Seasonal Stitch-a-Long, part 3

Hi everyone! What a long, strange three weeks it's been. Hope you are all safe, healthy, and happy. I'm writing this early as we'll be spending the weekend away for our fifteenth anniversary, which seems unbelievable. 

I'm happy to report that at 10:30 pm on Halloween night, I finished all the stitching on my sugar skulls project:

(Yeah, it was a pretty quiet night...)

Then I sewed them back-to-back in pairs, and hung them on my little Halloween tree. Ahhh. 

I've decided to set myself a task to make an ornament every year for that tree. And, of course, I already have next year's planned. (Ha!) Yep, it's another Mill Hill Beads kit, but this one is much smaller and simpler. But we'll talk about that NEXT October!

I thought I should start work on a Christmas project ... ideally one of the vintage "felt and sequins" kits in my stash. But instead I decided to start on a funny little kit that I had seen, randomly, in a craft store while my husband and I were killing time as our trailer hitch was installed. 

It was so ridiculous that it made my husband laugh. It was in a big chain store that I don't like to shop at due to how they treat their employees, so I didn't buy it. Then a few days later I saw the kit, and well, I couldn't resist it. Amusingly, when it arrived it had accidentally been sent as TWO kits, and when I contacted the store they just told me to keep it. 

As a "learn to craft" kit, it stitched up very quickly.

I wasn't sure what to do with the finished piece, but decided to stitch it on to a packing cube I am giving Wil for Christmas. (Super romantic, eh? Let's just say it's the gift of adventures yet to come...)

Now would I start a Christmas kit? Yes and no. I found this silly banner in my stash. 

I opened it up, read the instructions, and looked at all the bits. And I STILL didn't feel like starting it. 

Weird, eh? In the meantime, I had decided to try needle felting. (Yeah, I'm pretty scattered lately...). I found a really cute and well-priced kit on Etsy and bought one for me and one for a girlfriend. She and I have been holding weekly "Happy Hours" via FaceTime and figured we could do them together. 

They're certainly imperfect, but I'm pleased with the results for a first attempt!

Feels like the only thing I didn't work on was either the Christmas banner or my lovely tiger! But now that it's November, it's time to get the banner started. I hope to have something to show at our next check-in,  on December 6. (Maybe...)

The other incredibly talented stitchers work on a variety of beautiful projects -- pop over to their blogs for a bit of inspiration! 

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, and Helen.

October OMG almost complete: calavera ornaments

My goal for October was to stitch up at least two of these calavera ornaments from Mill Hill Beads to decorate my little Halloween tree. I didn't know at the time how long each one would take me to do -- turns out the stitching was very fast, but oh, that beading took a long time! Still, I have completed the stitching on all six, and the beading on five. So close!

My plan in the "this is going so well" middle portion of the month was to do all the stitching and the beading and then cut them out, sew them back to back, and hang them on the tree. So here I am on Halloween with no new ornaments -- but over the next few days I'll finish the beading and get these lovelies hung on my little tree for at least a day or so before I take it down. I mean, you don't take your Christmas tree down on December 26, do you?

Spooky! Also, I can't resist sharing my pretty little glass pumpkin patch:

It was the first time I had ever stitched on perforated paper, and it was actually pretty great. No hoop, no frame, just a bit of stiff paper. I may well find myself stitching more of their ornaments in the future. 

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see how everyone did on their October projects on the Finish Party page. Or choose an OMG project of your own and join us in November. I'm actually thinking of -- dare I say it -- a Christmas-themed project then!

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - October Finish Link-up

Seasonal Stitch-a-Long, part 2

 Hi everyone! I hope you're all happy and healthy.

Last time I had decided to take a break from my tiger needlepoint and work on these skull ornament kits from Mill Hill:

You may recall that I couldn't decide between the colors, so of course I bought all six. (I know I am a bit of an idiot...) I also didn't have a sense for how long each kit would take. 

When I started, the stitching felt easy, and I thought I would wrap them up very quickly. But the beading took longer than the floss stitching ... and not just because threading the beading needles was so difficult!

I haven't finished any of them, though I have the stitching and beading complete on four, and nearly complete on the fifth. In theory I can get all six done before Halloween!

I like that each is distinctly different, not just in color, but in design: 

And each time I start a new kit, I get the stitching done and think, "that went quickly!" and then realize the real time is in the beading.  Here's the one I'm working on, which has over half of the beads done, and a lot still left to add:

And compare that to an earlier one, with all the beading complete: 

My next steps are to finish the last two designs, cut them out, stitch them back to back, and hang them on my little Halloween tree. Even if they don't get much display time this year, they'll look great for years to come!

Our next check in is on November 14. I think I might shift over to -- dare I say it? Christmas-themed projects! We'll see how I feel. Till then, check out all the great projects that the other stitchers in this stitch-a-long are working on:

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, and Helen.

Wrapping up my last 101 things in 1001 days project... and starting a new one

In January 2018 I kicked off my second 101 things in 1001 days project -- a long enough time to complete biggish projects, but short enough to mean the clock is ticking. My first one wasn't a huge success; even with giving myself an extra 180 days I only completed 43 out of 101 tasks. 

My second one was more successful -- though I still only completed 56 out of 101 tasks. I did well in my "Blogginess" (9/11) and "Craftactular" (25/33) categories; did so-so in my "Adventure Time" (5/9), "Always Be Learning" (6/12), "Bookish" (5/10) and "House Proud" (4/10), but dismal in the important but not very fun "GOHIO" (2/8) and "Fitnecessity" (0/8) categories. Lots of room for improvement. 

I decided that I wanted to kick off a new round sooner rather than later -- and rather than wait until January rolls around, I'm kicking it off tomorrow. I don't even have the full 101 things list yet -- so completing that will be one of the tasks. 

Some -- hey, a lot -- of tasks rolled over, especially the difficult "adulting" ones like make our wills, make our advanced directives, and such. And I've adapted the fitness-related ones to reflect the new reality... and give myself more of a chance of completing them. There are lots of new crafts, lots of new things to learn, and new books to read -- some leftover Darwin, finally finishing Macaulay, darn it, and I want to go through and re-read Orwell. Sigh. You can read the whole new list here.

I'll try to be better about progress reports on a quarterly basis:

250 days : June 17, 2021

500 days : February 22, 2022

750 days : October 30, 2022

1001 days : July 8, 2023

Tiger Stitch-a-Long, part 3

 Hi everyone! Hope you are all safe and well. Let's see how Mr. Tiger is progressing! Here's where I was 3 weeks ago:

I honestly can't believe that it's been three weeks -- getting our reminder this week came as a shock. But I have gotten quite a bit done. 

I finished the leaves at the bottom and most of the leaves at the top, and then I started working on the background -- largely because I wanted to keep stitching while I was watching television. Just filling in the blanks!

I love that the background in the center is a blend of 2 strands of one color, and 1 strand of another -- creating a mottled effect. 

As we're in October, I'm going to take a break from Mr. Tiger to make some calavera ornaments from Mill Hill:

I couldn't decide which color I wanted to make, and I saw a set of all six available, and, well, you know how it is. 

I got a head start on one ornament, but I honestly can't tell how long it will take me to complete them. There not very big, so by next time I hope to have two or three done. 

Our next check in is on October 25. Till then, check out all the great projects that the other stitchers in this stitch-a-long are working on:

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, and Helen.

October OMG : Calavera Ornaments

I love Halloween, and for my October OMG I want to stitch up some of these adorable Calavera Ornaments from Mill Hill.

I have a small Halloween tree and try to add a new ornament every year. This year I discovered these lovely kits and, since I couldn't decide which color to get, I GOT EVERY COLOR. 

Amusingly, I closed my eyes and picked a kit to start -- and chose "Azul", which is my least favorite of the six color options. I opened up the kit today during a less-than-enlightening webinar at work... and got a good start on the stitching. I think the beading will be more time consuming, but who knows? 

My goal for October, therefore, is to stitch at least 2 of the skulls and sew them back to back to make an ornament for my Halloween tree. I fully admit that this may be too easy -- but, again, I honestly don't know. We'll see!

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see all the new October projects -- or add your own -- on the Goal Setting page. (You can also see how people did in September on the Finish Party page!)

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal October Link-up

September OMG complete : Plus Quilt

My goal for September was to sew on the binding, trim the threads, and finish the quilt I had been working on for a few months. I'm happy to say that it's complete, even though I don't have anywhere I can really show all of it off. 

It's not my best work, frankly. And the fabric colors -- which I like as "winter holiday" colors -- don't really fit with the decor in our bedroom. So I'm not sure what I will ever do with the quilt. 

It did confirm that making a large quilt isn't something I want to do again. I don't mind making the flimsy -- that's the fun part -- but getting it spread out and stretched enough to pin it properly, and even just wrestling with the size of the quilt isn't something I want to do again. I have the material for one more large quilt in a color scheme that I am happy about. So next year I'll make the top and then send it off to be quilted. It feels like a big expense, but as long as I like the way the quilt top looks it will be worth it. 

I laughed a little at my saying "I have the material for one more large quilt" -- like a lot of people who sew, I have the material for a hotel's worth of quilts. But that's another story. 

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see how everyone did on their September projects on the Finish Party page. Or choose an OMG project of your own and join us in October. I have a Halloween project that I think will be perfect to work on then.

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - September Finish Link-up

Tiger Stitch-a-Long part 2

Hi everyone! I hope you are safe and well. We're lucky that we're in  are only in the heavy smoke, but safe from the fires. 2020 continues to be so darn 2020...

Here's where I was last time:

And here's where I am now -- the tiger and some of the bushes are stitched!

I really like the subtle colors in the tiger... and his very sweet face:

Perhaps he's vegetarian?

My goal for next time is to finish stitching the leaves on the top, and start the top border.

Our next check in is on October 4. Till then, check out all the great projects that the other stitchers in this stitch-a-long are working on:

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, and Helen.

September OMG : Plus Quilt, continued (again!)

It surprises no one more than me that I actually got the plus quilt pinned and stitched in August!

Yep, still don't have any place that really works to take a picture! But here's a larger pic of the flimsy:

I worry that the quilt is really wrinkled and that I didn't stretch things out enough. But it also may be that I haven't cut most of the threads. At least that's my hope. 

My goal for September, therefore, is to sew on the binding, cut all the random threads, and actually finish the project. Fingers crossed!

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see all the new September projects -- or add your own -- on the Goal Setting page. (You can also see how people did in August on the Finish Party page!)

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal September Link-up

August OMG complete : plus quilt continued

My goal for August was to assemble the quilt "sandwich" and get it pinned. Well, it was a struggle -- and to be honest I don't think I did a great job of it! Then, having pinned it, I didn't really have much room to store it easily. 

I decided one weekend that it was simply too hot to be outside, so I set up my sewing machine in the coolest room of the house and did the very simple quilting. Again, I don't think it will win any awards -- but the basic quilting is done. I haven't even trimmed any threads yet, which doesn't help. But the big unwieldy part is complete. 

One thing this has taught me is that for big quilts, sending them off to be quilted may be the way to go. Not on this quilt -- the colors don't really work for us, so I think I am working on it more out of stubbornness than desire! But I have fabric for another large quilt that I think will turn out beautifully, and I think it will be worth investing in having it quilted. We'll see how the top turns out. Eventually.

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see how everyone did on their August projects on the Finish Party page. Or choose an OMG project of your own and join us in September. I think I'll try to sew the binding on and finish up this quilt next month!

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - August Finish Link-up