End of year

 I am posting a day early as I won't get any stitching time in tomorrow or time on the computer.  I did not get page 6 finished on Little Fairies at Play.  Just too much going on now to find alot of stitching time.  I go back to Ball State Friday to finish enrolling my son.  Then move him into the dorm on Sunday.  Then for the first time in my life I will be living alone.  And broke.  lol  So I should have alot more stitching time.

 Here is my ort jar at the end of the year.  It was to the top but I mashed it down.

I will be updating my WIPocalypse page and creating my 2015 page.  I like having all of my stitching progress in one place that I can quickly look at. 

I stayed up late last night to finish Joy.  It is ready to be mailed off.  I don't think I will get page 6 finished on Little Fairies at Play.  I will give it a try.

I left early this morning to take my son to Ball State. 1 1/2 hr drive to spend 5 minutes in Admissions.  He should hear tomorrow if he is admitted and can start the next step in getting ready to go to Ball State.  Classes start next Monday 1/5.  From Ball State we went to White Castle.  So we were munching on burgers by 9:15 am.  Then back to Ft Wayne and Walmart to buy all of the items needed for dorm life.  We were back home by 12:30pm.  200 miles.  And I get to do it all over again possibly Friday if he has to go back to meet with counselor to sign up for classes etc.  Then back again on Sunday to move into the dorm.

I had hoped to finish this one.  I did run out of thread and had to make a run to Michaels to get more DMC 4130.  This is going to be a busy week and I might not get much stitching done.  I think I will keep this one out and push for the finish.  Then next week when things are a little slower try and finish page 6 on Little Fairies at Play.

I worked on Little Fairies at Play this past week.  I am so close to a page finish.  This is my favorite project that I have in my rotation.  But I am switching back to my quilt square so I can get it finished in time.  If I can finish the quilt square this week that leaves me almost 2 wks to finish page 6 on Little Fairies at Play.

The sun is out today and in the mid forties.  I am going to rake leaves in my front yard that have blown in from the neighbors.  It is supposed to rain this afternoon so I need to take advantage of the sunshine.

 I made more progress on my Joy quilt square.  It is moving right along.  I am switching back to Little Fairies at Play this week with the hopes of getting page 6 done before the end of the year.  I am off on Mondays and between housework and Christmas shopping I hope to get alot of stitching done today.

Got my tree put up Saturday afternoon.  Back in the kitchen again.  I spend alot of time in the kitchen and it is nice to look at and I don't lose any seating in the living room this way.  When the plumber came to install my new hot water heater 2 wks ago he said "Hey aren't you the lady who had the Christmas Tree in the kitchen last year".  lol  I guess that is not a bad thing to be remembered for.

December Wipocalypse

 This past month I worked on Little Fairies at Play - still working on page 6.

 I had a new start with Joy - to be made into a quilt square for a quilt to be given to a friend.  This has a mail by date of mid January so I will be working on it alot til then.

 Butterfly Fairy Night - the first wing is taking shape.

And I had another new start in November - Folk Santa.

We are supposed to talk about what we have accomplished this year.  I have had 4 finishes:

 Sunflower Swirl

 Live Out Loud

 Cat Cushion

Jump for Joy

I don't have my plans finalized for 2015 yet but I will be participating in Measi's WIPocalypse again.  I like watching everyones progress and I like tracking my own progress each year.

Here is my new start - Joy from Cross Country Stitching June 2011.  I am stitching it on 18 ct Antique White with DMC variation #4130.  It is moving along quickly since there are no color changes.  I hope to finish this up in the next week so I can get back to Little Fairies at Play and finish up page 6 before the end of the year.  This will be a quilt square that will be part of a friendship quilt a group is putting together for a friend.

I am spending tomorrow with my sister on a bus trip to Chicago.  We went last year and had a good time.  Looking forward to spending time with my sister.

Little Fairies at Play is moving right along.  I had hoped to finish page 6 before the end of the year. I am at the half way point of page 6.  But today I am starting another project, a quilt square that needs to be finished by mid January.  I hope that mine will go fast so I can get back to Little Fairies at Play.  I will post progress on my square next week.  I am stitching it on 18 ct antique white with variations DMC.  The chart called for a silk in variations color which I don't have.  So I am switching the color to something I have in my stash.  This is my first time changing colors totally from what the pattern calls for.  I hope it comes out ok.

When I was uploading my progress picture I noticed I had taken a picture of Little Fairies at Play a year ago on 11/23/13.  Here is my progress as it was then several pages back.  Nice to know I have made some progress in a years time.

If I can get page 6 done before the end of the year I will have completed 3 pages this year.!

Last week I worked on Butterfly Fairies Night.  I think I am getting more comfortable stitching on evenweave.  I made alot of progress.  Of course it helps not working on Mondays as I stay up late on Sunday night stitching and stitch on and off during the day on Monday depending on what I am doing.  I had planned on raking leaves again today but the 2 inches of snow we received last night has halted that plan.  I am sure I will find something to do. 

I do want to go thru my stash and pull the patterns for the projects I want to start in 2015.  I have made a list.  That way I can slowly kit them up from what I have on hand and then slowly buy whatever is missing.  I am trying to put in some small projects so I will have some finishes once in a while.  But most on my to do list are large.

WIPocalypse November

 Little Fairies at Play is coming along.  Half way done with page 6.

 This month I also worked on Butterfly Fairies Night.

And I had a new start Folk Santa from Cross Stitch & County Crafts May/June 1988.  I think I got alot of stitching done this month.

We are to talk about our favorite things.  Well I enjoy stitching on Aida.  I know I am in the minority.  Butterfly Fairies Night is being stitched on even weave.  And it is ok but I really have to think and need good lighting to work on it.  I have tried stitching on linen.  My UFO Pinecone Sampler is on linen.  I just enjoy stitching on Aida as I can sit back and enjoy the design coming to life without thinking about it too much.

I also enjoy backstitching as it brings the project to life.  And I like large projects that fully cover the fabric.  I have started adding some smaller projects to my rotation because I do like having finishes occassionally.

Little Fairies at Play had more progress made on it.  I now have 40,424 stitches complete.  About 1/2 way finished with page 6.

I was getting my fabric ready for a new start.  Fixing the edges, making sure I had enough border when the next thing I knew I had started stitching on it.  I made pretty good progress and will post a picture next week.  It is Folk Santa from an old issue of Cross Stitch & Country Crafts.

I worked on Butterfly Fairies Night this past week. I am working on a wing so more colors should be appearing.  I am getting more comfortable working on even weave.

I am going to start a small freebie kit that came with one of my magazines.  I need something to work on while sitting in waiting rooms.

Hope to have lots of progress to show next week.  If I don't have to rake too many leaves!

This week I worked on Little Fairies at Play.  Page 6 is moving right along.  I hope to finish this page before the end of the year.

When I went to the Tulip Festival in May I bought 20 tulip bulbs to plant.  They were to be shipped in October for planting.  Well my package showed up this week and along with my 20 bulbs they included a free package of mixed bulbs.  The package said 15 bulbs but I counted them and there were 19.  I have given some away but still have almost 30 bulbs to plant.

WIPocalypse October

 I worked on Little Fairies at Play this past month and got quite a bit stitched.

I also started a new project - Butterfly Fairies Night.  So I now have 2 projects in my rotation.  Since these are both large pieces I am going to work on just these 2 until the end of the year.  I am making a list of the projects I want to start next year and kitting them up.  I will try and have a mix of small and medium projects added to my rotation.

This month we are to answer the question "Are you a Halloween or Christmas stitcher".  I have not stitched any pieces that are either Halloween or Christmas themed.  I have made some Christmas ornaments in the past but not for the last few years.  I have seen a few projects that are Halloween and/or Christmas that have caught my eye and I would like to stitch.  I am sure one will jump into my rotation sometime.  I also don't stitch Christmas gifts for anyone as my family doesn't really appreciate them.  They do like the ornaments I have made in the past and I might try doing some again.

 This weekend I went to a big car show in Gas City, IN.  Ducktails.

 We spent the whole day there.  Thousand of cars to look at.

 Saw this one driving down the road.

And I had 2 days off this week so I got quite a bit done this week.  1000 stitches done.  I had to have a colonoscopy so I spent Thursday not eating and stitching and then Friday after the procedure I kept stitching.  I still have 14 vacation days to use up before the end of the year.  I am thinking about just taking days here and there and staying home and stitching on this project.  I want to finish page 6 before the end of the year.

 I finally started a new project - Butterfly Fairies Night by Lanarte.  I am stitching it on 28 ct Antique White over 2.  Here is my progress since I started on 9/11/14.

I will be rotating between my two large projects.  I want to kit up some smaller quicker pieces so I will have some finishes next year.  Meanwhile I hope with only 2 projects for the rest of the year that I will make some good progress.

WIPocalypse

 I have finally had another finish and this is also the only stitching I have done since last month.

Jump for Joy is finished.  Also have a picture of the whole thing that I want to finish off into a wall hanging.  I have another project kitted and ready to start.  I just need to find the time to start.

This month we are supposed to talk about our favorite person to stitch for.  Over the years I have made members of my family pictures and only my mother seemed to appreciate them and take an interest in what I was working on.  So I have stopped stitching for others and keep most of the projects for my self.  They are in a large box in my closet waiting to be framed or finished into something else.  I enjoy the stitching process and never get around to having them framed/finished.

WIPocalypse August

I am a little early posting for WIPocalypse but better early than never.  I only have 2 projects in my rotation and I still cannot find alot of time to work on them.  I get about 2hrs a day during the week and none on the weekend. 

 This is Little Fairies at Play.  I have started page 6 which is a smaller page.  I hope to finish this page this year.  I still love working on this one.

Then I have Jump for Joy.  A small project which should have been finished in 2 weeks.  I just have one more word to go and some back stitching.  I hope to switch back to this project next week and finish it off.

We were to talk about our oldest WIP.  Well mine is Gathering Pine Cones.

I last worked on this one in October 2009.  It is stitched on linen which I am not comfortable with.  It also is all specialty stitches.  Each pine cone in the center is a different stitch.  It looks nothing like the picture on the pattern.  I only have 2 more pine cones to stitch and some lettering.  But it is languishing somewhere.

I am going camping this weekend so no stitching will get done until next week.

 I have finally finished page 5 of Little Fairies at Play!  I don't do any stitching any more on the weekends and usually only have an hour at night to stitch.

 Here is a close up of page 5.  That is 38,032 stitches complete.

 My son graduated from high school 6/14/14.  Here he is with my daughter.

 And my daughter and her husband showing off the bearded hats one of his co-workers made for him.

These are my kids along with my nieces and nephews.  They are a good bunch of kids.

I hope to work my stitching in to have more regular updates.  I am off to the tractor pulls for 2 nights this weekend.

June WIPocalypse

I can't believe I have no stitching progress to show since the last WIPocalypse!  I am often so tired at night that I just fall asleep.  I have also found someone to spend my weekends with and do things with.  We hung new shutters on my house last weekend. 

My son graduated from High School last Saturday and that was an all day event.  This is busy season at work and I go in early and try to stay late when I can.  I am also spending more time with my dad as we don't want him driving as he has had too many accidents.  And his memory is not the best.

I miss my stitching and I am so close to finishing another page on Little Fairies at Play. 

This month's topic is Have you ever attended a stitching get together or retreat?  I am very lucky that I belong to a group called Hoosier Stitchers.  It is free and a very friendly group.  I have attended the monthly get togethers in the past.  Just hanging out with people who enjoy stitching, eating good food, looking at everyone's WIPs, happy dances makes for an enjoyable day.  It makes me so relaxed, happy and gets your stitching mojo going again.  I really need to attend a get together soon.  Then I might have more updates to my stitching.

 Well I got a little more stitching done this past week.  Not much.  I think I will switch projects and see if that helps get me motivated.  I did go garage sale shopping on Saturday and picked up some more leaflets for .10 each.  I got a few Paula Vauhn books and some Stoney Creek leaflets.

 Sunday we went to the Zoo.  The weather was perfect.  We have one of the top rated zoos in the country here at Ft Wayne.

It was a good way to spend a beautiful afternoon.  I tried to take a picture of the lions but the sun was so bright I couldn't see thru my camera and ended up with a picture of trees.  But the male and female lions were out posed just like in the movies.