WIP Wednesday #206, WIPocalypse & SFS

WIPocalypse is a monthly check-in SAL hosted by Mel over at measi(dot)blog – click the icon on the right to be taken to her blog. You can now also find us on FB!

Stitch From Stash is also a monthly check-in, hosted on FB by Stephanie, Ms Oh Sew Crafty on IG, blogland & YouTube.

So let’s get the shite part over with – I am officially well in the hole and very unlikely to get out this year. I *may* be fine in 2018, as I have fabric or kits now for a number of starts I want to do, plus I am in total love with Fairy Idyll. I am definitely more aware of what I am spending and doing a lot to avoid impulse buys, which I guess could be counted as a success.

Oct-17
Allowance $25.00
FB Dreamer/Watergarden -24.96
Hospice – JCS pile -2.00
NO FINISHES  
   
Rollover -$56.97
Total Available Budget -$58.93

 

IMG_20171101_054205_092.jpgThis month’s stitchy focus was Fairy Idyll, altho I also wanted to finish the two Jamaica Santas as my travel pieces. I started beading last night on those, & I’m happy with my progress on FI so far also. Those pinks, while they look like the charted pinks, aren’t. But the lightest colour, a blend of 819/blanc, looked too pale on the Applemint fabric, so I’ve increased the intensity. And I used my stash for that (bonus point, Stephanie? LOL)

I am still waiting to stitch on two of the round robin pieces – which would increase my SFS balance but take away from FI. I should chase those up – I believe they are both in Scotland.

November goals:

  • Leave Fairy Idyll as the focus piece
  • Bead & FFO both Jamaica Santa pieces
  • Bead & FFO Mill Hill Autumn Harvest Honey Pot pieces (started yesterday at work)

Question of the Month – How did you begin stitching? Both my grandmothers were crafty, especially Nana, as she was a farmer’s wife, but a big influence was Auntie Mick. She’s not my “real” aunty, but a great aunt a couple of times removed, but she was huge in the needlework world at the time. Te Papa, our national museum, has some of her work archived. See this post: https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5m51/mills-marjory-hinemoa

Next posting date: November 26, 2017

Topic for next time: What finishing style have you never tried but would love to do?

As an additional blogging question this month, I pose to you:  Do you have any plans or instructions for your stitching projects and stash for after you’re gone? Not really! I don’t have a local stitchy buddy and none of my children are as focused on stitching as I would like. Hopefully the stash will go to the local rest home & the finished pieces will be kept by the kids in memoriam.

#craft31days day sixteen

Not a lot of stitching tonight, maybe 80 stitches in all?

The main reason is that Si is sick, so after swimming lessons I drove back into town so B can go to his Force Fit meet. I walked around Silo Park & the Wynyard Quarter back towards the CBD. #masetheace wasn’t too happy as I only let him use the elevator twice, & forbade him from interupting a yoga class on the most amazing glass viewing platform (there was plenty of room for us anyway) but I enjoyed the fresh air.

And summer is coming! That top left photo? That’s the pohutukawa starting to bud. Its our Christmas tree, as its covered in gorgeous red flowers during December. Old Maori tales say that if the tree flowers early, we’ll get a long, hot summer. Yay!

#craft31days day fourteen

Saturday! Saturday! Oh bliss.

I did my volunteer shift collecting money for the Breast Cancer Foundation outside the local supermarket then (more bliss) I WENT SHOPPING BY MYSELF & GOT EVERYTHING ON MY LIST & ONLY THE THINGS ON THE LIST. The key word here obvs is “myself” 😂

This afternoon was lovely & warm; I got three loads of laundry dry on the line, everything unpacked & snack bags made for the week ahead; dinner; cleaned up after the boys (there’s only a little more gib to go up & next week I’ll be painting) & some stitching in while watching Maleficient. I’m a sucker for fairy tale adaptations.

And as I said on IG, it’s like Border Bliss. I worked my way around and the bits ended up in the right spot. Hooray!

#craft31days day ten

Wow! We’re almost a third of the way thru the month & I’m pleased to see I’m sticking every day. It’s the little things, but I love the feeling of accomplishment.

#craft31days & going hard… The bathroom is fully done with the tile slate (the Screaming Teen couldn’t be bothered getting out clamps so used #masetheace as a weight on top of my freezer!!!) & half lined in gib.
Second large portion of #fairyidyll is also complete down to the wisper back stitch. Really happy with how this is working up & looking.

#craft31days day nine

Back at work, which meant a rest from the bath! The teen’s job today was to nail down the tiling slate & put the insulation in the walls. Partial success.

I walked while he was training then once I hit my step goal, I rewarded myself by stitching. Tonight I’ve got in about 200 stitches & back stitches. The purple is a variegated thread so that’s slower, one stitch at a time. Back stitching with wisper is not my favourite thing to do but I like the effect!

#craft31days day eight

I’m down to 5% battery so let’s make this quick.

The bathroom is clean & clear of all the debris. 840kg worth, people. My wrist & shoulders hurt. Simon started nailing down the new tile slate tonight. With “help”.

I managed to get a decent hour or two in Fairy Idyll after everyone else went to bed. Hooray! That’s another 250+ stitches in this weekend.

Hope your weekend was as productive!

#craft31days day seven

I got up early this morning, mostly for coffee & to hustle the Screaming Teen out the door; he was getting picked up at 7am for a day refereeing. I got five or six threads into Fairy Idyll before the rest of the house got moving, then we got stuck into demo.

We learnt a few things.

  • Only one of the walls had the proper gib (wallboard).
  • The toilet pan was glued to the floor. No screws.
  • The cistern wasn’t fixed at all.
  • The basin carcass was also glued, not screwed.
  • The ammt of glue used to hold down the top wouldn’t fill a bottle lid.
  • Surprisingly there was insulation in the outside wall. We had our doubts by the time we got to that one.

I’d forgotten how much I hate demo. And yay! We’ll get to do it all over again with our bath before summer ends.