Finished my Travel Project

I finished my Lizzie Kate travel project - I'm happy with how it turned out. I think I'm going to make it into either a flat fold or somehow finish it to where it can hang off of a door knob at my office or something....not sure yet.

You can't really tell from the picture - but the white on Santa's hat, cuff, beard, and mustache and the tan on the moose's scarf are all Wisper floss - so they're fuzzy! It was the first time I ever used Wisper, and I was nervous about doing it, but it was pretty easy. I used a bigger needle than I usually use (so the thread would fit thru it) and kept the lengths fairly short, but no big complications.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Frederick Update

Stitching Update
I stitched on Frederick this week - got the blue and burgundy book finished up, and stitched the gold colored book...and then started on the cat's rear-end! LOL When I had it in the Q-Snaps, Mike didn't recognize it as being the back end of the cat (because the front end didn't show).....but now he gets it!!

Challenge Update
Well, I was doing the 100 stitch a day challenge this month, along with my own 30 minutes of back-stitching, and I'm going to make it just fine! I had a VERY stitch-filled week this past week, with a couple of long uninterrupted stitching sessions - so I averaged 192 stitches per day (month-to-date I'm at 126 stitches per day). I averaged 32 minutes per day of back-stitching (month-to-date is 34 minutes). So I will finish the month out fine.

Someone asked (either in a blog comment or on one of my groups) if I actually count my stitches. I don't (usually), I was just doing it for this month. And with a couple of the projects in my rotation it's been really easy - my Christmas ABC's and my ABC Lessons are very "count" friendly because I usually only stop at a point where I have finished a block letter or a word or a picture, so I know right where I started. This project (Frederick) it depends on what I was stitching. The books are easy to count - the cat, not so much...so in the case of the cat, I only counted full rows. I marked which was the last full row from the last time I stitched, and then the last full row that I stopped on. That might mean that I didn't give myself credit for some straggler stitches one day, but would have given myself credit the next day! LOL

Anyway, that's it for this week - hope all of my US friends are enjoying their long weekend, and taking a moment out to remember those who have given their lives for our freedoms (in between shopping all the Memorial Day sales).

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Christmas ABC's

Christmas ABC Update
Well, got quite a bit done on my Christmas ABC's....it's such a fun project to stitch on, so it goes fast! I just have five more words to stitch and a few more little pictures and then it will be done!!!

Stitching Challenge
Because I was stitching on such a fun (read - EASY) project I made a boat load of progress on my stiching challenge. I actually caught up to the 100 stitch per day I've been TRYING to average - for the week I was at 188 stitches per day and 41 minutes of backstitching (my target is 100 stitches and 30 minutes of back stitching). Month to date I am at 105 stitches per day and 35 minutes of backstitching. We shall see how the month wraps up!

That's about all the news from here....thanks for checking out my blog!

Angel of Cross Stitch Update (and other stuff)

Stitching Progress
Well, it's hard to see in this picture, but I'm not QUITE done yet.....I still have to fill in the centers of about 16 flowers...the top half or so of the left hand side and three or four along the top on the left hand side. And then, of course, it's the dreaded back stitching! But it will get done! And hopefully this year! LOL

Stitching Challenge
Thanks to this lovely piece, I am still behind on the stitching challenge! Friday evening I stitched for about 2 hours - and I only got 43 stitches done! That was HORRIBLE, but when you never do more than four stitches of one color, it tends to go very ssssllllloooowwwwlllllyyyyyyy. Hopefully the week coming up will be better since my project will be Lizzie Kate's Christmas ABC's and that's an easier stitch.

This week I averaged 55 stitches per day (my goal is 100) and for the whole month so far I have 66 stitches per day. However, I am ahead of the curve on my backstitching goal - this week was an average of 46 minutes (my goal is 30 minutes per day), and for the month so far I'm averaging 46.

Stash Enhancement
We had a birthday party to go to yesterday in the vicinity of my LNS - so what better excuse to stop and see if they had anything I had to have.......I picked up two patterns - Shamrock Row by Bent Creek and the 2009 Prairie Schooler Santa. Most of my family are hockey fans (myself excluded) including a nephew and a brother who both play. So, I thought I could make a couple of Christmas ornaments or something out of it. I also bought a piece of pretty blue fabric that was in the already cut bin. It's a pretty blue that will be nice for something where I want it to look like sky.

Anthony Update
Those of you who have followed my blog for a while will remember my nephew (actually great-nephew, my niece's youngest son) Anthony. Almost two years ago he spent most of his summer in the hospital being treated for kidney cancer (a childhood form). He is doing AWESOME, is considered to be in full remission, although he has to continue to be tested regularly, etc. But the really cool thing is because he is a child who was impacted by a life threatening disease, he was referred to Make A Wish. As part of thier "World Make a Wish" Day, he was granted a wish! He made a wish for an electric scooter (the riding kind, not the wheelchair kind) so that he could ride with his little friend Tyler. He not only got that, but because he had mentioned wanting to meet John Cena (I guess he's a wrestler....I know NOTHING) he got a bunch of autographed goodies from him. It was a great experience for their family, and they are so eternally grateful. My niece said it best - they already had their wish granted - Anthony is healthy!!! He'll start kindergarten this fall....and is just a cutie. Here he is:

ABC Lessons / 100 Stitch Challenge

First the progress report:
Here is my progress on ABC Lessons. I stitched on it for two weeks since the middle weekend I was in Vegas and didn't get any stitching done at all....getting there, I only have a few words left and a bee hive thing. Might get it done the next time it comes up in the rotation!

And the 100 Stitch Challenge:
Not one, but two of my stitching groups are doing 100 stitch challenges for the month of May. Nothing formal, just the concept of getting 100 stitches done in a day and then you make quite a bit of progress without even realizing it! I'm not sure how other people are working it - my goal is to average 100 stitches per day for the month - I know I won't do a minimum of 100 stitches each day because there are days I don't get to stitch at all. I also set myself another goal of averaging 30 minutes of backstitching per day - my travel project (dollhouse) is down to the backstitching, and I try to get an hour in at lunch time each day during the week (at work).

So far, I'm averaging 76 stitches per day and 21 minutes of backstitching. The first few days of the month we were out of town (in Vegas) so I didn't get any stitches at all done those couple of days. So hopefully now that I'm back to a "normal" schedule I can catch up this week. Although my project for this week is Angel of Cross Stitch, and I'm on the border on it...which means TONS of color changes, so no fast progress! We shall see!!!

And Vegas:
We went to Vegas with our bowling league, as we do twice a year. We bowled badly, and gambled badly (LOL) but we had fun. Met up with Rene from my ILCS group, and had a very nice lunch at Sam's Town. It's the second time we've met, and it's always enjoyable!! I'm mad - I brought my camera, and then forgot to take any pictures!!! Sigh!

And the Thanks:
As always, thanks for checking out my blog! I do appreciate it!