Stitch from Stash: June

Month: June
Spent: $33.39
Earned: $0 (I had a finish, but it was from a pattern I bought in February, so not quite 6 months ago!)
Carry-Over: ($68.82 previous + $25 this month - $33.39 spent this month) = $60.43 left over from my budget from the last six months.  Not too bad: this group has really helped me keep track of and manage my spending habits!  My goal for the next half of the year will be to finish more projects. :)

This month's spending was entirely on a gift I will be stitching for my future sister-in-law and her second child, who is due at the end of August. (She isn't a blog reader, so I can share!)  I stitched a baby sampler for her first child, and decided I will stitch one for all future nieces and nephews as well.

The theme for the nursery is vintage, with pastels, and I found a lovely birth sampler pattern by Brooke Nolan (Brooke's Books) which fits the theme and color scheme perfectly:

"Spring Baby Girl Sunshine Line"

Just waiting for the chartpack to arrive in the mail!  Also included in the total spending listed above are the specialty threads I purchased for the pattern (some Kreinik braid and ribbon, and DMC memory thread) from my favorite online stitchy store.  I'm very excited to stitch this! I have a few Brooke's Books patterns, and I love how intricate and three-dimensional they are. I was planning to stitch one of her spirit angel ornaments this year, but it looks like that one will be saved for later so I can work on this and hopefully get it finished before the baby arrives!

In terms of stitching this month, I finished "Tree Frog Trio," (yay!), and therefore got a new start.

Here is my finish:

I started "The Balloon" (a Gorjuss/Bothy Threads design).  I only have a small portion of it stitched right now (I'll upload a pic in my WIPocalypse post), but this is what it will look like finished:

I love the look of all of the Gorjuss designs, and I really love all of the purple in this one. :)

I will  be back for Stitch from Stash - B, and I look forward to reading all of your updates!

Happy Stitching! :)

June WIPocalypse Check-In

Hi all,

It's the summer! Woot!  I graduated, moved, and just settled into a real-life, full-time job.  This is my first week working, but I must say I'm already loving having evenings free...no more homework or piles of grading waiting for me when I get home at night!

I didn't make quite as much progress as last month on my stitching, but I did have a finish and a new start. : )

I included this pic of my finish in my SFS post, but here is "Aurora Cabin" again:

I still love this piece as much (if not more) than when I first received the kit, and I'm so happy to see it finished...and it only took me six years haha!

Because I finished this, I got to start a new WIP to fill that slot in my rotation.  Since all my other projects are quite large, I chose "Tree Frog Trio" (Dimensions) to provide some variety, and so that I don't have to wait several months for another finish!  It shouldn't take me long at all; I've already gotten one of the three frogs completed:

I also worked a little on two of my other WIPs, and here is my progress:

Autumn Sampler:
Before:

After:

The Wave:

Before:

After:

Are you more productive stitching in winter or summer?
I am more productive in the summer, I think, just because I have a bit more free time without holiday traveling, etc.  Plus I have always been in school during the winter: this will be my first year since age 3 that I will not be in school, so I may end up getting a bit more cross stitching done, in addition to wedding planning! I actually don't think I have written about this in any of my previous posts, but my now-fiance proposed in March and we are looking at dates in fall of 2016 for the wedding...so excited! :)

I have decided to update my WIPocalypse goals from the beginning of the year to reflect the projects I have started ("Autumn Sampler" and "Tree Frog Trio," instead of the original projects I had listed.) I will post my updated goals in a day or two.

Happy Stitching! : )