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 

Maggie the Mess Maker WIP update

I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms!   I have had such a busy week I have not been able to find any time to stitch since last Sunday. Every evening once all the errands and appointments after work have been done I have been way to tired to do anything but crash.
This means poor Maggie has been neglected so far for the start of the month. I am hoping for a quiet weekend so I can do some serious catch up. This is the latest progress photo as of 20th Feb just before I rotated on to Taj for the rest of Feb.

I'm rather enjoying my 2 project a month rotation at the moment. While I have so many screaming to start, (plus a few half finished) I am not listening to them.. so far lol. I am keeping to only two reasonably large projects and maybe a small carry anywhere project on the go at any one time.
This does not how ever stop me kitting up for the next start.. or the one after that or even the one after that! Stash enhancement.. just as therapeutic as stitching itself!

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

Diet Kitty 2 - WIP

Before rotating back on to Maggie the Mess Maker for the start of the month I decided to put a couple of hours into Diet Kitty 2 this afternoon. It was a lovely afternoon sitting outside stitching  until the light got a bit too dim to see.. again the curse of getting older.

Not much of an update but some progress anyway.

Progress for 1st Feb 2014

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

Taj Mahal Garden - Part 2

Almost finished page 2 of Taj Mahal last night. If only my mind and body did not insist on sleep.
I had every intention of sitting up until it was finished but at 11pm my plan was foiled! Curses to getting older and not having the will power to pull an all nighter anymore!

I am rather pleased with the progress,  however I might have hit a bit of a stumbling block. I have the printed 12 page black and white chart and the scroll work backstitching is very hard to see and looks nothing like what I have seen on other stitched versions. Also the "mist" back stitching around the Taj's  only seems to go in one direction on my chart on both sides of the Taj's like this \\\\, where as I have seen it stitched \\\\ and then //// on the other side so I'm a bit confused at the moment.

Hopefully I will finish pages 2 and 3 on my next update. I am aiming for at least a page a month so I should have it all finished at the end of the year.  Should... but we will see lol.

Progress from 21st - 31st January 2014

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