Reviewing goals

Finally I can post some pictures.
During the past days I didn't stitch a lot. I only finished the monthly Flip-It and I worked on the Christmas ornament. This one is taking me a long time, more than I thought. It's a Santa by Prairie Schooler and even if he's about 50wx70h he's a little busy project. My next Santas will be smaller because I want to finish twelve ornaments before the end of this year and I decided to choose other Santas by Prairie Schooler and not the yearly ones.

I received my third envelope. I'm taking part in an Italian mail art exchange and I'm really enjoying myself.
This is the lovely envelope that my partner sent me.

Front side:

Back side:

Inside:

It's time to review October goals.

- stitch August, September and October Flip-It by LK
I stitched only August and October

- stitch the monthly Christmas ornament and the September one
no! I only worked on the September one

- stitch a block of Terre de France
no!

- work on the pattern by Sisters and Best Friends started as a SAL with some Italian friends
only a bit

- work on Quaker Garden
yes, but I didn't post a picture because I found a big mistake and I had to unstitch and stitch again a part of the pattern

- finish a charity pattern I started last month
yes!!!

- work on Merry Christmas by Brightneedle (SAL with some French ladies)
no, I'm still waiting for my supplies

- finish the curtains for my kitchen
no :(

I also finished an UFO, Cookin' Up Magic by Mill Hill and I pulled out other two UFOs I'm working on. I have not pubblished pictures yet because the progresses are not so important but I'm really happy because I stitched them again. I also stitched an envelope for my third mail art exchange but I can't upload it because I have to sew and send it.

Now I'm writing my November goals. I decided to focus my work on few goals.

-stitch September and November Flip-It by LK
-stitch September, October and November ornaments
-finish a block of Terre de France
-finish the curtains for my kitchen

A finish

Finally I received my package with the DMC threads and I could finish my charity project.
Here is the result:

It was a funny and quick pattern. I really enjoyed it and I'm happy that it's for Quilt America.

I stitched a bit also Pear Tree Inn by LHN. I'm stitching it slowly because I have other deadlines during this month and I usually stitch it as a relaxing pattern.

Yesterday was Wednesday so it was the day of my Celtic Summer. I stitched her but I'm working on her big skirt and after two weeks of work we can't see any progress yet. This is why I have not a picture of her.

Again UFOs

After finishing an UFO I decided to review all my UFOs and I noticed they are too many.

Enchanted Alphabet by L&L
Celtic Summer by L&L
Once upon a time by Passione Ricamo
HOHR by Carriage House Samplings
Christian's Stocking by Shepherd's Bush
Little Kate by Margaret Sherry
Christmas Elf Fairy by Mirabilia
a towel I started stitching for a friend

I decided to dedicate a day for week to one of these UFOs and yesterday I started stitching again Christian's Stocking. I chose this one because I decided to stitch it for Lore last year. I had finished a stocking for me and I'd like to stitch one for Lore too.
I'm not posting my progress because we can't see it...I hope to post the progress next week.

Veronica and I decided to dedicate also an hour to our ladies by L&L. We stitch together every Wednesday. I added a very nice button she created for me. Again the progress is not so important and I will not post a picture.

During the past week I've quite finished my charity project. I should send it away during next days but I'm waiting for a package with DMC fibers and it has not arrived yet.

And my progress on the monthly Flip-It:

Autumn

I love autumn's colours and everything talking about this season.
Yesterday we went to a wood in the country near Florence. We wanted to search some mushrooms but we met a snake at the beginning of the walk and we decided to walk following the path. At the end of the walk my basket for mushrooms was till empty. LOL!
Fortunately one of Lore's aunts gave us some mushrooms and we had a very autumnal dinner! Mushrooms and chestnuts!!!

Me and the (empty) basket




In the wood



Mushrooms and chestnuts for dinner



Lore cooked pasta with mushrooms




and mushrooms



We also played the guitar...well, Lore played the guitar, I played just one or two songs.



During the past days I also finished a kit by Mill Hill I started stitching last year. I fell in love with this funny kit and I immediately purchased. I worked hard on it but I couldn't finish before Halloween. I pulled it out last week because I was going to finish before Halloween (2006!). I worked on beading and this is the result:

I also changed my mini poll. Please, vote!
I'm going to work on my kitted up patterns and I've 31 patterns ready to stitch. I chose five of these and I'd like you to help me to decide the one I'll stitch in the next weeks. Thanks!

The old poll was about two WIPs. I finished both of them, so I closed it.
The votes were 34 and 20 were for The bookshelf by LHN and 14 for Tea Room by CCN.

Small projects

During the past days I worked only on small projects.

Finally I finished a Flip-It by Lizzie Kate, the one dedicated to August. I don't like the colours in the picture but I had to use the flash. I hope to make a better picture when it will be finished into a little pillow.

I have also a progress on the charity project. I like the colours of these patterns. They're really brigth and I'm really enjoying stitching mine. It's the letter P by an alphabet I don't know. The leader of this project gave us the letter we chose at the beginning of the work. I chose the letter of my surname.

Do you see that it's a P?

I have never posted the second envelope I sent for an Italian mail art exchange.
We sent the second envelopes during the summer. I chose an angel by Joanne Elliott because she's the favourite designer of my second partner. Unfortunately I have not a pattern by Joanne Elliott about summer, so I thought to stitch a little scissor fob with marine themes to send together.

Front of my envelope for Cristina:

Back of my envelope for Cristina:

Inside of my envelope for Cristina and scissor fob:

I'm back...

Finally I'm back.
I've not been writing for about a month.
September finished and it was a very sad month. This is why I didn't feel writing posts.
We were in mourning. Lore's father in law suddendly passed away and he left his wife, Lore's sister, and two children. It was a great loss to our family and we were really busy with a lot of things.
I would like to apologize for not taking part in your blogs with posts and not sending what I had to send.
-------
A new month arrived and it's time to speak again about cross stitch and goals.

My September goals were:
- stitch August and September Flip-It by LK no!

- stitch the monthly Christmas ornament no!

- finish The bookshelf YES!!

- finish Daisy Lane Cottage YES!!

- stitch a block of Terre de France no!

- start a pattern by Sisters and Best Friends as a SAL with some Italian friends YES!!

- work on Quaker Garden no...

Here are the October's goals:

- stitch August, September and October Flip-It by LK
- stitch the monthly Christmas ornament and the September one
- stitch a block of Terre de France
- work on the pattern by Sisters and Best Friends started as a SAL with some Italian friends
- work on Quaker Garden
- finish a charity pattern I started last month
- work on Merry Christmas by Brightneedle (SAL with some French ladies)

- finish the curtains for my kitchen (I worked on them during September and I'm pretty happy about the results)

Now we can see the pictures of my progresses during the past month.

I started Winter Peace, a pattern by Sisters and Best Friends that I'm stitching as a SAL with some Italian friends.

Yesterday I started stitching the Pear Tree Inn by Little House Needleworks as autumnal SAL with the ladies of the LHN group.

I started a charity pattern to take part in a project for Love Quilt America.

I worked on the August Flip-It by Lizzie Kate.

I finished The Bookshelf by LHN.

Stitched on Lugana 32ct, Hazelnut, Silkweaver.


And I finished the Daisy Lane Cottage by LHN.

Lists

During the past days I didn't stitch as I would have liked but I could finish the Santa I had started stitching in July.

Now I can cut the fabric and sew the four ornaments I stitched on this piece.
I've already chosen the new Santa. He'll be the 1996 PS Santa. I stitched a bit and I started his hat.

I've also finished a block of Terre de France by Annick Abrial but it's not the block that is in my goals. I had quite finished this one before August and I didn't work a lot on it during the week-end. Now I'm going to start and finish a new block and this will be my September block.

I'm also impatient to see the new marquoir that Annick will publish in October. I loved Terre de France and I hope she'll create a new beautiful sampler to stitch. To tell the truth they're big works but I imagine how I'd be happy if I could finish one!

I've not uploaded my holidays pictures yet but I finished to upload the pictures of my kitted up patterns. I can't beleive they're so many! They will take me at least a whole year.
And my future projects' list is growing quickly. I've not finished it yet and I've already created a new one!!!

I'm back!

I came back home few days ago but I was so busy that I couldn't write a post before today.
The holidays were really good and I hope to select some pictures as soon as possible. I've not had enough time yet.

Fortunately I have some pictures to share about cross stitch.

I could stitch during the holidays. I stitched only a bit, but I stitched and this is a surprise!
I worked on the Quaker Garden only when I was in Portugal and here is the progress:

When I came back home I pulled out my old projects and I stitched The bookshelf and Daisy Lane Cottage by LHN.

I'm working hard on these lovely patterns because I want to finish them and start stitching all the patterns of the Dear Diary series before the end of the year. I'll sew them into a quilt and it seems to be a big work. I imagine it will take me all the next year.

Otherwise I'm late with my monthly goals. I have to stitch the July's Christmas ornament because I couldn't finish it before August. I also have to stitch the August Flip-It by LK and this will be in my next goals.

Here is the progress on the Christmas ornament started in July. I have quite finished it, so I think it will not be in the goals of the next month.

So, here are my goals for September:

- stitch August and September Flip-It by LK
- stitch the monthly Christmas ornament
- finish The bookshelf
- finish Daisy Lane Cottage
- stitch a block for Terre de France
- start a pattern by Sisters and Best Friends as a SAL with some Italian friends
- work on Quaker Garden

I should add other goals such as
- prepare a fabric for a big SAL starting at the beginning of 2007 with an Italian friend
- sew two curtains for my kitchen
- ...

Well, I'm pretty busy.

Holidays

This is probably my last post before holidays.
I was really busy during these days because I had to organize the journey and search so many hotels/bed&breakfast for our stay in Portugal.

We'll be on holidays till 22 August.

I've not had enough time to stitch. I only finished my monthly Flip-It. I decided to take some supplies with me but I imagine I'll not stitch a stitch during the holidays.
Here is the finish.

Happy holidays!

What a great start!

Finally I'm in the SAL.
I have my supplies and I could start stitching Quaker Garden by Blackbird Designs. I can't beleive it! I had been waiting for my supplies for a long time.
Stitching this pattern is a lot of fun and the more I stitch it the more I'd like to stitch. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I'll be on holiday from 31th July to 22th August and I'll not be able to stitch during those days. I'll take designs and supplies with me but I imagine that I'll not stitch.

I hope to stitch a lot during this week.

Here is my progress on Quaker Garden (stitched on Lugana 32ct, Mocha by Silkweaver) and on Daisy Lane Cottage.

Happy dance!

I've not been posting for some days so I've an important progress to share.
Finally I finished The Stitcher by Homespun Elegance. This design has been an UFO for a long time. I started stitching it last year as a SAL with an Italian friend, Veronica. We decided to use this pattern as fibers' experimentation. We changed all the colours called for this pattern and I used some of the threads I had received when I took part in the Fiber Fenzy by PawPrint.
This is the result:

I'm pretty happy how it turned out. It was not too easy to find some colours matching the Olde Willow I had chosen for the dress of the stitcher. It's Psychedelia and it's very variegated.

I also attached some lovely buttons I could find in Florence in September. I can't beleive I found them here in Italy, but I did. They are buttons by Dress It Up.

I've not received my supplies for the Quaker Garden yet. I'm really impatient. I saw the wonderful finish of Karen and I'm so happy to have decided to stitch it.

In the meantime I worked on my monthly Flip-It by Lizzie Kate and I started stitching Daisy Lane Cottage as a SAL with the LHN group. I also created an album for my 2006 finishes and I'm updating my future projects' album. I'm reviewing all my patterns and I'm adding them slowly.

A lot of pictures

I'm trying to catch up with the pictures I should have uploaded during the past days.

During the past week-end I could sew some ornaments and a wall-hanging. I also framed two designs so I have some real finishes.

For the Christmas ornaments I chose an easy finish. I sewed them using only a fabric. The fabrics are by Meme's Quilt. Here are them:

I sewed a wall hanging using Be my love by Carriage House Samplings. I had found the right fabric several weeks ago and finally it's ready!

The framed works are Coffee Menu by LHN and The Tea Room by CCN. I went to the framer's shop and he prepared two frames. I'm happy how they turned out.

About other stitching news I started stitching my monthly Flip-It by Lizzie Kate. Here is my small progress:

Unfortunately I've not received my supplies for the Quaker Garden SAL organized by Karen. They are taking a lot of time and many of the other ladies have quite finished their samplers. I hope to receive my pattern in the next days, so I'll be able to start stitching it before my holidays in August.

Some weeks ago I had tried to prepare something using decoupage. Finally I took some pictures of it and here is the result:

Goals

July has already arrived and it's time to review my June's goals.
Many stitchers have also reviewed this year's goals because half year passed. I'll do it too.

June's goals were:
- stitch the envelope for the second mail art exchange
worked on it, but not finished

- work on some UFOs
I pulled out only HOHRH

- stitch the June's Flip-it by Lizzie Kate
yes

- finish another Christmas ornament by Prairie Schooler
yes

- work on Celtic Summer or Once upon a time
no :(

- work on The bookshelf and The Tea Room
yes, I worked on The Bookshelf and I finished The Tea Room

My July's goals are:

- finish the envelope for my second exchange of mail art
- stitch July's Flip-It blocks by LK
- stitch the monthly Christmas ornament
- stitch a block of Terre de France
- work a bit on HOHRH by Carriage House Samplings
- work on The bookshelf
- start the Daisy Lane Cottage SAL (15th of July)
- start the Quacker Garden SAL (the SAL has already started but I'm till waiting for my pattern and fibers)

July looks a busy month...
I could find the post about my 2006 goals. Reviewing them:

-Dawn, Fairy Spirit of Grace by Passione Ricamo SAL with Carol
we've not started it yet

-12 Flip-it by Lizzie Kate SAL. Every month we'll stitch the monthly Flip-it
yes, I've stitched six Flip-Its during these six months

- finish Terre de France by Annick Abrial, Christmas Elf Fairy by Mirabilia, Christian's Stocking by Shepherd's Bush, Be my love by Carriage House Samplings
finished only Be my love by CHS

- work on Once upon a time by Passione Ricamo, Celtic Summer by Lavender&Lace, Little Kate's patterns by Margaret Sherry
I worked a bit on Once upon a time and Celtic Summer

-finish the Mill Hill kit about Halloween
no!

-The rose of Sharon by Mirabilia SAL with Carol (sometimes during the year)
we've not started it yet

- some ornaments for my Christmas tree
I stitched an ornament for month (to tell the truth they are seven ornaments because during August I'll not be able to stitch one and I've already finished that)

- a needlecase for me
no

- start and finish some LHN designs (Coffee Menu, The bookshelf...)
yes, I finished Coffee Menu and Lavender Hill, I started The bookshelf

Now I'm sharing my most recent progress on The bookshelf. I finished the top of the pattern but I've not stitched the golden parts because I have to decide what kind of fiber I'll use. I don't like the DMC one, I think I'll use a Rainbow Gallery one.