SFS 2015 March Update

Hi all,

It is times like these that I am very happy that I joined Mel from Epic Stitching for Stitch from Stash 2015. It makes sure that I come visit with all of you at least once a month. I have been finding it hard to find the time to actually come online and post.

Let's get the numbers out of the way...

Month: March

Carry Forward: $44.54 (I realized that I didn't add the $25 budget allowance in February)

Spent: $7.00 ($60 gift card minus $67.00)
-Nashville Market purchases $42.12
-WDW Floss Bundle, Classic Color Works Floss Bundle, L*K Buzz kit and and Aury TM Quaker Halloween chart
-Fabric.com $18.96 2 yards of 14ct aida fabric (to be used in my charity stitching)
-123Stich $5.92 28ct Jazlyn fabric

Earned: $14.00
Spooky Tree by Breanne Jackson in the 2013 Just Cross Stitch Halloween Issue
Music Note free pattern
Mini Heart - designed by baby girl


Carry Forward into April: $76.54

My co-worker and I were both given a gift card as a bonus in early February for going above and beyond what our normal year end duties required. It was a surprise but I knew exactly what I wanted to spend it on Nashville Market. lol So I saved and was able to spend a little more than I would have been able to otherwise.

For some reason I am on a real Halloween kick here lately and I am loving it. So until I get bored I will continue with the patterns that have caught my eye. I do have a couple of stitches that I promised I would complete that are not Halloween but that is good cause I don't want to get burned out too quick. There are so many patterns that are just calling my name to do.

This month has also proven to be quite busy. We to see my brother and attend a niece's birthday party at the beginning of the month, then two weeks later on baby girl's spring break we took a trip to the coast and then went to my brother's for the weekend.

The first weekend after the birthday party of course, we had a very relaxing time and I was able to get quite a bit of stitching done.

First to be completed was the first bonus pattern that came with L*K Things Unseen Mystery Sampler. I think I used a 20 ct white mystery fabric that I had in my stash. I didn't count this in my earnings. I love how the threads in this pattern pop on a bright white fabric. Not sure how I am going to finish this one but until then, into the finishing drawer this one goes.

Next to be worked on and completed is the second free pattern with L*K's Things Unseen Mystery Sampler. This time I went with a scrap piece of 25 ct Dark Red Lugana that I had in my fabric bin. Again I am surprised that this came out so cute. Surprisingly the colors also stand out on this fabric. Again I did not count this in my earnings total. Now I just need to finish it as a pin pillow. Until then, into the finishing drawer it will go.

Once those were done I started looking around for what to do next. I found this cute little music note with a heart and just fell in love with it. It was stitched on 14 ct white aida for Q4OC. I joined them on Yahoo, but they are now on Facebook. This is the group that I purchased the 2 yards of fabric for. I was searching and searching in the stores for 14 ct white that would produce more than one square at a time and couldn't find any. So I did a quick search and found Fabric.com. They sell this count by the yard and each yard is 60" wide (for only $9.48 per yard). I figured at that price I would go ahead and stock up.

Since that one stitched up so quick (one day) I had to find something else. Baby girl had designed a little heart some time ago and had asked then if I would stitch it for her. Well...she saw me digging around for another project and brought it back out. She even went in my stash and picked her own colors to be used. I think we might have a budding designer in the house. lol

Once that was done, I decided to give a little love to a name tree "Peace". I can't remember where I found this pattern but I am enjoying how this looks.

But after a day of stitching on this piece I was in the mood for something different so on the hunt I went again. This time I went looking in my project basket (the one for kitted but not started projects) and found Spooky Tree from the 2013 Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue. I used a 28 ct Misty Blue Cashel and stitched with the recommended DMC 310. This was a fun stitch. The only problem I had was the 2 over 1 for the bats. OMG was this difficult. I don't know if you can tell but there may be a couple of stitches that I crossed over two instead of one when making my second stitch.

Last week was baby girl's spring break and we went to Galveston then popped over to my brother's for part of the weekend. We originally planned on staying the whole weekend but he forgot we were coming by and he made "Guy's Weekend" plans. Of course I had to rib him a bit over the mix up, but in the end it all worked out because we were able to relax at home on Sunday before work and school started. I couldn't believe how foggy it was. Here is a couple of pics of the two of us. :)

On the jetty (only about 50' from shore)

Foggy look at the Pier

While gone, I didn't do very much stitching but I did make a new start. It is called Welcome Spring by LHN and the pattern came free with the purchase of Classic Color Works Floss Bundle at Market. I am making a few thread changes but I will get into that when I finish. I am stitching on 28 ct Lt Gray Lugana. Not sure if I am really liking how the colors look on this fabric yet, but I am going to give it some time. I have only used one color so far.

I am sorry for the long post. I will try to make an interim
post to show off some of what I get done in April.

Ta Ta for Now,
Angela

February SFS 2015

Uh Oh, I am late.

That's ok, I am still going to make my post so I don't loose my place. :)

Month: February
Beginning Balance: $26.50
Spent: $18.96
Finished $ 12.00
End of Month Balance: $19.54

This month found me working on a couple of different things.

I started working on Lizzie Kate's Things Unseen Mystery Sampler but found I ran out of threads. Thank goodness I received a gift card at the beginning of the month. I was able to order them and finally complete the piece. I love how this piece came together and how it looks now that it has had the embellishments added. This piece does not count in the finished bonus because it is not over 6 months.

 

Surprisingly enough, this picture actually shows the fabric color pretty well. (maybe a little darker but I think that is the lighting in my room).  Now let me tell you about my service at 123stitch.com. I placed the order for the threads I needed and as usual, they sent an email stating that the order was processed and another when the order when out for shipping along with the tracking information. I waited impatiently, checking the tracking every day to see where my threads were at (obviously I really wanted to finish this piece) lol. The day finally arrived when the tracking stated that it had arrived in my mail box. What an unpleasant surprise when I checked the box that day and no package. So I waited another day and still no package. I had to wait an additional two days before I could contact the post office and ask what had happened. Of course I got the run around a promise of a phone call (which never came) and another two days of still no package. On Tuesday I contacted customer service at 123stitch.com via email and explained my problem. They were very sympathetic and said that while I contacted the post office they would see what they were able to do. Then on Wednesday I called the post office again and stayed on the phone for over an hour. Spoke to at least 3 people with the result of again receiving a phone call. During this time I received another email from the 123 stating that they were gathering new threads for me and were going to ship them out to me the next day with the only condition that if I end up receiving the original package, that I send it back to them. No hassle, no fuss, no muss. I did end up receiving the original package and contacted them so that they did not send out a second one, but I have to say that the customer service at this company is wonderful. I will not receive any compensation for these statements, I just wanted to share what great customer service this company has.

 

While I was waiting for the threads to arrive I had to work on something, so I picked up this piece. Nancy over at the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe designed the sampler below. I loved the saying but I am not a pink person and asked if it was possible for her to help me to chart the flowers in a purple color, which she agreed to do. If you know her sight you also know that she also hand dyes her own threads. I love using her colors. So I purchased the chart and asked her to include her own dyed threads to use. She not only provided an updated chart, she gave me two options to use for the flowers and provided the thread for both options. This has been sitting in my to do pile for about 7 months now and decided it needed some loving.

 

 

Next up is my first finish for the month. I used Stitching the Night Away's brushstroke butterfly and added a saying I found a while ago. I stitched this for a group based in Europe - Stitching Out Stigma. I wanted to express that even though we may think the world is ending, I is only the beginning of a new part of our lives.

 

 

Next up is a little flower I found as a freebie from Blueladie Designs for the charity group WOCS. I loved how the little violet came out. I forgot that I started stitching this on 18ct aida, so the flower came out really small. I added a border. Of course, at the first turn of the second row, I forgot the number of spaces I originally intended and by the time I realized it, I was already on the third row of the border. Even with this, I think that It came out looking pretty good if I say so myself.

 

 

 Next up is a piece that has not seen much loving but I did manage to add in another 100 stitches or so. This is not a piece that I normally would have picked up myself, but will finish so I can gift it completed to the co-worker that originally purchased the piece. This is obviously something that she would enjoy seeing in her home. I am so glad that I switched out the fabric on this piece since this has so many 1/4 stiches. I would never have been able to get this done on the 14 count aida that was supplied in the kit..

 

 

Well that is all for now. Need to go get my hair cut and some errands run.

 

Ta Ta for now,

Angela CG