Monthly Goals update

The Goals that I had set for the month of March are as follows:
March: 
1.) Complete the next baby blanket: YES - Beachy Blanket complete
2.) Finish half of the dream catcher project - sort of - 1/3 of the way
3.) Complete the blocks for my first quilt top - YES - completed the whole quilt top
4.) Blog at least once per week - YES
5.) Stitch from my stash - YES
6.) Make some progress on any other project. - YES - 1/4 of the way through the 2nd baby blanket.

All in all in was a set of goals right sized to the time I had in the month. 
Here are my Goals for next month!

April: 
1.)Complete Pinky Baby Blanket
2.)Complete stitching on 3 Christmas ornaments
3.)Start the Winter Mandala
4.)Completely finish the Advent calendar
5.)Complete 4 placemat sets and 1 table runner
6.)Digitize craft inventory
7.)Stitch from my Stash
8.)Blog Twice Per week

This month is going to be an interesting one! Hopefully productive as I have set loft goals for myself. 

Have a great day and Happy stitching everyone!

"Pink Hearts" Baby Blanket Progress

After I completed the Beachy Baby Blanket for my Friend, I knew I needed to cast on the next blanket for a set of friends that just adopted a baby Girl. She came early to the couple as the birth mother was induced. I have made some progress where you can start to see a pattern repeat so I wanted to check in with an Update.

Pink Hearts Baby Blanket
Size 10 needles
Variegated pink and light pink yarn

I happened to jam my thumb on my dominant hand while I was traveling last week so it is a little bit of slow going this week. My goal for the end of the week is to make it halfway on this blanket. 

Happy Stitching!!

Stitch from Stash March 2014 Report

This month saw more leaving my stash then coming in so it was a successful month in my opinion.

Here is my summary of spending thus far:

        

        Carryover from Jan/Feb - $26.69

        March Budget - $25.00

        March Spend - $13.47

          2 yds. Bless this Irish home : $8.72

          1 yd. each of Duck and pink plaid flannel: $4.75

        March budget left over - $11.53

        Total Carryover to April - $38.22

Here is a picture of the fabric I bought:

The projects that I have worked on are as follows:

New starts from the stash: Variegated Pink Baby Blanket, Barcelona quilt top, Ink Circles - St. Charles (christmas Ornament)

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Dream Catcher Redesign, be achy Baby Blanket.

Finishes from Stash: Beachy Baby Blanket, Barcelona Quilt Top

I have found that keeping a running total of the stash I have used gives me a great feeling of accomplishment. :)

Stash used this month:

Yarn: 30 oz or 1575yds

Fabric: 1 layer cake (4200sq. in or 3.2 sq.yds) plus 2yds in borders.

Stitching supplies: repurposed the Dream catcher kit using 20" x 30" piece of 14ct. AIDA

Happy Stitching Everyone!

IHSW check-in

This past weekend was International Hermitting and Stitching Weekend. I was able to get the first baby blanket of the year off the needles and I couldn't be happier.  This blanket is for a close friend who had a little girl. She wanted bright colors that were almost beachy in theme.

Beachy Baby Blanket
Caron Simply Soft, 2 strands, size 10 needles
32" x 36"

I really like how it came out. I would like to make a few others in this pattern. From a stash perspective, I finished 6 skiens of yarn with this blanket so it made a dent in my stash for sure this month.

I also spent a little bit of time on the Dream catcher that I have been working on and FINALLY took a progress pic. From previous posts, I was here:

As of 3/23/2014, I have made the following progress:

Dream Catcher Lap blanket redesign
14 ct. AIDA, called for DMC floss
3/23/2014 progress

I have put this one away for now as I was getting bored. I am about a third done with this pattern and it was going rather quickly. The plan for the weekdays this week is to finish the stitching for a Christmas ornament or 2.  I also cast on for another baby blanket for couple who just adopted a beautiful little girl.

This weekend I also picked up my sewing machines from their service appointment. I took both of them in on the 3/15 as I knew I was going out of town. They were completed in just under a week and were returned on Saturday. My DH then took me out for lunch and a quick stroll through Jo-Ann Fabrics. They had a sale and we needed to pick up fabric for a gift for his mother. He bought some wonderful fabric so that I do not need to count it towards my Stitch from my Stash budget. I tried to tell him I had room but he told me to but something I wanted with my budget. He really is too sweet to me. 

Happy stitching this week everyone!

WIPocalypse Check-in and a quilting finish!

For the past 4 days I have been traveling for my every day job so I was not able to check-in with my normal weekly check-in. I am late on the WIPocalypse check-in as well. So first things first, from WIPocalypse, my favorite place to stitch: The corner of my couch with my OTT lite over my shoulder and an end table holding all of my supplies. I also have a tilted TV tray to hold my patterns and charts for reference. I will have to take a picture This weekend when the sun is out. I enjoy knitting in my sewing machine room on a comfy chair and listen to my iPAD radio stations. I totally forgot to take any pictures of these places and it was really dark when I got home.

As for stitching Progress since the last New moon:
1.) Autumn Mandala: COMPLETE

2.) Dream Catcher: I worked a lot on dream catcher but it was still in my suitcase when I woke up this morning so I could not take a recent Picture. The one below is about 12 days old. The one below it shows the stamped lab blanket of the original Kit.

Dream Catcher - transferred to AIDA

Dream Catcher Lap Blanket - Original Design

That was all the stitching progress I have recorded. I do realize as a result of this I need to take more pictures. 

I spent a lot of time finishing my quilt top right before I left. Here is it in its final form.

"Barcelona" Quilt Top
76"X 85"

Close up of the Borders

I used a "Barcelona" Layer Cake by Moda for the center following the Missouri Star Quilt Company's Double Slice pattern. The borders are Ocean Blue Kona Cotton, Chartreuse Kona Cotton, and a Robert Blake Batik with very dark blue with lighter blue swirls on it.  I will be taking it to the long armer sometime soon to get it finished. :)

This weekend is International Hermit and Stitching Weekend. It coincides beautifully with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament so I will have a lot of background noise for my stitching!

Happy Stitching Everyone!

I love pretty fabric! and Turtletrot check in

This past week was extremely productive. I was able to get some work done on my first quilt. I started with a layer cake of Barcelona fabric from Moda. I followed the tutorial for the Double Slice Layer Cake quilt from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. It was super easy to follow. Here are some progress pics.

Barcelona Quilt check in - 3/10/2014

I made the 42 quilt block and sewed them into 6 strips. The strips need pressed and joined into one large block. I was also able to chose the borders and backing that I looked good.

Border and backing colors

In the above picture, the grey fabric is for the backing. The blue, green, and darker blue in the bottom right is for borders. I determined the order as of yet but that is coming.

It is also the day for TurtleTrot Check-in. I worked on Two pieces since the last check-in:

1.) Autumn Mandala

February Check in

Completed 2/18/2014

2.) Dream Catcher: I have no before picture as I changed the material I was stitching on.

March check-in

This is the last photo I took of the Dream Catcher. I have made some more progress including finishing the Feathers and some more of the border on the right hand side.

This past week was productive and the weekend was spent celebrating my DH's birthday. This weekend looks to be rather productive too.

Happy stitching everyone!

Monthly goals check-in

So I realized that I am late posting progress on my monthly goals:

February
1.) Complete Mom's Table Runner - YES
2.) Complete Autumn Mandala - YES
3.) Complete Dishrag - YES
4.) Blog at least once per week - YES
5.) Stitch from my Stash - YES
6.) Complete half of the next baby blanket - No: as a matter a fact I barely worked on this one. :(

Overall it was a productive month. I was able to get some things done that were on my to do list and some that were not. In addition to my goals I finished the thanks clip and some finishing.

March: I need to selective as I will be traveling with some frequency this month for my real job so efficiency is Key:
1.) Complete the next baby blanket: I have 3 friends that are expecting children now (2 by birth and 1 by adoption) instead of 1 so I need to get cracking.
2.) Finish half of the dream catcher project
3.) Complete the blocks for my first quilt top
4.) Blog at least once per week
5.) Stitch from my stash
6.) Make some progress on any other project.

The goals are stretching but I think doable. Happy stitching everyone!

TUSAL and DreamCatcher

It's that time to Check in with ORTs for this month. Check out DaffyCat's blog for more information.

The above pic is my monthly ORTs collected since the last check-in. The are a combination of quilting thread from the Table runner and some blocks, Autumn Mandala, Thanks Clip, and the Dream catcher project. 

This is the jar that holds my cumulative Orts for the Year. 

I also have made enough progress on the abbreviated Dream Catcher project. This project was originally was a stamped lap blanket kit from Herrschners. com. I started on it as it but it was very tough on my fingers so much so that I was punching holes in my fingers even with extra sharp needles. I decided to grid out the pattern and transfer it to some cream AIDA. 

The only change that I have made from the original pattern is to add some half cross stitches in the feathers. Otherwise, it seems to be working delightfully well.

My plan is to work on this a little bit more and some baby blanket knitting. There will be a later post recapping feb goals and laying out some for March.

Happy stitching everyone!