Week Forty-Six, November 19, 2015

Another mixed week... a football game  with our arch-rival Tuesday night (which we lost, AGAIN, sixth year in a row! And we have - had? - the best quarterback in the country and one of the ten best receivers as well! Well, we did. QB threw two interceptions and fumbled once; receiver caught only three passes for a total of only 32 yards...). If it hadn't been for the other receiver (two phenomenal one-handed passes in the end zone for touchdowns), the score would have been even more lopsided than it was! Even so...

Needless to say, that night was a no-go for stitching. And I was still on a downer on Wednesday when the weather-induced sinus headache came back (still sitting behind my right eye) so no stitching last night either. 

Here's hoping this next week fares better, although family Thanksgiving (we are responsible for the turkey this year --- cooked at our house and transported to theirs? Huh? Whose bright idea? My husband and his brother, of course!) so I suspect Wednesday will be a lost day as will Thursday.

Anyway, here is "Revenge", the seventh of the "Roll Your Own" mandalas, with four of the twelve fill colors completed and the fifth barely underway:

Here's hoping I get somewhere further on this...

Week Forty-Five, November 12, 2015

I can't believe it but I actually stitched this week and I'm making some progress on "Revenge"! I am on color three of twelve:

I also have a completion to report: my Crazy Quilt /Bead Journal Project block for November. LOts of leaves, falling and otherwise, seem to be what is characterizing this warmer-than-usual, but windy, November. Also, it seems to be darker this month, mainly due to longer nights, but also to overcast skies. So my block is darker than the rest of the quilt blocks have been, and has swirly winds and lots of blowing leaves...

Quilt guild meets tonight but I hope to get back into my stitching routine Friday. There is a night football game (with our big rivals) next Tuesday night and there will probably be Thanksgiving planning going on as well, but I still hope to see a lot more color in "Revenge" by next Thursday!

Week Forty-Four, November 5, 2015Week Forty-Four, November 5, 2015

That pesky cold is back again, along with a sprained lower back… Yesterday morning was husband’s high school class monthly breakfast so we had to get up early to get there.  

And then there was last night — a night football game, kick-off at 8PM. It was televised so each 15 minute quarter lasted an hour (we finally gave up and left at 11 PM, end of the third quarter, when our team was leading 48 - 17). It was warm for November (70 at kickoff) and the President’s Suite was crowded with people (there are 35 seats, give or take a few, but there were a LOT of people standing as well) and since it’s a close space, it was HOT in there. With this cold starting up again, I wasn’t too keen on staying for the whole game, however much I love my Falcons, and I surely wasn’t going to take up my needlework when we arrived home around Midnight!  

Final Score 62 - 24!

So I wasn’t very good for stitchery this week.

I did get some work done, however. I quilted (!!!). Those three place mats are finished and ready to take to guild next Thursday night. I know that the Meals on Wheels gifting is currently oversubscribed but some others have stepped up with nursing, assisted living and retirement homes as possible recipients so I will take my poor first attempts at serious quilting in and hope they get good homes…

Here they are, front and back…

Placemat #1 - front

Placemat #1 - back

Placemat #2 - front

Placemat #2 - back

Placemat #3 - front

Placemat #3 - back

I also started the color fill on the Roll Your Own Mandala “Re #3 0venge; color # 1 is roughly 1/4 complete:

Cold permitting this next week looks pretty much unencumbered by events. Also, I’m hoping I can stitch all day long Friday night/Saturday when husband will be off daylily conferencing. 

Week Forty-Three, October 29, 2015

What a difference two days makes in stitching. despite a new bout of ripping out (upper left corner this time), I FINISHED the outline for "Revenge" late last night!

I even managed to put in a few more stitches on the outline for "Rematch" (I had some black stands left and didn't want to mess with them tangling in my project bag):

Here si what "Roll Your Own looks like as of October 28, 2015:

Now, on to color! YAY!

WIPocalypse 2015 - October 27 - Hunter's Moon

This month's topic is "Are there any fibers or materials used in stitching that you’re nervous to try?" I'd have to say "not really". I think I've tried most of the fibers out there and while I don't LIKE to use some of them (metallics, rayons, even linens), I can use any of them if pressed. I have to admit my favorite is silk, but I can't really afford silk in quantity so I tend to stick with my old stand-by DMC six-stranded cotton.

Last month, My goals were (not necessarily in the order listed):

• finish outline of "Revenge" ===  75% DONE
• put some stitches into "Save the Stitches" blackwork === NOT done
• Design and prepare the base blocks for the Crazy Quilt/Bead Journal Project for October, November and December === DONE
• Complete the October blocks for the Crazy Quilt/Bead Journal Project === DONE  
• Quilt three placemats for the quilt guild holiday project === NOT done (but I did load the bobbin!)

Also, while away at a paper crafting class, I put in some stitches into the border of my traveling needlepoint "Palm Tree Elegance"  (I thought I had two night football games last month but I was wrong --- they are in the next three weeks...).

Considering I wasn't feeling that "stitchy" all month, this wasn't too bad.

Next month, my goals are:

• Start putting in the colors on "Revenge"
• Quilt those three place mats (or they will have to sit around my quilting space until NEXT holiday season!)
• Finish the November Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal block

Week Forty-Two, October 22, 2015

Since last week, there was a Cross Stitch Crazy "Stitchathon" and the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, so I did get in some stitching. At this point in time, I am on page five (of six) of "Revenge"... and the outline is nearly 3/4 complete!

I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I sure hope it isn't the train coming in the other direction!

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, October 16 - 18

I plugged away at "Revenge" in Roll Your Own. And when I say plugged, I really mean fogged. That lower left corner was ripped out three times due to silly one-off miscounts. But I finally got the third page done and the outline is now half complete!