April WIPocalypse and Turtle Trot

So I've been really bad at keeping up with the SAL's again and I think I'm blaming these guys...

 

They are kinda cute though so I guess I'll let them get away with it for now:)  They've all been busy growing up the past couple months. The twins sit up pretty well now and are very happy to be eating some mushy foods along with their bottles.  They're also threatening to crawl so I'm sure they'll really be keeping us on our toes soon.  Josh is enjoying his last few months of kindergarten and is getting ready to start his first real soccer league next week.  I can't wait to see him play his first game soon. 

 

Despite the lack of posting I have been getting a decent amount of time with my WIPocalypse/Turtle Trot piece. Fish City is really starting to grow...

 

 

You can't really see all of it but I've done quite a bit of backstitch to bring out a lot more detail than there was before and I think I'm going to try to continue to backstitch as I go otherwise it will be just way too much all at the end.  Things seem to be going pretty well so I think I'm going to keep on going with this piece for now.  I'm sure I'll get tired of it eventually but the bright colors and alternating between big blocks of color for the background and lots of color changes for the different fish are still keeping me interested for now. 

That's about it for now.  I hope to be back in about a week with another progress pic and maybe some kid pics from this weekend as the twins are being baptized and we're having a big family get together for them so hope to see you again a lot sooner than last time!

 

 

 

 



WIPocalypse and Turtle Trot- Better late than never!

Its February WIPocalypse and Turtle Trot  check in time and I'm only a few days late so you get two check ins for the price of one this month.  Since  I completely missed the first check in for both, I'll tell you now that my expectations for these SALs this year are pretty modest and I'm really just happy to be getting some stitching time.  I'm hoping to make some progress on a few WIPs and maybe stitch a few ornaments but not a lot of specific goals here. So far I'm doing pretty well as I've got two ornaments stitched for WIPocalypse (ok, one was technically finished in 2014 but barely as the last stitches were a few minutes before midnight on 12/31). Both are from the 2014 JCS ornament issue. The first is the SamSarah design and the second is from The Prairie Schooler.  This completes my 2014 ornies for the kids, snowmen for the twins and Santa picked out by Josh.  Hopefully they'll be on our 2015 tree!

 

 

And my progress on Fish City counts for both SALs...

 

And let's not forget the WIPocalypse question of the month-

How do you overcome the feeling that you're in a rut with a particular project?

Easy- put it down and do something else for awhile.  It might be a day or a year or more but unless its obligation stitching I put it down until it feels fresh and fun again. This is a hobby so to me it isn't worth it if I'm not enjoying it.  I spend plenty of time doing not so fun things like dishes and changing diapers so the precious little hobby time I get better be worth it and if that means putting down my stitching entirely for a week or two to read a book or get some extra gaming time then that's what happens.  It will always be there when I'm ready to thread my needle again.  

That's about it for now, don't forget to keep those comments to my GYB post coming to enter my giveaway by Feb 15 and I'm still slowly working my way through the GYB party posts so I may be visiting you soon.

 

Late Turtle Trot and WIPocalypse

A little late but I do have some stitching to report for both the Turtle Trot and WIPocalypse SAL's. First up is Space Traveler which is on my list for both SAL's. I've got a before/after for you since it's been so long since the last time I picked it up...





I'm very pleased with how this is turning out so far and am looking forward to continuing to work on it and get to some of the other parts I've seen stitched on other WIPs. I did take a short break from it to start a Halloween design from the special JCS Halloween issue. Sorry to say I didn't catch the designer but this is the beginning if the mummy on perforated paper...



In answer to the WIPocalypse question of the month about oldest/newest WIPs I'd say the mummy is my newest with Space Traveler as my newest long term WIP. My oldest would have to be TW's Storyteller which I started sometime in the 1990's and just have never gotten back to. I'd love to finish and frame it someday as it is still one if my favorite TW designs.



In kid news we are less than a week away from the first day of school for Josh and he is very excited to be an almost kindergartener. He's got his backpack packed and uniform ready to go for Day 1.

Babies are still doing fine too, they hit 31 weeks today. I'm doing ok outside a little elevated blood pressure that's being monitored carefully. I got taken out of work on maternity leave this week too so it's starting to feel like we're getting close to their arrival. Hoping that means more time for stitching for a few weeks but so far it seems like all I've done is sleep and run errands! Oh and buy a car- we celebrated my first day off by trading in our Honda Civic for an Odyssey. Didn't exactly plan it that way but we happened upon a really good deal and we wanted to trade before I go back to work in January anyway so we couldn't pass it up. Just one less thing to do after the twins get here.

Turtle Trot/WIPocalypse/GYB Giveaway Update

Meant to get back for at least a post in between the awesome Grow Your Blog event and the end of my giveaway but life kind of got in the way but in a good way, a very good way indeed. I'm not quite ready to say yet (don't want to jinx anything) but give me a couple weeks. It's worth it, I promise.

Anyway, I've got some business to take care of today- SALs to report on, a giveaway to attend to. First off, you'd think I would have had plenty of time for all of this. Just look at my front yard...



That would be my son standing on top of the snow pile by the mailbox. We've not been out much lately, too much if the cold and winter weather around here. I'd say I'm ready for Spring but I fear we'll need an ark when this mess finally does decide to melt!

Speaking of Spring, my mystery Spring-themed giveaway tied to the GYB event does have a winner and it is Sandra of Thistle Cove Farm. Congrats! Email me at justanotherflamingo @ yahoo dot com and I'll get your info and start working on your prize. I have to say that though I haven't had nearly as much time to look through all the blogs as I'd like, I have really enjoyed seeing everyone's blog that I've made it to and am looking forward to continuing to explore and find new favorite places to stop. I also notice that my blog has grown as a result of the event and I am glad to have new followers and look forward to getting to know you too.

So onto the SALs I've been neglecting. Both Turtle Trot and WIPocalypse have come and gone and I am working on Space Traveler for both this year in an attempt to not keep it as a WIP for too many years. Unfortunately I've been a little lax in the stitching department lately. It's not so much a lack of time, more that other things have been taking up my time. Maybe this month will be better, we shall see. Until then here is my small amount of progress, at least it's a little more than a dark blue blue blob now...



Apologies for the bad thumbnail, Photobucket apparently didn't like this one though the full size image is totally normal. And in answer to the WIPocalypse question of the month, which asked about my rotation and just how many WIPs I keep, I don't actually have a set answer for either. Unless I have an obligation piece I kind of stitch what I want when I want and as far as number I like them to all fit in the stitching basket under the little table by my stitching chair but don't really have a max number. Unfortunately I've got a bit of overflow going at the moment but I'm hoping to get some time to work on that this year. If not, no big deal. It's not like these projects have an expiration date or anything, they'll keep:)

Not much else going on that I can talk about at the moment but hopefully all will quiet to a reasonable level and I won't miss SALs again next round.

January Turtle Trot

As promised there WILL be more frequent posting here this year! I've signed up for an extra SAL to help me out with that as well as keep my goals moving along. So let's get on with the Turtle Trot, hosted by Claudette over at BAP Attack. This SAL has stitchers pick 10 projects they want to make progress on and post their work by the 10th of the month. This one really appeals to me since I've got some BAPs that truly are coming along at turtle's pace so hopefully I can speed them up this year! Since I didn't participate last year I will start with some before pics of my choices this month. I've got a bit of obligation stitching to finish up (the seemingly endless birth teddy bear announcements) so progress might be a bit slow to start but hopefully will pick up soon. But back to that starting lineup...

Polar Lights Sampler


QS Pegasus and Castle Sampler


Fish City


Garden of Wishes


Dragon Moon


Watergarden


Fantasy Triptych


Dragon Master


Space Traveler


And last but not least is Flower Power which is a slow work in progress and I don't have a pic yet as I'm actually still gathering a few supplies and haven't started stitching yet. I intend to before year's end though!

So that's my Turtle Trot. Apologies if the thumbnails look a little weird. Photobucket has been doing something strange to my recent thumbnails but the full size pics look great, I promise! The next couple weeks are a little hectic in my house by the look of the calendar but I'll try to get back as often as I can and I'm definitely looking forward to reading everyone else's blogs and leaving some comments.

One last thing-Don't forget sign ups are still going on for the Grow Your Blog party, just click the pretty flowery button on my sidebar to get signed up before January 15!