my Gifted Gorgeousness Update for August

It's time for my August "Gifted Gorgeousness" update.  This stitch-a-long is being hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching.  Gifted Gorgeousness projects are projects that were made to be given as a gift, or in some way or part received as a gift.

I actually managed to create, stitch and finish a Halloween ornament (shown above)!   This little spooky old house is Gifted Gorgeousness X3!  I stitched the ornament with threads that were purchased with a gift card, I used buttons that were gifted to me by a crafty friend, and I created the chart to offer as a freebie Halloween design, so you can grab a copy from my website here: http://hobbyloco.com/patterns/oldhouse.html

I put some time into "Hummingbird and Fuchsias" which is a printed kit that was gifted to me by my Mom.  I stitched the flower bud and did the outlining of the bud and leaves. 

I pulled out "Gathering Honey", which I hadn't worked on for quite a long time. (Fabric and threads were purchased with a gift card.)  I completed the stitching and outlining on the lower left garden section. 

And last, but not least ... I stitched on my "Mini Banner Fall", which is moving along nicely.  (This was purchased as a kit with a gift card as well.)

That's all I have to show for this month's update.  I hope to have even more progress made next month.

Happy Stitching! 

my December Gifted Gorgeousness Update

 
It's time for another "Gifted Gorgeousness" update.  These are projects that were made to be given as a gift -or- in some way or part received as a gift. 

This was a lean month for stitching time ... I stayed busy with holiday orders and am just starting to slow down a bit.  I look forward to the next couple of weeks, when I will have more free time.

Above is shown my progress on the Candy Nutcracker Stocking by Barbara Baatz Hillman (pattern book gifted to me and finished piece will be a gift).  At least I have finished an entire peppermint stick!

Here is where I am going:

I also stitched on "Yankee Doodle Dandy" by Linda Gillum (pattern book gifted to me).

 
You can almost tell that it is going to be a carousel horse.  And here is where that one is headed:

I put a few stitches into "Gathering Honey" (floss purchased with a gift card).

And a few more stitched into "An Angels Touch", which is a printed/stitched piece (kit was gifted to me).

I have 7 more projects to work on this month.  I should be able to accomplish that - providing I can locate my stretcher bars for my needlepoint kits.  

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!  Wishing you a safe and happy time making new memories with friends and family. 

December Gifted Gorgeousness and WIPocalypse Year End Re-Cap

The time has flown by!  This is my final Gifted Gorgeousness and WIPocalypse post of 2016.

During the year I managed 24 finishes: 6 of my WIPs and 18 new projects (most of which were ornaments).  All of my finishes for 2016 can be seen here.

My most recent finishes include the cute little Boston Terrier ornament shown above, which was stitched on 14 ct plastic canvas and backed with felt.  A cute little quickie that I made as a GIFT for someone special.

Also (drum roll please) ..... I finished Sandy Orton's "Simple Blessings".

This sampler was stitched from a pattern in "The Best of Kooler Design Studio", which was GIFTED to me.  I started stitching this project in January 2015 as part of DUCJC (Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge).

Here are the projects that I made the most progress on during 2016:

"Dutch Sampler" JANUARY

"Dutch Sampler" DECEMBER

 

 "Too Much Honey" Sampler JANUARY

 "Too Much Honey" Sampler DECEMBER

"Chirpy Sort of Place" JANUARY

"Chirpy Sort of Place" DECEMBER

  

 "Gathering Honey" JANUARY

"Gathering Honey" DECEMBER

 

"Autumn Sampler" JANUARY

"Autumn Sampler" DECEMBER

 

I worked on many other projects as well, but I don't want to keep you here all day.  I still have many WIPs to stitch, so I will be continuing on with my WIPocalypse updates in the hopes of whittling down my WIPs list during 2017.

Happy Stitching!

 

my July WIPocalypse Update

It's time for another WIPocalypse update!  I managed quite a bit of stitching last month - I showed several projects in my last post ... here are the remaining projects I stitched on this month.

I made some good progress on "Gathering Honey".  I finished the beehive, added the bees and planted a couple of rows in my garden.  I am completed the back stitching as I work on each section.

This is how it looked last month:

I also pulled out Teresa Wentzler's Castle Sampler:

I stitched on the left band and filled in here and there on the castle.  I made good progress on the clouds ... UNTIL ... I realized that the cloud area was supposed to be done in 1/2 cross stitch!!  GRRR!  It's hard to tell from the photo, but each cloud has between 4 and 6 different colors in it, and each was a blended color.  I'm not sure yet if I will frog it or leave it be.

This is where I left off last time ... very slow progress on this one.

I made some progress on my Halloween Pumpkin:

You can see my progress from the last photo:

Topic of the Month: the Olympics Stitch-along Challenge
I plan to join in on the Olympics Stitch-a-long.  I have so many big projects to work on ... so I think I will participate in the "Rotation Challenge".  There are 17 days of the Olympics, so I will attempt to work on a different project each day.

That's all I have for this update.  Happy Stitching!

my June WIPocalypse Update

Time for another WIPocalypse update!    I had no finishes this month, but I did stitch on a few of my WIPs.

Shown above is "BeeHive Sampler" by Sandy Orton.  I worked quite a bit on this one, filling in some gaps in the center image and the Pansy bands, as well as getting a start on the beehive.

Here is where I left off, previously:

I worked a bit on "Simple Blessings", also by Sandy Orton:

And I stitched on "Gathering Honey" - finishing the hedges around the flower beds and starting on the center beehive.

This month's topic:
Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?
That is a difficult question ... I think I probably stitch more in the spring/summer, as fall/winter is a busy time for me with work.

That's all for this update.  Don't forget to check in and see what everyone has accomplished this month.

Happy Stitching!

WIPocalypse Update for August

It's time again for the WIPocalypse check-in. 

My stitching isn't too terribly interesting this month ... so I hope you enjoy this photo, which I snapped on one of my morning walks this week.

I had a very busy month, so not much time for stitching.

The small bit of stitching I managed this month includes a good start on "Blue Mr. Monster" by Mosey 'N Me from the 2012 JCS Halloween Issue.

I am stitching on 14 ct aida that I dyed myself and then "dirtied up" with coffee grounds.  I am using little bits of leftover floss ... it's a work in progress. 






I have made a tiny bit of progress on "Gathering Honey". 










And ... I finished the edges of the Lighthouse latch hook rug, by stitching on the rug binding.  This photo shows the back side of the rug.  It is ready for gift giving!

This month’s WIPocalypse topic is: Tell us about your oldest and newest WIPs.

My oldest WIP has to be "Her Majesty's Carousel", which I started sometime in the 90's - It is so close to being finished, yet I never seem to pick it up.  I'm sure one day I will feel the urge to finish it. My newest WIP is "Blue Mr. Monster" (shown above), which I just started a couple of weeks ago.

That's all for my update.  I hope to find more time to stitch this month.

More Time to Stitch

I had more time to stitch this month, so I am posting a few updates prior to my WIPocalypse update.

One of my new acquisitions this month was the "Cross Stitch & Country Crafts" magazine from May/Jun 1987.  I saw the cover pattern "Gathering Honey" online and immediately wanted to stitch it, so I tracked down a copy of the magazine.

I am stitching on 28 ct evenweave with floss I have on hand ... so it will be a bit different than pictured.  I got a good start and stitched all of the cobblestone path.

I also spent a bit of time working on my WIPS!

I finally returned to my "Summer Sampler" by Sandy Orton.  I have all 4 of the seasons - and am making slow progress on them.  I love the look of the samplers and enjoy working on them.  I enjoy completing each motif and then doing the back-stitching as I go, and I prefer to work on each of them during the season that they represent.

Here is my current progress:

To the left is a photo of my previous progress.

I completed the picnic section: finishing the basketweave, back-stitching the silverware, and completing the cherries.  I love the way the back-stitching makes everything pop!

Last but not least, I brought out my "Halloween Pumpkin".  This pattern is from the Just CrossStitch 2012 Halloween Issue (page 43).

This was the first time I ordered the supplies that were listed in the magazine (the exact fabric and floss) from the supplier listed.  I have to say that I was quite disappointed to find the color of the fabric was so far off from the magazine photo!  Wow!  Odd because the floss colors look exactly like the photo - only the fabric color is drastically different.  Is this a common occurrence?

project:

progress:

I am one of those people who hates to return things - so I just went ahead with the project. But, I won't be ordering fabric listed with magazine patterns again, though.  I still think the pattern is really cute, so I am happy to stitch it.

Quite an update for me!  I hope to have a good selection of projects to update in a couple of weeks when the WIPocalypse rolls around.  Until then ... Happy Stitching!