She's also loosing her milk teeth.  She lost three of her fangs just this past weekend.  My furbaby is growing up!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today and if you get the chance, I highly encourage you to take yourself a one woman (or man) retreat somewhere.  You don't have to go far to reap the benefits!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher