Yearly Goals Check-in and 2015 decisions

As we get close to the end of 2014, I wanted to check-in on my goals for the year. I set them last in December of 2013 and I added my status on them in purple below:

1.) Adhere to stitch from my stash SAL.  - COMPLETE. I adhered to the rules of the SAL and feel like I made some changes to my spending habits. I also promised myself that I would save my money for a new sewing machine and was able to purchase that they day after Christmas I got a PFAFF quilt expression 4.2 and I love it. I am sure there will be pictures of it forthcoming.
  
2.) Complete "The Lady and the Flag", the ABCs of family, 2 other mandalas, and my adaptation of the Dreamcatcher lap blanket.

• The Lady and the Flag - COMPLETE
• the ABC's of Family - no progress
• 2 other seasonal Mandalas - COMPLETE
• Dreamcatcher - COMPLETE

I think if I hadn't picked up quilting as another hobby seriously, I would have completed the ABC's of Family but overall..I think I made a Huge dent in the projects I wanted to get finished.
3.) Complete ornaments for the whole family (7). - COMPLETE. I actually finished 8 of them this year. 
4.) start 2 bigger projects: Noah's submarine and Brigid's shamrock. - No Progress - I kitted the projects up but did not start them - again I blame too many hobbies. :)
5.) finish/finish the advent calendar. - COMPLETE - I totally forgot that I even put this one on here but I finished it right before the end of the year. 
6.) complete piecing together 2 quilt tops, 4 sets of placemats and coasters, and 1 Christmas table runner. 

• 2 Quilt Tops - Completed 3 actually, 2 of them were longarmed, and one of those was bound and given as a gift this Christmas to my grandmother.
• 4 sets of placemats and coasters - completed 3 placemats and 1 coasters
• 1 Christmas Table runner - completed 1 for christmas, and 2 for gifts.

7.) 3 knitted baby blankets: (1 already assigned) - COMPLETE
8.) learn to knit socks. - Not Complete

All in all, I think it was a productive year. I am hoping and planning on doing more in 2015. So here are my goals for this year:

2015 Goals:

Overall: 
1.) Stitch from my stash on all types of crafting
2.) Complete my craft room
3.) inventory patterns and kits 
4.) Work on something new (either a start or a WIP) on any crafting every day from Christmas to january 25th - (i had to adjust the days due to a work trip) - to honor Deborah Faris Bryant

Yarn: 
1.) Complete 4 baby blankets - 1 is spoken for and 3 more (boy, girl, and neutral) to have in reserve.
2.) Learn to knit socks
3.) knit a pair of socks for my hubby
4.) Complete 2 hats for friends
5.) Complete 4 ft on my brothers blanket
6.) Complete 18 dishrags ( I need to get my reserve of this type of yarn down)
7.) Complete hitchhiker and 2 more shawls/wraps

Stitching:
1.) Complete ABC's of Family
2.) Start Brigid's Shamrock and Noah's submarine
3.) Complete 12 ornaments
4.) Complete 4 other larger projects including the Santa from H*ll

Sewing/Quilting:
1.) Learn Free Motion Quilting
2.) Complete 3 quilt tops - (1 is already spoken for)
3.) Bind my first quilt
4.) Complete purple quilt for my aunt.

The list is daunting but I feel like I am up to the task.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Sewing and Yarn Check-in for the year

So I thought a retrospective of what I have completed would be interesting for sewing/quilting projects and for knitting/crocheting. So I am going to start with the knitting/crocheting:

And with the Quilting:

Combined with my stitching finishes...I am feeling pretty good about things! my next post will be an update on year goals and plans for next year. :)

I have decided to take part in Wipocalypse, Smalls SAL, Stitch from my stash (helping Admin) !

Stitch from my Stash - 2014 Final Post

Here is my final Report from Stitch from my Stash!

Carryover from November: $70.62
December budget: $25.00
Amount spent in December: $0.00
Amount left in the bank: $95.62

New Starts: Ornaments and Liz Almond's "Naomi Elizabeth" Black Work

WIPs and UFOs: one of 2 Noel's

Completed: Bound Quilt and finished "finished" Ornaments

Stash Used: random scraps of fabric for ornaments and floss remnants.

What I wanted and Didn't Buy: The Christmas Fabric Deal at my local quilting stores are Killing me! I have seen a lot of things I wanted but did not partake in. Instead I organized my fabric into a wonderful bookshelf my dear husband bought me so that I can truly see what I have. :) Cured the bug right away and inspired me to plan a few new creations.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

December WIPocalypse and TurtleTrot Combined!

It's time for the final check-in for both the WIPocalypse SAL and the TurtleTrot SAL. Technically the WIPocalypse was on 12/6 but I decided to combine them together.

My original list for them were as follows with my progress, etc:
1.) Pinocchio - Wish Upon a Star: This was a new start this year so I ended up at this point when I put it away for this year.

Pinocchio - December SAL check in

I worked on this one a lot this fall and made some really great progress. I would estimate I am a little over 1/4 complete on this one.

2.) NOEL - This one is a finish. you can see it finished into an ornament in the upper right of the picture below. For some reason I cannot get it to rotate at all. The pic below captures all of the ornaments that I completed this year. 

2014 Ornaments completed

3.) Santa and Westie Stocking - No progress at all

4.) ABC's of Family - No progress at all

5.) Flower Cards - I don't have a picture but there is only backstitching left to do on this one.

6.) The Lady and the Flag - This was a finish this year!

Completed and Framed
The Lady and the Flag - November 2014

7.) Dream Catcher - this was a total redesign from a stamped Lab Blanket kit into a counted project on AIDA. It was a relatively quick stitch for its size. It was finished in the fall and my FIL had it framed below:

Completed and Framed
Dreamcatcher Redesign - November 2014

8.) Snowman Ornaments - These need back stitching completed and are different than the ornaments pictured above. I should have them done by the end of this week.

9.) Nativity Set - Still need to completed Back Stitching on the camel and a wise man.

10 and 11.) Winter and Fall Mandala - This were so much fun to stitch. Here are some un-framed and the whole set framed for your enjoyment.

Winter Mandala

Fall Mandala

Seasonal Mandala's unframed

Seasonal Mandala framed
November 2014

 
So I made a lot of progress on the goals I set for myself which I set for myself. I am planning on take part in the WIPocalypse next year and am determining if I will do the TurtleTrot soon.

There are still a few things that I need to complete before the end of the year so I better get back to stitching.

Happy Stitching!

December Goals and November Check-in

I am a few days late for my Goals Check in for November but here we go. The goals I set for November were:

November 2014 goals:
1.) Complete Boys baby Blanket - Done and gifted to his owners parents in preparation for his birth.

2.) Complete Seed Stitch Wrap - FAIL - I am in the last color stripe...I have about 4 more inches to knit. Hopefully I can get it done this weekend in preparation for my grandmother's travel to my house for the holidays.

3.) Complete 2 ornaments for my Niece and Nephew - Done and Done plus 2 more. See my previous post.

4.) Blog twice per week including the Santa from He**. - FAIL - I blogged but with no frequency and not about the project I cannot stand right now. It is a Santa that a lady from my day job has had partially completed for 10 years and gave it to me to finish.

5.) Decide on yearly goals. - DONE - they will be covered in a future email when I check in on this years goals.

6.) Work on 2 other WIPs - FAIL - well sort of...I completed finished the Advent calendar and hung it on my wall for the month of December. It had been stitched but not finished.

Now for December Goals:
1.) Decide on SALs to take part in next year.
2.) Make a year end summary blog post and show Santa in Blog
3.) Bind 2 Quilts
4.) Finish Quilting and bind quilt for my Aunt.
5.) work on whatever else I want.

Happy stitching everyone!

Ornament Finishes!

I had goals in November of finishing some ornaments for this year for my niece and nephew. I finished those plus 2 more. First I have the 2 I needed to get done for my nephew and my niece. I decided to got with a penguin theme this year.

Jack 2014
CandyCane Penguin
Leisure Arts Ornaments Galore volume 2
18ct. AIDA and called for DMC

Caroline 2014
Sledding Penguin
Leisure Arts Ornaments Galore Volume 2
18ct. AIDA and called for DMC

I also looked through the Just Cross Stitch Ornaments issue for 2014 and made these other 2 ornies.

Just Cross Stitch 2014 issue
18ct. AIDA and scrap blue variegated floss

Just Cross Stitch 2014 issue
18ct. AIDA and called for DMC

I am pretty happy with all of them. Now it is time for finishing them and giving them as gifts for this year. Although...I think I am keeping the Penguin above for myself :)

Happy stitching!

November Stitch from my Stash!

November Stitch from My Stash!

Here is my check in for Stitch from my Stash hosted by the wonderful Mel. L of Epic Stitching:
Carryover from October: $45.62
November budget: $25.00
Amount Spent in November: $0.00
Carryover to December: 70.62

New starts: 2 new ornaments


UFOs and WIPs: Seed Stitch Wrap, Hitchhiker Shawlette, Pinocchio, Boys Baby Blanket,


Completed: 2 ornaments, 2 quilt tops

Stash Used: 350 yds for seed stitch wrap, 375 yds. for Boys baby Blanket, some fabric for the next quilt top I am working on.

What I wanted and didn't buy: I have avoided ads this year for holiday deals :)

Happy Stitching!

November Turtle Trot Update!

My Turtle Trot Update this month is rather small. I only worked on one project on my list: Pinocchio's  - When you which upon a star. At last check in I was here:

Pinocchio - When you wish upon a star
MCG textiles Kit from Thomas Kinkade Print
October 15th, 2014

At the time of my picture, this morning I was here:

Pinocchio - When you Wish upon a Star
MCG textiles from Thomas Kinkade
November 11, 2014 

I have moved the q-snaps to the Upper right portion of the pattern. I had hit a few issues with the Floss in the kit in that it was the wrong color and I didn't have enough of it but the customer service at MCG was AMAZING! From the time of first email to replacement floss received was less than 4 days. They were always so polite when I heard from them. This month I am planning on working on Christmas ornaments and hopefully some other WIPs.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

GB Baby Blanket Complete!

Well I did it. I finally completed the Green and Blue (GB for Short) baby blanket. It took me way longer than it should have because I kept working on other things.  You can see a picture of it below:

GB baby blanket
Size 10 needles
Caron Simply Soft yarn - 2 skeins each green and blue

Close up of the pattern

All in all it was a relatively easy knit. I truly love the color selection and it was wonderful to do some boy items since there have been more girls born recently than boys.

Well onto some more projects!
Happy Stitching Everyone.

November WIPocalypse Check in

Well this past month has been a little crazy but I am taking the time to get back to basics of Blogging and checking in for WIPocalypse is step 1 for me. I started with 10 Projects in my list, added 1 and finished 5. That leaves me 6 left and I have spent the last bit of time working on the Pinocchio - When You Wish Upon a Star Kit.

September 30, 2014 Progress

I started with the above picture sometime at the beginning of October.

October 15, 2014 Progress 

I got as far as above in by October 15th. I haven't take a recent picture but I have moved to the Top right portion of the Pattern and found problem. Some of the Floss that was supposed to be in the Kit was missing. I contacted the supplier's customer service line and they were the nicest folks with which to interact. The Missing floss was sent out and I was off again. Then I found a problem again where the colors that were sent didn't match the colors of the floss I was missing for one color. Again, I sent off an email to the Supplier and the floss is in the mail to me. I hope to get it by the weekend so that I can keep working.

In the meantime I have been working on a few other projects:

Bottle Bag - Completed October 20, 2014

A dear friend from work moved into a new home. I was not able to attend her housewarming party but my traditional housewarming gift is a bottle of liquor. I didn't have a bag to wrap it in so I made one from a 1/2 of fabric I had sitting around in my stash. It was super easy and gave me a great sense of accomplishment. I also finished 2 pillows for my mother in this time but I didn't take a picture. :(

GB Baby Blanket
Size 10 needles, Caron simply soft

I have also been hard at work completing the Green Blue (GB) baby blanket for a co-worker and friend. He and his wife are due in Mid-december so I am hoping to finish time one tonight. I apologize for the flash but since the time change it is getting dark so early these days.

So that is my progress report...now on to the prompt for this month;

November 6 - What are your favorite and Least favorite materials to use in your stitching?

I am a huge fan of 18ct/36ct fabric. If I and to choose I would stitch on that almost exclusively. I also like floss from DMC (color palette is immense) and Weeks Dye Works. As for least favorite...I am not a huge fan of evenweave. It never feels like my stitching sits right on it. I am also not a huge fan of metallics. I love how they look but the process of getting there is painful.

Happy Stitching everyone!

November Goals!

I realized that I do much better with monthly goals at staying on task! So here are my goals for the month of November:

November Goals:

1.) complete boys baby blanket (and think of a name while I am at it)
2.) complete seed stitch wrap
3.) complete 2 Christmas ornaments for niece and nephew
4.) blog twice per week including about the Santa from He** project I am finishing.
5.) decide on yearly goals for next year
6.) work on 2 other WIPs

The knitting is daunting but I know I can get it done. Happy stitching everyone!

October Stitch from My Stash!

Here is my check in for Stitch from my Stash hosted by the wonderful Mel. L of Epic Stitching:
Carryover from September: $30.74
October budget: $25.00
Amount Spent in September: $10.12 - I bought 2 - 16 oz. bags of mill ends cotton yarn for dish rags. They were 5 dollars each.
Carryover to October: $45.62

New Starts: Dimensions Whimsies kit of Bear - traveling pattern


UFOs and WIPs: Seed Stitch Wrap, Hitchhiker Shawlette, Pinocchio, Boys Baby Blanket


Completed: nothing :(

Stash Used: 350 yds for seed stitch wrap, 375 yds. for Boys baby Blanket, some fabric for the next quilt top I am working on.

What I wanted and didn't buy: I traveled to visit my grandmother this past weekend and there is a large craft store with items on discount where she lives. That is where I found the bags of Mill end yarn. I was amazed that they were so cheap. Their skeins of yarn and cross stitch supplies were also heavily discounted. There are also a few specialty stores that I refrained from going to so that I can stay under budget for the rest of the year.

Happy stitching everyone!

Giveaway!

There is an AMAZING Giveaway at Victorian Motto Sample Shoppe. She dyes her own Floss and Trims and they are simply wonderful. Click on this Link to head over and see her generosity. It amazes me everyday the generosity of the online stitching community.

Happy Stitching!

Long Time...no Blogging - WIPocalypse and TurtleTrot check in

Well...It's been almost 3 weeks since I blogged last and I am going to try to catalogue what has been happening.

First..the week of September 29th, I went on Vacation with my entire family to Florida. We went to Ormond Beach which was delightful. The weather was manageable, the niece and nephew handled the plane rides like champs and I even explored a local yarn store in the area called "A Ball of Yarn." I did manage a few stitches on a Christmas ornament Whimsies pattern but it wasn't even worth taking a picture. My dear SIL's father took a turn for the worse so she left and it was all hands on deck with the kids. I can say it gave me a much greater appreciate for the innocence of kids. :)

Then, once I came back, I have been a working fool at my day job. I am an engineer and have been putting in 10-12 hour days. That is not to say I haven't been stitching when I have time but the progress is not the greatest unfortunately. Here are some progress pics below:

1.) Pinocchio's When You Wish Upon a Star

Last Check in - February 2014

September 30, 2014 Progress Picture

October 15, 2014 Progress Picture

You may notice that I changed how the grid was marked between the January and October Pictures. I found that the Soluble blue pen is better for this design. Also, I received an award at my day job that lead to an amazon gift card. I used that the purchase a few of the Thomas Kinkade Disney Kits I didn't already have: Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, and The Disney Castle.

I also worked on a new Quilt top and finished piecing it entirely. I just sent an email off to my long armer about when I can drop off the one pictured below:

Riley Blake - Evening Fat Quarter Bundle

My Goal is to give it to my grandmother for Christmas this year.

I also have been knitting on the seed stitch wrap. The color order was brown, taupe, cream, red, cream, taupe, brown. I have completed the transition from Cream to taupe and have done about 3 inches on the Taupe. I forgot to take a picture of this one as well as the baby blanket that I am halfway on.

My hope is that I can use this post to check in for WIPocaplypse and TurtleTrot to get up to date thus far. I also need to get back into the Monthly goals realm because it keeps me accountable to finishing things.

Here are my answers for the WIPocalypse Prompts I have missed:

August 10 – Topic:  Tell us about your oldest and newest WIPs.

    My newest WIP is the Pinocchio project early this year. My oldest WIP is the Resting Tiger that is referenced on my WIP page. 
September 9 – Topic: Who is your favourite person to stitch for, or do you prefer to keep your stitching yourself?

  My favorite person to stitch for is either my grandmother or one of my parents. They love everything I do so that makes it enjoyable.October 8 – Topic:  Are you a Halloween or Christmas stitcher?

   I am a huge Christmas stitcher. I love the small satisfaction of finishing Christmas ornaments.

 

Happy Stitching!

Stitch From My Stash - September 2014

For this month's Stitch from my Stash, I had a little better control than last month.

Carryover from August: $5.74
September budget: $25.00
Amount Spent in September: $0.00
Carryover to October: 30.74

New Start: Prairie Schooler Americana Patterns, Quilt top for my grandmother
UFOs and WIPs: Seed Stitch Wrap, Hitchhiker Shawlette, Pinocchio, Boys Baby Blanket
Completed: The Lady and the Flag, Quilt Top for my Grandmother

Used: 14 fat quarters for quilt top, 350 yes for seed stitch wrap.

What I wanted and didn't buy: I went to the Southeast Indiana One stop Quilt shop hop because I needed to be inspired again. Needless to say there was a lot there I could have purchased. On the Upside, I started and finished the quilt top after I went there.

All in all, a great and productive month!

Happy stitching everyone!

New Start

I started a new set of stitching patterns from the Prairie Schooler. I forgot to write down the number but the first picture after this weekend can be found below:

Prairie Schooler - Americana patterns
09/16/2014 update

For this week I am concentrating on Pinocchio and some knitting.

Happy stitching everyone!

I-75 Yarn Crawl Follow-up

The I-75 yarn crawl is a Yarn store shop hop for stores all up and down Interstate 75 in Ohio and Northern Kentucky.  It took place August 5-9, 2014. For information, you can click on the following Link. There 17 stores that participated this year and I was able to make it to 10 of them. My DH drove me to 6 of them on Saturday alone. I am not sure that I could make it to all 17 of them without taking a day off of work which will not work for me. Each of the stores had a knit and crochet pattern and some had great deals. The overall crawl was great and I always said I wanted to make one of these shop hops on my bucket list.

I was very intrigued with a Trunk show for Interlacements Yarn at The Rabbit Hutch in Englewood, OH. My husband bought a few things for me that were on my Birthday list and I am patiently waiting for them until the end of October. The ladies at the hutch were so nice as well. They were very inviting to my husband who was there to support me :).

I also loved the feel of The Lion and Lamb Yarn Shop in Troy, Ohio. They are a relatively new shop and it was very smartly arranged.

Finally, I love the Wooly Bully Yarn Co. in Springboro. The ladies there are wonderful so I am excited to take a few classes there when I am not traveling for work so much.

I apologize the recap of the Yarn crawl was late. I have been on the go since the event happened and as a matter a fact I am in a hotel room traveling for work and forgot to bring any crafting with me. This is a travesty in my eyes. So...I am planning out gift giving and trying to find patterns for my niece's and nephew's Christmas ornaments this year.

I get home late on Tuesday so...Stitching will be on like gangbusters then.

Happy stitching!

Monthly Goals Check-in - August (with photos)

My goals for the month of August and whether I met them are as follows:
1.) Blog at least once per week - Nope, I somehow lost the first 2 weeks of the month.
2.) Stitch from my Stash - YES
3.) Make it to one more color change on the seed stitch wrap - YES, barely. That is 2 rows in the cream on the end of the burgundy.

Seed Stitch Wrap
9/1/2014 progress

4.) Start a new baby Blanket - YES, I got 2 rows on the needles and it wasn't even worth taking a picture.

5.) Finish Stitching the Lady and the Flag - YES YES YES. I also got the crazy idea that I should bead it myself. And to be honest, I am not sure I will do something with that much beading again. Maybe it's burnout because I do love the finished product. So without further ado...here it is. ( i polarize for the wrinkles)

The Lady and the Flag - Miribilia
Complete 8/31/2014
Called for DMC and 36ct. Oatmeal Linen

 Here are some close-ups:

6.) 21 pts on the Hitchhiker Shawlette - YES

HitchHiker Shawlette
Progress 9/1/2014

7.) 1 more Christmas Ornament - Nope

So 5 out of 7 isn't horrible so I am happy. September is going to be a rough month for progress as I am traveling for work and taking a vacation with my Family. So here are my goals for September:

September Goals:
1.) Make it to 12" on the Baby Blanket
2.) one more Color change on Seed Stitch Wrap
3.) Complete 2 Christmas Ornaments
4.) Stitch from my stash
5.) Finish Pillows and back on latch hook for my parents.

Happy Stitching Everyone!