2016 Goals

I confess that I wasn't very good at stitching on the projects I had selected for 2015. I've realized that I can't have more than one cross stitch project running. Also, since joining the guild and subscribing to Inspirations magazine, it was much harder not to succumb to temptation. I will have to try better this year.

Last year's goals didn't fare very well, but I did finish a nice number of other projects.

• Ink Circles - Bramble and the Rose - current
• Mirabilia - Tree of Hope - current (cross stitch all done)
• Teresa Wentzler - Tracery Dragons - current
• Donna M. Olson - Fantasy Lace - current
• Brodeuse Bressane - SAL Dentelle
• Finished 2 more projects from Creative Festival 2014 (so that's 4 out of 6)
• Finished 1 project from Creative Festival 2015
• Satsuma Street - Pretty Little San Francisco - started and finished
• Deborah Love - Eidelweiss - started and finished
• SJ Designs - 18th Century Sampler - started and finished

I'll have to try much harder this year, but I won't be starting any new projects on the New Year as I did for 2015. For this year the only set plans will be the following:

• TUSAL posts will now be wordless unless I post an update of a WIP
• Keep up with WIPocalypse, I'm picking easy goals for this:
• Finish the beading on Mirabilia's Tree of Hope
• Finish at least one page of Ink Circles' Bramble and the Rose
• Try to put in some sort of stitching on Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons
• Finish all the eyelets on Donna M. Olson's Fantasy Lace
• Stitch up and finish the Creative Festival class kits by Gingerbread Girl Designs
• Start Hazel Blomkamp's Midnight Meander

2016 will be a very big year for me. The EAC holds a seminar every year in May and this year it will be in Toronto. It will be my first time attending and I can't wait.

I was lucky enough to be awarded a grant by my home guild Virtual Threads, which means I'll only have to cover the cost of the kit. In other words, more money for stash acquisitions ;) I'm still waiting on the confirmation email for my class which should come soon. I'm hoping and praying I get my first choice, which is a Punto Antico class with Barbara Kershaw called Fandango. You know my love of whitework =D

Being awarded the grant means you will be reading a lot about this WIP as the conditions for receiving the grant are a submitted report for the guild newsletter of my experience at the seminar and sharing photographs of the project. So since I have a blog, I will be posting lots of progress pics :)

But that's not all I'll be doing in May. Right after seminar (in actuality I'll be leaving straight from Toronto), I will be flying out to France for The French Needle's Tour of Paris. I've been holding this news in since July. So glad it's finally out! I'm super excited that it's now only 5 months away.

The tour will include:

• Visit to la Maison Sajou where we will also receive a lesson in "Broderie Blanche" (whitework embroidery =D)
• Two 3-hour classes at la Maison Lesage for tambour beading lessons
• Visits to specialty boutiques like Mokuba, la Droguerie, Au Ver a Soie
• Walking tours of Paris and visits to Versailles, Museum of Toile de Jouy, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Nissim de Camondo Museum
• A concert at Notre Dame de Paris
• A dinner with Hélène Le Berre who is a french needlework designer and illustrator

Isn't that a dream vacation for a stitcher!? The big day will be Monday May 16 when I will be taking the train from Montreal to Toronto with a fellow member of the guild (I've always wanted to take the train!). Later on, on Saturday May 21, I will be flying out from Toronto so that I will be in time for the check-in in Paris on the next day.

2016 is going to be a fun year all around =^_^=

Looking Back at 2015

I like to look back at all the projects I've worked on during the year. This year, I've tried to branch out my needlework interests.

I did a lot of cross stitching but also tried out pulled and drawn thread (lots of whitework, my new love). I also did some crochet and learned a bit of knitting (still trying to improve that by the way).

So here's a final count: I have 6 finishes this year and 4 WIPs left. I'm not including the Creative Festival projects as WIPs since most of them I think of as learning pieces.

This year I learned that:

I love working on a project with a group. It's so much more fun to see every one's progress. I hope to be able to do more of this next year.

I absolutely love whitework of all types and want to try all of them.

I enjoy stitching outside.

Starting multiple projects at the beginning of the year doesn't work for me at all. Although I did my best, some of them fell through the cracks. For example, I did really good work on Fantasy Lace and Tree of Hope.

But Tracery Dragon didn't see the light of day all year.

Finally, although I will never truly enjoy doing "finishing" I can do it when I need to.

P.S. I haven't forgotten Bramble and the Rose. In fact, it's been taken out of hiding and had quite a few stitches put in. We're doing a Star Wars marathon at home before going to see the new movie and Bramble and the Rose is the perfect project for it since there is no color change. I'll post an update after the new year.

WIPocalypse 2015 – December

This month's theme is a recap of what we've stitched and finished this year. I will do a later post on this as I'm hoping to finish one more project.

I didn't work on Bramble and the Rose yet. The plan is to take it out tonight and work on it until the New Year. So there should be an update of this in next years WIPocalypse.

	No Update
Ink Circles - The Bramble and the Rose

Tree of Hope is all done! Well the cross stitch is done. I will start the beading sometime after the New Year.

Mirabilia - Tree of Hope

I still haven't touched Tracery Dragons. No idea if I will work on it this year.

	No Update
Teresa Wentzler - Tracery Dragons

In my rush to finish Tree of Hope I didn't take out Fantasy Lace at all. I might switch between this and Bramble and the Rose.

	No Update
Satin Stitches - Donna's Fantasy Lace

Since I finished Tree of Hope ahead of time, I decided to see if I could finish stitching one of the Creative Festival class kits. So I took out Precious Jewel by Gingerbread Girl Designs. I only had the bullions and beading left to do. I'm quite happy with how the bullions came out this time (I guess I was in the right mood for it). I've started the finishing process (which I really dread). I hope I can finish it before the New Year.

Previous Jewel - Gingerbread Girl Designs

Tree of Hope Quick Update

I've been stitching non stop on Tree of Hope hoping that I would finish all the cross stitch before the new year. It's looking good for me as I've managed to stitch the big flowers on either side of the maidens.

All that will be left is a little stitching at the bottom and the maidens' dresses which I've been avoiding finishing. It's entirely stitched with the Caron thread which always give me a headache. I want to aim to finish these by Saturday so that I can spend the last week of the year on Bramble and the Rose. A project that hasn't seen any stitching action since last year.

December TUSAL

Finally some color. This is the last TUSAL of the year, so here is what my jar looks like after a year of stitching. I've surpassed last year that's for sure :)

Two Maidens and Dessert

This weekend felt both interminable and short at the same time. I had my office Christmas party on Saturday. The night felt like it would never end. Then waking up Sunday morning, the day just flew by. I also got a new mixer that I wanted to try out so that took a small chunk of my stitching time. Isn't it pretty? The color is called Ice Blue. I'll have to match it to a DMC color, it would look great with a light purple.

We decided to test it by using an old recipe of my mother's. It's a pineapple upside down cake. My mom was telling me that back when she got this recipe, everyone was making this cake (we loved it as kids). But after we moved to Canada, everyone was about the banana cake. All I remember was that we used to fight over those pineapples. They were always sugary sweet.

I did manage to get some stitching done on Tree of Hope the week before. My two maidens are now at the same stage. I really would love to finish this before new years, but I don't think that will happen. I will settle for getting as much done as I can.

Virtual Stitches Stash Sale #2

Virtual Stitches had their second stash sale a few weeks back. I wasn't really planning on getting anything, but there were a few choice kits and patterns. It was very hard to resist. Most of these beauties were put up for sale by Jeanine Robertson. I guess she has a huge stash from her years of stitching.

Can you guess why I bought it?

I'll say it: I'm obsessed with anything white work. This piece has a lovely Reticello center and I've always wanted to try Bargello. The design is called Strawberry Lace Sewing Case and is by Diane Clements. I did a little bit of research and found out that this was a class that was offered by the EGA. Ms. Clements has since passed away, but you can still find some of her class kits for sale on eBay.

When I received the pattern, I was shocked by how thick the book was. Over 80 pages of instructions, from how to stitch each section to final assembly of the case. And that doesn't even include the pages for the actual pattern. The kit itself also contains everything you'd need to stitch and finish the project. The actual cost of which would have far exceeded what I payed for it (not to mention the cost of the class itself). I can't wait to start reading the book. I need to start prepping before I could even think to start stitching.

I've also really gotten back into Tree of Hope. I'm trying to finish stitching the skin of the second maiden. Hopefully I'll get that done this week.