Batik Quilt Top Complete!

Seems like this week has been a banner one for finishes! I have completed the Batik Bricks Quilt  top for my cousin. My intent is to take it to the long armer as soon as possible.

Batik Brick Quilt top - Completed 7/8/2015

I can't wait to call this one complete. I can also count the fabric as used as soon as I take it to the long armer.

I also decided to make a pillow or two to match the Barcelona quilt top that I made last year. Here is my start to that.

Barcelona pillow starts

Well ...It's time to determine my plan for the weekend.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Dream Catcher Happy Dance!!!

I completed the Dream Catcher product on Wednesday evening 7/23/2014. The picture of it is below:

Dream Catcher - complete 7/23/2014
16ct. AIDA, Called for DMC
Adapted from a lap blanket kit from Herrschners.com

This is another project that is off my WIPocalypse/Turtle Trot list. The goal for this weekend is to finish the cross stitching portion of the Lady and the Flag.

Happy stitching!

IHSW check in

This past weekend was International Hermitting and Stitching weekend for the month of July. The goal is to spend as much time stitching as possible. I had the greatest of intentions and did make some great progress but I did spend some time traveling in the car to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. While in the car I did start a new traveling knitting project: The Hitchhiker Shawlette.

I was able to complete 10 points out of 42 for the shawlette. Not bad for some in car progress.  I chose to spend the time I was home on the Dreamcatcher. I was able to finish everything except some backstitching and about 15 stitches of Full Cross.  At my last check in, I was in the bottom right corner.

Progress as of 7/10/2014

At the culmination of this past weekend (7/20/2014), I was on the last corner.

Dreamcatcher - progress as of 7/20/2014

I should hopefully have this one completed by this evening or tomorrow evening at the latest. Then it will be onto working on the Lady and the Flag.

Happy Stitching everyone!

July Turtle Trot/Wipocalypse Check in and Progress!

First...I am slacking on my posting this Month but I do have some progress on one of my TurtleTrot/Wipocalypse projects. I have been working on getting Dream Catcher completed. My last post on it showed progress to this point:

Dream Catcher progress as of 6/23/14

I have turned the corner on the bottom left now and am in the home stretch as with the progress pic below:

Dream Catcher progress as of 7/10/14

I also have been working on the seed stitch wrap and made another color change. I am at 25.6" which exceeds my goal of hitting 10 more inches or 25" total from the month of July. 

Seed Stitch Wrap progress as of 7/10/14

I also celebrated my Nephew's Birthday the first weekend over the fourth of July and made him some "Thomas the Tank Engine" pillows. He was so excited with them and at 3 there is not much his Aunt can get him excited about toy wise :).

This weekend I would like to finish the Dream Catcher and finish my Christmas Table Runner. Happy Stitching everyone!

July Goals

I figured I should check in on my May Goals (yes..A month Late) before I lay out my July Goals. So away we go:

May Goals Check in:
1.) Complete Winter Mandala: DONE
2.) Complete Binding on Patriotic Table Runner: DONE (my MIL loved the table runner as it was a gift for her birthday. I forgot to get a picture so I will have to have her send me one)
3.) Complete Christmas Table Runner Top and Quilt it: Top done but Not Quilted together so HALF DONE
4.) Complete Geometric Placemats: Didn't even touch them in 2 months (yikes!)
5.) Complete 10 inches of the seed stitch wrap: DONE (it now measures 15" and 10" of it was finished by 5/28)
6.) Work on Another WIP - Worked on Dream Catcher: DONE
7.) Stich from my Stash - May: DONE and June: Not even close

Since I will be back in my home for the bulk of July, I have decided to set some daunting goals for July.

July Goals:
1.) Complete Christmas Table Runner
2.) Complete geometric Placemats
3.) Knit 10" more on Seed Stitch Wrap
4.) Finish Dream Catcher
5.) Complete Stitching on Lady and the Flag - my MIL wants to do the beading on her
6.) Blog at least once a week.
7.) Stich from my Stash - Spend nothing
8.) Start on a new baby blanket - Already assigned to a future little man.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Stitch from my Stash - May 2014

The month of May saw some finishes from my stash and NO new additions!

Carryover: $60.89

May Budget: $25.00

April Spend: $0.00 (woot Woot)

Total Carryover to June: $85.89

The projects that I worked on this month:

Starts: Curtains for my niece, Christmas Table Runner

UFOs/WIPs: Dream catcher and prayer shawl for my grandmother

Finishes: Winter mandala, Eagle Table Runner, Curtains for my nephew

Stash consumed:

Yarn:300 yds in prayer shawl

Fabric: 1 charm square pack and 4 yds. of fabric for curtains

Stitching: Winter mandala (16ct. White AIDA and DMC floss)

The picture below shows the curtains prior to pressing.

"Thomas" Curtains
4 yes of fabric consumed

Happy stitching everyone!

WIPocalypse Check-in

It's time for another check-in for WIPocalypse. If you would like more information as to what this is, see the button in my sidebar to the right. I worked on 2 of the projects on my list since the last check in, these were also the 2 projects I worked on for TurtleTrot (that I missed the post for :( ).

1.) NOEL - this project is a kit from 1975(before I was born) that was handed down to be from my dear Husbands grandmother. It is on 30ct. even weave stitched 1x1.

NOEL (circa 1975)
The Carolina Cross Stitch Company
30 ct. even weave 1x1 DMC

I only have a little of the light green to finish on the N and I can call this one complete.

2.) Dream Catcher - this is one that I blogged about earlier so here is the progress when I put it down.

Dream Catcher - March WIPocalypse check-in

Dream Catcher - April WIPocalypse check-in

Besides posting about the progress on Projects we are supposed to answer a prompt from Measi:

How do you keep your stash organized? This one is an interesting one for me as I am slightly OCD when it comes to organizing things. First, for Cross Stitch Items:

I have a 4X4 cube shelving unit from IKEA that houses all kits, floss, fabric and patterns. I am in the process of digitizing that inventory. I keep the fabric that is not kitted to a pattern in a bag labeled with the count, color, and size if possible. Floss is wound on labeled bobbins or kept in labeled ziploc bags. Kits are organized by subject matter and designer. Patterns that I have kitted up are in bags with the pattern, floss, and fabric. finishing items, needles, beads and kreinik are kept in an antique spice cabinet in on a shelf.

Yarn is kept in 2 places: In the 4 blue cubes in the last picture above, I have cotton yarn for dishrags and baby blanket yarn. I have a shelving unit on the wall that i won in an auction that has 30 cubby holes that can hold up to 4 caron simply soft skeins each.

Fabric storage is something that I am still figuring out. Currently, quilting yardage is folded in 2 large 31 totes. Precut items are in one of the black cubes in the picture above. My goal at the end of this year is to have all items in this one room in my house.

I will say that some in progress projects are next to the couch in a large lined basket where I typically stitch.

Happy stitching everyone!

Late TUSAL

I totally took a picture for TUSAL (if you want to know more, click Here). It was supposed to be posted on March 30th but I guess 15 days late isn't horrible.

3/30/14 TUSAL

It's mainly some ORTs from weaving in some of the ends on the blankets and a little from the Dream catcher project. Hopefully I will have some progress to show on some WIPocalypse projects.

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!

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!