Time for a Taj Mahal update plus February 2015 IHSW report

Can't believe it has been just over a month since my last blog post.  Time flying again, we are almost 2 months gone this year already!

I've spent the last month blissfully progressing on  my Chatelaine Taj Mahal Mandala, I'm now well past the half way point.

Last time I updated Taj back in November my progress looked like this.

My progress from 23rd January to the 4th February.  I really started to make progress on the middle section. 

Then on the 15th February it looked like this. I didn't realise my needles had been smoking until I saw the before and after shots and how much of the middle I had got done in 11 days lol. 

I took another photo at the start the weekend of IHSW so I could see my progress before and after the weekend. My main focus was finishing the middle and getting some progress on the right hand Taj. 

February IHSW ended up being a very good stitchy weekend. In fact stitching was about the only thing I could do Friday night and Saturday day. We had two cyclones up north. One in the Northern Territory which had no real impact on us and the second was Cyclone Marcia due to hit up north Friday night or Saturday morning. Brisbane received heaps of rain.

Friday it rained all day so once I got home from work it was time to settle in for the long haul. It was predicted to rain all day Saturday and possibly Sunday too. I even made sure to have batteries for my little clip on LED lights and my rechargeable light charged in case of power loss. It was IHSW after all. Nothing was going to stop me lol.  My goal of finishing the middle section - cross stitches achieved and a good start on the right hand Taj. I so love this design. This is where I leave Taj's progress as of 22nd of February as it is time to catch up on the PR Mystery Sal before the next part comes out but firstly I'm off to check out everyone else's IHSW efforts.  

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

January 2015 IHSW

Ack I am late with  my IHSW update.  Work sure does get in the way of blogging and stitches  some days :)

No photos this time around they are coming in my next post. I spent the weekend working on the PR Mystery Sal when I could.
 It was so hot and sticky here over the weekend that I found I couldn't sit and stitch for more than half hour at a time.
I got way too hot under my stitching lamp and trying to stitch with sweat rolling down your face is just wrong.   I was hoping to get part 7 finished but keeping cool was more of a priority. The minute you went out of fan zone you were dripping wet.

I hope everyone else managed to get more stitching done for the weekend than I did. I will be off to check out everyone's blogs later this evening.

Happy Stitching everyone,
Deb

August 2014 IHSW

Twisted Band Sampler was the WIP of choice for this weekends stitching.  While the weather was wet as predicted here in Brisbane over the weekend, with the very much needed rain. I didn't managed to get as much stitching time in as I was hoping.

Friday night I ended up crashing in bed at 8pm too tired to stitch,  so Saturday I had grand plans once the housework was done. I did managed to get a few hours done on and off during the afternoon. It is slow going stitching on 32ct black. Then around 5:45pm we lost power for a few hours due to a car hitting a power pole near us. Impossible to stitch on black by torch light. I did consider it quite a few times lol.

Sunday saw more progress and even though I did not get as much done as I had hoped I did managed to finish the 2nd band, completely stitch the 3rd band and start the 4th one.

Now back on to Maggie for the rest of the month. Inching closer and closer to a finish. 

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

Marvelous Maggie update.

Welcome to my  new followers,  I hope you enjoy reading my updates and I always look forward to hearing from you all :)

Would you believe I have been sitting on a Maggie update from the beginning of the month. How slack of me! So a quick update just to show you the latest  progress photo as there will be another one at the end of the month.  I spent all of July working on Maggie and have kept going for this month too.

Last update Maggie looked like this

As of the first of August she now looks like this

I have made a heap more progress since this photo and I am hoping I get all the stitching finished this month. Fingers crossed!

Don't forget this weekend coming is IHSW. It is suppose to rain here in Brisbane all weekend so it is a perfect weekend to sit and stitch! I am planning on doing a bit more on Twisted band sampler this weekend. 

Until after the weekend

Happy stitching everyone, 

Deb

May 2014 IHSW and recent stash enhancements

Another weekend of hermiting and stitching has passed. Boy they seem to go so fast and my best laid plans of not doing anything but stitching don't always go to plan.

Most of Saturday was a complete bust. I spent most of the day doing housework and de-cluttering. I seem to be spring cleaning in the wrong season seeing as it is Autumn here in Australia!

I did manage to pass away a few hours on Saturday night and Sunday day blissfully with needle and thread in hand and have made a good amount of progress on Maggie since my last up date. So here she now sits as of Sunday 18th May 2014.

I also started kitting up what could possibly be my next few starts .. once I finish at least 1 work in progress not before....but so tempting. 

I picked up my very first Just Nan chart recently off eBay -  Silver Needle http://www.justnan.com/jn024-silver-needle.html. I'm not normally a Just Nan fan, but this one speaks to me and I can see it hanging on the wall above my cross stitching chair. I'm planning to do the dmc version rather than kit it all out with the Soie d' Alger silks which would prove costly and I don't have many charts that call for these silks. 

I also purchased the digital chart for Passione Ricamo's Prosperity Fae, and ordered some hand dyed Jobelan fabric from Polstitches for this design. Can't wait to actually get a start on this one!

Happy stitching everyone, 

Deb

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My very late April 2014 IHSW update

It is so amazing some times how time gets away from you given I'm a week late with Aprils IHSW report.

So here goes a quick update. IHSW fell on a great weekend. Easter weekend which meant I did manage to find heaps of time to stitch. I certainly hope everyone had a good Easter with their families and got to hermit some what during the weekend.

All of April I have been working on Maggie the Mess Maker and below is my progress as of 23rd April

I have seen heaps of progress and enjoying a stitching groove on this piece at the moment so I am sticking with it and dropping my normal rotation on to Taj Mahal Garden Mandala until I either get sick of looking at Maggie or finish her which ever comes first. 

Just about to sign off for the night and do some stitching and remembered I saw this on face book tonight. Anyone know where you can get them from I so need this! 

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

March 2014 IHSW

I just realised I am a few days late with my IHSW report for the weekend.

Some stitching got done not as much as I wanted though. Mostly on Friday night and Saturday. Sunday I spent the day doing things with hubby, going out to breakfast, shopping and just spending time which was nice.

I did manage to get part 3 of my Taj Mahal Garden Mandala finished and start part 4. No update photo this week though as it doesn't show a lot of advancement compared to the last photo I posted just before the weekend.

Looking forward to next months one which I believes falls over the Easter weekend... Joyze please correct me if I am wrong. That means lots of time for stitching as we Aussies get a 4 day holiday weekend that weekend whoohoo!

Happy Stitching everyone
Deb

WIP's updates and its IHSW again yay!

I'm a bit behind in my Taj Mahal Garden Mandala  updates, and seeing as I get to rotate back on to Taj this weekend, there is no better time for a quick update.

I've almost finished part 3. Which means I will have part 3 finished and onto part 4 this weekend.  Notice there was no "should" in that sentence. Seeing as its IHSW **insert happy dancing here** I have major plans for nothing but stitching all weekend or at least most of it. For some reason the family does insist on me doing some housework,  plus the washing and ironing at some time over the weekend. Not to mention dinner on occasions. Maybe I should go on strike.. what do you think?

Ok here is Taj Mahal Garden Mandala at present. Progress photo as of the 2nd of March. Told you I was behind.

Now for Maggie. Heaps of progress made again and Maggie herself is starting to make an appearance.

DD number 2 asked me the other day why do I have more than one project going at once. I'm sure I heard a collective gasp from stitchers around the world that day! 

I explained that only having the two projects on the go at the moment was  better than my normal 10 or more. That I was trying to scale it down so I could get some finishes. 

But also that seeing as Maggie is so intense in colour changes at times and such a busy design I find it keeps my interest renewed every time I rotate back on to her after a week or so on Taj Mahal Garden Mandala. Not to mention it calms me from wanting to start new projects every few days! 

Officially I have 6 WIP started at the moment -  4 large, Maggie the Mess Maker, Taj Mahal Garden Mandala, The Sewing Room, and Fire Fly Fairies (not much stitches in this one) plus 2 smaller ones,  but only working on these two rotating every two weeks. Who's willing to fess up to how many WIP they have at the moment.?

Maggie the Mess Maker as of 21st March 2014.

Alas the hungry hordes will be wanting dinner soon. So I hope everyone who is participating has a good IHSW and gets to hermit like crazy. 

Happy stitching everyone

Deb 

February 2014 IHSW

I was so looking forward to the weekend because it was IHSW this weekend. Which meant I had an excuse to indulge in lots of stitching and not much else.

It also fell on the weekend I was due to rotate back onto Taj Mahal Garden Mandala for the rest of the month. I didn't get much time for stitching Friday night or Saturday, but did manage to get a good stretch of time to myself on Sunday for most of the day, so progress was made.

So without further delay, a before this weekend photo and an after progress photo.

 Before the weekend

Progress as of 23rd Feb. Please excuse the fabric colour in this photo as I took it at night.

Happy  Stitching everyone, 

Deb

January 2014 IHSW

This weekend I took part in my very first IHSW. While I did not get to hermit and stitch as much as I wished I did get some time to myself on Sunday and managed to get quite a few hours stitching on Maggie the Mess Maker, my WIP for the week.

This is what it looked like before I rotated back onto this project on the 6th January.

And this is what it looks like as of the 20th. 

While never needing a reason to do nothing but sitting and stitching and watching the odd DVD or 3,  it certainly doesn't hurt to have an excuse like taking part in the IHSW. I'm  certainly looking  forward to next months!

Happy Stitching everyone

Deb