A Start & Finish

Being stuck at work during the weekend before Christmas means that it is a pretty slow work week. 

While 911 never rests, we do have our down time around certain holidays thankfully and it allows for a bit of arts and crafts at times. 

I have a co-worker who has mentioned several times that they wanted a specific subversive cross stitch done and I finally gave in and made it for them. It took me 6 hours to start and finish in between 911 calls which wasn't too bad. I googled several different versions of the phrase and ultimately settled on the alphabet style of one I found on Pinterest and added a simple little bottom border. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything about who created it but this was the image I worked off of. 

I hope they like their subversive cross stitch!

FINISHED! Subversive Cross Stitch

WIP Wednesday

Today is an exciting WIP Wednesday post for me because I can officially say that I have a (sort of) finish!

After several hours of:

1.  stitching on a frustrating stamped pattern

2. trying not to go crazy over basketweave stitching

3. getting very angry over a ridiculous amount of French knots

The Polar Pals Stocking is done! At least for my part....

Here’s where I last left off:

And now:

I’m so glad this is done. I don’t think I’ve ever been more frustrated with a project before. I’ve come to the conclusion that I really don’t like working on a stamped canvas. However, I think it ended up coming out great (despite the name not being spaced right...).

This afternoon, I met up with my friend who is going to finish this into the actual stocking for my daughter. We picked out a nice fabric and batting at Joann’s and now it’s just a waiting game. Fingers crossed that she can get it done in time for Christmas. If not, then it’ll end up being a 3 King’s present and we will get to use it next year!

I can’t wait to see what this will look like once it’s completed!

Now I can finally get back to working on other projects that are actually cross stitch! Yay!!

Am I Seeing An Update??

Yes! 

Your eyes are not deceiving you! 

After about 7 months, I have an actual update!

In all honesty, I have truly missed the ability to stitch for the past several months. Unfortunately I have had a full schedule between my daughter, family outings, work, and taking several classes at a time. Thankfully, things are starting to slow down with school since the semester is almost over! I only have a week left! I also switch back to dayshift in about another week as well!

*Does happy dance*

Thanksgiving came and went here and there was lots of yummy food to be had even though I did have to work that night. I did have the following weekend off though, which was nice. I spent my days off celebrating a late Thanksgiving with my parents, running around Disney's Magic Kingdom with my in-laws, and putting up the Christmas lights outside and decorating a little bit inside (not much inside though because we have some jerk kitties that thing it's fun to mess with them).

Most of the stitching I have done was over the Thanksgiving break and I've continued a little bit here and there. I plan to keep stitching and to have at least 1 finish before Christmas. So I have chosen to focus on the stocking that I have been working on for almost 2 years for my daughter (granted I did lose it for a little bit when we moved rooms around). I am going to try my hardest to have the stitching done in time to then have my friend finish it as a stocking because I don't know how to use a sewing machine.... maybe one day I will learn 😆

Here is how far I was on it the last time I posted:

And here is where I am at the moment:

I have managed to finish all (but the scarf) of the penguin and the snowman since the last post. It's hard to see, but I've also started on some of the blue on the rest of pattern. Basically all that's left are the various blues and greens and then the accent backstitching, french knots, and putting my daughter's name on it! 

One thing I am really learning with this project, is that I'm not a fan of working on a stamped pattern because it becomes difficult to tell where to actually stitch with small details here and there. The other thing I don't like is that it makes it hard to tell the actual progress I've made at times...at least in pictures. 

That's all for now! I hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far!

An Actual Stitching Update!

I finally have an actual stitching update!!! 

I haven't really been able to focus much on stitching between family adventures, my classes, and work but I have been able to do some stitching here and there over the past couple months. So this update is the culmination of progress made since about mid March and might be a bit long.

The 3 projects that I have chosen to focus on are all intended to be gifts and I would REALLY like to have them done in time to be gifted for their respective dates. I apologize in advance for the lighting on the updated photos.

First up is the Polar Pals stocking that I have been working on for my daughter. 

Here is where it looked like last time I posted it on December 2016:

Here is where I am at with it now:

It is a little hard to see the progress because it is a stamped design but most of the grays in the snowman's hat and in the penguin's arms have been done and the top section up to the first orange band has been completed since the last time I posted it. The intention was for this to be ready by my daughter's first Christmas... that didn't happen and then my husband had moved my project and couldn't remember where and I couldn't find it for about a year.... so I'd really like to have this done this year to be put up right after Thanksgiving, since my daughter is 2 and this will be her 3rd Christmas.

Next up is the Olde World Map. 

Last time this was posted about was in December 2017:

and now:

It doesn't look like much progress but there is some. The inner border for the Western Hemisphere has been done, the signage in the hemisphere has been started, a couple more feathers on the headdress, and a little more work on the boring border. If I can really hunker down and work on this one, I would like to have it finished and framed to give to my mom and stepdad for Christmas. 

Last up is the Star Wars piece that I am working on for my friends' son. 

In July 2017 it looked like:

and now:

This is going to be a birthday gift so I have until January to finish it. This piece is actually an evolving piece. The original pattern was of Yoda, Darth Vader and "Star Wars" but I decided to change out the words for their son's name in the Star Wars font and added his birth date at the bottom. I am still undecided as to if I will consider this a finish after the names are filled in or if I am going to incorporate another pattern and modify it. I have tiny patterns for the main characters and am contemplating adding them either along the bottom or the sides.

That's all for now! Here's to hoping I will be able to post an stitching update sooner than it took me to post this one!

Checking In...

It has been about 3 months since I last posted, so I figured I would at least check-in!

It has been quite a busy 3 months between Christmas, New Year's, my daughter's 2nd birthday, the loss of my great aunt, school starting back up, and switching to 12 hour days at work.

I haven't had any time to stitch lately but I have been itching to get back into it. Hopefully I'll be able to start again soon. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly when soon will be since this month we will be celebrating my mother and my mother-in-law's birthdays and my anniversary.

I hope everyone has had a good start to the year so far! I have a lot of catching up to with blog hopping, so off I go!