MMMM Week 5

This is the last MMMM post hosted by Pull the Other Thread!

I will continue to work on these on my lunch breaks so plan on seeing more updates but the linky party is officially over as of tomorrow. Its been a good time so far, and I really enjoyed seeing everyone else's minis grow this month.

At final tally, I finished two minis.

I have one almost done - it just needs the back-stitching.

Finally, I have three more starts.

MMMM is going to continue for the month of November over at Justine's Cross Stitch blog. I haven't decided whether to sign up or not but I'm leaning towards joining in. After all, the plan is to work on them anyway.

In other news, I caved at HAED's latest sale and bought two charts. I ---really--- need to stay off that website. I'm going on a stash diet! No, seriously! I picked up Wanderer's Cove and A Light in the Dark.

A Light in the Dark by Matt Stewart

Whats not to love?

The Castle

After racing to complete Madelynn's Halloween Costume, I took an easy weekend and worked on a project that is just for me! This is possibly one of my older cross stitch WIP. I started it when I was in college and living with my grandmother, who passed away a few years ago.

Here it is at last update.

Here it is today!

No, the colors didn't get magically brighter. Imagine that the actual coloring is somewhere between the first photo and the second.  My camera is quite moody.

You may have noticed that this is now on a Q-Snap frame. I was fighting with the scroll frame it was living on and became quite fed up, removed the scroll frame, chucked it across the room (where it still is, on the floor, may it rot), and installed the project on my smaller Q-Snap. Jack watched the whole episode with some degree of amusement and then told me to order some more Q-snaps. Isn't he the bestest ever?

My last post of MMMM will be showing up no later than Friday. I am trying to finish one more ornament by then, wish me luck!

Elsa's Coronation Gown - FINISHED!!!

It's done, it's done *happy dance*

Here is a close up of the back.

Here is the dress. I had to lay it on the floor to get the full effect, since the skirt was curling in on the hanger. 

It was delivered on my way home tonight and now I plan on engaging in some Selfish Stitching. I will resist the urge to start a new project and instead work on either my Confessor's Dress or a cross stitch project. I'm very tired tonight, it was a long day at work and despite my best efforts I couldn't take a nap when I got home. I think I will work on The Castle by Teresa Wentzler or my wizard and dragon project.

By the way, I need to stop browsing Heaven and Earth Designs on my lunch break. This Aimee Stewart chart just made the top of my bucket list. As if I don't have enough going on as it is.

Wanderer's Cove by Aimee Stewart

MMMM Week 4

Its time for a Mega Mini Month Madness Update. Check out the other participants linked up at Pull the Other Thread.

Since my last post, I've finished one! YES A FINISH! Here are the last couple of updates.

And here is where I am today: one finish and two almost done.

Although there isn't much to see, I have started two more. One is a lighthouse with a sailboat and the other is a fireplace with a sleeping kitten.

I'll be waiting until I complete about a half dozen before adding the backing and hanging ribbon.

I don't like deadlines...

I love to sew but having a deadline takes all the fun out of it. For example, tonight I'm very tired after work, currently debating skipping the last period of the Red Wings game (we're winning!) in order to catch some extra sleep, and the last thing I wanted to do this evening were things that I have to do.

Nonetheless, I bullied myself into spending time on Jack's student loan paperwork (yuck) and on Miss Madelynn's Halloween Costume. I was hoping to power through the rest of it tonight but - there is always a "but" isn't there? - when I put on the shoulders last night and hung up the dress, I observed that it would probably be much too big! Uhoh.

I went over today to have her try it on, and I was right! The length is good but the bodice and waist are too large. I really didn't want to take the whole thing in and lose some fullness in the skirt. After musing it over for a bit, I came up with this solution: I made some eyelet strips and stitched them on top of the back seams.

She can lace them up and take it in up to 5 inches, and then loosen it back up if she needs to as she gets older.

I added the last piece of trim, hemmed the bottom, and that is where I'm stopping for the night. I need to put in the bodice lining, add the sleeves, and face the collar and this little beauty is complete.

This needs to be finished by Friday night! We're getting close. *crosses fingers*

Weekend Stitching

I babysat my favorite niece this weekend, but she was very undemanding. I think she just wanted to relax, so we mostly watched TV and played video games. This did leave me some time to get a little sewing done on Maddie's Coronation Dress. I finished the applique on the skirt after she left this evening.

The satin stitching seemed to pucker the fabric a little bit. In retrospect, some lightweight fusible interfacing may have been appropriate.

I also did a little stitching on my mini's while we watched TV.

I'm going to try to power through the rest of the dress this week, and hopefully have a little time to work on my Halloween costume from last year that never was finished.

The Dark Confessor's Dress...muahahahaha!

MMMM Week 3 and Elsa's Dress Update

Mega Mini Month Madness Week Three

I made a little progress on the puppy ornament. I worked on it during three lunches so far this week and yesterday evening between work and church. It is turning out very cute.

Elsa's coronation dress is coming along slowly. On Monday I finished the applique on the bodice and on Tuesday and Wednesday I worked on the skirt.

I'm only doing the front of the skirt and I'm eliminating some of the smaller details. I just plain don't have time to put all the applique on that I want to stitch. Maddie needs this by next Saturday and I have my costume incomplete still as well. Plus I get to spend the weekend with my niece (I'm hoping she'll let me take her to the cider mill), so I've really got to get a move on. Speaking of that, time to stop blogging and start stitching!

Very sorry if you've commented recently and I haven't had a chance to reply yet. I read them all and really do appreciate the comments!

Elsa's Coronation Dress Day 1

Finding a pattern that would work for this dress was the easiest part. This is McCall's M7000.

I'll be making Anna's dress with a full length skirt, black sleeves and yoke, and the rest in that teal-ish green color.

Trying to find a color to match the movie was very difficult. A lot of the Cosplay dresses out there tend towards a more blue than green but when Cousin Maddie and I went shopping armed with photos of Elsa, we thought the dress was more green than blue.

Maddie is very particular about color so it was important that she went shopping with me and was happy with the fabric that was chosen. Our options at JoAnn's were limited; there wasn't anything even close to the right color in the Casa Special Collection fabric line, which is where I usually find exactly what I'm looking for. We ended up with a microsuede fabric called "Forest."

 I also found this photo where someone was recreating the dress with a more green fabric. (And oh boy, do I wish I had an embroidery machine to do the accents for me!)

Cosplay-Elsa’s Coronation Gown Progress by BronwynRenGypsy By fc08.deviantart.net

Today I was able to cut out all the pattern pieces.

You know, every time I think about throwing out my stash of specialty fabric scraps, something stops me. Today, I was glad I hadn't yet. I was able to pull fabric for the lining and the black velvet for the yoke and sleeves from my pile of leftovers. Bonus points!

And I started putting the bodice together.

Now I'm at a stopping point because I apparently no longer have any pink crepe backed satin, so I cannot finish the accents on the bodice or the skirt. I needed an excuse to go to JoAnn's anyway!

Linking up to MOP Monday@Tweety Loves Quilting

Flutterby Update

I made a lot of progress on Butterfly Profusion since my last post. 

Before

As of 10/10/2014

I am starting to get concerned that I will not have enough of the green for the leaves. I've already gone through more than half of it and there are more than twice that many leaves left to stitch. I will have to see where it ends up. 

Tomorrow I will be stuck inside due to the cold I'm fighting, so I would like to get started on the Halloween Costume for my little cousin. I looked at it today but the measurements I took put her in a much smaller pattern size than I know she wears retail. I'm waiting on my aunt to email me the measurements again, just to double check my numbers. 

Mega Mini Month Madness - Week 2

So, I usually have a little time to work on cross stitch during my lunch break. However, this week, due to a combination of forgetting to take my lunch with me and various work functions during lunch break, I really haven't had much time to work on my mini's. I also started doing my daily Bible Study on lunch, which cuts into cross stitch time (its all about the priorities).

However, I have made a smidge of progress in the last week. Here are before and after pictures.

The third one is the beginnings of a puppy with a scarf. Check out the Linky Party at Pull the Other Thread for more MMMM updates.

Stitch From Stash

I just came across this SAL at Epic Stitching. Its called Stitch from Stash. Its kind of like a support group for those of use who have too much stash, many UFO's and not enough money or time to do all the thing we want to do. This is actually something I've been thinking about lately, so it was kind of neat to find a SAL on that topic.

The other thing I've been thinking about is "selfish stitching." I really don't like that term because I don't think making items for yourself is selfish at all. I recently received a sad look from Jack as he watched me work on a project and a plaintive "Do you have to give all of your work away?"

The truth is, I never really thought about it. But I have given most of my finished quilts away (I couldn't let go of Anenome) and the most of rest of the projects I am working on are intended for someone else.

So here's the deal. I'm going to spend the rest of this year working on UFO's and stitching from stash, be it quilts or cross stitch. Stitching from Stash for me means that I'm only starting projects with materials already on hand and I'm going to try to finish UFOs with materials on hand. Backing fabric and batting will have to be reasonable exceptions. Oh, and garb will have to be excluded since garb material is typically not stashed.

Then, next year on Jan 1st, I will start some selfish stitching. The projects I want to start are Jack's medieval medallion quilt,

 Affairs of the Heart quilt for me

and World Travel Bookshelf cross stitch by Aimee Stewart. 

Yes, that is a cross stitch project. A very large one. Omigosh, I love all the detail in this pattern. Its like stitching a hundred different projects in one. I think the finished size is about 30" x 22". I'm psyched.

Those will be my three major projects next year. So I really need to finish at least three projects in the meantime, you know, so the UFO list doesn't grow longer. No biggie, that is only one finish per month.

Now to knock something off the UFO list. (I'm counting this as a September finish though, so I still need three before January). I finished my mod mosaic quilt. This sat for a while needing only binding because I didn't have enough of the white to finish. So today I dug through my stash and found some white-on-white snowflake fabric. Close enough!

Detail of front

Detail of back

I have named it Purple Nonsense. This one I'm going to hang on to for a bit because I found out one of Jack's cousins is expecting a new member in their family in several months and this just might be the perfect quilt for the occasion.

And last but not least, an update on Flutterby Profusion.

Before

After

I kind of feel like I'm just cranking through this one!

Okey-dokey artichokeys, what are your big plans for the New Year?

Linking up to MOP Monday

Mega Mini Month Madness Begins

Today is the first day of Mega Mini Month Madness hosted by Pull the Other Thread. Its a SAL that gives us an excuse to set aside those long term projects and pick up some short and sweet ones.

I decided to work on Christmas Ornaments. I'd like to give a few of these away for Christmas this year.

I picked up the Bucilla Tiny Stockings kit. This was supposed to be my Badon Hill project but they didn't make it in the mail on time. I spent the last couple of days copying the patterns so I could cut them up into travel size pieces and sorting threads.

I have started two of them, the row stocking and the poinsettia. I need to decide whether to start a new one every day this month or just try to get four or five completely finished. 

What I don't like about projects this small is that I can't put them in a hoop. They are 3.5 x 4 inches. Next time I would probably leave the fabric piece intact and cut out the stockings as I finished them. 

I also somehow found myself agreeing to make my little cousin's Halloween costume. I'm not quite sure exactly when that happened but it is now a fact. She wants Elsa's Coronation Gown and cape. We're starting with the gown and then seeing if there is time for the cape. 

I will be using the McCall pattern for Anna's travelling dress, changing the colors to match and lengthening the skirt. As far as the applique, well we'll just have to see what we've got time for.

Happy October everyone! Its going to be a busy month.