WIP Wednesday 04/15/2015

264 stitches were added to Santa and the Mouse this week. 

This is a retired freebie chart from Heaven and Earth Designs.

It is a smaller portion of this chart.

It is stitched 2 over 1 on 28-count fabric (Monaco, I think...)

Above shows the section I worked on this week. 

Below shows how it looked last week.

If I tallied them up correctly, there are 17,666 stitches in this chart.

I have completed 10,833 stitches; so, it is now 61.3% complete.

Note of interest:

Before I forget, I wanted to let you know that Kim at Wisdom with Needle and Thread is hostessing a Decorative Thimble Exchange. Details are HERE. You need to sign up by April 20th. It sounds fun!

I discovered several blogs last week featuring progress on Heaven and Earth Designs cross-stitch charts. (I really needed a break from writing at the time...) Several of the blogs featured little meters on the sidebar showing their progress. I loved the feature, so I added one for Santa and the Mouse and one for my Camp NaNoWriMo progress. They are on the right side bar. (Does that make it productive procrastination?!) 

I have a confession. Ordinarily, I do not stress over my list of goals. I keep it as a reminder of projects I hope to complete soon.  This week, with the exception of Santa and the Mouse and my BCQC block, everything has an impending deadline. And, I forgot about a snowball swap planned for this month. (Oops!) Below is the picture of the bare block. (It looks much different now - I even managed to balance out that white triangle at the top.)

I felt the pressure this week with all of that in addition to keeping up with my chores and spending time with my hubby and my boys. And, I spent 3 days helping my mom out this week. 

Luckily for me, I enjoy everything I am working on! (Though I will admit some days the writing is work.) While my sewing machine was out, I also completed the gifts I will share at 1xmasitemamonth.blogspot.com on April twenty-fifth. 

Last Week's Goals:

1. Complete 250 x-stitches on the HAED Santa & the Mouse chart (which is no longer available, but it is a part of this chart at Heaven and Earth Designs.) 264 stitches completed - pictured above.

2. Work on a block requested in exchange for my son's senior pictures. Here is a peek at the seam I am working on:

3. Work on Beginner's Crazy Quilt Block. Not this week. I worked on the snowball block instead.

4. Write at least 11632 words this week, for a total of 23,333 words for Camp NaNoWriMo. Sigh... I wish! What a rough, rough week for writing. My time has been pulled in so many directions that I decided to be thankful for the 6,645 words I did write. I am 37% done. (By the end of today that would need to be 50% done to be on track...)

5. Complete another project for the Have a Latte Blog Hop. (I love this Clothworks fabric line!) Done! My post was written on Monday and it is scheduled to post on my blog at midnight Eastern Standard Time on the 16th (9 p.m. tonight, my time.)

View the full schedule HERE.

6. Work on Kathy's CQI UTS RR block. Here is a tiny sneak peek at a base seam stitch:

This Week's Goals:

1. Complete 250 x-stitches on the HAED Santa & the Mouse chart (which is no longer available, but it is a part of this chart at Heaven and Earth Designs.) 

2. Work on a block requested in exchange for my son's senior pictures.
3. Write at least 13,860 words this week, for a total of 32,206 words for Camp NaNoWriMo. (That is an average of 1,980 words per day. If I am closer to 35,000, all the better!)

4. Complete and mail out the snowball for Kathy S.
5. Complete and mail out Kathy's CQI UTS RR block.

WIP Wednesday 04/08/2015

Over 250 stitches were added to Santa and the Mouse this week. 

I filled in some of Santa's beard and the fur on his hat. Here are close-ups of this week (above) compared to last week (below). 

Click any image for a larger view.

Last Week's Goals:

1. Complete 250 x-stitches on the HAED Santa & the Mouse chart (which is no longer available, but it is a part of this chart at Heaven and Earth Designs.) I completed just over 250 stitches this week. Photos are above.

2. Work on a block requested in exchange for my son's senior pictures. I finished this seam and have the base stitches down for the next one.

3. Work on Beginner's Crazy Quilt Block. I only added 12 more beads to seam 5, but it is progress...

4. Write at least 11,670 words this week. My current word count is 11,701.

5. Complete a project for the Have a Latte Blog Hop. (I love this Clothworks fabric line!) One project is done and another is almost finished. My day to present will be Thursday, April 16th.

6. Share pictures of the Crazy Quilt International Under the Sea Round Robin (CQI UTS RR) blocks I received last week. Kathy S. of MD made 6 gorgeous blocks and Nicki Lee of MA did a stunningly gorgeous job embellishing one. I also need to choose a block and sketch out my plans. Here is a link to the post and below is a picture of the block embellished by Nicki Lee.

I decided to embellish this beautiful block. A friend asked how I could possibly choose which one to work on. I opted to go with the block I liked best with a piece of lovely lace I purchased from Nicki Lee. 

This Week's Goals:

1. Complete 250 x-stitches on the HAED Santa & the Mouse chart (which is no longer available, but it is a part of this chart at Heaven and Earth Designs.) 

2. Work on a block requested in exchange for my son's senior pictures.
3. Work on Beginner's Crazy Quilt Block.

4. Write at least 11632 words this week, for a total of 23,333 words for Camp NaNoWriMo.

5. Complete another project for the Have a Latte Blog Hop. (I love this Clothworks fabric line!)
6. Work on Kathy's CQI UTS RR block.

WIP Wednesday 04/01/2015

I made lofty goals last week, thinking the boys would be on Spring Break, so I would have extra time. (What was I thinking?!) Although I did not meet all of my goals, it was a great week. Mutt, my youngest, and I did yard work for my mom. Monkey, my eldest, did yard work for my mother-in-law. And, we had a great friend over for dinner. Most of my free time was spent working (almost compulsively) on the Santa and the Mouse Ornament.

I added over 600 x-stitches to the window section this week. The photo above is how it looks now. Below is how it looked last week. 

You may click on any photo for a larger image.

Camp NaNoWriMo begins today. NaNoWriMo is held every November and stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to complete 50,000 words in 30 days. Camp NaNoWriMo is offered in April and July. 

In order to complete 50,000 words this month (an average of 1,667 words per day), I will need to utilize my time wisely. So, I may not be very active on the Internet this month. (Funny how quickly time can go while browsing through blogs on the web, isn't it?!) 

I do hope you all have an amazing week and thank you for stopping by!

Renee


Last Week's Goals:

1. Complete 250 x-stitches on the HAED Santa & the Mouse chart (which is no longer available, but it is a part of this chart at Heaven and Earth Designs.)  More than doubled this goal with over 600 x-stitches - See progress above.

2. Work on an item for my Etsy shop. It still needs a spider...

3. Work on a block requested in exchange for my son's senior pictures. Progress made.

4. Finish Beginner's Crazy Quilt Block. Not yet - but I finished adding beads to the seam 2 (the picture with the spider below), which I was dreading for some reason, so progress is easier now!  Now I am working on seam 5 (the picture with the pink arches and peach roses below.)

5. Work on outline for the novel I will be working on during Camp NaNoWriMo in April and update story info on their site. I am really self-conscience about the idea of anyone reading anything fictional that I write... I think that has been a HUGE hang up on actually finishing a novel. (I managed 50,000+ words in November of 2012, but did not let anyone read any of it.  That being said... here is the synopsis for the modern fantasy novel I plan to write this month. (Note I said "plan" not "hope" to write... Gulp.) 

Samantha Lumen has a secret. She is not like everyone else. To her knowledge, of the six people that knew her secret, four are dead. Of the two remaining, one is a killer and the other a thief.

Six years after fleeing her past, Samantha leads a quiet, private life. She works two jobs and lives with her roommate, Jade Greene. Her life is busy, simple and safe.

A phone call in the middle of the night changes everything. Samantha agrees to give a rebellious teenager a ride home from a party, not realizing her past and present are about to collide and all of her secrets may be exposed.

6. Create a gift to share at 1xmasitemamonth.blogspot.com. Not quite, but I did make progress on a project using this Alma Lynne cross-stitch pattern. If you missed my post, you may see it here. 

7. Work on project for the Have a Latte Blog Hop. (I love this Clothworksfabric line!) I sort of made progress... Patterns have been selected and fabrics set aside for each. Should be fun!

This Week's Goals:

1. Complete 250 x-stitches on the HAED Santa & the Mouse chart (which is no longer available, but it is a part of this chart at Heaven and Earth Designs.) 

2. Work on a block requested in exchange for my son's senior pictures.
3. Work on Beginner's Crazy Quilt Block.

4. Write at least 11,670 words this week.

5. Complete a project for the Have a Latte Blog Hop. (I love this Clothworksfabric line!)
6. Share pictures of the Crazy Quilt International Under the Sea Round Robin (CQI UTS RR) blocks I received last week. Kathy S. of MD made 6 gorgeous blocks and Nicki Lee of MA did a stunningly gorgeous job embellishing one. I also need to choose a block and sketch out my plans.

Work in Progress Wednesday 4/2/14

Wow!  It is WIP Wednesday again already.  Time certainly does fly!

To find out more about WIP, CLICK HERE to read the faqs at pintangle.com.

This week I finished outlining "Dream" and embellished two more seams.

Looking at the progress on this block and on the list of goals from last week, it feels like I have not achieved much.  However, I have also been working away at a couple of gift items that I cannot share yet.

To see what others have been working on, check out the comments others have posted on Sharon Boggon's Work In Progress Wednesday post HERE.

Last November, I planned to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but my schedule was so crazy, I think I gave up after day one.  (I did actually type over 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo 2012.  But, I was so unhappy with what I created, not even my hubby has been allowed to read it.)  This month, I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo. My thought being, April would be far less busy than November; so, I would actually have time to dedicate to writing.  Hmmm... that was before my hubby changed jobs and began working from home (which requires the use of our PC - there is a reason I have not posted often recently!)  And, I was not thinking about the many projects I hoped to finish this month.  That being said, even if I fail to meet the 50,000 word goal, some progress is better than no progress. Right? Right!

GOALS:

This list is pretty much to help me be accountable - but it seems to be growing each week.  Hmmm...

Last week's goals:

1. The purse I plan to make with my CQJP 2014 January block
2. The 6 blocks I need to piece for the CQI Heart DYB Round Robin
3. Complete my March CQJP 2014 block. (It has been pieced and a photo of the bare block is below.  I hope to finish embellishing it this evening!)
4. My block to embellish from the CQI Winter/Christmas DYB Round Robin (I will share what little progress I have made on Wednesday.)
5. The wall hanging I plan to create with all of my CQI Winter/Christmas blocks
6. My CQJP 2013 May block (better late than never?!)
7. A crazy quilted hexagon to participate in my first swap with the World Wide Crazy Quilters Yahoo! Group
8. A change purse for myself (to learn how to use a sew-in purse frame.)
9. Four gifts I hope to complete by the end of April.

This week's goals:

1. The purse I plan to make with my CQJP 2014 January block
2. The 6 blocks I need to piece for the CQI Heart DYB Round Robin
3. My block to embellish from the CQI Winter/Christmas DYB Round Robin (seen above)
4. The wall hanging I plan to create with all of my CQI Winter/Christmas blocks
5. My CQJP 2013 May block - better late than never?! (It is referred to as Block 4 if you follow this link.)
6. A crazy quilted hexagon to participate in my first swap with the World Wide Crazy Quilters Yahoo! Group
7. A change purse for myself (to learn how to use a sew-in purse frame.)
8. Four gifts I hope to complete by the end of April
9. The purse I plan to make with my CQJP 2014 March block
10. Complete my April CQJP 2014 block. (It has been pieced and a photo of the bare block is below.)
11. Type at least 13,367 words for CampNaNoWriMo novel. (1,667 words per day.)