Playing Catch Up

I've finally carved out a few minutes to update my blog with my final CJC start. I only did 13 this year, not 15, so my last new start was way back on 1/12/13. It was TW's Egyptian Sampler. I got quite a good start for only working on it a couple hours (and considering that about half of what I completed was done over 1). Here's how far I got:

Egyptian Sampler - Teresa Wentzler; stitched 2 over 2 on 28 ct Toasted Almond evenweave

I really, really like this one. Maybe because I haven't gotten into all the blended colors yet, but even then I anticipate this one's going to be fun all the way through. 

On Day 13, I worked on my 2nd WIP on this year's list: Wondrous Works of God. Unfortunately, the number of stitches I put in was so minimal it isn't even worth fighting to get a good picture to post. I'll have to update my progress after this one is worked on again.

I've discovered that the best thing about participating in the CJC is that now I have 11 new starts that I'm soooo excited about stitching! The thing I'm having the hardest time with is choosing which one to work on, lol. I think I'm going to have to adopt some sort of rotation so that I can get my fill of stitching one project, while anticipation builds for the one that's coming up next. Maybe a Friday to Friday, so that I can start off making some real progress on the weekend...then I won't feel so bad if I don't get much else done during the rest of the week, lol!!

Of course, I'm also still working diligently along on my SamSarah perpetual calendar. I just got the new March charts, so I'll be squeezing time in on those here and there. They stitch up pretty quickly so those are the ones I usually work on at work. they're so easy to carry with me. I have one more of the 4 charts to finish up for February and then I'll have a pic of those to share. 

I hope everyone is busy hermitting and stitching this weekend. I haven't necessarily participated in IHSW in any 'official' way before, but I'm going to try and take part as often as I can this year. So, today officially starts my first 2013 rotation and my first IHSW. I've chosen to work on Wisteria Fairy this week. I'll try to post a progress update at the end of the weekend and then again at the end of the rotation week.

Wish me luck...and keep those stitching fingers busy, y'all! Have a great weekend :)   

TUSAL - January's Tidbits

My very first TUSAL update ever. How exciting! I emptied my ORT jar earlier in the week and put what was in it from last year in a ziploc bag to be put into a clear, dated ornament later. I'm going to try to keep doing this year after year to see how my progress changes.

Here's my ORT jar for the year's first TUSAL:

 

Crazy January Challenge Catch-Up - Days 8, 9, 10, & 11

Holy Cow!! What a week it's been - work is back in full swing after the long, looooong Holiday break. My daughter's Junior High volleyball season has started, so that's at least 2 games a week, keeping us away from home until sometimes as late as 9pm. And now, the flu has struck our house again...Whitney woke up feeling poorly yesterday morning (but didn't dare miss school due to having a volleyball game that evening) and began running a fever as soon as we got home from the game. So, between work, school sports, housework, helping Mom, pets, kids, and sickness...it's a wonder I've been able to pick up a needle lately! Somehow, I've managed to get my starts made, with only one 'cheat' day spent working on one of the two WIPs that are in my Challenge list.

Here's what's happened since last we spoke -

Day 8 start - Glory by Bent Creek

 End of day progress:

Stitching 2 over 2 on a scrap of 28-ct Beige linen

Day 9 Start - Woodland Violet Sampler by The Sweetheart Tree

And here's how far I got:

Stitching 2 over 2 on a scrap of 28-ct Antique White linen

Day 10 - No Start...instead I worked on one of the two WIPs on my list, Forest Goddess. 

Here's before I picked it back up:

As of 11-8-12

And here's what I got done:

As of 1-10-13

 
 Day 11 Start - Royal Velvet by Marc Inge Saastad from JCS mag, August 2001

Wait, you say. That wasn't on the list, you say. Wha...? Well, this is a prime example of my planning (in)abilities - This spot was reserved for Mirabilia's Amethyst Fairy, but somehow I managed to totally mis-calculate the size of fabric I need. Unfortunately, I don't have any fabric in the right dimensions on hand, and I don't want to order any and wait for it to come in. Besides, my goal with this challenge was to use up as much of my existing stash as possible. So, that's where Royal Velvet comes in. It was on the original list, until I cut it down by a couple patterns, so I guess this is an indication that I was supposed to stitch this chart, lol :)

Here's where I left off tonight:

Stitching 2 over 2 on a scrap of 28-ct White linen

 

I've only got one new start left in this challenge, Teresa Wentzler's Egyptian Sampler. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some work in on it tomorrow. DH has to work tomorrow night and with Whitney being sickly, I should have plenty of time to stitch...once my housework is caught up. Gah! Then Sunday will be spent putting in time on my other WIP - Wondrous Works of God.

After all my starts are done, I plan to spend a week at a time on each project. Since a few of them are quite small (in comparison to the BAPs I normally stick to), I should be able to finish some of them in just a couple rotations. Or, well, that's the hope, anyway.

I'm off to do some more stitching while I wait for DH to get home from work. Until tomorrow - stitch happy!! 

Crazy January Challenge - Day 7

Whoa, man. It's late, so this will be a short one. Today's start was Halloween, a freebie from Passione Ricamo. I'm stitching it on 14 ct. Fiddler's Cloth (can you tell I'm trying to use up my stash...lots of 14 ct in this Challenge). So far, I've gotten part of the hat and the buckle done. Not as much progress as I would have liked, but my shows are back from their mid-season break, so I'm being easily distracted by plot lines and intrigue, lol.

Here's today's progress:

Halloween by Passione Ricamo (freebie); stitched on 14 ct Fiddler's Cloth

Yes, I know. The picture is awful, but I'm tired and I can't be bothered to take a better one.

Tomorrow's start: **Glory** by Bent Creek

Hope everyone has a wonderful tomorrow! :) 

Crazy January Challenge - Days 5 & 6

Day 5 - Grrrr...I didn't get a chance to make a start yesterday. As I said in my post on Friday, Saturdays are notoriously busy days for us around here, and...well...life just gets in the way sometimes. By the time I had a chance to sit down and stitch for awhile, it was after 11pm and I was exhausted. I decided, rather than start something that I had no desire to do and only get 5 or 10 stitches in it, I would just wait until today and start 2 to make up for it. Cheating? Maybe. Am I okay with it? You betcha!

Day 6 - I made 2 starts today in order to stay on track for the overall challenge timeframe. After church, we took down our Christmas tree (FINALLY!!) and had some lunch. When that was done, I was free to stitch :)  I started Christmas Gentlemen, which was to be yesterday's start, and worked on it for about 2 hours. I was stitching white and ecru on fiddler's cloth, so it's pretty hard to see, but here's my progress on this one:

Christmas Gentlemen by Leisure Arts; stitched on 14 ct Fiddler's Cloth

The other start I made today was Wisteria Fairy by Karen Weaver of Black Swan Designs. This was a free chart from The Stitchery magazine, year unknown. I absolutely love BSD, so I was thrilled to find that I had one of their charts in my 'old magazine' stash. This is such a fun stitch that I have no doubt Wisteria Fairy will be a 2013 finish. I began this one late this evening and worked for about 2 1/2 hours. Here's where I ended up:

Wisteria Fairy by Karen Weaver; 14 ct hand-dyed Lavender Mist Opalescent Aida

 And look...more sparkly fabric! :)

Tomorrow's start:  **Halloween** a Passione Ricamo freebie. 

Back with a new update tomorrow. G'night y'all!

Crazy January Challenge - Day 4

I didn't get as much stitching in as I had hoped to tonight. I got 3 packages in the mail today (all more stash, of course) and some of the items were needed for other challenge pieces, so I was winding floss, sorting Kreinik, and tomorrow I'll be labeling and storing beads. Needless to say, I didn't get started nearly as early as I wanted to.

I did get some time in though, and I have a little bit of progress to show. I apologize for the picture...it's hard to show navy floss on black fabric, but I think this is about as good as it gets, lol:

 

Tomorrow probably won't lend itself to much stitching time, as we have the kids to occupy, DH has an eye doctor appointment, we need to do grocery shopping, etc. Busy Saturdays around here, but maybe I'll get some stitching time in during the evening. The next project up is:

**Christmas Gentlemen** by Leisure Arts

Have a wonderful Saturday, everyone!!  

Crazy January Challenge - Day 3

This morning's update is actually progress from yesterday's challenge project, Celtic Heart. I've been fighting a super nasty sinus infection for the last several days and last night, by the time I would normally post my update, I was dead to the world and even muted light made me want to take out my own eyeballs. I hate this crap.

Anyway, here's hoping that I feel better tonight and am able to get more stitching in on CJC project #4 than I did on #3. Here's what I got done on Celtic Heart yesterday:

Celtic Heart by M Designs; Stitched 2 over 2 on a scrap of 28 ct light blue linen with hand-dyed floss.

I'm stitching this on a scrap of light blue 28 ct linen and using hand-dyed floss from Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe in Blue w/Brown (yes, that's the 'official' color name). This chart calls for the whole piece to be done in one color, but that would bore me too much, so I substituted the one color with the hand-dyed...which is actually about 3 colors, lol. 

Stay tuned for another update tonight on CJC Day 4 progress. Next up: 

**Fractal Tiger**, a freebie from Gran's Stitch Niche.

See y'all back here tonight. Have a happy, stitch-filled day!