The October WIP Experiment

I bet you were wondering how the experiment went for the month of October.  Well, since it is the last day of the month, I thought I'd report in.  So here goes!  It's been a month of discoveries.

So here's the tracker for the month.  I didn't stitch as much in a month as I thought I might but it's an improvement.  I'm beginning to see a pattern.  Sundays seem to be the day I do the most stitching.  I also seem to get on a tear with a project and work on it over the course of several days before moving on.  I didn't even touch the mermaid or the watermelon so we'll focus on the ones I did spend time with.  So lets take a look at them!

 ~*~*~*~

 

"I Sigh Not for Beauty"

Progress as of 9/30/16

Progress as of 10/31/16

Well, it's nothing to get too excited about but it is still something, I suppose.  I did finally take it off the ginormous Q-snaps I had been using and switched to my 11 x 11" ones.  Definitely more manageable for couch stitching.  Now to get that plant it's match on the other side and more of those little flowers in and around the vine.

"Heaven Above"

Progress as of 9/30/16

Progress as of 10/31/16

As you can tell, this was one I got on a tear with.  It also helped that I attended the Tiara Club retreat a couple weekends ago and worked on this all afternoon that Saturday (I only went for the day this time).  I'm actually really into this one at the moment.  I may even work on it some more tonight.

Oh yeah, about the random "h" on the right, stitched purely for placement so I could stitch those rosebuds.  You know how it is when you still have a color on your needle and you want to finish the thread.  C'mon, you know you do it too.  Another random factoid, I have to stitch sentences.  I can't stitch partial or random words.  So yeah, the "h" is driving me nuts but I had to do it.  It's a quirk of mine.  Yes, I'm weird.  There, I admitted it.  LOL!  Moving on...

"Colonial Santa"

Progress as of 9/30/16

Design: Colonial Santa  (circa 1988!)

Designer: Homespun Elegance

Fabric: 27ct. unbleached brown linen

Floss: Medici wool and DMC as kitted

Started:  9/9/16

Finished:  10/22/16

Completed: TBD

Yep, I had a finish this month!!!  I finished this at the Tiara Club retreat.  I can't wait to do the finish finishing it.  I'll actually have a new one for the tree this year before Christmas even!  I know, shock of the world.  This one will remind us of our 20th anniversary trip we took to Williamsburg this year.  Yay!  So cute!

~*~*~*~

I also did some finishing this month on a project I'd worked on earlier this summer.  I'll share it in another post since it doesn't relate to the WIPs I'm tracking. 

I've decided I'll continue this experiment in November too.  I'm all about whatever I can do to motivate me and this seems to be working.  Who knows, maybe there will be another finish.  I hope you enjoyed seeing my progress and maybe this will inspire you too.

Thanks for stopping by to visit today!

Happy Halloween!

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.

~*~*~*~

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

Whitman's Cloisonné Tin Sewing Kit - Finished!

This is going to be a quick one today.  I got the itch over the weekend to dig into the "box o'shame" aka the box where I keep my finished stitching waiting to be completed.  Good lawd, it's pitiful!  Shame is the correct word, I tell ya.  As some of you might know, I have kept an Excel sheet of all my starts and finishes since I took up stitching again in 2009.  This one was one of the oldest in the box!  Let's check it out.

Here's the outside.  I found the receipt inside the chart.  Can you believe I bought this back in 2005?!  Yes, four years before I even took up stitching again.  The receipt shows I bought the tin at the same time as the chart and linen.  Wow!

Design:  Whitman's Cloisonné Tin Sewing Kit

Designer:  Jane Timmers aka Fancy Work

Fabric: 32 ct. Sand Dune

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  5/24/10

Finished: 5/25/10

Completed: 8/21/16

To add to the "shame" it only took me six years to actually get around to finishing this project.  Oh that's just pathetic!  I guess it just had to "ripen."  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I liked that there were "how to" instructions for lining the tin included with the chart.  It was way easier than anticipated!  I'll definitely do that again on future tins.  I may even go back and do it for the ones I've already made too.

The back did not come charted.  I did that myself using the same motifs from the front and free-styling the initials.  Thankfully the letter "P" was already charted. I included a nickel to show the tiny size of the pincushion.  I just love tiny little things!

Overall, I'm really pleased with the way this turned out.  I'm mildly ashamed of myself that it took me this long to finish it though.  It really didn't take me that long to do.  Oh well, at least I can cross one off the list now.

~*~*~*~

Well folks, thanks for stopping by to visit today.  I hope I've helped some of you feel better about your stitching.  I'm sure you all are much better at getting things done than I am.  Have a good rest of your week!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Heaven Above...progress

This past weekend was a washout in my neck of the woods.  Don't get me wrong, we needed the rain.  It actually made for good stitching weather.  DH and I decided we'd do the weekly grocery run on Saturday in anticipation of the monsoon that was called for on Sunday.  This also meant we didn't have to leave the house!  Such a luxury when you work all week long.  I decided to dedicate the weekend's stiching time to "Heaven Above."

Progress as of 3/16/16

Progress as of 8/14/16

As you can tell from comparing the pictures, lots of progress has been made.  My goal was to get all the small motifs in and start on the sun in the lower right corner.  Friday night the peeps got together for a girls night of stitching.  I got a good many of them done then and decided I'd keep on rolling with it.

Here's a closer shot so you can see it a bit better.  I plan to stitch the sun "in the round" so I don't get a stripey look.  I'm hoping the variegation of this floss will give a nice spiral effect.  We shall see!  Once I get the sun stitched in I'll be able to start page three of four and will be half way finished!  The bottom half is mostly all words.  I like words.

This is what was next to me the whole time I was stitching.  Shelby was quite the Velcro dog all day yesterday.  I couldn't resist a snap of this cuteness.  Two of her favorite things right there with her, that blanket and that bone.  Love that silly pup!

~*~*~*~

Well good people, it's a short and sweet one today.  Hope you all are well and able to push needle through fabric today.  Thanks for stopping by to visit today.  Have a good week!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Speak To The Earth - FINISHED!

Well folks, I've finally finished "Speak to the Earth!"  Yes, it's true!! I can hardly believe it myself.

As I may have mentioned before, this went out of print in 1997 but was brought back by popular demand.  I'm so glad they did!  I first saw it at a Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild meeting before it was reprinted.  My peep, Marsha saw it first shared on Facebook by the person who shared it at the guild meeting.  That set us both in motion to keep an eye out for it and once found, the SAL with the peeps ensued. The picture below is clickable to see it larger.

Design:  Speak to the Earth

Designer: Sandy Orton -  Donna Kooler Designs

Fabric: 36 ct. Light Mocha

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started: 1/1/15

Finished: 7/12/16

Framed: TBD

It feels good to finally have this one ready for framing.  When that will be? Well, who knows but at least it's done.  This was one that I will miss spending time stitching.  It was a joy to stitch.  The colors were what grabbed me, particularly the sun and moon.  The other part that really grabbed me was the bee hive in the lower right.  You all know how I love my bees.  Now I just have to decide how I want to sign it.  I've got a couple ideas.  We'll see which I fancy more.

I thought it might be fun to see some of the progress pics too.  This was taken this time last year.  I was over half way done.  I have to laugh at myself, I was so close but yet it took me so long.  Ah...life happens.

Here we are on our last check in back in May.  Heading down the home stretch!  I decided before I left for Russellville that I really wanted to finish this one up before the summer was over.  I'm so pleased I did.

I saved this post until the peeps could all see it first.  Thanks to all who have cheered me on here during the life of this one.  It really is so pretty in person.  I wish you all could see it too.

I've been working on some smalls lately.  They are wonderful instant gratification after coming off a long term project like this one.  Hopefully, I can find time for a finishing day soon so I'll have some more to share.


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Russellville Recap - part 3

Finally, an annual favorite and the grand finale of the weekend...the stitched gift exchange.  I've saved the best for last.  I know I've said it before, but we are a really talented group of stitchers.  Go grab a cuppa, there's lots to see and this is going to take a while!

Design: Summer/Bee Happy (freebie)

Designer: Lynn B @ Happiness is Cross Stitching

Fabric: 28ct. Antique Ivory

Floss: DMC as charted

Started: 5/28/16

Finished: 6/25/16

Completed: 7/4/16

This was my contribution to the exchange.  The minute I saw this one on Lynn B's blog, I knew it was what I wanted to stitch.  I did my finishing a bit differently than she showed.  I decided to try knotting the cording, fraying out the ends into a "faux" tassel, and attaching it on either side.  I like how it turned out!

Belinda's

Bobbie's (front view)

Bobbie's (back view)

Dee's

Diane's (outside view)

Diane's (inside view)

Evie's (front view)

Evie's (back view)

Judy's

Kathy's

Nancy's

Patti's

Sandy's

Sue's

Valerie's

The funny part of the exchange is that I got Valerie's gift and she got mine!  That happened for two other folks too.  Also, speaking of Valerie, she's our hand model in all the pictures except the first one, that's me.  Thanks, Val for helping me get pictures of all this good stuff.

~*~*~*~

That brings us back to the return trip on the ferry and back to reality.  Oh how I wish I could just stitch all day with the peeps like we did this past weekend.  I really needed this getaway in more ways than one.  I've also had another finish since returning home but I'm going to save it for it's own post.  I think you all will be pretty excited to see it.

More soon,

The Inspired Stitcher

Russellville Recap - part 2

The show and tell table really proved we have been a busy group of stitchers since we last got together!  I  had a hard time getting it all in one picture so there are several.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.  Here we go!

Four things in this picture are mine.  You've seen the Pomegranate Pincushion in the upper left.  The Remember Me pillow, Strawberry scissor keep and the Antique Vases sewing case are all mine too.  I need to do a separate post to record their finishes here on the blog.  The pillow was last year's group project last seen here.  The Antique Vases sewing case was last seen here. 

~*~*~*~

I also wanted to show you the stash haul from the Queen Bee's "boutique" this year.  There were several things on deep discount that I couldn't resist!

These three were all complete kits that included fabric and floss!  The two heart shaped ones even included the Altoids tin as well.  The first one even has silk floss.  All were priced too good to pass up.

All but the Scarlet House one in this picture were also on sale.  I got the kit with the pansy scissor fob.  It has everything but scissors!  Loved the tea themed one and Miss Peepers was just to cute.  I've really been into Patriotic pieces lately and I've seen this on several blogs lately.  Nice!

~*~*~*~

What!?!

With that I'll leave you with this picture of a rather odd looking tomato bought at the Farmer's Market behind the "Hive."  I'll let you use your imagination here as to what you think this looks like.  Needless to say we had some fun with this one and everyone had a go at a guess.  Shenanigans abounded.  Oh yes, they did!

~*~*~*~

So that's the end for today.  Har har...couldn't resist!  I've got one more post to wrap up the weekend.  Thanks for stopping by for the second installment.


More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher