Stitching

Schlock with gun - June 22nd

This week after finishing my Celtic Butterfly I decided it was time to try and work on something that I had started for a little while. I don't have a shortage of projects like this so it was just a matter of figuring out which one I would actually start working on.

The one that caught my attention was Schlock with gun because it is a simpler pattern and something that I can work on while sitting on the balcony. With the weather that we have been having, we are spending quite a bit of time on the balcony in the evenings. Schlock with gun doesn't have too many colours so it is something that is easy to work on while sitting outside.

Schlock with gun - July 26th

I really wanted to start the next version of the Celtic Butterfly but decided that it would be a good idea to try and make some progress on something else for a little while first. Of course, besides wanting to start Celtic Butterfly I have another project that is currently sitting and waiting to be started.

The new project is for our office and it is from a picture that I took a few years ago at the Toronto Zoo.  I love polar bears so I am going to be stitching a picture of one facing us.  It is a project that is going to take some time because it will be 18"x12" once it's completed.

This coming weekend is a long weekend for us so I hope that I will be able to find some quality time to stitch. Just being able to focus on a project for a little while also means that I might be able to make some good progress on one of them.

Hopefully this week I can make some good progress on at least one of my projects and will see what the results are next week.  Until then, I have some work that needs to be completed so heading off to do just that.

Another finish

Celtic butterfly - July 19th

Finally I can say that the Celtic Butterfly is finished as I completed it last night.

I am happy with how it turned out and I cannot wait to start the next one.  I know I have other projects on the go but this design seems to be calling to me very loudly right now. The design was a simple design and maybe that is what I loved about it as it was a quicker to work up design.

Celtic Butterfly - July 21st

Last night I only had a very little bit of stitching left to do and of course as soon as I got home I had to sit down and get it finished.  it felt great being able to see the whole design completed as with it on the q-snap I hadn't seen it all coming together.

Now to try and get some work done today so that maybe this evening I can put the next piece of fabric onto a q-snap and start working on the next butterfly.

I am hoping to wait until the weekend to actually start the next butterfly but will see if that really happens.

Progress on butterfly

Celtic butterfly - July 12th

The Celtic Butterfly is finally starting to look more like a butterfly than just a bunch of lines.

This past week I was able to find a bit of time to sit and stitch and now am seeing that it won't be much longer before the butterfly is completed.  I am loving how it looks and have already bought some floss and another piece of fabric to restitch the design.

This project has been my focus for the last couple of weeks and it will be until I finish it which I hope is at some point this week.  I have been enjoying working on this piece and look forward to seeing what it looks like once the final stitch is in it.  I have had to move the piece of fabric so I am not seeing the entire butterfly right now.

Celtic Butterfly - July 19th

Just seeing that I am getting close to finishing this piece if making me very happy.  I know that I have other projects on the go and I should put some effort into them before I even think about working on the next butterfly.

The next butterfly will be on a light grey piece of fabric and done with an overdyed silk.  Yes, this floss is overdyed but the next one has more contrast and that is what I am looking forward to seeing. 

This week once I finish my butterfly I am going to try and stitch on at least one other of the projects I have on the go before even really thinking of putting the grey fabric onto the q-snap.  Well, this is currently my plan but we will see what really happens once this butterfly is finished.

I am happy with how it is turning out and look forward to hearing other comments once it is finished.

Now it is time for me to get some work done so that I can enjoy some stitching time this evening.

Finally stitching

Celtic Butterfly - July 5th

This past week I finally found a little bit of time to sit and stitch which was wonderful.

Part of the reason for the stitching as on Wednesday it was stitch night at Gitta's so that meant that I was able to sit and focus on stitching for about three hours which was good.  After going that stitching and seeing some progress on the butterfly it made me want to work on it some more.

Celtic Butterfly - July 8th

The middle picture is where it was after stitch night.  Of course once I got into the mood to stitch I just couldn't seem to think of any other project other than this one. 

Celtic Butterfly - July 12th

Yesterday the weather was pretty warm so instead of trying to stitch sitting in the living room, I grabbed my stitching and took it out onto the balcony where it was a little cooler than sitting in the apartment.  It also meant that I got into the mood to stitch and that is what I did for another three or four hours.  It is nice to see that I am finally making some progress on this piece because it is taking longer than I had hoped.  I think part of the reason it is taking longer is I am stitching the butterfly on 25count evenweave over one stitch.

This week I am hoping to be able to make some more progress on this piece as I am now over half way through the butterfly and am looking forward to seeing what it looks like once it is completed. If it is hot out like the forecast is for at least today I think once I have finished the work that I need to do I will take my stitching and go and sit on the balcony again.

Work is now needing to be done so I am going to focus on that for a while and then will see what I can accomplish this evening.

Yet another crazy week

Erasmus - June 24th

I am really not sure where the last week has gone because I can see from my stitching I haven't been doing a lot of that.

Erasmus - July 1st

I have found a little bit of time to work on a couple of projects and have made a bit of a dent in Erasmus and also Salmon Rose.  I had hoped that on July 1st I would be able to find and do a lot of stitching but that didn't work out as well as I had hoped as things got in the way.

This weekend I had also decided that I was going to spend at least one evening sitting and stitching but that didn't happen either.

Salmon Rose - June 10th

Salmon Rose - July 2nd

Work has been a little busier for me lately so by the time I finish up with the work I don't have the energy or time to actually sit and do the stitching that I want to do.

Schlock with Gun - June 3

One thing I noticed was I hadn't shown off the progress that I made a couple of weeks ago on Schlock with Gun.  Now it isn't a lot of progress but what isn't shown is all the restitching that I had to do because I found an error in it so had to take a lot of the black out and redo it.

Schlock with Gun - June 22

Now this week I am hoping to be able to do a bit of stitching but until the week is over I am not sure how much I am actually going to accomplish.

It's now time for me to try and get some work done so that I feel like I am getting somewhere on all the projects that I have on the go both at work and at home.

Mid-year goal review

As it is now July I figured I wanted to see how I have been doing with all the goals that I set at the beginning of January.

2015 Goals 
1.  Blog at least 4 times a month – been able to accomplish this so far this year
2.  Complete three capes for myself – got one finished so far
3.  Get stash to below 360 pounds – able to achieve this as I gave some yarn to schools in the area
4.  Stitch Blackbird design – not doing this project any longer
5.  Complete 3 cross-stitch that I already have started – still working on this as I keep starting new projects
6.  Get craft items organized - this is progressing very well
7.  Complete 2 Stitching Studio cross-stitch patterns – haven't been working on these projects lately

I am happy to see that at least some of my goals have been reached already and other ones are being working on.  I have to admit that my stitching goals keep changing so working on specific things has been a challenge.  I know that the two Stitching Studio pieces haven't been worked on for a while and they might not get completed this year.

I am going to continue working on all the various projects that I have on the go and will see what I get completed this year and what will have to wait until next year.