Archive for the Category ◊ Rotations & Goals ◊

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• Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

 

Since today’s the last day of January, it’s time to recap my progress for Theme-a-licious’s January “Jardin January” theme.  I didn’t get anything done beyond what I did last week for IHSW, but still… I made good progress on Floral Bellpull.  I’m happy, although the backstitching is still looming at me.  But hey, it’s a Wentzler piece.  There will ALWAYS be backstitching to do!

I loosely could include my start of Fox Run Mill and Why I Love New England as Jardin January starts too, I suppose, as I was working on borders that incorporated flowers/acorns/etc.  But WILNE isn’t at a floral point… yet.

But still – a good month, particularly since I didn’t set any concrete goals beyond stitching!

So of course, with January coming to a close, it’s time for me to plan the next month.

On Saturday, I mentally went through the events on my calendar for the next four weeks and realizing it may be one of the wackiest, busiest set schedules I’ve had in quite some time where there isn’t a wedding of some sort involved.  I spent part of the weekend organizing my Google calendar, and I think I have everything in order.  Thank goodness for Google calendar, BTW – sharing calendars between Erich and myself is a godsend, even if he probably doesn’t want to see every farking stitching event I have going.  :)

Anyway, part of that organization is figuring out what I’ll be stitching this month.  I have a long weekend with Presidents’ Day, two days (minimum) of jury duty, a stitch-in at my LNS, a Superbowl involving the home team, the Beanpot hockey tournament with my collegiate alma mater, a dungeons & dragons game, and oh – another stitchy retreat at the end of it to celebrate the first weekend in March.

And it’s a short month.  o.O

The theme for Theme-a-Licious is “Fangirl February,” where you stitch on at least one piece by your favorite designer (if you can’t send a Valentine).  That will be influencing my rotation and goals for the month.  Once again, Floral Bellpull will make an appearance since it’s the one TW I really, REALLY want to get done this year. I’m also going to pull out Legends of the Dragons for a little while.

Here are my goals for February:

  1. Finish part one of Deep Blue Sea (exception: any missing colors still on backorder)
  2. Finish border for next square of Floral Bellpull
  3. Scissor fob for Stitchers Hideaway exchange
  4. Work on BoInk
  5. Work on Legends of the Dragons
  6. Put stitches in on one other WIP (any piece)
The only thing on this list that has any sort of time constraint is the scissor fob.  I don’t imagine it will be too difficult since it’s a small piece.  Deciding *what* I want to stitch will be the hardest part.  I’ll likely do some browsing while I’m at Bush Mountain Stitchery on Sunday for the Superbowl stitch-in and then work on it on my train rides and/or my jury duty days next week.
I’ve been playing around with different ideas for my rotations.  Several of the groups I’m in via Yuku or Facebook have stitch-a-long weeks themed to different designers.  I definitely will jump in and out of those if my stitching works with them.  Although I have put some ideas to paper for a set rotation schedule, I don’t think I’ll do that this month.  I’m definitely in the mood for indulging in the “whatever piece is screaming loudest” style rotating with my stitching.
I may, however, do an organized rotation for March Madness next month.  To think of me working on a separate WIP every single day could be HIGHLY amusing.  (it may have to be one of those “post every day of the month” bloggy events, too!)
We shall see.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

 

 

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• Friday, December 02nd, 2011

November was absolutely insane at work, and I barely remember most days from last month.  I’m shocked I got any stitching done at all, honestly.

For November, I wanted to…

  • Complete Rachel’s Mira RR and mail by the end of the month (woo hoo!)  Nope – it’s underway, however, and about 50% done.
  • Complete and mail personal exchange ornaments   One done and mailed.  Never even started the others I had planned.
  • Stitch three family ornaments (not necessarily finish them, though)  Nope – not even started.
  • Check through WIPocalypse pieces to make sure they still remain kitted correctly Nope.  At this point, I expect to be doing this on New Year’s Eve!
  • Get the check-in spreadsheet together for the WIPocalypse  Nope.
Yeah… not the greatest month, but that’s okay.  I just need to scale back some holiday plans.
For December, I want to…
  • Contact all of the participants in the WIPocalypse with a start reminder and link to all of the most current information.
  • Stitch an ornament for Mom
  • Gather up my Crazy January pieces and make sure they’re kitted and ready to go.
  • Create the above mentioned WIPocalypse spreadsheet
  • Finish and mail Rachel’s Mira RR.
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• Wednesday, November 02nd, 2011

October absolutely flew by – I honestly don’t remember where it went, but I know I was insanely busy.  I’m surprised I got any stitching done, let alone what I actually did accomplish!

For October, I wanted to…
  • Finish Mira RR Round & mail off on time  - Done!
  • Autumn-themed ornie for Stitcher’s Hideaway exchange - Did not completely finish.  Stitching’s done, but it’ll be staying with me due to falling behind.
  • Stitch TWCOE ornie - Nope.  And with Terri’s health problems, I have a feeling this won’t happen this year.  (she needs to get better soon!)
  • Stitch personal exchange ornies - Yes!  Progress continues….
  • Decide upon family ornies for November - All but two are decided.
  • Enjoy Stitcher’s Hideaway – Most definitely yes!
For November, I want to…
  • Complete Rachel’s Mira RR and mail by the end of the month (woo hoo!)
  • Complete and mail personal exchange ornaments
  • Stitch three family ornaments (not necessarily finish them, though)
  • Check through WIPocalypse pieces to make sure they still remain kitted correctly
  • Get the check-in spreadsheet together for the WIPocalypse
It’s going to be a fun month of stitching cute little holiday smalls, although I’ll sadly not be able to share a whole lot of photos on them until they’re received.  I’ll see about rooting through my WIPs for next year, perhaps.
We’re up to nearly 150 people for the WIPocalypse, by the way – that’s absolutely farking insane!  At the end of the month I’ll be popping by blogs to check in with everyone and say hi.  I have a long weekend at Cape Cod coming up just after Thanksgiving with friends.  Those who have read my blog for a while are familiar with this one – it used to be all about playing tons of multiplayer video games.  Now people have gotten married, have kids, have houses, and all of those weird adultish things we never figured we’d ever achieve that require fiscal responsibility, so no one really has the money to blow on a new computer every year like we did before.  So it’s morphed into a “come as you are, hang out, drink, eat, and catch up” sort of weekends.  I’m looking forward to it.
Speaking of house stuff… some frustration on my husband and my front.  We’re among the folks who set a limit for what we could afford in a house (and monthly mortgage payment).  We stuck to it and bought a house we could afford.  We’ve lived here six years and have never missed a payment.  BUT… because of the economy and the housing market, we’re now nearly $100,000 underwater on our mortgage… AND… we discovered that despite our original loan being either Fannie or Freddie backed (we can’t recall which), but then sold to our state housing mortgage company, we have no ability to access the new underwater refinancing plans that are very possibly going into effect soon.  Our mortgage holder will NOT refinance and only does loan modifications, but because they’re not beholden to a federal backer, they aren’t offering at the low rates… “because they don’t have to.”  they will run a loan mod, but for a percentage that’s higher than our current mortgage rate.
(sigh)
Don’t get us wrong – we can afford our mortgage.  We have a fixed rate that isn’t bad at all in the historical scheme of things.  But we could save a lot of money if we could just refinance now that the rates are well over a point lower than what we’re paying – and, I dont’ know, use the money to do some much-needed efficiency upgrades so we could save even *more* money, particularly in our energy costs since we’re on oil heat?  It would be nice.
It’s so frustrating. We’ve payed off a fifth of our loan, yet we still have no equity in our house due to the market.  Of course, if I say anything about being underwater and wanting to refinance on any message boards, the first thing people assume is that we’re defaulting on our loan or that we were stupid and took too high a loan.
And I know that we’re not the only people in this situation.
Ugh.
Sorry for the vent.
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• Wednesday, October 05th, 2011

It’s been such a weird few days here.  I keep meaning to update, and then at the end of the day I get slammed with a strange exhaustion and just completely forget about everything and need to disconnect.  I’m thinking it’s mostly autumn allergies, since the leaves are starting to change faster now. There’s a nasty cold, however, that seems to be making the rounds.  Knowing how I am with illness, my body’s probably fighting it off.  Bleh.

Anyway – a few days of stitching on Witches Wheel did me good, and I’m back in the zone on my Mirabilia RR stitching.  Not done yet, but I should be by the end of the weekend, and then I’ll update with a photo.

Since it’s a new month, it’s time for me to revisit my goals for last month & post my new ones.  I’m very happy with what I did in September:

  • Finish my part of Sophia’s piece for the Mira RR & mail on time  - Done – but was mailed a week late.
  • Complete 2 motifs on the surprise piece I’m stitching with Lisa - No. Did work on it, but not finished yet.
  • Finalize personal rotation - Done for now (this always changes anyway)
  • Get a spreadsheet together for the WIPocalypse participants to track responses. - No. Excel and I will become close this weekend.
  • Work 10 hours on Floral Bellpull Done!
  • Work 10 hours on Witches Wheel Done!
  • Buy the JCS Halloween book Done!
  • Have my square (star?) partially done for Melanie’s Mira RR piece by end of month. Yes.  It’s underway.
For October, I want to…
  • Finish Mira RR Round & mail off on time
  • Autumn-themed ornie for Stitcher’s Hideaway exchange
  • Stitch TWCOE ornie
  • Stitch personal exchange ornies
  • Decide upon family ornies for November
  • Enjoy Stitcher’s Hideaway

As you can see, it’s going to be an ornament-heavy month.  That’s likely to be my November as well.  I’ve already been having some fun skimming through my magazines for ornaments to do.  The Gift of Stitching had a great buy to get their back ornament issues – 12 for $20.  Lots of great ones in there, including some of the ones wishing good tidings designed by Blue Ribbon Designs that I adore.

So… WIPocalypse topics…

The signup has been tremendous so far.  I’m a few days behind adding people to the list.  If you don’t see your name there, don’t worry – I’ll get it up within the next couple of days.  The list is now long enough that I’m going to transfer most of the information to its own labeled page tabbed on the top of my blog, along with FAQ information and whatnot.  The signup page will remain the same – no link changes, etc., but I’m just going to clean it up a little bit.

A few people have been having trouble with my comments section, and they’ve dropped me an email to sign up.  Please do so if you’re having trouble.  Everything is checking out as working with my comments – BUT… it’s the internet and computers.  Glitches happen.  Software disagreements happen.  Toss me an email at measiwitch(at)gmail.com, and I’ll be happy to get you added.  :)  And please, don’t be intimidated if you’re a newer stitcher, or if you’re worried about how your work matches up to others.  Seriously – does. not. apply. here.  Share, enjoy, and learn from others.

A couple stitchers have asked me if there’s any plans for other communication with the SAL members during the year.  I hadn’t honestly made any but I’m open to suggestions if there’s enough interest. A couple thoughts off the top of my head…

  • Mailing list via yahoogroups
  • Facebook group
  • Message board (I can host one here, or I could go through Yuku).

Let me know if it’s something that interests you, and if it does – which method you prefer (or if you have another suggestion).

Off to work with me!  Have a good day everyone!

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• Friday, September 02nd, 2011

I’m still in awe of the interest for the WIPocalypse.  My husband’s also impressed and recommends that I put something together along the lines of “I survived the 2012 WIPocalypse” for everyone.  I may just do that with a little ornie goofiness.  :)

I have a ton of blogs to pop by and read, between the SAL signups and responses from my T13 yesterday.  I expect tomorrow morning’s coffee time will be a nice, relaxing roam around the internet.  A good way to start the long weekend, I think!

So with September here, it’s time for me to revisit my monthly stitching goals, and make new ones for the upcoming month.  I think I did quite well in August, actually…

For August, I wanted to…

  • Finish my Mira RR square for Andie and mail off on time. – Done!
  • Finish Arthenice’s piece for the 2010 RR and mail home - - Done!
  • Finish my hours on Rachel’s piece for the 2011 RR and mail to Blu. – Hours are done – mailing today.  :)
  • Have my Mira RR square for Sophia’s piece at least partially done by the beginning of Sept. – Done!
  • Get a few hours in on the surprise piece I’m stitching with Lisa – Did not do, sadly.
  • Update the Rhode Island Stitchers blog  - Done!
So yes, very pleased with myself for August.  With vacation time and long weekends, I have a pretty optimistic plan for September:
  • Finish my part of Sophia’s piece for the Mira RR & mail on time
  • Complete 2 motifs on the surprise piece I’m stitching with Lisa
  • Finalize personal rotation
  • Get a spreadsheet together for the WIPocalypse participants to track responses.
  • Work 10 hours on Floral Bellpull
  • Work 10 hours on Witches Wheel
  • Buy the JCS Halloween book
  • Have my square (star?) partially done for Melanie’s Mira RR piece by end of month.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

 

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• Monday, August 01st, 2011

2011-08-01_07-37-12_133This weekend was a bit more random than expected, so I wasn’t able to prep names for my giveaway drawing. So… last chance to enter runs through tonight! I’ll do the drawing tomorrow, once I get a bit of insanity finished up elsewhere.

My TUSAL jar continues to fill nicely.  It’s very lofty in there, but the threads are now touching the bottom of the neck of the jar now.  It’s a mix of different colors from the recent robins, as has been the case so far this year.  The robins start wrapping up for me this month, though, so my own projects will start peeking through starting in September.  :)  You may notice a huge hunk of green in the TUSAL jar.  That would be due to Noby, the Bobbin Stalker.  Noby looooves bobbins and shreds them.  This green skein never stood a chance – he managed to swipe it when it was still in its DMC wrapper right out of the shopping bag when I took a break from winding to grab a pop from the fridge.  *sigh*

I’ve spent the past week insane from some work unexpected (things are fine, just busy) and the Mira RR, which I’m due to send out tomorrow.  I’ll be fine to get it out on time, although I’m a bit frustrated this round.  The squares for Andie’s piece are 50×50.  I apparently failed at math when I sketched my borders to pull my excerpt out of Circle of Friends, and counted it at 50 w by only 40 h.  So she looks a whole lot more centered on my drawn square than she does in the stitched one.  I was really, really pissed off about it yesterday when I discovered it – I was almost done with my crosses, and only noticed once I was putting the falling rose on near her head because it was blatantly NOT near the top corner as my sketched borders indicated.  But with only essentially five to seven hours of stitching time until I had to mail, there just is no way to frog out ALL of my stitches and redo.  I made a little adjustment with the rose that’s falling near her head and moved it up a few squares to balance the empty space, and I’m adding the beads back in that were cut off above her head by my borders, and I think she’ll be okay.  If Andie’s not happy, though, I’ll be happy to frog and redo the square once everyone else has a crack at theirs.  I tried emailing her yesterday about it, but the email bounced.  I’ll try a Yuku PM later today.

Still, it was so deflating yesterday.  She looks very pretty, but I’m just annoyed, thanks to the screaming inner perfectionist.  I can’t believe I fail at math.  And the kicker – I counted this thing three times!  I have the erasing marks to prove it on my chart!

Ugh.

Anyway…

I didn’t make any goals for July, since I knew I was utterly, utterly screwed for time in stitching.  The robins had backed up due to illness and insanity, and I had no idea how they were going to go.  August, though, is looking much better.

For August, I want to…

  1. Finish my Mira RR square for Andie and mail off on time.
  2. Finish Arthenice’s piece for the 2010 RR and mail home
  3. Finish my hours on Rachel’s piece for the 2011 RR and mail to Blu.
  4. Have my Mira RR square for Sophia’s piece at least partially done by the beginning of Sept.
  5. Get a few hours in on the surprise piece I’m stitching with Lisa
  6. Update the Rhode Island Stitchers blog

I’m looking forward to the start of stitching my own pieces next month.  I really am.  And next month I’m going to get the page together for the 2012 WIPocalypse, I think – so the word can start spreading far and wide as early as possible.  :)  I’m thinking there is some giveaway potential with it (much as Daffycat’s doing with the TUSAL this year), and I’ve been chatting with some fellow stitchers on Google + about it, and I think I have an actual plan.

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• Friday, June 03rd, 2011

This year is flying!

For May, I wanted to:

  1. Finish Kathy’s Mirabilia square - Done!
  2. Stitch five hours on Floral Bellpull -  Didn’t even touch it.
  3. Stitch five hours on BoInk - Done!
  4. Finish and mail the Folk Egg and gifties to Line - Done!
  5. Put at least 10 hours into each UFO RR - Done!
  6. Put five hours into the “Super Sekrit Stitch” project. -  Didn’t even touch it.

 

For June, I’d like to…

  1. Finish my hours on Linda’s RR piece
  2. Finish Susan’s Mira RR square
  3. Stitch five hours on Floral Bellpull
  4. Stitch five hours on BoInk
  5. Finish one of the little squares on the “Super Sekrit Stitch” project

 

As always, I set my goals probably a bit higher than I should.  But I think that just keeps me motivated, even if I do a little bitching along the way.

There’s another RR I’ll receive in June (Linda’s piece for the other RR), but it’s not due to get mailed until after the 4th of July weekend.  I imagine I may be holding it until then to stitch at this point.

Tomorrow is looking like a fun-filled day.  I’m heading up to Bush Mountain Stitchery with Hera after we get our nails done.  I need to get supplies for my Mira RR square.  She needs some fabric for a new project (which Bush Mountain has a ton of to choose from).  I’ll be attempting to not spend too much money on other things while I’m there – it’s a huge challenge!  Erich may or may not join us.  I’m hoping he does – partially to keep me out of trouble, but partially because I think he’ll enjoy the back road drive through Massachusetts.  It’s a decently long trip for us – about two hours each way.

And then tomorrow night – hockey!  Hopefully the Bruins will tie the series up.  I’ll be working on BoInk during the game, since it doesn’t require color changes.  :)

Happy Friday, all!

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• Thursday, June 02nd, 2011

I actually have quite a few things to post about but have just been really busy, so there may be several blog entries over the next few days.  To sum up what’s in store:

  • It’s time for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long update.  I had it in my calendar to post yesterday, but between the wild weather we had in New England yesterday (including confirmed tornados in western Massachusetts) and the Stanley Cup game (go Bruins!), I got a bit distracted.
  • Erich and I started the updating process for two more rooms in our house over the weekend- our bedroom and the bathroom.  So story time about that adventure (and some helpful tips for others with old houses) will come this weekend
  • Updates on the round robin stitching front
  • Another Caturday post on Saturday.  :)  Any specific cat requests?
  • Some gardening updates
  • Warhammer painting updates
  • Monthly stitching goals – my updates and my new goals for June
  • Wanderlust drive musings.  It’s summer, which means I start wandering back roads in New England.

I finally got the Google Friend Connect working on my blog (hooray!) so all of you Blogger folks who prefer to follow that way (honestly, I do too… Google Reader is glorious) –  I’m up and running.  Let me know if there are any problems.  You should see it on my sidebar just above the Project: Do Me graphic link.

Today’s entry, though, is for the Thursday Thirteen.  A few weeks ago, I made a semi-joking, but semi-serious post about declaring 2012 my WIP apocalypse year.  (for those non-crafters, WIP stands for “Works in Progress”).  I’m a chronic serial starter with my stitching.  I love beginning new projects.  I love the journey of stitching projects.  But I’m not particularly good at finishing projects.  So now I have a glut of them.  I’m starting to get the itch to really get through them, too.  So what started as a joke is now really going to happen.  2012 will be my project clearing year.  :)  Any crafty folks (regardless of what you do) who want to join me and use it as a sort of Stitch-a-Long are most welcome.  I’ll set up a signup/discussion page in October.

For now, my brain is going to the projects I really, really want to finish.  So for this week, here are the Thirteen Projects Riding on the Measi WIP-ocalypse Train.  The links go to the Flickr photo  set I have for the piece.

1.  Apache Wedding Blessing – this is a gift for my friends Ivanna and Joe for their wedding, which um… happened several years ago.  Thankfully Ivanna’s a fellow crafty person and understands how these projects can go into a black hole.  But all the same, it’s annoying me.  Right now I have this out on a round robin to give it some extra oomph, and it does actually look like it’s going to get finished before the end of 2011.

2.  Witchy Washy – It’s so damn cute.   I want this done and framed on the door to my laundry room.

3.  Floral Bellpull – I’ve had this for years, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.  I just need to focus on it.

4.  Legends of the Dragons – I started this as part of a stitch-a-long in the beginning of 2010, and it just started to fall off my radar as I got into robin stitching.  It’s not a particuarly big piece, and definitely doable to finish.  Again – I just need to focus on it.’

5.  Cats on a Staircase – Right now, this is my longest running WIP.  It’s a Christmas stocking.  I think I’ve had it going for ten years now.

6.  Witches Wheel - I adore this piece.  I have a ton of energy to work on this piece.  I simply have too many commitments with the robin to stitch on it right now.

7.  Walk in the Woods – This is the second of the WIPs I inherited from my late mother in law.  The first I finished last year.  This one will get done next year.  It’s not a particularly difficult piece to stitch – but again, it’s just been a time commitment issue.

8.  Astrology Sampler – for YEARS I wanted to start this piece, and when I do – I’ve barely gotten anything done.  It’s not a particularly large piece.  It’s just stitched on black fabric, which makes it a bit more difficult to work on.

9.  Elemental Dragons – Two of the five are done (Fire and Spirit).  I have three more dragons to do (Earth, Water and Air).  I’ll take getting one done next year, but getting all three done so I can frame the project would be wonderful.

10.  Magical Night – I sent this out on a robin in 2010, and the wonderful stitchers who worked on it made tremendous progress.  It’s now about half done.  I don’t expect to finish this in 2012, but I’d like to make a good dent on what’s left.

11.  Egyptian Sampler – I adore this piece and the fabric I chose to stitch it on.  I don’t get why I struggle so badly to stitch on it, because I absolutely love it.  Hopefully in 2012 I can get into a zone and finish a good chunk of it.

12.  Noah’s Ark – this is a piece I adopted from another stitcher.  I haven’t done a particularly large amount of work on it since I got it, but I’d like to get some more of the animals around the border done.  The problem is that they’re done in petit point, so the work is so tiny and intricate that it goes very, very slowly.  My goal for 2012 on this one is to get one of the remaining side borders (left, top, right) done.

13.  Book of Ink Circles – I don’t have a photo of my WIP uploaded yet, as it was a new start in May (one of my other entries for this weekend to do).  It’s my first attempt at recoloring a design from someone else.  It’s a fabulous piece when completed, though.

 

Thanks for stopping by!  I’ll be catching up on blogs this weekend between my own writing.  :)

 

 

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• Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

My contribution to Kathy's RRThe 2011 Mirabilia Round Robin is once again rotating, so I have a progress update.  :)

This round, I had Kathy’s piece, which is themed to the fairies of Mirabilia.  Kathy’s squares are well-organized, and she’s assigned excerpts of specific pieces to specific squares.  Her fabric is a lovely cloudy sky evenweave.  Very nice to stitch on.  :)

I chose to do the left fairy from Three for Tea for my square (the right fairy will eventually be placed next to her by one of my fellow stitchers).  She was a fun stitch – once I got through the arm and shoulder, it moved very quickly.  For some reason, I struggled to get moving on this one – for some reason the bare skin just didn’t want to stitch easily.  I kept breaking thread, kept miscounting.  Once I got past the rows of DMC 948, it stitched much easier.

She attended Celebration of Needlework with me and was admired by several stitchers in the lounge – and that was before she had a head.  I’m quite pleased.

Kathy's piece after 2 rounds - 5/10/11Kathy’s entire piece as it looked when it left me today is to the right.  Apologies about the wrinkles – I had it carefully folded into my Q-snap cover while I was stitching it so I wouldn’t risk damaging any of the beads Annette had added last round.

I’m thankful I had the foresight to take a long weekend to get things done.  I don’t think I would have managed to send this out today without the time off.  April was a crazy, difficult month – professionally and personally.  I really needed a couple days to clear my head, get a few projects done, and relax.  And for the most part, those projects are now accomplished.  So I’m going to feel much better when I go back to work tomorrow.

The other big project I had this weekend was planting the garden – I’ll post about that tomorrow.  :)

 

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• Wednesday, May 04th, 2011

TUSAL Jar - 5/3/11I knew that if I went to bed last night, my upload would finally show up in Flickr!   Here’s my Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long jar for May 2011.  It’s getting quite full, although it’s still lofty (and there are a lot of DMC wrappers that have created a sub-ort layer at the bottom).

I spent almost all of April on round robins.  The darker colors are from Rachel’s HAED Wizard of Oz.  The more springtime colors are from Kris’ Kooler Design Spring Sampler and Kathy’s Mirabilia RR piece.   I’ve stopped counting my hours for the year – just too crazy with everything going on, but I can say with certainty that I stitched at least 50 hours in April.  I’m pleased.

 

So… monthly stitching goals… I didn’t do too badly for April, actually.

For April, I wanted to:

  1. Finish hours on Rachel’s RR  - DONE!
  2. Finish hours on Kris’ RR  - DONE!
  3. Finish square for Kathy’s RR – In progress now.  Will finish by mid week next week.
  4. Put 10 hours of sittching into Floral Bellpull - Nope.  Didn’t touch.
  5. Prep BoINK for May – DONE!
For May, I want to:
  1. Finish Kathy’s Mirabilia square
  2. Stitch five hours on Floral Bellpull
  3. Stitch five hours on BoInk
  4. Finish and mail the Folk Egg and gifties to Line
  5. Put at least 10 hours into each UFO RR
  6. Put five hours into the “Super Sekrit Stitch” project.
I have some nice long weekends, so I think this is a pretty feasible list.
Gotta get working – have a wonderful day everyone!
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• Friday, April 01st, 2011

It’s April – while I was busy stitching last month, I didn’t take PAX East weekend into account, and that threw my plans off a little. Still – it was a very productive month!

For March, I wanted to:

  1. Finish my portion on Annette’s Mira RR done!
  2. Finish my “repairs” on Apache Wedding Blessing done! and it’s now mailed off for the RR
  3. Finish an over-one square on Noah’s Ark no. I did some work, but didn’t finish it
  4. Put 10 hours of stitching into Floral Bellpull didn’t even touch
  5. Stitch on at least one other WIP. nope – was too busy with RR pieces.

For April, I want to:

  1. Finish hours on Rachel’s RR
  2. Finish hours on Kris’ RR
  3. Finish square for Kathy’s RR
  4. Put 10 hours of stitching into Floral Bellpull
  5. Prep BoINK for May

This weekend I’m focusing on finishing the Folk Egg done (stitching will probably be done mid-day tomorrow), and then switching to Rachel’s piece for the 2010 UFO RR for the rest of the weekend.

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• Wednesday, March 02nd, 2011

You have no idea how happy I am that February is over.  May I never deal with such a god-awful February again in my lifetime.

So – with March here, it’s time to update my monthly stitching goals.  I didn’t think I actually did manage to do so much – but yep, turned out I had a good month in February (particularly surprising in light of events).

For February, I wanted to:

  1. Finish my prep for the Mira RR so I can mail on time on 2/15. Done!
  2. Enjoy Stitcher’s Hideaway! Definitely done!
  3. Do a sprint rotation by the end of Hideaway on all of my WIPs. I didn’t do this – but made great progress on three pieces.
  4. Start one of the pieces I’d hoped to get going for Guilt Free January Done – the HAED and Witches Wheel are both underway.
  5. Decide which piece I’m sending for the UFO RR. Done!

For March, I want to:

  1. Finish my portion on Annette’s Mira RR
  2. Finish my “repairs” on Apache Wedding Blessing
  3. Finish an over-one square on Noah’s Ark
  4. Put 10 hours of stitching into Floral Bellpull
  5. Stitch on at least one other WIP.
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• Thursday, February 03rd, 2011

TUSAL Jar 2-3-11

I seriously cannot believe it’s been a month since the last Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long post.  Where on earth is 2011 going?  In any case, I did add quite a bit to this jar last month (97.5 hours in January alone!).  Several projects had orts that wandered into the TUSAL:

  • My Mirabilia Round Robin piece (stitching frames in prep for the robin)
  • Catherine’s UFO Round Robin piece
  • Blu’s UFO Round Robin piece
  • Noah’s Ark (Teresa Wentzler)
  • Witchy Washy (Raise the Roof)
  • DMC labels from new skeins – I’m kitting out my first HAED design!

I have to confess, though – my TUSAL jar took a little tumble this weekend, and for just a moment it thought it was a bowling ball.  It’s certainly big enough, after all – it’s almost twice the size of a candlepin ball.  So all of the stuff in it got all stirred and jumbled.  I’m happy to say that the lid does stay on tight, however.  Gotta love IKEA.

—-

In the insanity that was last month, I never made any stitching goals.  I have made some for February, though:

  1. Finish my prep for the Mira RR so I can mail on time on 2/15.
  2. Enjoy Stitcher’s Hideaway!
  3. Do a sprint rotation by the end of Hideaway on all of my WIPs.
  4. Start one of the pieces I’d hoped to get going for Guilt Free January
  5. Decide which piece I’m sending for the UFO RR.

I’m pretty positive about this month’s goals.  :)

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• Sunday, January 02nd, 2011

I expect the majority of my money to be going to updating the house this year, so I expect the majority of my free time this year is going to be spent stitching on round robins or on pieces I already have in progress (or have kitted).  I probably am being a bit outlandish with goals, but hey… dream big, right?

My current WIPs and UFOs are:

Cats on a Staircase (Bucilla)
Apache Wedding Blessing (Kooler Design)
Egyptian Sampler (Teresa Wentzler)
Magical Night (Teresa Wentzler)
Floral Bellpull (Teresa Wentzler)
Astrology Sampler (Witches Stitches)
Legends of the Dragons (Teresa Wentzler, Dragon Dreams, Black Swan)
Spring Queen (Mirabilia)  Will be a restart due to fabric damage
Noah’s Ark (Teresa Wentzler)
Walk in the Woods (Cricket Collection)
Garden Samplers (Prairie Schooler)  Whoops!  This was a 2010 finish!
Witchy Washy (Raise the Roof)
Fantasy Triptych (Teresa Wentzler)
Millennium (Teresa Wentzler)
Elemental Dragons (Dragon Dreams)

My Guilt Free January starts will be:

I Love New England (Sampler Needlework)
Witches Wheel (Glendon Place)
Leaping Cat (La-D-Da)

Round Robins this year:

UFO RR Sept 2010 – (ongoing) will finish in October
Mirabilia RR – starting in February
UFO RR Q1 2011 – starting in February or March

Other pieces I’d love to start this year:

Muse of the Midnight Sun (HAED)
Masquerade (Ink Circles)
Pocketful of Peppermints (Blue Ribbon Designs)
Sleepy Hollow (Glendon Place)
Autumn in the Square (Just Nan)

So in looking over things, these are my goals for the year:

1) Finish one Teresa Wentzler project on my WIP/UFO list.

2) Finish three other pieces (any designer) on my WIP/UFO list via the Wagon’s WIP Killers thread.

3) Aside from my GFJ starts, I will only start a project for each two that I complete (ornaments don’t count toward this finish goal)

4) I will put in at least a round’s worth (10 hours) of stitches into each of my WIPs & UFOs this year via the Crazy 2011 Challenge.

5) Stitch on the RR’s as they come in so I keep up to date.

6) Attend two formal stitching retreats/shows (the plan is Stitcher’s Hideaway in Feb & Celebrations in May)

7) Go to each monthly RI Stitcher event

8) Organize all of my stash

I know… I’m crazy, aren’t I?

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• Thursday, December 30th, 2010

I’ve switched my theme to something wintery – I think it’s cute, but I’m worried it’s a bit too busy? That could just be me not used to a three column layout, though. Thoughts?

Anyway… I’m pleased with what I accomplished on my 2010 stitching goal list! I accomplished quite a few things not on this list, too. It’s definitely my most productive stitching year to date.

Finish one TW project
Partial credit – I didn’t finish the ones I thought about when making this goal, but I did finish two TW ornaments.

Particpate in an ornament exchange
Participated in three!

Finish 3 non-TW projects
Yes.

Develop a better floss and pattern organizing system in my office
Still in progress…

Make at least one rotation’s progress on all of my current UFOs
Most of them, but a couple rested all year

Go to a stitching convention/retreat/show/thingy
Yep!

Attend or host at least 6 Stitch ‘n Bitches with friends
Yes! And we’ve kicked off a statewide stitching group through it. :)

Finally learn how to finish a knitted piece so I can get my scarf off my needles.
Nope.


I have a three day weekend starting tomorrow, and I plan on spending a good deal of it on RR stitching. Right now I have three pieces in my possession, plus my prep work to do for the Mira RR starting in the next several weeks. I know one of them will be done this weekend, and I can put a good dent in my hours for a second. I don’t expect to get to the third, but that one’s not due to be mailed out until late January, so I’m still in very good shape.

The first priority is Rachel‘s absolutely gorgeous Queen of Freedom.  It’s a few weeks overdue, but not holding up the robin in any way because I knew I could finish the work on my obligated hours.  I’ve finished all of the Kreinik – now I just have to backstitch her arm and a bit of other backstitching smatterings here and there and she’ll be ready to go home for Rachel to bead.  I don’t expect my work on it to take more than three hours – it’s possible I could get it done and mailed tomorrow, but I’m shooting to get it mailed on Monday so I don’t rush and make mistakes.

Next I have Catherine‘s adorable mini-quilt.  I’ve finished one of the hearts already.  Now I”m going to complete one of the lambs, and see how many hours remain in my time allotment.  It’s due to be mailed off the day before my birthday (easy enough to remember!)  That will conclude the 2010 UFO RR.  I can’t believe it’s done already – the year has flown!

I’ve sketched my Mira RR borders:
layout for my project The bottom row is identical to the top. I had a bit of trouble figuring out how I wanted to frame the Queens I’ve chosen for my theme without chopping too much of their hairstyles off. The agreed block areas are to be 2,500 stitches (approx.). So… 50 by 50, or something close to that. All but two of the Queens fit nicely with a 50 by 50 square. I’ll lose a couple wispies here and there in their hairstyles, but nothing major. The problem was that with both Summer and Freedom have longer headdress/hairstyles where I would chop off a significant amount of their uniqueness. So I decided to err on a larger square for both of them – they’re 60 wide by 50 tall, which breaks up the squares a little bit (but keeps things symetrical). There will be a decent amount of open space in those larger squares, too – so it should be fine. I’ll be adding something from one or two of the queens into the center square – I’m thinking a snippet of the floral arrangements from Spring Queen and/or Royal Holiday.

fabric for mira rrI’ve also chosen my fabric.  It’s a Silkweaver Limited Edition, 32ct Belfast.  It’s a soft green and white.  The faces of the queens should pop out very nicely against it.  I’m going to stitch my borders in a long-armed cross stitch in an”old gold” color to give it a braided look.  I have it with me at work today – I’ll put the first stitches in during lunch.  :)

The final RR piece I have in my possession is Blu‘s.  I don’t expect to get any work done on it this weekend, but it will be my commuting project starting next week, so I should have it ready to mail along with Catherine’s in mid-January.  :)

Busy, busy busy!

Now I just need to figure out my stitching goals for 2011.  There’s a lot of robin-ing in my near future.

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