Finishing month

It sure feels like August - hot and humid.  The weather forecast keeps saying "Expect thunderstorms".  Clearly, I need to adjust my expectations because we have not had a drop of rain since last Sunday and every day the forecast has said "Expect thunderstorms".  So, I think I'll stay inside and stitch - or sew.  I have decided that this month will be "finishing month".  I have a number of items that I have finished cross stitching and haven't "finished" either into a functional or decorative item or framed.  Then I also have a few BAPs - that are UFOs.  And a few new projects.  I've decided that anything I have actually started qualifies for finishing month.

So - in no particular order - here they are.

Poppy biscornu from Faby Reilly.  I have the back started and the front just needs beads and backstitching.  The biscornu are easy to finish and I can easily do it even in front of the TV.

Boo Club from Lizzie Kate has been stitched for some time now.  I created the twisted cord a while ago but then I decided that I didn't really like the black and white cord.  I have a few different backing fabrics to decide between but the cording is really where I'm stuck.

Here we have French Country Owl from JBW Designs on top, then April Robin Button-Up Birdie from the Victoria Sampler.  Then I have Moonlit Kitties which is a Buttons and Beads kit from Mill Hill.  And under that I have Dizzy Busy Bees from Sweetheart Tree that I'm going to finish as a biscornu.

I've had Fairy Idyll as an Unfinished project for more than a year now. I really want to work on her.  I also still have Indian Summer Reflections from Chatelaine that I stopped working on when I ran out of black marlitt.  I did recently find some more of the discontinued thread so I want to get back to that design.  I really do love this mandala.

And, I recently started Shakespeare's Fairies and Dressmaker's Daughters.  I've got my work cut out for me.

Trick or Treat and Taxes

It's that week - the last big push to get all the taxes filed.  People are grumpier than usual.  I don't see too many people this year with smiles on their faces showing that they will be getting an unanticipated refund.  I have seen a few looks of shock on faces showing that they will be writing some unanticipated checks.  It's really too bad because aside from paying huge sums of money to the government or being reminded of the huge sum of money you paid all year long, this is really a nice time of year.

While getting my camera ready for a quick trip, I realized that I have photos on my camera that I meant to post back in October.  I must have skipped over them when we experienced "Snowtober".

Here's a quick shot of my stitched Boo Club from Lizzie Kate.  This pic is clearly before ironing.  I think it is before the little buttons were added as well.  Over the next week or two I hope to put together the other pics and create a quick tutorial on finishing a bellpull/banner.

The best laid plans

I never actually said the words "I'm on the wagon" but I kind of kept it in the back of my head that I have more stuff than I can possibly use in my lifetime - but even worse, I have run out of space to put it all. So, I have really been pretty good for the last 7 or 8 months. I have tried not to purchase anything if I didn't already have a place for it - storage-wise. I even spent weeks this summer cleaning out and organizing my pantries and linen closets. The shelves are even labeled to prevent anyone (mostly me) from stashing something else in a temporarily open spot.

Over 12 weeks or so I have been purchasing those modular storage cubes from Michael's so that I could build a big desk/storage area and get back the cabinets that were being used for the kids' arts and crafts materials for the last 10 years. (It takes a long time if you keep waiting for the coupons). Anyway, it is done! The kids now have a huge (56" square) area for their projects, puzzles, whatever plus a ton of storage space. And I got two kitchen cabinets back. That's when things went downhill.

See, I figured I had new space to fill - because you certainly can't have empty cabinets. So off I went enhancing stash and getting lots of cool little tools. Now - of course I don't keep my stitching stuff in the kitchen, so I had to kind of rotate stuff from other places. Wouldn't you know it! Once I moved all the placemats, tablecloths, and other kitchen-y thing from their various places all over the house into the newly-freed kitchen cabinets, there really wasn't any space freed up anywhere else in house! How can that be? Boy did I mess this one up.

Now I think I need to stitch a few extra hours in the day to free up some stash space. I wonder how that idea will go over with the family.

Anyway, I do love the cubes from Michael's. One cube came without the required hardware and their customer service sent it out to me. I had it in 3 days. None of the cubes came with any chips or dents and they were all easy to put together.

I did get some stitching done - but not a lot. I do plan to have the Boo! Club finished this week.

And a little more...

Thanks for visiting!

Unofficially Fall

I hope everyone had a pleasant, safe Labor Day weekend. I think nearly everyone in the U.S. is back to school now. The local private schools started today. Most of the public schools around here started last week - a few even started the week before last. The leaves are already beginning to change, the pick-your-own apple orchards were all busy this weekend - and its only going to go up to 68F by Thursday. Its un-officially fall.

We had a relatively laid back Labor Day weekend. The kids have been in school for 4 days and already one of them was sick. I guess he picks things up quickly! I hope that applies to everything else at school as well. So, the kids and I stayed home for the weekend.

I did get some stitching done - but I also had to do quite a bit of frogging. Complete lack of focus. Hopefully, I'll get my act together again soon. I really like the Crescent Colours floss.

Here's one of the last hurrahs from my garden. I believe this is Champagne Elegance - a reblooming iris. This is the first time it has ever bloomed even though I have had it for 4 years. I'm not sure I love it - but this year I am happy to see anything doing well in the garden. It definitely seemed like the summer that wasn't.