Monday Update

Here I am with another Monday update. Let's see what I was up to last week.

Monday and Tuesday I worked on Mom's August piece. Tuesday I got it finished and put together...

(26) August 6th

  August from Sand, Sea and Cross Stitch Book

Stitched on 14ct White Aida Fabric

Threads are Suggested DMC

Started Aug 1st. Took 4 Days.

7 Hours and 55 Minutes Start to Finished.

 

You might have got a sneak peek of that finish in my FFG post right before this one.  After finishing that one up I got started on my Lizzie Kate monthly. I worked on it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I took Halloween Minis down to the cabin with me and was able to squeeze a bit of time into a new monster face Friday night but forgot to take a picture of it. I left it down there of course to work on next time so you'll have to wait for that picture. Trust me it's just a green blob right now anyway haha.

Saturday we were busy so no stitching was done. 

We worked on cleaning up an area by the barn for a storage unit we will be getting. Jeremiah got to run the log splitter again too...

He loves when there is stuff he can help with. Sunday after getting home I worked a bit more on the Lizzie Kate August piece. Here is where I am right now...

Slowly but surely it's getting stitched up.

We have some fun coming up. Mom, Jeremiah, and I are heading back to the cabin Thursday this week. Several friends are coming some who haven't seen our campground yet even. We are really excited. We will camp for the weekend together. Then Sunday and the next week I am kidnapping my godson Damein. He is starting COLLEGE on the 26th and I'm giving him a kidnapcation for a week haha. He is really excited about it and so are we. So lots and lots of fun will be going on. Don't worry I'm packing stitching too. We will take him home the 24th and then get back to normal.

I hope everyone has a great week! I'm trying to keep everything straight I need to get done haha.

August FFG

The fantastic Rachel has given us the SAL most of us really need...a Fully Finished Gallery SAL. Yeah we stitch. We finish pieces.....well hopefully sometime. Then what? I know I tend to throw them in a drawer and those beautiful pieces hide until the day I pull out the drawer and look through them. How sad. So now the 10th of every month we have a push to finish our pieces. Not only the current ones we are stitching but those old dusty sad lonely pieces in our box of shame. I have just a few *cough cough* so I'm sure the SAL will continue the rest of my life haha.

Stop over to the check in post to see what lovely pieces others have created this time as well.

Let's see what I've finished since the last time...

12th of July found me finishing up my July Lizzie Kate Stamp.

16th of July I finished up Flip Flops Mill Hill Kit.

6th of August I finished up Mom's Nautical monthly piece.

8th of August I setup my sewing studio and got busy on 3 box of shame pieces.

Let's talk about these a little more in detail...

Dragonfly Heart was from Sekas Hearts. I stitched this up in 2005! It didn't even make it to my box of shame actually. I hide these away in a cabinet and totally forgot about them till we had a heart themed People's Choice. I remembered stitching them and started digging around to find them. Everyone demanded they be finished. They sure deserved to be finished. This one is finished with the blue fabric you see under the pillow.

The 2nd one of the set I'm talking about is this one...

I stitched this one in 2006. It was called Patriotic Heart from Sekas. I stitched it for Jeremiah since he is very patriotic. He picked out the fabric for the back. It again is laying under the pillow for the picture above.

Last I grabbed a cute little nautical piece from 2015...

The pattern is called Seas the Day from Silver Creek Samplers. I finished the stitching for it in 2016. Finished with the fabric under it again.

I love the way all 3 turned out and they are proudly on display instead of hiding away in shame. Thank you Rachel for the push to do that!!!

So according to my calculations because of this SAL I've finished...

February -- 5

March -- 6

April -- 5

May --  2

June -- 4

July -- 2 

August -- 6

Total of  30 Now!!!!

 

So many more to go but I'm very happy with these. So nice to see them when I look around.

Monday Update

Wednesday I bombarded everyone with 4 blog posts. But I finally caught up on everything I needed to post about. Thursday I started working on Mom's August piece. I worked on it for Thursday and Friday. I was able to get 4 hours and 55 minutes in on it. Here is where I am right now with the front panel...

Just need to finish the sail and add the word August. I didn't get any stitching time at the cabin this time around. My dad got another load of gravel/sand mix for the beach area of the pond so we spent time spreading it out. Then we just kind of relaxed together. Felt great. When it got dark we watched the new Hellboy on the outdoor theater screen. It was a really good remake of the original Hellboy movie.

Wow that's all I have to talk about haha. After all those catch up posts I guess you already know everything else. So I'm off to relax and work on the nautical piece. When it's finished I'll start my Lizzie Kate August. Have a great week everyone! I have some hopeful plans this week when it comes to getting my sewing machine back out for some finishing. Cross those fingers it actually happens.

The People's Choice -- Monochrome

First Saturday of the month the lovely Jo is hosting this fun blog game/SAL. We have a theme are we are to make a post about that theme. Anything we think fits. I love to see how each post is so different from the next person. Stop over to Jo's post to see who all played along this month.

Theme this month is Monochrome.

So let's go through my finishes and see what I have stitched that is Monochrome...

2007 I did Jeremiah's name as a Christmas Tree in his favorite color green. 2009 I finished a dragon head that a friend used a tattoo and made into a cross stitch pattern for me. 2013 I stitched a set of 5 tribal sea life pieces for mom. 2015 I stitched another dragon this time a Blackwork Dragon by Dragon Dreams. The tree is in my pile of things to finish. The dragon tattoo was framed and hangs on my wall by my stitching corner. I think I shared a photo of it framed when we had the dragon post earlier this year.

Let's look through my WIPs for monochrome designs...

This old WIP is from 2014. It's from Rovaris. All I Need is Love and a Dog. Here is what it will look like when finished...

Embers is another dragon on a beautiful piece of tie dyed fabric I was given. It's one I really need to get back out and work on more. Not this month but soon hopefully.

I checked my wishlist on 123stitch and right now there isn't any monochrome on my wanted list.

Monochrome are kind of boring to me I guess. I notice when I worked on Embers last time I get bored very quickly when there isn't color changes. Of course it is kind of nice not to have to think what thread to grab next haha. See ya next month when the theme is Bees.

#24HoursofCrossStitch August Challenges

I swear this is my last post for today haha. Tomorrow is August and the new #24HOCS have been released. 3 challenges a lot like the July ones. Still they are so exciting. Fresh and ready to go.

The August acrostic is XSTITCH DAY in honor of World Cross Stitch Day Jen said. So let's see what is on the plan for this month...

X -- Nautical Year August from Sand, Sea and Cross Stitch

Goal: Finish

Connection: I seen this set on Instagram stitched by @Xstitch23

That's why I purchased them.

S --  Beer Dragon by Paine Free Crafts

Artwork by Stanley Morrison

Goal: 4 Hours

Connection: Artist has S in his name.

T -- Salt Water Taffy by Joan Elliot

Goal: 4 Hours

Connection: T in Title

I -- Love 2 Stitch by Hinzeit

Goal: Finish

Connection: I love 2 stitch!

T -- Wish Upon a Starfish by Designs by Lisa

Goal: 4 Hours

Connection: Starfish can be found in Tide pools along the Ocean. 

C -- Cabin Fever Mill Hill

Goal: 4 Hours

Connection: The C in the Title

H -- Halloween Mini

Start the next monster face the 3rd one down on the left

Goal: 4 Hours

Connection: H in the Title

D -- Dragon Eye by Eva's Design

Goal: 4 Hours

Connection: D in Title

A --Adjust your Sails

Goal: 4 Hours

Connection: A in Title

Y -- August Lizzie Kate Flip-It Stamp

Goal: Finish

Connection: Year Long Set

So that's my acrostic goals. Only 2 really were a little creative to make the ones I wanted to fit work. I and the T for the starfish haha. I've already used a year long set for Y but I guess that is a squeeze too. I also decided it's finally time to get two of the over 1 dragons back out. Some other pieces are going to rest this month. I told them don't worry I'm sure they will fit in the future again.

There is also another holiday calendar for August...

So I again have to pick 12 with a minimum of 24 minutes or 120 stitches to call this bonus challenge complete.

Last is the empty calendar with the challenge to stitch at least 24 hours during August.

So let's get this month started and get progress done! Tomorrow I will start with mom's Nautical year set. 

By the way Thanks for paying attention to my many posts today. I am now finally caught up.

#24HoursOfCrossStitch July Challenges

I finished the July challenges yesterday!!! I loved doing these! I have printed out August and can't wait to see how they go. So let's go over the July challenges again.

First up the acrostic (my favorite part by far!!)
We had to plug in something for each letter in TEAM 24 HOUR. You could be creative to make it work. Whatever you had to do. So here is how that worked out...

✅ T - Salt Water Taffy by Joan Elliott

Goal at least 4 hours.

Connection: The T in the title

Here it was before...

Actual Time Added: 7 Hours 45 Minutes

  ✅ E - July from Lizzie Kate Flip-Its Stamps 

Goal probably 8 hours to finish.

Connection: In the summer you Eat watermelon and there is one in the project

Actual Time Added: 12 Hours and 2 Minutes

 ✅ A - Adjust Your Sails 

Goal at least 4 hours.

Connection: The A in the title

Here it was before...

Actual Time Added: 4 Hours 6 Minutes

✅ M - July from Sand, Sea, and Cross Stitch Book 

Goal probably 8 hours to finish.

Connection: Monthly design I'm stitching all year

Actual Time Added: 7 Hours 50 Minutes

 

✅ 2 - 99 Bottles from Ink Circles

Goal maybe 4 hours definitely more than 24 minutes.

Connection: Going to add 2 more bottles.

Before...

Actual Time Added: 2 Hours 41 Minutes

✅ 4 - 4 Seasons Winter by Erica Michaels

Goal probably 4 hours.

Connection: 4 in the title

Before...

Actual Time Added: 2 Hours 36 Minutes 

(Ran out of time this month for more still more than minimum amount though so I'm happy.)

✅ H - Halloween Mini - Vampire Face by Artecy

Goal probably 4 hours could finish.

Connection: H in the title

Finished Actual Time Added: 3 Hours 8 Minutes

✅ O - Wish Upon a Starfish by Designs by Lisa

Goal at least 4 hours.

Connection: Starfish is an Ocean dwelling creature.

Before...

Actual Time Added: 4 Hours

✅ U - Under the Sea SAL by Lakeside Needlecraft

Goal at least 4 hours.

Connection: U in the title. So glad to have the push to get this one back out finally!

Before...

Actual Time Added: 4 Hours 11 Minutes

✅ R - Flip Flops kit from Mill Hill

Goal probably 8 hours to finish.

Connection: The flips flops are Red and white. 

Actual Time Added: 4 Hours 34 Minutes

I've definitely learned I have a hard time calculating how much time it might take me to finish a piece. I finally am remembering to hit my stop watch like it's a normal part of my stitching routine. I'm really happy with everything I accomplished! I had a feeling the challenges would be good for me and boy they were.

Next up was the Holiday Calendar...

In order to call this one complete you must stitch on 12 of the different holidays mentioned for the minimum of 24 minutes or 120 stitches. I think this one was a little more difficult but I noticed several people including our lovely Jo really enjoyed it. I personally enjoyed the acrostic more. But I did complete the 12 so I could call this challenge finished.

2nd -- World UFO Day -- I finally got Under the Sea SAL out of hiding and made progress on it.

3rd -- Stay Out of the Sun Day -- Halloween Mini Vampire Face definitely qualifies for this one.

4th -- 4th of July -- Free to Be Me worked for this one since it's patriotic.

10th -- Don't Step on a Bee Day -- I think the Mill Hill Flip Flops piece works for this one since it's shoes and that makes it so you don't step on a bee bare foot.

12th -- Simplicity Day -- I divided my July Lizzie Kate into 4 hours sections. 1 for this one. The Lizzie Kate pattern was simple to work on. Big nice blocks of color.

15th -- National Give Something Away Day -- Adjust Your Sails works for this one since mom is going to steal it.....Oh I mean I will give it to her when it's finished.

22nd -- National Hammock Day -- I used another section of the 4 hours on my Lizzie Kate stamp. I think you could lay in the hammock while eating watermelon. Don't you?

23rd -- Hot Enough for Ya Day -- Wish Upon a Starfish. I stitched this one while there were heat warnings outside. We even had an extreme heat warning this month.

24th -- International Self Care Day -- The last 4 hour section of my Lizzie Kate Stamp. I definitely do stitching for self care so stitching this one for myself definitely counts.

25th -- Thread the Needle Day -- Guess you could really use any of the projects for this one. I used Salt Water Taffy though.

28th -- Parents Day -- Mom's Nautical July piece since it's for my mom.

30th -- International Day of Friendship -- 99 Bottles When surrounded by our friends we like to drink beer.

So there is my 12 filled in.

Last challenge is to stitch 24 hours throughout the entire month. I hit a total of 53 hours and 54 minutes.

So that made all my July challenges complete!!!

I think August challenges deserve their own post. Stay tuned.