99 Bottles

This is a new project I've started and I've got the first 2 pages done.  There's 4 more pages to go and it's really easy but I get bored of it easily too.  I'm stitching it on 16 ct Aida, on hand dyed fabric but I can't remember the name of the color.  It's shale  or rock or something.

Here's a picture how how it should look when it's done.

Here's how much I've done so far:

Crimson Omen - update

So I got another page done on this one.  I wish I could have finished it this year but I've worked on too many other projects as well.  I think I might make it a goal to finish it in 2015. 

Faces of Faery 89 - update

Here's page 2 completed in this project.

UPDATE: Twilight Balloon Flight

Baseball season has started again.  Yeah!  I was trying to figure out which project I was going to stitch while watching opening day and then I remembered that I started stitching this project while watching baseball games so why not pull it out and get started on that last row.  The old grid lines had turned a slightly green color and I hope that doesn't mean trouble when I wash this at the end.  We'll have to see when I get to that point.  So far this is one week's worth of stitching while watching baseball and hockey games.  I would love to finish this project this year and I really think that I can.  The question will be if I have the money to frame it before giving it to my mom.

UPDATE: Dad's Flower Pot

So I took a weekend trip to California a couple of weeks ago and I took along this project to get some serious work done it.  All the single confetti stitches had been getting to me so I had put it away for awhile but I really needed to put more time in to this project.  I was able to get the top half of the page done.  I think the bottom half will go much faster as there's bigger blocks of color to deal with.  Hopefully some of the other pages will go faster than this one has.  And I'm still not done with it yet.

Crimson Omen - 3 pages done

I finished another page on this project and I LOVE how easy it is to stitch.  I wish I had started all of my larger projects in tent stitches instead of doing some of them as full stitches.  Things would be going so much faster if I did.  I think there's only a page and a half left for this top row.  Even though I'm working on this as a thank you gift for a friend I love it so much it's going to be very hard to give it away when done.  I'd love to do another one for me but I've got so many other projects I'd like to do I don't know if I have the time to repeat one.

Crimson Omen - progress update

I've finished page 2 on this project and when I was done I wasn't very excited about how it looked.  When I look at the scan it looks much better.  I guess I was just too close to it to look at the whole picture instead of individual colors.

Crimson Omen update

I finished the first page of my Crimson Omen project.  All that dark blue was boring but it went quickly . . . just over 3 hockey games worth of stitching.  It's funny how I'm counting my stitching time in terms of hockey games.  Now that baseball season has started I might be counting time spent by innings instead of hours.

Here's my progress so far:

Crimson Omen - new start

I’ve had an idea to do a thank you gift for a friend after he did some very nice things to help me out over a year ago.  I got the perfect idea and just had to work out all the details before I could finally get started.  Skitzzzzz made up the chart for me and did a FANTASTIC job.  It’s the Crimson Omen from the Gears of War video game franchise.  I’m doing it on 25ct Aida in 2x1 tent stitches.  It will be 10x10 inches when done.

This is what it is suppose to look like:

This is what I’ve done in just over an hour of stitching (I had forgotten how fast tent stitching is).  I've got a few more reds to fill into that section which is the bottom right of the page.  The rest is all background color.:

After I'm done make this as a gift I just might have to make another one for me because I love the design and what skitzzzzz did with the pattern.  I have a few other images I'd like done that I'm sure I'll have skitzzzzz do for me again.

Carcassonne update

I told myself that I couldn't start another project and until I'd finish something I've already been working on.  So . . . I pulled this project out and I've got plans for it when done.  I need to change the colors in the "C" because I didn't like what I picked when I made the pattern.  Hopefully I can pick something that will work.

14ct Aida, 2x1,  full

Dad's Flower Pot - HAED custom

Since I have been working on the large project for Mom (Twilight Balloon Flight) I have been trying to find a large project to do for Dad.  I got the idea of taking one of photos and making it into a pattern and surprising him with it.  But what if I picked one he didn't like?  I talked to him about this idea and he was for it.  I let me pick the picture he wasnted done.  I then had Heaven and Earth Designs create the pattern.  It was expensive but they do such great work that I wanted it to turn out the best that it could possibly be.  It's 89 colors and a pain in the ass to do but I'll get it done eventually.  Dad said he didn't want to see it while I was working on it so I told him he had to stay alive until I was done.  He said that if he died before it was finished I should put it in his coffin...finished or not.  We'll see.

25ct Magic guide Eavenweave, 1x1 full stitches

Here's what it should look like:

Here's what I've done so far (top half of page 1):

Disney Princess Portraits

I've had this pattern for a long time now and I figure I should probably get it done before my niece is too old for Disney Princesses.  I don't have a final picture to show so you'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.  This is done on 18ct Aida from Silkweavers Fabric.  I don't remember the name and now I can't find the packaging to tell me.  If I figure it out I'll post it later.  This is 2x1 full.

My progress so far: (can you tell which princess it is?)

More ornaments done

I'm almost done with my ornaments.  Here's just "a few" I've finished recently.  Some have the names on them already because I made them specifically for that person.  The others don't have the names because I either a) didn't know who they're for, or b) forgot to stitch the name before I took them out of the hoop. 

More Ornaments

Here are several more ornaments that I've finished.  I've done 13 so only 9 more to do.  And I've started painting the frames again for the Zodiac pieces.  Unfortunately I'm starting to get that "holy crap I've still got a lot to do and I'me not going to get everything done in time" feeling . . . and it's only October.

Year of the Rooster redo

Here's the redo for the Year of the Rooster.  14ct light blue Aida, 2x1, full.  Now I'm done stitching them . . . . again.  Hopefully I won't run into any problems when I try to frame them that would cause me to restitch one again. 

Year of the Snake - redo

So here is the first of the ones I've had to redo because the gridlines wouldn't wash out of the dark green fabric.  It's the Year of the Snake.  The other one I have to do is Year of the Rooster.  Everything is the same as last time except the fabric is a pale blue (so I could use my blue grid pen which I KNOW will wash out).

More ornaments done

So I've got 3 more ornaments done for my Christmas project.  That makes 7 so far.  Only 15 more to go.  At least to stitch anyway.  I've still got to stitch the names and year on the backside, sew together and stuff.  Hopefully I'll get them all done in time.  This whole Christmas present project has taken up a lot of my time that I'm getting tired of it.  And I'm having to restitch 2 of the Zodiacs because the grid lines wouldn't wash out.  I've got one of them done but I still have one more to do.

Twilight Balloon Flight - update

So here's my latest update on this project.  I'm doing this for my mom and yes, she has seen it.  I'm doing it on 18ct Aida 2x1 full.  I got the pattern from patternsonline.com.  I've got one more row of pages to do.  That's 3 full pages and one skinny column of stitches down a 4th page.  Then I've got to add all the strings for the little balloons.  I don't think I'll have it done by her birthday but maybe for next year (I've already got something planned for mother's day).  It's in desperate need of a wash so I might do that before I start the last pages.  I actually finished the last page at the beginning of June but I'm just now getting around to taking a picture.  I think it's only been 4 years so far . . . .

Year of the Pig

My next to last finish.  Yeah!  It's the Year of the Pig on 14ct Mulberry Aida, 2x1, full.  I thought it would look absolutely wonderful on this fabric but it didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.  I think a lighter fabric would have been much better.  I don't know how I'm going to do the frame for this one.  It's for my niece and her room is all in red.  I'll figure something out eventually.  I only have one left to do and it's mine so I can take all the time in the world . . . but I'm not.

You know the feeling you get when you get so close to finishing a project.  Suddenly, a project that you once dragged your feet through gets faster and easier to do.  You become hyper-focused on the project and excited to finally see it finished . . . and the chance to start something new.  That's how I feel about this one.  I'm almost done with the next one after only working on it for 2 days.  I could finish it tonight.  Then I've got a bunch of small ornaments to do (although they have a lot of backstitching on them which I hate) and then I'm done with the stitching part of this xmas gifts.  I can't wait to dive into the painting again.  For some reason I don't feel like painting while it's super hot here.

Year of the Sheep (4) FINISHED!

This is my last Year of the Sheep and it's finished.  AND I changed the colors.  I think it turned out better than the rat that I changed colors but I should have picked a darker brown for the color and inside the ears so the transition stands out more.  I also should have used a darker brown for the backstitching.  I'm still happy with it and I'm not going to nitpick about it.  Now I only have 2 left to stitch.

14ct red Aida, 2x1, full