IT'S DONE!!!! IT'S DONE!!! EDITED

I was going to try and wait until the official WIPocalypse post to announce and show this, but I just couldn't wait!!!!   Yep, Peaceable Kingdom is finished!! I believe that I started the project sometime in the latter part of 2000, put it down for a couple years, picked it up for a couple months, and then put it down for a long while.  At one point, I came close to throwing it out because I didn't believe that I could ever finish it.  Boy, am I glad I didn't do that!  So without further ado here it is:

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Peaceable Kingdom
Started 2000
Finished 3-4-2012

I know that you all will be as happy as me not to hear me whine about never getting this piece done - LOL!  I really do appreciate all of the positive reinforcement you gave me.  It really did help motivate me to get this done.  Now, I am off to my craft room to find a NEW start for a reward to me! It is going to be one of the new Prairie Schooler Easter Bunnies - I can't wait!!!

I thought that I would add a picture of the little ornament that I got to start this week.  I hope  to finish and finish it this weekend!

Again, thank you all so much for visiting my blog and for all your wonderful comments, they mean so much to me.  Until next time, have a happy, healthy, stitchy time!!!!



WIPocalypse for February

Can you believe that it is already time for another full moon?  I just can hardly believe that another month has gone by.  I was feeling sort of down about my report this month, but when I compared the picture from last month to this, I really did get a good bit done on my BAP UFO!  So without further ado,  here is my update on the only UFO/WIP I worked on this month:


January 8,2012



February 6, 2012



January 8, 2012



February 6, 2012



As you can see, I am finished with the top left corner of the piece, and I have done a little on the bottom part.  Also, I spent much of this weekend backstitching the little girl in the purple dress and the boy in the red hat behind her.  It is amazing how long backstitching takes me, but I do love the results.  Oh, and for those very observant of you, you will notice that on the January picture there is a red blob under the giraffe.  On the February picture, that blog has actually turned dark brown!  Yep, I did some frogging this month too!

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you will know that I have spent much of this month reorganizing my craft room.  And, because of that, I have come across fourteen more WIP/UFOs to add to my collection.  I was trying to figure out how to reflect that in this update without having a million or two pictures, when I saw an WIPocalypse update by Cheryl at Today is Found blog that I thought was very clever, so I am going to do something similar, I hope.

On this post I am going to just list the different projects, both from the original post and this new one, and on my WIPocalypse page, I will post pictures of where they look today.  I am happy that some of them will not take too long to finish, but some  though, will take forever.... 

CROSS STITCH

1) Peaceable Kingdom   - my forever BAP that will be finished this year.  See above.

2) Six Fat Men - a project just started, but may be changed before I go forward - wait and see

3)Christmas Spirit Series - done in a bellpull format - will work on after PK

4)JBW ornaments - I did find one that I had stitched, but not  finished - will do that this month.

5)Welcome Friends - started 2001, will finish sometime  see #3

6)Noah's Ark - pipe dream

7)Snow Friends Ornaments - started early 2000's - will finish one each in rotation

8)Prairie Schooler ornament - Poinsettia - started 12/11 will finish in rotation

9)I love Candy Canes - SanMan design - started early 2000's see #3

10) Victorian Boot Ornament - old kit will finish soon but "finish" differently

11) Red Bird Ornament - see #10

12)Noel Christmas - started along time ago for my workmates - maybe this Christmas

13) Christmas at Home double switchplate cover See #3

14)Autumn Leaf - my attempt to stitch on evenweave - will work on soon.  Might be doable

NEEDLEPOINT

1) Tropical Fish - I don't remember when I started this, thought I might work on it when my eyes were too tired to cross stitch.

2) Wedgewood Floral Pillow See #1

3) Heroic Eagle See #1

4) Jungle Wildlife See #1

KNITTING

    Textured Cardigan, I might get back to this, if I can find my tally sheet.  Each row is different, and I am not sure I could figure out where I left off sometime in the 1990s.

CROCHETING

  This Rippled Afghan was started before my daughter went to college for her dorm room.  She graduated in 2002, but I still could finish it for her home - LOL!  This would be another thing I could do when my eyes are used up!

So there you have it, my Complete WIP/UFO current list.  I still retain the right to start something small to add to the list because like most  of you ,  I am crazy!!

Again, if you have made it this far, congratulations.  Thank you for stopping by my blog, if you want to see the pictures, just click on the WIPocalypse page - I am not techie enough to know how to post a link.  Someday....  Until next time have a happy, healthy stitchy time!







January peeks back at Christmas and forward to WIPocalypse

Well, not as much as I thought I was going to tell you about Christmas.  Somehow I have lost the pictures of the ornaments I made my two grandkids, so I don't have that to share.  However, I do have a picture of what my DIL Becky made me for Christmas.  And for us Stitchers, what could be better than a really cool stitching bag???  And of course my favorite color is blue!  Boy was I thrilled with this!

For my first WIPocalypse update, I thought I should show you my starting point.  This picture was taken just before Christmas, and I didn't stitch on it any during the two holiday weeks - too busy with company, etc.  You can also see that I took it in very poor light.  Not sure what happened with that.  What you can't see with this picture, or for that matter the full updated picture is that it is a coverall, with the "sky" being stitched with one ply very pale blue floss.  I have thought many times since I started this project that I shouldn't have put the first stitch in on the sky, and just left it white.  What was I thinking???  For those of you who are new to my blog, I should tell you that I am  stitching this for my DGD, and I started it sometime in 1999 or 2000.  I have put it down many times, but I am determined to get it finished this time, hopefully before March of this year so that I can give it to him on his birthday. Because of that, I am going to be stitching on this exclusively until it is done.  Here is a closeup of the area which I have been  working on, and you can see that I stitched one of the big leaves on the left, and you may be able to see that I finished stitching the sky around the giraffe, and the right side of the big leaves.  I also did just a little backstitching on  the giraffe.   I am hoping to have some more time for stitching now that the holidays are over, but I am not so sure that will be the case.  It appears that I can not get this second updated picture to be where I want it to be, so here it is following its story - LOL!

Well, I want to thank you all for stopping by my blog, and for those wonderful comments you leave.  They really do make be give me a lot of motivation to keep on stitching.  And I love to "hear" other stitchers because I have not a lot of people around me that stitch.

So, until next time, have a happy, healthy, stitchy time!

WIPOCALYPSE 2012

 Okay.  So any of you out there that have been to my blog much before knew that this piece would be on the top of my list of hopeful finishes for 2012.  This is Peaceable Kingdom done on 14ct white aida and is a Golden Bee kit.  I am stitching this for my grandson, and I have been working on it on and off for 10 years.  I am determined to have this piece done in the first quarter on 2012.  I believe that I am at least 75% done, so this should be doable.

 As you can see, I am really almost not started on this piece, but I did get it kitted up to start earlier this fall, just didn't get around to working on it.  It is the 6 Fat Men designed by Lizzie Kate.  I am going to be doing it in one piece on 16ct aida with the floss called for.  Can't remember the name of the color of fabric.  All these pictures look much yellower than the pieces are in real life?  This fabric is a very light wedgewood blue looking piece.

I think you will easily see as we go through the year that I am a major

 Lizzie*Kate fan and would love to do almost all of her designs.  This is the Christmas Spirit Series that I am stitching as one bellpull.  I got a good start on it last year, and then put it away for some reason and never got it back out.  Who knows why?   This fabric is a 14ct Antique White

 Besides being a fan of Lizzie*Kate, I am becoming a big fan of JBW.  I have stitched several of her ornaments, and I would like to do one of these a month during 2012.

This is a Design Works kit called Welcome Friends which I started probably 10 years ago.  I like what it says, and would love to greet people into my home with this pie

This last piece is a BAP that I would be amazed if I ever finished.  Don't get me wrong, I would love to finish it, I just am not sure that it is possible.  It is the Precious Moments Noah's Ark which has I think a gazillion (maybe 15) pages of charts, and I have never done anything this big.  It is on a very pale blue 14ct Aida, and will be huge when it is finished.  It came as a kit, and I would love to do this for my most favorite niece.

Well, this concludes my starting WIPocalypse list.  I hope to be able to check some of these off during 2012, and I know that I will be adding some onto this list as we go along.  Good luck to all of the other participants in this SAL, and thanks Measi for setting it up!   I have tried to set up a page just for the WIPocalypse, and have copied this post onto it, but I am not sure that I will continue with that page.  Seems like a duplication of effort to me.  It probably is just I don't know what I am doing.  Go figure - right?

See you next full moon!

Progress Report

Gosh, it is hard to believe that it is already more than halfway through the month of April. Time is perpetually spinning faster and faster!

This weekend we spent in Louisville because Saturday was Thunder Over Louisville! This is the opening event in a two/three week Festival celebrating the Kentucky Derby which is held the first Saturday in May. Thunder is an Air Show that starts about 2 in the afternoon, and goes until 9 at night. Then comes the largest annual fireworks display in the country. It is really a wonderful event, and one I look forward to every year. This year, however, the weather was pretty miserable, and much of the Air Show could not be done because of a really low ceiling. But, we were there, freezing our tails off, and enjoying what was performed. And, this was the biggest of the Fireworks displays, and it was awesome. Where we watch it, you can FEEL the impacts of the fireworks exploding. Such a charge! Then, today, was a bridal shower for my son and his fiance. So, this weekend wasn't too stitchy productive.

But , I won't let you off with just that statement. If you are good enough to stay with me, I will show you how far I am with my goals. First, I have stitched two little ornaments for my All Year Long tree. The little chick and bunny come from the same leaflet that I found the Leprechaun Hat in for March. You will be seeing more from this leaflet as the year progresses. I find they are the perfect size for my little tree. I don't think I told you last month that the leaflet is a 1993 leaflet named Holiday Cuffs. And the designer is Jorja Hernandez. I stitched the chick on white aida, and the bunny on pale blue using DMC floss.

I should also give you and update on my Peaceable Kingdom project. I am sorry for the darkness of the photo, it is fairly late at night here. As you can see, I have made pretty good progress on the giraffe, and have done some of the backstitching on the little boy in the green outfit. This week, I hope to get the giraffe finished and more of the backstitching done. Next weekend being Easter, probably won't have much stitching time then so I am hoping to get some good evening stitching time.

I just had some really exciting news. A cousin from Sweden, who just made the familiar connection about two years ago. is coming to America in the fall, and is going to come to Louisville! It will be so much fun meeting him in person and showing him our area of the country.

Well, not a lot of stitchy news, but I thought I ought to try this posting of pictures through Blogger rather than Picasa. I hope this works! Thanks for your patience with me on these "issues". Until next time, have a happy, healthy, stitchy time!

March update and April goals

Well, here are my March goals and what happened with them. As you can see, I fell a little short this month. I have realized that I just can't get as much done in the spring as I can in the winter. Go figure. Oh well, I know to reduce my goals for this next month.

• 8. Stitch and finish another LITTLE March ornament. DONE


• 7. Stitch and finish a LITTLE March ornament. DONE


• 6. Stitch Santa from the L*K Christman Spirit series. NOPE


• 5. Finish my first exchange piece. DONE


• 4. Stitch my first exchange piece. DONE


• 3. Stitch the giraffe. Nope - Got his head stitched, but not his neck.


• 2. Stitch the boy with the blue and white shirt.DONE


• 1. Finish stitching blonde little girl in front of the boy with the red shirt. DONE

And, I did stitch and finish one other little March ornament, so that was good - right? Here is an updated picture of my Peaceable Kingdom, looks kinda funny with a giraffe's head floating in the air - LOL! You may have noticed that I finished my exchange piece as well, but I can't show it to you yet. It is to be mailed out on Monday, so it should not be too long before I can show it to you. I feel pretty good about how it turned out, I hope Michele likes it! I had a whole lot of fun putting it together.

Now for my April goals - gulp!

• 1) Finish stitching the giraffe's neck.


• 2) Backstitch the two little people in front.


• 3) Stitch Santa in the Christmas Spirit series.


• 4) Make and finish an Easter/spring ornament.


• 5) Make and finish an Easter/ spring ornament.

This is going to be a bit of a busy month with Derby festival events and wedding showers for my son and his fiance, along with some camping thrown in for good measure. I will just have to make better use of my weekday evenings, that's all.

Once again, thank you for visiting my blog, and especially for taking time to leave a comment. They really do make my day, or night - LOL! Until next time, have a happy, healthy, stitchy time!

PK update and a surprise!

Happy weekend everyone! Our weather here isn't very happy - cold, and they even said the "s" word in the forecast. I sure hope not - I would like spring to stay around. Oh well, it is what it is. To update you on my progress on Peaceable Kingdom, I have finished the little boy in the blue and white shirt. Not much of him really shows up because there are other little people standing in front of him. I wanted to finish him up though, so I could easily see where to start the giraffe. Which, incidentaly is what the little yellow blob is above the kids heads. Who knew giraffe's had beards? I surely didn't, but this designer thought they did, so I went with it. I am hoping that I can get the giraffe done this week, but I am afraid that I won't get my Christmas Spirit chart done. Guess I did ask too much of myself this month. I think I forgot about what an affect good weather would have on my time - yard work ? What's that? I will try to remember that when I post my April goals next weekend. Now for some fun stuff!! When I came home from Louisville Thursday night, I had a surprise package waiting for me! When my DH first said I got a package I got paniced! Oh NO!! I thought I had screwed up and was supposed to have already sent out my exchange piece! But, the package wasn't from Washington, it was from Indiana! Diane, from Nan's Needlework Notions, sent me a surprise Easter present. When I opened it, I found the cutest little tulip pincushion you have ever seen! The perfect little spring piece to sit by my stitchy spot! Isn't it just darling? You will get to see it next week when I post my TUSAL. I think it deserves a place on honor in that picture! Thank you so much, Diane, I really do love it! Thank you all, too, for stopping by my blog and taking time to leave a comment. I thank you all for your comments on my All Year Long tree, but that was not my idea originally. I stole, no I mean copied, the idea from Faye at Carolina Stitcher. She has been showing hers for at least most of last year, and I thought it was a fantastic idea. And, I have loved doing it. So, until next time, have a happy, healthy, stitchy time!

Spring, stitching and stuff

Well for a couple of days we have had spring, but it appears the temps are going to go back down by the end of the week. Bummers. I was able to spend some time out in two of the flower beds this weekend though. This first picture is a very blurry pix of some of the daffodils blooming and I think you can see some tulips and irises just now coming up. We had used this particular bed last year for a burn pile mainly because I had not been able to spend any time working outside last year. We were happily surprised to see that the bulbs survived the burn. I guess that is what they talk about when they do "planned burns" in the forests out west. This other picture is my day lily bed. It needs to have the clumps divided, and I plan to move some of those into the previous bed now that we have it cleaned out. I will try to remember to take a picture of this bed when it is in bloom - it is probably my favorite. Now I just have three more flower beds and my rose garden to clean up. But it looks like next weekend is going to rain so I may just have to use it as a stitching weekend. Wouldn't that be awful - LOL!

Speaking of stitching, I have a little to show you. Here is my All Year Long tree decked out for March. The fabric that it is sitting on is the backing on the three shamrock ornament in the center of the tree. I am actually going to take the ornaments down and stuff them and finish them while I am at DD's house this week. This morning my DH had a routine procedure at the hospital, and then this afternoon I had my periodic checkup with my Internist. So, that meant that I had a lot of extra waiting room stitching time today. So, I was able to finish stitching the blonde little girl and much of the boy in the blue shirt on my Peaceable Kingdom piece. Please excuse the half finished row of stitches, the doctor had to interupt my stitching time to check me out. How dare he - LOL! And, for what it is worth, I checked out pretty good for an old woman with my medical history. I think that Wii Fit is doing me a lot of good. I know that I have advanced in many of the different exercises and am doing some of the things I couldn't do when I started - whoo hooo!!

Today is my DGS's 12th birthday. We so enjoyed having him and his parents here over Christmas. I sure do wish we lived closer though, Maine is a LONG ways away.

Many thanks again for stopping by my blog and taking time to leave comments. It is so amazing to have people all over the world with the same love of cross stitch "chatting" with each other. I wish I could convince some of my friends how great this is. Maybe someday. Again, thanks for stopping by - you comments mean a lot to me. So, until next time, have a happy, healthy, stitchy time!

PK final Feb update, March goals

I can hardly believe that this is the last day of February. Time is just flying, I must be having a ball - LOL. And, I guess I am - this is a much better year than last year.

Rather than bore you with a copy of February's goals, just know that they are listed to the right of this post, and I FINISHED ALL OF THEM!! WHOO HOO!!

To set the stage for my March goals, I thought I ought to show you a picture of what Peaceable Kingdom is supposed to look like when it is finished. Remember this cover picture has been carted around for 10 years, so it is showing its wear. But, I think you can get the idea of what it is supposed to look like anyhow. Now, here is what PK looks like on the last day of February. There is still a good ways to go, but I can see progress, which is a wonderful thing. So, now, I can more easily explain my March goals.

March Goals:

1. 1. Finish stitching the little blonde girl in front of the boy with the red shirt.
2. 2. Stitch the boy with the blue and white shirt.
3. 3. Stitch the giraffe. (hopefully)
4. 4. Stitch my first exchange piece (goody, goody)
5. 5. Finish my first exchange piece (gulp)
6. 6. Stitch Santa in the L*K Christmas Spirit series.
7. 7. Stitch and finish a LITTLE March ornament for my all year long tree.
8. 8. Stitch and finish another LITTLE March ornament for my all year long tree.

I know that this is a pretty ambitious set of goals. Some of the goals are firm, the exchange needs to be sent out on April 9, so I have to finish that, and some are pretty soft, finishing the giraffe will be a major accomplishment. But, might as well try, right?

I guess I ought to tell you that since I have started on the Wii with DD Lisa, I have done at least a half an hour everyday but one either at Lisa's or at my house. I am really pleased with that, and I already feel better and have more stamina. That is a good thing.

You all continue to make me feel so blessed to have you all come and visit my blog and take time to leave me such kind comments. I really do appreciate it very much. So, until the next time, have a happy, healthy, stitchy time!

A couple of goals met and progress pics

Good Sunday evening! I hope everyone is feeling fine, I, on the other hand, am not. Unfortunately I have caught the crud that has been going around in this area. Head full and chest tight with coughing and sneezing. Bummers. I was hoping to go into the office an extra day tomorrow and finish moving 2010 files out of my office and settting up 2011 files. But that is not to be. I am hoping to go in on Friday and do a little extra then.

But now to stitchy news. I have been working on Peaceable Kingdom, and I have found out why this continues to be a WIP/UFO. Mostly, it is the background stitching that drives me crazy. It is done with a very light pale blue single strand on white fabric. I can barely see it and it takes me forever to stitch. Also, this piece must have the most backstitching on any project known to man. Am I whining, I am sorry. So here is the picture I made when I was setting up my goals, all wrinkley and messy. I really should have pressed it before I snapped the picture.

Here is where I stand with it today. I have finished the two little birdies and backstitched them, and I finished backstitching the elephant, and all of the leaves in this section of the piece. And I got some done on the background, but I did not complete this section. Since the stitching bugs me so much, I usually stitch one strand of the blue and then I go to some other part of the piece and work on it. So, I needed to move my piece so that I had some other things to stitch. I am sorry that the picture is so dark, it is a cloudy gloomy day here.

Tomorrow I am going to stitch on a Valentine piece and maybe do some finishing. That is, if I feel a lot better. The one good thing about being under the weather is that I couldn't go to a Souper Bowl party this evening, and maybe I can get some more stitching and resting done.

Thank you all for visiting my blog, and your messages are so wonderful. I really do enjoy reading them all. So, until next time, have a happy, healthy, stitchy time!

As promised, a stitchy update

Well, I promised you that I would list my WIP's which mostly should be called UFO's. Some could be called antiques by the less generous, but I prefer to call them the Undone. Before I show you the pictures of the Undone, I wanted to show you something more positive. This is a picture of the first chart in the Lizzie*Kate Christmas Spirit series. I did already change some colors. The chart called for the outer border to be white, and the inner border to be Emerald (WDW), but I changed it to outer border - Garnet(WDW) and the inner border Holly(WDW). So, this is the first of my January goals accomplished - Whoooo Hoooooo.



Next, and I apologize for the wrinkles, is Raise the Roof's Santa Clothes. which I started just after I finished Raise the Roof's Witchy Washy. It is signed 2006, so I will have to go with that year as a starting date for Santa Clothes. It is still my goal to have this one finished this month. Since it is only the 9th, I can still have hope.

This is the next Undone that I really want to get done this year. That sounds like I am giving it a lot of time, but it is a cover all and is huge in my way of thinking. I believe that I am a little more than halfway finished with the piece. This is a Dimensions Kit called Peaceable Kingdom. I started this for my Grandson when he was just a couple of months old. That was in the middle of 1999. I am sure he would still love it, as he really appreciates my annual ornament, but I don't know how much longer that will last. Better get it done soon. (Please forgive these wrinkles, just pulled it out of Q snaps, and didn't try to press it first.)

I have three more Undones, but this next one is the only one that I think I could possibly hope to finish this year. This is a Design Works kit that I fell in love with the sentiment of and wanted it to hang in the entrance way to my new home. That was in 2001, and now we are looking to downsize in the next couple of years. Would like this to hang in this house for a little while anyhow. It doesn't worry me too much though, because the sentiment will travel with us. The title of the kit is Welcome Friends. I also really like the colors in this kit, and they are ones that will go with our things wherever we live.

There are only two more CROSS STITCH Undone's in my collection, and we won't discuss the Needlepoint Undone's since my goals were Cross stitch goals. At least that is the way I am rationalizing it. This next one I can consider a slim possibility of ever finishing, but I am not sure at all when... This is also my oldest Undone, and I am just guessing at a starting date of somewhere in the early 1990's - let's just say for the record 1992. It is a Janlyn Kit called Yuletide Bell Pull. I really like the way the designs pop out from the black fabric, but I really don't like stitching on black fabric. I have learned some techniques to make that easier, and I hope that will make the difference. Time will tell.


Lastly, this Undone is probably more accurately termed a Pipe dream. It is a huge piece that I would dearly love to do for my favorite niece. This young lady and her wonderful husband have been unable to have children of their own, so they have adopted five children and have fostered many more. Their average child count on any given month ranges from 6 to 10, and they are the best parents to them all. Wonderful people. So anyhow, this is Precious Moments Noah's Ark. and it will be something like 36 inches wide and 24 inches tall upon completion. Now you see why I have so little hope for it. But it will remain a goal until I can no longer stitch or I finish it, whichever comes first.

I also started doing the TUSAL http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/ with Daffycat . Here is the first picture, taken on Saturday, January 8th, 2011.

If anyone has stuck with me through this huge post - boy do you have a lot of patience!! And, I really appreciate your efforts. Just to sumarize, I DO want to finish both Santa Clothes and Peaceable Kingdom this year while stitching the L*K Christmas Spirit series and hopefully at least one ornament a month. I will probably also start Raise the Roof's Sam's Socks, Shorts and Such as well as some random other smaller projects. So, I think that I shouldn't worry about running out of stitching projects this year at least - LOL.


I really have appreciated you all for stopping by and reading my posts, and I particularly appreciate the wonderful comments you have left. It really is a terrific "warm fuzzy" to see people have taken time to write.


So, until next week, may you be happy, healthy and spend much time stitching.