WIPocalypse 2015 - July 2015, First Moon

I need to hurry up and get this posted before the second July update is due! I had a great June, but I don't have a ton of pictures to show for it. Let's do the topic first, though.

Topic: Reality or Fantasy - Which do you prefer to stitch, figures or abstract?

Funny question. The reason I say that is that, had you asked me that question a year ago, I would have said figures. Maybe not "real" per se (unless you have dragons and fairies where you live), but not abstract. Then I discovered the Glendon Place Dessert Mandalas. You may have noticed that I'm working on a few of them (as in 3 so far). Definitely not figures! So, at this point, it's hard for me to say. I like what I like, and I stitch what I like. Sometimes that's figures, sometimes it's not. :-)

I did a little bit of shopping. I ordered from a new-to-me fabric dyer, Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. She had a sale on select colors, so I thought I would try a few. This is the first time I've ever bought fabric without having a predetermined project for each piece. I have some in mind for a couple of the colors, but the others were to have on hand just because I like them. So fun!

Tiramisu, by Glendon Place

I got quite a bit done on Tiramisu. I did all of that in about 8 days. It just clicks right along. I got to show it off at both of my stitching get-togethers in June! There weren't any pictures taken at the first one; we were too busy talking to get any stitching done. This is what happens when you go nearly 3 years without seeing your friends! One gets married and changes careers, the other fights off cancer. We've had a lot going on! But we're all doing well now, which is the point.

The second get-together involved driving through the Tennessee mountains. It should tell my friends a lot about how much I love them that I'm willing to do that just to see them! I stopped at the Tennessee Welcome Center in Chattanooga for a break. They give out free (tiny) Moon Pies, made right in the city.

And for the record, I do NOT recommend trying to crush your hand between the back of a chair and a metal door frame, especially your dominant hand. It hurts. A lot. For a good 10 days. I found writing, eating with a fork, and typing to be the most painful.

We went shopping, but I didn't buy anything. (Shocking, I know!) I did *finally* start Taj Mahal, though. Here's my first stitch:

My very first stitch in Taj Mahal, by Chatelaine

And my current progress (not much, I know; I haven't stitched since I got back):

Taj Mahal, by Chatelaine

I did also do a little bit of filling in the white on Titania's dress, but I didn't get a before picture. I hope to make some more progress on her before the second July update, and I'll do a "full body shot" of her then.

And with that, I will sign off. I'll catch up with you again at the end of the month.
Currently feeling: ready for the blue moon

WIPocalypse 2015 - June 2015

I thought I was going to have a get-together with my local friends to tell you about, but we had to reschedule it by a week or two (still finalizing), so I'm going to go ahead with this month's update and just catch you up on *both* of my get-togethers next time (or maybe save one for each of the two July updates, we'll see). Let's see what this month's topic has in store for us.

Topic: Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?

I tend to stitch more during the "extremes" of the weather, be that the dead of winter or the heat of summer (here in HOT-lanta). I don't seem to do much in the spring or fall, at least according to my blog archives. I'm so "patchy" with my stitching, it's really hard to say. Although now that I'm sitting here trying to figure out why, it probably has a lot to do with the television schedule! LOL I am actually *not* one to stitch while I watch TV. I feel like I miss too much of the show and I make too many mistakes counting. But over the winter TV break and during the summer hiatus, there isn't all that much to watch, so I tend to stitch more during those times, especially during baseball games. Not that I don't love baseball (I really do!), but it doesn't require my full and complete attention. I can look up for each pitch/play, then go back to my work. Interesting, I'd never really thought about it before! Thanks for the great question.

So, are you ready to see my impressive progress pictures?

Baked Alaska, by Glendon Place

What, you don't see it? Look at the far right of each picture. I finished the corner, woohoo!

So that's it. And I don't mean that's all I did on Baked Alaska. I mean that's all I did, period! I actually forced myself  to squeeze in a few strands the last week of May just so I would have *something* to show you. (That's about 4 strands.) We were just ridiculously busy between visiting family, the end of school, and traveling for Memorial Day weekend. Whew!

But I do have a few more pictures for you, just for the fun of it. I did a little shopping.

Weeks Dye Works 30ct Linen in Gunmetal

This is Weeks Dye Works 30 count linen in Gunmetal. I actually ordered this fabric back in February, I think, but it's been back ordered because the huge popularity of the Hands On Design Year In Chalk Series (no affiliation, just a happy customer). It finally arrived in May. Now I just have to cut it apart, get the fibers (didn't see the point until the fabric arrived), and start stitching them!

More Glendon Place Dessert Mandalas

I also decided to finish up my Glendon Place Dessert Mandala collection. I had six of them; may as well go on and get the other four, yes? Top L-R: Strawberry Shortcake, Cherries Jubilee; Bottom L-R: Rainbow Parfait, Pumpkin Swirl. Sorry for the funky camera angle. I had to take the pictures inside, so I was trying to get enough light for the picture to show well and avoid the glare of the overhead light on the plastic.

Needle Minders from Gina's Unique Boutique

And some more needle minders (because I didn't have enough, haha). Needle minders have become a bit of an obsession for me. I have, uh, some (I won't even lie by saying a few; it's definitely more than that! LOL). For anyone not familiar with them, each of these beautiful things has a rare earth magnet glued to the back, and there is a second "loose" magnet to go with it. You separate the loose magnet from the front piece, put the decorative one on the front of your fabric and the loose magnet on the back of your fabric, sandwiching your piece in between. You've probably seen some of my other ones in my various WIP pictures. Then you put your needle on it when you're not using it (clipping thread, getting out a new color, whatever) to "mind your needle" and keep it secure. Please please PLEASE don't put your needle in your mouth! I used to do that all the time, but this article scared me straight. You can also use the minders to hold your pattern, if you so choose. Plus, who doesn't love sparkly blingy things, right? I have gotten over 80% of my collection from Gina's Unique Boutique (no affiliation, just a happy customer), but many needlework shops both online and in real life carry them. Gina is really great to work with, though, and she ships quickly, but due to the strong magnets, the packages sometimes take a while to arrive (I've had some arrive in 2-3 days, I've had others take 2-3 weeks). I know I sound like a commercial, but I just love mine. They make me so happy just to look at them and see them sparkling and shining on my work!

So that's it for me this month. Hopefully, I'll have some decent progress to show you the next time we meet. Until then, happy stitching!

Currently feeling: embarrassed at my pitiful progress

WIPocalypse 2015 - May 2015

So I did manage to get a little bit done since my last (fairly recent) update. Because it wasn't all that much, I'm only posting progress pictures, not "full scale" pictures, and only of the pieces I stitched on. I probably won't do a full "WIP photo shoot" until July (more on that at the end).

Topic: Do you look for LNS’s when you travel? What is the favorite shop you've ever found?

You know, I really don't, unless I'm traveling with my stitching friends (which I am blessed to do every few years). When I'm traveling with family, there generally isn't time. We're so busy trying to cram everything else in, and I'm the only person who would be interested in going, so I don't bother. One place I would really like to visit, though is The Silver Needle in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Should I ever get to Tulsa for some reason, I will definitely go!

But now, it's time for why you're really here: the pictures!

Titania, by Mirabilia

Hey, wing progress! Titania may fly yet. I've been saving most of the white until near the end so it didn't get dirty/dingy while working on other sections, but I think I'm about to the point that I'll need to start putting the white in on the wings to keep me from making a counting mistake.

Tiramisu, by Glendon Place

I'm quite happy with the progress on Tiramisu. I'm almost to the corner! I think I might be able to officially claim 1/4 done with it (except for beads of course; I'm a "bead at the end" type).

Baked Alaska, by Glendon Place

And last, but not least, a little bit of progress on the corner of Baked Alaska. I keep reminding myself that every little bit helps. Again, I'm getting quite close to being able to claim 1/4 done! It's quite exciting, actually.

That will do me for this month. I will be having TWO meet-ups with stitching friends in June! One is very close to the June WIPocalypse posting time, so I may hold off until after that one to post my June update. The other one is at the end of the month, but there will be shopping involved with that one, so there should be some fun stuff to show, be it stitching progress or new stash (hopefully both!). Until then, have a great month!
Currently feeling: not bad for only 3 weeks

WIPocalypse 2015 - April 2015

Ha! You thought I forgot, didn't you? I mean, I'm only, what, 2 weeks late? (We'll ignore the fact that I did nothing for March.) I haven't been stitching much due to another life project popping up and consuming most of my time. I'm out of the manic/frantic phase with that one, though, so my other interests are starting to reassert themselves. I thought I would just post the series of progress pics I have for each project "on the list" at the moment. You might notice that the February and April pictures look sadly similar for many of them. I'll do the topic question first, though.

Topic: Which specialty stitches do you love doing on projects? Which do you dread?

I like satin stitch and eyelets. I find any sort of "tacked" stitch (queen, lazy daisy, etc) very frustrating. I'm not so hot at buttonhole stitch; I can do it, but it's not smooth and rhythmic like it is for most people. I find it difficult to get everything to go right. And I cannot, for the life of me, do any kind of knot (except the unintentional ones that all stitchers loathe). French, bullion, doesn't matter. They either slip through to the back of the fabric, look so different from each other that it's embarrassing, or just look all kinds of wrong. If at all possible, I will substitute with beads.

I've finally "upgraded" to using the Blogger photo uploader, so each photo is clickable to make it bigger and will bring up the "slideshow" so you can scroll through all of the pictures at once, if you want to. Enjoy!

Titania, by Mirabilia

I don't think I've made any progress on Titania since February. I find the wings frustrating, which means I shouldn't have left them for last, but too late now. I also need to start filling in the white on the dress. I left it to the end so it wouldn't get dirty/dingy while I stitched the rest of the stuff. I also like that I have a few "blocks" of color that I can just fill in instead of actually having to focus on the chart. That will come in handy later this summer when I meet up with some of my stitching friends. I would like to get some more done on the wings before then, though.

Adia, by Mirabilia

Definitely more visible progress each month on Adia. More dress on the bottom left, a little more wing on the top right, and lots of hair (with flowers)! I'm trying not to make the same mistake here that I did with Titania and work on the wings and the dress alternately.

Taj Mahal, by Chatelaine

More non-stitching progress on Taj Mahal. I couldn't start the piece until I cut off a section of the fabric (that I need for a different project). I don't sew, nor do I have a serger, so I decided to "finish" the edges with a nun stitch (which I've never done before, but it was super easy) and cut in between them. That's 54 inches of nun stitch over four (26 inches wide, two rows of it)! But it's done now, so I can *actually* start stitching on the fabric. YIKES!!

Tiramisu, by Glendon Place

No progress on Tiramisu since February. I've needed to swap this one to the larger q-snaps that I had on Baked Alaska (next picture!), since the rings are pretty large, but I hate moving/redoing q-snaps. As many years as I've been using them, I still find them frustrating to get straight and tight. But since I had to take everything off the snaps to take pictures, I can swap them and maybe get back to work on this one.

Baked Alaska, by Glendon Place

I made a little bit of progress on Baked Alaska since February, but it's hard to see in the flat overcast light. If you look closely next to the curved blue border on the far right, you can see that I filled in the "white stripes" just to the left of it, which is missing from the February picture. (I promise, it's more visible in person!) The coloring on the three photos looks radically different. I think the center picture is closest to reality, at least on my monitor.

And lastly, just for fun:

Plum Pudding, by Glendon Place

This is actually the piece that started me down the Glendon Place Dessert Mandala road in the first place: Plum Pudding. The problem is, I couldn't find fabric I was happy with. I bought the recommended fabric initially (Sprite, by Picture This Plus, a blend of lavender and gray; this is 28 ct Lugana), but when I did the floss toss after receiving it, I thought the lighter colors would get lost on it. I bought 3 other purples to try, all of which were much too dark. I finally decided to reconsider the recommended fabric and at least try stitching the light colors on it to see what I thought (I've learned from the other two pieces that they can look much different when stitched than they did even from a floss toss). These are the two lightest colors of floss in the piece (plus a small dark patch to help with counting/placement), and I think they look great!I should have just trusted the designer's recommendation here. Ah well. Anyone need lightish-medium toned purple fabric? I have a plethora! LOL I don't intend to work on this one any more than this until at least one of the other two is either finished or much further along. (Yeah, we'll see how long that resolve lasts, especially since two of the friends I will be meeting with this summer have this one in progress and are much further along than I am.)

Not sure if I'll have much (or any) progress to post in May, but I had some time today to actually take pictures, so I wanted to go on and do it. Hope to see you again with at least a little progress in 2-3 weeks!
Currently feeling: embarrassed that I'm so late with so little progress to show

WIPcoalypse 2015 - February 4

Okay, so it's February 5. It's close! I actually got quite a bit of stitching done in January (and the first few days of February). I really surprised myself, honestly. It wasn't every day, but it was definitely more than half. I certainly wouldn't expect to see this much progress every month! Let's talk about the topic, and then we'll move on to why you're really here: the pictures! LOL

Topic: How do you overcome that feeling that you're in a rut with a particular project?

I tend to burn out more than I get stuck in a rut (unless that's what was meant). When that happens, there are three possible solutions for me. One is to switch projects (as you may have noticed). The second is to just put away the stitching for a while, which typically means moving on to one of my other hobbies (usually reading). Shopping can also help, but there's only so much of that my bank account can stand! I actually did two out of three this month. Every time I burned out on one project, I moved to another one. I also did a little shopping towards the end of the month. Seeing everyone post about the Year in Chalk series by Hands On Designs finally convinced me to do it. Picked up a few other things, too, which will probably gradually start making appearances on these monthly updates. ;-) I am still feeling a little burned out, though. I haven't stitched since Monday (it's now Thursday). I'm starting to fear that I won't have much to show you next month.

Anyway, on to the pictures! Click on any of the stitching pics to see a bigger version.

Titania, by Mirabilia (click image to biggify)


I started with Titania. I actually did many hours worth of work on it this month (probably about 20), but I don't feel like you can see much progress. I filled in a lot of the dress/sleeves around her arms, did some of the bottom left wing (close to the dress), did the leaves on the left, and the last bit of sash/swirl on the right.

Baked Alaska, by Glendon Place (click image to biggify)


Next up was Baked Alaska. I needed to stitch something besides pink! I feel like this one is going pretty quickly, but it's hard to say for sure. I do find it very soothing to work on. Not sure if it's the blues or the silks or what, but it is quite calming.

Tiramisu, by Glendon Place (click image to biggify)


But there is also only so much blue I can stand to look at. I know, I'm wishy-washy like that. I don't feel like Tiramisu is going quite as quickly as Baked Alaska. That might just be perception, though. It's so pretty, though, I really love watching it grow. The white/natural silk shows up better in person, though I do wish the fabric was about a half shade darker than it is, like if the lightest parts were the color of the dark parts, and the dark parts were correspondingly darker, if that makes sense. (That's probably what the fabric would have looked like if I'd ordered the same color in a different fabric type; live and learn).

Adia the Garden Fairy, by Mirabilia (click image to biggify)


My friend Terri has started #MirabiliaMonday on Facebook, so I snuck in Adia at the last minute on February 2. I only put in 4 strands of floss, but it's pretty obvious where they went. All I can see when I look at it is a chainsaw, LOL!

Taj Mahal Mandala, by Chatelaine (click image to biggify)


There was progress of a sort on Taj Mahal. I finally pulled the trigger on the fabric, which traveled all the way from New Zealand! 28 ct Lugana in Twilight from Country Stitch. Again, because I went with Lugana instead of a linen, it's lighter than I anticipated (I knew it would be lighter than the linen, but it's even lighter still than I expected). I think it will be fine, though, plus it's too expensive to not use. Since I'm stitching on 28 count fabric (instead of the 32 count the chart called for), the actual stitching part will be about 19 inches (50 cm) square when finished. That means that it won't fit on a fat quarter of fabric, which is only 18-ish inches wide. Thus, what you're seeing is actually a fat half of fabric (folded in half, so it looks like a fat quarter). Unfolded, it looks like this:



That is 27 x 39 inches (70 x 100 cm) of fabric, larger than a standard USA piece of poster board (which is 24 x 36 inches). For reference, my son is about 5 feet tall (1.5 m). I am completely intimidated by this gigantic piece of fabric! I'm sure once I get some stitches on it, things will be fine, but wow, my mind is still boggling a bit at how huge this thing is.

Currently feeling: intimidated

January 2015 Reflections

This feature was formerly called the Monthly Round-Up. It is still essentially the same thing, just a slightly different name and format.


From the 2011 Year of Memories Brag Book by Dani Mogstad

Read, Listened, Watched

As most of you know by now, I'm a bit of a "one at a time" hobbyist. If I'm really into one hobby at a particular time, there is very little happening with any of my other hobbies. Right now, stitching is at the top of that list, so there hasn't been much reading. I think I've knocked out a couple more Sherlock Holmes short stories ("The Blue Carbuncle" for sure), but that's about it.


Banner image from The Librarians Facebook page.

We really enjoyed The Librarians TV series. I wish they would stick to a more family-friendly format (certain instances of words (like s**t) and one super-creepy episode) since it's already so campy to begin with. We were hoping it would be a good show to watch as a family, but there were at least 1 or 2 episodes that he won't be able to see.


Banner image from the Agent Carter Facebook page.

We've also been enjoying Agent Carter. There have been some interesting developments and nods to the other shows/movies. I hope she gets to come back for another season, this time with the Howling Commandos (who will only make an appearance in the final episode). But as much fun as it has been, I'm actually looking forward to having Coulson and team back.



We watched a few new-to-us movies this month:

• The Illusionist - No, we had never seen it. It was pretty good, but I don't get what all the hype at the time was about.
• Young Mr. Lincoln - This was fun to watch, as much for the actors involved as anything. Definitely a case of "they don't make them that way anymore." Lovely to see Mr. Fonda so young!
• Coyote Ugly - Yes, that is a bit of a jarring jump from the previous two. This was another case of "I remember the hype, let's see what the big deal is." I actually found it a bit disappointing, and given that I wasn't expecting a cinematic masterpiece to start with, that's saying something. I guess I was hoping for a bit more comradery between the girls.
• Hawking (BBC TV Movie) - This is quite an early Benedict Cumberbatch appearance, one of those that put him on the map, so to speak. I happened to catch that it was coming on after Mythbusters one night, so I recorded it. Very interesting, both in terms of information and performance.
• Coal Miner's Daughter - I just had to see what a 1980 Tommy Lee Jones looked like. Good grief, the man has always been old! LOL But I love him just the same (though the blond hair was a bit much). I thought the movie was fine. I'm not hugely familiar with Loretta Lynn, though you can't live in the South your whole life without knowing something about her. I was impressed that everyone did their own singing!

Old Favorites: Wreck It Ralph, Iron Man 3, The Mask of Zorro, Demolition Man, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (new for Luke), Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Star Trek (J.J. Abrams), Ratatouille, Maverick, Ender's Game, Interview With the Vampire, Arsenic and Old Lace (DH's first time), Oblivion, Hello Dolly, Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Fun with Family and Friends

We rang in the New Year quietly, as usual. Luke watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on New Year's Eve before going to bed around 9:30 (which is quite late for him). Technically, he had seen it before at school, but we had a rule that he couldn't watch it at home until he had finished reading the book, which he did a few days into the Christmas break. After he went to bed, I stayed up and watched the original King Kong (which I had never seen) until about 11:50 PM. DH watched the movie with me napped on the sofa until Midnight, at which point we kissed and then went to bed. Pretty sure we were lights out by 12:05! Do we know how to party or what?

Milestones, Holidays, Special Events

We booked our 2015 Disney trip! We'll be staying on property this year (first time since 2009 or 2010, I think). That has involved all sorts of new "learning opportunities," such as trying to learn to navigate the new MagicBands and FastPass+ system. More on that in a later (dedicated) post. (I was hoping to have a picture of our MagicBands to post here, but they just shipped on January 30, so they aren't here yet.)

The Everyday and Routine

Well, I was hoping to actually reestablish something vaguely resembling a routine. We got completely of whack towards the end of last year. Basketball was starting, school was starting back, we had no "extra" commitments or obligations for the month. Yeah, we did well for about a week, and then it all fell apart again. We're still trying, though.



Basketball has fallen into place rather easily, though the 740PM games are tough (especially when they start 10-20 minutes late). Luke is usually in bed with lights out between 8 and 8:30, so not getting home until 9, *then* having to shower and such has been hard. I think we only have 3 of our 10 games that are not at 7:40.

The Good, The Bad, The Unusual

I don't know what my husband said to L on the 2nd day of school, but whatever it was, his homework attitude has been *much* better, generally speaking. It's usually quite a struggle/meltdown in January and/or February (crossing my fingers that it doesn't come next month), but homework has been even flirting with pleasant. Maybe not every day, but most days. There is still the occasional meltdown, of course. With basketball practice lasting until 8 PM (or later) on Wednesdays, that makes Thursday homework consistently much harder than any other day because he is short 1-2 hours of sleep, but we're muddling through.



We tried a new restaurant: Newk's. Reminds me a bit of a glorified Panera, but they serve pizza (which means Luke will actually eat there, unlike Panera). It was good enough that we ate there twice this month. The Four Cheese Mac and Cheese was awesome!



I purchased my first Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery designs. I saw their Fairy Tale sampler from last year pop up on Facebook several times in one day. I'd never seen the pattern before and I thought it was pretty cute, so I checked it out. Sure, that one was cute, but the monthly mystery Story Book sampler absolutely sucked me in. The Alice shown in the preview is beyond adorable, and as soon as she said "Sherlock," I knew I was sunk. (The little "symbols" at the top of each frame, like the watch shown, were the final nail in the coffin.) This is only the second or third mystery I've ever done like this. I'm actually quite excited (even if I haven't yet started stitching it; I'm just excited to see what's coming!). I'm also hoping to start a "seasonal wall" at home, and when I saw this Halloween design, I had to have it. So cute!

Progress on Goals

Not doing so well on the eat at home thing (shocking). Weight loss is progressing slowly, but I also know that I have not been 100% committed, which is my fault. I'm starting to work on the birthday party and friend get-together plans, but nothing solid yet. About the only goal that is going really well so far is stitching. I've put in quite a few hours in the last month on 3 different pieces, and I should be able to fit in a fourth piece before the official WIPocalypse due date. Above is just a small example. More pictures coming in the first week of February. They're coming along slowly but surely. Yay!


Click to read about our 2014 Disney trip!

I'm doing better with the blogging (so far; it seems easier to do in the winter, for some reason). I even finally got the Disney 2014 trip written up! About time, too, since we leave in a few weeks for our next trip.

Prompts by Katie the Scrapbook Lady.

Currently feeling: chilly, but ready for February