A couple of starts and finishes

It is hard to believe that another week has come and gone. This past week I have been spending some time working on getting some things accomplished so that I don't feel as stressed about getting things prepared for a virtual retreat that I am doing the first week of December. I will be attending the Jingle Ball hosted by Lindy Stitches and I am taking some classes so that means that I have some pre-stitching that I need to get completed. Over the next few weeks, you will be seeing the various projects that I will be trying to work on for the finishing classes that I will be taking.

Reindeer Stockings - now here is a project that I wanted to start first as I have already wanted to finish things that are not either a square or a rectangle. These are going to be stockings so I will be learning how to finish these into that shape which I know is something that I could figure out myself but taking a virtual class seemed like a good idea.

Of course, these patterns are only available if you are taking the class at the Jingle Ball. I decided that I would try and get two of the stocking completed before the class so that I have something that I can try and do. Both these stockings were stitched up in the last week, and they were a lot of fun to work on. 

Now that I have completed these two stockings it is time for me to think about the other classes that I will be taking at the retreat and see if I can get some work completed on the other projects that I would like to get accomplished.

Other projects - I haven't been working on a lot of the other projects that I have on the go. I have been trying to focus on at least getting some of the projects ready for the retreat. 

I have been able to work on my English Paper Piecing projects a little bit so that has made me happy. Being able to see some progress on at least a couple of these projects has been good. Now to see if I can continue to move those projects forward as well.

I hope everyone has been finding that bit of time where you can do something that you enjoy and recharge your personal battery. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you can spend that bit of time just relaxing and doing something you enjoy. This week, I will be trying to see if I can make some progress on at least one of the other class projects that I would like to get done. If things go well, I hope to be able to have something to show you next week. Until then, have a good week and remember to take time for yourself.

 

A finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week, and the weather is still fairly warm here given it is November already. It is hard to believe that we have just two months left of this year.

This last week I focused on getting some things achieved and I am happy with what I was able to accomplish. Now to see if I can get some more things accomplished this week.

Unleash the Butterflies - here is a project that got just a little bit of progress this week. I was able to give this just a bit of attention so that means that I was able to move it forward a little bit. I decided to focus on the right side of her hair at moved it up just a little bit.

I am looking forward to seeing if I can continue to move this project forward as this is the project that I am using for the WIP into shape project. Currently I am a little bit behind but hopefully I can get caught up and keep getting more of it done over the next few weeks.

It is nice to be able to have a project that gets a bit of attention, and it is currently easy to keep up or at least only be a few stitches away from that.

Special project - here is the project that got most of my attention this past week. Once again, I am only showing you a very small portion of the entire piece.

This will be the last time you see this project because it is now finished. It felt very good being able to work on this piece and I am also happy to have it completed. 

Other projects - I was able to get a bit more progress on my English Paper Piecing this past week but that was in the blog that I posted yesterday. It was nice to see some more of it completed.

This coming week I have some projects that I would like to get worked on so that means being able to focus on them even a bit. I hope to have some more progress on things next week to show you as now that the special project is finished, I will be pulling out some other projects that I want to get completed.

I hope everyone has been finding that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy and recharge your personal batteries. If things go well, this week I should have some things to show you next week, but we will have to wait and see what happens. Have a good week and I will show you what I get up to.

English Paper Piecing - October progress

 It is hard to believe that another month has come and go. The leaves have changed to their fall colours and a lot of them are now off the trees around us. 

The cooler weather does mean something to me, and it is the time of where when I can sit and work on some of my English Paper Piecing projects and move them forward. It is nice when I can pick up something and don't mind having fabric on my lap.

Flower Quilt - here is the project that is still in the early stages, so it is easy to pick up and work on something like making motifs or making the flowers.

In October I was able to find bits of time where I would work on making some more motifs for this quilt. I have been enjoying making the motifs as if I only have a few minutes, I can get maybe a couple of motifs completed and that's it. The kit that I put together for making motifs sits beside my desk, so it is easy to grab it and get those motifs made.

One of my goals for October was to get all the motifs that I made in September into flowers. I was able to get all the motifs into flowers, but the last flower was only finished last night. It doesn't matter to me because I have been enjoying working on this project.

I do have some other flowers that I made that I need to attach to the actual quilt so that is something that I am going to have to try and get done before long. I don't want to have all the flowers to attach all at once, so I need to figure out just how to get this moving forward. That should be my goal in the next couple of months is to get more of the flowers attached to the quilt.

Popsy's throw (my sister's) - here is the project that I have been trying to focus on as I want to get this one completed. I have been trying to get the rest of the motifs joined to the quilt top so that has been a big focus this past month.

This is one of the reasons that I am happy that the weather is a little cooler so that I can have this sitting on my lap as I join the various motifs. I am getting closer to having the top of this quilt completed and that makes me happy. I am going to be focusing on moving this one to a finish over the next while. If I can get the motifs added, then I can work on getting it joined together and finished.

Other projects - of course I am thinking about some of the other projects that I have on the go that I want to finish. I hope to be able to move a bunch of projects forward soon, but I want to focus on the Popsy throws that I have on the go as I also have another one that I want to finish.

Well, I am not certain what will be my focus in November, but I hope to have some more progress on things to show you at the end of the month. 

Some progress on some projects

Here it is the start of another week, and the temperatures have been a little cooler than I like but at least it means that I have been able to spend some time working on moving projects forward. Having some cooler weather means that spending time working on the various projects as been a lot easier and we will see what the next few weeks are like.

Special Project - this is the project that has been my focus and as I said last week I wouldn't be showing you the entire project as it is for someone else and I don't want to show the project.

I have been able to make some good progress on this piece and what I have been able to get done is the entire hands and I have started the words and am looking forward to seeing how long it takes me to get this piece completed. This is my focus piece so that means that the other projects have been maybe put aside for a while so that I can get this piece completed. Hopefully, I will be able to get this project completed within the next couple of weeks and then I can start working on these other projects a bit more.

Unleash the Butterflies - this is the project that I have been focusing on for WIP into Shape, which is a challenge set up by Andrew, the Runner Stitcher on YouTube. I am currently stitching 10 stitches for every mile or part mile that he runs. As of this posting and since I started the challenge, I have been able to add 965 stitches to the piece.

What I am showing in this picture is the stitches that I have been able to add within the last two weeks, and it makes me happy to see the difference in the overall project. The total number of stitches in the last two weeks was 453 stitches, and it does show some progress which is great. I will see what he runs in the next couple of weeks, and I hope that I can continue to at least try and keep up because it makes me happy to see that I have make that progress.

Stained Glass Orca - now this is the project that I have been using for another challenge and that is to stitch 100 stitches for every goal that the Toronto Maple Leafs score this season. Well, to be honest, I haven't been able to keep up with this project, so I owe this project 1,900 stitches for the goals that have already been scored this season.

Hopefully, the Leafs can start to reduce the number of goals they score each game so that I have a bit of a chance to catch up on this challenge. I think once I have finished the special project, I might be able to start moving this project forward even more. I do know that the Leafs are playing this evening and I would really like to see that they don't score 5 or 7 goals because that does make it a bit of a challenge to get this piece caught up.

Other Projects - I have been able to spend some time working on my English Paper Piecing projects and that does make me happy. I haven't been able to get major improvement on the projects but at least I have been able to get bits of project completed and that makes me happy.

I hope everyone has been able to find that little bit of time each day to do something that makes you happy. That little bit of time does help you recharge your personal battery and helps you be there to help those around you.

This week I am going to see what I can get moved forward because there are other projects waiting for my attention. If I can make some progress on a couple of projects this week, I should have something to show you next week. Until then, please remember to take time for yourself and I will do the same and hopefully I will have some progress to show you.

Some progress this last week

Here it is the start of another week, and I hope to be able to continue to make some progress on things. The weather has been cooler so that means being able to sit and focus on some cross stitch has been nice.

Stained Glass Orca - here is the project that got the most attention as I have been trying to keep up with the challenge that this piece is for. Since I started this challenge, I have been able to add 4,300 stitches to this piece.

It is so nice seeing that I am moving this project forward. Of course, as this is the project that I am putting 100 stitches into for each goal the Toronto Maple Leafs score this season. There are days that I am yelling at the Leafs to stop scoring as it seems like they have decided that this is the year that they are going to get lots of goals. I guess I shouldn't be upset when they score it just means that I get to move this project forward even more.

Special Project - the other project that I have been working on is for someone, so it will never be fully shown here on my blog. I will show little bits of it but not the entire completed project.

I started this project in the last week, and it is going to be a focus until it has been completed. I am not certain how long it is going to be before this project is finished but I have been enjoying seeing the progress on it.

Other projects - of course, I have been continuing to work on my EPP projects, and they make me happy as well. Being able to see progress on things has been good.

Hope everyone has had a good week, and you have been able to find that bit of time each day to do something that helps you relax.

This week I will be continuing to work on both Stained Glass Orca and the Special Project, and we will see what else gets some attention. I hope to have some progress on something else, but we will see how the week goes and what I can actually get accomplished.

 

Another week but not lots of time to craft

This past week was a little busy for me so being able to find some time where I could sit and craft was a bit of a challenge. We were at a conference for 2.5 days this last week and by the time each day was over I didn't have any energy to pick up a project.

Stained Glass Orca - well this is one project that I wanted to ensure that I could find some time to work on this project even a little bit given there were hockey games happening even this week.

This past week I have been really working hard to continue to get this project moved forward. I ended up adding another 800 stitches to the piece and that makes me happy. Being able to continue to move this project forward has helped and I am seeing even with the busy schedule I have been able to see some progress good on it.

This coming week I am going to be doing some catch-up stitching as I currently owe this piece 700 stitches and that is before the Leafs play on Tuesday. It is helping me move this project forward and I am happy with that, so we will see how things go this week. I just wish that the Leafs weren't scoring as many goals as they have been, so that I could at least get caught up.

Unleash the Butterflies - here is another project that I have been able to work on and here is the progress that I have made on this piece over the last couple of weeks.

This project is another one that I am using for a different challenge, and I am looking forward to seeing how much progress I can make on it. The challenge that I am using this project for is WIP into shape and it is a challenge that Andrew - The Runner Stitcher on YouTube started. This challenge is to do 10 stitches for even mile that he runs during his per training and marathon training and he will be running the London Marathon in April 2027.

This challenge only started at the end of September so there haven't been lots of miles run so far but I know that I have been able to add over 400 stitches to the piece in the last week and it has been great. Right now, the number of miles each day of training isn't too bad, so I have been able to keep up with this challenge.

Other projects - I have been able to find little bits of time to pick up and do some EPP which is good, so I have been moving those projects forward as well. Seeing progress on things is making me happy so we will see how things go as I would like to know that I have been able to move things forward a bit.

Hopefully things are going to slow down a little bit now that the conference is over and I can focus on moving some of the crafting forward. I may not get as much done as I would like to get done each week but at least seeing progress on things is what makes me happy. I am trying to focus on specific projects because I think that will help me feel like I am getting progress on things. Far too often, I have tried to work on too many projects each week and then I don't see progress on anything.

Hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to find something that you enjoy doing. I know it helps recharge my personal battery and I hope you feel the same way. This week I have a couple of things that will be taking some of my time but otherwise I am going to try and see if I can move some projects forward. I hope to have at least a couple of projects moved forward in this next week and hopefully I will be able to show you some progress.

A Throw finish and some stitching

Here it is the start of another week, and I did have some progress on things over the last week and that makes me happy. I think the cooler weather is also helping me want to sit and craft.

Stained Glass Orca - here is the project that I spent some time working on and getting all the stitches in for the goals that the Toronto Maple Leafs have scored. The good news is I am caught up so that makes me happy. 

It has been nice to be able to focus on moving this project forward a bit and just working on it 100 stitches at a time does make a difference. This past week it was catching up for all the goals that they scored the last two games of preseason and then the start of regular season. Now I hope that I can continue to stay caught up and that the Leafs don't have any wild scoring games.

V-Stitch Throw - well after writing last week's blog it was time to try and get the rest of the border completed on the second v-stitch throw and that is exactly what I did. I was able to get the border finished last month and now the two throws are ready to be gifted this week.

I am happy that I was able to get the throws completed quicker than I thought because it means that I wasn't stressed in the last couple of days trying to get the throws completed. It was nice getting the throws done and now I am going to be figuring out the next project that I work on, but I think I will give myself a couple of days before I do that.

Of course, I have lots of yarn waiting to be worked with, so it isn't that I don't have projects that need attention. This week is going to be a little crazy with a work conference so maybe I will wait until next week to figure out the next knitting or crocheting project.

Other projects - honestly after finishing the v-stitch throw I decided it was time to focus on some EPP for a while and it has felt great. Being able to spend some time working on my EPP and seeing the progress that I can make when I focus on it has felt wonderful.

This coming week I am not certain how much crafting I will be able to get accomplished for three days but I hope the other days I can find some time to craft. I know that on the weekend I will be trying to make some progress on things so that is good. I am going to try and make sure that I can keep up with my cross stitch project because that has been making me happy.

I hope everyone finds that bit of time each day or most days to do something that helps you recharge your personal battery. It is very important that we remember to take care of ourselves because that is how we are there for those around us.

Hope everyone has a good week and hopefully I will have some progress on at least one thing so that I can show you next week.