Progress, a finish and a new start

Here it is the start of another week and yes I was able to make some progress on a few things even with the heat that we were dealing with.  We were able to spend some time on the balcony which helped, so that is how I was able to get some progress done.

The Forgotten - I have been working on this piece but not as much as I have been, so it is now going to be only worked on a bit at a time.  I love this piece but have to admit that after working on it for a while the colours start to get a little boring.  

I am not putting this piece away, but it won't be getting quite as much attention as it has been getting.  I think a bit of a break from it on a regular basis would be a good idea.  I will continue to try and work on it a bit each week, but it won't be something that I work on all the time.

I know that I love the full coverages that I have on the go, but there are times when you just need a bit of a break from them. I do have lots of other projects that I can work on.

Krozwyrd - here is a new start this week and as you can imagine I am loving the colours of this piece.  It was designed to be one colour, but I decided that I would do two shades of blue on it, and so far it has been coming along quickly. I am going to try and continue to get some more of the words done, and then I will work on filling in the background stitching, as there is a lot of that as well. This is the piece that got most of my attention this week after I started it, but that is fine, as I think the change has helped.

Autumn - here is the piece that got part of yesterday on it.  I am working on making sure that I can continue to get more of this piece stitched, as it would be nice to have it finished and hanging before the end of autumn.

I am continuing to build the first house and I will also see what else I can get stitched as there are quite a few different things that are part of this pattern.  This time I started working on the fence and how to get the fence completed and then see what I work on next.  This house is a good size and there is another house beside it, so they are the main parts of this piece, so I need to work on getting them finished up.

I am now thinking that I need to work on the very bottom section of the design so that I can continue to work up on it so that I can see the top of the piece as well. Under the fence there are some acorns that I need to do, so that is something that I will have to work on soon.

Other projects - this week I was going through a bunch of kits that I have ready to go and found this ornament that didn't need a lot of work done on it.

I think finishing the dragon took me under an hour to do, and I already head the other part completed, so now I just need to add a hanger to it, and it will be ready to hang on our tree this year.  

I have been sorting out all the different cross stitch kits and projects that are either started or ready to be started, so I think over the next while there are going to be some smaller finishes getting done.

Once the cooler weather is here I think I will be trying to make a dent in the projects that I have ready to go.  A lot of the projects that I found were from when I was going to the Creative Festival and taking classes.  Maybe, now, it is time to get those class projects out and finished.

I hope everyone is having a good summer, and you are finding some time each day to do something for yourself.  It doesn't matter what you do as long as you make sure that you take the time.   We all need to remember to take care of ourselves so that we have the energy to take care of others.

Have a great week.

Moving projects forward and a new start

Here it is the start of another week and yes another week of working remotely, but that is fine with me.  I like being able to work like this, and we did it before the pandemic, so nothing has changed other than the restrictions we deal with when we leave home.

I continue to try and move things forward a bit each day and that is what is important right now.  We are getting hot and humid this week, so I think things are going to slow down a bit.

The Forgotten - I have continued to work on this piece a bit each day and am happy with the progress that I have been able to make on it.

This week I worked on more of the black as I wanted to get more of her dress completed.  I am happy with how it is turning out and now this week I will see if I continue with the black or will I start filling in some of the other colours that are in her dress.  I guess I will figure that out when I pick this piece up to work on.  It continues to get a few stitches in each day and that is helping me more this project forward, even if it isn't fast.

Pandemic - I was able to work on this a bit this week and get a bit more of the outlines done for a couple of the sections. I know that this project is going to be a long term project so even getting some stitching in on it makes me feel good.  I would like to see if I can get more of the outlines done before too long.

One of the biggest challenges with this piece is the piece of fabric is 27 inches wide, so it makes it difficult to hold when I am not sitting where my Lowery stand is. I love my Lowery stand as it makes holding these big projects so much easier.

Unleash the Butterflies - well here is the piece that I have been working on for the Olympics medals that Canada on during the Summer Olympics.  It ends up that the medals resulted in a total of 840 stitches that I need to get done on this piece.  I have finished just under 460 stitches so far so will continue to work on this piece until I have got the remaining stitches in.  I am trying to focus on one area of the piece so that I can also see some results on it.

I am enjoying stitching for the medals that we won so now to get that finished up in the next couple of weeks, and then I will see what happens.  I think this project will take a bit of a break after those stitches are done.

Autumn - I decided that it was time for a new start, so I picked this piece up, and I am looking forward to having it hanging in my home before too long.  I know it isn't going to be extremely fast, but I would like to see some good progress on this piece before the end of the month.

I have finished the outline of the entire piece, and now it is just the filing in of the various designs that make up this piece.  It feels good working on something that isn't full coverage, and I am starting to see results even after just a few days of stitching.  I hope that doing this will also make me want to pick up some of the other projects that I have around that haven't been touched for far too long.

Other projects - I have decided to try and organize all of my various cross stitch projects that I have, and I discovered quite a few projects that will need to get completed.  I have started putting together a spreadsheet for all the cross stitch projects, and then I will start working on getting things completed instead of them sitting around and not getting the attention that they should have had. Hopefully before too long, you will start to see other pieces that I will be trying to get finished up.

I hope everyone continues to find a bit of time each day to do the things that are you love to do.  It doesn't need to be long, but at least taking time for your helps you have the energy to help others. This week is supposed to be hot and humid here, so if you are dealing with weather like we are, stay cool, and hopefully I will have some progress next week on at least a couple of my projects.

 

Another finish and some progress

 Here it is the start of another week here.  It is nice that today is a holiday, so that means that there isn't as many things that have to get done, so I think today I will see what stitching I can get done.

 Things in Ontario continue to be the same in regard to the pandemic other than cases have started to rise again, so will see what that means moving forward.

Mini The Forgotten - here is a piece that has got attention each day this week, and I am very happy with the overall progress that I have made on her. 

It is amazing how much stitching you can get done when you focus on just one colour on a pattern.  I continue to work mostly with just black, but have slowly started to add in a few other colours to help with the filling in of the overall dress that I can currently stitching.

 I am going to continue to work on this piece, as I am loving how much I can get done when I just focus on it. It may not get as much attention this coming week, but time will tell.

Pandemic - this piece sits near me in my office as it is a project that I can pick up when I have a few minutes to just add a few stitches in on it.  I hadn't worked on it for quite a while until yesterday when I decided it was time to continue to move it forward.

I am still working on getting the bottom border done and hope that the next time I pick it p I can get more of the border done, and then I will see where I go from there.

Unleash the Butterflies - here is a piece that got a bit of stitching this week, and that is because I decided to have some fun during the Olympics.

Someone in a cross stitch Facebook group mentioned putting in stitches on a project for every medal that your country won. At first, I didn't think I would do it, but after a bit I decided it might be fun to get some more progress on a piece. 

What I am doing is Gold medals equals 60 stitches, Silver medals 40 stitches and then Bronze medals are 20 stitches.  It is a lot of fun as it means that I have to track the number of medals that Canada has won.  I am currently behind in my stitching as we have won 480 stitches worth of medals so far, and I have only put in 160 stitches.  This week I will need to make sure that I can get more of the stitches in while also seeing how many more stitches will be adding to what I need to stitch.

Moonstone - here is the project that was my focus until it was finished.  I have to admit that I really enjoyed working on this piece as once you got into it and figured out the design it was pretty easy.  

The piece measures 3.75 inches square, so it isn't very big, but it was something that I enjoyed working on and will see how I finish it. I know that it is going to be in my office once it is completed as these are some of my favourite colours that are in this piece.  After I got all the white stitches in, it was pretty easy to work on adding each of the other colours.

This week it is going to be busy as it is a short week for work but will see how things go.  I hope that everyone continues to take care and stay safe as we are still dealing with the Pandemic, but hopefully soon we can start to do things out and about again.

 Continue to find that bit of time each day for yourself and do something that you enjoy.  It doesn't matter what it is, but at least taking some time each day for yourself is important, as it gives yo the energy to help others. If things go well, I should have some more progress on things to show you next week. Have a great week.

An old project comes back out and some progress

 Here it is the start of another week and I can say that I hope that this week things will continue to improve here in Ontario.  The case numbers are still not as low as everyone wants them, but at least stores are open again and people are getting back to work.

The Forgotten - I decided to pull out a piece that I haven't worked on for over a year. The Forgotten was put away in March 2020, and I finally pulled it out and have started to work on i again.  

This piece is one that I want to get working on and so far I am happy with the progress that I made on it in just a week.  I hope that I can continue to see some good progress on it as I would like to see how quickly I can get it moved forward.  I know it isn't something that will be completed quickly but at least seeing some good progress makes me happy.

I have other projects that have been put away for a while, and they are all going to be getting some attention as I would like to see that projects I have started or kitted up are now going to be moved forward and some of them even finished up.

The Forgotten will be staying out for a while as I want to make some more progress on it, and then I will see what I get out next.   I am currently just working on some black on the piece as there is lots of black that I need to do.

Moonstone - here is the project that has been my focus piece as I would really like it have it finished soon.  I am now working on finishing a colour at a time and that helps a lot because then I can start to see the entire piece come to life.  I love the colours in this piece and have already decided on the next colour version of this that I will be working on.

 The next piece will be a bigger design, but it will still be based on the diamond pattern.  I don't know when that piece will be started as I have other things that I also want to do so will just have to wait and see.

Other things - I continue to try and figure out the other things that I am going to work on but lately my focus as been on trying to move some of my cross stitch piece forward.  I am finding that when I have a bit of time each day to relax my cross stitch is the first thing that I pull out.

 I hope everyone continues to find a bit of time each day to do the things that you like to do.  Making sure you take the time for yourself is important, as it gives you the energy to be there for everyone else.  Have a good week and hopefully I will have more to show you next week.

A finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week and all I can say is I am happy that things are slowly starting to get back to some sort of normal here.  We are still dealing with some Covid restrictions, but things are slowly starting to reopen and get back to some sort of normal.

For us things are still the same as we are working remotely, and it is something that we will be doing even after things get back to normal.  Working remotely most of the time is what we have been doing for a long time. 

Harriet Gobey - as I said last week this was going to be a focus piece as I was really enjoying it and I have to admit that it did stitch up extremely fast.  I think with it being one colour made it work up fast as well as how much I enjoyed working on it helped.  This is the third Hands Across The Sea piece that I finished in the last little while, and I currently don't have another one that I will be working on. I have another one kitted up and ready to go, but I have some other projects that I will be working on for a while instead.

Pandemic - I picked up this piece for a while on the weekend, but it doesn't look like I got much done.  I worked on the second line of border that I needed to do and of course it doesn't show up very good in the picture.

I would like to continue to work on this piece as it would be nice to see more of it done over the next little while.  It does take a while to get across the bottom of the piece and I still have two more lines of the border to finish, so that will probably be the next thing that I focus on getting done.

Moonstone - here is the piece that got most of my attention after I got Harriet Gobey finished. I worked on getting the first colour totally stitched on the piece, and now it is just a matter of filling in the rest of the colours  This piece isn't very big when it is finished as it means just over 4 inches square, but there are lots of stitches in it.

I will continue to work on this some this week, as I would like to see how much more of it I can get done.   It might not be the focus piece for the week, but I do plan on making sure that it gets some attention as I am now getting to the point where I can see the end of this piece.  It isn't going to be a fast finish, but hopefully soon it will be done.

I hope everyone continues to find a bit of time each day to do something that you love.  It doesn't matter what it is, but making sure that you send a few minutes each day relaxing is very important. Hope you continue to stay safe and hopefully soon we will all be able to do the things that we did before.  Have a good week and hopefully next week I will have some more progress on things to show you.

 

Another finish, progress and a new start

Here it is another week, and I am happy to say that Ontario is finally starting to look like it is getting back to normal.  We are still dealing with restrictions, but at least things are starting to open, and it feels good.

 Working remotely will continue to be something a lot of us do for at least the rest of this year, but we will see what happens.

In Our Garden Many Flowers Bloom - this week I was able to get the rest of In Our Garden stitched and am happy to say that I have another finish.  It feels great seeing that I have been able to get these projects finished up quickly as I have a bunch of other things that I would like to start working on.  Now I just need to continue to get more of the larger projects worked on. I loved stitching this piece and now to figure out how to frame it.

Unleash the Butterflies - this week I decided to try and put a few more stitches in on this piece so that I can continue to move it forward. Instead of working on getting a page finish, I decided to continue to work on adding a bit more of the black in so that I can have areas where I can work on other colours as well.

I will see what I get done on this piece over the next week as I have other projects and work that I need to do, so this project will get a bit of attention, but I am not sure how much it will really get.

I hope to continue to work on at least one of my Heaven and Earth projects each week so that I can continue to move all of them forward.  I have a couple of other projects that I haven't worked on for a while, so maybe I will try and get a few stitches on them over the next little while.

Harriet Gobey 1849 - here is a new start that I did this week.  Of course, after finished In Our
Garden by Hands Across The Sea I decided it was only right for me to pick up another one of those designs and see how quickly I could get it stitched up.  This piece is a little different from the other two than I did, but again it is a nice size, so it makes me happy. When this piece is finished it will fit into an 8 x 8 inch frame, so that is nice.  Instead of stitching on my normal 18 count Aida or 28 count even weave, I decided to work on 20 count, and I am loving it again.

I have completed the border all the way around on the piece, so now it is just the matter of filling in the rest of the design. This piece is only done with one colour, so it is a pretty quick stitch.  I hope to have more of this piece done this week as it is my focus piece for stitching.

 

 I hope everyone continues to find a bit of time each day to do the things that you love.  I know that even when we are busy with everything else I try and ensure that I have a bit of time to sit and do something for myself.  Have a good week and I hope to have some other things to show you next week if I can continue to make progress on things.

 

A finish and some good progress

 Here it is the start of another week and if you live in Ontario a start of another couple of days of very hot and humid days.

Ontario is slowly starting to reopen which is great so now to see how things go.  It feels good to see that stores are finally being able to have customers and even just being able to pick something up without having to plan ahead is great.  Yes, curbside pickup was wonderful, but you didn't get to see the item before you purchased it.

Emily Ann Foster - this week I once again focused on Emily Ann as I really wanted to see her finished, and I am happy to say that on Thursday I put the last stitches in on her.  It isn't a very big piece as it is just under 10 inches square.  I am now going to be looking forward to framing this piece and hanging it up in our home. 

Emily was a gift from a friend, and I am happy to have her finished and have already shared the picture of it with the person that gave it to me.

 Of course, once Emily was completed it was time to start figuring out the next project or projects that were going to get attention.  I had one in mind as it is something else that I hope to finish soon.

The next project that was on my plate was another Hands Across The Sea as I wanted to see if I could move this one forward as well.

In Our Garden Many Flowers Bloom - I had started this piece earlier in the year as something to work on while I was also working on Mini Forget Me Not.  It is a rather quick stitch project and something that I have been able to make some good progress on this last week.

I have stitched on this piece since finishing Emily, and I should be able to have another finish before too long. I don't have much more of this piece to finish either so that is great.  I hope to have this one finished before next week.

 It feels so different seeing some quick progress on pieces after working on full coverage for so long. I will be continuing to work on some smaller projects for a while.

Pandemic - this piece hasn't got any attention since December of last year, so it was time to see if I could move it forward a bit as well.  I decided that I would try and get to the other side of the design so that I can see how wide it actually was.  it felt good sitting and just working on one row of this, and now I have reached the right side of the pattern.

 This project is going to be taking quite a while to do because it is larger and something that I can only work on a bit at a time.  I hope to continue to add a few stitches to this piece each month just so that I can see some progress on it before the end of the year.

Moonstone - this is the other piece that got a bit of attention this weekend.  It is like so many other projects hadn't been worked on since last year, so I felt I needed to try and get it moved forward. This is a full coverage design, so it does take a bit of concentration to make sure that I am not making mistakes on it.  I would like to see if I can continue to get more stitches in on this piece as well as I don't think it should take long to get it finished.

 Moonstone will only be around 4 inches square when it is done, so it isn't big, but there are still lots of stitches in this piece

 

I have been having some fun working on different projects this past week and will see what happens this week.  One of the other advantages was last week we had a holiday on Thursday, so that meant that I had some extra time to sit and relax and work on a project.

This week I will see what projects that I want to work on as I do have a new start that I would like to see if I can get moved forward.  I am loving working on smaller projects as it feels great to see a change in it each time you sit and work on it even if it isn't for too long.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well, and you continue to find bits of time each day to do something that you love. If you are dealing with the hot and humid weather take care of yourself and try and stay cool.  Have a great week and hopefully next week I will have more to show you.