Stitch-in Day Two

I'll be honest. Thinking about the kids and kids' sports talk on Saturday, I was a little reluctant on Sunday. The dude said, "Just focus on your shared passion!" He's so encouraging sometimes. I needn't have worried. Instead we talked about diseases. And there was a little talk about finishing and a cord making lesson. Some of the lesson was more theoretical than practical so I directed my table mate to Twisted Stitcher's (Vonna's) finishing blog and Magic by Mona's blog. I'm sure you all know about them already, but if you don't--click away now!

The day ended at 2:00, and I stayed there stitching as long as they would let me because I was six stitches away from finishing! Although I got a few backstitches in on Sunday night, I wasn't able to finish; I did have to do some of the chores I had neglected over the weekend! I am counting on finishing this in December to bring my 2016 numbers up. I know some of you would have stuck with it, but I am committed to this one-a-day rotation.

This fat little cardinal is still so damn cute, isn't he?

Love Bird

Love Bird was started as part of Debbie's Ultimate January Challenge. (Previous pic below.) I sat on the edge of my bed and took those 28 stitches while the dude was getting ready for bed. That challenge was really challenging.

But now the bird has really filled out. I loved this fat little fellow when I first saw him as a wooly pincushion. (Don't you think JABC should bring back their patterns, if not the kits, which are so expensive*.) (OMG! You can find them ALL--ALL!--at Stitching Bits and Bobs under the JABCo button. I think some places aren't carrying the patterns because they still have the kits.) Just so cute! I don't want to jinx myself and make a prediction about what will happen next month. So no comments on completion.

I'm supposed to move on to Ladybug, Ladybug, but I can't find it. I've looked in all the places it should be and some places it shouldn't be. It looks like I haven't touched it since I started it in January 2015. It couldn't have just walked away...

Instead I'll go back to the Deruta biscornu that I worked on in June.

*Expensive but deservedly so.

Tool: Pincushion

I have renewed energy tonight! I can't believe I am finished and blogging before bedtime. This week's tool is a pincushion. It wasn't always going to be this pincushion...but I was having such anxiety about completing my other project, I decided to give myself a break and use the Lazy Turtle Pincushion kit from Just Another Button Company. When I decided this as I lay awake in the middle of the night, I fell right to sleep. Good decision. Still, I always feel like it's cheating a little to use a kit.

Nevertheless, I did the work. The JABC felt kits are a lot of fun, even if they are sometimes tiny and make me feel like I've grown extra thumbs. They're so damn cute! What else can I say?

Days 13 & 14

I think I'm going to have to start recording my new starts in my paper diary because of the whole lack of blogging. Projects I've started are piling up, and I can't remember which day I started which. Also I just pulled out the four projects I have in my bag, thought to myself "Tuesday Drawn Threads, Wednesday Love Bird, Thursday Mill Hill, and Friday Vermont" and wheeled myself back over to the computer and could only remember that I started the Drawn Thread on Tuesday. I have got to work on my memory. I used to have a dazzling one. On Tuesday, I started Drawn Thread's Four Fat Friends freebie. I think I may have kitted this up for some of my stitching buddies, who I hope don't think I just called them fat! Anyway, I have had this kitted up for ages and have finally started it. I am stitching with the called-for colors on a random piece of fabric.

On Wednesday, I had a meeting that ran much longer than I expected, and then I had to walk the dog. I was literally sitting on the edge of my bed putting in a few stitches before I turned in for the night. You can see why I am starting to find the pace a little hectic. And this is even after I prepared all my kits last month! I fell in love with this bird when I saw the wool version pinned on Pinterest. I spent a while tracking it down and even longer just waiting for the right time to start it. This project is being stitched with the suggested colors and fabric.