Thanks ....

Thank you all for the very kind wishes for my grandson. They are all very appreciated at this time in our lives. He is growing well and looks healthy despite having breathing difficulty.

On to other things in life, I completed my second assignment for one of my papers and now I can spend time focusing on the other paper. I should have three quarters of the final page on Storykeep Masquerade completed by the time I get around to posting this update, which means I will have a photo op - YAY!! I did finish the 3rd quarter of page 3. Now I would like to get it finished hopefully during this month. Full steam ahead!

Until next time, happy stitching

2012 March WiPocalypse update ....

Time for my next update. Didn't get as much stitching done as I wanted to this month. But this is what I did get through ....

 

 SK Masquerade

 

 QS Curl Up

 

QS Teddy Bear Tree

Until next time, happy stitching

Please help me ....

I officially have more HAED charts than I would be able to stitch in my lifetime. So I really need to not buy anymore, (well for the next month at least), taking baby steps is a good way to start, that way it won't seem so hard.

My present from my family to buy two charts per month for the year has been completed, thanks mainly to the 50% off sale that HAED had for Leap Day 2012. So the two charts that I have earmarked for March are Seven Hearts by Jim Warren and QS Duckling Discovery by Hannah Lynn.

I will continue to look at the new charts, and probably add more to my Wishlist, but that doesn't mean I have to buy them. Does it?

I was going to show you all the most recent update of MSK, but with the 2012 WiPocalypse coming up in a few days I've decided to put it off until then. There is only the bottom half of page 3 left and I have enjoyed working on this again, maybe because I know that it is coming to an end, and when it is completed I can bring another project into the mix. Hmmmm??? What to do? What to do?

Until next time, happy stitching

Celebrations ....

 I have finished my QS Curl Up rotation and I have completed the bottom half of page 2. So next up in my rotation is Masquerade SK. The excitement is building with this one because I will have two more rotations of this project and it will be completed. My very first HAED finish. You've gotta love that.

 We have had 5 birthdays in 8 days, lots and lots of food and cake. Big birthday hugs to my Mum, DD, DD's partner, my nephew and my niece, and to top that all off our grandson has just started to walk, another wonderful milestone, and he is only 11 months old, so that will be another birthday next month. Woohoo!

 Until next time, happy stitching

I was so happy ....

Woohoo!! I could not believe my luck when I went to the HAED website to pick charts for "My January present", that was when I noticed they were having a 25% off Valentines Day Sale through until 16 February 2012, I have already found 2 charts and they are

 "Kathleen" by Hannah Lynn

"Mini Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate" by Randal Spangler

(I love his draglings, they are so cute). Now I only need to make my choices for my February present before the sale ends.

This is where I am at with QS Crabby Crush after this months stitch-in. It was my first time using DMC Light Effects floss, and I found it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Just took a bit more patience to deal with it. But it was worthwhile in this instance.

Until next time, happy stitching
  

2012 February WiPocalypse update ....

I wasn't sure how I was going to do my updates but I think this could be ideal. I have a few projects that I want to make progress on, so they are all in my monthly rotation.

SK Masquerade

QS Curl up with a good book

QS Crabby Crush

Eldar

QS Teddy Bear Tree - New Start

Until next time, happy stitching

Time to join everyone else ....

I decided to participate in this years SaL on the HAED BB and my choice of chart is QS Teddy Bear Tree. The chart choices for this SaL were really wonderful, so my decision was not an easy one, I figure that is a good thing, because I want to be eligible to receive the other charts at the end of the year.

I have been a bit slow at getting started on my piece, but here is my quarter page update. I was surprised by the amount of detail and hesitant about some of the colours, but the mantra is "trust in Michelle's charting", and sure enough that is so true. My teddy is currently "winking" at me, next time I get to show him to you I hope to have his other eye completed.

Until next time, happy stitching

I found something that might help me ....

I found the 2012 WIPocalypse in the last week, while browsing some of the blogs I like to visit and it turned out that the deadline for being an "actual" participant was the 15 January. So, with 5 days to spare and absolutely no time to think I decided that I would participate.  Woohoo!!! If you would still like to be a part of the Stitch-A-Long you can visit here and all the details are outlined by Measi.

Joining this SAL meant that I had to evaluate the vast amount of projects that I currently have in progress and decide which of them I wanted to make the most progress on.

I am going to focus on my Heaven and Earth design projects, because I have so many patterns and I just love them so much. Which is why I had to come up with a short list and when those are done I can add new goals or extend the goals on the projects that I already have on the go.

Sounds good to me!!! If you would like to see what I decided on I have made a special page for the 2012 WIPocalypse to keep track of progress etc.

On with stitchy stuff. I have completed half of page 2 on QS Curl up with a good book. YAY ME! I have been struggling with a rotation for a while now, but I discovered towards the end of November last year that because I print out my chart pages in quarters;

• a) so that I can see them properly (blind as a bat), and
• b) I like things to be uniform, 

that it was easier to just complete a quarter page at a time. That way I made blocks of progress on all my projects and I have been really enjoying it.

Until next time, happy stitching

Roses Friend ....

I completed the first quarter of page 7 and now I am going to go back and finish page 1. I am stitching background and there is a lot of it, but it is rather enjoyable when you are able to mix it up with other projects that have a lot more color changes in them. Not really that much in the way of progress to show but next time she comes out I might get a whole further.

Until next time, happy stitching

Making progress

I really have missed not having a set schedule for stitching. I really didn’t think rotations could be that necessary but it is comforting to have structure back. I haven’t posted anything in a while for the 2011 QS Stitch-A-Long. I really love this piece, so I have a progress picture for October and here is another for my November rotation.

I was really excited about completing the first page, but once I got started again on page 2, I couldn’t believe how much I really had missed working on this. The last time it had been in my rotation was way back in July. Goodness!!! I really did need a kick in the pants to get on with it.

I think I was a bit put off at first because the decanter had so much confetti in it, and then I had to restart on 18ct because 28ct was doing my head in for this project.

Just to make my life even more exciting, I added another project to my ever growing pile of WiP's. I will post a photo of my progress on this next time. Oh and I thought I would make a couple of changes to my blog title. As it is Spring here in New Zealand I thought that is was time for a freshen up.

Until next time, happy stitching

Rotations could be a good thing…

My stitching has suffered a lot recently, because I haven’t had the time or the willpower to get on with it. This has mostly come about because of personal stuff, but because of that I have not had the strength to step away from it and do something for myself. But it is now time to get on with it.

We are in a new month and it’s time to get back into the swing of it. I dug out “Roses Friend” by Molly Harrison for Heaven and Earth designs. This is a good place to start because I am working on the background, so lots of blocks of color. I didn’t manage to finish the 1600 stitches that I would have liked, but I was pretty close.

I like to divide the full pattern page into 4. That way I only concentrate on a small area at a time. So far I have completed half of page 1 and almost 1/4 of page 7. I am planning on working left to right in half page sections. It seems that with this particular piece I have decided that I would prefer to cross country stitch, but things might change once I get to the central design.

This Saturday I plan on changing to my next project which is the 2011 QS Stitch-A-Long “QS Curl up with a good book”. I really love this piece, my children got me that full size pattern for Christmas last year and I know that I will probably not get around to stitching it, but this way I can make a smaller version.

Until next time, happy stitching

Every stitch is worth it ....

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with my stitching goals for 2011. So, I think I need to prioritize, but before I do that, here are a couple more updates.

I have always loved Dragon Luck since I saw it as a Storykeep, but I wasn't head over heels in love with Heaven and Earth designs when that freebie was available, so, when I found the Quick Stitch that the Storykeep had been cropped from I couldn't get it started soon enough for my new grandson, (he is growing so fast where did the last 5 months go???). I have just managed to get half of page 2 done and this little guy is looking so cute, now I only have to finish page 2 & 3 on this to complete one of my 2011 goals.

I also have an update of another dragon Eldar and I am close to finishing half of page 7 which will mean that the first five columns of this are finished, yipee I can't wait. I really like working on this, but because I love all my other projects the same nothing is getting the TLC it "truly" deserves.

So this week, I want to get 600 stitches completed on QS Curl Up, so I need to go to get a more on.

Until next time, happy stitching

Curling up to keep warm ....

It's winter here in New Zealand and all I have wanted to do is curl up in front of the fire. But, alas that was not to be. I did get a fair bit of stitching in though. I have made progress on page 1 of QS Curl up with a good book, just looking at this little guy warms the soul. Maybe I will get page 1 completed in my August rotation.

I have added a few more stitches to my little fairy "Roses Friend", but as it is all background I decided that I would wait until the page was finished before adding another update photo and Masquerade SK finally has her face completed, I will take a picture of the whole project when I take it off the QSnaps. This project has become my nemesis, it is just sitting there constantly taunting me, but I figure that any stitches that I can get completed on this are a bonus. I hope to get back with another update over the next week so here's hoping.

Until next time, happy stitching

Time for a catch up ....

This is what I managed to accomplish all the way back in May!!! I couldn't believe how much I had done until I sat down to write this post.

1. Eldar - 400 stitches done
2. Storykeep Masquerade - 400 stitches done
3. QS Curl Up with a Good Book - 400 stitches done
4. Polar Bear Fun - 400 stitches done
5. Roses Friend - 400 stitches done
6. QS Dragon Luck - 400 stitches 250 stitches

June was a complete washout, and now we have reached July. This month I plan to work 600 stitches on all my current projects and I also have a new start because I couldn't help myself. I joined the 2011 SK SaL on the HAED BB, (what was I thinking!!!).

Here she is in all her glory. This is Ice Wind by Linda Tso. So, I have gridded up my fabric and I just need to get a couple of extra threads. I have decided to work this one on 22ct Hardanger, mainly because that is what I had in my stash, and I haven't actually cross stitched a piece on Hardanger before. I am looking forward to how this will work up.

I won't be able to make an actual start on this though until later in the month, but first up in my rotation this month is QS Curl up with a good book, so I should have some progress to show you next update.

Until next time, happy stitching

May Goals ....

Here we go! It's the beginning of the month again!

1. Eldar - 400 stitches
2. Storykeep Masquerade - 400 stitches
3. QS Curl Up with a Good Book - 400 stitches
4. Polar Bear Fun - 400 stitches
5. Roses Friend - 400 stitches
6. QS Dragon Luck - 400 stitches

Until next time, happy stitching

I survived, and made a new start ....

I've reached the end of the month. Woohoo!! I survived the NO BUY challenge that I set myself. It was really difficult, so many beautiful new releases came out and my fingers were itching to make them a part of my stash.

This is my latest new start. It's called Roses Friend by Molly Harrison and charted by Heaven and Earth designs. I saw this and immediately thought of my Aunt. She was also my Godmother and I was her "Namesake". She passed away 17 years ago and this is the first time I have come across a design that reminded me of her so much.  So I am making this in her honor, much missed and loved by me and my family. This is my progress on her so far. I am stitching the background, and finding it really therapeutic, because not as much concentration is required.

I'm ending this month by working on QS Curl Up with a Good Book. It had been a nightmare for me until I restarted on 18ct and it seems to be working out for me.

Okay, so, from what I achieved last month, I am really glad that I did do a rethink on my rotation. I feel so much happier about the progress that I have made with all my projects and I've been able to decide which projects are a priority and give them the time that is needed to get them finished quicker. Last but definitely not the least I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my musings. I appreciate all your comments.

Until next time, happy stitching

Rotation rethink ....

I really needed to do this because I had other projects that I wasn't getting anywhere with. So I have decided to work on each project in rotation for four days and then work one day on either of my two focus pieces. That way I may be able to get some progress on everything. I might even be able to post updates more often

.

So here is an update to Polar Bear Fun. This was the first chart that I brought from HAED. I got it because my husband loves Polar Bears and this is one that really appealed to me. Very slow progress, because I haven't worked on this since August of last year.

Until next time, happy stitching

Update time ....

Here we are at Day 25 and I still haven't brought any more HAED charts. Woohoo!!! It's been difficult, but I'm ever hopeful that my children will come through. If not, oh well, it's okay. It's not the end of the world.

So, now it's time for some updates and I have a few so I am going to spread them over a couple of posts. First off here is QS Dragon Luck. I haven't worked on this in a while. I've been busy listening to all my other WIPs screaming for attention and this one got neglected. But I brought it out again and I have made this a regular in my rotation.

Next up is Masquerade SK. This is one of my goals for this year and I need to make progress with this. I'm excited because she finally has two eyes (well almost) and I'm getting close to being half way finished.

Until next time, happy stitching

New starts and catch ups ....

I'm finally going to get around to showing you my most recent new start. It's the new HAED BB SaL for 2011. This time around we will be working on this over the year and I have been really looking forward to making a start on this. I got everything ready, found fabric, gathered floss in one place, and began gridding my fabric and this is how far I have gone with it. It's worked on 28ct white jobelan, using 1 thread over 1.

But, I have found that with all the confetti in this piece I am not a happy little stitcher and I feel that things might be easier if I change my fabric. So, I have made a restart and will update next month with that.

I have also been busily trying to sort out my rotation so that I can get some of my other projects moving, therefore completing them so I can have more new starts. I have had some success here though.

I had made a fairly loose plan of attack

• Finish page 1 of QS Dragon Luck (done)
• Work 300 stitches on Masquerade SK (done)
• Complete page 1 of Eldar (done)
• Complete 1/4 page of QS Curl Up (restarting on different fabric)

Until next time, happy stitching