But I Have Pictures!

So you need to forgive the lack of blogging this month. Seriously, I blinked and July happened. However, I have managed some stitching. Thus, there are pictures which are of greater interest to you than anything I might say, I'm sure! lol

First up: my July progress on Nativity Story Table Runner



And the full view of the 38.5 inches of stitching thus far:


Another big milestone was completing the south town on Medieval Town Mandala. Here's the south town (upside down):


And the obligatory full view:


Kind of excited that I only have one more town to stitch. I love this design, but the towns are SO stitching intensive. I'll be glad to get the last one behind me so I can finish the corner motifs.

I brought out an old friend this month, Elizabethan Sweete Bag. Haven't stitched on it in two years! Stitched the leaves this round. The only stitching remaining are the 8 over one bugs. Seriously wondering what I was thinking to plan to stitch over one on black linen.



Needed something smaller and not on black to stitch on at Moonlight Stitching last weekend at the LNS. So I started block A2 (a Celtic heart motif) of Celtic Quilt. I actually got a fair amount completed despite all the visiting with stitching friends!



Amazingly, my photography doesn't completely suck this month. Moon must be out of phase.

I do need to say that Moonlight Stitching was LOTS of fun! Wendy, Dana, and Melissa were all there, along with several other stitchers with whom I've become acquainted the past several visits. We closed the place down! Not sure I'm gonna make the next one in September. Diva's volleyball team hosts a tournament that weekend. We'll see.

June Progress/ July Goals

Yes, it's that time of the month again, Dear Readers. So how did I fare this month?

Stitching Goals for June:

1. Finish "duckie" band on Egypt Garden Score! All done.
2. Stitch 10 hours on Nativity Story Table Runner Another one bites the dust - see post below for photographic evidence.
3. Start stitching Snow Queen's Slipper Started AND finished the stitching. Minimal progress on the finish-finishing, though.
4. Post final sign-ups for the Chatelaine Smalls Exchange, assign partners, etc. DONE!
5. Mail my own entry for the Chatelaine Exchange Mailed and received by my victim. :-)
6. Take Hanging Gardens to the framer Sadly, no. Just didn't get there.
7. Make hotel reservations for the Houston Quilt Festival YESYESYESYES!!! Hotel AND Airlines booked!! WOOOHOOO!

Non-stitching goals for June:

1. Stick with eating plan - lose 6 pounds Great with eating plan. Just barely made weight goal - but I did make it.
2. Exercise at least 16 days Made 19 days! Go, me!
3. Do the Body Pump class every Thursday Yep. Even convinced Diva to go with me.
4. Buy some shorts that fit Bought two pair then guilt set in.
5. Bite the bullet and buy a new bathing suit (UGH!) Changed my mind after trying on what I have and deciding it would work for the 3 days I have to wear one.
6. Buy some new summer shoes Fail. Didn't even get to the shoe store.
7. Let go of guilt over spending money on items 4.-6. I am SO not good at this.

July will be really challenging. We are headed to Lake Oconee, GA tomorrow to meet up with DH's family for a reunion of sorts. I'll spare you all the reasons I'm not looking forward to the trip and just say this is absolutely NOT a vacation for me and is the source of much stress. The day after we get home, I have to babysit my grandmother so my mother and her fiance can get away for a few days. Gram is in the early stages of dementia and doesn't do well out of her habitat, so I will be spending nights there. Mom hasn't been away from Gram in almost 16 years, so I'm glad to do this for her. But, it does mean more days of little/no exercise for me. With both of these events, it will be July 12th before I am able to resume a "normal" schedule. I'm worried not just about failure to lose weight, but actually gaining weight as a result. Yes, I have been discussing it with my doctor. She's concerned, too. Mostly about the effect of stress hormones on my body. Just have to do the best I can and then deal with the aftermath.

On the other hand, stitching time should be in abundance. Or at least, that is my expectation. Let's see what I can accomplish.

Stitching Goals for July

1. Stitch two small projects while at the lake (Red Dragon Bookmark by Dracolair and Oh Christmas Tree by Charlotte's Web Needlework in the 2009 JCS Ornament Issue).
2. Complete the finishing for the slipper portion of Snow Queen's Slipper.
3. Stitch 10 hours on Nativity Story Table Runner.
4. Stitch 10 hours on Medieval Town Mandala (hoping that will finish the current town).
5. Make a master list of all the projects hiding in my closet that have been stitched but are in need of finishing and determine finishing requirements.
6. Attend Moonlight Stitching at the LNS on July 24.

Non-stitching Goals for July

1. Stick to eating plan - lose 4 pounds (I said it would be a tough month)
2. Exercise at least 14 days, including 3 body pump classes.
3. Order new sofa.
4. Attend ADFP meeting for professional development.
5. Determine CPE requirements for the remainder of year and decide which classes to take.
6. Update professional profile and begin to develop marketing plan.

As you might gather from the non-stitching goals, I am gearing up for a big marketing push for my financial planning/divorce financial planning practice. Now that both DDs are in high school and my volunteer days are minimal, it's time. There is also the realization that slammed me upside the head yesterday when Diva got her ACT scores (very good, BTW), that I have to pay for college in two years time. EEEEKKKK!!!! The need to generate some income has really hit home.

Stitching to share!

First, yes, I have been playing with the new blogger templates, which also means a new background. I'm not quite satisfied, so there will be more tinkering. But, I've reached my limit for today. :-) I can only play with technology for so long before I hit overload.

And there has been stitching! Pics of my June rotation on Nativity Story Table Runner:

Close up of what I stitched this month (The Holy Family):


As always, my photographic skills are lacking. The second pic shows the fabric color more closely, but the floss is more accurate in the first pic. Oh well. I figure I'm past the halfway point with stitching on this. Really, the Holy Family is the most intense stitching. Definitely on track to finish by year end.

Picked up Medieval Town Mandala for a while. Started on the 6 o'clock town. Again, full shot and close up views:



Colors on the full view are really off. I couldn't fix it no matter how I played around. I really am lacking in the photo editing abilities. These towns take an eternity to stitch. Really, if I can push through the last two, the end would really be in sight. But I do seem to get bogged down by them. Will continue with MTM this week.

Oh, and I received my Chatelaine Smalls Exchange for 2010 from Val!



It's the pincushion from Nantucket Violets Basket finished as a biscornu. The fabric is Silkweavers Parkside opalescent belfast linen. Val did a wonderful job with the finishing! I really love it - particularly because it is from a Chatelaine Design I do not currently own. And the colors are so perfect for my office/hobby room which is painted a medium violet shade! The SNC is Vintage Violets, a color used in several Chatelaine Designs. I don't have a local source for SNC, so I am really happy to receive it! Thank you, again, Val!

No word from my recipient yet, but that's as expected. My exchange has a bit far to travel....

I have started the finishing for Snow Queen's Slipper. As soon as I get this posted, I plan to make a bit more progress on it, so maybe there will be photos soon-ish (don't hold your breath, though).

Walk Like an Egyptian...

Yeah, that's kinda lame, I know. But I was a teenager in the early 80's. That's my excuse.

I finished the duckie layer/border on Egypt Garden. I thought it was going to be a quick rotation to stitch. And, well, the stitching part was fairly quick. But, apparently, I completely forgot (or maybe blocked) how much beading is involved in this particular part, and how much fudging has to be done to fit those beads on 32ct fabric. More brain power than I anticipated. For those playing at home, this is my SECOND time to stitch Egypt following the Very Sad Demise (tm) of my first completed Egypt. Anyway, you are much more interested in photographic evidence, so here it is:



And so you can see some of the sparklies:


I do love beading. It's the fudging and planning for the fudging that wear me out. I think that's the last place on this project that fudging must occur. So it's all good.

And, what have I started now? Why Snow Queen's Slipper (by Carolina House), of course. I've gridded the fabric and started backstitching the outlines. Just have one more heart shape and the sole of the slipper to outline yet. Here's a pic:



The linen is actually white. But it was laying on my dark brown table, and as it is a Permin linen (generally thought by me to be evil stuff) which means loose weave, the table color shows through. Fortunately, it seems the silk floss blooms nicely. My feelings about Permin linen have to do with how crappy my tension usually is on it and the stiffness of the fabric. Because of the loose weave, if the fabric wasn't stiff (i.e. if you wash out the sizing) it would be really limp and nearly impossible to stitch on. I know this for fact. But, as I stitch largely in-hand, the feel of the fabric matters to me. I just don't like really stiff fabric. And then there is the issue of my tension. The loose weave and my tension just generally don't get along well, so I typically do not like how my stitching looks on Permin linen. I once threw out a project that was two-thirds complete because I hated how it looked on the Permin linen so much. I knew I could never stand to look at it if I completed it, so why bother to finish. Anyway, I decided since this was the fabric that came with the project kit, I would give it a try. My thought being that the stiff linen might actually work to the advantage of the finishing of the slipper and accessories. So far, I don't want to throw it out the window, so we'll consider that an initial victory. More photos as progress happens.

Help me! My WIPs are screaming!

Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to think about what to work on beyond my stint on Egypt Garden and then Snow Queen's Slipper. But, my WIPs have other ideas. Lots of them. I'm hearing more voices in my head than usual.

Now that Hanging Gardens is finished, I am once again in single-digit WIP territory. I realize that the Slipper represents number 10, but as I think it's quick from the actual stitching perspective, I am not counting it. Don't you love my logic? I confess that finishing HG is a really, really good feeling. I do have one other project that is pretty close, in terms of hours, to being finished - Elizabethan Sweete Bag. Well, at least the front of the bag is nearly completed. I still haven't decided what, if anything I am going to stitch on the back of the bag. Even so, it's not that large a piece, and so probably represents the closest to another HD. So, ESB has been screaming.

Then there is Medieval Town Mandala. MTM is reminding me that I did make finishing her one of my goals for 2010. I have 2 of the 4 towns complete. It's not a hard stitch, just VERY time intensive. The towns are very densely stitched, which is partly why I get bored quickly when I pick this up. I love the design so very much. And, I know once the towns are completed, I can finish the corners in short order. I'm just having difficulty making myself pick this up again, but MTM is definitely making me feel some guilt.

Evening in the Park is saying, "Hey, you just need to finish me. I've been a WIP forever. You just need to get me done and gone." She's right. Honestly, I'm not as crazy about her as I once was, but she's still beautiful. I like working on her because I'm over the really intensive parts and moving on to the easier bits to stitch. I'm considering giving this one to my mom when finished. I do think mom will like her. So there is the double bonus of not only finishing a WIP but also finishing a gift that could be a Christmas gift.

Nativity Story Table Runner will continue to get attention every month as it has been this year. So he's not so demanding at the moment. But, I am itching to spend a little time on him because he's a nice break from the complicated Chatelaine Designs.

Misty Morning Vineyard and English Garden Sampler are used to my benign neglect. They get a rotation once a year and are content with that for now. They know that once MTM and EP are finished, I have in my head the thought that I will have a "Year of the Peacock" theme. So, for now, they are actually encouraging me to finish my other WIPs. They want my full attention, eventually.

Pineapple Stitches is a great travel project. So it will probably go to the lake with me next month. It (not far enough along to have gender yet) knows that's what I have in mind, so it's only whimpering softly.

Celtic Quilt is flat out mad. They haven't seen any attention in more than a year. In years past, I used these beautiful squares as a travel project while waiting for Diva at volleyball practice/lessons. But now that she drives herself, I don't have so much need for this. Melissa G brought her Waterlilly Pond Quilt squares to show at the GTG. GORGEOUS! But, they made my CQ squares give me "the look". They are just flat out mad at me. I kinda feel like I should stitch one just to appease them. Forget that I have 3 squares finished and 13 to go. How sad am I?

Egypt Garden is, of course, happy right now as I am working on the duckie band. He knows he gets that band finished and then goes back into the closet for a while. It's all good. Actually, I'm making good progress and may have the ducks quacking merrily along by the weekend. We shall see.

So what do you all think? I should mention that my VERY LONG-TERM goal is to get back to 4 or 5 WIPs of various sizes/designers. Is that laughter I hear? I KNOW. OK, maybe it's more of a dream than an actual goal, but it wasn't all that long ago that I had 12 WIPs. I am making some progress. What do you think I should focus on next? I can use all the help I can get. Oh, click the link at the top left of the page to see my album of WIP pictures, if you want to see how far along they are at present.

June Goals

Thought I'd given up on goals? Ha ha ha! No, May was just the month that got away beginning with Nashville's Great Flood and then all of the girls' end of the school year stuff. So actual planning sort of got thrown out the window. But that's OK because I actually accomplished stuff. Sometimes I think it's easier to get stuff done when you are insanely busy. Murphy's law of time management, or some such. The more time you have, the more you waste.

So, now to think about June and what I want to accomplish this month.

Stitching Goals for June:

1. Finish "duckie" band on Egypt Garden
2. Stitch 10 hours on Nativity Story Table Runner
3. Start stitching Snow Queen's Slipper
4. Post final sign-ups for the Chatelaine Smalls Exchange, assign partners, etc.
5. Mail my own entry for the Chatelaine Exchange
6. Take Hanging Gardens to the framer
7. Make hotel reservations for the Houston Quilt Festival

Non-stitching goals for June:

1. Stick with eating plan - lose 6 pounds
2. Exercise at least 16 days
3. Do the Body Pump class every Thursday
4. Buy some shorts that fit
5. Bite the bullet and buy a new bathing suit (UGH!)
6. Buy some new summer shoes
7. Let go of guilt over spending money on items 4.-6.

All do-able goals. We'll see how it goes.

Puttin' on my Dancin' Shoes!!

Yep! Hanging Gardens of Semiramis is FINISHED!!!! I punted all household responsibilities today just to finish the beading. Perfectly reasonable thing to do, right? I mean, I was thisclose to a happy dance. Can't let little things like laundry and shopping get in the way. Without further ado, the photo essay (as always, click for biggification):






The color of the fabric even comes close this time. I am SO excited to have this finished. I have no real idea how I want this framed yet. There is a really wonderful framer in town that Melissa has used to great success, so I might try that out. My LNS is great for basic framing, and they did a decent job on my Indian Summer Reflections, but I want this to be really spectacular. I did think about Jill Rensel, and may still consider her. I'm just nervous about sending her something that took a gazillion man hours to stitch for fear it would disappear.

So what's next? Well, tomorrow is a stitching GTG with Melissa, Dana, and Wendy (no blog, or she's holding out on me). I think I may do a stint on Egypt Garden whilst visiting with them. It will appease the DH, plus I'm up to the duckie band which is a fairly easy stitch. Then, I'm going to start on Snow Queen's Slipper which will be a stitch/finish-a-long with MissyAnn. Beyond that, I'm not planning. Many of my WIPs are vying for attention. We'll just see which one screams loudest!