WIP UPDATE: New Girl 3 by Bec Winnel

Good Morning Stitchy Friends!

I have an exciting update today on my Heaven and Earth Designs - New Girl 3 by Bec Winnel Wip...I have a PAGE FINISH!! Yay! This brings me to having 4 full pages done on this - 1,2 and 10,11.

This is the Heaven and Earth Designs WIP that I am the farthest on. I will now start working on page 3 and then page 12 so I can prolong moving my Q-Snap :)

Here is what this will look like finished:

Thanks for stopping by :)
Laura

Design Details:
Name: Bec Winnel - New Girl 3 - Heaven and Earth Designs
Fabric: 28 Count Lugana 
Stitched: 1 over 1 Full Cross
STARTED: September 28th, 2015

WIP UPDATE: Red Birds by Maria Barber

Happy Thanksgiving Stitchy Friends!

Today I wanted to share my progress on my Red Birds by Maria Barber WIP since I posted about it last. This one I am stitching in memory of my Grandma and Grandpa Barber. I miss them horribly and the Holidays are never easy with them gone.

I have completed a 10 hour wip rotation on this project and I think I had worked on it a few random days since I had started on it.

Here was my starting spot:

And here is where I got to at the end of the 10 hours:

I think that it is starting to look so pretty :) Can't wait to get to those gorgeous birds! Here is what this will like when it is finished:

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you all have a lovely and blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends and lots of stitchy time :)

Laura

Design Details:
Name: Red Birds by Maria Barber - Just Cross Stitch Magazine Nov/Dec 2011
Fabric: 28 Count Lambswool Jobelan from Wichelt
Stitched: 2 over 2 
Grime Guard: Brenda's Minders and More
Needleminder: Down Sunshine Lane (Needle Minder of the Month Subscription)

WIP UPDATE: The Fortunate Traveler by Teresa Wentzler

Good Morning Stitchy Friends:

I have another Wip Update for you today. This will be on my Teresa Wentzler - The Fortunate Traveler. I completed a 10 hour rotation session on this project since my last posting on this one.

Here was my starting spot:

And here was my ending spot:

Really love how this is coming along! Here is what this will look like finished:

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Laura

Design Details:
Name: The Fortunate Traveler - Teresa Wentzler
Fabric: 28 Count Cream Cashel Linen by Zweigart
Stitched: 2 over 1 Full Cross & 1 over 1 in some areas
STARTED: May 1st 2016
Needleminder - Brenda's Minders and More

WIP UPDATE: King Coda Story Teller - PAGE FINISH!

Hello Stitchy Friends!

I am the world's suckiest blogger! I promise I will try and update a little more frequently on here! I seem to do a little better updating on my instagram lovesrubberstamps_needlecrafts. I will be trying to catch up my blog with the projects I have worked on since my last post.

Up for show today is my Supersize Max Colors Heaven and Earth Designs WIP called King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart. I rotate to this wip every other 10 hour rotation and complete 2 horizontal rows on my chart. Well I have a PAGE FINISH!! Yay!!

Here was my starting spot:

And here is page 1 FINISHED!

I only have 166 pages left to go :D

Here is what this will look like finished:

LOVE this design :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great stitchy week!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart - Supersize Max Colors charted by Heaven and Earth Designs
Fabric: 28 Count White Lugana
Stitched:1 over 1 Full Cross 
STARTED: August 9th, 2017 
Needleminder - Maggie's Minders on Etsy (Tiger)
Needleminder - Crazy Heart by NoName Needleminders on Facebook

WIP UPDATE: November Quilt by Paula Vaughan

Hi Stitchy Friends!

I have completed 10 hours on my Paula Vaughan November Quilt. If you missed my post on how I rotate through my wips you can read that here.

I started this piece in the fall of 2016 and up until this rotation I only worked on it for the one day that I started it and about an hour for a SAL last Fall :(  I have quite a few wips that are that way unfortunately so I am glad that my rotation is working for me and allowing me time to work on a variety of my wips :)

Here is my starting picture:

Here is my ending after 10 hours of work:

I worked on the quilt area of the design as this is the part that will take the longest. It is full of fractional stitches so that makes it slower going. The wagon is all full crosses and the majority of the background is half stitches so once this quilt is done it will go pretty quick I think. Loving this design so far and there are a few more of the quilt designs I would like to stitch from this booklet. The book that this pattern is found in is called Quilts For All Seasons. This is what the November Quilt will look like finished:

Did you see my cute little Squirrel minder? That is from No Name Needle Minders on Facebook :)

Next up in my home rotation is to compete the next 2 rows on my HAED SS MC King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart. Lots of black in them so they should go pretty quickly as there will not be a lot of color changing :)

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stitching!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: November Quilt by Paula Vaughan - Quilts For All Seasons
Fabric: 32 Count Cream Belfast from Zweigart
Stitched:2 over 2 Full Cross 
STARTED: September 7, 2016
Needleminder - NoName Needleminders on Facebook

WIP UPDATE: HAED Dreamer Max Colors by Nadia Strelkina

Hi Stitchy Friends -

I have completed my two work week session on my Heaven and Earth Design Dreamer in Max Colors by Nadia Strelkina. This one is full of confetti on the first page due to the beautiful tree and the leaves so it is a lot of color changes and a lot of colors where there are maybe 1 or 2 in that area and that is it. Slow going but will be well worth it in the end! Here is my Beginning and ending pictures and what this beauty will look like finished.

Beginning: 

Ending: 

What this will look like finished:

Next up for my Two Work Week rotation is my HAED New Girl 3 by Bec Winnel. I am close to having 2 more pages complete (less than 100 stitches) so that will be exciting!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stitching!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: Dreamer by Nadia Strelkina Max Colors charted by Heaven and Earth Designs
Fabric: 28 Count White Lugana
Stitched:1 over 1 Full Cross 
STARTED: January 22, 2017 
Needleminder - Heaven and Earth Designs - Little Blue

Mill Hill Angel With Cardinal by Jim Shore

Good Morning Stitchy Friends -

I realized that I had not posted the Christmas Ornament that I made this year for my Grandma's remembrance ornament. I posted the one that I finished for my Grandpa a few days ago. If you missed that post you can see it here.

As I mentioned in that post I have been making a Christmas Ornament each year in honor of my Grandma and Grandpa since they have both passed. This is the second year that I have done this and this year I wanted both of their ornaments to feature a cardinal. For Grandma's ornament I chose to stitch the Angel With Cardinal Mill Hill Kit by Jim Shore.

I did make a small modification to this and changed the eye color to a hazel green like my Grandma's eyes were.

Here are a few progression pictures and then my finish:

I still need to fully finish this one as well so I will post a picture of that when I get that done. This was my very first time stitching a Mill Hill kit and I think it turned out beautifully! I will definately be stitching more of these!

Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: Angel With Cardinal by Jim Shore - Mill Hill Kit 
Fabric: 14 count perforated paper
Stitched: As charted in the kit
STARTED: May 17th, 2017
FINISHED: June 19th, 2017
Needleminder - Gina's Unique Boutique

WIP UPDATE: HAED King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart SS MC Version

Hi Stitchy Friends!

Since I started my new rotation about a month ago I can say that it is really working for me so far and I love it. If you missed my post on what I am doing for my rotation you can see it here. Since I have started this rotation I have cycled to my Heaven and Earth Designs King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart twice. I am stitching the supersize max colors version on 28 count Lugana 1 over 1 full cross.

Since I work from the large format PDF charts I have been completing two rows across the page each time this is up for the rotation. I decided that if a 10x10 block was split between the two pages, I would complete that block. So since I am just on page one still after restarting this on my favorite fabric for HAEDs - each rotation I am stitching a little over 1400 stitches. After 4 rotations to this I will get a page finish!

Here is my progress on it to date - just over 2800 stitches completed on page 1:

And of course what this will look like finished:

I love working on this one and am amazed at the detail coming through in the tapestry curtain area already. My next two cycles on page one will have a lot of black to do so hopefully that will help it go a bit faster since there won't be as many color changes.

My cute needleminder is from Maggie's Minders on Etsy :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great stitchy week!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart - Supersize Max Colors charted by Heaven and Earth Designs
Fabric: 28 Count White Lugana
Stitched:1 over 1 Full Cross 
STARTED: August 9th, 2017 
Needleminder - Maggie's Minders on Etsy

Start & a Finish - Mill Hill Festival Friends Santa by Jim Shore

Hi Stitchy Friends!

When I first found floss tube about two years ago I was watching one of Carolyn Mazzeo's amazing videos and she talked about how every year on her Dad's birthday she would stitch a Christmas Ornament in his memory for her tree. I had recently lost my Grandma when I saw that one and thought it was a beautiful way to honor your loved ones when they are no longer with you. So I decided that I would stitch an ornament for both my Grandma and Grandpa each year.

This year I decided to stitch a Mill Hill Kit for each of their ornaments and I wanted ones that had cardinals on them since they say that when you see a cardinal it is a loved one from heaven making a visit to you. I just finished my Grandpa's ornament a few days ago so I thought I would share that one with you. I stitched the Mill Hill Festival Friends Santa by Jim Shore for Grandpa's ornament. I started this one August 17th ad finished it on August 25th. It turned out beautiful and had about a million beads! I think there were more beads than cross stitches so it is super sparkly and pretty in person :)

The needleminder I chose for this project is from Nifty Needle Nannies on Facebook. When I saw this one I had to get it because this was Grandpa's favorite saying to us kids whenever we got impatient about something :)

Here are some progression pictures:

This was a fun stitch and turned out so pretty. I still need to fully finish it so I will post a picture of that once it is finished completely! 

I think that doing this every year is a wonderful way to let Grandma and Grandpa know that we still think of them everyday and around the holidays when we miss them even more, this is a way to still make them a part of our family get togethers.

Thanks for stopping by today and happy stitching! 

Laura

Design Details:
Name: Festival Friends Santa by Jim Shore - Mill Hill Kit 
Fabric: 14 count perforated paper
Stitched: As charted in the kit
STARTED: August 17th, 2017
FINISHED: August 25th, 2017
Needleminder - Nifty Needle Nannies

My Current Rotation

Hi Stitchy Friends -

I have been a horrible blogger! I have been absent forever! I have been stitching but have not been very good at updating my blog with postings. I most of the time pop pictures up on my Instagram, but even then I am not as consistent as I need to be. I will work on it :)

I thought today I would share how I am currently rotating my WIPS. I currently have 17 started, about half to three-quarters of these are fairly large pieces. It is what I am drawn to apparently :) I have kind of 2 rotations - I can stitch at work so I have my work rotation and then I have my at home rotation so I will share both.

Since I can stitch at work and work the overnight shift, I am usually able to stitch for at least 3 hours most of the time, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on our call volume that evening. Weekends are busier ( I am a 911 dispatcher for police, medical, and fire) so not as much on those nights. So in our downtime we are allowed to do crafts, read a book, anything you want as long as it doesn't interfere with your work. I have 4 Heaven and Earth Designs that I rotate as my work projects:

1. Heavens Little Angel by Katerina Koukiotis
2. Dreamer - Max Colors by Nadia Strelkina
3. New Girl 3 by Bec Winnel
4. Dog Double Shelf by Randall  Spangler

My work rotation is 5 nights working, 2 days off, 6 days working and then 3 days off and it cycles through that. I have started working on one of my HAEDS for a 2 work week period, so 11 days and then I switch. I was changing each week buy since the time I get to stitch on my projects at work is limited and unpredictable, some weeks I would barely get to touch a project. I wanted to see some decent progress when I worked on them so I have recently decided to try the 2 week rotation and am loving that a lot more. I almost had a page finish on my angel which was the first project I tried it on. Here are pictures of my starting spot...and my ending spot after working on the Angel for it's rotation:

So I am loving how this is working so far. This rotation is my Dreamer so watch for that update...I have 1 week left for it.

My at home rotation has been the biggest struggle for me. I don't get to stitch at home very often, maybe an hour before work if I am lucky but most of the time it is on my days off, or an hour in the mornings when I get home for work while I am letting the dogs out to potty and stretch after being in their kennel overnight. I tried setting a week rotation for a project and then switching, but sometimes in that week I would never get to work on it so that wasn't working. I then came across someone (sorry can't remember who said they did this) but they switched projects after working on it for 10 hours. It is enough to get some decent progress, and not as much that you feel you are stuck working on something too long before switching. I have tried this for not quite a month now and this is working AWESOME for me!

I have one Supersize Heaven and Earth Design chart, King Coda Story Teller Max Colors by Aimee Stewart, that I recently restarted on my preferred fabric for my HAEDs, 28 count Lugana stitching it 1 over 1. So since this is a massive project I have decided that in between each of my 10 hour wip rotations, I will work on my SS HAED . I have a large format chart so my plan is to work 2 rows across my page and then switch. On the large format charts each row across has 6 full boxes and then usually a partial 7th box that extends into the next page. So I finish the whole 7th box. So for 2 rows it is roughly 1400 stitches. After rotating to this one 4 times, I will get a page finish if I do it this way :)

For my other at home WIPS - I wrote them down and numbered them. I also wrote a number in for a "New Start". So my plan is to let random number generator choose my WIP for the 10 hour session :) If I hit the "New Start" then I will choose a new project and start it and work on it for the 10 hours. So far I am on my 3rd project since starting this rotation and it is working really well. Here are the projects and progress I was able to make:

Project #1 - Durene Jones Lakeside Needlecrafts Fantasy SAL - I need to do the never-ending border so I am making myself stitch all of the border on a page before I can do the little character. In my 10 hour rotation I am happy to say I was able to get all of page 1's border complete and some of the little flourishes and the snowflake during this round! So next time it comes up...I am free to stitch the January block :D

I forgot to take a picture of my starting spot but I only had a small corner started in the upper left to work down to the circles, and then I did all my circles and no border. Here is what I accomplished in my 10 hour rotation (basically everything but the circles)

After this project I then rotated to my Supersize Max Colors King Coda Story Teller. I completed the first two rows of page 1 - totally a little over 1400 stitches:

So I will be coming back to this one to do 2 more rows in between each 10 hour switch.

The project I am currently working on was my New Start for this 10 hour round. I have worked on it for 2 hours, so 8 more hours to go before switching. This is my 2017 Christmas Ornament I am stitching in memory of my Grandpa. It is the Mill Hill Festive Friends Santa by Jim Shore:

I will work on this later today as well.

I think this rotation will work well for me since I want to work on all my wips and not just have them sit there untouched. Plus 10 hours is a great way to get some decent progress you can see, and not be so long that you feel like you are working on the same thing for a long time. Sometimes it might take me a full week or two in order to get 10 hours on a project, other times I might stitch all 10 on a day off! It is so random, but this way all my wips will get equal working time.

Anyway...I hope this made sense to you and that you might get some ideas from it. Any questions feel free to ask :)

Happy stitching everyone!
Laura

Stitch Maynia 2017 - Day 2

Good Morning Stitchy Friends!

Yesterday was Day 2 of Stitch Maynia 2017 and I decided to continue working on my Teresa Wentzler The Fortunate Traveler WIP.

Here was my starting spot:

And here is where I got to yesterday - still just worked on some border:

And here is what this will look like finished:

If I get some stitchy time for Day 3 today I think I will work on this one again before switching for the "May the 4th Be With You" SAL that is tomorrow :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: The Fortunate Traveler - Teresa Wentzler
Fabric: 28 Count Cream Cashel Linen by Zweigart
Stitched: 2 over 1 Full Cross & 1 over 1 in some areas
STARTED: May 1st 2016
Needleminder - Brenda's Minders and More

Stitch Maynia 2017 Day 1 - The Fortunate Traveler by Teresa Wentzler

Hi Stitchy Friends!

It is time for Stitch Maynia! If you are not familiar with Stitch Maynia it is a facebook stitching group that was started a few years ago and the original idea was to start 15 new projects in the first 15 days of May. Since it started Maynia now means different things for different people. You can focus on WIPS and work on a new one everyday, have new starts as many or as few as you want, monogamous stitching if you are used to working on quite a few things or vice versa - whatever works for you and fits your schedule. The point of it is to have fun and kind of push yourself to try new things, get a little out of your comfort zone or try something that to you is Maynia!!

Last year was my first time participating in Stitch Maynia and my goal had been to try for 16 starts for 2016. Well I failed at that and only got 7 started. Of those 7 that I started I only finished one of them since then. Kind of a weird fact about me - starting projects intimidates me a little. I really enjoy searching for patterns I want to stitch, choosing the fabrics and kitting things up - but when it comes to actually starting them - well I have no idea why but it is a little intimidating sometimes. Once I get started and get going I am fine but there is just something about starting them.

As of today I currently have 16 wips total. Many are larger sized pieces that will take me awhile to finish. 5 of these are Heaven and Earth Designs - 4 regular and 1 supersize. My 4 regular size Heaven and Earth Designs are my work projects and I rotate these according to my work schedule which is close to a weekly rotation. So my other 12 Wips are my "at home" ones. I don't get to consistently stitch at home so I work on them sporadically. Usually it is the one already on my scroll frame or q-snaps so I can just grab it and start stitching. So what I decided to do for my Maynia this year is to focus on these 12 neglected wips and also have 4 new starts, one for each week in May. That way I work on the things I have started plus get to have a few starts as well.

For Day 1 of Stitch Maynia I decided to work on the project I started on May 1st of last year for Maynia which I have not finished yet. It is The Fortunate Traveler by Teresa Wentzler. This is my very first Teresa Wentzler pattern that I have stitched. I remember back in the 90's when we didn't have a lot of money for things and I was obsessed with cross stitch, my hobby consisted of mainly buying and hoarding cheap pattern finds from garage sales and ebay, not actually stitching things because we couldn't afford for me to kit things up. Teresa Wentzler was that one designer that intimidated the heck out of me back then. I think her work is gorgeous and stunning but I wasn't confident in my ability to stitch them at that time. Her work was what I aspired to stitch someday....and now I am :)

Here is what The Fortunate Traveler will look like finished:

Here was my starting point for Day 1. 

And here was were I was able to get to today:

I mainly focused on getting the width of the outer border done so I could be sure that this was going to fit on my fabric and that I had did my math correctly :) It fits and is actually pretty centered which I consider a miracle! I have had a lot of fun working on this one so far and it hasn't been as bad as I had pictured in my mind. Lots of blended threads which is fine and just cross stitches so far so I can handle that! Isn't my needleminder cool?!?! It is my Dragon Eye from Brenda's Minders and More. LOVE it!

I plan on working on this one again tomorrow for my Maynia project as the one I had started for Day 2 last year was the one I finished :)

Have a great stitchy day or night! Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: The Fortunate Traveler - Teresa Wentzler
Fabric: 28 Count Cream Cashel Linen by Zweigart
Stitched: 2 over 1 Full Cross & 1 over 1 in some areas
STARTED: May 1st 2016
Needleminder - Brenda's Minders and More

HAED WIP: New Girl 3 by Bec Winnel

Hello Stitchy Friends!

Today I thought I would share one of my Heaven and Earth Design WIPS - New Girl 3 by Bec Winnel. This is my very first HAED that I have started. It is also the first stitching piece that I started after losing my stitching bug for about 7 years after my Grandpa passed away in 2008. It kind of kick-started my stitching again :)

When I was picking a design to do for my first Heaven and Earth I just looked through the site and when I stumbled across this one it just grabbed my attention and I just kept coming back to it. I love the realistic look of her face, the colors, and her eye just sucks you in. I think it reminds me a little of myself when I was younger and a lot skinnier - LOL! I am always told I have very pretty eyes and it is the eye in this one that draws you in. Anyway - Here is what she will look like in about 50 years when I get her done ;)

I just thought I would share the progress pictures I have taken so far since I started stitching her on March 28th, 2015 so here it goes:

September 30, 2015

                   

October 21, 2015

October 28th, 2015

November 27th, 2015

April 18th, 2017

April 19th, 2017

April 21st, 2017

                                                                   April 26th, 2017.

                                                                    April 30th, 2017

And here is where I ended during the month of April! I had a PAGE FINISH! Page 10 is done - the edge of that page is designated by the first pin. I am also super close to having Pages 2 and Pages 11 finished also. The page edge for those is the 2nd pin straight up to the top!  So I am close to almost 4 pages complete. I always enjoy working on this one. I had taken longer breaks between getting to her after trying some of the HAED challenges on other pieces.

I currently have 5 Heaven and Earth Designs started as WIPS. I alternate 4 of them as my work projects since we can bring things to do when we are not busy and I stitch on them at work. My 5th one is a super size HAED so I only work on that at home. I will share my other HAED WIPS soon :)

Thank you for stopping by today!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: Bec Winnel - New Girl 3 - Heaven and Earth Designs
Fabric: 28 Count Lugana 
Stitched: 1 over 1 Full Cross
STARTED: September 28th, 2015