Keebles World

I had several late nights, but I made it to the finish line and here she is in her entirety: I actually finished her last night, but it was way too late to post it. I got home early enough tonight, but got called back in, so this is the first chance I've had to get her up. Considering she is 12 pages, I'm surprised at how small she really is, especially compared to Pea. She literally fits in two mattress layers of Pea easily. But anyhoo, onwards and upwards...Maleficent starts Friday!

My plan was to have Angel in Lilac finished before the New Year so that I can start on Maleficent and my rotation idea (which has morphed, but more on that later). I stitched non-stop all weekend long, living constantly in confetti hell, switching colors more often than I took breaths, and although I did make progress, I'm not sure I've made enough to get me to the finish line by the end of the week. I started last week here: and ended here last night: I know it doesn't look like there is much left, but trust me, working non-stop every non-working, waking hour between now and Friday still might not get me done. There is even more confetti to come in her wings and since they are so similar in tone, I'm more worried about them than the entire project (which is why I've saved them to last). Each one of the designs on her dress (I call them sea horses, not sure what they are), have about 40 colors each. Granted, it's why all the browns and yellows look g...

Well, the last International Hermit and Stitch Weekend has passed for 2014! This is the first year since I started doing the IHSW that I actually missed a couple of months. Hopefully next year I'll be able to stick to a regular schedule (unless I get sidetracked by Disneyland planning). I worked on Angel and Tartan B this weekend, but I didn't get a ton done because I ended up having to do some work for one of my bosses on Saturday and I went to Hobby Lobby and got the thread for Maleficent. On Sunday I got Pea mounted and ready for framing and got my thread for Maleficent wound up. I'm still waiting on the paper to come in to print her off, but I'm not going to start her until Angel is finished (or I might not finish Angel at all). I did manage a bit of work on Angel throughout the week and ended here: Starting with my progress Friday: Saturday: and Sunday: Tartan B ended here: but I did manage to get a bit into the blue yesterday: I definitely...

It is a rare occurrence for me to buy HAED's in a non-sale time, but today is different. Despite my financial difficulties right now, some things must be gotten immediately, and this is one of them: I think it's a very safe assumption that Sleepy Hollow Mural now gets put back into stash, Alice and the Bouguereau's becomes my #2, and this beauty is my new top focus (as soon as the special paper I print them on comes in...had to order more of that too, oh, and I guess I'll have to get more thread, geez, cross stitching is an EXPENSIVE hobby!). But I figure by January 1, Maleficent will be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's child! Yesterday was also the first Needle Club for Rainy Wedding. It's weird working on Aida again and definitely weird working on 18ct and two threads, but here it is anyway:

I have done it! Excitement abounds! Now I just have to mount her so I can get her framed. Ugh, the worst part.

I've been staying away from the Hodgepodge lately because frankly I can't stand all the festive happy holiday-related questions. I haven't been feeling particularly festive or happy lately, so I thought it best to keep quiet versus spewing tons of negativity. I did read quite a few people's posts however, or as much as I could before the "happy families" of it all got me too far down. 1. Time magazine has selected The Ebola Fighters as their person of the year for 2014. Do you agree, and if so who would you say is a close second? If you disagree with their choice, who do you think should have been chosen? I work in healthcare, I try really hard not to keep up with healthcare news in my off time so I have limited knowledge of the ebola people. I think the nurse and the reporter who broke quarantine should have been punished more harshly...it's one thing to prove a point, it's an entirely other thing when you put people's lives at risk, howev...

Despite having the second worst work week of the year (or because of it...I tend to stitch more when I'm stressed), I managed quite a chunk of stitching this past week. Pea is in the home stretches and she went from here: to here: Barring death or dismemberment (or incarceration for a homicidal rampage), I fully intend to finish her this week. Angel got a bit of work despite a short Needle Club. She went from here (and a better full picture of her): to here: If I plan it right with her and take her home immediately after finishing Pea, she could possibly be finished by the end of the year also, or at least during New Years break. I finally jumped the fence with Tartan B as well as restarted it on Aida. I tried 18ct first, but thought it was a bit too big (that's what happens after years of working on 28ct), so I ended up going to 22ct and I absolutely LOVE it! It's so much cleaner than it was before on the linen (although the material might be just as thin...

Well, I'd like to show a ton of stitch work, but there just isn't that much to show. I.T. isn't always a 9 to 5 job and this week was one of those prime examples of the crappy hours I'm sometimes required to keep (at salary, no less). Needless to say, I did manage a chunk of work on Tartan B simply because I could do it during those late work nights while systems were doing their thing and I couldn't do anything but watch them. I've also reached that critical point with this one...do I continue on or do I restart it? I've got the plan to turn this into a pillow eventually and I just don't think that this thin material will work well in pillow capacity. I could finish this one and do something else with it and do another one for a pillow, but if I had a dime for every single time I said I'd "redo" a project for one reason or another and never did, well I wouldn't be in debt. Pea suffered though and I only managed two days worth...

I didn't touch Pea this week for various reasons...was going to Monday night, but an old friend came into town and we hung out for the night. Tuesday brought a horrible Wal-Mart shopping experience (you'd think Christmas shopping had already begun) and I was worn out afterwards. I brought Angel home to do over Thanksgiving and wound up not being able to put her down for the rest of the week. Here's her progression (and forgive the dark pictures...since I started taking pictures on my iPhone, I wanted to continue the process, but apparently iPhones and trailer lighting doesn't mix very well). First night's finish: To row finish: Through tonight: For a Quick Stitch, this has been a very surprising project. It is small, but it's got more confetti than any HAED I have done to date. Since the very last row is less than two block rows, I decided not to do the final row separate and just finishing the piece in its entirety. I also managed a bit more w...

1. Besides U.S. Thanksgiving, it's also National Game and Puzzle Week...what game have you played most recently, and who were you with? Have you worked a puzzle of any kind in the past week? I definitely do NOT like playing games with others...I'm way too competitive and I do NOT like to lose (I'm the kid who used to memorize all the Trivial Pursuit cards). But I play Sudoku a lot and have done so in the past week. I'm also extremely addicted to games on my phone (mostly Disney ones) and that occurs on a daily basis. 2. What is one place you were thankful for this year? This might be the most surprising answer I have ever given...one that NO ONE could EVER guess...Disney World! 3. Take a nap, watch football, go for an after dinner walk, or hit the stores...which ONE is on your must-do list for Thanksgiving day? For those of you playing along who aren't in the US, answer as it relates to any big holiday meal. None...I fully plan to spend the day cross stitc...

Closer and closer she comes to being finished! I was very nearly done with the row at the beginning of the week: and by early-mid week I had it done: She looks so small while I'm stitching her, but all rolled out, she's huge! It's gonna cost me a fortune to get her framed! But I did manage to get quite a bit into the final row: This row will be much easier because the confetti is at a bare minimum. As a matter of fact, I'm almost done with most all of it now and it's pretty much smooth sailing from here! I added an extra hour to Needle Club last week, but it didn't help much...Angel only went from here: to here: We won't have Needle Club this week due to the holiday...maybe I'll take her home and work on her Thanksgiving day. At least get further along if not done with this section so I can move on. But to make myself feel better with my lack of Needle Club progress, I threw in a bit of work on Tartan B which went from here: to ...