Monthly Archives: March 2017

March WIPocalypse & Smalls Check In

Posted in cross stitch, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

I feel like a bit of a fraud really. Checking in, when I’ve only touched stitching 15 actual days in March? And not actually finished anything? However – I am still in the black for Stitch From Stash!

Mar-17
Budget $25.00
Clouds Factory HTTYD -8.00
DMC @ Geoff’s -40.00
DMC @ Spotlight -3.38
HTTYD bookmark 5.00
HTTYD needlebook 10.00
Rollover $35.50
Total Available Budget $24.12

This month my intended focus points were:

  • Back stitch & fill in the gaps on the top row of Tapestry Cat – maybe 2/3 done?
  • Stitch pieces for the #dreamworkscraftswap2017 on Instagram – again, maybe 2/3 done.

Ugh. I have not stitched on anything from a magazine (sorry Heather) nor any of the colour SALs that I made intentions to participate in. I did get out to a stitching meet-up on one night (and had a blast, AND they invited me back J) and I think my bug just got up and left. I have gone to bootcamp & been so ill I was on antibiotics for a week and right now, lack enthusiasm big-time. To get myself back on the horse (so to speak) I’ve set goals a la Rahenna for April:

  • FFO the How To Train Your Dragon pieces for the swap & post (bookmark, needle book and small hoop).
  • Finish all the stitching on MOTDB and get to the beading potion.
  • Start Julie’s RR piece (as that has arrived to me super early).
  • Plan what I will do for the #disneycraftswap (waiting for my partner to post her mosaic still).

Stitch MAYnia SALs that I intend to participate in are

  • 15th – Diamonds. Beading the clear beads on MOTDB.
  • 22nd – Earth Day. Start the Mill Hill Seagull kit.

Question of the month: What stitchy blogs, groups, or flosstubes do you follow and why?

All the blogs I follow can be found in the sidebar. I have to say that the majority of bloggers are migrating, which is a bit of a shame, but I’m guilty here too. Instagram is my stich p*rn; there are so many that I follow over there that I am thinking that I need to cut it back, so that my feed does show who I want to see.

Groups – well, I’m now in a physical group but on FB I’m part of Stitch MAYnia; Mira Mira on the Wall; Mirabilia Nora Corbett Conversions; Upcycle Cross Stitch NZ (admin here); Round Robin Stitchers (& a couple of private groups from that); Stitch From Stash 2017a; Countrystitch Fabrics and a couple of others.

Flosstube – Oh dear, Now we get into the rabbit hole! I stitch and watch around a couple of hours a week normally & prefer to watch/listen to flosstube rather than TV right now. In no particular order I recommend (non-exhaustive list!!)

  • Lindystitches
  • Stitching Donna
  • CoffeeStitcher (Garrett is one of the Stitch MAYnia admins)
  • The Crafty Curator
  • The Simple Stitcher
  • Ms OhSewCrafty (Stephanie is the admin for Stitch From Stash 2017a)
  • The Queen of Starts
  • Emily C (the BEST vids)
  • Aussie Stitcher
  • Ginger Gerald Stitcher
  • A Stitch Too Far (love her)
  • KiwiFlowa (fellow Westie, TW and Nora fan & has adorable cats!)
  • The Stash Queen (Katy is the other Stitch MAYnia admin & has a totally ridiculous WIP number, and is unashamed of that. I admire that even as I can’t get above 12!)

Sorry that I haven’t linked to any of these – but if you look in my follow list you can also subscribe to those channels and more – and mine too! Look for “Paula SewScrapMuse” – I possibly hold the record for shortest flosstube ever!

Back to your regularly scheduled programme…

Posted in books, cross stitch, family, freebies, friends, me, Teresa Wentzler by

Important bit – none of the links below are affiliate. Deerskin is actually to a review, not the purchase.

It feels so good to be back writing, and reading, and stitching, and (dare I say it) work! I spent a good portion of the last fortnight ill, five work days away from my desk, and it’s only yesterday that the sleep-deprived me felt kind-of-normal.

SO about the above..

  • I started & finished Deerskin, by Robin McKinley. I’d not read any of her novels but I got hooked in by the cover. And the price (it was free that day). Now I’m adding Sunshine to the Kindle, as @aragonsgirl72 recommended her on my IG post.
  • For those of you that liked my version of Not All Those Who Wander, Emma Congdon has now uploaded this to her etsy site.
  • I brought myself the Palace Cinema from Lego. Loving it. Construction kept my mind tired and from being overwhelmed with solo parenting & worry. I finished it and brought the Bank set. I might have started a new obsession…
  • Mase “helped” with the construction. Cars are still a little boy favourite. Look how long his fingers are now! I miss the true little boy chubbiness.
  • And last night was my first night at a stitch group in far too long. I laughed and really enjoyed myself. It was in Grey Lynn, an older established and PRETTY suburb of Auckland. Love the way the trees grew to form a canopy.

And stitch-wise, I am well into March’s Stitch MAYnia designer SAL, which was Teresa Wentzler. My goal was to back stitch and fill in a lot of the gaps in the top floral border of Tapestry Cat. I’m really happy with the progress.

And as for the other, that’s for an Instagram swap. My partner loves How to Train Your Dragon, so as one of the pieces I am making her a needlebook with the two main characters front and back. Cloudsfactory make such easy, cute designs for this sort of thing.

What have you been up to?

 

WIP Wednesday or Thursday but hey! It’s nearly Friday!

Posted in cross stitch, goals, Teresa Wentzler by

This month my focus piece is Teresa Wentzler’s Tapestry Cat. I brought the kit waaaaay back in 2005…one lesson I’ve learnt since is to back stitch her pieces as I go!

The goal for this month is to back stitch and fill in the gaps on the top border. I’m getting there despite not stitching on the nights I go to boot camp. I’ll have to sort that somehow.

He is so stinking gorgeous. 

WIP Wednesday 

Posted in cross stitch, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, stitch from stash, Teresa Wentzler by

It’s March first here in NZ so it’s also time to check in for Stitch From Stash. Let’s do that first because I AM STILL IN THE BLACK! & yeah, quite chuffed with that. 

This may not last into April, with Andromeda to come hopefully this month. I’m splitting the cost with hubs tho. That will help. 

Last week I put in a few days on Mermaids of the Deep Blue as my #focusonafinish piece. I’d love to have this up on the walls by next summer. A lot would depend on the next few round robin pieces. That PR took ages!

This month’s theme for Stitch MAYnia is Teresa Wentzler  (how handy is it tho that for Stitch From Stash it’s M for Mirabilia?) so I pulled out my eldest resting WIP, Tapestry Cat. Since this photo I’ve put in a couple more threads. My goal is to get that top row back stitched and any gaps filled in. 

Hope you have a gorgeous stitchy week!