English Paper Piece - June progress

Here it is the start of another month and the wrap up for the previous month. This month (June) I was able to make some good progress on moving one of my projects forward.

Popsy's Throw - Me - this is the project that I have been focusing on and have tried to make as many motifs as I could over the last month. It has been nice to see that i have been able to get as many motifs made as I did. It was nice to see that I have been able to continue to get the motifs made and once the weather cools down a little bit I think I am going to be trying to add some of these motifs to the throw or at least that is my goal moving forward.

Kitting up progress on motifs - this last month I decided it was time to try and figure out how to manage all the projects that I have on the go. I decided it was time to just kit up each project and maybe see if I can move things forward. What I decided to do was to make a small kit for reach of the projects that I am working on so that I have everything for that that project.

These project boxes are basically a 4 x 6 inch photo box, and it holds all of the items that I need to work on making more motifs. I also have some of these project boxes that are holding motifs that have been made and are waiting to be attached to one of the projects. It is so nice having everything available to work on that step that is related to the bin. For the pictures you are seeing these are the bins that need motifs completed on one of two projects. It is nice to know that I can continue to move these projects forward even if it is a little bit at a time. 

I am not certain how I am going to be able to move these projects forward, but I think once I have got the motifs completed these bins will start to be used for the motifs that I want to add to the various throws. I do know that just being able to continue to get these projects moved forward would be great.

Making motifs is wonderful when we are dealing with extreme heat and that is what we are currently dealing with. As I am writing this on Tuesday evening, our temperature is currently 82F (28C) feeling like 102F (39F) which isn't good when it's almost 11 pm. 

It has been a challenge to at least move something forward in the last couple of days so we will see how things go. I hope to be able to continue to make motifs over the next couple of days and I guess we will see what it looks like at the end of July.
 

Two finishes and a start

Here it is the end of another week, and I must admit that I am very happy with the progress that I was able to make on things. It was a busy week as well with some other things going on but at least, I was able to see progress. 

The weather is also warming up so that means finding projects that are easy to work on at least over this next week. It would be nice to see projects get either finished or closer to a finish.

Half the Fun - here is the cross stitch project that was my focus this past week. I knew that I wanted to see how much of it I could get done and I am very happy with what I achieved. I ended up adding 2,443 stitches to this piece this week and that meant it is now a finish.

I started this project in March 2024, so it is nice to see it finished. This project was started while we were in Las Vegas as I thought it would be great to have this piece to remind me of that trip. One thing that I had to think about was would I have enough floss for this project as I was using an overdyed floss. I stitched all the outside of the design first so that if I didn't have enough floss to do the balloons I could do them a different way. The good news is I had enough floss to do the entire design with the floss I had with just a little bit left over.

It is nice having this project completed and its now time to figure out what I am going to work on. I have lots of projects that I have started so maybe getting some of those projects moved forward some. 

Summer Keep - here is a project that I picked up this wee as I wanted to get a finish on it as it has been sitting around for way too long. This project was started at a Creative Festival in 2009, and it just sat partially completed for way too long, so it was time to just pick it up and get it finished. I had worked on this piece a little bit last year but didn't get it finished so this weekend was the time to finally get this project off the list. So yesterday, it was time to focus on working on this piece and it is now finished and off the list. 

I think I will be looking at that project list again and maybe see if I can pull another project forward and get some work on it as well.

Granny Wrap - scrap - After starting the grey Granny Wrap, I decided that I had quite a bit of fingering weight scraps that maybe I should try and use some of it up and make a scarp wrap as well. This is a great project to use up bits of yarn so that is what I am trying to do. I haven't decided how large this wrap is going to be, but it is something that is easy to pick up and work on when I have those few minutes.

Other projects - I haven't worked on much else this past week as I was trying to focus on getting the cross stitch projects completed. It has been a good week of getting things accomplished. This coming week we will see what I pull out as there are a few things I would like to work on so we will see how it goes.

I hope everyone is finding some time most days to do something that you enjoy and that helps you relax. If you are dealing with the extreme heat, please be careful and remember to take care of yourself. There are some projects that I would like to work on so hopefully I can make some progress on them and will have something to show you next week.

Another week and some progress on things

Here it is another week, and I have been trying to make some progress on things so we will see how things go. I haven't been able to make a lot on progress on projects in the last little while but this last week I decided to try and see what I could get done.

I know that it would be great to always have a pre and post picture but sometimes this just doesn't happen, and this blog is one of them. Google is making it difficult for me to show both pre and post pictures if I am don't work on a project in a couple of weeks.

Half the Fun - this is one of the projects that I worked on this week, and it makes me happy to see the progress that I have been able to get done. I ended up adding just over 1,000 stitches in three days on this piece and it makes me feel good. Now to see if I can continue to move this piece forward as it would be nice to see it completed before too long. 

Granny Wrap - here is a project that I just started this week and it is using the yarn that I had thought of using for the Button Box Throw. This is the Granny Wrap, and it is something that is easy to work on and something that I can work on a little bit at a time. I hope to be able to continue to work on this piece as it would be nice to see how this turns out and how large it turns out as I am currently trying to use one type of yarn for this shawl.

Serpentine Pavillion Shawl - I did get a little bit of progress on this shawl. I do enjoy working on this project and hopefully I will be able to get back to making some more progress on it. The cable is pretty easy to do, and it has been nice working on something that is a little bit different. I am going to see if I can at least make a bit more progress on the shawl over the next couple of weeks as it would be nice to see this one completed before too long.

This is one of the patterns from The Shawl Society Season 6 book by Helen Stewart. I do enjoy working on the various shawls that she has and I do have lots of her patterns and that is nice as it will help me use up some of the yarn that I have purchased.

Twelve Days of Christmas - here is the other cross stitch project that got some attention in the last week. I had wanted to get all the borders completed but instead I worked on getting the inside of the 2nd Day of Christmas completed. It was nice to see some progress on this piece so now I have three more borders to complete and 9 days. This project is going to go away for a little bit just so that I have a bit of a break from it.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other project this past week as I was trying to try and focus on moving what I did work on forward. It felt nice seeing that what I worked on did get the progress on them that I wanted.

This week I am not certain what projects that I will work on, but I do hope to make some progress on what I touch. Moving projects forward does make me happy and now to see how things go. If things go well, I should have some progress to show you next week.

Hope everyone has a good week, and you find some time each day to do what you enjoy.

A new start and some progress

It's hard to believe that it's the start of another week as this last week seemed to fly by. The weather was really nice, and we were able to enjoy some balcony time which was nice. Now we are back to cooler weather so that means more time inside and maybe more crafting time, but we will see how things go. I am happy with the progress that I did make last week even if it isn't as much as I would have liked to get done.

Twelve Days of Christmas - here is a project that I pulled out as I wanted to see if I could at least make some progress on it and I did. Instead of working on just one block I decided I was going to work on getting some of the borders of the blocks completed and then see about working on one of the designs. I ended up getting 6 blocks outlined and then started stitching on design. I do have two blocks totally finished so that means that there are still 10 blocks to go so it was a lot of fun to just focus on moving the outlines forward. 

I think this project is going to be staying out for a while as I would like to see how much progress I can make on it. I started this project in December 2017, so I think it's time for it to get some more love. I have four more borders to complete and then the stitching of all except the 1st and 12th day need to be completed. This week I will see how it goes but it would be nice to start moving this project forward again.
 

Button Box Throw - well this past week I decided that it was time to start another throw with some of the yarn that has been sitting around for a while. I didn't get much progress on it but at least I have been able to at least start another throw. I haven't figured out how large this one is going to be, but I do know that I am going to enjoy working on it especially when it gets onto a circular needle where I can just knit. 

Other projects - I haven't been working on anything else this past week as I was trying to keep a focus on these two projects when I had the time to sit and work on something. This coming week I know that there are some other things that I would like to do so we will see what happens. 

I hope everyone has been enjoying the nicer weather if that is what you are getting. We have taken advantage of it and enjoyed some time sitting outside and seeing how the garden (planter boxes) is growing. Hope everyone has found that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy doing. This week I hope to be able to find some time to continue to move my cross stitch forward as well as my knitting. If things go well, I hope to have some progress to show you next week. Have a good week and remember taking a bit of time for yourself is important.

A new start and a finish

It is hard to believe that another week has come and gone already. We were busy this last week so that meant that I didn't get as much done as I would have liked but at least I was able to move things forward which was good.

I think our summer weather is finally arriving and that was been nice so now to see if it is going to stay around or are we in for a roller coaster of weather over the next month. I know that we don't want the extremely hot and humid weather just yet but at least some warm weather where sitting outside can be enjoyable.

Star Touched Meadows SAL - February - this past week I decided it was time to pick up and start a project that was part of a stitch along a couple of years ago. The patterns came out monthly and I got the first three months completed (November, December and January) and then I put them down and didn't get the rest of the months completed. I decided it was time to get this series out again and see if I could make some progress on them. They aren't large in size as they are just 77x77 stitchesh but they are full coverage. I started February and am happy with the progress that I was able to make on it. I hope to be able to continue to move this forward as it would be nice to get more of the months completed. We will see how things go and hopefully this will continue to get some attention over the next little while.

Button Box Throw - here is the project that seemed to get most of my attention in the last week. The reason for that was I was on the last colour that I wanted to attach to the throw and then it was the cast off. The final colour didn't take long to get completed but then it was time to do the cast off and that is what took most of the time. I didn't count my stitches but at one point I know that I had around 750 stitches on the needle and that was before I finished the piece. 

Once the cast off was completed I wanted to see what the piece actually looked like given I hadn't seen it other than on the circular needle and only parts of it at a time. I am happy with how it turned out and all of these are scraps that were left over from other projects. It was nice to have it completed and now to finish sewing in all the ends and then block it. We did measure it and it is currently 42" square so it will be a bit bigger than that after I block it. I did enjoy this project and am looking forward to maybe starting another version of this throw in the very near future.

Other projects - I didn't work on any other projects this past week. The weather was nice and we did spend some time sitting outside in the evenings so that meant that I didn't work on anything outside and just enjoyed the relax time. 

I hope you are finding that time where you can relax and do something that makes you happy each day. Knowing that even taking those few minutes each day for yourself is important. Hope everyone has a good week and if things go well, I would like to have some progress on something to show you next week. 

A finish and some progress

This past week went very fast and I must admit that I didn't get as much time to craft as there were other things that required my attention. At least, I was able to make some progress on things and that is what is most important. This week I am not certain what is on our schedule yet but hopefully I can spend some time working on moving some projects forward.

Unleash the Butterflies - here is a project that I have been slowly working on and does get a bit of attention. This past week I was trying to move it forward a little bit, and I think I was able to accomplish that.

It has been nice to have this project around so that when I want to work on a full coverage piece I can pick it up and work on it. The other nice thing about this project is that there aren't lots of colours so being able to focus on it feels good. I am going to try and continue to work on this piece a bit at a time as I would like to see that I have been able to move it forward this year.

Peppermint Pressie - this is the project that did get some attention this past week as I was determined to get it finished. I know that these ornaments don't take a lot of time to get finished up it still means that I need to focus on it so that I can get the piece finished.

When I could sit down and work on this project it didn't take me long to get it moved forward. By the weekend I just had the red and white colours to add so that was nice, and I was able to get it finished up on Saturday. Now what I need to do is figure out how I want to finish them into ornaments. 

Festive Fox and Peppermint Pressie will be finished the same way as I would like to have them matching. I do need to look at my fabrics to see what I have that I can use for the back of the ornaments. 

After finished Peppermint Pressie I thought that there was a third ornament that was similar, so I had to immediately look to see if I had the project. Of course, I had saved this other pattern as well so now I have Special Delivery that is going to be stitched as well so before I finish these into ornaments I am going to stitch the other one so that all three of them will be finished the same way.

Button Box Throw - here is the project that did get quite a bit of attention when I had those few minutes to just sit and focus on something. The really good news is that I have decided that the colour that I just started is going to be the last colour of this throw. It is going to be nice to be able to at least get this project finished. I am not looking forward to sewing in all the ends but at least I should be able to work on them slowly.

I had decided a little while ago that I was going to use the two balls of yarn that I had from one of my shawls as the final two for this project so that is what I am doing. I have added the light green and have just started the medium green ball so that will be the last ball of yarn to be added to this throw. I won't know the actual size of the throw until I cast it off but I think it is going to be large enough for a first throw.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any thing else over the past week and part of that was I didn't have lots of time to focus on getting things achieved. This week I hope to be able to spend some time working on some projects. I might have a new start on a cross stitch project as being able to continue to get things achieved would be great.

I hope everyone has had a good week and you have found that bit of time each day to do something that makes you happy and helps you recharge your personal battery. Knowing that you can find the time even a few minutes each day to do something you enjoy is important. This coming week I hope to be able to spend some time focusing on moving things forward and we will see what I can accomplish. Hope everyone has a good week, and I would like to have some progress on things to show you next week.

 

English Paper Piecing - some progress finally

As promised, I said that when I had some progress to share that I would come back and write a post. Well, this month I am not certain what happened, but my English Paper Piecing came back out. It has been so nice being able to just sit and work on a project and see that I have been able to make some progress on it.

Popsy's Throw - this is the project that came out this month, and I am happy with the progress that I was able to make on it. I had some flowers made so I decided it was time to try and get them added to the very small start that I had on this project.

It didn't take me long to get the love of joining the motifs back and before long I had made some good progress on the actual throw. I know that I still have a long way to go but at lest I am starting to see that I am making some progress and that is great. Now to continue to work on this piece and see how much more of it I can get done. It has been nice to be able to at least move this project forward a bit during this last month.

I still have lots of motifs that need to be made as well so that was something else that I did a little bit of. Just seeing that I have been able to get some progress again on a project makes me happy. I know that this throw has lots of memories attached to it as all the motifs are being made from shirts that were popsy's.

Other projects - there are a number of other EPP projects in various stages that are going to need to get some attention and hopefully they will have their turn before long. It was nice being able to spend some time working on this project and seeing that it finally got some progress.

I am not certain if this is the project that will continue to get the attention or if I will pickup one of the other projects and give it some love. I guess we are going to have to wait and see when I want to work on my EPP again. It did feel good being able to make some progress on the throw and hopefully before long I will pick up my EPP again and move it forward.

There may be another blog post soon with more progress on something or it could be a while again but at least I know that I enjoyed this last month picking up and working on this project.