Long Update!

Sorry it's been so long since I have made a post.  So much has happened and most of those things have been good!  I have been stitching along and will fill you in.

I started watching my kids pretty much every day at their house since their dad works nights and it worked out with schedules and gave me as much time as possible with them.  While staying there I didn't get much stitching done and was dealing with massive drama from the ex's 2nd wife.  She owned the house and thought that gave her permission to come into the house whenever she wanted and cause issues just about every day!  She blamed me for it but they got together when me and him were married.  It caused me to be on edge every day and was just plain rediculous and not healthy for my kids to see every day.  So we ended up moving them to my house temporarily to get us all away from her.  This will be a temporary move since my roommate bought a house and we will be moving into that house in just 4 days!  Most people can't live with their ex but I don't usually do things in a normal way and I'm okay with that.  The kids love it and it works out for everyones schedules since their dad works nights and financially it's a good idea.  So far it's been working really well!  This temporary move to my house has me driving a lot getting kids to and from school but I have still been stitching.  I also had to get my computer fixed.  I tried to get a new operating system on it but it did not like it.  It ended up being a manufacturer defect so it's nice to have it back for me to read my patterns from.

Another huge update in my life.  For the last 3 years I have been having to scrounge to cover my basic needs of living, like housing etc. because my aunt who was the payee of my disability cut me off when I stood up to my toxic mother.  I fought tooth and nail not to go back and was part of the reason why I moved away for a little while.  I finally had my court hearing to regain control of my disability and I got it!!  It was such a hrad road including a year and a half of being homeless or sleeping on friends couches but I have never been healthier and it has made me stronger in ways I can't even begin to describe!  It was a huge win for me knowing that good things come to good people especially when you work hard to overcome it!  I need to figure out what is next in my life and what I want to focus on next.  I will update you on my stitching now!

Sapphire Birthstone by HAED (Heaven and Earth Designs)

I have hit a big milestone!  I got the top row done of the pattern all stitched up.  I tried to do the cross country approach on these pages and the frog hit me big time!  I will not be doing cross country like that again!  While I was unstitching to find out where my mistake was I accidentally cut some of my fabric in the process so I need to try to do a patch.  I have everything to do it but haven't quite completed it yet.  So in the pictures you will see a blank spot where I need to patch it.  Here are the update pictures...

This is the sample picture of what it will look like EVENTUALLY! LOL

Progress pictures on the last full page and the partial page to complete the top row.

Complete top row except for where I need to do the patch.

Current progress and the start of the second row of pages!

While my computer was out of commission I had to work on a pattern that wasn't on my computer so I decided to start the second rocking horse in a series of them.  I had already completed the first one that I chose to do of this series.  I got quite a bit done on it too however, this one at the beginning was plagued with the frog.  It took me numerous tries to get the front legs right but once I got going it went quickly.  I did this over the course of a weekend but I still need to finish it!  Here are those pictures.

Last but not least is my new start!  If you remember I had purchased a new HAED chart and was working on getting the materials to start it.  It was harder than I thought since my LNS didn't have a big enough piece of fabric in their shop.  They ordered one for me and it came in last week and now I am on a first name basis there after ordering this! LOL!!!  I am big on supporting small business and that is a huge reason why I am a cash only person.  Since my dad was a small business owner I would much rather spend my money at small business than big box stores so it took a bit longer for me to get started but I'm okay with that.  If I can't buy things from a local business I choose places that are based in my state over anyone else since it will stay in Michigan's economy.  We were hit so hard with the recession as a state it's the least I could do.  So I got this one started over the last few days.

This is called Little Cake Shop by designer Aimee Stewart and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED).

Here are my progress pictures.  I worked on this for a good bit of the last two days and I don't feel like I've gotten very far but this is HUGE as it's the Supersized one.

This fabric covers my entire bed and as you can see my computer in the background for a comparison of the size.  This one is going to take me just a little while, haha!, to finish.

I love taking close ups so you can see the different colors in just a little section.  I truly love working on this one so far even tho the project itself is daunting!  With all 4 of my kids in school now I can get some done when they are in school.  Once we get moved to the new house this weekend I should have time to devote to this and my other projects!  I love how stitching allows me time to slow down and think things through while I'm accomplishing something.  I don't know what I would do without a way to relax without this craft.

My abandoned projects...

Since I have recently moved it has lead to me finding new places for things and ways to organize my things in my new space.  This has lead to me seeing my unfinished projects again so it has motivated me to finish one of them and get them out of my organizers.  Plus, as I mentioned in my last post I have been trying a rotation of sorts and it seems to be working so far so this is my way of planning ahead.  I also have quite a few stitching friends that I talk to daily who help keep me motivated on my projects both current and the forgotten ones.  So posting them here I think will allow me to plan ahead but also give them a way to easily see what I have in my unfinished pile and help get them finished!  I took pictures of them all last nite and will add them here and start going down the list.  There are a few I need to find some things for to be able to finish the pattern and I will start shopping for those to get them done!  I only have a little bit left on my HAED, sapphire to have a page (and a row!) finish so I wanted to plan ahead.  Here is the pictures of the projects sitting in my stash drawers.

These are the ones I'm gonna have to find something, either a pattern etc to be able to finish.

A finish!

It's been awhile!  I am trying a rotation.  My plan was to use a main project, my HAED...Sapphire...as my main focus and every other week work on a different project.  So the rotation would go like this a, b, a, c, a d...you get the idea.  I got a lot done on my HAED.  I am a little less than half way through my last page and the partial page across the top of my pattern.  When it was time to switch I started a new pattern.  I got this pattern off of a designers Facebook page named Durene Jones.  She has quite a few great freebies and great designs in her Etsy shop.  She released 4 similar butterflies, each a different color so I did the first release in the series, which was a green/teal one.  And, I actually got it done!  Yes, you read that right...I, miss serial starter has a finish!  Here is a few pictures of the final result!

This project was plagued at the start with the frog, so I had to restart it 3 different times.  I ended up doing 5x5 squares for awhile until I got it right.  That seemed to work, but this project seemed to move pretty quickly once I got it started.  I plan to work on the next butterfly in the series, a purple one once I switch from my HAED again.

I originally planned to work on this one, as part of my rotation, for a week but due to having to start it 3 times and my job I was determined to get it finished after starting it so many times.  We had a huge, local and National festival, the Cherry Festival, the week of the 4th.  Between events with the kids like an airshow with the Thunderbirds, fireworks, the carnival with the kids and being a housekeeper at a hotel it kept my schedule extremely busy!  My town has been gaining a TON of national attention for being one of the top vacation spots.  Even People magazine named it #2 in all of the country.  Pretty proud of it!

Getting back on track, I'm glad I stuck with it.  I love the pattern.  I like bright colored patterns and I love doing blackwork so this project was great for me!  I've wondered if this project would look good in varigated thread too so you may be seeing this project again in those type of threads.

I am picking my HAED back up for awhile.  Here is my starting point for right now.  Sorry for the quality of the photo.  I usually take pictures of my stitching with my camera but I took this one with my phone.

I hope to get the rest of this page and the partial page (which I'm doing at the same time) done before I move on.  I shall post an update when I switch again.  I think once I get the purple butterfly stitched I am going to pick up one of my old UFOs.  I started organizing my projects after moving and I have soooo many.  I need to get some of them finished.  I am itching to stitch so I will say bye for now.  Hope you enjoyed the update!

June Update

Well, have I ever been busy!  I'm even posting this close to the beginning of a month which is pretty good for me.  I can't wait to update on what all has happened.  Things could not be better in my life right now.  I have become so busy but crazy enough even though I have been so busy I have also been busy stitching too.  Funny how happiness can do that.  I will update you on my life first and then my stitching.

As a refresher, I was living away from my hometown (the Soo) and children working at a hotel as a housekeeper.  One of my friends that I worked with at that hotel has a friend that lives in my hometown.  He offered to bring me back to TC (hometown) for a visit.  Saying this was an emotional trip was an understatement.  I hadn't been back to even visit since I got stuck up in the Soo for over a year.  I worked extremely hard focusing on coming home since the day I got to the Soo.  While I was in TC I got applications going for hotels and even had quite a few interviews.  I had an on the spot interview with one place and another the next day or so.  While I was in the second interview which they hired me the first interview called wanting to know if I would like a job.  So I technically had two jobs and I got to choose the better one for my life.  The friend who brought me back to TC was also looking for a roommate.  Everything has come together so well and it all happened soooo fast.  Everything I had worked so hard for was happening but everything that happened in the Soo led to me coming home.  Not only that, it lead to me doing it smartly and not something that can be ripped from under me at a moments notice.  The best part about all of this has been my kids and knowing that I did it with all of my hard work and allowed me to overcome my aunt's financial control.

I returned to the Soo to give my job there notice and tie up loose ends and say goodbye to all of the friends up there I'd made who have become more like family.  Since coming home I have been working full time and spending soooo much time with my boys.  It has been amazing getting back to them and making up for lost time.  I will never let that go!

While hanging out at my house with my roommate we have been watching some netflix series and I've been using that to stitch while I watch.  Some of the projects I was working on are still packed away but I have focused my attention on my big project, Sapphire.  I finally finished page 4!  That's almost 7,500 stitches.

Granted, it took me getting strep throat to give me time to work on this so much the last few days but it allowed me to rest and get better at the same time.  After taking these pictures, I took more while I was moving my Q-snaps of the whole project.  I have a full page and a partial page to the right of the one I just finished to get to the other side of the project.  Here are those pictures!

So as you can guess because of my move my last monthly goals didn't get much attention other than Sapphire.  I am really proud of myself for sticking with this project as much as I have.  Maybe I'm not as much of a serial starter as I thought.  Or I had so much other stuff going on it was blocking that.  I do my stitching mostly for enjoyment so I'm okay with not finishing a lot of projects.  We will see if that holds true the further into blogging that I get.  I will list my June goals and see how I do on my next update.

June Goals:

1.  Continue organizing my stitching supplies.  (I need to buy one more organizer).
2.  Finish half of page 5 & 6 on Sapphire. (I feel a finishing both of these this month is a bit enthusiastic so I'm going with half and anything more than that is a bonus.
3.  Find and work on my colorwork project.
4.  Purchase fabric and threads for first page of the Cake Shop HAED.

I do want to mention that I liked doing cross country on page 4 of Sapphire to eliminate the lines I was getting but I need to see more progress as I go.  It helps me finish to see progress faster because of how I do things with my ADHD and such.  I'm gonna go back to doing it row by row for this page.  I felt very lucky to not have a massive frog show up while I was doing page 4.

I look forward to my next update and since my stitching bug is back in full force I might as well take advantage and work on the next pages.  My job and my kids are going to be my main focus so we will see how I do, especially with summer vacation for my boys about to start.  I hope to be spending even more time with them.  Take care and thanks for reading!

March Update

Thought I would update everyone on my stitching since it's been a month since my last post.  Unfortunately, I haven't been stitching very much so it's not going to be a very exciting update.  I will get to my pictures in just a bit.

I did move my room around which is also where I stitch.  I had my bed in front of my window which was great for morning sun and daylight to help wake myself up in the mornings.  However all of my outlets for things were on the other walls for things like my Ott-Lite and my cell phone charger, etc so it just wasn't working very well.  So I moved all the furniture around in my bedroom all by myself.  Luckily, after my landlord put new flooring in my bedroom shortly after I moved in, I was smart enough to put rags under one end of my loveseat and chair and my bed was easy to slide to its new spot.  I have to say that I am loving the new set up.  My bed is close enough to the window I still get the daylight and the sun but now it's by my outlet.  I have set up two bedside tables that work really well for my Ott-Lite to sit on and I can reach my phone when it's plugged in too.  I can also now use the wall the lean back on when I'm stitching or doing other things.  It's working very well!  Now I just need my stitching bug to come back a bit stronger.  Life has become crazy but in good ways so I have been extremely busy.  I have something big coming up and I need to get ready for it but I will leave it at that for now so I don't jinx it.  I hope to be able to stitch more often but we will see.  I did work on Sapphire pretty regularly but for the past few weeks I've put very few stitches into anything.  So, because of this, I didn't get very far on my February goals I had set.  The something big coming up needs to be my focus financially at the moment so I haven't spent anything on stitching stuff.  Here is the list of my February goals I had made...

1.  Finish colorwork (only put in a few stitches, I did finish two parts of it)
2.  Finish 4th page of Sapphire (did not finish but worked on it)
3.  Finish 1st page of Stained Glass (did not work on this one)
4.  Make list of threads needed for 1st page of Cake Shop by Aimee Stewart and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs (I finished this).
5.  Purchase fabric and threads for Cake Shop (no and moved to April at the earliest)
6.  Start Snowman project (nope)
7.  Bobbinate 40 threads (nope again, I truly hate doing this and I will admit I procrastinate horribly on this one).
8.  Make list of threads needed for 1st page of Rainbow Eye (Nope)

I did try something new with my Sapphire project.  I was doing all of it in 10x10 boxes which works for my ADHD but I was seeing lines where my squares were so I'm trying something new to see how I like it.  I have been finishing one color throughout the entire page to see how I like it.  I got 2 colors finished, I think.  Here is a picture of Sapphire so you can see what I mean.  This technique in the stitching world is called cross country.

As you can see in the first picture, every 10 stitches there is a line you can see from my tension changing as I stitch.  So I'm trying this for a bit to see how I like it.  I'm worried I will make a mistake and have to frog quite a bit of this out but I'll see how it goes.  If I do well with this I will put my grid lines back in from having to wash this.  There is a big block on two colors towards the bottom half and I may do that first but I want to get the last few stitches done in row 4 first.

As for my colorwork project, I haven't really gotten much done on this one but I did finish the section I was working on since my last photo on my February post and I finished one other blue section.

As you can see, not much farther but I love how this project is turning out.  I am so happy I did not go with all red like in the original.  Part of the reason I haven't worked on this on is that I always like to have a project with me in my bag for if I have to wait anywhere.  I will bring it out and I usually stitch while I'm waiting and I just haven't had the opportunity or the motivation to take it out to work on it.  I have one more section of the blue to work on, a corner part, another side and the center.

As for my next project.  I haven't been to the craft store yet to match the purple color in my Egg project so I brought out a different UFO.  I believe I started this at the end of summer/beginning of fall in 2012.  I have worked on this a tiny bit and this is about all of the stitching I have done in the last 3 weeks.  It just happened to be sitting on top of my box after I moved my room around so I picked it up!  Its actually a needle point on painted canvas.  This is called Beach Retreat.

The first two pictures of this project are so you get an idea of what it looks like.  It's hard to tell where I have stitched since the project is painted right on the canvas.  The next three pictures zoom in on the areas that I had done before I picked it back up again.  The next to last picture is what I have worked on since I picked it up again, which was the very top of the sky.  The very last picture gives you an idea of what I have left to do.  I don't normally work on something like this but I do like how fast the stitching goes.  I did the sky part in a few hours so I will keep picking this one up.  I may move this to my bag to work on when I'm out and about.

For the last part of my post I will do some goals for the rest of March.  I won't be working as much as I usually am due to a health issue I have going on but that means I will have more stitching time, unless I just jinxed myself.  LOL!

~*~ March Stitching Goals ~*~

1.  Finish half of page 4 of Sapphire.
2.  Finish blue part, corner square and one or two section of the next side.
3.  Finish sky and the hanging basket off the porch.
4.  Make list of threads for 1st page of Rainbow Eye
5.  Bobbinate 20 threads.

That should keep me busy enough since it's already the 17th of March.  The last month and a half has just flown by!!!  I will check in again soon!