April 2018

Happy April!

Wow! One-fourth of this year has zipped by already. 

We have a lot of big milestones in our family this year, so I suspect 2018 will feel like a whirlwind and December is going to be here in the blink of an eye.

March was a month I spent on-the-go more often than not. What crafting time I did have was mostly spent cross-stitching.

Progress on March goals:

1. Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM "Hammock Time" Block and It's a "Wild" Life BOM "Dear Meadow" Block - fabrics were selected and applique pieces were traced

2. UFO Challenge 

February: Red Barn - borders added

March: Messenger Bag Embellishement - added 2 seams & a motif

3. Cross-Stitch 3,125 Stitches - 5,815 stitches added

2,075 added to QS Red Hearts

1,684 added to Twilight Duel

1,965 added to Fractal White Tiger

91 added to SK Effects of Caffeine

4. Exercise Plan in Bullet Journal - I have been walking 3 times a week and have a schedule written out for April.

5. Declutter Living Room - DONE!

April Goals

1. Make progress on CQJP 2018 blocks (the next one will use the colored fabric in the photo above.)

2. Make progress on a UFO project.
#5 was selected for April - for me that is to embellish this Christmas block.

3. Add 3,000 stitches to my cross-stitch projects, with at least 1,300 of them added to QS Red Hearts.

4. Exercise - once I kick the bug I have, my son and I are doing a couch to 5K running plan.

5. Catch up and keep up with replying to comments on my blog!

Most Viewed Posts in March 2018

1. March 2018

2. QS Red Hearts Update - March 2018

3. March 2018 UFO Progress

4. February 2018

5. More InCoWriMo Happy Mail

Thanks so much for visiting!
Renee

March 2018

Happy March!

Last month was a short one and my goals were a bit lofty.

A few of them are moving forward on my bullet journal list.

There is a lot I hope to accomplish this month, too.

We'll see how I do!

February Goals: 5 out of 8 fully accomplished.
1. InCoWriMo: 33 letters/postcards/cards were mailed out. I will share a review later this month.
2. February CQJP 2018 Block - Done!
3. "Making Waves" for the Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM - Done!
4. Christmas mug rug - Done!
5. Organize sewing room - Done!

March Goals

Crazy Quilting: 

CQJP 2018 March Block - piece and embellish

Make Mother's Day item(s) to add to my Etsy inventory.

Quilting:

Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM: Complete "Hammock Time"

It's a "Wild" Life BOM: Complete Block 2 "Deer Meadow" - This pattern is free throughout March 2018.

UFO:

# 3 was selected this month. On my list, that is embellishing my crazy quilt OSU messenger bag. (The photo to the right shows how it looked on January 1st. I've added a few TAST stitches to it since then.)


Cross Stitch:

Add 3,125 stitches to my projects. At least 1,300 of those stitches need to be added to QS Red Hearts.

Christmas:

Complete an item to share on the 1 X-mas Item a Month Blog.

Exercise:

Schedule a plan in my bullet journal and stick to it!

Declutter:

Living Room

Most viewed blogposts in February 2018

1. TAST Weeks 5-6
2. February

3. Embellished CQJP 2018 February Block

4. TAST Weeks 7-8

5. Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM 2017 - Block 8

November 2017

November has arrived. 

In just 2 months, we will be greeting the year 2018.

Progress with my October goals:

The list of October goals may be found here. 
Click on any photo for a larger view.

A clutch purse was created with my May CQJP 2014 block. This was my August 2017 UFO Challenge project. More details are in this post.

Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM Block 9

"Bathing Beauty" was completed! The blog post is here.

This is my progress on coloring the Pure Prairie Bouquet digital stamp from Power Poppy for the September pencil class through Kit and Klowder.

This is a lovely design, but I may set it aside until after the holidays to finish. The classes take some time.

Other October Accomplishments:

This fabric postcard was created for a swap. It was yet another finish, as the cross-stitched pumpkin has been sitting in a drawer for about a year. The blog post is here.

This small zipper pouch coin purse was added to my Hand Stitched Treasure Etsy Shop. The blog post is here and the Etsy shop is here.

Progress was made on my Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP) 2017 March block. 

NOTE: You may sign up for CQJP 2018 November 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017. Find the rules here and the registration info here.

November Goals:

1. Finish embellishing this Christmas stocking for my son. Some progress was made in September and shared on Instagram. (#10 on the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, selected in June.)

2. Add a label and a hanging sleeve to this "Sealed with a Kiss" quilt. This is a smaller version of the pattern in the book Hearts Aplenty by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith.

3. Frame my Heaven and Earth Designs Santa and the Mouse Ornament cross-stitch based on artwork by Scott Gustafson. The chart is retired, but a similar chart is available here - it is a quick stitch of this piece of art. (#9 on the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge - selected in November.)

4. Finish "Beach Boy Freddie", the September block of the Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM at Sew Incredibly Crazy and Friends.

5. Finish the October Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM from Sew Incredibly Crazy and Friends. (Due to Internet issues, it has not yet been shared on Amy's blog, but there is a sneak peek at Moosestash Quilting.)

6. Sew the second border on my "Hearts Askew" quilt and stitch around the appliqued hearts. The pattern is from the book Hearts Aplenty by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith.
I found the fabric and finished the first border in October. (#3 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge List - selected in October.)


7. Finish my Kit and Clowder October Pencil Class. So far, I have printed the stamp onto paper. The Special Edition Snowman and Penguins digital stamp was designed by Crissy Armstrong specifically for this class and is only available a limited time at Whimsy Stamps, so this link goes to their digital stamp collection - not directly to this stamp. It is incredibly cute!

8. Finish Christmas gifts to share on the 1 X-Mas Item a Month Blog. In October, I made progress on two mug rugs featuring the "Snowman" digital stamp from The Paper Shelter.

Top 5 Posts Viewed in October:

1. Red, White, and Blue Handbag - link found above or here

2. October - link found above or here
3. 2017 CQI Halloween/Autumn Fabric Postcard Swap - link found above or here

4. CQJP 2017 March Block Motif 5 - here

5. Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM - Block 9 - link found above or here

Thank you for stopping by!
-Renee

QS Red Hearts Update - September 2017

This month, I added 1,187 stitches to my Heaven and Earth Designs "QS Red Hearts" cross-stitch. I have to say, I love Ching-Chou Kuik's artwork and this piece is one of my favorites.

This photo shows how it looked last month.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may already know that I finished page 4 this month!

I am trying to work the rest of this project by filling in the grids diagonally.

Page 4 was sooo close to a finish, I had to fill it in.

Working diagonally, it may take longer to see a visible difference, but I will be able to alternate between pinks and reds on pages 5 & 6 and the darker colors on pages 7, 8 & 9.

I am also tracking my progress in my bullet journal. There is something satisfying about coloring in a square that represents 100 stitches.





The project is now 62.15% complete. (It was 59.62%.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete.
Page 5: 29.39% complete. (It was 21.46%.)
Page 6: 7.26% complete.
Page 7: 23.05% complete. (It was 14.77%.)
Page 8: 0.09% complete. (It was 0.04%.)

I am joining Monday Stichery Link Party #127 at Super Mom - No Cape! Feel free to join the party if you have a blog and do any hand embroidery. I do hope you will pop over to see what others have been working on.

Thank you for stopping by.
Renee

September 2017

August flew by, didn't it?! Our family made a fair amount of progress with yardwork plans. The front yard is done. The backyard is a work in progress. We hoped to complete it tomorrow, but the temperature is supposed to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit again this weekend. (Hmm... That sounds like a great excuse to work on crafty projects.) 


I do hope this cute little fellow decides to visit again soon!

Progress with my August goals...
I fear I spent the majority of my limited crafty time cross-stitching in August. You may see my full list of August goals here. 2 of the 7 goals I shared were completed.

#2 Complete a gift for a friend's daughter. I finished it on August 30th and will share it on the blog soon!

#5 Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the Month Blocks 5 and 6 were completed. More photos and details are here.







Although the list of craft goals in my planner (shared in the photo at the top of this post) is 21 items long, I will not be attempting to finish all of them in September. However, I do plan to finish those listed below (and hopefully a few more!)

September Goals:

1. Make an eyeglasses case for my (empty) Etsy shop.

2. Create a wall quilt with the blocks from a Crazy Quilting International Heart Round Robin. (#2 on the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, selected in May.) You may see all of the blocks here.

3. Finish embellishing the crazy quilt stocking I am making for my son. (#10 on the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, selected in June.)

4. Create a purse with this block from the Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP) 2014. (#5 on the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, selected in August.) You may read more about this block here.

5. Embellish my CQJP 2014 December block and make it into a bag. (This is #7 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge and it was selected for September.)

6. Create block 7 from the Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the Month hosted by Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy. My fabrics are ironed and ready to go! Amy created this darling block. You may read her post about it here. There is a link to the pattern in her post.

7. Create the darling flamingo block Carol of Just Let Me Quilt created for block 8 of the Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM. You may see it here. There is a link to the pattern, which is free throughout September.

8. Complete my first coloring class through Kit and Clowder. (I subscribed to a coloring class. Of course, I am planning to incorporate what I learn into coloring fabric!) There is a Kit and Clowder Facebook Group that I joined and this weekend there is a fun celebration of 15,000 members. If you want to check it out, the website is here and the FB group is here. (I am not affiliated.)

Please note, I may be sharing sneak peeks of my works-in-progress on Instagram or on my Facebook page throughout the month.

Top 5 Posts Viewed in August:

1. August 2017 - here

2. Twilight Duel Update #21 - August 2017 - here

3. QS Red Hearts Update - August 2017 - here

4. Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM Blocks 5 & 6 - here

5. Fractal White Tiger August 2017 - here

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you all have an amazing weekend.

-Renee

June 2017

Can you believe we are almost midway through 2017 already?

Looking back at my Goals for May, I completed the following:

#6 on my list - I completed a wall quilt using the last 3 blocks from my Crazy Quilting International Under the Sea Round Robin. This was #11 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, which was the April project. You may read more about it and see more photos here.

#8 on my list - I completed blocks 1, 3 & 4 from the Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM hosted by Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy. You may read about them here and here.

Here is my updated list for the APQ UFO Challenge.

Even if I do not finish them all, this challenge has encouraged 3 finishes so far.

June is going to be another really busy month, especially the first two weeks. However, I hope to make even more progress. We'll see... I do not plan to finish all of the projects below, but do hope to shorten the list!

June Goals:

1. Complete 4 projects for my Etsy Shop. 3 of these are ready to sew.

2. Finish gifts for my friend's daughter.

3. Embellish March CQJP 2017 block and sew it into a tote bag.

4. Piece CQJP 2017 blocks for April, May, and June.

5. Spend 10 minutes a day adding snowflakes to my Winter/Christmas wall quilt. This was #8 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, which was the project selected for February. You may read more about these blocks here.

6. Finish embellishing this block from the CQI Hearts Round Robin I participated in back in 2014. You may read more about these blocks here. This was #2 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, which was the project for May.

7. The June project for the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge is #10, which is embellishing this block and making a Christmas stocking for my son.

8. Finish block 5 for the Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM. It is another fun one! You can find the post about it here and the pattern here.

9. Finish the projects I planned for Mother's Day so they will be finished for Christmas.

Top 5 Viewed Posts in May:

1. TAST Stitches 44 & 77 - here

2. May 2017 - here

3. TAST Stitch 81 - here

4. TAST Stitch 78 - here

5. TAST Stitch 76 - here (The 4th most viewed post in April.)

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee

May 2017

Looking back at April, I am very glad my biggest priority was to finish up the tote bag to donate. I told myself that anything else I finished would be "icing on the cake", so to speak. 

A few of you asked how the tote bag did. It raised $150 toward the engineering scholarship fund. I am already thinking about what I will donate to the fall fundraising event. A request has been made for something red...

April is always a busy month, with several family birthdays, a spring conference my husband attends, and Easter; so I did not have a lot of crafting time. I stole a few hours here and there to work on the cross-stitch project I am stitching for my eldest son. (You may see the progress here, if you missed yesterday's post.) 

I fed the keyboard of my laptop a very full cup of coffee, too. Thankfully, it survived after drying out for several days. So, April was a lucky month!

NOTE: You may click on any photo for a larger view. I do not expect anyone to really read through all of this - my goals are listed here as a tool for me to refer to more than anything else.

Review of April Goals:

To save time, the list of April Goals may be seen here. Though I made progress on a few things, only my 2nd goal was completed.

2. Embellish February CQJP 2017 block and make a tote bag with it to donate to an auction. Done! - A photo is above and the blog post is here.

May Goals:

1. Complete the 4 projects for my Etsy Shop and add them to the - currently empty - inventory. 3 of these are ready to sew.

2. Finish gifts for my friend's daughter.

3. Embellish March CQJP 2017 block. (An outline of a seahorse has been added since this photo was taken.)

4. Piece and embellish April CQJP 2017 block. (I have a smaller project in mind. To meet the minimum 8x8-inch requirement, I may piece 4 blocks that are 4x4-inches each.)

5. Spend 10 minutes a day adding snowflakes to my Winter/Christmas Wall Quilt. (I did well with this for the first week of April and hope to do better in May. This photo shows how it looks now. I realized it takes just over 10 minutes per snowflake.) This was #8 on my UFO Challenge 2017 and should have been finished in February. I'm still plugging away! (You may see more photos of the blocks here.)

6. Complete # 11 from my allpeoplequilt.com UFO Challenge 2017 list. This should have been completed in April. I have ordered something fun to finish this with. You may see more details about these blocks here.

7. In May, #2 was drawn for the UFO Challenge 2017. I need to embellish the letter "E" and create a finished project with the blocks from my CQI Heart Round Robin. (You may see better photos and more detail about these blocks here.) I am very excited to put this one together and ordered something fun for it that should arrive soon.

8. Complete blocks 1, 3 & 4 from the Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the Month 2017 organized by Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy. This photo shows my progress on block 3, which was designed by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks.

9. Finish my Mother's Day projects.

May is another very busy month. I will be working a fair amount outside of the home. So, I have a feeling many of my goals listed above may be on my June list, too. We'll see how much I manage to accomplish.

I also hope to visit some blogs this month. I think I am going through withdrawals. I miss visiting my blogging friends!

Top 5 Viewed Posts in April:

1. April 2017 - here

2. TAST 78 - here 

3. CQJP 2017 February Block Tote - here

4. TAST 76 - here (This was the top most viewed post in March.)

5. CQJP 2017 February Block Motif 2 - here

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee

It is Monday, so I am linking to Stitchery Link Party #108 at Super Mom - No Cape this week. If you have a blog that features hand embroidery, I encourage you to join the party! There is a rooster pattern available to download this week.