Happy Dance: Napping Kitten

One gift down, three to go!
I finished "Napping Kitten" by Dimensions two days ago:

Please forgive the wrinkles, I will upload another picture once it is ironed and framed.
This is going to be a Christmas gift for my sister (who doesn't blog, so I am safe to share!)
It took me just over four months to finish this.  I think this is the earliest in the year I have ever completed a stitched Christmas gift: I am usually frantically trying to finish the week before!  So I am very happy that I have some time to mount and frame it.

Happy stitching!

WIPocalypse Check-In: October

Before I begin, I must hang my head in shame since I am nearly a week late for this post (October!  Where did it come from?!)  Fall is my favorite season, although sadly, here in Tennessee it still feels more like summer, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for some cooler weather soon. : )

The topic for this month is: are you a Halloween or Christmas stitcher?
I am a Christmas stitcher, as the majority of my holiday projects are either Christmas-themed or future Christmas presents!  I haven't stitched any Halloween pieces yet, but I have a couple in the wings for DUCJC 2015 (more info about my plan for that in an upcoming post.)

Now onto my stitchy progress (I worked on quite a few WIPs, so this post will be pretty pic-heavy!):  I've managed to get a bit of stitching time in, although not quite as much as during the summer months.  I've been trying to focus my attention on getting Christmas presents complete, although I have been called away more than a few times by other projects!  I had 2 new starts and a finish this month.

One of my new starts was Disney's "Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love" (Kinkade), which I received for my birthday from my wonderful bf along with some extra stitching supplies that I have been in need of (bobbins, needles, a floss organizer, and a few skeins of DMC.)  Needless to say, I was a very happy lady!  I've put a little time into it:

The start of some pretty sky!  I am excited to really delve into it in January once my gifts are completed.

My other start and finish are ornaments from the Nativity Ornaments series I am stitching up as gifts:

I finished the 2nd of 4 I am making:

and started the 3rd:

Hoping to have all four finished by Thanksgiving so I have plenty of time to finish-finish them!

Another intended Christmas gift, "Napping Kitten" went from here:

To here:

I finished the cross-stitching and am working on the backstitching: should be a finish by my next WIPocalypse post!

The stocking I am working on as a gift went from here:

To here:

Not quite as far as I had hoped for, but I think I can still get it done in time.  Once "Napping Kitten" is completed in a couple weeks, I will use that extra space in my rotation to work on it.

I also put a little time into "Aurora Cabin," which went from here:

To here:

I worked on "Quiet Time," but only put a couple hundred stitches in, so I won't bother putting up a pic until I've made more progress.

And I think that's it...whew!  My WIP list keeps getting longer and longer: the more I blog and read all of your blogs, the more stash I seem to accumulate, and the more starts I have! :P  Looking forward to seeing everyone's progress from the past month.  Happy stitching!

WIPocalypse Check-In: September

Hi all,

Can't believe it's over a week into September already!  Things are getting busy again because of school, but I still managed to stitch a bit on my WIPs, especially those gifts that are (and hopefully will be finished in time!) for Christmas.

The topic for this post is: Who is your favorite person to stitch for, or do you prefer to keep your stitching yourself?
Almost all of the cross stitches I have finished so far I have given as gifts to family members/friends, with the exception of one sampler, which was a kit I received as a gift from my parents (and therefore felt weird about then giving away once I completed it.)  I am currently working on a couple for myself: "Quiet Time" and "Aurora Cabin."  I am not sure who I prefer to stitch for: I really like giving cross stitches as gifts, usually to my immediate family who know how much time/effort goes into stitching a piece, but picking out a pattern that I like for myself is also fun, because I can really get into what I am stitching!

This month, I worked a little on "Aurora Cabin," which went from here:

To here:

I've gotten a bit more of the sky done, although this one has taken a back seat to the gifts I'm working on, which I can share since no one else in my family blogs!

"Checking His List Stocking" went from here:

To here:

I am setting myself the slightly-ambitious goal of finishing the cross stitch by my next WIPocalypse post. That way I will have two months to backstitch and finish finish the piece!
"Napping Kitten" went from here:

To here:

Just a little bit more stitching on the top: the cross-stitching on this one should definitely be done by my next WIPocalypse post (knock on wood!)

And I had two new starts and a finish (my first for 2014, woot!!)  I am making 4 nativity-themed ornaments for my parents (there are 12 total in the collection: I plan on doing 4 this year, and depending on how they are received, doing another 4 for each of the next 2 Christmases.)

I started and finished (stitching)  the first ornament:

It was a nice, quick stitch: very pleasant after all of the bigger projects I have been working on!

And I started the second ornament:

I only put in about 300 stitches on "Quiet Time," so I'll wait to post a picture until I have a page finish to show you (which may not be for a few months while I finish up these presents!)

I also acquired another kit: "Let It Snow" by Mill Hill.  I plan on adding it to my rotation in November once the bulk of my gifts are completed. I have only ever beaded on one other cross stitch, so I am planning on using this as a change of pace/beading practice!  I have been eyeing a couple of Chatelaine's Mandalas, but I know they require a lot of beading and either one would be an immense project to take on, so I want to make sure I'm at least halfway decent at beading before I seriously consider purchasing a Chatelaine pattern.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone has been working on!

1st Page Finish!

Yes, it is obscenely late (or should I say early?), but hey, it's the weekend, and I finally finished the first page of my first HAED! : )    This is the start of  "Quiet Time" by Sara Butcher:

In order to avoid lines in the finished product, I continued some colors onto the adjacent pages, so I have a small amount of pages 2 and 6 already completed.
Just gridded several other pages, and am excited to work on page 2! ( :  Now to bed!

WIPocalypse Check-In: August

Hi all,

Lots of fun progress to report!  I've been on a crazy stitching kick, especially the last couple days now that my new patterns have arrived.  I'm very ready for some new starts! : )  I am forcing myself to wait until I finish the gifts I am currently making....so difficult, but it's helping me find the motivation to work on my current WIPs. : )

The topic for this month is: Tell us about your oldest and newest WIPs.

My oldest WIP is "Aurora Cabin", which I started back in May 2009, then left it as a UFO for 4 years while I completed my undergraduate degree.  I picked it back up in October 2013, and am hoping to see a finish on it by May.  It is one of the patterns I am tackling as a part of WIPocalypse, and this month it went from here:

To here:

The sky is going so quickly after all of the confetti of the trees and mountains!

My newest WIP is "Napping Kitten" which I started in June (will be a Christmas present for my sister.)  It went from here:

To here:

I am also working on "Checking His List Stocking", which went from here:

To here:

And, last but not least, I am working on my first HAED, "Quiet Time."  I did not have a page finish, but it is about there, so hopefully I will be able to share one with you in the next couple of days!

I am thrilled because today I have absolutely nothing to do besides a little housework (when does that ever happen?) so for the rest of the day I plan on stitching, stitching, and stitching some more!

New Stitchy Stash! :)

Exciting stuff! :)  Now that I am stitching more than in previous years, I have been keeping an eye out for new patterns I might like to stitch after I finish my current WIPs.  I was lucky enough to receive some unexpected award money through the university for my thesis work, and while most of it will be going to pay for necessities and books, I decided to also treat myself to a "small" stitching shopping spree.  Thanks to some awesome lightly-used finds, I was able to get a surprising amount for my budget, which made me very very very happy!  This is what I ended up with:

Two books of designs by Joan Elliott: Bewitching Cross Stitch and Christmas Cross Stitch Treasures, and the Summer 2014 issue of Stoney Creek magazine (annual Christmas issue!  Can you tell I have Christmas on my mind?  It must be all the stitched presents I'm tackling this year.)  And because I like multiple patterns in each of these collections, I shouldn't need to buy any new patterns for at least the next three years haha!  (We'll see how that works out!)

Stoney Creek also has a cute Halloween pattern available for free (!!) called "A Frightful Welcome," so I ordered that along with the magazine (and decided to go ahead and purchase the fabric and glow-in-the-dark Kreinik for it as well!):

I think this might be my next new start after I finish stitching up presents for this Christmas.

Hope everyone is having a good end to the summer! It's hard to believe that school starts back in two weeks!

WIPocalypse Check-In: July

Hi all,

Thanks so much for the encouraging comments on my previous post!  Please forgive my tardiness in replying: life was a bit hectic for awhile, but by next week it should slow back down.

The WIPocalypse question of the month is: It’s halfway to Christmas.  Do you start your holiday stitching this early?  If so, what do you hope to accomplish this year?

I do start my holiday stitching this early, in fact, I probably am stitching on something Christmas-related all year long.  This is partly because I love Christmas/winter designs, but also because during the school year I don't have a lot of free time, so I get my projects started early in order to ensure finishes by Christmas. This year I have several gifts I am making family members for Christmas, and I have 2 of them partially complete: one a stocking, and one a picture that is not a Christmas design, but will be a Christmas gift! (My progress is below...luckily no one else in my family blogs, so I don't have to worry about them peeking!) Besides these, I am planning on making a set of 4 ornaments for my parents, which I will start once one of my current gift projects is complete.

My Stitching Progress:

"Aurora Cabin" went from here:

 

To here:

I completed most of the forest hills (mountains?) to the left, which despite all of the confetti went fairly quickly because they were half stitch instead of full!

 

"Checking His List Stocking" went from here:

 

To here:

 

 Santa's bag is full, and he has a (partial) sash!

 

And "Napping Kitten" went from here:

 

To here:

 

 

 He has a face! : )  I'm very excited about how quickly this one is coming together.

 

I did not have a page finish for "Quiet Time," because I spent most of my stitching time with my other projects, although I did make some progress on it! I will post an update once I have a page complete.   Thanks for looking! :)