Jeanne's March WIPocolypse Update

Don't you love the photo of Ireland in my header?   Oh just imagine living in a cute little rowhouse like that with lace curtains. :)   I can almost smell the fresh clean air after the rain! 

Things have been hopping around my house lately - visitors from out of state, lots of work issues and the usual stuff.  Can't believe it's time again for a WIPocolypse update!   I've been looking online at the new things from Market but nothing has really blown my socks off (which I'm secretly glad about).  Wonder if I'm starting to reach some sort of stash threshold?  Probably not...I'm sure in no time at all I'll have another episode of internet shopping!  My wish list is never empty that's for sure.

Here's my progress on American Sampler...I'm finally getting 'in the groove' on this old project. It took me some time to re-orient myself back in January  after letting it sit a few years...some of my threads had been pulled out for other projects, I had changed some threads and not written it down (note to self:  never do that again!), I had to repurchase the chart, etc etc.  However, things are going well now....I made progress this month with the border on the right  - adding another queen-stitch carnation and some smaller flowers, finished the top verse and got a good start on the house.  I love the house and am enjoying stitching it.   The only thing is I wish I had picked a darker fabric ......back when I took a class for this project (circa 2006) the shop brought in a selection of fabric cuts and I just picked one and went with it.  However, there are parts stitched in white like the railing on the top of the house that aren't showing up well on my linen....oh well - I'm sure not starting over so will have to live with it.

I also am trying to finish up my March ornament - I'm close - still working on the darn backstitching.  This ornament is taking awhile....it's one of those projects that doesn't look at all good until you get all the stitching and backstitching done.   Lots of half-stitches, metallic fibers, etc. I stitched this years ago for a gift - I love it but I'll also be glad when I'm done with it. 

I'm working on a little LHN project too - Poinsettia House for the 2012 Year of Smalls blog.  This was the January project but I'm just now getting time for it.   I'm stitching the house in overdyes and not doing it one-stitch-at-a-time.....hoping to avoid an excessively  'stripey' look but it's not working out entirely.  I love overdyes for lettering and small motifs but on big blocks of stitching I don't like the striped effect you sometimes get.

Two weeks ago I was able to get away for a weekend quilting retreat which was wonderful for the soul.   I don't have any big finishes to show you...I worked on lots of different things. I did complete a little top that I'm going to put on my dining room table this fall - it's all apple fabrics I collected years ago (not sure why but I was in an apple-mood apparently).  I still need to do the quilting and binding.  Unfortunately it barely made a dent in the apple fabrics!  That's the trouble when you've collected quilting fabric for almost 20 years  - using it up is almost impossible.  You make something and then you have loads of leftovers and scraps that you can't just throw away...the stuff multiplies like rabbits!  Also pictured is a wool folk-art heart - I saw this in a vendor booth at some show a few years ago so finally getting it made...it's going to be a pillow soon.  It's all done with buttonhole stitching.  

Lastly, I got started on making some padded bags to store my stitched pieces in - I have lots of seasonal things that aren't always on display and have been stacked on the floor of my guest room closet.  I've cleared a shelf in an armoire I have - my goal is to be able to stack all these projects there in bags.  I hate wrapping them up in tissue paper all the time. It's a good way to use up excess fabric too - each one has a Velcro flap and a place for a label on the front. I got 3 done at the retreat but still need about 10 more.  They're easy and fairly quick to do.

Well now you know what I've been up to.   I'm  anxiously waiting on 2 of my quilts to come back from the machine-quilter and then I'll have lots of binding to do on them.  When I pick them up I have 2 more quilt tops to drop off and then my backlog of quilt tops will be gone!  For years I've had tops hanging in the closets....it's a great feeling to be getting caught up.  I recently gathered all my finished quilts together in one place and my husband could not believe I had that many.   I wish I had more room for displaying them but maybe someday...in the meantime they keep each other company in the closet LOL.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to stop by and read my blog - so many of you are doing fantastic things, I only wish I could do all your projects!